Change it up with Mag-tagz!

One of the coolest parts of reviewing new products is learning about the very inventive moms behind some pretty sweet stuff.

Take Mag-Tagz, for instance. This mom-invented interchangeable line of magnetic jewelery for young girls is fun, cute, smart, and makes me wish I had thought of it! Anita Wentworth (the mom in question!) is on to something here. Gone are the days where yesterday's favorite accessory is long-forgotten. Instead, girls can choose to change up their look with a variety of affordable tagz (or charms), trade with friends, play online games (with chances to win a Nintendo Wii! All participants receive a special, limited edition tag just for playing!)and even enter their own designs and possibly see their idea become a super cute Mag-Tag! Seriously, this woman thought of everything.

The idea is pretty simple: Just get your little girl a magnetic base of choice (like the super cute and limited edition green world flower design, which was a recent design contest winner), and then she's on her way. The interchangeable tagz come in small and large sizes and are priced just right, too.

Mag-tagz are a wonderful choice for girls five and up. Since Buttercup is too young, we had new best friend, "J", try it out, and the reaction was exactly what I am sure Wentworth was going for. Within seconds of putting the necklace on and being explained the concept, "J" was smiling from ear to ear as she made plans to share and trade tagz with a friend living thousands of miles away.

Here she is showing off her new Mag-tagz bling...



Cute, huh?

If you'd like to see this smile on your own kid's face, you can visit www.mag-tagz.com and start your collection now, or you can try and win a necklace and either a small green earth or bee mag-tag here! Mag-tagz is offering one lucky Berrie Sweet Picks reader the chance to win, and I think that's pretty sweet.

To enter, simply click here and post a comment sharing which tgag you or your daughter like the best. Make sure to include your email so I can contact you if you are selected as winner. Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, on May 26, 2009 and winners have four days to respond or an alternate will be selected. Please note that the contest is limited to the United States and Canada, only. You must be 18 years or older to enter.

Adoitional extra entries are also available if you:
* Become a fan of Berrie Sweet Picks on Facebook
* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest by saying "Mag-tagz giveaway at Berrie Sweet Picks!
* Vlog about the contest and post at www.newbaby.com!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Only one person can win, but everyone can benefit from coupon code of "blogger20" which will get you 20 percent off an order of $20 or more! So what are you waiting for? Change it up!

Loop it, girl!

I'm the kind of person who loses my keys in my purse, and was FAMOUS for losing my glasses when they were on my face. Yeah, that's right. I'm all kinds of impressive.

So when I heard about La Loop, I was definitely intrigued. The smart accessory line for eyewear has an awesome variety of designs ranging from casual to classic for both men and women, and I was lucky enough to give the SportLoop a try. The beauty lies in its simplicity.

For $20, you get your choice of fun color in a stretchable, fun, washable, and light essential for you sports fanatics and sunglass lovers out there. La Loop is designed to keep your glasses in place with the help of a hinged loop. That's all there is to it, and it's a savior for those looking for a quick (and easily findable!) place to hook their glasses when not in use. It's perfect for active and casual wear, and I know you already want one.

In honor of Mom's Nite Out, I'm happy to host my easiest contest ever. To win a SportLoop in your choice of color, simply tweet the details with a link to this post, and then leave me a comment letting me know you are celebrating #MNO-09! This contest begins now and will end at 2 a.m. EST. (Yes, I live in AZ, but it's just easier this way!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Berries was there! Were you?

My day started at 7 a.m. and really got going when I piled Buttercup, my mom, and sister into the mini van and drove 2.5 hours to Pheonix for the American Baby & Family Expo. Yeah, I know...crazy, huh?

But I couldn't turn down an invite from Boon Inc. Marketing Director Kate Benjamin to check out the fun.

I've been in Tucson for a month now and know my way around the area pretty well...after all, you can't really get lost when you live in an area with one interstate. ;) But today my good luck ran out and our trip there and back took over 3 hours each due to shut down freeways and detours that led a line of frustrated drivers in endless circles.

But all the swearing under my breath is behind me now and I can sit down for a minute and focus on the fun, the vendors, and the incredible products I got a chance to look at today.

