review - Stuff Parents Need

Fun New Plush for the Stuffed Animal Fans: Zoonicorns

May 18, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Products provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

My girls play with stuffed animals (we call them loveys) more than any other type of toy. I was the same way as a child, so I’m definitely an easy sell on any new plush creatures. So I was excited to get to test out a brand new line of plush toys that also come with a story book. Check out the Zoonicorns.

This set of zebra/unicorn hybrids are a very big hit with my girls. Both of my girls seem to prefer to play with all 4 of them at one time, so rather than dividing the set, they just take turns with the entire lot.

I like the concept behind the stuffed animals, as they are meant to go hand-in-hand with a story (and more books are on the way). But I have to say that the story didn’t really impress me too much. I wanted to get to see more of each Zoonicorn’s unique personality come out in the book than what was presented. And the story was about a baby buffalo who was so sad to be fenced in at a zoo and who wished she could run free. I thought it was kind of a bummer, really! But as I understand it, the Zoonicorns have a purpose to help anxious young zoo animals feel better and learn important life lessons while they dream. Maybe I just need to read a few more for it to click with me.

But for now, I’d vote to skip the book, personally, and just get the super cute plush figures. Each 7 inch Zoonicorn is supposed to have a very unique personality. But since they look pretty much exactly the same except for their colors, my advice is to just get the color your child will like best, or to go all in and get the whole set, as my kids seem thrilled to have a mini collections of Zoonicorns. I haven’t been blown away by the Zoonicorns, and my kids didn’t like the book, either, but the plush loveys are big winners, for sure.

Zoonicorns are currently available for $14.95 each and the book, Buffy Meets the Zoonicorns, is available for $16.95.

Surprise, Surprise! I Actually Liked the “Skincare” Beauty Box 5!

May 15, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Complimentary box provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I only promote what I love!

Friends, if you haven’t seen my previous Beauty Box 5 reviews, you may want to take a moment to check them out. I always give you brutal honest truth about what I think about the offerings in this highly affordable beauty subscription box. Sometimes I’m super impressed, and sometimes I’m totally underwhelmed. But I still think this box, which is just $8.75/box when you go for the annual subscription, is well worth the risk you take by sometimes getting a dud or a sample in your box that you didn’t really want.

Here’s what I’ve reviewed so far (lots of video unboxings, so be sure to check them out if that’s your thing!).

Curious to learn more? Check out my other Beauty Box 5 reviews below.

July’s Beauty Box 5

November’s Beauty Box 5

December’s Beauty Box 5

January’s Beauty Box 5

February’s Beauty Box 5

March’s Beauty Box 5

April’s Beauty Box 5

Based on my previous reviews and my particular likes and dislikes, when I heard that the May box was all about skin care I was pretty much certain that I was going to hate it. But the joke’s on me, friends, because this actually turned out to be one of my favorites! Check out my video below and let me know which item on your list would be your favorite (also? Someone please clue me in on how to actually take care of your cuticles. I’m totally lost!).

Tub Toy Upgrade: A Fun Find for Multiple Ages!

May 14, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Complimentary product provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

My girls are 2 years and 9 months apart (currently ages 3 and getting close to 6!). More often than not, they still take baths together, but they definitely have different interests in which toys they like to play with at bath time.

I’ve been on the lookout for something that could appeal to them both so that our small bathroom doesn’t become overrun with two different sets of tub toys. I really like what we found from the brand Yookidoo, which you can find at Toys R Us.

This is the Stack n Spray Tub Fountain, and with the help of a few batteries (not included, FYI) your kids will enjoy the fun little fountain the arises from this toy.

The toy comes with several accessory pieces, all designed to go on top of the fountain and even on top of one another. The kids really seem to enjoy seeing the water come out in fun different ways based on the top they select. My girls have been playing with this for a few weeks now, and they are not at all bored with it, which I think is a very good sign.

Based on my observations, I think this is a toy that will be a good match for siblings who take baths together. It’s also got a lot of potential to be a bath toy that sticks around for a while. You might consider buying it for your toddler, for example, and letting them play with it for a few months, then putting it away for a few months if they start to lose interest. They will only need a break from it before being very excited to see it again!

I’m also happy, so far, with the condition of the toys after being played with nightly for a few weeks. So far, no molding issues! 🙂

The Yookidoo Stack n Spray Tub Fountain is currently available at Toys R Us for $29.99.

Do your kids have a favorite tub toy? I’d love to hear about it!

