Review: Rose Buds Bow Shop: Bow

Business Name: Rose Bud's Bow Shop   A+

About the Business: Rose Bud's Bow Shop is owned by Erica a mom of a little girl in Virginia. 

What I reviewed: I won a bow from Erica and she sent me one to review as well. Here are the items I am reviewing. 

 What I liked: These bows hold up very well. My son has gotten a hold of them and they are still holding up. The glue came undone from the clip, but it was an easy fix. I love that the Christmas bow, you can take the tree off and have a bow and a clip. It is very cute and you can add the clip to a headband or hat if you like. Gives you more options to wear it and have different style. Now the white bow my daughter wore once and lost on the school bus so I can't say too much about that one :(

What I didn’t like: I have not found a down fall to this bow yet :)

Products offered: Erica offers a wide variety of bows, headbands, and little girls accessories. 

Ordering/Shipping: The entire process of working with Erica was a pleasurable one. She is quick to answer questions, quick to ship. I have no complaints.

Extra Info the mama wants you to know: "I want to provide a quality product  at an affordable price. I would not sell you something I wouldn't let my own little girl wear. I sew and glue my bows in place. I love doing custom pieces as well.

And to help your pockets, the more you purchase the bigger the discounts get!" This comes from Erica's website.

Contact Info: 

Website: http://www.wix.com/ekellam33/rosebudsbows

Email: ekellam3@live.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/-Rose-Buds-Bow-Shop-/156385921056033?v=wall

Its Never Too Late to Follow Your Dreams

It's never too late to follow your dreams! This Opinionated Mama is far from perfect. I was a statistic. As a high school senior I got pregnant, but I stayed in school and got my diploma. Though I had been accepted to a very good school in my area, I gave up my dreams to take care of my little girl that I would soon be having. A few months after graduating my little girl arrived, and a few short months after that I married her father. The relationship quickly became abusive and I gathered up the courage to leave just 7 months after getting married. Our divorce followed shortly after that.

Then as it always does life kept going on. After 2 long term relationships that went sour, my mom passed away. It never seemed like the right time to try and go back to school and follow my dreams. It was one thing after another as it always is. 

In 2004 I was fortunate enough to meet a great man, together we have pushed each other to become better people over the years. From doing volunteer work together, starting our own church, starting our own small business we always have something going on and continue to push each other to be better people and take the next step in our lives.

In late 2009 I almost lost my dad to kidney failure. Summer 2010, I lost my grandmother to cancer. Through the years I have lost many loved ones, my dad is doing better on dialysis and is hoping to be put on the kidney transplant list soon. It is a constant reminder that life is too short, that we need to take each day as we have it and not put things off because we may not have another day to do it. 

So in a spontaneous decision the other day, my husband and I both decided that it is time to forget about waiting for the right time to follow our dreams, if we continue to wait for the perfect time, it will never happen. So we both took the leap and enrolled in college. Now it is has been a little over 10 years since I have been in school and even more for him. 

Its never too late to turn your life around and follow your dreams, don't let life get you down, take the good with the bad and take the leap! Live each day to the fullest because you never know what lies ahead. 

Until Next Time, 
Mom of Many

 

Review: Tutu Terrific; Bow

Today I will be reviewing a bow that I received from Tutu Terrific. 

Tutu Terrific     A+++


Tutu Terrific is owned by WAHM Jessica from Arkansas. I have had the pleasure of working with Jessica on a couple occasions now and love working with her. Most the items I have acquired were for Christmas presents so I will not be reviewing those yet. But they will come soon after :)

Here is the bow that I am reviewing, Jessica wanted to try something new, with glitz and glam...I sent her some ideas and she was willing to try them out and came up with:

What I like: I love the glitziness of it. There is a TON going on it in, with the patterns and materials. Giving it that unique quality. It is a larger sized bow and can be worn with just about anything. My daughter loves wearing it with all her pink and purple outfits to school. She has worn it quiet a few times already and it is holding up great! 

What I didn't like: I can't find anything so far that I didn't like about this particular bow.

