review - Stuff Parents Need

Duux: High-Tech Fashion Meets Function!

March 5, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

by Alanna Peters

I received product from Duux for this post. All thoughts and opinions listed here are my own.

Do you regularly use an air humidifier to reduce congestion when your little one has a cold? We are no stranger to colds at our house. My 3 1/2 year old actually had a very nasty cough/congestion when we first had the new baby. I was so worried that the germs would get passed on to her! The second night baby was home I noticed that she seemed to be a little congested. I wanted to try to nip it in the bud as early as possible, so I figured a humidifier would be a great idea. Thankfully I had a brand new Duux air humidifier on hand!

In the past we had a big, bulky humidifier that was ugly and awkward. The water reservoir was too big to fit in the sink for filling and therefore was extremely hard to wash as well. I was always worried that there was so much mold and bacteria left in the tank that the air it was putting out was actually harming us instead of hurting us! I was thrilled to try the Duux air humidifier which not only is small and easy to manage, but it also looks very pretty too.

The ultrasonic technology that Duxx uses provides an immediate cool mist. (A cool mist is safer than hot steam since there is no risk of your child getting burned.) It uses 80% less power than other humidifiers and protects your family from harmful bacteria and steam. It is filter-less and also features a built-in ionizer to keep the air clean. The nightlight feature is great for helping a child feel safe (or for softly lighting the room during midnight nursing sessions!). The water tank will last up to 16 hours.

As soon as I saw the Duux humidifier I loved it. As an artist and designer, I even fell in love with the packaging! (Don’t worry, I’ll spare you all the packaging photos I took.) The humidifier itself is a glowing white orb that easily fits in your hands and sink. Setup was a breeze – I easily filled the tank in my sink and once filled, all I had to do was set the top back on and plug it in. It is very easy to operate. The buttons are right on top and there is a button to turn it on/off, a button to set it on a timer (press once for one hour, twice for two hours, and so on), a button to set it to 30-second intervals (on for 30 seconds, off for 30 seconds), and a button to turn the night light on/off. Even without the nightlight on there is a very soft internal glow so that you can easily manage the buttons in the dark (the picture doesn’t really do it justice…it’s very cool). I decided that I liked the 30-second interval setting the best since my tiny nursery was getting overly humidified with the continuously-on setting. Another cool thing is the option for aromatherapy – I added a couple drops of lavender oil to the tank and the nursery smelled wonderful!

Have you ever heard of the Duux brand? I hadn’t, but I was familiar with Scandinavian Child, who also offers the popular Svan brand. Scandinavian Child is a leading designer of stylish children’s products and Duux is their new line of high quality baby electronics. Along with the Ultrasonic Air Humidifier I tested, Duux offers some other great products that feature contemporary design and neutral modern colors, such as the Air Purifier and the Baby Projector. The clean look of the Air Humidifier was a great fit for my contemporary nursery/office, but they also offer an adorable Mushroom Humidifier that would be super cute in a kids’ room!

Duux is based in the Netherlands and was founded by Mark Angenent in 2008. Their mission is to offer the most innovative and reliable baby electrics, not only with great design, but with the latest technologies and optimum ease of use to support parents and newborns during their first exciting years. The Duux line is proof that high-tech products can be functional and beautiful!

Want to buy it? The Duux Ultrasonic Air Humidifier retails for $74.95. Find out more about it and the other Duux products at www.DuuxUsa.com. You can also find them on social media!

Follow Duux on:

Twitter: @duuxusa

Facebook: /duuxusa

Why We Dance Every Day: Girls Dancewear Find

March 1, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Special thanks to CostumeSuperCenter.com for providing the dance costume for review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own, as always.

Every single parent has experienced the tension between playing with your kids and getting some much-needed housework done. I’m not talking about general upkeep stuff. I’m talking about, “If I don’t get these dishes washed we won’t have anything to eat on for dinner” or “If I don’t do a load of laundry, the kids will be wearing their birthday suits to school tomorrow.”

When I find myself in that situation (pretty much daily), I almost always turn on some really fun music (like my Disney Pandora channel) and let the girls start singing and dancing. I will join them for a few dance moves, and then dance back over to whatever chore I’m working on. It feels more seamless to the girls for me to be singing along even if I’m not right next to them, and to have me there every few minutes dancing beside them. It also gives me a little boost of energy and seems to help me work faster.