6 Vacuums Later, We’ve Found a Winner (Giveaway!!!)

May 4, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 29 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CleaningUntangled #CollectiveBias

So I’m just 5 days shy of my 13th wedding anniversary, friends. THIRTEEN YEARS!!! My marriage is officially a teenager, so I guess that means that hormone-induced fits of rage are just right around the corner for us! 😉

Just kidding. We act like total “old marrieds” now. And in our bakers dozen years of marriage, we have learned quite a few things about what works for our home and what doesn’t. Today I want to share with you what I’ve learned about what I need in a vacuum. I have been through 5 different types of vacuums over past 13 years (canister, upright, bagged, bag-less, robot, fancy brand, etc.).

This weekend we welcomed vacuum number 6. And this is the vacuum, I think, that actually “gets” us. It’s the Eureka Brushroll Clean™ with SuctionSeal® and so far, it seems to have answers to all of the problems we have encountered with our previous vacuums.

#1: Dealing with Hair

You guys, I shed like a cat. And speaking of cats, we have 2 of them (one is long-haired and one is medium haired…both shed like…well…you know…). We also have two little girls with full heads of hair (one who wishes to rock the Rapunzel look) and my husband is a lucky man, because he, too, has a head full of hair! So…yeah, we’re a hairy house. Tufts of hair float around here like it’s the Wild West and they are the tumbleweeds.

Sure, previous vacuums have sucked up the hair. Well, sort of. What actually happens is that the hair gets stuck in the roller brushes, and then we have to remember to clean them out because otherwise it impacts how well the vacuum works, overall. So every month or so, we have to give our vacuums a hair cut. Gross.

This is our old vacuum only a few weeks after it’s latest “haircut.”

Check out what the Eureka Brushroll Clean™ with SuctionSeal® is rockin’. It has a self-cleaning brushroll. With the push of a button, your brushroll can de-shed itself and you can go on about your cleaning business, all without having to take that extra time to clean your device that is supposed to be doing all the cleaning. Well played, Eureka.

#2 Scattering Small Debris

Ok, so I think this was the most shocking thing about our “fancy pants” vacuum: if it encountered very lightweight debris (teeny scraps of paper, for example) it scattered almost as much of the stuff on the floor as it picked up. So it took twice as long to vacuum those areas, and in the end, it was still only half as good as it should have been. Often times we just left the vacuum alone and reached for the broom.

This vacuum, however, has a suction seal. When the vacuum is running, this yellow part you see below is right up against the floor, creating a barrier so that little flying particles can’t escape the wrath of the vacuum. That. Is. Awesome.

#3: Hardwood AND Carpet? Not Happening

One of our vacuums in the past was AMAZING on carpet, but TERRIBLE on hardwood. And we’ve had a vacuum with the opposite strengths. There was a several year-long stretch in my marriage where we had to use two separate vacuums to get our floors cleaned every time we vacuumed. That mess stopped dead in its tracks once we had our first child and the space in our home had a new premium thanks to all that baby gear. Our time became worth more, too. So we ditched one of the vacuums and just had floors that didn’t look as clean. It was kind of rough, friends.

See that button above? All you have to do is give it a push while you are vacuuming and the brushroll will turn off, or turn on. This makes it effortless to transition from carpet to hardwood. Our entire downstairs is hardwood with large rugs on top, so this feature is pretty much the best thing ever. With our old vacuum, we’d have to stop vacuuming and make adjustments to the settings of the vacuum. And let’s be honest…I rarely took the time to do that, which of course meant that my floors didn’t look as good as they could have. Now I just have this awesome button to get the job done, and I don’t even have to pause my work.

#4 Frequency of Vacuum TLC

One of our vacuums had a debris storage compartment that was so small that we had to stop and empty it out in the middle of one single vacuuming session. This is both a testament to the amount of hair that we really do have at home, as well as to the ridiculous design concept of that particular model. I believe the engineers of that one just honestly forgot that their awesome robot was supposed to clean something.

I immediately noticed the size of the canister that holds all the debris in this vacuum and I was impressed. We can get through 2 full sessions of vacuuming before we need to dump it, and since it is bag-less, disposing of all that debris takes mere seconds, which I love! And as we mentioned earlier, the amount of time we have to spend cutting hair out of the brush roll is nonexistent, which rocks!

