Stuff Parents Need

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

Peaceable Kingdom Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Sometimes a company will just nail my hopes and dreams for the kind of play environment I want to create for Darah. Check out this introduction to Peaceable Kingdom: “Welcome to the kingdom—Peaceable Kingdom! Where dinosaurs roam and a mermaid princess swims, where a child can host a fairy tea party or sail the open seas on a pirate ship. A place of imagination and exploration and fun! Since 1983, Peaceable Kingdom has created fresh, fun products for kids that educate, inspire and tickle funny bones. Connect with the kids in your life with Peaceable Kingdom.

YES! When I’m looking for products for Darah, I’m looking for opportunities to create those worlds of pure imagination. I want the mermaids and the pirates to be welcomed guests at Darah’s tea parties. I hope to create a space for her in our home where she can dream up anything she wants!

Peaceable Kingdom totally gets that desire, and they have created toys and games that help a child create delightful worlds in which to play. Today I’m highlighting a game that they have, and that is absolutely perfect for Darah to get started with right away. It’s the Animal Alphabet Match Up Game, and it is adorable! The cards are all a very sturdy cardboard, which makes it ideal for little ones who tend to bend cards easily. Right now we are playing by turning all the cards face-up and then going on a hunt to find pairs of animals. We can do the same thing with letters. When Darah gets a bit older, we can play the more traditional “memory” game by turning them face-down and then hunting for pairs. I LOVE that version of the game, so I’m really looking forward to teaching it to her! Currently, this game will hold D’s attention for about 10 minutes, which is a long time! She gets SO excited when she finds a match!

Peaceable Kingdom offers an excellent assortment of match-up games, card games for children, board games and even cooperative games. Poke around their shop, and I think you’ll be really impressed with the quality products that are offered for reasonable prices. The game we reviewed retails for $9.99, which I think is more than fair, especially for the quality.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the Animal Alphabet Match Up Game! The contest will run until July 11th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. No P.O. boxes, please. Limit one entrant per household.

Mandatory entry: Tell me one other product offered by Peaceable Kingdom that your kid(s) would love!

My answer: I would love to get Go Fish for Darah, although I think she’s still a little bit too young to play.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Peaceable Kingdom on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need via Google Friend Connect (found on my sidebar).

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

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

King Arthur Flour Products Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Today I have the pleasure of highlighting a company that we have been loyal customers of for several years now: King Arthur Flour. When we started making the switch over to unbleached and whole wheat flours, King Arthur is the brand we started to buy. We have been very pleased with the freshness of their products and now it is the brand I always grab (and there are VERY few food companies that I have such brand loyalty for, so this is kind of a big deal!). They are clearly doing something right, because they have been in business since 1790. Nope, not a typo. Crazy, right???

What I didn’t realize until recently, though, is that King Arthur Flour has SO MUCH MORE than just flour! They have a catalog of products for the discriminating baker that will absolutely blow you away. Once I started poking around their website, I saw at least 20 things that I needed. That was my cue to step away from the computer and gather my composure before overspending!

I have the opportunity today to highlight a few products that are just the right fit for my family, balancing convenience in the kitchen, which we need, with maximum value, which we are always trying to find.

First, I want to highlight their fabulous pizza products. As you know, we make our own pizza at home (I seriously can’t tell you the last time we ordered delivery). Did you know that King Arthur offers a Perfect Pizza Blend? They do! This is a very convenient way to get everything you need for making a good pizza (except the water) all in one place. So easy!

Now, if you want to make an AWESOME pizza crust, then there’s one more thing you might want, which is the Pizza Dough Flavor. This adds a little something extra that makes your crust taste like something from a local pizza parlor (the ones with the REALLY good pizzas).

Why stop with the crust, though? King Arthur Flour also offers a Pizza Seasoning packet, and this is like the best version of Italian Seasoning ever! When you combine all three elements into one pizza, you’ve got something worth bragging about, for sure.

The other item I want to highlight is one of the very top sellers at King Arthur Flour. It’s an item I would have completely overlooked and considered to be frivolous had I not been encouraged to try it. It’s called a dough whisk, and if you make breads of any type at home, you are going to want one of these. Promise. Watch this video to see how it works!

The dough whisk is $14.99 and is SOOO worth it!

If you have never tried King Arthur Flour, you should definitely check out their resources that share with you their commitment to quality and why you get so much more when you choose King Arthur Flour.

Additionally, there’s an AWESOME resource of 2,000 free recipes that King Arthur flour has available. That’s a must-see!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win all the items I reviewed! That’s a $36 value! The contest will run until July 10th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States and Canada. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry:
King Arthur Flour wants to connect with you, so you have a choice of signing up for their newsletter (bottom right of linked page) or liking them on Facebook. Choose one and then come back here to tell me you did so.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow King Arthur Flour on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS.

