I found this on Etsy a while back and bookmarked it: a message in a bottle service! This seller takes your text, types it up on vintage paper (using an old TYPEWRITER no less!), seals it with wax and your monogram, rolls it up in a teeny, tiny bottle and attaches a cute vintage key. She then boxes it up and mails it for you. All this for just $15.

How GREAT would this be for a niece of nephew? Just a surprise letter telling them how much you care — maybe on their “half birthday.” Or send your sweetie a note. I think my pirate-loving nephew would love this; maybe I’ll send him one for Halloween.

Stuck for a gift idea? Send me a note (or a message in a bottle) with the subject: “Find it for me ‘Rean” and if I use your question, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card.

Ever since we started Gymboree, my son has been one big snot monster. He had his 2nd cold in as many months last week that has now turned into an ear infection. Poor baby. As we reach for the softest tissues or “snot rags” as I call them, (check out the adorable little monster swipers from FrankAndMe on Etsy), I realized it’d be a lot faster to put a bib on him and swipe the cascade of snot with the bib. (This only works with the soft cotton infant bibs, not the slick bibs used later for messy eaters.)

You may remember that I’m very PRO bib, especially if you have a spitter or a drooler (teething); mine was both. He’s got most of his teeth in now and doesn’t spit up all the time like he used to so the bibs had been sitting in the drawer. But I’m busting them out again! Soooo glad I didn’t pack these away in a fit of “organization.” (Who are we kidding? Those fits are TOO few and far between!) I, of course, have a ton of Zutano bibs which mix and match well with his clothes.

So that’s my lame little tip. Hang onto the bibs. Use them when your munchkin has a cold. Works for me!

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted by WeAreThatFamily. Go there for more tips!

I wanted to subtitle this post: How to Outsource an Entire Birthday Party because in essence, that’s what I did. I fretted about it for about a minute; after all, I can use scissors and glue and could probably have made pinwheels and decorations myself, but given that we just moved, have a new nanny, have had too many illnesses to count, have a stove with a finicky oven (meaning no way was I going to attempt a cake), etc., etc., it seemed wise to just buy everything. But — and here’s the catch — I didn’t want it to look like some pre-packed party from the party store. I wanted it to look creative and unique and just like I did it all myself, which many of the party  goers thought. Haha! Fooled them!

The Occasion: My son’s first birthday

The Location: Our temporary rental (while our house is being built). 2BR, teeny tiny, so we limited the guest list to 20.

The Theme: My son loves anything that spins so I came up with the idea to do pinwheels. I also wanted a “color story” and focused on orange and yellow with pops of red.

The Planning: I did nearly all my research online (surprise, surprise) and used Evernote to keep track. You can see my notebook here. There are all sorts of random pinwheel things I found, including pinwheel jewelry (I contemplated wearing some) and shirts for Hunter to wear. I’m a HUGE fan of Evernote and will tell you more about it next week for Tech Tuesday.

The Vendors:

• Email invitations: I contacted Ariana at Becoming-Mom, because she just opened an Etsy store and she designed some darling pinwheel invitations for me. (If you haven’t read her blog, yet, you should check it out. It’s one of my favorites.)
• Pinwheels, pendant banner (with pinwheels), pinwheel favor boxes: Twirlie Whirlies Etsy shop. She could not have been more pleasant and fun to work with. I picked four papers from her selections and she made pinwheel after pinwheel for me. They were “real” pinwheels, too (meaning they spin) and the pendant banner she made is SO cute that we’re putting it in Hunter’s room. The stuff was perfectly packaged and really, really cute.
• Photo banner (also with pinwheels!): This custom banner was made by MaryHadALittleParty’s Etsy shop. When it arrived and my husband saw all the photos of Hunter, he got very choked up and quietly asked me if there was a way we could preserve this for him some day. I emailed her pictures from each month of the last year and she picked the ones that worked best in her format. She stuck with yellow, orange and red circles and added some pinwheels to the end. Really sweet.
• Pinwheel repositionable wall decals: These were a stroke of luck: bright, colorful pinwheel wall decals from Flair4All. I also bought some alphabet decals from them to spell out things like “Happy Birthday.” These are all going in his room as decorations. (I figure even though we’re only here for six months, I can totally use a lot of this stuff to decorate his room!)
• Food/Cake: The cake was made by a local woman who works with a friend of mine, so I don’t have a link to share with you. I gave her very little direction beyond “pinwheels” and love what she came up with. The food came from SouperJenny’s, which if you’re here in Atlanta, you probably already know about. The only catch with the food is that the party was on Sunday and they aren’t open on Sunday so we had to pick it all up Saturday. Our fridge is WAY TOO SMALL so we had to drop it all off at a friend’s house. The same friend who knows the Cake Lady. Good friends.
• Lollipops, candy: I found all the candy at a local candy store and got the jars at the Container Store. If you don’t have a candy shop locally, Google “whirly” or “swirly” lollipops. Lots of folks sell them online. I also got the favor boxes at the Container Store.

