I have dry, sensitive skin. No T-zone for me. Just straight up dry. I itch, and itch, and itch. I use Aveeno shower oil; after I shower, I pat it on and I do not rub it off. I just throw on a robe and let it soak in my skin. (Totally NOT what the directions say to do, so call me a rebel if you must.)

And tags irritate the snot out of me. I’ve tried cutting them out but there are always bits of seams or knots or other things left sticking out that bug me. I’ve tried taping them down but the tape frays and bothers me, too.

Until I found Hollywood Fashion’s Tag Tamers. I’ve been using these for YEARS now and I love them. You stick ‘em on over your tag and they stay on until you take them off (which you’re supposed to do every time you wash said garment, but, ahem, I often forget!). They do not fray up and poke at me. They stay down and out of sight. Better yet, out of mind, because the offending tag no longer itches me.

Hollywood Fashion is perhaps best known for their magic “tape” that you can use to tape a blouse shut or secure a bra strap in place. I haven’t tried the tape but am in love with the tag tamers.

And a reminder: I do not accept products to review. If I write about it, it’s because I own it or am planning to buy it.

This post is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series. For more great tips, check out WeAreThatFamily.

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.

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!

I can’t remember where I read this nifty trick, but I love it! Next time Junior makes a stinky-poo, stash a little something extra in his dirty diaper. Take your cut up credit cards, or credit card offers from the mail — anything that a thief might root around in your trash for in an attempt to steal your identity — and put the bits and pieces in with the diaper. I guarantee they aren’t going to OPEN UP your dirty diapers to look for sensitive information.

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series. More great tips at WeAreThatFamily.

Don’t forget to enter this week’s giveaway for a designer splat mat and matching bib. Great shower gift if your little ones are past the messy stage. Deadline is midnight tonight!

A friend just emailed and asked where we got the cute black and white artwork for the baby’s room. One of these days, I’m going to post a nursery tour with shopping info (it’s always “one of these days,” isn’t it?), but in the meantime, here’s the art and the generous artist (Kal Barteski) who posted this for FREE on her blog. All her stuff is FABULOUS so buy some. I stumbled upon her work when I was trying to come up with a cool black and white nursery. We blew these pictures up a bit and printed them out with a regular old printer, then got some cheap ($9/ea as I recall) album frames at Michael’s and voila! Instant wall art.

Here’s a pic of how we arranged them in our nursery. Many thanks to Kal for making such hip, wonderful pieces for Mommas like me!

Not to make this a longish post, but I was just checking out the stuff she has for sale and I love, love, love these 5×7 prints. We’re going to be moving soon and I’ll have a new nursery to decorate (yay!) so I might just have to buy and use these as inspiration.

And Oh. My. God. I want this baby book she designed. It’s pricey but way hipper than the babyish stuff I combed through trying to find a modern one. And yet, it’s still sweet and whimsical. Love it!

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series. More great tips at WeAreThatFamily.

Oh and don’t forget to register for our giveaway from CandyStick Lane and the JumpOff. Deadline is midnight tonight. And check back here tomorrow when we announce a NEW giveaway!

We don’t have a spice rack (don’t want to clutter up the counter tops) nor do we have one of those fancy spice drawers (but maybe we’ll put one in the new house . . . hmmm). Instead we throw all our spices in a cheap plastic bin we got at the Container Store. Problem is figuring out which spice is which when you’re in a hurry (trust me, you cannot substitute curry for cumin as I accidentally did once). I got tired of pulling all the bottles up one at a time, so one day I got the genius idea to put labels on TOP of the jars. I had some little round stickers left over from a yard sale that were just the right size.

So there you have it! Simple solution. This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series. Today’s theme is “organizing tips.” More great tips here.

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK BACK HERE TOMORROW FOR OUR FIRST CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT! We have some great prizes lined up. I can’t believe all the generous offers we’ve received and I think you all are going to love the prizes.

My husband’s cholesterol is a teeny bit high so his doctor prescribed a glass of red wine every night. He calls it his “medicine.” And it makes him tipsy. After half a glass. I teased him about this one night and he protested, while sloshing his glass about and you know how this ends, right? He spilled it all over the carpet. So I won the argument but our carpet was the unfortunate casualty of that war.

I did what any good Googler would do and searched for how to remove red wine stains from carpet. I came across this bizarre recipe. Mix a little Dawn with hydrogen peroxide, pour it on the stain, and presto! Stain disappears. The magic formula is to use more peroxide than Dawn apparently. Not an exact science, in other words.

We tried it and it worked. I was skeptical so I didn’t take before and after pictures. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It also worked on old spit-up stains. (Seems I’m always discovering new corners of the house my son has blessed with his stomach contents.) We did not have Dawn and used 7th Generation dish washing liquid instead.

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series. More great tips at WeAreThatFamily. Hope this works for you!

I have to give credit to my engineering husband for this one. When my son had a really bad stomach virus, we used gloves to change those nasty, poop-all-over-the-place, god-awful diapers. Had gloves left over so we kept using them on the poopy diapers. You know how you take the gloves off by rolling them back off your hand so they’re inside out? Next time, just roll them inside out and OVER the closed up diaper. Take your other glove and do the other half of the diaper if it doesn’t all fit in one glove.