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

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

 

Bedroom Furniture Ideas Abound on Pinterest!

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How many of you are totally addicted to Pinterest? I know I am! Leave the links to your pages in the comments and I’ll totally follow you!

Scratching your head? Pinterest is a fabulous online site where you can conveniently store all the pretty things you see online and love. You can create different categories, like DIY, bedroom furniture ideas, recipes to try, or pretty much anything else! It is really fun to follow other people you know and steal, er, be inspired by what they find! 🙂

I have been especially into all the home decor stuff. There are just SOOOO many great ideas floating around about how to take so-so furniture and make is SO-SO FABULOUS! Some of you may recall when we tried our hand at making a junky set of bedroom dressers look cute, and I think we did pretty good for a first attempt (you can find that post here if you weren’t a reader at the time). I’d really like to try my hand a new piece, as it won’t be too long before we need more drawers for Darah and her wardrobe of wonders. 😉

So what’s the best way to get started? My opinions is to start with furniture that you don’t have too much money invested in if you are going to make “improvements” to it. Sometimes, DIY projects fail, and if you only have $20 in a piece, then the risk wasn’t so high. But the potential for something very cool to come out of it is quite high, indeed! You can check out your classifieds, garage sales, etc. for a chest of drawers for sale, and I bet you can find something with good bones that just needs a bit of tlc and that is available for a song. Then put a bit of time and a bit of money into it, and make it your own!

Of course, you could always just get yourself something new and gorgeous right from the start. That’s not a possibility for us right now, but I have been surprised by the places online that carry cute furniture for a reasonable price. So there’s hope for all us to have very cute furniture at home, whatever our budgets!

Seriously, send me your Pinterest pages. I’m addicted…

Fabulous Casual Fashion: Stellarocco (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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When I go shopping for clothes, I’m usually at my favorite thrift store. But whether I’m shopping second hand or shopping online, I’m very consistent about one thing: I always shop for Darah first.

Do you do this, too?! I think there are a few reasons.
1. The odds are better that whatever I pick out will fit Darah, and with me, you just never know!
2. Little girl’s clothes are CUTE!
3. I seem to get more joy out of spending on her than myself. I’m not really sure what that’s about, but it is true.

As a result, I often find myself with a closet stuffed with NOTHINGTOWEAR. I seriously wear the same 5 shirts over and over and over again. I keep going back to the tops that are as cute as possible while also being as comfortable as possible. Now you see why most of my wardrobe goes untouched.

I just added a 6th shirt to the constant rotation (I’m sure Tim and Darah are grateful for the change of scenery!). It’s from a very cute online retailer called Stellarocco. It’s the Palm Berries Cap Sleeve Top. Let me tell you why I love it so much.
1. It is really cute and on-trend! I can’t say that for too many things in my wardrobe, so it is really refreshing to have something updated like this.

2. The color is very pretty! Greens and purples are some of my favorite colors to wear, so this top just feels like me.

3. The cap sleeves are a little bit unique, and I love that. It gives a very flattering neckline.

4. The material is SO SOFT. Like, you’ll want to wear it to sleep after wearing it all day because it is so comfy. I may or may not have actually done this once or twice…

5. The price is fair. This runs for $26, and do keep in mind that the designs are unique to this company and rendered by an artist. Each shirt also gets silk-screened by hand. I’d say it is a tremendous value!

Buy it!: Stellarocco has a fantastic line of tees and tops featuring modern, botanical prints. There are looks to suit everyone there!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the short-sleeve shirt of your choice from Stellarocco! Woo hoow! The contest will run until July 9th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: Pick out your shirt at Stellarocco and then come back here and tell me the style name, color and size (choose wisely, as the winner will get what they choose for this entry).

My answer: If I could pick out another shirt, I would get the songbirds shirt in creme, size large!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Stellarocco on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS or email

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

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

ErgoSleek Pen from Baumgartens (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Do you ever struggle with gifts for men? You are not alone! They are notoriously difficult to shop for. I don’t think it is because they are inherently “anti-stuff,” but rather, that the entire consumer market is geared toward women…even when the person being shopped for is a man! It’s a frustrating situation, and the result is a vicious cycle where women are labeled as hardcore shoppers and men tend to get a free pass from running errands. It’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophesy that if you tell a group of people that shopping isn’t of interest to them, they will start to believe it and accept it as fact. And the reverse is true for a group that is told they were born to shop.

I’ll stop with my rant about consumer behavior, and get back to the topic at hand, which is a really neat gift idea I have for any man in your life. While I think it would be great for a woman, too, I think many men would be excited about it because it is very functional (something men tend to appreciate in a gift) but not at all boring. It’s a very clever writing instrument called the PenAgain ErgoSleek. It serves a very clear purpose (it’s a pen, after all), but it is also very interesting because of its unique design.