The Result: My dad, sister-in-law and niece came in for the party which was soooo nice. My best friend, who is insanely busy with her own kids, was able to make it (we held the party on Sunday to work around her kids’ schedule), as were several other close friends. Hunter was a bit overwhelmed by all the people. He did NOT smash his cake. Just kind of looked at it like, “Huh? What am I supposed to do with this?” All in all, a fun time.

OK, enough talk. Time for some pictures!

Today’s post is a two-fer, meaning I’m including it in both the Works for Me Wednesday series AND the Wordless/Wordful Wednesday series. For more great Works-for-me-Wednesday tips, check out WeAreThatFamily. And for more great pictures, go to SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Honestly, how many times can my baby get sick? He’s had a fever ever since he got his H1N1 vaccine the other day, which I’m told is a normal side effect. But he’s also coughing and sneezing and has a runny nose so I suppose he’s picked up a cold somewhere. Poor little guy keeps waking up at 4:00 a.m. and refusing to go back to sleep. It’s like having a newborn again only I’m NO LONGER ON MATERNITY LEAVE!

In my sleep-deprived, worried-mommy state, I’ve not done much web surfing but do have a few things to share with you:

Drugstore.com has a pretty good promotion on diapers right now. I usually buy diapers on Amazon, but needed some things that Amazon doesn’t carry and found the prices and shipping at Drugstore.com to be pretty good. (Free shipping over $49.)

Looking for a table runner for the holidays? Apartment Therapy has a nice roundup of hand made table runners from Etsy sellers.

Facebook has new guidelines for sweepstakes, contests and promotions. This affects me in my day job (marketing consultant) but also as a blogger who has run some Facebook contests. Just in case you do, too, make sure you read up on the new rules!

Last Sunday was my son’s 1st birthday bash. It was a small affair, but I did my best to decorate LIKE CRAZY and make it memorable. I’m working on posts and plan to have them up next week. I’m also working on some more contests to help you out with the holidays.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Wish us luck getting everyone healthy here!

I found this on Etsy a while back and bookmarked it: a message in a bottle service! This seller takes your text, types it up on vintage paper (using an old TYPEWRITER no less!), seals it with wax and your monogram, rolls it up in a teeny, tiny bottle and attaches a cute vintage key. She then boxes it up and mails it for you. All this for just $15.

How GREAT would this be for a niece of nephew? Just a surprise letter telling them how much you care — maybe on their “half birthday.” Or send your sweetie a note. I think my pirate-loving nephew would love this; maybe I’ll send him one for Halloween.

Stuck for a gift idea? Send me a note (or a message in a bottle) with the subject: “Find it for me ‘Rean” and if I use your question, I’ll send you a $25 Amazon gift card.

Sure you can just use cloth diapers or any old towel to catch that spit-up, but I wanted cute burp cloths.  I figured if they were going to be laying around all over the house, they ought to match the decor.  I found TONS of cute burp cloths on Etsy – just like the designer ones at the baby boutiques, only less-expensive, plus you’re buying directly from the mom who made them.  I dug that.