I swear those gloves form a tight bag that does NOT let the stink out. I would post pics but ewww, that’s just gross.

This totally works for us! For more tips, check out all the great Works for Me Wednesday ideas over at WeAreThatFamily.

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 sister and pirate-loving nephew were just here for a visit that coincided with his fifth birthday. I saw this great pirate cake on Parenting.com and suggested we try and make it. My dad emailed me that it looked really difficult to make. A little chiding and he revealed he’d only looked at the picture, not the directions. If you read the directions, Dad (he’s an engineer; they never read the directions!), you’ll see it’s made with pretzels and candy and is super simple.

So my sis and nephew made the cake (I took the pictures – haha). And while ours didn’t look quite as pretty as theirs, it looked pretty good, don’t you think? One little tip: buy some pirate figurines at the party store and add them to the top. It totally made the cake! And if yours ends up lopsided, as ours did, tell the kids that the ship is just sailing the high seas.

Anyhow, this recipe totally worked for me! (Part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted at WeAreThatFamily. Lots of great tips there every Wednesday.)

THE CAKE FROM PARENTING.COM

OUR VERSION OF THE CAKE (WITH FIGURINES FROM PARTY STORE)

OH HO HO IT’S A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME! MY NEPHEW HARD AT WORK

Wanna see more photos? Check out our Facebook page for more shots of the cake-making fun!

We drink a lot of tea around here. Good, strong Persian tea or the occasional blend from the Roswell Tea House (mmm mmm Magic Moon and Anti-Aging blends). While I love the tea, I hate serving guests tea in stained cups. I used to pour a little bleach in and swish it around to remove the stains but wanted to find a less, uh, toxic alternative. So I Googled it and found a super simple suggestion that really works. Simply dump a little sea salt in your mug and rub it with a damp rag. Those stains rub right out.

Really works for me! This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted at WeAreThatFamily. Lots of great tips there every Wednesday.

Just about every mom I know complains that they can’t find socks that stay on their babies. I’m glad to know it’s not just me; my chunky monkey has cute little fat rolls where most of us have ankles. I assume that’s why socks don’t stay up. Thank goodness for Zutano’s booties. They snap around his ankle, with two different snap settings (adjustable to fit your puddin’ pop’s foot). And they STAY ON! Doesn’t matter how long he jumps in his Jumperoo, his booties stay put. Try that with socks!

I know I’ve blogged about Zutano before because I love their bold, graphic prints, but I neglected to mention the practical aspects of their line. The booties are on the pricey side, but they last a long time and mix and match well with their clothes. I’ve often found them on sale online and stocked up then. Regardless of whether or not you find them on sale, they’re worth it!

You can find Zutano at local children’s boutiques. I’ve bought them online at the following retailers:

BabySuperMall

BambinoMountain

ComfyKid

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted by We Are THAT Family. Great tips there!

Ah, the multi-functional, multi-purpose exercise ball. You know the one they told you at birthing class you could bring to the hospital and use as a birthing ball if you wanted to? (Like that was going to fit in the back with the car seat and the serious over-packing we did!) Well, that’s one use for it. I use mine as a chair to wheel around my baby’s gear. I can roll around his activity center, hang out and play, without having to get up and down from the floor (I’ve got old knees). Ditto for his jumperoo. I just plop my big ‘ol butt on the ball and jump along with him. He loves it! And I love that I can just roll around from one of his activity areas to the other.

Of course, he thinks it’s just one giant new ball for him to play with. Some day, I’ll show him how I used to use it for stomach crunches, “BB” (Before Baby).

This post is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted at WeAreThatFamily. Great tips there every Wednesday!

I try to buy healthy, organic produce whenever I can, but there are some items, like avocados and onions, that most experts agree are o.k. to buy non-organic. Trouble is, whenever I’m at the grocery, I can’t seem to remember beyond “avocados: good; apples: bad.” (By “bad,” I mean conventional apples have too much gunk and I should be buying those organic.)

So I took the “dirty dozen” from the Environmental Working Group Guide (and their “clean 15″) and put them in a note in my phone.  Now when I’m standing in the grocery aisle talking to myself, I can whip out my phone and look up the list.

The guide is available as a PDF file, which may be more work than it’s worth to get in your phone. So here’s the list in plain text, straight from my phone to yours:

The “Dirty Dozen” (starting with the worst)
Peach
Apple
Bell Pepper
Celery
Nectarine
Strawberries
Cherries
Kale
Lettuce
Grapes (Imported)
Carrot
Pear

The “Cleanest 15″ (starting with the best)
Onion
Avocado
Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas
Kiwi
Cabbage
Eggplant
Papaya
Watermelon
Broccoli
Tomato
Sweet Potato

I did the same thing when I was pregnant and couldn’t remember which foods were on the “DO NOT EAT OR ELSE” list, which for those of you who haven’t been pregnant recently, now includes DELI MEAT. How I would have killed for a cold turkey sandwich in August last year when I was 7 months pregnant . . .

Anyhow, cheat sheets in my phone. It’s what works for me!