Putting on some music is nearly effortless for me, and the girls just love it. There are many great benefits to dancing, and I feel good about the exercise they are getting by running around in circles and leaping through the air (or hopping, in Layah’s case). Dancing also seems to be the activity that causes the least amount of frustration between the two girls; they play beautifully together when they are dancing!

I do keep a rather full costume box so that the girls can play dress up during their dancing sessions. Layah has been having to make do with her sister’s costumes that are too big for her, but now she has her own dance costume. And she adores it! While it doesn’t look a thing like Elsa’s outfit from Frozen, she still believes that she is Elsa when she puts it on, and she sings, “Let it Go!” at the top of her lungs while she twirls around. She even does the “throw off your crown” move!

So what about you? Do you ever think to just turn on some music and let the kids sing and dance around the house for a little while? And do your kids like to play dress up any time they are putting on a show? We run the gamut here, from Pink Swan Princess to super hero, and sometimes both at the same time. All set to music. And I always take a moment to look up from my chores and watch my girls loving life and just being kids. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of my day.

Honest Company Conditioning Mist Review: An Honest Assessment

February 26, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

This is the third item from The Honest Company that I’ve reviewed recently. Please do take a moment to check out my other Honest Company reviews if you are new to The Honest Company and want to learn more about which products to buy and which ones to avoid. I also clue you in on how to get a bunch of stuff free if you are a new customer!

Simply put, we LOVE Honest Conditioning Mist. I’ve purchased 3 at this point, having given away 2 as gifts. If you’ve got a little one in your house with enough hair to run a brush through, then this product will serve you well.

The scent is very light and very mild, and it works like a detangler on knots. My daughter feels spoiled every time we use it on her, because she knows that conditioner softens the hair, so getting to use this is like getting to have conditioner twice :-).

This is another great add-on product for your bundle, as if you put it in your bundle, you’ll actually pay more for it than the retail price, and if you tack it on as an extra, you’ll get it at a 25% discount.

Have you tried the Honest Conditioning Mist, yet? Are you a fan like we are?

How to Organize and Store Wrapping Paper (Giveaway!)

February 25, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 76 Comments

I don’t know what the gift wrap situation is in your house, but my husband is NOT a fan of having tons and tons of rolls. In fact, he has told me that he would be perfectly happy using up an entire roll before ever buying another one.

I’m not a fan of the art of gift wrapping (I wrap presents like a 5 year old…no, seriously). But I DO appreciate having a little variety in my wrapping paper choices (or, let’s be real, my gift bag choices). So we compromise, and I only purchase 2 or 3 rolls every year to replace the ones that get used up. I show EPIC restraint during the after Christmas sales, let me tell you!

Even so, over the years all of our gift wrap supplies have grown a bit, and take up 2 boxes that slide under the bed instead of just 1. Basically, it’s a mess, and for the size house we have (under 1400 square feet) wrapping paper is taking up too much precious real estate.

The folks at Wrap iT recently asked me to try out their product designed to organize gift wrap. When it came in the mail, I set it out next to all of our supplies and thought, “Um, I don’t think so!”

So I got the storage bag, which is designed to go under your bed, or even hang up in the closet if you like. Even though I noted all the pockets and storage areas, I still wasn’t convinced that it was going to hold everything.

So then I started finding homes for everything, and little by little, my big pile of wrapping paper supplies started to dwindle.

I kept the birthday wrapping paper on one side, and the Christmas wrap on the other. The inside of the Wrap iT also had space for tape and ribbons.

The outside of the Wrap iT had a lot of pockets, and that’s where I put my boxes, tissue paper, gift bags, gift tags, scissors, markers and bows.

Yes, indeed, the Wrap iT held that entire pile of stuff. And now the space we have devoted to storing gift wrap supplies is cut in half, and instead of having to drag out two boxes any time we want to wrap something, we only have to reach for one thing.

I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, friends, the Wrap iT works! If you want to see for yourself how Wrap iT works (in 100 seconds!) check out this video.

Save 25%

I’ve got a coupon code just for my readers so that you can keep the cost down if you’d like to have Wrap iT in your home! Use code SPNRocks25 at checkout and the price goes down from $59.97 to $44.97. This would be an AWESOME gift for a college grad, newlywed, or anyone who is just looking to get more organized. We love our Wrap iT and we’ll never go back to boxes under the bed!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is also going to WIN a Deluxe Wrap iT! If you purchase the product using the coupon code and then go on to win the giveaway, your purchase will be refunded! 🙂
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

How to Unlock the Magic and Get Free Children’s Books Online

February 23, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

I am a member of Bookboard’s Blog Ambassador program. I am compensated, from time to time, with free products and monetary payments. Any views expressed in this post are completely my own.

