When I was a kid we always had a special pyjama bag to put our pjs in during the day. This meant that (a) they weren’t just lying around and (b) we always knew where they were when it came time for bed. I know it’s been a while since I was a kid, but when I hit up our friend Google to try and find one for Maisie I was at a loss – I came up empty time and time again. I turned to Etsy in hope that someone creative had similar childhood memories, and that’s where I discovered DesignLaboratoire’s PYJ-AMIS.

Sophie, the designer and creator behind PYJ-AMIS (a play on pyjamies & “amis”,  French for friend) was born in Paris, studied fine jewelry for four years in Lausanne, Switzerland, jewelry design in Geneva, and industrial design in Zurich. To say that PYJ-AMIS are well designed is an understatement! DesignLaboratoire were kind enough to send me a little bunny PYJ-AMIS for Maisie to try and it was an absolute HIT. Not only is the bunny design incredibly cute (its little cross-stitch nose is the epitome of cute), but Sophie added Maisie’s name making it personalized cuteness personified. (Maisie’s full name is very unusual and I’m positive we’re never going to find it alongside regular personalized items, so being able to add it to items like PYJ-AMIS makes them even more special.)

PYJ-AMIS come in seven different designs – Sooree the mouse, Foosh the Frog, Swing the seahorse, Boon the bunny, Pingoo the penguin, Kooky the koala and, the newest member of the PJY-AMIS menagerie, Piggy the pig. Each of the animals are available in six different colours (kiwi, raspberry, ocean, gold, oatmeal, and rich cream) with contrasting features and a hanging ribbon so that the PYJ-AMIS can be hung at the end of the bed or on a hook. They are even cuter in person than I imagined, and as soon as I showed Maisie what it was for she immediately insisted that ALL of her pyjamas go into the bunny. I think this would make an awesome birthday gift and if you are as big of an organization freak as I am, you HAVE to get one.

PYJ-AMIS cost $35 USD – add an additional $5 USD for personalization for that special little one but right now, as an Easter special you can get FREE name printing with any order of a “Boon the Bunny” Pyj-Amis during the whole month of April!

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Sophie from DesignLaboratoire has very kindly provided the opportunity for TWO readers to WIN their choice of personalized PYJ-AMIS (one each).

To Enter: Visit the DesignLaboratoire Etsy store and leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us what your favourite item is. Once you’ve entered by leaving this mandatory comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” #WIN 1 of 2 personalized PYJ-AMIS pyjama bags from DesignLaboratoire & @SpiltMilkMoms http://tinyurl.com/4ppu6pl #giveaway #contest “ and leave us the link for extra DAILY entries.
  
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us a comment with the link for one extra entry.
• Subscribe to Spilt Milk Moms by RSS or Email Subscription and leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
  

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Wednesday, April 6th, and the winners will be selected using Random.org.  Winners will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before other winners are selected.  This giveaway is open to both US and Canadian residents.

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I try to do my part in this world to reduce the amount of waste my family creates.  Over the last few years, this has included asking retail staff not to staple my receipts together (or print one at all).  Staples are great at holding paper together, but what a hassle when it comes to pulling them off paper before recycling.  In the big scheme of things, however, it wasn’t until I received a fabulous EcoStapler from my friend Lara last Christmas that I realized just how wasteful staples really are (and that doing my recycling properly was actually the least of my worries when it comes to these little steel fasteners).  For example, did you know that if every office worker used one less staple per day, we’d conserve more than 120,000 tonnes of steel per year?  The EcoStapler website really puts the environmental impact of staple use into perspective:

When you look at a single staple, it doesn’t look like much. However, when you consider that more than a billion tons of steel are used every year to make staples, then that one staple appears to be more than it is. As well, in order to make all those staples, raw-materials need to be mined and drawn from the Earth, refined, and then shipped to a factory in order to be manufactured into paper staples.

Each step in the manufacturing chain causes damage to the environment. Whether it’s taking natural resources from the Earth, or greenhouse gases caused by transportation, that one little staple becomes an unfriendly and pricy enemy of the environment. And remember, billions of tons of metal are used each year in order to make staples.

