PenPal Notes

Going back to school can elicit a multitude of feelings in children.  Some are nervous, some are excited, some are a combination of every possible reaction.  One thing is for sure, elementary aged children love taking lunch in their new lunch boxes and they adore getting notes from mom.

PenPal Notes has incorporated a very fun idea into an educational experience for your child.  I actually chose to receive the Proverbs set because I wanted to add a little more scripture to the middle of their day, and I love it!  These notes are the size of a postcard and will slip easily into your child’s lunch bag or box.  You simply add the child’s name in the appropriate place and the note is ready to go.

Your child (or children) will enjoy following Tej a cute panda bear and the main character for all of the PenPals sets.  There are some great subjects currently available…

• Discover Africa
• Dinosaur Days
• Traveling Taste Buds
• Meet the US Presidents
• Tej and the Big Cats
• Proverbs
• Amazing Animal Facts

They have a few more subjects coming soon…Famous Artists and Great Women of the Past.  These notes are such a fun little pick-me-up for kids.  If you want to add a personal note to your child, there’s plenty of room for that as well.

You can even bring the educational facts to the dinner table with their fantastic themed PenMats.  These mats can be used with any washable marker and they perfectly compliment the PenPal notes!  You can even check out their blog here.

PenPal Notes has offered a 10% discount for my readers when you use the code MREVIEW before checking out.  This offer will be good for one month from today.

It gets even better.  They have offered one lucky commenter one set of PenPal Notes of your choice!  To enter, visit PenPal Notes, then come back here and leave a comment telling me which set you would like if your comment is the one chosen.

As part of Ready for School week, if you have the Ready for School button on your blog you are automatically qualified for one extra entry (just leave a second comment with a link to your blog).

For extra entries, just choose from the following and leave a new comment for each one you qualify for…

• Blog it – Write a blog post on your blog linking to this post. Leave us a link to your post in your comment.
• Tweet it – Send out a tweet with a link to this post and leave a comment here with your Twitter name.
• Stumble it – Submit it to stumble to let others know about it. Be sure to comment here to let us know.
• Subscribe to it – Subscribe to The Moms Review and leave a comment letting us know you do.
• Technorati it – Add this post to your Technorati faves, then leave a comment here telling us who you are on Technorati.

This giveaway will end on August 30^th, is void where prohibited and is open to Continental  US addresses only.

Disclosure: All of our reviews are honest and forthright.  I received one set of PenPal Notes in order to ensure that I was writing about something I have tried first hand and have experience with (thus the honest review part).  You can read our full disclosure policy here.

Wow Baby Giveaway

Wow Baby offers an amazing variety of stylish, functional bibs and burp cloths for baby!  They are made of Natural Cotton and Organic Bamboo so they are soft to baby’s skin, but very absorbant!

Hand crafted in the USA, we use sophisticated prints to create irresistible baby gear that complement and add to your babies ensemble. A blend of natural cotton and organic bamboo fabrics create an attractive and yet absorbent combination that feels soft and luxurious against a baby’s skin. Our patent-pending detachable liner technology protects clothing against wetness even under the most trying circumstances. Cloth area provides maximum absorbency and is gentle on babies skin. Our products have been certified by the USA Federal Product Safety Board.

Wow Baby sent me one of their Bibs N Burps sets (the Sunrise) to review. My sweet 2 month old niece is a spitter, so we knew it would come in handy and we were all immediately in love as soon as we used it for the first time.

The idea of having a detachable liner for both the bib and the burp cloth is ingenious! When everything needs to be cleaned up, simply detach the lining and rinse it off in soapy water and wash the bib as you normally would. When done, pair the two together again and away you go! So great!

I also have to say right off that we really appreciated that the fabric used in these products truly are very soft and the detachable liner is also surprisingly flexible and soft…NOT hot, crinkly and sticky like most of them are!!!

It’s also very obvious that Wow Baby takes customer care and satisfaction VERY seriously!