From their website, “Until now, pens have typically been designed with only two things in mind: money and manufacturability. But the PenAgain’s primary focus is comfort.

The human hand dictates the design. Even though it may feel strange, try to resist the urge to grip the pen with your fingers. Just let your hand relax, and let the weight of your hand hold the pen in place. You’ll feel tension of writing melt away.”

We received the pen in black to try, and I immediately handed it over to Tim. He’s the type of person who would be really drawn to something created for optimal comfort and performance. It is, indeed, a VERY cool pen. Once you get used to how it feels, getting hand cramps while writing will be a thing of the past! If you know someone who appreciates having the best of something or who does a lot of writing, then this is a terrific gift option. It is also reasonably priced at $17.99!

The ErgoSleek pen is available from Baumgartens, which is a company that has been around for over 60 years and that focuses on products for the home and office that are eco-friendly. It is a terrific place to shop around and find a great selection of gift ideas where function beautifully merges with unique design. Definitely pop over and take a look.

Win it!: TWO lucky Stuff Parents Need winners will each win an ErgoSleek! The contest will run until July 8th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: Like Baumgartens on Facebook. Then, return to this post and leave a comment that you did so!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow PenAgainUSA on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

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

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

No ‘Poo Update

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Many of you may recall that a few weeks ago, I announced that I would stop shampooing my hair.

I swear it isn’t as gross as you think!

Tim and I have both been using baking soda and vinegar as alternatives to shampoo and conditioners for a few weeks, and on the whole, we’re quite pleased with the results!

My hair is very dry, and it took about 3 washes with the new stuff before I thought my hair started to look really and truly great. Tim has very oily hair, and it took about 5-6 washes for him to reach the same place. There is a transition, but it is really worth it. And honestly, you hair doesn’t look that gross in the interim…just slightly dirty. You will most likely be much more aware of how it looks than anyone else. If you are going to do this, start out on a Friday, and by the middle of the following week, your hair will look so much better than it ever did with shampoo!

I did use shampoo one time in the past few weeks. We were on a last-minute trip and I just didn’t have a way to easily pack our new accouterments. When I shampooed with the traditional stuff, I won’t lie…it felt great! Baking soda doesn’t suds up at all. So that was nice. But once my hair dried, I could IMMEDIATELY tell a difference…my hair felt much less soft and much frizzier than it was while using baking soda. I’m actually really glad I used shampoo once because it helped me see very clearly just how much better my hair was doing without it!

I don’t have any pictures because my hair mostly just looks like my hair to me, only a bit shinier and easier to work with. I’m not going to tell you that I don’t still have bad hair days, because I do, but the problem now has to do with my hair just feeling TOO thick and full sometimes. There are worse problems to have, don’t you think?

And my hair used to feel dirty after 2 days, but now it feels dirty after 3. That’s a time saver!

So, yeah. I’m all about the “no ‘poo” movement. Some friends have advised that there may come a point where its magic is not as strong, and that will be ok if it happens. I’ll be sure to let you know, though!

The Most Innovative Bottle (Not) On the Market: BARE (Coming January 2012)

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Today I’m writing a post of the sort I’ve never written before. I’m telling you all about a product that doesn’t technically even exist yet. It’s called BARE, and it is a bottle that is going to revolutionize the way women who need to use bottles (for whatever variety of reasons) feed their babies.

It won’t surprise you at all to hear that this bottle was created by a mom who was struggling to find a good feeding solution for her baby. Moms are so smart! It is truly air-free, and is designed so that if you need to use a bottle only part-time, the baby is still learning about proper latch and is much less likely to start preferring the bottle to the breast, as the bottle is made to mimic the breast in a way like not other bottle on the market. As a mom who worked and breast-fed, I think this is exciting news. I bought the most breast-friendly bottles that I could, but breastfeeding was still a struggle and Darah weaned herself earlier than I would have liked.

Here’s a diagram to show you how the bottle is designed to keep the baby interested in the breast.
Even if your child is weaned from the breast, this bottle still has some incredible benefits, such as the fact that it helps babies learn how to only take what they need. It also keeps babies from feeding while fully lying down (such as at night when going to bed). This keeps milk from being a comfort item/sleep aid and keeps it as a source of nourishment. That’s not to say that you couldn’t give your child any milk before bed, but this would keep a baby from going to bed with a bottle and sucking on it even when no longer hungry. Make sense?

Additionally, the air-free feature of the bottle keeps baby backwash and air out of the bottle, which virtually eliminates bacterial growth that can happen so easily and spoil the milk, often without moms and dads ever realizing what happened until they are dealing with a baby with an upset tummy 30 minutes later.

