Mamas Like

Maureen at Samica Bags has found a way to “save the earth in style” with her Grocery Pods! Samica Bags’ mission is to educate adults and children on using sustainable products.

I love my grocery pod, and I must admit, I was surprised at just how much it holds! It’s made from strong, durable fabric in a variety of stylish colors and patterns. These pods are constructed in a circular design, making the most use of every inch of space. You’ll be amazed at how much these pods hold.

The Samica Bags website is full of information and articles on recycling, plastic bags, and carbon offset. After reading, you’ll definitely want to do your part to cut down on plastic bag usage. I especially like these grocery pods because I do most of my shopping at Aldi (a store where you either have to buy bags, or bring your own bags from home).

These bags can also be used as school bags and tote bags or for packing a picnic lunch and carrying library books. And when you place your order now, enjoy 10% off your purchase when you use MAMASLIKE in the promo code. And don’t forget to check out the new unique and stylish handbags while you’re browsing!

When I was a kid, my sister and I always looked forward to Christmas with much anticipation. To help make those long days until Christmas pass a little more quickly, my grandmother used to make us advent calendars by tying pieces of candy to a long, red ribbon. Each day from December 1st until Christmas, we enjoyed a piece of candy. This made waiting until Christmas a little sweeter!

As an adult I looked forward with much anticipation to the birth of each of my babies. I marked days off my calendar until I reached my due date and usually beyond! Sara from Norwood Arts has come up with a fun way to count down to baby’s due date. Her countdown boxes come with ten individually boxed items. You open one item every day starting ten days before you’re due.

You can order a baby girl, baby boy, or gender neutral box. Each box contains such goodies as nail clippers, a bib, booties, a pacifier, teether, or a spoon. What a fun, different gift for a baby shower! If you love the idea of the countdown box, but want to choose your own items with which to fill the boxes, you can order a countdown box complete with ten smaller boxes that you can fill with whatever you’d like.

Norwood Arts has the cutest selection of photo cards for Christmas and Birth Announcements. Visit the site to check out the huge selection of cards available just in time for Christmas.

Sara is giving away your choice of a Countdown box or set of Holiday Cards to our readers. Leave a comment for your chance to win! A winner will be chosen on November 21st and contacted by Sara. (When leaving a comment, please do not leave your contact info directly in the comment box.)

Have you checked out The Rocking Pony? Karen, from the Rocking Pony created, out of necessity, the “Just the Essentials Diaper Case“.

This is perfect when you don’t want or need to bring a whole diaper bag along. For example, I don’t generally bring a diaper bag with me when I go to the library, but just a few weeks ago, wouldn’t you know, my daughter needed a diaper change while we were there. I ended up cutting our library jaunt short so I could go home and change her. Now if I’d the Just the Essentials Diaper Case tucked into my purse, I could’ve changed her and continued to play at the library until one of my kids got bored and started throwing a tantrum!

This is a great, handy way to keep a couple diapers and wipes in your car as well. As Karen says, “When you’ve got older toddlers who don’t need an entire diaper bag of gear, it’s nice to be able to tuck a diaper and a small wipes case in your purse and go. But don’t you hate it when the diaper gets rumpled and starts eating things in the bottom of your purse?” Her very well-made diaper cases keep the diapers neat and clean, the wipes easy to get to, and everything together in one place instead of smashed at the bottom of your purse or spread across the van floor amid stale fries and homework papers.

But the really cool thing, according to my husband, is that this handy diaper case is available in this fabric…

It is WAY cooler to carry your kids’ diapers in a case adorned with classic cars, than it is to carry it in a froo froo, girly diaper bag.

Features:

~ Fully lined, no exposed seams inside
~ Back Pocket is lined for added strength and looks
~ All fabrics pre-washed to minimize shrinkage
~ Snaps reinforced with interfacing
~ Machine wash warm, tumble dry
~ High quality cotton that wears well
~ Carry wipes case in back pocket OR inside, whichever you prefer

While you’re shopping for your new Just the Essentials Diaper Case, browse through Karen’s collection of unique, one of a kind shirts, bibs, blankets, and much, much more!