Shipping: my experience with Tutu Terrific was not a normal one therefore my shipping took a little longer. She was custom making this bow for me to review, at the same time I had ordered some things from her most of which were customs as well and asked that everything be shipped together. I also ended up winning some stuff from her as well. So shipping may have taken longer than most, but she was great keeping me updated on all my customs items when they were finished and when she was doing the next. Everything was packaged nicely and shipped together how I asked. She notified me when my package shipped and it was here a couple days later :)


More information on Tutu Terrific:


Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tutu-Terrific/140139442664651?v=wall


Contact email: Jbaker569@yahoo.com

Overall opinion: Tutu Terrific is wonderful, if you are looking for that unique style or love the bottle cap bows and other cute bows. She may just have what you are looking for. 

Are You Ready For The Holidays?

OK I want to try to get people talking...I know I am not the only one with opinions out there :)  

With Christmas a little more than a week away how ready are you for the holiday?

We finished all of our shopping last week. Which most was done a few months ago for me as I am a little OCD when it comes to saving money and I always have at least 1/2 of my Christmas shopping done for the next year the day after Christmas when everything is half off LOL.

The tree has been up since the day after Thanksgiving. And I started last week wrapping presents little by little, but trying to step it up this week and get them done. Did a little last night and the night before. 

The only thing I havent started is cookies. Which I am hoping to do next week. I always do these last minute. 

So what have you done or haven't done yet? Come over to the facebook page and comment on the post for this blog :) 

Happy Holidays!

Mom of Many

Mama Cloth: Reusable Menstrual Pads

Mama cloth, what is it you may ask. Mama cloth is a term used by women who use them, it is a term used to describe reusable menstrual pads. I know I know, those of you who are reading this who don't use this are thinking ~ewww gross I could never do that~ honestly I did the SAME thing when I first heard about Mama Cloth. I was grossed out by the whole idea, and then thinking eww I would have to wash them, nasty! 

But when money got tight we were looking for any way to save, so I got a good deal on some to try and I fell in love with them. So now I am going to share my experience with you, share the cost benefits, health benefits, and hope that some of you might consider giving them a try.

Mama Cloth is awesome! Throughout this blog I am going to post many pictures of different types, made of different materials, different sizes, & different styles. It all depends on your comfort and what you find that you like.

The first 2 pictures below are of liners, many of us spend $6-8 on liners in a 2 month span. With 12 months in a year you are spending roughly $36-$42 a year just on liners alone. The first picture shows you a red/white polka dot liner, this is very soft, fleece backing, velour top, with extra cushion inside. This one is good as a liner or lighter days as well since it has the extra cushion. The brown is a double fleece liner. And the black one is a double flannel liner.


The second picture below of liners, the top 3 are double flannel, the first in each set is showing the cute styles you can get them in. You can order just about any design to fit your personality. The second set of 2 are flannel backed, but I believe they are sherpa top, but I am not sure. As you can see they also all come in different shapes that you can try for comfort. They are also made in different sizes for better fit. All these liners have snap closures to keep them in place.

 

 The next set of pictures are of those you can use on regular days. These are flannel backed and minky tops. These are very soft and comfortable. The top picture shows you them fully open. The second picture of these, shows the littler of the two folded up for traveling. This is one of the reasons I LOVE this set. You can fold it up and carry it in your purse! Easily hidden. These have velcro closures.

 

The next picture is of set I have for regular days. These are fleece tops and PUL backing. PUL is a water-resistant lining, making these perfect for regular light to medium days. The Pink is the back, the floral is the top. These also have snap closures to keep them in place. These are larger than the liners for better protection but still thin and comfortable.

 The next set I have is black floral backing (can't remember the material used for the backing) with pink velour top. I love these for light to medium days, though they are smaller than the ones above, the velour makes them a bit thicker and they are still comfortable.

Lastly I have the picture below of the back of a larger heavy - postpartum pad. I love these for heavier days or after having a baby. They are velour topped, have extra layer in the middle, and PUL backing. These also have snap closures.

Now that I have showed you the many styles and types of mama cloth; I want to share with you the benefits. I already shared the cost of liners for a year. Now lets do the cost of regular or heavy pads as well. For myself, I always bought large packages of Equate pads from Walmart. For a large package I would spend $6 a month, now for smaller packages of Always, Kotex, and other brands you could easily spend $10-15 a month for what you need. My savings end up being $72 a year on regular pads, add that to what I save on liners and I get a savings of $108 - $114 a year just on the brands I use to buy. Now for those who buy other brands you are looking at just on regulars $120-$180 a year add that to the liners cost and your total savings a year could be $156 - $222 a year. Thats a LOT for women to spend each year! 

