Stuff Parents Need

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

Diploma Frame Makeover: It’s Not Too Late! Scholarship Opportunity and HUGE GIVEAWAY!!!

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When I graduated from my master’s program, my parents purchased a beautiful frame for my diploma. I couldn’t believe that they would fork over close to $200 for something like that, but I had to admit, it did look rather fetching, and I was very proud to hang it up in my office.

In fact, shortly after beginning my professional career, I decided to make the investment in getting my bachelor’s degree framed, as well. Since I already had experienced what a positive feeling I had when I saw all my hard work beautifully framed, and since I worked for twice as many years to get my bachelor’s as my master’s, I decided it needed some recognition, too. I never regretted spending the money on the diploma frame.

A handful of months later, I asked Tim if he wanted his bachelor’s degree frame. He said he was completely uninterested. No big deal to me; I dropped it.

Then, in 2007, he earned his master’s degree in city planning and was employed as a planner. He had an office and everything. It was time to let his degree shine! I brought up the issue again, and once again, he shot it down. He just didn’t want to spend the money, plain and simple.

I decided not to drop the issue this time, and put on my “frugal gal” thinking cap and came up with a plan. You see, that same year, he earned the student of the year award in his department. He received a framed certificate. The certificate was the same size as his diploma. I decided I could just switch out the two certificates and then he’d have a free framed diploma! When something is free, you can easily overlook the fact that the matting is a horrid burt sienna color, right? RIGHT!!

So my DIY version of a framed diploma worked for about 3 days, and then the diploma itself started to move around inside the frame. I kept telling myself that I needed to take it off the wall and fix it. And fix it, I would! Someday…

Someday turned into 3 years, and for 3 years, Tim’s diploma sat in a very ugly frame, CROOKED. It looked absolutely terrible, and never even got hung up!

Then, a few months ago, it was time for us to move. I put it on the bed to wrap it up, and left it there for a few days, during which time our rather large cat decided it was the perfect place to sleep. She totally broke the frame with the weight of her body!

So now Tim’s diploma was ugly, crooked AND broken. What a tribute to all his hard work and to the degree that helps him provide for our family!

I decided enough was enough, and started my research on the best company for quality diploma frames. Church Hill Classics (also known as diplomaframe.com) had a spectacular selection, as well as a reputation for excellent customer service. Furthermore, this company offered several different choices for what a diploma frame for University of Memphis (Tim’s alma mater for his master’s degree) could look like. I believe we had 11 choices! I was extremely impressed with the options.

On top of all the frame selections, you can also customize the mouldings and mattings to get exactly the look you want. I think this is just fantastic, and is a far cry from Tim’s DIY frame that quickly went from thrifty and smart to ridiculously bad.

Tim selected the silver engraved medallion frame, and it has the emblem of the school at the top, along with the University of Memphis embossed along the bottom of the mat. The wood frame has a deep, rich color. It’s really quite spectacular. Check it out!

 

 

 

 

Do you have a high school or college degree that has never been framed, or that is framed but honestly looks really bad? It’s NEVER too late to put all your hard work proudly on display! Church Hill Classics can help you show off your diploma in style, whether you are graduating next year or gradated 20 years ago! Once Tim saw his diploma in this beautiful frame, he had to admit that it looked great, and he said that he wished he had done it a long time ago. Learn from our follies and get your degree framed properly!

I also want to point out that Church Hill Classics has a scholarship contest that will be launching in the fall, the “Frame My Future” Scholarship Contest, and they will be giving away $6,000 to 5 lucky winners! Details on the scholarship can be found at http://www.framemyfuture.com. To sign up to receive notification of when the giveaway will begin, click here. This is a really fun way to help pay for your education, so don’t miss out on the chance!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a diploma frame OF YOUR CHOICE!!!!!

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

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

Easy Young Infant Entertainment: Pinwheels

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Newborns and young infants have many great qualities. They smell good, they are squishy and soft, after a while they coo and give the sweetest smiles, and they are the world’s best snugglers.