So how exactly does the EcoStapler work?  First of all, you should know that it can only staple a maximum of five pages together, so if you’re looking for a Eco-friendly solution for those bigger jobs, this isn’t it.  However, if every retailer in North America alone used this clever little device for receipts and office workers put it to use when they could, imagine the positive impact it would make on our environment!  Logistically, the EcoStapler works by using the paper itself to fasten it together.  How it works is actually really unique – as you push the EcoStapler down, it punches through the paper like a hole punch and then weaves the excess paper back up through the pages (pictured below).  It’s hard to describe, but the way in which it ties and binds the paper together really is ingenious and virtually indestructible!

If you want to be an Eco superhero like me, you can order your own EcoStapler by purchasing the two pack through the company’s website for only $14.99 (CAD or USD).  I think the EcoStapler makes a great gift for Eco-conscious friends and family (thanks Lara!), so keep it in mind for that next special occasion.

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For me, the timi & leslie 2-in-1 Backpack also scores high for its quality of construction.  The metal clips and magnet fasteners are sturdy and give the bag a feeling of substance.  The fabric is durable and can easily be cleaned with the wipe of a cloth.  Additionally, the 2-in-1 Backpack is available in a variety of five timeless patterns including the Mackenzie I received.

In summary, this diaper bag is the finest one I have seen on the market.  Built to endure and thoughtfully engineered, this bag is truly mother’s little helper.  But, would I sound shallow if I told you the main reason I love my timi & leslie’s Mackenzie 2-in-1 Backpack bag?  It just looks great!  Purchase your timi & leslie’s 2-in-1 Backpack through Amazon.com or these local and online retailers starting at $50 USD.

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Although I already had a cute diaper bag, when I spotted the Funky Skulls Diaper Bag (above) at a local Farmer’s Market the other weekend, I HAD to have it!! Not only is it very me, but it was also bigger than my current diaper bag, with more pockets (eight in total) and an insulated bottle bottle holder. These diaper bags are made to be worn over the chest (messenger style) freeing up both hands for other things, or over the shoulder like a purse. They are also equipped with an adjustable strap to fit all sizes. Maxwell Designs’ bags are made from either Organic Brown Cotton Canvas or Hemp in Black, Army Green, Taupe, Blue or Natural (cream). To top it off, the bags are dye-free, anti-microbial, and Eco-friendly! With all these great features, my (very picky) husband gave it the thumbs up also! Oh, and just in case none of the fabrics suit your desire, you can contact Maggie and work with her to create a custom bag just for you – how cool is that?

Because I was buying a new diaper bag, I decided to get a new change pad as well. Maxwell Designs generously provided me with one of their fab Travel Change Pads to write this review. I opted for the Jungle Black fabric (shown below), and couldn’t be happier! These Travel Change Pads have a cotton exterior with soft cotton toweling interior and a Velcro closure. Easy to use on-the-go or at home, and they are machine washable as well. I like that this Change Pad rolls up nice and small, and fits conveniently into my super stylish new diaper bag.

Not that mom Maggie isn’t busy enough with three kids and her own design company, she also has a web-based store called Toots n’ Tots where she sells everything Eco-friendly that you could possibly need as a mom. Her specialty is cloth diapering, and she even runs cloth diapering sessions. Just in case you don’t already love Maxwell Designs, I should mention that 10% of all Charlie Banana products sold on Toots n’ Tots gets donated back to local various beneficiaries!

Maxwell Designs diaper bags can be purchased online from $44.95 CAD, and Travel change pads cost from $8.95 CAD to $18.95 CAD. For you, our loyal readers, Maxwell Designs has kindly provided us with a promo code for you to save  15% off their Travel Change Pads and all cloth diapers. Use promotional code “Love” until February 19th, 2011 to take advantage of this discount! Thanks Maxwell Designs!!

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Anyone who knows me knows that I like to be organized. But as organized as I am, my husband has no idea what any of our important information is or where I keep it. Of course, it probably doesn’t help that I keep a lot of this information in my head! I guess like most families, we always figured that if at least one of us was keeping track of things, then the info would be there when we needed it. But where is “there” exactly? My computer, my cell phone, buried in a pile of papers in a file under the desk somewhere? For us the answer was yes to all of the above. Now, our answer is a big YES thanks to the Life.Doc Kit from the good people at Get Buttoned Up.