We take great pride in our products and as such offer a money back guarantee on all purchases. In addition, because we believe moms & dads our the best product reviewers, we greatly value their opinion and offer them 10% discount and free shipping all year if they sign up to be a Preferred Customer.

Their best seller is the Bibs N Burps collection which retails for $29 (unless you’re a preferred customer of course). Right now they are offering their 2008 cotton bibs and burp cloths at 20% off (no code needed, in shop promotion – Limited availability). But of course, Preferred Customers get 10% off and free shipping all year.

Wow Baby is offering one lucky commenter a set of two Signature Stripes Bibs. To enter, simply visit Wow Baby and take a look around, then, when you’re done, come back here and leave a comment mentioning your favorite product.

Want extra entries…well then:

• Tweet It: Twitter with a link to this post and make sure to mention your twittername in your comment.
• Blog It: Write a blog post about this giveaway with a link to it and make sure to leave a link to your post in the comment.
• Add to (or vote up on) Stumble Upon, Kirtsy, Mommy Blips: make sure to mention who you are on any of those (submitting/voting at each earns a new entry).

Lots of great ways to get entries!  Be sure to leave all your comments by June 24th.  Giveaway open to US addresses only and void where prohibited.

Nanny Deprived Giveaway

There are those shops that you may happen upon once in a blue moon.  The ones that serve a bigger purpose and offer truly unique and functional products at the same time.  I have recently been introduced to just one such shop…Nanny Deprived.

When owner Amanda Cummings contacted me and asked if I would review her Mom T-Shirts, and showed me a few photos to choose from, I was definitely interested (and very excited).  When the T-Shirt arrived, I was thrilled to find that it was just as fun as I had imagined and it fits great!  I wear it all the time!  I am Nanny Deprived.

When I asked Amanda about the birth of Nanny Deprived, this is what she said…

We wanted our site to be more than just a store but more of a shrine to moms filled with fun quotes, poetry, mom facts, story contests, our blog and shopping. We try to find and sell the most fun and functional products for moms!

Their entire line of Mom T-Shirts is definitely a fun place to start, but they offer so many products that moms will love that you must keep looking while you’re there. Their best selling product is Mom Spit, but they also carry amazing products like slings, diaper bags, jewelry, potty training needs, bath and body, great blankets, what seems like everything for baby and MUCH more!

I could seriously go on and on, but instead, I’ll send you over to the shop to get 15% off any order over $20 by using the code FROGGY. Just be sure to do it soon since the offer expires on June 30th!

You may also want to decide what one of your favorite products is while you’re there (let me tell you, that will definitely be a challenge since you are definitely going to love a lot of their products) so that you can come back here and leave a comment to be entered to win your choice of any one Nanny Deprived Mom T-Shirt (non-bling)!

Once you’ve left a comment telling me your favorite, be sure to take advantage of any of these great EXTRA entry opportunities – remember to leave a new comment for each one:

• Tweet It: Twitter with a link to this post and make sure to mention your twittername in your comment.
• Blog It: Write a blog post about this giveaway with a link to it and make sure to leave a link to your post in the comment.
• Add to (or vote up on) Stumble Upon, Kirtsy, Mommy Blips: make sure to mention who you are on any of those (submitting/voting at each earns a new entry).

So, as you can see there are quite a few ways to get entries for this great giveaway!  Just remember, this giveaway is void where prohibited and make sure you leave your comment by June 17th.   Open to US and Canadian addresses.

Goody Green Bag – Free Shipping

Recently I reviewed Goody Green Bags at A Frog In My Soup.  Goody Green Bags are eco-trendy reusable bags for the style conscious & environmentally friendly shopper, and they are the perfect accessory to balance the desire to be “green” while staying stylish and keeping up with the latest trends!

Goody Green Bags are perfect for browsing the farmers market, trips to the grocery store, mall shopping, picking up take out, and toting baby supplies!  They easily fold up and can be stored in your glove compartment, purse or pocket for easy access. The compact size is perfect for travel and our bags fold out to a full size tote ideal for a gym bag, beach bag or souvenir carry-on for your trip home. Goody Green Bags make a great eco-friendly gift for moms, hostesses, new parents and trend setting friends and family members!