But if you’ve ever been in charge of the full-time care of a young baby, you may quickly find you are out of ideas for things to do with a baby during his or her awake time. I mean, you can only play peek-a-boo for so long!

A few weeks ago I found something that entertained Layah for quite some time. I borrowed a toy from big sister Darah and it was a hit.

It’s a pinwheel!

I set it up so that it would stand up without my help (just use blocks or whatever you can find, really). Then I helped Layah practice sitting up and faced her where she could see the pinwheel.

And then I blew on it from where I was. Her eyebrows raised and her focused intensified. She probably watched for 5 solid minutes, which in baby time is like 3 eternities.

We have played with the pinwheel almost every day for a few weeks now. I’m so glad I thought to try it out. Now get yourself over to The Dollar Tree or wherever you might find a pinwheel and get ready to impress your baby!

If you want to remember this easy baby game, don’t forget to Pin it!

Remote Control Storage: A Pretty, Simple Solution

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There are so many things in my house that don’t really have a proper home. And that’s the chief reason why it is constantly cluttered!

I can’t fix that problem all in one shot, but I can try to tackle bits and pieces of it here and there, chipping away at the disorganization and producing just a little bit of order. Every little bit helps, right?

A Pretty Remote Control Storage Option

Today I’m showing the the simple solution I found for all those remote controls that were laying around our living room (and even venturing into our dining room and kitchen!).

I repurposed a square vase that I’ve had for a few years. It actually held these flowers. I held on to it because of its more unusual shape. I just had a feeling it would come in handy some day.

That vase has finally found its purpose in my home. It now holds all our remote controls!

What I love about this storage solution is that it keeps the remotes upright, so they take up less space on the console. I also love that it is a clear storage container, which adds to the overall un-cluttered feel.

remote control storage

Do you need a remote control storage solution? I think you’ll be pleased with something similar to what I found! Start looking in thrift shops for something similar, or you can find a square vase here.

This post contains an affiliate link. I’d earn approximately 6 cents if you bought the vase, so as you can imagine, that’s not the driving force behind the post! 🙂

Guest Post: Tips for a Boy’s Bedroom Makeover

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Since I only have girls, I thought it might be fun to bring in a guest post that highlights tips for re-decorating a boy’s room! Enjoy!
Keeping the Child’s Choice in Mind
A child’s room is a reflection of their likes and interests and is their little piece of personal space. A bedroom makeover can be an exciting time for any child but it is important to note that when deciding on a bedroom make over for boys, listen to what they want. If they do not have an idea in mind try a theme for younger boys, like space or animals. The transition from toddler to young boy may seem abrupt and they may start to want a “big kid” room. For older boys it may be better to go with a certain colour scheme rather than a juvenile theme. Make a list with the child of what they would want and how you can work together to get it done.

Picking a Theme
Young toddlers and kids will love a themed bedroom that is fun and reflects their interests. If their favorite activity is going to the beach, an ocean theme would work well. For kids that love animals try a zoo theme. Kids older than 6 may not want a themed room as it would seem too “babyish” for them. However, a room for a boy can have a theme without being childish. For example, if their hobbies include baseball, try adding décor that reflects that interest. Use a baseball wallpaper border or paint baseball designs on the walls. Paint a giant scoreboard on the wall and use chalkboard paint for the score spaces. For a sophisticated and simple boy’s room, stick to only a few colour choices. Use accents of colour around the room and hang prints and artwork as well as family photos. Chalkboard paint works well for younger children and can be a fun way for him to write on the walls with no mess! Painting a mural on the wall is a great way to bond and have fun while decorating the room. Draw out the picture first in pencil before laying the paintbrush to the wall.

Choosing the Right Colour:
Choosing the right colour can be a daunting task. After all, there are thousands and thousands of colours out there. When painting a boy’s room, the first thing to take into consideration is their favorite colour. Stay away from colours that are too bold. While bold colours are lively and give a room a new energy, they can also be detrimental for sleeping or relaxing. Try choosing one bold colour with a few, understated accent colours like orange with brown and white accents. Yellow and orange are not assigned to any gender so they are perfect for boys of all ages. Neutral colours are great too because you can add a splash of colour. For example, paint the walls a light beige but add a red accent wall or paint the furniture bright blue.