The start up cost for Mama cloth varies on whether you make your own, types of materials, ect. I have a lot more than what is pictured. I have over 35 different pads. I spent about $100 on my stash. So buy spending the amount I did, I evened out the first year. Well I saved $8-14 but I will have these longer than a year. For those who spend more than I did by spending $100 on a stash you can still save $56-122 a year your first year! 

Washing mama cloth is a big concern for people. Many people wonder well what do you do with them until you wash them. Well here is the answer, wet bags! Below is a picture of one of my wet bags, I have several, but this one is a medium hanging wet bag that can be hung on a door knob or hook in your bathroom. The inside is PUL so it has the water resistance. These come in all sizes, I have them ranging from travel size up to XXL. So you can use them for just about anything!

 Washing is easy, spray them with a natural stain remover, we use either Oxyclean, or another natural brand that we have here. Spray it on, rub the sides together to work it into the material, let them set for 5 minutes. Then throw them in the wash with your detergent. We also add more oxyclean, just for whitening. But you do not have too. Throw them in the dryer and you are done. Now some people rather spray them right away, but I usually wash them when the bag gets full and it works just as well. I do not soak mine, but I know many who do.

There are health benefits to using mama cloth as well. Many women who wear regular pads get irritation on the legs. Some women also get bad cramps during their cycles. Most of the time by switching to mama cloth, these can be fixed. Since there are no chemicals in the materials (other than what you use in your detergent, that is why we use natural) these cause a lot less irritation. Because these are also thinner than regular pads, it makes it more breathable also causing less irritation. Chemicals in regular pads also can contribute to a womens cramping during her cycle. Most women who have switched have noticed a big change in their cramps or some have even lost them all together. I use to get so bad that I would end up in the hospital once a month, because of cramping. Since I have switched I have not had any cramps. So they have made a HUGE difference for me. 

Now I know most of you are still probably like EWWW NASTY. But you never know if you will like them until you give them a try. I hope that this has helped inform you on what mama cloth is, the benefits, the cost benefits, & I hope that you will consider making the switch.


Until Next Time;
Mom of Many

Ways to Save On the Holiday by RebelsMommy

I was recently looking for someone to help run the blog my last few months of pregnancy and a friend of mine stepped up and said she would be happy to help writing blogs so that we have more posted for people to read and keep people informed.


Please welcome RebelsMommy on our facebook page!

Here is her first blog: Ways to Save On The Holidays

I know you hate hearing it, but in the economic recession were in (yuck) most families can’t afford to do much for Christmas this year. According to most retail stores, money is being spent mostly on children’s items. Most families are opting to buy more for their children and less for themselves.

I’m a unfortunate part of this statistic. My husband has been out of work for some time now and I’ve recently lost my job. Both of us have returned to school trying to expand our options before turning back to the classifieds. Needless to stay money is tight and we have s-t-r-e-a-c-h every dollar to the max. Christmas is no exception.
The past month I’ve scoured the internet and my own creativity to come up with simple ways to come up with the Christmas gifts you simply can’t afford. I gave myself a $100 limit for EVERYONE’S gifts. Our list included roughly 15-20 people including extended family and friends. I was able to make it work!
*Re-Gift. It’s not as tacky as you think. I had a bunch of brand new t shirts that simply did not fit me and were very…erm…not my style. They were BRAND NEW with the price tags still dangling but not returnable because, well, I don’t even know where the original gifter got them! I gifted them to my smaller, more ‘hip’ sister!
*Trade. In the event those t shirts could not be gifted, my second option would have been to trade them for something I could give as a gift! I’ve listed several items on craigslist and was able to trade them for one ‘big’ thing I wanted. Your ‘trash’ is another man’s treasure!
*Show your crafty side! From sewing to soap making to beading, you can easily make a gift for anyone. I took a pound of melt and pour glycerin soap and used simple food coloring and $2 (including shipping) molds from amazon.com to make bags and bags of cute mini soaps in a variety of shapes and colors. I used scrap cotton fabric and sewed little bags to put them in so I wasn’t harming the environment (and wasting money) on plastic baggies. (With glycerin soap you do need to wrap your finished product in plastic wrap. Otherwise they will suck up all the moisture in your home!)
Have a baby on your list? I bought ½ a yard of fleece fabric from Walmart for $1.47 and downloaded Katrina’s Sew Quick Longies Pattern. I was able to sew up FOUR pairs of newborn longies for my neighbor’s goddaughter for A DOLLAR FORTY SEVEN! Even if I factor in ink, paper, tape, and thread, it’s still just $1.50
Older children will love crayon roll ups, which take minimal fabric (I used two pieces of (4 inch by 6 inch roughly, sometimes more or less) cotton fabric and one piece of fleece with about a foot of ribbon). You can find patterns all over the internet. New mom’s of boys will love pee pee tee pee’s and soft fleece blankets. You can find all sorts of patterns with a quick google search or by trying allcrafts.net. You can get a yard of cute fleece and make a tie blanket for the newborn on your list. As a mom I know, I could NEVER have enough blankets.