Our bags come in 6 fashionable patterns so there’s a style for everyone! They are $8.95 each (or $39.95 for a 5 pack) and are sold online at www.goodygreenbag.com. Our bags were selected as the official celebrity gift bag for the 2008 American Music Awards, Obama’s Celebrity & VIP Inauguration party, the 2009 Grammy “MusiCares” pre-party, and the Oscars pre-party.

Right now they are offering Free shipping for Mother’s Day on all orders over $25 through May 15th.

Family Meal Planner Sale

GREAT discount going on right now at My Family Meal Planner! Right now you can get 15% off your order by using the code MOMSDAY. Act fast though, this discount is only good through May 2nd!

These meal planners truly make a great gift for a friend, a mother, a wedding or a graduation!!!

Fill In The Blankie

Thank you so much for entering this great contest!  It has ended, but be sure to stop by soon for more great contests here and there are always others at www.AFrogInMySoup.com as well!

If you have a baby to shop for this holiday season, you’ll definitely want to check out Fill In The Blankie and their ultra personalized baby blankets!  This makes a great first Christmas (or any Christmas) gift, but it’s also very fun to give to expecting parents, new baby, first birthday and many more.

This product is so fun, it’s intended to be loved and cherished!  I had the opportunity to create one of these fun blankies and the process was simple but meaningful!  That isn’t something I get to say often.

You see … this blankie comes complete with the satiny edges that babies love! Not only that, but you personalize the edges to be embroidered with basically whatever you want … their birth information, a sweet poem, a Scripture verse, a prayer.  I had so much fun picking out which blankie to get (I had to go with the Sheety blanket), the saying I wanted on the edges, the color of the thread and even the font to have it embroidered in.

The finished product ….. amazing!!!  Visit their Personalized Baby Blanket Gallery for lots of great ideas.  The company specializes in ONLY personalized baby blankets.  This way they can focus on producing the best product they can for their customers.  Ultra Personalized means just that!  The cost of each blankie includes up to 200 characters of embroidery! At most sites you have to pay extra for this or only get a few characters included in the price.

Like I mentioned above, ordering is as easy as 1, 2, 3.  After you choose your blankie style, just follow the rest of the steps.

Step one – Choose what you want embroidered on the blankie.  The site walks you through the number of possible characters depending on the size of the blankie.  They even have an inspiration page to help walk you through the process.

Step two – Choose your font.  This was fun for me!  As a designer, I loved choosing the font I thought would be sooo cute for my baby niece!

Step three – Choose the Thread color for the embroidery.  The colors are great and thankfully Fill In The Blankie has done a great job of making sure the colors on the site (for both blankies and thread) are as true to actual color as possible, and I didn’t have any trouble deciding on the shade I wanted to use.  Guess what … just because these are ultra cozy, ultra security blankies, they even offer Glow in the dark thread!  How cool is that?  When the lights are on the thread color is a pretty pastel (they have several colors to choose from), but when the lights are off, it glows like crazy.

As if all that wasn’t enough, they offer even more customization options for you to take advantage of!  You can choose to add a Sew Cute image which will be embroidered on both sides of the text that wraps around the blankie (on all 4 sides).  Pig In A Blankie (my favorite ultra option) can be added – such a fun idea where they wrap a sweet stuffed animal into the blanket.  They also offer a custom gift wrap option where your creation is wrapped up in a custom bag prior to shipping!

They have offered all of you 10% off when you shop with them if you use the code: Froggy (make sure you type it in just like that, it is case sensitive).

They have also offered you the amazing opportunity to win one Blankie for yourself (est. value of up to $150)!  Here’s how to enter:

~ Visit Fill In The Blankie and look around at their amazing products.
~ Come back here and leave a comment telling us what you would say with 200 characters if you had your very own ULTRA personalized blanket from Fill In The Blankie!