The Life.doc kit is a handy binder that is designed to hold all of your family’s important information. Divided into section including “ Emergency Plan”, “Family Basics”, In Sickness & In Health”, “Insurance”, “Dollars & Sense”, “Legal Ease”, “Caregiver Information” and “Home Sweet Home”, this binder has a place for all the important details of your family’s life so that in the event that something should go wrong, the information to set things straight again is close at hand. There are even some handy give-away cards for you to give to a trusted friend or family member telling them about your Life.doc kit and where you have stored it just in case you need someone else to access the information in your absence. What I love about this kit is that all the information I have about my family is now in a very handy place for my husband to access if I’m not there to help him out.

The Life.doc kit also comes with a cd-rom that has templates for you to type in your information, which can be printed directly onto the provided worksheets. I also love that as a 3-ring binder I can add my own pages to the kit to customize it even further, and that each of the tabs is also a little pocket folder which can hold non-standard sized flat items such as documents that you wouldn’t normally want to put a hole-punch through (my wedding certificate for example!).

All in all, once everything is filled out, this bright red binder is easy to use and easy to spot on the shelf in an emergency for quick access. I love this binder and will be using it for many years to come!

A big thank you to Get Buttoned Up for donating a copy of this binder to me for this review. You can get your own copy of the Life.doc kit through various retailers online for about $29.95 USD. Get Buttoned Up also has other great family organization kits including the Collision Kit, the Medical.doc kit, and the Valuables.doc kit. Get your family organized today with these handy and easy to use kits!

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The wooden puzzles from Melissa & Doug are wonderful, but they do pose a problem when it comes to storing them neatly. The pieces will fall out if the puzzle is tipped on its side, and the pieces don’t all stack nicely on a shelf due to the pegs, so I was happy to find that Melissa & Doug has a line of puzzle racks.

The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wire Puzzle Rack is designed to hold six small puzzles and six large puzzles. The wire rack is easy to bend and is not as sturdy as I would like, however it is nice that all of the Melissa & Doug puzzles we have fit into the rack neatly. Unfortunately, I have read a series of mixed reviews on this product from other sites, so I hesitate to claim that this rack will fit all of the Melissa & Doug puzzles. Most of our Melissa & Doug puzzles are the small peg puzzles or the 24-piece puzzles. If you have a lot of the chunky or jumbo peg puzzles, and are unsure if this rack will work for you, I recommend emailing the company directly with a list of the puzzle types you own.

The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wire Puzzle Rack is available from MelissaAndDoug.com for $19.99USD.

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I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about my new 2011 Organized Family calendar by Canadian company Glow Baby, but let me try!  Gone are the days of missed appointments and forgotten play dates.  This 2011 calendar will keep the entire family organized.

Each month in the 2011 Organized Family Calendar is clearly displayed on a full calendar page.  Below each month are four full sized sheets, one for each week.  Space is provided for family members to write down their individual schedules, which might include work shifts, appointments, family activities and practices.  Each page also has a designated section for chores for both kids and parents and space to write notes and To Do lists.  When the week is over, the sheet is simply torn out and the next week’s activities are revealed. If you are not a diary writer, save the calendar sheets and you have a record of your family’s activities for that year!

This calendar is perfect for today’s busy family.  At a glance any family member can see his or her own schedule and also the schedules of the other family members.  With my husband’s shift work, my unpredictable work schedule, and a sixteen month old thrown into the mix, my life will be made less stressful by this simple, but highly effective mother’s little helper.

Thanks to Glow Baby for sending me an Organized Family Calendar to review.  For those of you that would like to pick up one for your family, the calendar is a steal at $26.00CDN.  Even better, Glow Baby is currently offering Spilt Milk Moms readers 20% off their fabulous 2011 Organized Family Calendar.  Simply use promo code spiltmilk at checkout.  Thank you Glow Baby. With the holiday season is fast approaching, the 2011 Organized Family Calendar would also make a fantastic gift.