Ok, so the bottle rocks, but it isn’t yet on the market. Why am I telling you about it now? Because Priska, the founder, is trying to get enough sponsorship to actually turn the concept into a reality. There’s a project running for her at a very cool site called Kickstarter.com. She’s getting sponsors by selling bottles in advance, basically. You can read all about the various sponsorship levels. You can even be a sponsor for just $1 (every single dollar counts!). To be eligible for a free bottle when they are made, a $15 donation is needed (that is the ARV of the bottles, so it really is just like buying a bottle in advance).

So now I’m asking you, my readers, as moms and dads, grandparents and anyone else who has a little tiny love in your life, to help this truly awesome bottle be able to hit the scene. Support a mompreneur with a product that will make life a little less hectic for new parents! I have just signed up at the $15 level, myself, so I’m not just talking the talk, I’m also walking the walk!

Please let me know if you jump in and support this project at any level!

Disclaimer: I have not received any free product in exchange for this post, but have been compensated for my time by QuestionMoms.com. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Buy Vitamins for Your Family: Give Vitamins to Others (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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I’m SO excited about the company I am featuring today. It is going to blow you away!

It’s called Vitamma, and it is an online shop that offers affordable multi-vitamins for men, women and children. Vitamma also offers prenatal vitamins. A 90-day supply of vitamins runs a very affordable $14.99.

“Very nice, Tiffany…but I can’t say that blows me away.”

Fair enough. But I’m not finished yet!

For every bottle that is purchased, Vitamma will provide 3 children with 2 years of vitamin A in countries where deficiencies run high.

Did you read that? Three children each get a 2 year supply of Vitamin A when you buy just one bottle of vitamins.

That is soooooooo awesome!

Vitamma is working very hard to help children around the world while also helping you look after your own family’s health. I’m truly blown away that they are able to offer so much for such an affordable price. These vitamins are excellent to buy for your own family, and they also make wonderful gifts since each purchase has such a profound impact on 3 children.

Buy it!: Vitamma vitamins can be purchased for $14.99. If your personal vitamin supply is running low, or if you are in need of a very cool gift, please consider making a purchase. Think of the difference you will be making!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a bottle of vitamins from Vitamma! The contest will run until July 7th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: Check out Vitamma’s “Our Cause” page and tell me something you learned there.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Vitamma on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by RSS or email

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

Disclosure: I received a complimentary bottle of vitamins for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Gourmet Gift Baskets Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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I’m all about simple DIY projects that make fabulous gifts. One thing that is not too hard to do, for example, is to put together a cute gift basket for someone. Even if you don’t know the person very well, you can still put together something fabulous for not much money. All you have to do is the following:

1. Scour thrift stores and yard sales until you find the perfect basket

2. Buy lots of different cute products that look nice together but that are each different and unique. In the case of food, this may mean buying products that come with individual packets and only using one of two of them. If you want something gourmet and different, this will mean a special trip to the most posh market in your area (in my case, that’s a 20 minute drive by interstate each way).

3. Make the arrangement visually appealing. You need tiers in your gift basket, as well as an overall sense of symmetry. This is a bit complicated, since every item in your basket will be different. If I were doing this, I’d probably spend at least half an hour on it, as I would fail numerous times!

4. Get some of that clear gift wrap (where do you buy that?!)

5. Find a large bow that is cute! If you are like me, you don’t have one, so you’ll need to go buy one.

6. Deliver the goodies to the recipient (unless they don’t live in your town, in which case proceed to steps 7 and 8).

7. Find a box that is big enough for the gift basket.

8. Pay a stupid amount of money to mail it.

Ok, all done! Whew!

What’s that, you say? That doesn’t sound easy AT ALL???? Yeah, I’m with you. I actually think it can be easy, but it can also be REALLY hard! And sometimes you realize that you need a nice gift next week and you have ZERO time to get your craft on! That’s where Gourmetgiftbaskets.com comes in! They have a fantastic selection of gift baskets for most any person and any occasion. Here’s the one we received:


When it arrived, I thought, “This is too pretty to eat!” And then I looked at all the yummy, gourmet goodies inside. My next thought was, “Where are the scissors so I can break into this thing?!” At least I had enough discipline to snap a shot before I started munching away. Every single item in the basket was delicious, and there were many yummy treats that were totally new to me, which was fun.

The gift basket I reviewed retails for $59.99. I totally hear you…that’s not very cheap! But that’s exactly why I broke down what it would take for you to make this yourself. Sometimes it is really and truly worth the money to let a professional handle it all for you. I’d estimate that for me to re-create this basket with similar items would take me several hours and at least 2/3 of the cost of the gift basket I could buy here. That means that the price is totally worth it in my book!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win the same gourmet gift basket I received! Yum! The contest will run until July 6th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to 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: Gourmetgiftbaskets.com wants to be friends on Facebook! All you have to do is like them, then come back here and tell me you did so!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Post a note on Gourmetgiftbasket.com’s Facebook wall about your favorite gift basket.
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need by email or RSS.

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

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