Like this Awesome onsie from Bubby Baby Boutique!

Bubby Baby Boutique has plenty of other sweet stuff for both boys and girls and I am so in love with the fact that this stuff has ATTITUDE! (A onsie that says "Elmo is my Homeboy? A Punk Rock Diva dress? A flippin' Wonder Woman Tee? Come on!)



And with Birthday on the Brain, I had to check out the Maddycakes booth.

For those in the Pheonix area, this is definetely the place to go for the perfectly planned themed party for your little ones.

Michelle's got plenty of experience making birthdays extra sweet, and I only wish she was close enough to help me plan Buttercup's 2d birthday bash! (Hmmmm...I wonder if an Elmo/Princess party would work...)



I can't forget about the Peanut Posh display. Talk about cute! Kickin' ties for your little man and the coolest interchangeable bottle cap barretts I have EVER seen. I can't wait to do a review and contest!











And then of course, there was boon! We had tons of fun with Buttercup trying out the Flair High Chair that a few lucky readers have won here at Berrie Sweet Picks (and I am so jealous...this thing is too cool for words!), and just oohing and ahhhing over the mod baby and kid stuff that I know we all love. (Seriously now...do you all keep coming back for my offbeat sense of humor and gripping writing style or to see what else boon is giving away on my blog? Or do I really want the answer to that? hmmmm....)







It's almost 1 a.m. here and I am exhausted (and I still have a vlog to put together!) but my looking like a newborn kicked my butt tomorrow morning was so worth the fun I had today.

So let me get back to work here and I promise to be back tomorrow with another great contest. Sweet dreams!

Oh and Kate? Buttercup says "thank oooo" to you and boon for your generosity. ;)

Remember this contest? Yeah, that one...

Hi, so.. um....yeah....

Remember this post? And the contest for the free Lollitops hats that went with it? Yeah...about that...

Funny story! I got an email yesterday from Kim, the Lollitops owner, asking if I had ever sent her the winners for the contest and I, of course, said YES and then went back into my files only to realize that I, of course, never did.

Oops. I mean, the contest was back in OCTOBER! Sorry!

So here's the deal: Kim asked me to go back into the contest entries and pick two winners (which I did! Check my sidebar to see if you won!) and to make an announcement that all 126 entrants are being offered %10 percent off any purchase from her store. And if you order two or more Lollitops, you also get free shipping!

To qualify for the discount, just fill out this contact form letting Kim know that you entered my contest and would like to get %10 percent off. Wait for her to get back to you in order to apply the discount.

My apologies to everyone who entered and thanks for your patience!

Don't pack up the summer dresses! Just add Skid Pants!

Buttercup and I absolutely love our skid pants from Honeychunks! It's a great accessory to pair with a summer dress or a pair of shorts for a cute and practrical winter outfit!

Functional and cute: Babylegs

I have to say that since Buttercup has been born, I have never been a fan of tights. In my opinion, it's just too much of a pain to have to deal with that extra layer when it's time for a diaper change.

That's one of the reasons I am so in love with the alternative options, including Babylegs. They're cute, they're affordable, they're easier to deal with for diapered and EC babies, and you have so many more options available to you!
(I happen to love these for turning a summer dress into a stylish winter outfit, complete with a long-sleeved onsie or even another a pair of Babylegs and boots!)

Babylegs come in a variety of designs and patterns, and can be used from newborn to as far as your imagination can take you with your kids. Some suggested uses from Honeychunks are:

*Baby legs
*Kid legs
*Kid arms
*Adult arms
*Adult legs
*Soccer layer
*Football layer
*And more!

My only complaint with Babylegs is that they tend to run shorter than other brands out there, so for long-legged kiddos like Buttercup, so you lose out on a bit of leg coverage. But the variety of options cancels out that one little complaint. In fact, now that her legs are so long, I prefer to use them on her arms with a pair of Skid Pants to cover her legs from top to bottom. (For newborns, though, these are a great option!)

Babylegs are available for $12.00 per pair at Honeychunks.