Here are a few of my favorites (the photos are linked to the seller’s shops):

But some of my all-time favorites are the Monster Burp Cloths from Etsy shop Frank and Me.  I think this design is hilarious and the cloths are super-soft (made of fleece).  I also bought some of her little “swipers” (think booger-wiper or wash cloth) and a funny monster tooth fairy pillow for my monster-obsessed 4 year old nephew.  (Big hit!)  How cute are these?  These would be great to stuff in a shower basket for the next non-traditional momma you know.

Those burp cloths are fast-becoming my son’s “lovey.” Here he is cuddled up with them the other night. Isn’t this sweet?

Just a reminder: these are all items I actually own. Nobody sent me anything to review. Everything I blab about is something I own, know someone who owns, or want to buy.

A good friend of mine is going with an owl theme for his daughter’s 1-year birthday. I sent him some ideas the other day and then I noticed on our Facebook page that one of this blog’s readers, Courtney, is going with an owl theme for her daughter’s nursery. I posted some  links for her, too.

And then I thought, duh, maybe other people would like links to cool owl stuff for babies? So here you go, by request, sort of, my list of owl stuff.

Bedding: Pottery Barn Kids Brooke Collection

Toy Box: Etsy Shop ModMomFurniture

Mini Owl Stuffed Animals: Perfect for a baby’s room or party favors from Etsy seller AprilFoss

Wall Decals: Repositionable fabric decals (forest creatures) from Etsy seller LoveMaeStore

Mobile: Check out this bamboo, laser-cut owl mobile from Branch (eco-friendly shop) – not pictured above but it’s cute!

Birthday Party or Baby Shower:  Cupcake toppers and party decorations from Etsy seller CiaoBambino

Perfect Little Owl Outfit: Zutano Owls print (register for our giveaway – deadline TONIGHT at midnight – and win it!)

Hand-Made Owl Shoes: These baby shoes from Bugaloo are sooo cute! I just ordered a pair for my son.

Looking for ideas for your nursery or party? Or just gift ideas in general? Email me at sherean at gmail dot com and I’ll see what I can rustle up.

This post is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted by WeAreThatFamily. Lots of great tips and tricks there every Wednesday!

When I was pregnant, someone asked me what theme I was going with for the nursery.  “Theme? What do you mean?” I asked, “Like Winnie the Pooh?” No offense to Pooh fans but cutesie themes made me gag worse than chicken (I didn’t have food cravings when I was pregnant but I had serious food aversions).

I wanted a modern nursery, stylish, but with some whimsy.  I figured that the nursery was for me: until my son was old enough to tell me that he absolutely, positively loves Thomas the Train more than anything else, I’d be choosing the decor.  Later, he can go all train-happy if he wants. (Just please, God, let it be trains and not NASCAR.)

OK, now that I’ve offended all the NASCAR Winnie the Pooh lovers, here’s what I decided on for the nursery:  black and white with pops of bright yellow.  My inspiration was one of my shirts. Y’all remember when INC (International Concepts) had a sea of black, white and bright yellow clothes?

I searched and searched for bedding in my chosen colors and found nothing. Most of the black and white stuff I found was damask which felt too girlie for me. (Even though the room was for me, I did want it to transition into a little boy’s room some day.)  Then I came across this set and thought it’d make a good base. Of course, I didn’t use the bumper or quilt, so that was a big waste of money. If you decide to go bumper-less, save yourself the money and buy a sheet, crib skirt, and curtains to match. Voila! Instant design. Get a rug, too, if you can find one you like.

Since I couldn’t find bedding with a pop of yellow, I went nuts and painted the walls bright yellow. No wonder the kid won’t take naps. One pregnant, insomnia-filled night, I decided I wanted a wall of black shelves so I searched and found nothing and decided right then and there that my husband should take up woodworking, which he sort of did, and made some built-in shelves. (They turned out great, Honey!) I also decided the baby should have something hand made from each of us so Christopher took some of his childhood Legos and made the Lego Dude on the ledge.  I have yet to make my hand made item. But I bought lots of stuff on Etsy that other people made. That has to count for something, right?

Anyhow, time for the pictures, which is what you really came for, right? Keep in mind, I am no decorator. It’s not as neat and tidy as those adorable rooms I see over at ProjectNursery, for example. But I’m proud of it. It’s different and it suits us.

