Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Are Mermaids Part of Your World? (Giveaway!)

June 12, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 99 Comments

Raise your hand high if you are constantly having to play “under the sea” with your child, or if you have to go on treasure hunts all the time, or if when your child is feeling grumpy toward you but still wants to play she offers to let you be Ursula (gee, thanks kid).

Just me? Somehow I doubt it! Darah’s interest in mermaids has been strong since she was just 2, and it shows NO signs of slowing down. She’s been asking for a stuffed Flounder doll for her birthday (which isn’t until August), and she’s been putting that request in weekly since, oh…I don’t know…JANUARY??

The request for a plush version didn’t transpire until her request for a real fish was flatly denied. And before you go thinking that I’m a mean mom who won’t let her child have a first pet, please know that when I asked Darah why she wanted a pet fish, she very matter-of-factly explained to me that they would take baths together every night. So you see, I’m really a fish protector, not a hater.

Darah plays with mermaids in the tub. She plays with them in the car. She pretends to be a mermaid at least 6 different times each day. And she LOVES knowing that there is a whole world of mermaids out there beyond the red headed Disney princess.

So when I showed her the beautiful line of dolls from Aurora called Sea Sparkles, she was elated. We spent 15 minutes pouring over the catalog of options and admiring each of the dolls in the collection. Darah finally decided she wanted to bring Marinna home to be her special mermaid friend.

Marinna is an excellent companion to Darah as she searches through caverns (also known as closets) for special treasures. She is soft, has lovely long hair that is fun to comb through with your fingers, and she even has her own special jewel as part of her outfit.

Aurora Sea Sparkles mermaids come in a wide range of looks as well as sizes (10, 18 and even 38 inches!), so you are sure to find the perfect friend with a fin for your mermaid fan! I can guarantee that your child will love playing with these sweet dolls from Aurora. I can’t guarantee that they will pose for pictures with them, though! (Does your kid do this, too?)

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win their choice of an 18″ Sea Sparkles doll of your choice! (excludes the holiday line)

Be sure to enter to win one of my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

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I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

How To Get A Gorgeous Backyard at a Discount

June 11, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

What are you lovelies doing today? I’m just hanging out in my backyard, enjoying the weather.

to build a bench on the back deck. And we’ll be saving 5-6% on our purchases at Home Depot and Lowe’s. Not by using a credit card, either! Just by shopping through Ebates, a site I mentioned last week that I absolutely adore. It has saved me well over $100 since I joined, and I LOVE that it can help me save a little bit at the places like Home Depot and Lowe’s where I’m already shopping (and these places are also notoriously hard to find coupons for!).

If you are planning any outdoor improvements to your home this year, be sure to use Ebates to help you save even more. And if you achieve a back yard that looks like the one above, please invite me over. You provide the ambiance, and I’ll bring the drinks!

Do you have any landscaping improvement plans for the summer? Any inspirations you are finding online? Send them my way. I want to drool over them!

This post contains affiliate links. I only promote what I love!

Summer Baby Shower Food Ideas

June 11, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

Here’s an interesting fact for you: in the United States, the most popular birthday month is September, followed by August, June and July. We are ALL about the summer birthdays here, and that means that summer baby showers are also going to be happening in large numbers in the next few months!

If you are hosting or helping out with a baby shower this summer, I thought I’d help you out by compiling some baby shower food ideas for you. I kept my selections rather simple, just because that’s how I roll! I hope these links give you some ideas to work from as you plan a fun event for your friend who is expecting. If YOU are the one expecting, feel free to share this post with your hostess with the mostest!

And while you are planning the party, don’t forget to check out the free baby shower games I have personally used and loved!

1. Crisp, cool cucumbers

2. Ice cream sundae bar

3. No mess veggies and dip

4. cheesecake stuffed strawberries

5. Pimento cheese bites

6. watermelon on a stick

7. easy asian lettuce wraps

8. watermelon mocktail

9. baby shower drink ideas

Was this post helpful to you? If so, please spread the word by sharing it over Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Thanks so much!

Summer is Here: Is Your Phone Ready???

June 11, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

The first iPhone I had was covered in a really fun and very protective red case. I loved my little red phone and was able to keep it in great shape for over 3 years before we decided to upgrade our phones. And upgrade in phones meant that we needed new cases. I actually bought one through a Living Social deal so that I could get an even more customized look. My iPhone cover suits my personality and it rather adorable, if I do say so, myself.

BUT…this case is NOT as protective as my old one. And that does leave me feeling vulnerable. I’ve had this case for about 7 months, now, and I’m fairly certain that I will be replacing it soon. A cute case is fun, but not if it can’t go the distance and keep your phone protected!