Have a teen on your list? Hit the thrift store or your closet for a old pair of jeans. Simply cut the legs off, turn them inside out and sew up the bottom. Cut holes on the top and take a strip of the jean material and weave it through the holes. Voila! Instant laptop bag! You could even add a strap to make it a fashionable purse.
Use the fabric scraps to make a pair of soft baby shoes. You could whip up roughly 3-4 size 0-6 month pairs with the two pant legs! Allcrafts.net has several free, easy to use patterns.
Teen boys are a little harder, but still completely feasible. I used some chunky wood beads to whip up my nephew a simple bracelet. In the past I have made ‘tshirt pillows’. My nephew was really fond of one of my husband’s Fender Guitar t shirts that was NOT school appropriate (it had a pin-up model on it). My husband never wore it but I couldn’t give it to him knowing he would probably sneak it to school and get in trouble. I cut the sleeves off, turned it inside out and sewed it up in a square, cutting of the excess. After turning it back out and stuffing it I just whip stitched it and needless to say, he was a very happy teen!

Lip balm. It’s fun and any one of any age or sex can use them. The internet is bursting with ‘recipes’ and you can tweak them to fit what you have on hand or can afford to buy. My favorite is 2 table spoons beeswax, 2 table spoons shea butter, ½ a tablespoon of cocoa butter, a healthy drizzle of olive oil, a few drops of LorAnne flavoring oil. Just heat in a double boiler and when melted, pour into containers. I usually let them completely harden on the countertop before putting the caps on and sealing them (it only takes a few minutes anyways!).

*Try making a few bucks, or gift cards. Swagbucks.com is a Google based search engine that rewards your searches with ‘swagbucks’. Use these bucks to ‘buy’ PayPal, Amazon gift cards, starbucks gift cards and more. I take surveys through pinecone research and I’m rewarded weekly with checks to deposit into my savings towards more shopping!

*Price check, price match, and couponing /store rewards. I just bought a pillow pet for $1.25. How? Coupons! My husband needed body spray today. I had $5. The body spray was $5.95. I bought it with money to spare. How did I do it? I had the drug store price match Wal-Mart’s prices. It might be a pain, but when it comes to saving money (and occasionally convince), it’s 110% worth it. The biggest frugal hint (especially when your grocery shop!!) is CHECK THE UNIT PRICE. It could be a lifesaver. A little math can save you a TON!

My last tip. DON’T BLOW YOUR SAVINGS! If you scoured and scraped by to accomplish everything you needed to and saved $100, then went out and blow it, you didn’t really save the money! You just were frugal and cheap until the last minute. Put those big bucks back in the bank until you have so much money you don’t need to be frugal anymore!

Happy Holidays!
~RebelsMommy

Natural Health Remedies

With the week I have had with everyone in my home being sick I have been thinking about all the home remedies we have been using to either help them or for me to stay healthy when surrounded by so many of sick people. 

The main thing I have been doing this week is disinfecting as much as possible, cleaning up the messes, washing the towels, rags, blankets, sheets, pillows, and clothing as they dirty them. Bathing the kids as much as possible to keep as many germs on them from spreading. 

Using detergant with white vinegar on all the laundry to kill the germs and oders. 

Using white vinegar to clean the floors and beds as well, it takes out the oders and stains, it may smell like vinegar for a little while but it works!