And you know the best part? Since we’re moving in a few weeks, I get to do it all over again! (Seriously, we’re going to be in a rental while we build so I can’t do much but I’m thinking of going with a green wall color and buying some re-positionable wall decals to spruce it up a bit. It’ll be Nursery 2.0.)

Items in the Room:

Baby Cache Manhattan Nursery Furniture from BabiesRUs

Wall ledges from Michael’s

Canvas storage bins from Container Store

Artwork – free -from artist Kal Barteski (cheap frames from Michael’s)

Down East Midnight Bedding from Carousel Designs (only available in their outlet; if you want black and white, check out their Black and White dots collection, which is similar)

Dandelion wall decal (large) from Etsy seller LewasDesigns

Here’s what’s open in my browser right now:

The Bumbo potty training seat. We never used a Bumbo. That was one thing our kid figured out early (sitting) and he’s still sitting today (instead of crawling). But I just read on CoolMomPicks about this Bumbo seat for the toilet and I’m filing it away for future reference. Any potty-training experienced mommas out there want to weigh in on this? Is this a genius idea or just another thing desperate parents waste their money on?

Infant and Children’s Tylenol Recall. Here’s a list of all the recalled box numbers. But notice it’s a long list of teeny, tiny numbers. <sigh> No time to pore through each one so here’s what I did. I found the box of Infant Tylenol we have at home, looked for the code on the bottom, went to the recall list on my browser, hit the Control Key plus “F” (ctrl+f) which brings up a “Find” dialogue box. I typed the lot number in there and it highlighted it for me on the page. (If yours isn’t recalled, it won’t find it.) Quick and easy!

Pinwheel Birthday Idea. This is really coming together. Found cute pinwheels and pinwheel favor boxes on Etsy, of course. Some of you all emailed me last week that you thought it was a great idea. I think I’ll do pinwheel food (think sandwich roll-ups) and pinwheel cinnamon rolls, that type of thing. I’m liking this as a one year birthday idea. What do you think?

50 Kitchen Ideas from the Barefoot Contessa. You all know that we’re building a house, right? Hope to break ground in a few weeks so we’re in the thick of meeting with the builder, revising plans, that sort of thing. I am researching like mad to find ideas for the house and ran across this piece — with lots of pictures – from Ina Garten (a/k/a “The Barefoot Contessa”) on her kitchen. She details what you need in the kitchen, how she designed hers to be maximally efficient, and other little helpful tips. The site also has lots of other kitchen designs and ideas. I’m in research heaven!

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend! Don’t forget to enter my Zutano giveaway.

Have you entered our contest yet? You could win an outfit from either Candy Stick Lane or The JumpOff. I’m so excited about this contest because I bought this cute custom onesie from Renee months ago (and previously blogged about it here) and I think it’s the greatest thing ever. I was thrilled when she agreed to do a contest and I was dying to know more about her so I asked. She answered. Here’s what I learned:

How long have you been sewing?
~I started sewing clothes for Barbie in elementary school but I really took interest after my daughter was born- 16 years ago.

How’d you learn?
~I bought a pattern and cheap fabric, cheap machine (all from Wal-mart) and went to town. I made over 300 pieces of clothing my first year and kept a journal – making notes about what worked and what didn’t.

What inspired you to start?
~I was antique shopping in Greenville, SC and saw this adorable Christmas jumper made from gingerbread man fabric – I bought it for a dollar and decided I would make one for my daughter for every holiday and occasion – and I did – I even made matching ones for her teachers when she started school!

You have two Etsy shops? What’s the difference between the two? When did you open them?
Candy Stick Lane (9/28/06) – is a clothing boutique mainly for little girls – its full of things that I would still be making for may daughter if she would wear them. I only make things that I would put on a child. I never make things just because they’re easy, quick or big sellers – no trendy-ness in CSL – all about classic style.

The JumpOff (11/16/07) – is a recycle shop I opened b/c I love tees! Good will has so many awesome ones – I just had to. I acquired a Luellas BBQ tee before I even opened TJO – cut it up and used the pieces for patches on a denim jumper – it sold as soon as I listed it- so then I did a Hard Rock tee into a onesie and it too sold as soon as I listed so – I knew there was a market.