Where to Find This Fabulous Vacuum

The Eureka Brushroll Clean™ with SuctionSeal® is, in my opinion, very fairly priced at $199 (I don’t want to talk about how much the fancy pants vacuum cost…), and you can find it at your nearest Walmart location or at Walmart.com. We are very pleased so far with this vacuum because it seems to have anticipated our concerns and addressed them all. What problems do you think this vacuum might solve for your family?

Win It!

Buying a vacuum that solves the problems other vacuums can’t is awesome. But what’s even more awesome is WINNING the vacuum that solves all these problems! Somebody is going to win the Eureka Brushroll Clean™ with SuctionSeal® and that somebody could be you! Might I also mention that someone is going to win a HOME MAKEOVER??? You can only win if you enter! Hop to it, friends!
Eureka #CleaningUntangled Sweeps!

Our Plan for Teaching Our 5-Year-Old to Swim

April 29, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Stearns Puddle Jumpers®. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Stuff Parents Need.

Darah, our 5 1/2 year old, has been enrolled in swimming lessons on two separate occasions. We’ve been enrolling her in group lessons, which were realistic for our budget (coming in around $6/class). The down side to group lessons is that your kid doesn’t actually get to spend much time practicing swimming. She might get a grand total of 7 or 8 minutes active swimming time because she has to wait her turn while every other child practices.

All this is to say, we have a child who is still doesn’t know how to swim. And I have noticed that we are starting to venture into territory where she feels much more uncertain and scared in the water. She used to be fearless! The time to act is right now. We have a very clear goal to have a swimmer in our house by the end of the summer.

We will be enrolling Darah in semi-private lessons and then in private lessons if needed. We are also going to be doing a lot of work on our own before those lessons start to help her increase her confidence and practice the skills she has already learned in the water. One of the items in our pool bag is the Stearns Puddle Jumper. This is a Coast Guard approved flotation device, and it is also a confidence booster for Darah.

When we took Darah to the pool this weekend, we explained to her that her Puddle Jumper would serve as a buddy of sorts while she is working on her swimming skills. At first, she was not too sure about whether or not the Puddle Jumper could help her.

That fear we have been battling surfaced immediately, and she didn’t want to let go of a grown up. So we talked a bit more about the importance of relaxing and trusting yourself in the water, and letting the Puddle Jumper be a support element. We started saying, “Trust my Puddle Jumper. Trust my body” over and over. And before you know it, she believed that her Puddle Jumper could help her stay afloat! Once she felt secure in the water, we started working on paddling/kicking skills. This is where we started to really have some fun! What a HUGE boost it was to her confidence for Darah to get herself from point A to point B by swimming! Darah asked if we could go swimming again the very next day. This is a big difference from earlier this month, when she would get a bit frustrated/reluctant at the suggestion of a trip to the swimming pool. Stearns Puddle Jumpers are exactly what we needed at this stage in the process of learning how to swim. We can push forward now with more technique work and with increasing confidence in the water!

You can find Puddle Jumpers and other flotation devices at StearnsFlotation.com.

The Perfect Dress for a Great Ball of Fire

April 28, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Outfit provided for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We are happy FabKids customers!

My little tiny baby bird is just about to turn 3. And friends, if these past couple of years are any indication, then what a mighty 3 she will be!

She has the sweetest, most demure given name, but her spirit is much closer to a great ball of fire, indeed!

And so, isn’t this the perfect little party dress for the occasion?

It’s the princess fire dress, and it’s available for $29.95 for FabKids VIP members (and it also comes with black leggings, not pictured). FabKids is an online clothing store for boys and girls, sizes 2T-12. You can shop a la carte directly from the website, or you can snag great discounts by joining the VIP program, which we have happily been members of for close to a year now!

The VIP program is SUPER easy and not at all scary, because you have complete freedom to make a purchase or not every month. On the first of each month, you get an email letting you know that new items are in the store for you to check out. If you see something you like, select it and it ships to you for $29.95, which is a discount over the retail price on the website. If you don’t see anything you want or need, or if the budget just doesn’t allow for a new outfit that month, you simply skip that month by the 5th of the month. You don’t have to call in; it’s a simple, easy to find section of the website where you click to skip.

Even though they send you reminders, should you forget to skip AND forget to select an outfit, you will be charged $29.95 and you will have a credit on the site to use any time you like. I have a few credits waiting for me, and I actually love having them, because sometimes FabKids will come out with a brand new outfit mid-month that I love and I can just snap it up on the spot!