Keeping up the strength in myself, I was drinking plenty of orange juice, though I ate very little I was able to keep up my stamina enough to keep going on my lack of sleep. Vitamin C is a great way to keep your immune system boosted. My poor husband passed out on me with everything he has lost in the first 24 hours, the first thing I did was give him orange juice and herbal tea to build him back up a little, though he wasn't able to hold it in very long, he was able to regain his color and be able to stay alert without passing out on me again.


Other natural things to do when sick, depending on the virus, we use lots of garlic, real garlic not garlic powder or minced garlic in a jar, those just don't work as well. Garlic is great for infections, and helps to kill the infection a lot faster in my opinion then any medications do. 


Natural chicken broth is a great way, to also keep up stamina when you are sick. It gives you the nutrients you need to keep going, but isn't thick and weigh a lot in your stomach. 


I have so many more...but not enough time to write them. But if you are into home or natural remedies I would love to know yours, from your cleaning tips, to your healthy tips. Please go over to the facebook page and comment on the blog post and share them with the rest of us :)


Until Next Time,


Mom of many







 

And the Baby Is A,.....

BOY!!!

I have to be quick with this one tonight as I have a house full of sick people. Since Saturday everyone (except me) in our house has been ill at one time or another, at 4am this morning it started with my husband and at 5am our daughter joined him, these two have had the worst of it and are camped out upstairs resting which is giving me 5 minutes to write this, now that I have everyone else settled and fed.

Well I went for my sonogram this morning and after all the trying decide on a baby name we didnt even need a girl name LOL :) 

We will be having a little boy as it seems, he was very photogenic at least of that area, we could not get a good profile picture though. 

Fun part is we both thought we were having a girl, we even bought a couple girls items that now we no longer need LOL. We will be posting them in our facebook resale album soon.

We thank you all for playing our little name game on facebook as well. Though we didn't end up with a little girl, we loved seeing the votes for the name choice. 

Well I better get back to tending to my sicklings and getting those who are feeling better into bed soon. Hope everyone has a wonderful night :)

Many Blessings.
Mom of Many "The Opinionated Mama"

 

Review: CCbaby's Cashmere Nose Wipes

So I have had the opportunity to try and test out and am looking forward to trying more and testing out products by CCbaby. Today's review is:


CCbaby: Cashmere Nose Wipes

I have already done a review for CCbaby's baby legs so many of you may have heard about her through me already. Today's product I am reviewing are her cashmere nose wipes.

What are cashmere nose wipes? These are upcycled scrap pieces from cashmere sweaters that are surged around the edges to keep them from fraying and are used a reusable tissues.


Here is a picture of the ones I am reviewing:

Review: CCbaby Baby Legs    A
 
I have been testing these for about a week now, my daughter and I have both used them. They are very soft to touch, much better than grabbing a generic tissue thats for sure! My daughter normally runs when we grab a tissue because they are so rough on her nose making it redder than it already was. These she carries in her coat pocket to school with her and uses them on her own without complaint. So if my child can use them and not complain then I think we are good to go! LOL.

We have thrown them in the washer already and they have held up nicely, very durable, well sewn. No issues thus far.


What I Liked Most: These are very practical. I am ALWAYS running out of tissues or the kids take them and use them for other things and we never have any. These are small enough to fold up in your purse or pocket. They are handy and reusable.


Any dislikes: The only thing I don't like and it really isnt a huge factor, is I wish they were more closely the same size so that I could find a case to put them in for storage. Most are square or rectangle, but I did get one triangle shaped one. I would love them all to be cut similar that way you can put them together in a case of some sort to carry them easily. But has nothing to do with function, which is great. 

Shipping & Ordering Notes: the whole ordering process was simple, I emailed her a list of items I was wanting, she invoiced me right away, I paid, and had my items within a week. No hassles at all here.

More about CCbaby:

CCbaby owner and creator is a mom named Janna from Michigan. Janna is a WAHM who not only works a full time job, she is home with her daughter as well and started sewing as a hobby. After making things for herself, then for friends, then for friends friends, CCbaby grew into what it is today!

Items that CCbaby makes: Baby legs, wool diaper covers, scrappy skirties, reusable snack bags, wool longings, cashmere nose wipes, reusable sandwich bags, cashmere scarves, and so much more!

Contact CCbaby:

email: ccbabycrafts@yahoo.com 

facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/#!/ccbabycrafts 

To view her products: http://hyenacart.com/ccbaby/