The Bottom Line:
Choosing to redo a boy’s bedroom can be a great family activity. The new bedroom should reflect the personality and interests of the child. Make sure you listen to the child’s ideas and come up with a game plan together. For inspiration, look online at home decorating blogs and for a furniture website visit here. Many room makeovers can be done for very little money if you reuse things from around the house.

Disclosure: Special thanks to Shop4Furniture.net and Lisa Jolan for sponsoring this post.

Earth’s Best Organic Formula: GIVEAWAY!!!

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When Darah and I were having trouble with breastfeeding, starting when she was about 6 months old, I really panicked. I didn’t know anything about formula other than the fact that I didn’t want to give it to her.

But if you’ve ever seen your baby be hungry and seen your body fail to produce what is needed, you quickly get over yourself and figure out what your options are to feed your baby. So I started doing some research online on different formula types and makers to determine what would be the safest choice for Darah.

We had already introduced solid foods at that point and I was feeding Darah exclusively organic products, such as Earth’s Best organic rice cereal. I was interested in finding some organic formula for Darah, as well. Earth’s Best was the only company I could find at that time that was offering such a thing. It wasn’t offered for sale at any grocery store near me, so I had to order the product online. I would actually order it from Diapers.com by the case, and by ordering in bulk, the price per can dropped significantly so that it didn’t cost much more than name brand traditional formulas. I used the product in the red can, seen in the photo below.

So why go organic for formula? The dairy ingredients found in Earth’s Best organic formulas come from cows that have not been treated with growth hormones, steroids, and antibiotics. The other ingredients are also organic, meaning that they were produced with pesticides and made without genetically engineered organisms. These things were important to me, since I was already working to avoid these pesticides and GMOs in her solid foods. It gave me a lot of peace of mind to know that I wasn’t introducing her to those elements through her formula, either.

Earth’s Best has introduced a new organic product for parents who might have a fussy baby. It’s called Earth’s Best Organic Sensitivity Infant Formula, and it is the first FDA approved infant organic formula that has lower lactose levels to help ease fussiness and gas.

If you are concerned about introducing harmful pesticides to your infant, but need to use formula for whatever variety of reasons, I highly recommend that you try out Earth’s Best. And if your baby has sensitivities, Earth’s Best now has an option for you, too!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a can of Earth’s Best Organic Sensitivity Formula!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Disclosure: I am a blog ambassador for Earth’s Best, and as such, I have received complimentary products as a thank you for my time. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

 

A Little Vacation

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Hello fabulous bloggy friends! Did you know that Stuff Parents Need is not simply a one-woman show? Oh no, I have an assistant named Alanna (though I often refer to her as “Queen of Awesome”). She is the driving force behind all the fun giveaway promotions. So if you’ve found Stuff Parents Need thanks to an intriguing tweet, facebook post, or giveaway submission on a contest site, you have Alanna to thank for that!

Alanna is also the magical fairy on the blog who picks our winners. Well, technically Rafflecopter picks them, but then she makes sure that the selected entrant followed all the rules and passes along contact information to me, so that I can tell that person that s/he is a winner!

Alanna is taking a much-needed vacation with her family through the end of next week, and that means that drawing contest winners will be put on hold until she returns. It will be such a fun day when she returns, because we’ll be handing out prizes left and right! So if there’s a giveaway ending soon here that you are holding your breath to see if you won, well, don’t hold your breath (10 days is WAY too long for that!), but do know that we’ll be drawing winners right around August 6th!

In the mean time, I’ll still be bringing you plenty of fun content, and of course, giveaways!

So Many AWESOME Discounts from Educational Insights and a GIVEAWAY!!!

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Educational Insights has got to be one of the very best online destinations for educational materials that kids will really love.