Honeychunks, my favorite little online boutique (run by a waork-at-home Mom), is offering one lucky reader their choice of one pair of Babylegs (everyone say "Thank you!") For a girl, might I suggest the "tickled pink" pattern? Sooo cute!

To enter, visit Honeychunks and leave me a comment describing one item OTHER than babylegs you would like to see reviewed from her store AND which babylegs you would prefer if your comment is selected the winner. Comments must contain both in order to be considered valid.

Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, December 28 and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected. US entries only, please.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Rockin' the 80's look

They're cute. They're funky. And their good from baby all the way up to about eight-years-old.

Welcome to the height of functional fashion in baby care with the totally cool Skid Pants by Dittany Baby, available at The Cocoa Monkey online boutique.

Think Olivia Newton-John and those oh-so-funky leg-warmers, only imagine them on your baby's chubby little legs or on your 6 year-old's arms to help add a layer of warmth (and fashion) for the colder months. Or just match it up with a cute onsie like I did when Buttercup was seven months old and you've got yourself a complete outfit!

Other creative uses include protection for baby's sensitive knees as they learn to crawl and walk. And they are great for keeping little legs (and arms) warm when baby is in the sling or stroller. Still not sure if you want to try a pair? Just put a pair of your baby's tights on with a cute dress and try to change the diaper. Not fun. See where I'm going with this?

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the plus for baby-wearing mommas like me. Any time you place your kiddo in the sling you end up with pants, dresses, and skirts riding up, right? That leads to chilly baby legs, right? Not so if you've got a pair of Skid Pants on for back up!

These little cuties make diaper change a breeze! Solids and patterns are available for boys, girls, and in neutral options, as well. But don't wait! These little cuties are currently on sale for $9.99 per pair.

Say it with me now: MUFF-ah-TEES

Since the moment she was born, Buttercup has soothed herself by sucking on her two middle fingers on her right hand. So cute. So sweet. And a major pain in the duff when it came to trying to keep her hands warm last winter.

Mittens and gloves were out or all hell would break loose the moment she got a mouthful of fuzzy material instead of her teeny little fingers. So when I got a pair of Muffatees(MUFF-ah-TEES) from Go Baby for her to try this year, I was beyond ecstatic.

Muffatees are ultra-soft fingerless gloves made of luxurious baby alpaca wool and are designed to cover the gap between your jacket sleeves and the tops of your gloves or mittens. And on the not-so-cold days, they are perfect to wear alone.

I love these things. They are cute. They are warm. They are oh-so-practical. And they have the most adorable sounding name, to boot! That, and who can argue with a product hand-knit in Peru by a women's collective?

Go Baby offers muffattees in toddlers, children's, and women's sizes, and I was lucky enough to get a pair to try for myself. Buttercup and I donned our new matching gear at a recent outdoor family party that went far into the evening, and I pretty much fell in love. Oh, and Buttercup approves. When she got sleepy and her fingers went into her mouth, her hands and wrists stayed warm while she got cozy and fell asleep in the baby carrier.

Heaven!

Go Baby also has matching hats and scarves in toddler and children's sizes and Buttercup looked freaking adorable in her little get-up.



The whole line is great with fun prints and beautiful details. Who wouldn't want to keep their little ones warm in this stuff? I know, I know...you've already got the credit card out so you can order. And that's cool, but why not try to win a Mommy and Me set first? Go Baby has generously offered one lucky winner the chance to walk away with a set of muffatees for mom and a hat, scarf, and muffatees set for her child!

So who wants to win a Mommy and Me Muffatees set in Green stripe? One lucky winner will get a set of muffatees, a scarf, and a hat for their child and a pair of muffatees for themselves! To enter, visit the Go Baby site and leave me a berrie (read: comment telling me what pattern of muffatees is your favorite. Contest ends at midnight, EST, on November 10 and is open to US and Canada only. The Winner will have four days from the announcement date to contact me or a new winner will be selected.

As always, extra entries will be available for those who:

* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest and leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

And that's it! Good luck to everyone who enters.

Lift me up, Lollitop!

