Urban Baby Bonnets

Adorable.

I came across these unique baby bonnets and absolutely love them! We got to review one, and its just as cute in person as it looks online. The bonnets are all handmade in the US, reversible, and sooo much fun. I love the fabric combinations available. Esther has been wearing hers now to keep the chilly wind off of her, but it will also be great in the summer as a sun hat. We can even use it as a nursing cover up by folding the brim forward. There are boy hats available, and super cute fleece hats for winter too.

Designer-Mom Colette, is an artist and enjoys spreading her cheerful colored bonnets across the world in what she calls the urban baby bonnet project. A sort of worldwide sculptural installation. You can read her artist/ project statement on her website. I love that her business is not just about selling bonnets, its about the color and art and life involved. Very cool and so much fun to be a part of.

Esther's hat fits her well with room to grow. I like that it snaps, rather than having long ties or scratchy velcro. There are several snaps, so the hat will fit her for quite a while. The hats are a bit pricey, so I consider this a splurge item. You could think of it as buying a fine piece of artwork though, and what better way to display art than on your sweet little one? I'm sure we'll get lots of use out of this hat.

Would you like one? One winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Urban Baby Bonnets. To enter, check out their Etsy shop and website and let me know your favorite bonnet. (If you win, this will be the one your gift certificate will be good towards.) For extra entries you can also:

be a follower of my blog,

be a confirmed email subscriber of my blog, and/ or

"like" Urban Baby Bonnets on Facebook,

Leave a separate comment for each extra entry. You must complete the first entry for the extra entries to be valid. I will close the giveaway on May 5 at midnight.

Colette has also given us a code for free shipping: FREESHIPWAA. Thanks Urban Baby Bonnets!

*Closed. Comment #5 wins!*

Muffin Tin Monday

Well, once again I was unprepared and forced into this by my sweet little girl exclaiming "Its Monday? We can do Muffin Tin Monday!" We pulled something together and enjoyed our fun lunch. If you've never done this before feel free to jump in, its really that easy. :)

We had fruit salad, avocado, cheese, crackers, and strawberry yogurt. Somehow putting all that in a muffin tin makes it more fun. I didn't even cut the cheese into cute little shapes, someday soon we'll be prepared and have a super fun MTM again. Check out Muffin Tin Mom for some much more creative ideas. I'll be back later this week with a homeschool update, more summer reviews (with discount codes), and more. Thanks for stopping by!

Abby's Lane

Abby's Lane is one of my favorite places to shop for cloth diapering supplies. They offer a great range of products at the best prices out there and have FREE shipping on every order! Join their yahoo group to get a 5% off code good every time you order from them as well. Become a Facebook fan for fun giveaways and contests. From now until April 30th, mention my name when you order and I will receive $5 in store credit! You must be a new customer, place a paying order, and mention my name in the comments box for me to get credit. (mention Christy - christy.vwATgmail DOTcom sent you) With free shipping and 5% off, I'm sure you can all find something you need. :)

BumGenius, Flip, Babylegs, and so much more. Check it out!

(Originally posted April 5, bumping this up for the last few days of this promotion.)

Flip Disposable Diapers

I'm not impressed with the Flip Disposable Inserts. I want to like them, but I don't. At all. We took them along with us on our recent weekend trip out of town. Thank goodness I brought disposables too because these are awful.

I had three Flip covers and the disposable inserts to use. The first time I had one of them on Esther she pooped and it went all over. It was sort of like just letting her poop in a plain cover because the insert did nothing to contain or absorb the poop. I had to rinse out her clothes, the pad I changed her on, and the cover. I had planned on washing the cover by hand in the sink if it got dirty, but I couldn't get the poop out of the folds in the elastic leg casing and across the back. Thankfully this all happened in the hotel room rather than during one of the conference sessions. I still had the other two covers to use, but I didn't even try again that weekend because I couldn't risk another huge mess.

Other times that I've had the disposable inserts on Esther, even with just pee they are soaked and the cover gets wet and isn't reusable. Like I said, I want to like them - the inserts are soft and I like that they are "healthier" than disposables. I think they are too narrow and thin though. For some reason, I've also had trouble with the laminate peeling on the inside of the covers, something my other diapers have never done. I may be able to exchange these, but I haven't tried to do that yet.

We do like the Flip covers with the organic prefold insert, but its the same thing as folding a prefold and laying it in any cover. I like the snaps on the cover and the stretchy elastic tabs but overall I just don't love the system as much as I had hoped to.

I did not receive this product for review, I purchased it.