Mamas Like

Congratulations to our winner of the Retro Funnies and Pretties at Ruby Jane:

James Jenkins Said: “dairy fresh (l)ine of kitchen towels”

Please check your email for winning details.

Congrats!

I’m (almost) 32 and haven’t pinpointed my style yet. I don’t even think I have a style unless you count cardboard box brown a style (a story for another day). But if I had to pin my style down to one, it would be eclectic, which, I know, is an oxymoron. Basically, when I see something I like, I like it. A little of this; a little of that.

Which is why I like Ruby Jane SO much. Barbara at Ruby Jane has pinpointed her style, and she’s built a whole store around what she likes: retro 50’s housewife. I know, it doesn’t really sound like a style, but when you browse through her store, you’ll notice how she puts all kinds of retro-styled products together. From fabrics to stationery to household decorations, Ruby Jane has lots of fun stuff to retro-fit your house and your life. All at the same time with a bit of funnies thrown in.

Barbara sent me a variety of retro-styled items from her store, and I have to say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of the things she sent! I may not know my style, but I know I love a good tote bag. The Shangri La Market Bag she sent is durable (just ask my 2-year-old), HUGE (my 2-year-old fits inside), unbelievably cute (see pic), and at a great price ($39.95).

She also sent me a simple embroidered baby bib made from the Baby Treasures Bib Kit. This is going to be a GREAT gift for my sister’s baby coming in October that’s simple, cute, and retro.

I literally cracked up when I saw the funniest thing Barbara sent: “Make Your Own Damn Dinner” note pad. It pretty much says it all. On each note pad page, funny quips like “she liked to stir things up” and “all I want is an umbrella in my drink” make for funny shopping lists or a note to the teacher. Priced from $4.95 each, you can NOT pass up the stationery category!

(Here’s where I don’t mention that the holiday shopping season is coming up - it’s only August, so be good for goodness sake.)

Giveaway
Speaking of Christmas, Barbara is offering an aDORable retro make-your-own Christmas ornament kit as a giveaway. These are the ones we had as kids - no plastic, handmade, and stuffed with love. Valued at $32, the kit has everything you need (ten fabric cutouts in ornament shapes, batting, embroidery floss, ribbon and embellishments) to sit with your kids for some quality crafting time. And if you’re like me, a kit with everything is necessary because we aren’t a crafty household.

Leave a comment here with your favorite item from Ruby Jane by Sunday, August 31, at 11:59pm EST. Comments left without the name of a product will be ineligible to win. One comment per person, per day - come back daily for your chance to win! The winner will be posted here on MamasLike, notified via email, and on Prizey.Fetch.

Discount
Just for our fabulous readers, Ruby Jane is offering a 10% coupon for your order. Enter ‘MAMA’ upon checkout for your 10% discount.

Congratulations to our Flaky Friends giveaway winner, Dan Smith, who said, August 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am “I love Roger the Elephant”

From Random.org:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

233

Timestamp: 2008-08-11 23:17:18 UTC

I know I’ve taken a little time off from posting reviews and giveaways, but this one, my friends, is worth the wait.

Some wild animals showed up in my mailbox yesterday. No, I didn’t mail my kids to myself. But Sarah, creator/sewer/artist extraordinaire, of Flaky Friends sent me two of her creations: Lester the Giraffe and Lucky the Turtle. I fell INSTANTLY in LURVE. Head over heels in love. I feel a kinship to these weirdo animals. Kind of like a long-distance-relationship-gone-bad kinship. We’ll always be connected - I can’t quit you.

The first thing I noticed when I held my loves girls’ new stuffed animals is their craftsmanship. These guys are so well-made, you’d swear a high-powered machine with 80 underpaid sweatshop workers had slaved away over them. But thankfully this is not true of the Flaky Friends. Each animal is HANDMADE by Sarah herself. I KNOW!

Sarah started making these crazy critters after her daughter demanded requested a purple stuffed pony, and after searching high and low, she couldn’t find one. So, like any other artist, she decided to make one. (Personally, I would have fibbed and told my girls Santa couldn’t come through and he was an anrgy old man and to quit asking for frivolous things. I kid - I kid.) People - she’s been working at these since January of THIS year. She’s just that good.

The tagline for Flaky Friend’s Etsy store is “Why Should You Buy One? Because You Can!” Ladies (and one or two gents) - I haven’t been this in love with a new product find since TiVo was invented. And that’s saying a lot. (Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad, but I LURVES these animals.) You must go now to buy your Flaky Friends from Sarah before she realizes she’s not charging enough for her artwork. Hello? $29-32 for the medium sized Friends? And by ‘medium,’ I mean 12-15″. That’s practically stealing art from an artist of Sarah’s caliber. Trust me - I’m a stuffed animal connoisseur, and you can NOT find handmade (in the USofA I might add) stuffed animals that are this well made and this adorable and this quirky and this lovable. And at this price.

Discount
So kiddies, I’m off to buy Sven the blue penguin for my penguinalholic 4-year-old. And I’m going to use the coupon code Sarah is passing along to all of us for 20% off everything in her store - HOTMAMAS. Use this code* through September 30, ‘08, but I recommend buying NOW before she realizes she doesn’t charge enough.