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I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not, but last month we moved our family from an insanely spacious 3000 sq/ft house to a “make the best of it” 900 sq/ft apartment. It hasn’t been an easy transition and for a while it looked like we were living in a furniture warehouse. So in order to try and make the most of the space we have, I decided to become the Queen of storage solutions. I have absolutely fallen in love with the Kangaroom Wally Wall Organizer and I couldn’t wait to share it with you all.

We have next to no wall space or hallways in the new place, so I knew I needed to utilize the lesser used spaces, like behind doors or on closets, and the best thing for me about the Wally organizer is that it comes with little metal hooks which allow you to hook it over the door (it also comes with wall attachments if that’s easier for you). It has 12 pockets of varying sizes, including five transparent sleeves that are great for photos (or keys), two media pockets that have little slots in the back so you can thread your chargers through, one marked for pens or pencils, and a half-moon shaped one at the top which holds more than it looks like it can. The Kangaroom Wally Wall Organizer also has a magnetic white board, complete with a pen attachment. Seriously – this thing is AWESOME!

The possibilities are endless with Wally – it would make a great diaper station and would be fantastic for keeping sewing or crafting supplies in. Kangaroom also make Corky Wall Organizer, a half size organizer great for the office cubicle or other small spaces.

My only (minor) complaint is that the over the door hooks don’t fit on an exterior door, so Husbando had to play around with them to make them fit our front door (which is where it saves our lives everyday by keeping our keys, phones and sunglasses in the same place.)

The Kangaroom Wally Organizer is  24″wide  x 60″ long (Corky is 24″ wide x 30″ long) , is available in green, pink, and navy, and retails for $39.99 USD (Corky costs $34.99 USD) directly from Kangaroom.

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If there is one thing I love, it’s being organized! I’ve always been a lover of purse-sized calendars and Franklin Covey Canada’s Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner is a great tool for keeping myself organized. Sure, in these high-tech days I’ve got my email calendar and my iPhone calendar and all the other gadget-y things to keep organized, but at the end of the day writing things down and seeing them spread out in front of me is still my favourite way of keeping track of the million and one things that are going on in my life at any one time.

The Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner is the ultimate in portable paper planners, and it helps me keep everything organized and in one place! It is the most comprehensive (and dare I say prettiest) portable calendar available for busy moms like myself. This planner starts off with a 2-page per month set of monthly calendar tabs which allows you to see your whole month at a glance. I use these calendars for balancing my cheque book, plotting throughout the month when each bill and cheque is due so that nothing gets missed. I also add birthdays and other important dates (like paydays!) on the monthly calendars so that I can see when important things are coming up and how everything all fits together. There are also pages for a monthly task list so that I can check things off each month as they get done! I love checklists!

The next section in the Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner is the 2-page per week planning pages. Divided into “Mom’s Space” and “Kid’s space” for each day of the week, I’ll be sure to keep all of the various appointments for me and my son organized each week. There’s also a section for “Things to Do”, which for me equals more checklists! Yay! Each weekly page also comes with lovely and inspiring quotes that speak to mothers, children and families.

And finally, the most exciting part of this planner for me is that there are pages at the back where I can record all of the important information pertaining to my family. Having it all in one place makes it easy to access in an emergency, and acts as an easy way to track the progress of different aspects of my family’s life. Pages include Family Information, Child Key Information, Child Health Information, Record of Immunizations, School Information, and Allowance Tracker.  Although much of this stuff won’t apply to my year-old son for a few years to come, simply being able to have all of this information in one place makes a born organizer like me giddy with excitement!

Franklin Covey Canada was kind enough to send me their Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner along with a beautiful Her Point Of View Wire-Bound Cover in green leather for this review, and can I tell you how this little package is the sexiest thing in my purse right now! The planner fits perfectly inside the leather cover and it comes with extra pockets for notes and random pieces of paper, as well as wallet slots for cards and a picture slot for a photo of my cute little baby boy. It also comes with a pen loop that keeps my Nantucket Pen handy at all times. With a magnet strap closure and a beautiful floral motif on the inside cloth liner, I can already tell that the Her Point Of View Wire-Bound Cover will be a permanent fixture in my planning regiment for years to come!

The Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner can be purchased online through Franklin Covey for $29.99 CDN.

Franklin Covey Canada is offering Spilt Milk Mom readers 20% off of the fantastic Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner until October 8, 2010. Use promo code 20567 at checkout to receive this fabulous discount!

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In addition to the amazing discount code mentioned above, Franklin Covey Canada has also generously supplied us with a whole slew of fantastic prizes for four (4) of our lucky readers to WIN! Thank you Franklin Covey Canada!

Prize Details:

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive the Her Point of View Leather Collection worth almost $300 CDN consisting of:

• One (1) Her Point Of View Tote (winner’s choice of black, red, green or blue) valued at $179.99 CDN;
  
• One (1) Her Point Of View Wire-bound cover (winner’s choice of red, green or blue) valued at $79.99 CDN;
  
• One (1) Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner for 2011 valued at $29.99 CDN;
  
• and one (1) Nantucket Pen (winner’s choice of pink, black or blue stripes) valued at $9.99 CDN!
  

Three (3) second place winners will win one (1) Classic Simplicity for Moms Wire-bound Weekly Planner for 2011 and one (1) Nantucket Pen (winner’s choice of pink, black or blue stripes).  The second place prizes are valued at almost $40 CDN each!

To Enter:  Go to Franklin Covey Canada’s website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which colour of the Her Point of View Totes is your favourite AND how the Classic Simplicity for Moms Weekly Planner would help you to keep organized.

Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @GOCommunity AND @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” #WIN a Classic Simplicity for Moms Weekly Planner Prize Pack THX @GOCommunity http://tinyurl.com/2dly22l worth $300 @SpiltMilkMoms #giveaway ” and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ the Get Organized Community from FranklinCovey on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Subscribe to our RSS Feed (top right) or subscribe to Spilt Milk Moms By Email for one extra entry.
  

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Saturday October 9th, 2010 and the winners will be selected using Random.org.  Each winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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I was a little skeptical about the Tag-a-Tag clothing labels (I mean labels that stay on in the LAUNDRY?), but they’ve already survived several washes with no sign of giving up their stickiness anytime soon. I also love the size of the slim labels – they’re subtle and their small size means they can fit on items other name labels can’t.

I absolutely love everything about these Emily Press labels, from the designs to the size to the cute little booklet they come in. I may have also fallen in love with their EP Chic Baby Labels and can totally see using the très magnifique Parisian (belle) labels for myself. (Seriously how cool would it be to have chic labels for all us grown ups?) The First Class school label pack costs $40.95 (for 93 labels!), but is only available until September 30th so don’t hesitate!

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Just in time for Back-to-School, Emily Press Labels has generously offered up a First Class School Label Pack for one lucky reader to WIN!  Thanks Emily Press!

To Enter:  Go to the Emily Press website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which icon best suits your child.  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @EmilyPress and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” WIN a limited edition First Class Label pack w/@EmilyPress & @SpiltMilkMoms http://tinyurl.com/236g8wj #giveaway #contest “and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Friday, September 17th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.

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Made out of wood, this magnetic calendar comes with 134 separate magnetic tiles covering five years (2009-2013), the months, the weather, all major holidays, and most of the activities your children take part in on a day-to-day basis (from ‘sick day’ to ‘sleeping over with friends’).  It has two magnetic white boards hinged together with fabric, and can be folded shut for storage or hung on the wall for easy access.  One of the boards contains a calendar grid, while the second can be used to hold magnets or for recording messages with a dry-erase pen.  The calendar is really well laid out, but I wish that there was enough space to put two tiles on each day of the week (one for an event and one for the weather, for example).

I use Melissa & Doug’s Magnetic Calendar daily to talk to Oliver about what’s happening that day and what events are coming up.  I love that you can personalize it to your family’s schedule and celebrations (there’s even one extra magnetic tile included for your family to customize).  It didn’t take long for my son to learn his days of the week, and he’s starting to get the hang of the months.  Look out, Kindergarten!