I’ve been writing about Bookboard for over a year now. This is an online digital library subscription service that we absolutely love. At Bookboard, you’ll find an amazing assortment of books for every reading level, from pre-readers to young adult!

photo credit: Jenn Durfey via photopin cc

I’ve got a complete review of Bookboard here if you’d like to get all of the details. But what I want to stress to you today if you haven’t tried it yet is that you can unlock this service for a period of time FOR FREE. Your credit card information is NOT collected…Bookboard couldn’t charge you if they tried! 🙂

If you are like me, you’ve signed up for subscription service trials before and then forgotten about them…that is, until your credit card bill came. Darn it!!! But that’s not the case for Bookboard. When you sign up for the free trial, there are truly no strings attached; nothing to remember to cancel. While the exact number of books you’ll get to read for free varies by age range, a safe bet is right around 8 (I think we read 14 before our trial was over, so it may be more books for younger readers?).

In any case, it is a very generous and fun trial. Bookboard provides such a nice free trial because they believe that you will love the service so much that you’ll want to subscribe. Subscriptions are as low as $4.99/month (if you purchase a 6 month subscription). In my opinion, it is a BARGAIN. But why don’t you decide for yourself and check out Bookboard today for free? It’s like going to the library without having to leave the house! 🙂

Honest Company Hand Soap Review: An Honest Assessment

February 20, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

If you are new to the blog, I have just started sharing my opinions about the Honest.com (or The Honest Company) products I have tried so far. I earn referral credit with the company if you sign up to try them out, just as any other member would. I haven’t been asked to post these reviews, but I wanted to because I’ve had trouble finding reviews of the individual products online when I have looked.

Here’s a list of Honest Company reviews I have created. And if you are new to The Honest Company, here’s the post you should read first about how to get all 3 of their trials for free.

Honest.com Hand Soap

There are 3 scents available of Honest Hand Soap. At this point, I have tried Lemongrass and Mandarin. And I have absolutely loved both.

I keep the Lemongrass in our primary bathroom. My entire family uses it, including my 21-month-old, and I feel absolutely no concerns about that, as The Honest Company hand soap contains no harsh chemicals whatsoever. It produces a good lather, without being overly sudsy, and the smell is fantastic (very clean and green), but doesn’t linger long after you have finished washing your hands, which I like.

I keep the Mandarin Hand Soap in our kitchen, which feels like the right spot for this fruity and fresh scent.

The Honest Company Hand Soaps retail for $4.95 each, which I think is a good price. A word of caution: I wouldn’t add them to your $35.95/month bundle, but would instead order them as add-ons, which you can get for a 25% discount. Since they are only $4.95 each, to add them to your bundle actually makes them cost more than they would if ordered on their own! A bundle consists of 5 items, which means that each item will cost you just over $7. Make sense?

I highly recommend these soaps, and am now in the habit of adding one on to my bundles each month for a great price! They also would make for very nice hostess gifts because they are both practical and cute!

Why I Love My Zubie Key

February 17, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Zubie. All opinions are 100% mine.

Zubie is the ultimate road trip buddy! I've been using my Zubie key for the last 8 weeks, and I love that it is measuring some of my driving skills (and deficiencies) to help me to be better (and more gas-efficient!) driver.

I recently checked out my driving score with Zubie (which actually measures how Tim and I jointly drive since we both use the car). Not too bad, if I say so myself!

The area that needs the most work is on braking. And I do hate to throw my dear Tim under the bus, but it seems he has a bit of a heavy foot on the brakes, as 90% of the hard brake reports are from his driving sessions. Before I start to sound like I'm implying that he's an inferior driver, let me just go ahead and tell on myself for my faults: I'm terribly pokey, and I will do almost anything to avoid getting on interstates. So, I'm hardly without my driving flaws!

I know we are just about to launch into graduation season (really…it's just 3 months away!). This would e a great gift for a high school or even college grad to help them learn to fine tune their driving skills, and to use when planning trips with friends, or to keep up with their family members if others have the Zubie key, as well.

I love how discreet the installed Zubie key is. And I especially love that it isn't terribly easy for would-be thieves to see, either. in the unfortunate event that your car is stolen (crazy, but it happens!) the Zubie key will report back to you exactly where it is! I would have LOVED to have had something like this in my car when I lived in Memphis (very high car theft rate there).

