Welcome to the 3rd Annual “Off to School We Go!” Giveaway Hop hosted by Heather from Mommy’s Favorite Things and Michelle from Mama’s Baby Cupcakes. This hop is focused on items you’d want/need for your children to get ready for school! Each blog has a minimum prize package of $25 per winner and after visiting my giveaway, make sure you use the linky below to take a look at the other blogs to see what they have to offer for you!
Be sure to check out the grand prize on Mama’s Baby Cupcakes blog for several goodies to get your kiddos ready for another school year! One lucky winner will receive a lunchbox of their choice from I See Me!, one school themed shirt from Zoey’s Attic Personalized Gifts, two fun shirts of your choice from Alley + Rae, a $25 gift card from Little Miss Matched, and a $100 gift card from Kohls. Gift cards are great for extras like book bags, shoes, pants, and more! This grand prize has a retail value of $215.50, perfect for getting ready to go back to school!
Mama’s Baby Cupcakes, Mommy’s Favorite Things and the “Off To School We Go!” participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.
All items are shipped via USPS First Class (2-5 day delivery time) with confirmation (within US only). Delivery confirmation is not available with international orders. If an item exceeds the weight limit for first class, then it will need to be shipped Priority (2-3 day delivery time). Please keep in mind that some international shipping can take between 2 and 4 weeks, and in some cases even longer. Zookaboo is not responsible for any customs charges and/or taxes placed upon packages by other countries. Returns are accepted within 14 days of purchase.
Mama’s Experience
Zookaboo has a unique twist on the cloth diaper market. They make and sell matching tee and diaper cover sets. When we have our child in a cloth diaper we love to show it off! Having a matching tee makes showing off that fluff butt even more fun. It’s a perfect excuse for just putting a diaper and a tee on your baby.
The cover stays on so well. My son has very skinny legs and most other diaper covers will not properly stay on. The leg gussets are never tight enough to hold their position. This is not a problem with Zookaboo! I am so please that I was able to have a prefold on him and the cover stay on. He even soaked the prefold and it didn’t leak out. I am so over the moon about this. There are 2 snaps on both the left and right side. Having the double snap I think really helps hold things in place with petite children.
The tee shirts do run a little bit small. So when you are placing an order keep that in mind. My son is wearing a 2T in this picture. He normally wears a 12 or 12-18 mo tee.
Care: Machine wash cold or warm in cloth diaper safe detergent; line dry is recommended to extend the life of the cover. (Recommend drying once in dryer to seal any holes made in the cover during sewing.)
“Diaper cover has a cotton outer and is lined with a waterproof PUL fabric in white. This diaper cover can be used with most inserts, prefolds, or fitted diapers. The inside of the cover is wipeable.” – Zookaboo
“Before starting Milkdot, I assumed that if a product was in a store, then it should be safe to use. It wasn’t until I started to research basic materials for bags that I became surprisingly aware how little we know about the products we buy and how many of them use toxic materials that can harm our health and the environment.
Milkdot is committed to designing quality products that are safe for our kids and the environment. Every Milkdot production is tested by a CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) accredited lab and exceeds the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) standards.
Often, I’ve been asked about the name, Milkdot. From the beginning, I knew that I wanted this company to inspire something good. What comes to mind when we hear “Milk”? Children, pure, nurture, wholesome, clean…and “Dot” is my belief that each person can make a positive difference in our world. ” – Milkdot Website
You can purchase all of their products straight through their website. If you would like so see Milkdot in a store near you, then click here to find a list of all the US, Canadian and other retailers throughout the world.
I love that these lunch totes are made with all all non toxic materials. I care so much about what I put into my kids bodies. From the food they eat to the soap I wash their tableware with. Of course we should care about the tote we place their food in daily.
These totes are so smooth to the touch. Soft and plush makes to easier to carry for little hands and easier to store. I love being able to press the sides down so that I can store the tote when not in use. Space is always limited with 2 little children. I have stuff everywhere! If I can cut down on my storage space then I am sold.
It is luxury in a lunch box
I can not get over how much room this lunch tote has. I am able to get a ridiculous amount of food, drinks and plastic containers of food in this lunch tote. As you can see, the depth is so deep that it has over an inch of room after the length of a can of pop. This huge tote allows you to pack a healthy lunch for your self or a loved one.
The back of the tote has a small pocket which can hold a small amount of items like a cell phone and keys. It also has a name tag which can be filled out. I love this feature. Most children’s schools and day cares require their name and phone to be clearly on the tote. This allows us to identify the owner without having to take a permanent marker to it.
We all know and love Gerber. They have been providing us with wonderful food, table wear and clothing for years. It’s a brand we can trust and have grown to love. Recently Gerber has released a line of All-In-One cloth diapers. These easy to use cloth diapers make switching from disposables to cloth easy. Not only will you save money with cloth diapers but you will help keep diapers out of landfills, thousands and thousands of diapers which take (we think) up to 500 years to fully disintegrate! Help your child, your pocket book and your world buy making the switch to disposable diapers.