Even if your children are already school-aged, what a great way to help them get practicing the calendar and upcoming events to keep them (and you!) organized during the school year!  The Melissa & Doug Magnetic Calendar is intended for children aged three and older, and can be purchased for $19.99 USD from the company’s website or for $24.99 CAD from Toys R Us Canada.

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IdeaPaint sent me one of their CRE-8 water-borne paint kits. The paint can turn virtually any surface into a dry-erase board, and can be used on walls, tables, chairs, or pretty much whatever surface you desire. IdeaPaint CRE-8 is available in 10 colours, and I was sent the light green. I will admit that I was slightly panicked at seeing that I hadn’t received white paint like I expected, but it turns out that the light green is a really nice colour. I would suggest that IdeaPaint, may want to improve their website so that the colour swatches expand when a user clicks on them. At this point in time, each colour swatch is only a one inch square, and I don’t think that’s big enough to really get an idea of the true colour.

IdeaPaint comes in two separate containers that you mix when you are ready to go. After the paint is mixed, you have one hour to apply it before it has to be discarded. This means that you really need to be sure you’ve prepped your area properly and will have no distractions (such as little children wandering into the room). Once the paint is mixed, it becomes really thick, and you need to ensure that you apply it in one motion. If you try to go over an area that doesn’t look quite smooth, the paint will peel up again. IdeaPaint isn’t difficult to apply, but it is important to be sure that you know where you want to apply it and you can’t be dainty about it, when you paint it on.

The paint requires 7 days to cure before it can be used as a dry-erase surface, but after the curing stage, it’s worked beautifully as a dry-erase board for us. The paint is backed by a 10-year warranty and is sold in kits that cover 50 sq. ft. of surface. IdeaPaint CRE-8 can be purchased online and each kit retails for $175 US each.

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IdeaPaint has generously agreed to send one lucky winner a supply of IdeaPaint CRE-8 in the colour of your choice!  Thanks IdeaPaint!

To Enter: Go to IdeaPaint‘s website and leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which of colour of paint you would choose should you win. Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @IdeaPaint and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” WIN a supply of IdeaPaint dry-erase paint! http://tinyurl.com/374uxa4 @SpiltMilkMoms @IdeaPaint #giveaway #contest ” and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ IdeaPaint on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
  
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us the link for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Thursday, August 26th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

(Canadians Please Note: Canadians are welcome to enter the giveaway, however please be aware that paint is not duty free, and the duty cannot be paid by the shipper. The duty on this paint should be slightly over $21 and will need to be paid upon receipt of the paint if the winner is a Canadian resident.)

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Yes, it’s still July, and yes, the beginning of the school year is still five or so weeks away.  But time flies when you’re having fun, and for some reason it moves especially quickly when it’s summer.  Darn.

For those of you already thinking about Back-to-School season, Mabel’s Labels is sponsoring a fabulous giveaway with the Spilt Milk Moms!  Up for grabs is a set of their Colourful Ultimate Back-to-School Combo!

The Colourful Ultimate Back-to-School Combo comes equipped with:

• 50 Tag Mates;
• 40 Skinny-Minis;
• 16 Shoe Labels;
• and 2 Teeny Tags.

Available through Mabel’s website for a limited time until September 24th, 2010, the Ultimate Back-to-School Combo pack retails for $44 CDN with six awesome design motifs to choose from.  Oliver has the Rainforest one on the way thanks to Mabel’s, and we can wait to get stickin’ and tagin’ for daycare!

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Mabel’s Labels has generously supplied us with one Colourful Ultimate Back-to-School Combo for one lucky winner!  Thanks, Mabel’s Labels!

To Enter:  Go to the Mabel’s Labels website and leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which of the Colourful Ultimate Back-to-School design motifs you would choose if you were to win this giveaway.  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @Mabelhood and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” WIN an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo pack of labels and tags from @Mabelhood @SpiltMilkMoms http://tinyurl.com/2afgpr3 #giveaway #contest “ and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• Leave us a comment if you ‘Like’ Mabel’s Labels on Facebook for one extra entry.
• Leave us a comment if you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us the link for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends just in time to get organized for Back-to-School at 12:01am PST on Tuesday, August 10th.  The winner will be selected using Random.org and will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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We simply LOVE Canadian company Mabel’s Labels here at Spilt Milk Moms and can personally attest to the durability and stylishness of their personalized labels and stationary.

