Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Blanket + Stuffed Animal = Best Toy EVER! Snuggle Paws Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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You should see my child’s stuffed animal collection. It doesn’t yet rival what I had going on at the peak of my stuffed animal frenzy (I think I had close to 200 plush friends by the time I was 10). But given the fact that Darah is only 2, I’m going to go ahead and declare her collection OUT OF CONTROL. I know that I’m the enabler in this situation, and it’s because I empathize with her love for all things snuggly. Stuffed animals are her VERY favorite thing to play with, you see. She takes her animals for walks in her stroller, reads them stories and bounces on the bed with them.

The only thing that comes even close to being enjoyed as much by Darah would be blankets. Yup, blankets. Give this kid a blanket AND a stuffed animal, and she will nearly pass out from the joy of it. Not kidding. She’ll play uninterrupted for quite a long time, usually putting her various stuffed animals to “night night” and rocking them. It’s ridiculously sweet.

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered Snuggle Paws, which are stuffed animals that come with a child-size blanket. Thank you for making the PERFECT toy for my child! Not only is the concept excellent, but the execution is outstanding. This toy is TOTALLY worthy of its name. It is the softest, snuggliest little critter that you’ll ever meet. the stuffed animal can easily function as a pillow when traveling. And the blanket! Oh!!!! It feels like cuddling up with some clouds (or at least what I imagine that might feel like!).

Snuggle Paws animals come with a handle on top (super plush, it does NOT interfere with the child’s ability or desire to play with the animal) and velcro paws that can hold the rolled-up blanket. This makes it an excellent travel companion. You’d better believe it will be going with us this Christmas when we fly to California. If Darah isn’t feeling sleepy on the plane, don’t think I won’t break out that awesome blanket, either!

I’m guessing by now that you realize I’m totally ga-ga over this product. It certainly does seem as though it was made with my child in mind. Perhaps it was made for your little one, too?

Win it!: One lucky person will will your very own Snuggle Paws!
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Precious Moments Baby Boutique

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When you were growing up did you ever get any Precious Moments stuff? I personally only ever got one or two figurines, but my little sister got a really cute set of products every year on her birthday. It was a train that had a car for each year up to 10 (it looks as though it goes beyond that, now, but Laura’s train stopped at 10). It was fun to see which animal came next each year, and I still enjoy seeing it in the curio cabinet when I come home to visit.

Precious Moments has launched the Precious Moments Baby Boutique, which focuses on wonderful gifts for babies and young toddlers. While not everything in the Precious Moments line appeals to me, personally, I was pleasantly surprised by the large selection of gifts that they have, and I found quite a few things that I really liked and could see myself giving to others.

blanket by precious moments Darah received the Precious Moments Ultra-Soft Blanket with Satin Trim, and it is a smash hit with her. She loves to cuddle up with anything that is fluffy and soft, and that perfectly describes this blanket. I once gave a soft blanket similar to this as a shower gift, and the mom told me later that it became one of her baby’s favorite items. I would definitely purchase something just like this again for a baby shower since my little one loves hers, and other babies seem to, as well!

When browsing the site, I also thought that their insulated cups were really cute. I’m evidently not the only one who thinks so, because they are currently sold out!

Buy it!: Precious Moments has an amazing selection of products in their Baby Boutique and beyond on their site. If you are a Precious Moments fan, you should definitely check them out!

Win it!: Wasn’t that blanket I talked about super cute? Want to win one? Here’s your chance! One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to with the Ultra Soft Blanket with Satin Trim! the contest will run until September 23rd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about any Precious Moments stuff you might own. If you don’t own any Precious Moments items, tell me about any birthday traditions you may have had growing up. Did you get anything special on each birthday (for example, I always got roses)? Had a particular cake? Anything relevant to the topics of Precious Moments or birthday traditions will do!

Additional entries (leave an extra comment for each that you do):
1. Sponsor love: Sign up for Precious Moments emails (found at the bottom left of the linked page)

2. Blogger love: Subscribe to my site using RSS or email! (you can find links to sign up on my home page).

Be sure to check out my other giveaways on the sidebar of my home page!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product through MomSelect to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Personalized Wooden Step Stool for Kids

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It’s official: Darah is no longer a baby. Just writing that sentence made me tear up. 