Karen supports Down syndrome research, and she is actively involved with Personal Ponies, Ltd., helping differently-abled children learn independence and confidence through the love of a Shetland pony. (PersonalPonies.org)

The Rocking Pony is giving away a $25 gift certificate for every 100 comments. (Please leave only one comment as an entry. DO NOT leave your contact information in the actual comment.) Receive 20% off your orders with The Rocking Pony by using coupon code BLOG20.

Olive Kids personalized floor pillow, that is. My son is loving his pillow. Know how I know this? He carries it everywhere. This week I’ve seen it on the kitchen floor, by the front door, before the TV, in my bedroom, on his bed, on the toilet seat (sometimes you get tired and need a little rest while pooping), and on the couch. I actually get Clay to lie on this pillow while watching a movie earlier today. Well, he lay there for ten minutes anyway.

An awesome “mom feature” of this pillow is the super soft cover that’s removable and machine washable!

I really like Olive Kids designs. They don’t use cartoons and characters the kids are bound to outgrow in a year. It may seem like a good idea to decorate your child’s room in Bratz or Spiderman now, but when your child decides they no longer like dolls with enormous heads and feet or web-slinging crime fighters, you’re either stuck redecorating or they’re stuck with decor they don’t like.

Not only does Olive Kids sell personalized floor pillows, but they offer matching clocks, wall art, bedding, placemats, shower curtains, rugs, and much, much more! Olive Kids’ website is easy to navigate and lets you shop by product or by design so you can easily coordinate all your kid’s room decor with the click of your mouse.

It’s not too late to win a Personalized Floor Pillow! Email Olive Kids with your contact information. A winner will be chosen and contacted on November 14th.

What looks like an adorable ballet dress, but can’t be worn?  Give up?  It’s a cute bow holder from Bambina Ballerina!  Tricia created Bambina Ballerina bow holders to be fun and functional.  Not only do they hold all your bows and barretts and keep them neat and organized, but these holders are a beautiful addition to the decor in your little girl’s room.

She has many premade bow holders from which to choose or you can design your own custom made bow holder! 
Trisha’s ballerina bow holders come in two sizes also.  The large one is 28-30 inches long from the top to the bottom and gives you about 6-7 feet of ribbon where you can clip your bows.   The mini holders are about 15 inches from top to bottom and they give you approximately 2 1/2 feet of ribbon for attaching barretts and bows.

Here’s the best part - these super cute, girly bow holders are all on sale!  Save $5 - $15 on premade bow holders when you place your order now!  For more information or to ask Trisha a question, just click here.

Mom to the sixth power! Yep, that’s me and I have the shirt to prove it! Dana, owner of Couture Moms, offers a fun line of shirts for moms with just a bit of bling. Have two kids? Order a Mom squared shirt! Have three? It’s Mom cubed for you then! These shirts are available in both long and short sleeves and a variety of colors.

Dana’s Momology 101 line includes shirts with hilarious sayings like -

mom∙ology: the science of mastering the laundry, the carpooling, the house cleaning, preparing the meals, the mail sorting and doing the kids’ homework but making it look like they did it…all without breaking a sweat.

mom∙ology: the science of mastering the the temper tantrums, the picky eater, potty training and successfully belting them into the stroller while putting the lid on the sippy cup, holding the car keys, your latte and the diaper bag.

That about sums it up, doesn’t it?

I love what Dana has to say about motherhood…

“It is time to celebrate Moms!” With four children, I understand the importance of being a Mom.
I wanted to find a way to bring laughter, creativity, and a little glamour to the daily rituals of motherhood.

Visit Couture Moms and receive free shipping on all orders over $50.

Check out this beautiful bracelet from Simply Lovely Gifts!

I adore this bracelet because of the roses on the beads. My baby’s middle name is Rose, so I was really excited about this bracelet with the dainty, feminine roses and crystals. Not only does Leslie sell this beautiful baby bracelet, but she has adorable ones for Christmas too.

At Simply Lovely gifts you can get jewelry for your baby, toddler, or young daughter, but that’s not all. She offers gifts for baby showers, like sterling silver rattles, or personalized pillows for baptisms as well. But that’s not all. Check out her site for many other great finds!