Are your kids headed to camp this summer?  If they are, it’s time to consider investing in one of Mabel’s Labels Camp Packs.  By labelling your children’s gear using Mabel’s labels, you’ll make sure that (a) their stuff makes it home after camp is over, and/or (b) you’ll be positive that the boots you saw on that bear standing by the side of the road belonged to your Sarah (which also makes a good campfire story).

Mabel’s Labels Camp Packs are available in three colour combinations and include the following items to identify ALL of the stuff accompanying your child to camp:

• 15 Sticky Labels
• 40 Iron-Ons OR 50 Tag Mates
• 8 Shoe Labels
• 2 Bag Tags

Mabel’s Camp Pack costs $34 CAD (a great combo pack deal), and all the labels are dishwasher and microwave-safe as well as UV resistant, while the clothing labels are laundry safe.

Even if your kids aren’t headed to camp, summer is a busy time for most families and yours probably includes water parks, picnics, amusement parks, family reunions, birthday parties, fireworks, day camps, and I’m exhausted now so I’ll stop here.  “My 411 Wristbands” are Mabel’s solution to not being able to keep your eyes on your kids all.the.time. at whatever party or function your children (with or without you) are headed to this summer.  These disposable wristbands include the information you feel is pertinent such as your child’s first name, your first name and emergency contact information, and any health concerns or special needs your child may have.

“My 411 Wristbands” are resistant to water, sunscreen, chlorine, and perspiration and are available in five funky designs.  30 disposable wristbands cost $21 CAD through the Mabel’s Labels website.

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Mabel’s Labels has generously supplied us with one Camp Pack AND one set of “My 411 Wristbands” for a GIVEAWAY with the Spilt Milk Moms – one lucky winner will win both sets!  Thanks for your generosity, Mabel’s Labels!

To Enter: Leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which Mabel’s Labels product interests you the most.  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @Mabelhood on Twitter and tweet this giveaway for extra daily entries.
• Follow @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet this giveaway for extra daily entries.
• Become a fan of Mabel’s Labels on Facebook for one extra entry.
• Become a fan of Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.

In order for your additional entries to count you MUST come back HERE and let us know by providing the link (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)!

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Thursday, June 17th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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I should explain that my husband is a fantastic gift buyer – he always has been! I know I’m very lucky and appreciate it immensely; however, he really outdid himself when he bought me my ESPE (pronounced S P) purse this past Christmas.  His gift was so perfect that I’m recommending it to those of you out there still in search of the perfect Mother’s Day present!

I had been lamenting for quite some time about how I wanted a cool purse that was vegan (no leather), durable, and not too expensive. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I could not find anything that fit the criteria.  Well, Christmas morning I got my wish! My husband had gotten me the ESPE Mod handbag in black. It was the perfect size, color, shape, and was cute to look at as well! I was in love … with this purse! I have since gone on to purchase an ESPE Curio wallet, as well as giving ESPE’s products as gifts to several friends.

There are numerous things that I love about ESPE, but my favorite is how they are completely affordable! The company’s philosophy is that their products should be stylish, functional, and affordable, and they achieve all that and then some in my books!

Handbags range from $45 to $60 Canadian, and wallets from $25 to $28 CAD. ESPE also carries a line of insulated lunch bags, passport holders,  jewelry and other accessories, as well as a men’s line of bags and wallets.

ESPE is a Canadian company based in Ontario that really has a little something for everyone. You can make purchases directly from their website (they accept PayPal), and they ship to anywhere in the world. And if you spend more than $150, they provide free shipping within Canada and the US!

Every time that I use my purse, I think about how great my husband is, and I think about ESPE. They really deliver great, affordable products for the trendy mom, and her friends!

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Excellent online retailer Raspberry Kids is offering the readers of Spilt Milk Moms a 15% promotional discount on ALL purchases from their super cool online store (including wallets, notebooks, and other ESPE products)! Just enter spiltmilk15 at checkout to receive your discount. Please note that this promotional code is not valid for already reduced items.

Thanks Raspberry Kids!

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