What are some memorable custom designs you’ve done?
I think the most touching custom design was a woman whose brother died tragically and she had me make two of his favorite tees into onesies for her son.

I also transformed a grandfather’s work shirts into jumpers for the granddaughters to pass down.

How did you get the idea to recycle the t-shirts into onesies and baby dresses? What’s your creative process? Where do you get your ideas?

Well, I started making onesies forever ago for our local hospital – the issue with that is – there just aren’t cute knits out there – I mean there are ‘babyish’ ducks and sheep – but being an 80’s dweller – I needed some pop culture flair – and t-shirts were an obvious choice – they are knit – they have great graphics and b/c you’re making little clothes from them, you have plenty of fabric! My creative process is I find a tee a like and just start cutting! LOL!

Ready for an outfit for your little one? Win one! Click on yesterday’s post, follow the rules and enter to win by midnight on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. We’ll randomly select a winner using Random.org. Be sure and include an email address in your comment so we can notify you if you win. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for a whole other contest – a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

I’m so excited about our first contest! I first discovered Renee’s Etsy shops, CandyStick Lane and The JumpOff, last year before my son was even born. CandyStick Lane is her original designs boutique; The JumpOff features clothing made from recycled t-shirts. You can win your choice of an outfit from CandyStickLane or a custom made onesie, t-shirt or dress from The JumpOff. I’m going to tell you more about Renee in just a minute. First, here are details on how you can win.

1)      Go check out her Etsy shops (CandyStick Lane and The JumpOff), then come back here and leave a comment telling us what your favorite thing is. If you win, you’ll win that!

2)      Subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter, then come back and leave another comment telling me you have and you’ll get a SECOND entry.

3)      Follow Candystick Lane on Twitter, leave me another comment and you’ll get a THIRD entry.

The contest is open to U.S. residents only. Get your entries in by midnight Wednesday September 9, 2009. We’ll randomly select a winner using Random.org. Be sure and include an email address in the comment form (which only we can see and we never share; see our Privacy Policy) so we can notify you if you win. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for a whole other contest – a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

All right, now let me introduce you to Renee. She has, like, four jobs: 1) a single mother (which counts for two right there); 2) a “day” job in healthcare and 3) kids clothing designer for two- count them -TWO, boutiques. Her first boutique, CandyStick Lane, was started in 2006 and features clothing mainly for little girls (but I’m working on her to add more things for boys). Her other shop, The JumpOff, started a year later and features designs recycled from t-shirts. She also makes custom shirts, dresses, and onesies from your favorite t-shirt. Cute stuff!

I loved that whole recycle idea so I sent her one of my husband’s softball team shirts to make into a onesie for my son. It turned out AWESOME and that’s what he wears to go watch his dad play. He’s the little team mascot! (I love it when people ask me if I made it. Ha! I took Home Ec in 8^th grade and sewed my skirt to my jeans when I was trying to hem it on my lap. Noooo, I do not sew.)

I asked Renee about some of the most memorable custom outfits she’s ever made. “I think the most touching custom design was a woman whose brother died tragically and she had me make two of his favorite tees into onesies for her son. I also transformed a grandfather’s work shirts into jumpers for the granddaughters to pass down.”

How awesome is that? What special t-shirt have you been hanging onto that might be perfect to turn into something “new” for your little one?

Tomorrow, I’ll have snippets from my interview with Renee. In the meantime, be sure and check out her  shops (CandyStick Lane and The JumpOff) and leave us a comment telling us what you’d like to win. You must have your entries in by Wednesday, September 9^th, at midnight. Good luck!

This is something I wish someone had told me. I had no idea how many bibs I would need before the baby started eating solid foods! When my sister gave me a bunch of hand-me-downs, I went through and boxed up half of the stuff for Goodwill, including a lot of bibs. Thank goodness I saved some! I remember thinking, why did she send me so many bibs? If you have a spitter or a drooler (I had both), you’ll find it’s a lot easier to change a bib than an outfit. In the heaviest drool months, my son would literally soak 4-5 bibs a day.