I’m excited to see that BestBuy.com is currently offering 10% off a number of their Mophie iPhone cases for a limited time (use code mophie10 at checkout). Mophie is a brand that takes protection VERY seriously, and that’s a good thing to have from your iPhone case, especially this time of year, when anything from sand at the beach to an afternoon rain shower can be something your phone is faced with.

But Mophie also understands the desire to have a case that is actually stylish, too! They have a variety of colors and styles from which to choose I’m even mulling over going back to red, the color I loved so very much with my first phone!

Whether you go with Mophie or not, if you are looking for a new iPhone case, like me, then Best Buy has a fantastic variety of cases that you should definitely check out. Summer is going to be throwing a lot of fun at you, and you need make sure your iPhone is ready for it! 🙂

What does your phone cover look like right now? Do you love it, hate it, or are you indifferent to it? I’d love to hear about it!

A Pop of Color for Country-Chic Style: Joules (Giveaway!)

June 10, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 57 Comments

Even though I fell in love with big cities from the time I first saw Atlanta (I was 7 at the time), I was born and raised in a small town, surrounded by even smaller towns and lots and lots of farms. My roots are in the country, and that’s also the case for the British clothing company called Joules. It has been around since 1980 (me, too!) and has always held country styles at its heart, while striving to bring a little color and life to them. That’s what has made them so popular and once you take a look at some of their clothes, I think you’ll see that there is so much to love.

Darah and Layah were sent coordinating outfits which I absolutely adore. They aren’t matchy-matchy and they aren’t frilly and uncomfortable. They are simply perfect for a summer day spent romping out in our yard, which is something we do quite a bit of these days !

Layah is wearing the Baby Girls Summer Dress in Ribbon, which comes with matching bloomers. It is made of soft cotton and is so bright and cheery!

Darah absolutely loves her Dungaree Skirt (which I think we here in the states would refer to as a denim overall dress). She loves how the hook and clasp jingles lightly when she walks, and she loves how comfy it is. She asks to wear it frequently. Typically, I’m not really a big fan of denim overalls, finding them to be just a little too country in their overall look. but Joules has brightened these up beautifully and even I can’t resist!

I mentioned earlier about how these outfits coordinate without being too matchy. I just wanted to point out the trim on Darah’s dress so you can see what I’m talking about. The trim of her pockets, as well as the inside of the overall bib are made of the same pattern as Layah’s dress. So cute! Also note the rabbits on the buttons. The rabbit seems to be the symbol for joules clothing, and you can also see an embroidered version on Layah’s outfit. I really love when companies create good design all the ways down to the details like this.

Joules has a fantastic selection of bright and beautiful clothes. I am fortunate enough to own several pieces of children’s clothing from Europe thanks to my sister-in-law who lives there and passes them on, and Darah and Layah always receive compliments for having such different and fun clothes. If you are looking for something just a little bit different to add to your child’s wardrobe, Joules is a perfect fit! The clothes are casual so they are practical, yet they are also bright, fun and designed with an eye for fun little details. Check out what they have to offer in the girls clothing range, and don’t forget to look in their adult clothing section, too!

Win it!: One k Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Baby Grow outfit (up to 18 months) in your choice of style and size!

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Baby I Can Drive My Car

June 9, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

(Originally posted on December 21, 2009)

So here’s the deal. I’m 29 years old. I have a master’s degree, a family, a career, a mortgage and a whole host of other things that adults acquire over the years. So it may surprise you to hear that for the past 5 1/2 years I have been without a driver’s license. There’s no scandalous reason for this (DUI, etc.). The truth of the matter is this: I never really liked driving. In 2003 I lived in the Boston area, and I did not drive there. My license expired that year, and I just never got around to renewing it. I didn’t want to pay the fees to switch it over to MA (I was a poor grad student at the time).

And then we moved back to Tennessee. I still didn’t have my license, but I promised to get it, “some day.” My husband was beyond patient with me. Every time he would politely bring it up, I was FULL of excuses. I didn’t have the time, and I didn’t feel like studying for the test (oh yeah, by the way, if your license expires, you have to take the written AND the driving test all over again). As time passed, I got more and more afraid of driving and of the silly tests. I also became more and more embarrassed and ashamed of myself for not having a license. What a dumb thing to let get the best of me.

In 2008 I got my permit again. I studied for that darn test and I did well on it. I was motivated by the fact that I knew we wanted to start a family. But wouldn’t you know it…I still avoided that driving test like the plague.

Finally, a few weeks ago, I got completely fed up with myself. I went online and signed up for a test. I had very little time to practice driving, and I just decided to be ok with that. I realized that even if I failed the test, I would at least have a good idea of what they would be looking for on the test, so that I would do better the next time.

One week ago today, we all went over to the DMV and I took my Tennessee Drivers License test.

And let me tell you what I had to do.