This hop is filled with fun prizes from loads of fabulous companies. When you are done entering to win a stunning Milkdot lunch tote that you hop around and enter a few more giveaways listed below in the linky.
“Our products teach babies, toddlers and preschoolers the basic skills, things like; the alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, reading and even math! Our aim is to encourage early learning, parent child interaction, self-esteem and help children to develop fine motor skills and excellent hand eye coordination. Bond. Teach. Play… 20 minutes a day!” – TeachMy.com
Teach My’s president, Christy, quickly realized that parents are the most important teachers. I cannot agree with her more! She spent countless hours scouring stores for tools to teach the alphabet, teach counting and teach reading. When she couldn’t find one kit that did it all, she began creating her own teaching tools that matched some of the tools she had purchased. When her son was reading by the age of three the other parents at his nursery school started asking how she had taught him. It was at this point that she learned “matching” was a key pre-reading skill for young children.
Teach My Toddler Kit is the multi award-winning all-in-one learning kit for toddlers 18 months+. Requiring no screens, the kit has everything to give your toddler a head start and teach the basics. Teach My Toddler is divided into four sections; The Alphabet, Numbers, Shapes and Colors. The teaching tools are fully coordinated to encourage repetition and interaction. Teach My Toddler is designed around the concept of matching, which is a key pre-reading skill!
Kit Includes:
Teach My Toddler The Alphabet
Teach My Toddler Numbers to 10
Teach My Toddler Shapes
Teach My Toddler Colors
Features:
4 Board Books
4 Full-Size Posters
5 Foam Puzzles
50+ Flashcards
Teaching Guide
Storage Case
Mama’s Experience
The Teach My Toddler kit is too cool. It comes with shapes, numbers, letters and colors. All the basics that my child craves to learn. Yes, children crave to learn. They want to know what we know. They are little sponges trying to soak up all they can. We need to jump on this opportunity and get them the basic knowledge they need and can take in at this age. The basics of communication are based of numbers, colors, shapes and letters.
The Teach My system uses fun and clear pictures to help my children see and them understand the word associate with them. They need straight forward information and consistency. By having the themes and photos in a consistent nature my child stays engaged and keeps learning.
My daughter is in love with this ‘game’ as she calls it. She doesn’t get frustrated with missing pieces because the entire kit comes in a easy to store plastic container.
The puzzles are a soft foam material. I love that they are easy for little hands to hold. The bright colors make them very engaging. Being foam they are super light which is perfect for storage. My daughter can take her time and figure out her puzzle based on color, shape, letter or number at her own pace.
The books are perfect for a toddler to hold. They are a small board book size. The same size as many other beloved books in our home are sized. Small enough to encourage independence and yet large enough to have clear and fun pictures.
The flash cards are a huge hit with my daughter. She loves to carry them around and look for other items with the same color or shape. Looking for reds, purples and blues in her own little I Spy type game. All of the items in this learning kit are so versatile that you can adapt them into your own little games. Showing your child that they can learn all day in so may ways.
My daughter loves her new ‘game’. She is obsessed with the puzzles. She even made up her own game. She takes the flashcard and places it on the correlating puzzle spot.
I really love how the word for the correlating shape or color is on the back of the flash card. I keep reminding her that the word for that shape or color is right there. I am hoping she will start to recognize the word and understand what it means. I have read that children can recognize words just as well as shapes. They can understand the word more then the letter at times. The letters do not have a direct meaning to them like a word does.
All in all, I highly recommend the Teach My system. your child will be able to play and learn in a safe and clean environment. Look for it in the children’s section of your local WalMart and Toys R Us today.
I See Me! provides the highest quality, most personalized children’s books available. I See Me! was started by founder Maia Haag and her husband Allan after they received a personalized book as a gift for their first son in 1998. While they loved that it was personalized, they thought that the illustrations could have been much better and the story more customized to the child. Thus I See Me! was born.
Their goal was to produce an educational book that would teach young children how to recognize letters and spell their names.
They are pleased to say their books have become popular among celebrities including Courteney Cox, Brooke Shields and Jessica Alba along with every day parents like me.
Their mission is to increase self esteem in children through personalized books that celebrate the uniqueness of each child. The goal of I See Me! books is to show each child how absolutely unique and special he or she is, to teach the child how to spell his or her name, and to build vocabulary skills.
Having a book or item personalized for a child is a very special gift. There are many questions people have and most have been answered at the I See Me! FAQ page. A few notes to highlight are:
What about adopted children? Yes, there are custom options for the arrival day instead of day of you were born.
Can you select certain fairies, animals, sea creatures or countries to be used in your book? Yes, we can accommodate this request if you send an email to customerservice@iseeme.com within 4 hours after completing your order.
More information in these topics and many others can be found at the FAQ page. Click here for a link.
Here are some of the questions which make your book personalized:
Childs first name
Childs last name
Childs gender
Childs birth month
Childs year of birth
Dedications (examples being: I love you! Happy Easter! To a Wonderful Big Sister! Merry Christams! etc….)