Giveaway
For our readers only, Sarah is giving away one of her ‘Out-of-Shell Turtles’ (value of $30). To win the turtle, visit Flaky Friends and comment below with your favorite Flaky Friend. (Sorry, but if your comment does not include the name of a Flaky Friend, you cannot win.) One comment per person, per day - come back daily for your chance to win! Comments are open until Sunday, August 10th, 11:59pm EST. The winner will be posted here on MamasLike, notified via email, and on Prizey.Fetch.

GET YOUR BUMS OVER TO FLAKY FRIENDS NOW and buy one (why? because you can). If you happen to win, and you’ve already adopted your Flaky Friend, no worries. You can start a menagerie.

*Etsy stores do not have the abilities to use coupon codes in their checkout. To redeem your 20% off discount, enter “HOTMAMAS” in the “Notes to Seller” upon checkout and wait for a revised invoice that reflects the discount before you complete your payment. It sounds confusing, but trust me - it’s worth it.

Congratulations to comment #89 from our Olive Kids giveaway: kendra gendron Said: “i LOVE butterfly garden, it is so adorable i would love to have it”

Please check your email for your winning information.

Olive Kids is one of those incredible sites that has tons of non-licensed bedding and kid room accessory designs that every kid and parents wouldn’t be embarrassed to show off in their room. (The KID’S room - not the parent’s. Unless you like that sort of thing.)

From Pirates to Mermaids and Cowboys to Daisies, Olive Kids has a pattern ever kid will enjoy for years. You won’t have to worry about changing your child’s bedding, wall decor, and room accessories every other year as their favorite TV show changes. The patterns at Olive Kids are classic, bright, and friendly designs you and your kids will love for years.

Olive Kids has a matching line of personalized gifts like bookmarks, placemats, and clocks your kids will love featuring their name. Unless you change your kid’s name every other year, these accessories will last a lifetime.

My favorite personalized accessory is the Olive Kids placemat. Choose from extra girlie designs, middle-of-the-road gender neutral designs, and manly-ish designs. Guaranteed - you’ll find a design you love for your kids.

For our readers, Olive Kids is offering 10% off your orders using coupon code ML4th.   We’re also giving away $30 worth of Olive Kids personalized accessories! Leave a comment below by Monday, July 7th, at 11:59 EST with your favorite Olive Kids design, and we’ll choose a winner who will get their choice of a placemat, a bookmark, and a name tag.

The winner will be notified via email, here on Mamas Like, and on Prizey.

I absolutely love the look of handcrafted scrapbooks, but I don’t have the time or desire to mess with it myself.  Although I like unique, individually designed pages, there is no way on earth I’m getting into that myself.  (At least not until all the kids are in school!)

But how cool is this?  Sarah at Scrap a dot has a bunch of totally unique, creative albums already put together for your convenience!  Check out this cute, spiral bound, Fourth of July album already embellished and ready to go.  Just add your pictures from the parade, family cook-out, and fireworks! Voila!  You have a beautiful custom scrapbook and you didn’t have to spend a million dollars on scrap supplies or a million hours trying to make it look nice.  Every page is different, but they blend together harmoniously for a gorgeous book.  Take a look at her Etsy site and check out her many cute albums.  You can even take a peek at all the individual pages there!

Congrats to our latest winners of the Spanish Language DVDs by Bilingual Fun Company!

From Random.org - Here are your random numbers:
16 - 147
Timestamp: 2008-06-27 01:19:17 UTC

#16 Michael Capp Said: June 20th, 2008 at 6:52 am - This would be a great introduction for my youngest.

#147 Monte Said: June 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm - pick me!! Love to win

Please check your email for details about your win.

Spanish speakers are the fastest growing segment of the US population. Starting your kids off early learning Spanish will increase their chances of better communicating with more people as well as increase their English language knowledge.  Jennifer, the founder of The Bilingual Fun Company knows this well and has developed a line of DVDs to help your children, ages 1-10, learn Spanish.

We had the pleasure of reviewing the two volumes of the Spanish for Children DVDs, and my 4-year-old daughter watched them both in succession and then asked to watch them again. Needless to say, for 4-year-old kids who love watching TV, these DVDs are winners! Bilingual Fun even has some adorable Spanish-language t-shirts and reinforcement toys.

Discount
Bilingual Fun has put their DVDs on sale at 10% off plus free shipping from now until June 25th, so take advantage and buy now!

Giveaway
The Bilingual Fun Company is giving away a set of their DVDs (value $28) to a lucky reader! Leave a comment below, and we’ll pick a winner at random on Wednesday, June 25th, 11:59EST. If we receive over 150 comments, we’ll pick two winners! One entry per person.

You can enter more than once if you post our banner on your blog or mention our giveaway on your website or message board! Just let us know by posting the URL in your additional comment(s).

We’ll notify the winner(s) here on Mamas Like, via email, and on Prizey.Winners.

Congratulations to the winner of our latest giveaway Baby Bottle Bib.

Kristi Blackstone Said: ( June 2nd, 2008 at 2:07 pm) “This is great! I’d love to have it for my son on the way! I hate it when the milk drips from the babys mouth on their chin or from the bottle!”

Please check your email for winning information.