So let’s talk about bibs. You’ve spent all this time and money buying cute clothes, only to cover them up with an enormous, ugly bib. Cuz most of them are ugly. Or have dumb sayings on them. So buy matching bibs whenever you can. Or mix-and-match them. (Zutano is great for this, too.) Buy more than you think you’ll need. Repeated washings will wear out the Velcro closure tabs.

Some manufacturers make teeny tiny newborn bibs. Those are great for about 3 months, but then you’ll need regular sized bibs. And when they start solid foods, you’ll want plastic-y bibs for easy wipe downs after meals. Most of those plastic bibs are HUGE and I think are made for toddlers. I found an Etsy seller who makes laminate-covered bibs that are just the right size for an infant. She doesn’t have a lot listed in her shop; just email her and she’ll tell you what fabrics she can make them in. She’s made two for me.

So Kate, next time you’re at the store, BUY BIBS. Trust me on this one. All right, let’s roll the bib photo show, shall we? Happy Monday!

See the drool on the chin? About to soak his bib!

Just saw this at TheJumpOff and CRACKED up. Renee continues to crank out awesome “upcycled” clothes made from used t-shirts. How funny is this onesie?

Saw this GORGEOUS aqua and orange Moroccan-inspired party idea at Hostess with the Mostest (love her site y’all!). This makes me want to have a grown-up party that involves cake even though I don’t like cake. I’ve also been thinking of doing my son’s room in orange and aqua if we move (trying to sell our house now) but my husband can’t get past thinking “Miami Dolphin colors” and I guess he thinks that’s a bad thing. I dunno. I love it and all things orange lately.

And check out the Back-to-School Guide over at Cool Mom Picks. So many great ideas and they’ve secured LOTS of discounts for you. Discount codes galore. Oh happy day! Or Oh Happy Weekend cuz I will totally be clicking up a storm. I have a nephew and niece who both have big “firsts” (first day of kindergarten; first day of first grade) and those backpacks are tempting. . .

The folks over at WeAreThatFamily are hosting a special themed edition of their “What Works for Me Wednesday” series. Today’s theme is Back-to-School tips, and while my munchkin is certainly advanced, he’s not quite ready for school yet. But that doesn’t mean I’m completely tip-less, or without an opinion on something I’m clearly unqualified to speak on.

I’m thinking back-to-school, packing lunches, cute lunch boxes, environmentally friendly water bottles (like Sigg which we’ve blogged about before), and heck, why not try those reusable sandwich bags. My husband takes his lunch to work frequently and I’ve been thinking of getting him some of these. I love that they’re reusable, non-toxic, and can be washed in the dishwasher! Lots of folks selling them online. Here are a few I’ve found.

SnackTaxi (formerly Happy-Sacks) - these folks were featured on the Queen of All Media (Oprah).

Fly-by-Night sandwich bag from Snack Taxi ($8.95/ea)

3GreenMoms – I like their simple, bold, repeating patterns. Plus, they have a plain white version you can decorate yourself with permanent markers. Or better yet, let the kidlets do the decorating!

White Lunch Skins (customizable) from 3GreenMoms ($16 for a set of 3)

FoodStuffs Etsy Seller – in honor of my nephew, I’d have to get the Pirate design!

FoodStuffs Reusable Sandwich Wrap in Pirates ($8/each)

If I packed my own lunch, I’d get the orange mosaic from FoodStuffs. Isn’t this CUTE?

OK, all this talk about sandwiches is making me crave a BLT.

My nephew (almost 5 years old) loves pirates and has since he was 3. My niece (5, going on 6) loves fairies and has for as long as I can remember. I bought them both personalized placemats from this Etsy seller. When I first contacted her, she didn’t have a fairy design so she custom made one for me. The kids went WILD for these. My niece wanted to hang hers up as art in her room. They’re only $15 so they won’t put much of a dent in your wallet. Might make a good “half-birthday” gift. Remember how you used to count those as a kid? “I’m six . . . and a half,” we’d brag. Now, I’m merely “in my early 40’s.” OK, mid-40’s, but who’s counting?