She will ALWAYS be my baby girl, for the rest of my life. But right now, I have to let her be the brand new toddler that she wants to be (and really already is). She’s gone from a passive, gurgling little love lump into a acrobatic monkey, full of curiosity, and the motor skills to get herself into some serious mischief. She’s a handful, and she’s also my greatest joy. Watching her explore and do all sorts of cool things for the first time is amazing. I love watching her spot something interesting, and then go over to it to take a closer look. She is full of wonder.


As she grows, she’s going to have many moments when her height doesn’t correspond to her needs (welcome to my life, kid). She needs a step stool for those moments, and I found the greatest step stool EVER. Hands down. Seriously. I’m in love with it. Personalized Wooden Step Stool for Kids This personalized wooden step stool for kids is solid wood, beautifully crafted, and it has you child’s name on it in hand painted wooden blocks that can be removed for play. It is an absolute treasure, and one that I hope Darah will keep forever (and she probably should, since she won’t be running into too many other Darahs who could use it!). I think that the price tag for this custom piece is also very reasonable, coming in at $65.00. It will ship within 2 weeks of purchase, too!

Edit: 5 years after first writing this, our personalized wooden step stool is still in great shape! 

Referral links may be included at no cost to you. All opinions are my own, as always. 

 

Handmade AND Inexpensive Toys for Baby

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Darah has hit an age where her arms are flailing all over the place. She’s having a lot of fun with this, and has really been wanting to test out her newly discovered appendages. I wanted to find some toys that would help her understand that she is actually controlling her movements. A wrist rattle is one of the handmade toys for baby I would recommend the very most.

I found a great Etsy store called Lil’ Bit Sassy. Rhonda runs this shop, and she had the perfect item in stock. She kindly sent me a wrist rattle for Darah to try. People, this thing was a major hit the second I put it on her! Her face just lit wrist rattle handmade toys for baby up when she heard the jingle in the rattle, and it was so precious to watch her as she started to realize that she was making the noise by moving. Rhonda makes these in a variety of patterns, and she has priced them at a point that will make any frugalista smile: only $3.00! The picture to the right is a little bit blurry because Darah was constantly moving her hand, playing with her new rattle.

Rhonda also sent along a matching taggy toy for Darah. These are made from soft cotton fabric with ribbon tags on all four sides. These are also priced beautifully at $4.50 (if you’ve ever priced these taggy toys in stores you will know what a bargain this is!). When I took a stroll around Lil’ Bit Sassy, though, I learned that you can buy a taggy toy and wrist rattle set for only $6.00! These would make fantastic shower gifts, and the price is simply unbeatable. The taggy toys come with a teething ring, also. Darah is especially fond of this component of her new toy!

Additionally, Rhonda sent a burp cloth for review. These are new additions to her store. Darah received a super cute burp cloth with pink and purple owls (which happen to be the mascot of my college sorority, so that made me smile!). I really love the design of these cloths, with indentations for your shoulders. Darah put its absorbency to the test, if you know what I mean, and it totally passed! These are currently selling for $5.00 and come in a great variety of patterns.

Buy It!
Lil’ Bit Sassy has some truly terrific handmade toys for baby, at a price anyone can love. Please check out what she has to offer your little one! Rhonda says that she loves a challenge, so she welcomes custom requests, even of things that aren’t listed! Now that’s some serious dedication to customer satisfaction! She has a wide array of fabrics from which you can choose for your items here: http://www.lilbitsassyfabrics.shutterfly.com/. Rhonda is also offering you a smokin’ hot deal. While the contest is running, make a purchase and save 20%! Just put “Stuff Parents Need” in the notes to the seller and wait for an invoice from her before paying. I’ve already placed my order!

Win It!
Lil’ Bit Sassy wants to give one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a taggy toy and wrist rattle set along with a burp cloth. You lucky ducks! The contest will run until Sunday, November 22nd at 7:59pm CST, when the winner will be chosen at random and emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected. You must include your email address in your comment or make sure it is listed in your profile! You must complete the mandatory entry in order for any subsequent entries to be counted. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Go check out Lil’ Bit Sassy. Come back here and tell me your favorite item sold there other than items mentioned in the review.

Additional Entries:
1. Share this post via any of the venues at the bottom of this post (digg, stumbleupon, twitter etc.). Leave one comment with a link for each way that you shared or your username on these sites!
2. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)
3. Make a purchase at Lil’ Bit Sassy (5 entries, so leave 5 comments).

Disclosure: I was given the above products for the purposes of writing a review, and received no other form of compensation.