Don’t forget to check out their extensive collection of shoes while you are on the site, as well as their sale section. You can pretty much always find some really good deals in addition to the cute, affordable outfit you select. Best of all? It comes straight to your front door!

Buy 1 Get One Free Offer

Right now FabKids has a great offer for anyone who isn’t already a member. Get signed up for the VIP program and buy your first outfit, and you’ll get to select a second outfit for free! Woo hoo! It’s a great time to join with savings like that, friend. And you can cancel your membership at any time if you decide it just isn’t for you.

The Video in Which I Pitch a Fit Over Lip Products

April 17, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Products provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own (which is probably obvious…).

Y’all want to see me get madder than a wet hen? And over something that is probably not worthy of my level of outrage? Thought so! Check out my review of the April 2015 Beauty Box 5 offerings in the video below:

You guys, I honestly do love this subscription box. It’s like a fun, affordable little surprise in the mail every month. You can order month-by-month, but the best deal is the year subscription for $99, which equals just $8.75/box shipped to you. You can’t expect to love everything, all the time, but I think that’s understandable. And besides, if you don’t like something you can always post a YouTube video where you pitch a fit about your over-abundance of lip products and sound like a brat! 😉

Curious to learn more? Check out my other Beauty Box 5 reviews below.

July’s Beauty Box 5

November’s Beauty Box 5

December’s Beauty Box 5

January’s Beauty Box 5

February’s Beauty Box 5

March’s Beauty Box 5

Honest Company Mouthwash Review: An Honest Assessment

April 6, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Affiliate links included. I enjoy promoting Honest Company products because I use them in my own home!

I’m so excited to be telling you about Honest Mouthwash, because this has quickly become one of my favorite items from the entire Honest Company catalog.

I actually put off trying it for quite a while because in my experience in the past, I’ve never been terribly impressed with more eco-friendly mouthwashes. Frankly, they’ve all just seemed weak, for lack of a better term. Maybe I just got too used to that “knock you back” feeling that Listerine offers!

So when I tried The Honest Company’s mouthwash, I expected it to taste super mild and for my mouth to not really feel any cleaner. And I’m so happy to tell you that I was wrong! Honest Mouthwash has a very minty flavor and scent, and while it doesn’t leave you feeling uncomfortable and like your mouth is on fire the way Listerine does toward the end of your swooshing, there’s definitely a kick here, which I so appreciate.

Reading over the ingredients, I’m very impressed with what I see: aloe, ginger, green tea extract and witch hazel all make the list. There are no artificial flavors or dyes, and you know the same is not true for those bright blue and green bottles other brands offer. This is a really high quality product that leaves out all those questionable chemicals while still getting the job done. I very highly recommend it.

How to Buy Honest Mouthwash

Since it comes in at $9.95, this is an item to purchase in a bundle instead of on it’s own. Buy getting a bundle, you’ll bring the price down to just $7.20. That may still seem a little high for mouthwash to you, but my opinion is that it’s definitely worth it. This particular product makes a frequent appearance in my monthly orders! Heck, you can even buy more than 1 at a time if you want to get stocked up for a while in your home. Remember, changing the date of your bundle (including setting it back several weeks) is super simple to do. I LOVE being a bundle subscriber because I get the savings and I don’t even have to order monthly. Honest Company also lets you know when your order date is coming up just in case you want to make any changes to what’s headed your way or push the date back. They aren’t interested in surprising you or tricking you into getting more products. And I honestly love that!

If you are brand new to The Honest Company, start by getting some free stuff! I’ve got information on how to get your totally free trials of products. And I’ve also got a detailed listing of Honest Company reviews so that if and when you want to order a bundle, you can hear from a happy subscriber what to buy, what to pass on, and exactly how to build your cart for maximum savings!

Monday Finds: Bracelet Steal at Cents of Style Today!

April 6, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links included. I only promote what I love!

Hi friends!

This bracelet bargain showed up in my email inbox this morning and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. It’s a rope and bead bracelet and I’m flipping out over how cute it is. I love that mixture of fancy and super casual! I would (and WILL! Heck yes I’m buying it!) pair this bracelet with all sorts of things, as I think you can dress it up or down. I bought the green one. Which one will you get? At $6.95 with FREE shipping, how can you resist? Use coupon code ROPEBRACELET at checkout to get this price.

And since we are doing a little shopping together this morning, I might as well show you the other thing I snagged: washi tape for our craft area! I’m doing a little work on building up the space in our home for artistic expression, and this washi tape will fit right in!

What are you shopping for today, friends?

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