I’ve mentioned before Hot Dots and how much Darah enjoys playing with them. Thanks to these cards, she is learning logic, patterns, sequencing, letter recognition (uppercase and lowercase) and basic science. I’m so excited that there are so many different types of Hot Dots cards for her to use as she gets older and is ready for more complex concepts. We recently snagged some cards that I’m going to keep in our game closet for about 6 more months before trying them out with her. I haven’t even told her about them, because I know she’d want to give them a whirl right away if she saw them! But since she is still working on mastering her sets that are already open, I think we should just stick with those, for now.

Educational Insights has a really impressive selection of Hot Dots cards, and I very highly recommend them for kids. We have certainly enjoyed the Hot Dots, Jr. sets, and look forward to continuing to use the Hot Dots sets as she grows. And before you know it, Layah will be using them, too!

I also want to point out that Educational Insights has a Pinterest page, and it is loaded with great ideas for kids educational activities. In the future, they are going to be holding Pinterest exclusive giveaways, so be sure to follow them there so you don’t miss out!

But wait, there’s more! You can earn $10 off an EducationalInsights.com purchase just be filling out a SUPER short (4 questions!) suvey here: http://www.educationalinsights.com/category/id/119977.do

May I suggest what you put this fabulous credit towards? Some Hot Dots! Now through August 11th, you get a free Hot Dots pen with the purchase of two card sets! That’s an $11 value! Enter code HOTPEN at checkout!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the Hot Dots pen as well as two card sets of your choice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

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

Kindle Fire and Two Diamond Candles GIVEAWAY!!!!

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Bay Area Mommy

Bay Area Mommy is celebrating her first blogiversary with a giveaway for a Kindle Fire (or $200 Amazon gift card) and two Diamond Candles.

Kindle Fire is open worldwide but the 2 Diamond Candles are only open to folks in the US only since the company doesn’t ship outside the US.

The giveaway runs from July 25, 12:01am EST to August 15, 11:59pm EST. I want to see a Stuff Parents Need reader win! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: This blog is not responsible for prize shipment.

Milk Nursingwear Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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I’m not one of those “on the go” moms who runs errands every single day with baby in tow. I actually plan rather strategically so that I can do most of my shopping and other outside-the-house tasks done either by myself, or just with Darah while Tim stays with Layah. I’m not afraid to go out with her; I just know the tasks will be completed much faster without a baby.

But there are times when I simply need to be out for a long time, and my entire family is with me. For example, when we went to Atlanta for a mini-vacation a few weeks ago, we had several things we wanted to do during the day before heading to the hotel (a trip to Ikea, which I’ll blog about later, a trip to Trader Joe’s, and a trip to the Varsity for some dinner). I wasn’t going to let the fact that I needed to breastfeed Layah multiple times during that trip spoil it for me.

All I needed to do was dress appropriately so that nursing her would not be too difficult. Milk Nursingwear had the perfect top for me to wear during our marathon day, and I have to say, it made breastfeeding a breeze. It also made me feel stylish, which is a HUGE accomplishment for nursingwear.

Here I am at the Varsity enjoying my meal. Layah enjoyed her meal afterwards! Ha!

To get a better idea of what the shirt looks like  and how it works for nursing, here’s a image from the Milk website:

The cowl neck nursing shirt is really soft, and I love the color. I wore this all day, and probably fed Layah 4 times while wearing it. I was never uncomfortable and never had a hard time feeding her on account of my wardrobe. It was really quite refreshing! At home I just wear whatever, and often have to completely remove my top to feed the baby. That’s fine if I’m in my own house, but it actually gets kind of old. I’ve started wearing this shirt at home for convenience sake, and if I’m out with the baby, I almost certainly am wearing this. It’s my favorite nursing shirt!

Milk Nursingwear has the best selection of affordable and fashionable nursing clothing I have ever found. The company is also founded by a mother of four. Elisa knows first hand how important it is to have modern styles that support breastfeeding. She’s done a wonderful job with her company, I think!

I also want to point out the sale section of the site. That’s a great place to find a bargain! 

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a $35 gift certificate to Milk Nursingwear!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

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