“Celebrate your favorite little preschooler with this adorable new personalized storybook, The Very Important Preschooler (V.I.P.)! Your child will learn that being a “V.I.P.” means making new friends at preschool, sharing, helping out, cleaning up, learning new things and more. The Very Important Preschooler is filled with lots of great messages for your little preschooler and is personalized throughout the story and on the cover with his or her name! Written by Jennifer Dewing, Illustrated by Jill McDonald.” – I See Me!
This book is so beautiful. The illustrations are bright and bold. Perfect for a toddler to be fully engaged while reading.
When you child hears their name being read aloud during the story their eyes perk up and eyes open wide. I showed my daughter that her name was in print right there in the book. She thought that was too special. She loves this book because it truly is about her. The book will forever be a cherished part of our home library.
The personalized storybooks range in price from $29.99-$34.99
“Our personalized lunch boxes make your child feel special every day! Each one of our lunch boxes features your child’s name on multiple sides. On the inside lid, there’s a chalkboard where you can write a personalized note to your child each morning!
Safe for storing food, our lunch boxes are made of tin and contain no lead. They’re also great for storing toys and other treasures!
Hand wash with dish soap. Do not put into dishwasher. Chalk is not included.” – I See Me!
My daughter has seen many photos of lunch boxes in her expansive 2 years. She knows what they are. But, she has never had her own. We typically use a cooler when going to the zoo or vacation. We share a large container for the whole family. She had no idea that she was getting her own lunch box.
When I showed my daughter her lunch box she got so excited. She wanted to hold it and carry it around with her. She even showed her little brother new prized possession. She has loved purses and bags for ever, so it was natural that my little girl would want to tote around her new lunch box. I sat her down and showed her that her name was on the box she got giddy with excitement. It was all hers. She didn’t have to share this one with her little brother. Having it personalized created a confidence and independence in her. I highly recommend getting a personalized lunch box from I See Me!
Lunch boxes are normally priced at $29.99 but are currently on special for $17.99! That is a 40% savings and this is a super limited time offer.
Okay newbies! An all in 2 diaper works like this: You have an outer shell. This outer shell is to be reused. On the inside you snap in a removable liner. The liner is what gets soiled. Once soiled you simply unsnap the liner and toss the liner in the laundry. The cover is typically still clean (except for those super crazy heavy pee moments & blow outs) and you just snap a new liner on and place back on baby. These are super great for saving laundry time. Having only the liner to wash instead of the entire diaper allows you to save on wash time. I like to drip dry all of the diapers so this makes my turn around time a lot longer. With All-In-2’s I can lessen my laundry pile and use my covers faster. Covers DO need to be washed when soiled and occasionally. You wash your hoodie every few times you use it, same concept (you better wash that hoodie dude or no one is going to want to sit next to you soon).
For more detailed information about how to use Button All-In-2’s click here.
What is different about Button Diapers?
“Quality, affordable, and adorable cloth diapers. Buttons’ is an easy to use two-in-one system. Our one-size diaper covers can snap to fit babies from 9-35 lbs, and are made of 2 layers of soft wipeable PUL with double gussets around the legs. Our snap-in diaper inserts are soft and absorbant, and come in two sizes.” – Button Diapers Website
Button diapers have a few features which make them unique:
The PUL (a soft laminated fabric which is wipe-able like plastic but soft to touch) is made with 2 layers. This makes it more durable.
Double gussets. This means it is more secure around the leg holes. My son has super skinny legs and sometimes will leak out of leg holes. This helps keeps things in. I really love this feature. It saves me from extra outfit changes when a diaper would leak.
Snap-in inserts. The part that gets soiled, the insert, is snapped into place. This is perfect cause you don’t have to worry about the insert shifting around inside the diaper as your child jumps off the furniture giving you an irregular heartbeat and added anxiety. We have enough to worry about as a parent, worrying about the insert shifting and not even catching urine shouldn’t be one of them.
I really like the PUL that Buttons uses. It is easy to wash and doesn’t leave marks on my son’s legs or belly. I have used both the daytime microfiber inserts (which have a top layer of super duper soft fleece for the skin side) and the microfiber nighttime doubler (also has the fleece top layer). Both work great for daytime use with my son. He is currently 20 lbs and 17 months old. I have not tried this diaper overnight on him. I LOVE the snap in feature. The snaps are very secure but easy to unsnap in a pinch. I love being able to use the same diaper cover for several uses by simply changing the insert. It is recommended to change the diaper cover every 3 changes. This really helps cut down your wash loads and dry time. Less diaper to wash = less diaper to dry!
20 lb child age 17 months. Snapped rise in use.
The only negative or con of this diaper is that it only have 1 snap. There is no hip snap. There is only the top snap by the waist, no second row snap. This would be fine for normal sized babies, but my son is very tiny. He still wears 3-6 month or 9 month pants even though he is 17 months old. He has not leaked out of a Button’s diaper. This may because I am paranoid and change him super fast after he soils it. You can tell is loose around his thighs because the diaper starts to slip out of the leg holes. Keep in mind that my child is VERY skinny. Note his pant sizes. An average baby will not have this issue with a Buttons diaper.