I had to drive around the block. Four right turns. THAT IS IT. I spend 5 1/2 years terrified of four right turns. Wow. It may go without saying, but I passed and I’m now a licensed driver.

I’m sharing my story because I’m betting that each and every one of you has something in your life that you are putting off, and that you have been putting off for WAY too long. While I can’t promise you that tackling your issue will be as easy as my driving test, who knows? It just might be. And if you have been fearing this thing for a long time, the odds are very good that it won’t be as bad as what you are imagining.

So get out there and take your four right turns. It feels so unbelievably good to get it done. BEEP! BEEP!

Please tell me what you are currently putting off taking care of in your life. It will feel good to get it out in the open!

photo credit: 1968 Dodge Charger R/T | Scott Crawford via photopin cc

The Dishwashing Detergent That Also Cleaned My Dishwahser: #MyPlatinum

June 9, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I’ve mentioned before on my site that Cascade is the dishwashing detergent brand that I consistently find to be the one to beat. It cuts through grease and grime unlike anything else out there, in my opinion. So when I heard about a new product on the market called Cascade Platinum, I was really curious to see how Cascade, already the top dishwashing detergent performer, had improved even more.

First and foremost, I noticed that these pacs included Dawn, a brand known for its ability to cut through grease when you are hand washing. We always keep a bottle of blue Dawn on hand in our home. But we try to avoid hand washing dishes as much as possible simply because we don’t have time for all of that!

We also, unfortunately, don’t seem to even have time to get our dishes in the dishwasher. The sight of dirty dishes that have been sitting out for 24 hours with food stuck to them is not uncommon in my house. That’s embarrassing to say, but it is just the truth! Cascade Platinum, however, is designed for those of us who don’t like washing dishes by hand AND who don’t even seem to like to load the dishwasher in a timely fashion. It can scrub through that 24 hour stuck-on food, eliminating the need to pre-wash dishes (because let’s be real, people like me who don’t like to load the dishwasher also don’t like to clean their dishes before they clean their dishes!).

But there’s yet another great feature of Cascade Platinum: it also is designed to clean your dishwasher, in addition to your dishes. That’s SO awesome, because just a few weeks ago I was realizing that my dishwasher was due for its own cleaning, a chore I was NOT looking forward to doing. No need, now! Cascade Platinum is working hard for me now, keeping that water film build-up from happening on the interior walls of the dishwasher.

And it probably goes without saying that my dishes are sparkling clean, too! But to prove my point, allow me to show you my most recent load of dishes:

Let’s take a closer look at that bowl. It has inside of it 48 hour old baby food mixed with grains that is beyond crusty. Let’s take a closer look!

Honestly, when I put this in the dishwasher, I knew that I was going too far. This is the type of dish that needs to soak in the sink for a few hours in order for the food to dislodge. But I thought I’d put Cascade Platinum to the ultimate test, knowing it would ultimately fail, but curious to see just how much of the gunk it could get off before admitting its defeat.

This is what I saw when I opened my dishwasher:

Um….WHAT?!?! How about a closer look?

I was rendered speechless. And that’s really saying something since I’m a blogger!

My dishes have never looked better, and the only time my dishwasher looked this nice was on the day it was installed. Cascade Platinum is an amazing find, offering all the power of Cascade Complete with the added benefit of film prevention for the dishwasher, itself. I plan to use this product interchangeably with Cascade Complete in order to keep my dishes AND my dishwasher looking their best.

Cascade Platinum is more expensive than most other detergents, but after seeing what it could do to the most disgusting of dishes (which are a common sight in my house) I’m convinced that it is worth every penny. I hate to pre-wash, I’m bad about loading the dishwasher immediately after meals, and I never clean my dishwasher. I need the kind of help that Cascade Platinum can provide! Cascade Platinum is particularly nice to use when I’m photographing food, as I sometimes do for the blog. Even Top Chef judge and editor of Food+Wine magazine, , sees the power of Cascade Platinum and has partnered with Cascade to discuss why presentation is just as critical as preparation when it comes to food.

If you are on Instagram, then you don’t want to miss the opportunity to show how sparkly your food presentations can be with the My Platinum Instagram contest. For four weeks, you can upload photos related to a weekly contest theme and be entered to win a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher (two winners each week!). One lucky grand prize winner will get a Platinum kitchen makeover! EEEE!!!! Just be sure to check out all the rules, and use the #MyPlatinum hashtag and tag @MyCascade on your uploads. Here is a rundown of the weekly themes (note that week 1 ends today, so be sure to get your entry in!).

Week 1: (6/3-6/9) My Platinum Plate. Show us your best dish styled from the sparkling plate up!

Week 2: (6/10-6/16) My Platinum Bite. Show us your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!

Week 3: (6/17-6/23) My Platinum Clink. Show us how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses. Cheers!