My daughter is going to hate me for this when she is older, but I'm having the time of my life dressing her up like the little doll that she is. With all the great products we receive for review, there really isn't a day that goes by without her sportin' something that makes her the envy of playgroup.

Lollitops USA was one perfect example of "Where'd you get that?" syndrome in full force. Buttercup isn't old enough to realize that the sweet lil' hat with the honkin' flower on it can also be turned into a purse (and she really didn't give two figs when I tried having her wear it as one, either), but everyone else sure wanted to try it out.

The neighbors. The neighbors' kids. The lady at the store. The little girl at the library. For as long as Buttercup decided to amuse me by allowing the Lollitop to remain upon her head, we left with admirers in our wake. Which, perhaps, is why Buttercup left it on her little head for so long. She does love her public, after all.

Lollitops really are the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. Owner/designer Kim Spaan hit it right on the money with her unique take on all-things-girly with this darling purse/hat. In fact, I'm pretty sure if Buttercup was older that she would be demanding two Lollitops so she could wear one as a hat and carry the other as a purse. I know I would if I could get it to fit on my head.

Lollitops go for $30 a piece, but free shipping when you buy two or more will come in handy for decking the little girls in your family out in style for the coming holidays, won't it?

Buttercup was treated to the Hot Cha Cha design, and I'm eyeing the Midnight Honeybee, Glitter Girl, and I'm loving the Cherries Jublilee! Which one is your favorite?



Not sure? Well, you have two weeks to decide because Lollitops has generously offered TWO (berrie) lucky winners the chance to win their own Lollitop of their choice! To enter, you need to visit the site and leave me a berrie (read: comment) telling me which design you'd love to win if selected. Comments will be accepted until midnight, EST, Nov. 14 and the winner will have four days from the announcement date to contact me or an alternate winner will be selected.

As always, extra entries will be available for those who:

* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest. To be eligible, you must use "Berrie Sweet Picks" in your tweet and leave me a comment letting me know you did so. And yep-I'll check!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Have wristlet, will keep my sanity

If there is one thing I have learned since I began reviewing mom and kids stuff, it's that the stuff I think I am going to be least impressed with usually bowls me over and makes me a believer.

Cloth diapers? Baby-wearing with my ergo and baby k-tan? Yeah, none of that would ever have become a regular part of my life until the unassuming packages arrived on my doorstep and made me wonder how in the world I had survived without them.

That's kind of what happened when A.B. Baby Boutique contacted me about reviewing the Wristlet Key Ring Accessory by Kristen Lemoine. The premise is simple: Stop digging in your purse or diaper bag for the keys you swear you just had in your hand and just wear it on your hand to begin with.

It's a great concept, but I really had no idea how I'd heart the wristlet so until I tried it. I have a mondo key-ring with keys for everything, and since I'm all about hauling the world's biggest diaper bag around wherever I go, it was a common occurrence for me to have to stop in my tracks when I got to the mini-van to perform an all-out search for them.

Not only is that not safe, especially at night, it is far from practical with a kid in tow.

Thanks to the wristlet, I have happily slipped my wrist through the loop once I have arrived at my destination and not had to worry about it until it was time to start the engine again. My only concern was that the whole contraption (and by contraption, I mean my fist full of keys) was going to be too heavy. But somehow, magically even, it is far from that and I think you'll heart this, too. And for only $12.00, it's a sweet buy.

May I suggest the Mocca? It's cute and earthy and happens to be the same one I received! Buy one for yourself, and stock up for Christmas! Your girlfriends will love you for it.

So who wants to win one and get a head start on that Christmas shopping? To enter, visit the site and leave me a berrie (read: comment) telling me what pattern is your favorite. And thanks to A.B. Bany Boutique for springing for FIVE winners! Contest ends at midnight, EST, on Nov. 1 and is open to US and Canada only. The winner will have four days from the announcement date to contact me or a new winner will be selected.

As always, extra entries will be available for those who:

* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

And that's it! Good luck to everyone who enters.