Be sure to enter by December 12th!  Contest is open to residents in the US, Canada and Europe!

Want extra entries?

1. If you follow me on twitter, tweet this to everyone, be sure to include a link to this post and @afroginmysoup so that I can see that you did it.  Then, leave another comment letting me know (in case I didn’t see the tweet).

2. If you’re a blogger, blog about it!  Just directly to this page and tell your readers about it.  Then come back here and leave another comment with the direct link to your blog post!

Menu Planning Central at Half Price

That’s right, monthly memberships to Menu Planning Central are half price right now, but you’d better hurry, the sale ends tomorrow!!!  I’m so sorry I didn’t know about it earlier, but there you have it.  This is a great menu planning help and as we all know menu planning saves some serious bucks!!!

So, for $9.97 per month you get access to an entire month’s worth of menus for the whole family: family friendly, healthy, vegetarian and many special reports too!

Oh, and while I’m talking about them ….. I also have a super fun free ebook on Gingerbread houses for everyone that I’ll be offering later this week at A Frog In My Soup

Simple Salutations – Review & Giveaway

This contest has ended, be sure to check out all the latest contests by looking at the contest box at www.afroginmysoup.com.

Simple Salutations is a trendy and affordable invitation and announcement source with completely original designs you won’t find anywhere else. Simple Salutations is a small company owned by two sisters who are SAHMs that love working together as well as having sons two months apart. One of the owners, who also designs all the products, is a former Disney animation graphic designer!

They offer a variety of products from save the date magnet and card options to bridal shower and bridesmaid luncheon invitations as well as rehearsal dinner invitations, thank you cards, our new holiday card line and more!

Their most popular product so far is their custom note cards – with original designs and the ability to customize it to fit your individual needs at no additional cost – everyone wants some. As we head into the holidays I’m sure that their Holiday line will be amazingly popular! Just look at some of their designs …

I asked them to tell me what makes their company so unique from other card companies:

Our site is unique because we have worked really hard to make our designs different and modern as well as affordable. Also we pride ourselves on the fact that we will help customize a product to fit your specific needs without any additional fees. From changing a color of a bridesmaids dress to adding more pictures to a holiday card.

Be sure to visit Simple Salutations to see for yourself though! Oh, and while you’re there, go ahead and order your holiday cards using the code froggyreviews to receive 10% off your order (offer expires December 15th)!!

In addition to that great offer they have also offered a $20 gift certificate for one lucky commenter!!! In order to enter, visit www.SimpleSalutations.com and take a look around! Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite product is!!! Be sure to enter by November 3rd!

Contest is open to US shipping addresses only.

Mom Blog Central

I know that my posts have been mainly book reviews lately, but I really have been busy doing something to make mom’s blogging experiences better! Here it is ….

www.MomBlogCentral.com is ready to go!  It’s been in the making for a very long time and even though our social networking group at ning has grown like crazy over the last few months, I simply had not been able to get this great site done.  So I decided it was time to switch things up a little and it worked!!!  I’d love to know your thoughts about it!!!

In fact, if you’re looking to move up to a bigger, more professional blog system and want the variety that’s available to you ONLY with a self-hosted Wordpress Blog, this is a great opportunity for you to take the time to check it out!

To make it even easier on you, even though the blog hosting prices at Mom Blog Central are ultra affordable, I’m offering free trials for those who sign up for hosting … Annual hosting – get 1 month trial, Semi-Annual Hosting get a 3 week trial, Quarterly Hosting get a 7 day trial.  Super simple!

The great part about a free trial for you is that you get to try out the new blog system and make sure you love it before you pay!   So, get out there and grab a domain name OR let us know what subdomain you want and you’ll be all set!  Hurry though, I’m only offering this special until October 15th.