Owner of Simply Lovely Gifts, Leslie is a SAHM to three little ones. She started her business when she was looking for a sentimental gift for her daughter’s first birthday. All of her vendors are female owned. Leslie says of her own business, “I just needed something to occupy my brain a little bit besides trying to figure out how to get the kids to eat something other than crackers (I started my career as an engineer if you can imagine!!).

And what better way to keep in touch with friends and relatives than by using this personalized stationery with a touch of bling!

Now through the end of December, when you place an order with Simply Lovely Gifts, you’ll receive 10% off your purchase! Simply use coupon code DAWN. Enjoy!

Looking for a gift for the hard-to-shop-for woman in your life? How about a personalized bottle of Clinique’s popular fragrance, Happy?

Now you can have a 3.4 oz. bottle of Happy perfume spray personalized with your favorite photograph. What a great idea for mom, sis, aunt, and best friend!  This bottle has a picture of my friend’s four kids on the beach!

So, what makes you happy? Your kids? Your husband? A beautiful sunset? The ocean? All you have to do is find that favorite picture of what makes you happy and upload it. Voila! Clinique will apply your jpeg color or black & white photograph to your own custom bottle of Happy!

Visit Clinique to order your bottle now!

Got a princess in your house?  How about a dancer?  Or perhaps a Ballerina Princess!  No Ballerina Princess would be complete without a flirty, flouncy tutu and Lillian Grace has plenty from which to choose.  If you’re the super picky type and don’t see a tutu you like from Kim’s collection, just drop her an email.  She loves coming up with custom designs. 

My daughter loves wearing her tutu to school or the store over shorts or even jeans.  There’s no mistaking this princess anywhere she goes.

Lillian Grace not only offers adorable knotted tutus, but she offers an array of cute embroidered t-shirts with sayings like “Move Over Cinderella” and “I’m the Princess in This Fairytale”.  Visit any of these fine boutiques to order a tutu or tee for the princess (daughter, granddaughter, niece) in your life.  And for a limited time, mention this review and receive FREE shipping on your order!

Those of you who know me, know that I’ve never used cloth diapers.  I’m all for recycling and I think that we should all do what we can to preserve our resources and protect our planet and its inhabitants, however, washing poop out of cloth diapers was just not a step I was willing to take.

Then I got a request for a review from Debby at SugarBritchesDiapers.  I figured there are several readers who do indeed use cloth diapers, so I wanted to review her website.  The problem was - in order for me to accurately review her diapers, I had to actually use them!  Debby sent me this adorable monkey print diaper to try.  I thought disposables were pretty soft, but in comparison to this soft, cotton flannel diaper, disposables feel like sand paper.

The diaper is gathered at the top in back and has several plastic snaps across the front so it’s highly adjustable for a custom fit.  I honestly thought that a cloth diaper would be soaking wet and leak all over the place the first time my daughter urinated in it.  I was really surprised when that didn’t happen.  It wasn’t wet to the touch at all!  I can’t believe how absorbant it is!  This diaper has ten layers of soft, but highly absorbant fabric. 

Now I admit, I only put this cloth diaper on my baby after she’d had her “morning poop”, so I only experienced wet diapers.  After she wet the diaper, I just tossed it in the wash and it came out fresh and clean, in beautiful shape, with no shrinkage or anything.  I’m sorry, but I’m just not brave enough to wash out a poopy diaper, even though I’m sure it’s no big deal.

Not only does Debby, mother to nine children, make these super soft diapers that are good for baby’s sensitive skin and good for the earth, but she also makes breast pads for nursing moms, doll diapers, bibs, rompers, cloth wipes, and “Little Sniffles” (cloth circles packaged in a cute holder that are great for teaching little ones how to blow their noses.)

If you already use cloth diapers, I’m sure you’ll love SugarBritches well-made diapers.  If you’ve never tried a cloth diaper, give it a shot.  Maybe you’ll find that cloth is the way to go for you.  The hardest thing about ordering from SugarBritchesDiapers is choosing a fabric from the many cute patterns available!