Mad for my capz

I will be honest: I love baseball caps. Love them, love them, love them. And in the summer, you'll most likely find me wearing one, like, all the time. So of course, I need a little variety.
This is where Madcapz comes in. Crazy-creative Carrie, the mom-pranuer behind the sweet designs, decided that she needed to create her own variety after getting tired of sports teams and company logos she didn't care about on her head. So now, she sports the Madcapz she designs, which are a far cry from the normal "I borrowed it from my husband/boyfriend/found it in the back of the closet" look so many of us get stuck with when trying to mix a cute baseball cap in with our personal style. Instead, you get a fun fashion-statement and the sun protection you except from a made in the USA product!
But wait-there's more. (Sorry, it's late and I am now finding inspiration in infomercials.)
Madcapz offers a full line of capz for women, kids, and infants, as well as women's visors in berrie awesome patterns like Poppin' Pink, Midnight Moon, and Kitty Crowd. Check them out for yourself and be sure to come back here with a comment on your favorite design and style for a chance at your own Madcapz! And get this; the winner gets to pick their own capz for either themselves or their child.
As usual, you get an extra entry if you either write a post about this contest and then leave me a second comment with the link, or if you grab my blog button and plop it on your site. Just make sure to let me know you did that so I know to give you an extra entry.
Already have my button on your blog? Just let me know and after you visit the Madcapz site and leave me some comment love, you'll get two entries, just like that.
Be sure to check back because I'll be posting a discount code for Madcapz, too!
Contest ends at midnight (EST) on June 8.
So get read, set, comment!

Biker (baby) chic

Let's just get right to the point. My lil' Buttercup is adorable. But, as it has been proven to me, it is entirely possible to make her even adorable-er. Note the following pictures of Buttercup with her Papa this past weekend:



See? Abso-freakin-lutely adorable-er than ever. I'd like to think it's the baby biker chic look she is sportin' here with her new duds from Baby Banz Sunglasses.
First off, we have the berrie sweet Baby Banz Wrapz in Pink Floral. Her heads just a wee bit small for it still, but that just means she'll get plenty of use out of my new fave baby accessory, which is now an official summer staple in my diaper bag.
Nothin' says "Cute and Dangerous" like this thing.
Then there are the ingenious Baby Banz in Pink Flamingo. Designed to be worn for kids 0-2 and 2-5 (Kids Banz), these little babies are great for keeping little eye's safe from dangerous UV rays. Just be prepared to stop and answer questions by interested and gushing parents!
So who wants their baby (read: child ages 0-5 years old) to look their adorable-est with some sweet duds of their own? the good people at Baby Banz are offering one Wrapz/Baby (or kid) Banz set to one lucky reader. Basically, you leave me a berrie (read: comment), I put names in a hat and let Buttercup draw, and the last one I fish out of her mouth that I can still read is the winner! (You get an extra entry if you can tell me why I wouldn't want to go with the first one I get out of said baby's mouth...seriously.)
One extra entry is also applicable to anyone who blogs about this contest and comes back to drop the link to the post. And if you don't feel like drawing undo attention to this particular contest, thereby flooding the contestant pool, you can get that extra entry by grabbing the HTML code for my button and adding it to your site! Just be sure to let me know you DID that, 'k?
Contest ends at midnight (EST) June 3, at which point I will put the winner in contact with Baby Banz to determine the size and colors of your choice.
Oh-and my lucky readers are also getting treated to a discount code from Baby Banz. Just enter code BSP10 at checkout for 10 percent off your order through June 30.

It's Cool to Drool

Let's face it: baby stuff is cute but it doesn't usually do double duty as functional, too. And when you've got a baby cutting a bazillion teeth like Buttercup and her amazing 10 at 11 months, you get tired really quick at trying to keep their little neck dry from the non-stop amount of drool that seems to come with each and every tooth. So what do you do?
Regular bibs won't do the trick since they are only going to catch the drool that has already traveled down your baby's neck, but the super-cute Skibz is the master of all baby drool catchers.
Picture the old western cowboy bandana, but smaller and cuter on your baby in cool prints like Girly Whirly, Baby's Breathe, and Little Surfer. Designed to fit snugly under baby's neck, these things not only do the trick, they also compliment your baby's duds instead of covering them up. The berrie best part? They are all proudly made in the USA.