Week 4: (6/24-6/30) My Platinum Table. Show us your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!

Good luck! Please let me know if you win one of the prizes!!!

Colored Rice Activity: Simple and Very Entertaining!

June 8, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

I’ve said it a million times before, and I’ll say it a million times again: thank goodness for Pinterest! It is a treasure trove of great ideas for pretty much everything, including simple and fun activities to do with your kids. Since I’m not creative or crafty, I need all the help I can get to find summer projects for my girls that are fun and educational, and that don’t push me past my creative abilities (my limit in that regard is VERY low, by the way).

About two weeks ago, I embarked on a project to make colored rice, or rainbow rice. I found the rainbow rice project here. Please do go check out this great blog post to see the inspiration behind my work! It certainly looked beautiful and after reading the instructions, I realized that it didn’t sound terribly difficult, especially if I made a few modifications. So off we set!

Here’s what you will need to make rainbow rice (and by the way, I found the rice and the food coloring at The Dollar Tree…cheap thrills! The vinegar was also very cheap at my local grocery store).

In a glass bowl, place one cup of rice, 3 drops of food coloring and 1/2 tsp vinegar. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil (I chose this over the lid that came with my bowl just in case the food coloring caused staining). Shake it up like crazy!

The original instructions recommended letting the rice sit out in the sun for the rest of the day to dry. Darah was ready to play NOW so I needed to speed things up. I got out some parchment paper and placed it on a baking sheet. Then I spread out my newly colored rice and let is dry out in the oven, set to 200 degrees, for 20 minutes. This was the perfect amount of time and the perfect temperature, as it turned out!

I repeated the process for 4 different colors (red, blue, green and yellow), so it did take 1 1/2 hours to get all of the rice made, though the majority of that time was spent waiting for each color of rice to dry out. You could speed up the process by making two colors at once and utilizing both shelves of your oven. Why didn’t I do that? Simple: because I wasn’t wearing my thinking cap that day!

After your rice is all finished, you can make a pretty presentation to your kids. This definitely got some oohs and ahhs from Darah!

Now it was time for the moment we’d all been waiting for: mixing up the colors! I gave Darah a spoon and let her go to work. She was positively giddy!

Here she goes!

Darah played and played and played with her colored rice (probably for 45 minutes…3 eternities for a 3 year old). And we now have it sitting on a shelf in a glass jar for easy access. We get it out every couple of days and she spends a lot of time hiding treasures in the rice and pretending that it is where mermaids live. It is a fantastic sensory activity and promotes imaginative play. All this from a bag of rice, a few drops of food color and some vinegar. This activity totally rocks!

Let me know if you try out the colored rice activity! And if you love the idea, please share it with your friends (buttons over to the left!) via Facebook or Pinterest!

Krill Oil: What Is It and Why Should I Take It? (Giveaway!)

June 7, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 68 Comments

I’m sure that by now you’ve heard all about how wonderful it is to take fish oil as part of your nutritional plan. And as someone with a huge bottle of fish oil pills in my fridge, I can tell you that there are MANY benefits to taking this supplement.

So when I was recently contacted by the folks at Everest Nutrition (now part of Viva Labs) about Krill Oil, I assumed that it was pretty much the same as taking fish oil. After all, Krill is just a tiny shrimp-like creature, so it likely has similar benefits to fish oil.

This is what krill looks like. I was curious, so I thought you might be, too!

But I was wrong! The list of health benefits associated with krill oil is HUGE! For example, a study published by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that Krill Oil can reduce heart damaging inflammation. It was also found to be more effective than fish oil at reducing “bad” cholesterol (that’s LDL) and increasing “good” cholesterol (that’s HDL).

Other benefits of Krill Oil that have been confirmed by research include the following:

joint health support
PMS symptom relief
lower risk of cardiovascular incidents by up to 45%
improve brain health and memory function
reduce early aging lines in the skin
boost energy by 50%

These are some amazing health benefits! Not only am I glad to now be taking Krill Oil, but I also want to get some for my parents, and in particular, my father who has had some heart health issues in the past.

One benefit that isn’t as impressive as the list above, but when I am really enjoying day-to-day, is the fact that Krill Oil does not give you what are called “fish burps.” I know, that’s a strange and even gross term, but when you take fish oil, you sometimes will burp and it will taste like, you guessed it, fish. Kind of gross, especially when you haven’t eaten any fish that day! This just doesn’t happen with Krill Oil, which is a nice little bonus.

Have you tried Krill Oil yet? Viva Labs has a very good deal going on right now if you order 4 bottles at a time, they will give you two more bottles for free, as well as free shipping! The total for this value set is $119.80. Or you can just try one bottle for $29.95.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a bottle of Krill Oil, which contains a 30 day supply!

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.