Fun Felt

This contest has ended, thank you so much for your participation!
Winner: Gina Stratos

If you’re looking for a unique and fun product that offers story telling, entertainment and learning in one easy package, look no further.  Also very great for gifts, Fun Felt offers a large variety of items for many needs and age groups!

I was so excited to have the opportunity to try out their “My Animals of the Ark Book” and the “Transportation Activity Book” with my three younger guys!  It arrived with perfect timing as we were heading out the door for a long afternoon of transporting boys from one athletic event to another and long waits in between.  So as we waited for a couple of hours here and there I was so happy to be able to hand each of them activities to do with the felts.  The ark book offers lots of bits to keep the children entertained, and the transportation book has so many pieces and different “scenes” they really can simply imagine for hours if they want.  I enjoy using particularly the transportation book for telling stories and talking to the little ones about the different scenes and pieces that make up the set.

I had the opportunity to ask Karen what her favorite things about having a Fun Felt business are:

10 years ago this month (wow!) I was at a mother’s club gathering and someone passed around party invitations. I was unavailable the date of that party but when I saw the pictures of the product I knew I had to have some, so I told the hostess I’d book a party of my own. Between that day and the day of my party I became obsessed with this company! A friend of mine and I both agreed to join as consultants and turn my party into our starter party. We had a full house and got so many bookings for new parties that we were both well on our way – easily – to starting our new businesses.

The reason I was drawn to this product is having been a teacher I was always seeking unique educational items for my children, who were 1 and 4 at the time. I immediately saw the value of using felt with kids and was excited to share them with other mothers and saw it as a fun way to use my teaching background while still staying home with my kids. At that time I had no idea I would really make it into a “business” as I was painfully shy and had never sold a thing in my life. But when I saw the response of all our friends, and the success of the other home parties we booked, I started seeing this as a real income maker. Better still were all the like-minded mothers and educators I met through selling this product – people who, like me, wanted to enhance children’s imaginations and encourage learning through play. It was really an ideal match for me and I’ve gained so much by being part of this company.

I also asked her what products were generally the favorites both for her and her customers:

My personal favorite is one of our best selling felt board story sets, the Castle Tales with CD. It is a larger felt board with a castle scene background, and it includes felt story figures for 6 fairy tales, as well as a CD that narrates each story and then puts it to music. It also comes with lessons, activity ideas, and reproducible coloring sheets so it is really educational. This is a set that has truly grown with my children. When I started, my 4 year old could listen to the CD on road trips and then come home and re-enact the stories through the felt. As she got older she would begin experimenting with the stories, changing the endings or making up new fairy tales all together. As an older elementary student we used the felt board as a spring board to her writing, teaching her the elements of a good story and the common themes in fairy tales.

Another best seller are our Photo Felt Paper Dolls. Imagine paper dolls like we used to have – it is so much fun to dress up dolls! But these are made of our thick washable felt AND we take your child’s photo and make it into the face of the doll. These have become treasured keepsakes for so many children, and are unlike anything you can get anywhere else so it makes a unique personalized gift. It comes with a little carrying case, the doll and all the outfits, so it is portable. They come in boys, girls, and toddlers. I’d have to say the dolls are my best sellers overall because of the play value and portability.

I am also a big fan of our Felt Activity Books. These are also known as “quiet books” because they have pages made of felt, with pockets between them to store the pieces, and each page has some activity to do. We have them for stories, preschool skills, science and social studies. I love them because they are so educational, quiet and portable. My kids bring them on road trips and they keep them entertained!

Their doll sets are on sale for the month of September and NOW is the time to start thinking about getting started on your Holiday gift shopping. So be sure to head on over there and take a look around.  Karen will graciously extend free shipping to anyone of you who mentions this post in the comments section of the shopping cart.

Karen has offered one lucky commenter the opportunity to win their choice of any 1 precut Felt Activity Book. These books can be found by clicking on this link.

To enter visit Fun Felt and take a look at their products. Then come back here leaving a comment telling us what your favorite product is!

This contest is open to US addresses only and you can enter to win through September 23rd.

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