Sound like something you'd like to have or like to give as a gift? Then hit the road with Zubie! Order today and SAVE 20% by using code SAVE20FEB. The discount applies to your Zubie key plus one year of service! Offer good through March 31, 2014. Shipping charges apply.

And don't forget to follow Zubie on Twitter as well as on Facebook. That's the best way to keep up with discounts, promotions, and cool ways that others are putting their Zubie keys to work!

An Honest Assessment: My Thoughts on (Almost) Every Honest.com Product

February 15, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 45 Comments

I’ve been using Honest.com products (also known as The Honest Company) for a few months, now, and I wanted to create this post as a landing page for all of my honest company product reviews. I am not being paid to talk with you about these products, though I do earn a referral credit if you chose to sign up to try the products for yourself (every person who subscribes can refer others for credit).

Some of the products I have tried I absolutely adore, and others have been an honest disappointment. As I post reviews, I will create links below so you can read for yourself if I think the product is a “must try” or a “pass.”

If you’ve never tried Honest.com products before and want to know where buy honest company products, start by reading about how to get Honest.com products for free. There’s a way to get all 3 of their free trials at once! 🙂

Below you will find my honest company review for almost every honest product.

Honest Auto Dishwasher Gel

Honest Hand Soap

Honest Conditioning Mist

Honest Bathroom Cleaner

Honest Organic Dish Towels

Honest Stain Remover

Honest Bar Soap

Honest Scrubber Sponge

Honest Dishwasher Pods

Honest Bug Spray

Honest Sunscreen

Honest Soothing Bottom Wash

Honest Dish Brush

Honest Diapers

Honest Wipes

Honest Laundry Detergent

Honest Canvas Tote

Honest Shampoo + Body Wash

Honest Conditioner

Honest Oxy Boost

Honest 3-in-1 Facial Towelettes

Honest Swim Diapers

Honest Organic Cotton Blanket

Honest Complete for Men Once Daily Multivitamin

Honest Organic Shave Oil

Honest Organic Healing Balm

Honest Prenatal Vitamins

Honest Mineral Spray Sunscreen

To be reviewed (let me know if there’s a product on this list you want to see reviewed ASAP!):

Honest Multi-Surface Cleaner

Honest Floor Cleaner

Honest Dryer Cloths

Honest Training Pants

Honest Body Oil

Honest Kid’s Toothpaste

Honest Kids’ Toothpaste

Honest Laundry Pods

Honest Healing Balm

Honest Organic Baby Powder

Honest Face & Body Lotion

Honest Foaming Soap

Honest Kid’s Sunglasses

Honest Sunscreen Stick

Honest Organic Breathe Easy Rub

Foaming Hand Soap

Kid’s Multivitamins

DHA/Omega-3 Vitamins

Kid’s Immunity Boost

Baby & Toddler Multi Powder

Soy Candles

Honest Company Auto Dishwasher Gel Review: An Honest Assessment

February 15, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 18 Comments

Affiliate links are included. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today I’m going to share my thoughts with you on The Honest Company’s Auto Dishwasher Gel. You can find more information about the product here, and you can also click here to find a list my product reviews where I have reviews for almost every Honest Company product. If you are new to Honest.com, don’t miss out on the 3 free trials you can get at once.

I wanted to love Honest Auto Dishwasher Gel. I REALLY wanted to, friends. And I gave it 4 different tries before reaching the conclusion that for me, this product just doesn’t work. 🙁

My dishes looked like this every time after I use this product:

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that different dishwashers work differently, but I don’t normally have dishes that look like this. I’ll also be the first to tell you that I’m not the type of person who washes her dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Yes, I’ll scrape off big chunks of food, but I fully expect my dishwasher to earn its keep around here by ACTUALLY WASHING THE DISHES. If you are a pre-washer, then this product may do just fine. And there are certainly reasons to try it, if you tend to pre-clean your dishes. The Honest Company’s Auto Dish Gel has the following perks (all from the company’s website):

Contains NO bleach or bleaching agents guaranteed not to etch metal / silver
100% Natural / Non-toxic / Biodegradable / pH Neutral
Septic tank & gray-water system safe

But alas, for me, it was yet another disappointing attempt to find an eco-friendly dishwashing detergent that got the job done. In my opinion, this is a product to pass over when making your bundle selection, or when shopping a la carte from the website.

Have you tried this product? Same experience as me, or did you like it?