$25 Cotton Candy Totes Giveaway!

CraftyMamaB  is excited to participate in the $25 Cotton Candy Totes giveaway sponsored by Mama’s Mission. I have not personally used these bags, but from what I see they are definitely worth checking out! Here’s what Erica at Mama’s Mission has to say about her experience with Cotton Candy Totes.

Mama’s Mission together with Cotton Candy Totes is bringing you a fabulous $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway just in time for the Back to School season!

I love Cotton Candy Totes. They make custom made to order Diaper Bags (retail $45) and Lil’ Mama Purses (Retail $25). You get to pick your fabric and design idea. You can even have it monogrammed with your child’s name! So far I have 2 Diaper Bags and 1 Lil’ Mama Purse in my collection. I also purchased an additional Minnie Mouse inspired Lil’ Mama Tutu Purse for my niece as a birthday gift (she was over the moon!).

Recently my family traveled to California with Baby Em’s riding as a lap infant. As such, she was only permitted a stroller, car seat and Diaper Bag. Most traditional store bought diaper bags are so confined because of their shapes and sizes that there is no way I could ever have gotten what we needed to Cali. I packed and brought my two custom Diaper Bags from Cotton Candy Totes, one I brought on as my carry on/personal bag. I got what Baby Em’s needed into just one bag so I used the other bag for miscellaneous toys, a few extra bottles, blankets and some of my own personal items. Each bag has 3 over-sized long, deep pockets. The shoulder straps are wide and long making carrying the bag a breeze. A cute ribbon adorns the top and ties to close the bag. I was worried that the items might fall out, but let me tell you, that ribbon held everything in place!

The only regret I had was not taking along my Lil’ Mama Purse which had been customized with one really long shoulder strap to fit across my stroller handlebars (it is normally made with two shorter straps). Why do you ask? It is real simple, the Lil’ Mama Purse is wonderful for those quick short trips to the store. I can fit a few diapers, a wipes travel case, an emergency pacifier, a bottle (or two), my HUGE wallet/clutch, and even a change of clothes for Baby Em’s. Did I mention that my Lil’ Mama Purse is reversible? I had it made with print fabric on the inside and out for just that purpose (you can choose prints or solid fabric colors for the inside).

The Diaper Bag on the left was my first. I had it monogrammed with my daughters name for only $12 more ($10 for the smaller bags). The Lil’ Mama Purse in the middle is the one I gifted (really wanted to keep it for myself, I guess I’ll have to order another one). The two bags to the right (Diaper Bag and Lil’ Mama Purse) I got during one of Cotton Candy Totes awesome sales of B1G1 Free, you may have seen me advertising that special as they were running it just last week again. For the Diaper Bag I chose to have one side printed with the Castles and on the opposite side it has the “Once Upon A Time” fabric. For the Lil Mama Purse I used those same fabrics but one on the inside and one on the outside (thus making it reversible).

After our trip from the East Coast to the West Coast, a flight in between and then back I simply emptied my bags, threw them in the wash with the rest of Baby Em’s stuff and out they just looking just like new (they really held up beautifully during the trip)! Enough about me and my bags, lets get on with the giveaway that Cotton Candy Totes has been ever so gracious to sponsor for my readers!

1 winner will receive a $25 Cotton Candy Totes Gift Certificate. The winner will be able to use this gift certificate to choose from a ready to ship (upon availability) or custom made Lil’ Mama Purse. The gift certificate can also be applied towards the purchase of a Madison Diaper bag which retails for $45. Each bag can be custom monogrammed for an additional fee of $10 (Lil’ Mama) and $12 (Madison). Shipping will be included for the winner for one item in the US only. The giveaway is open World Wide, you must be 18 and older to enter. The giveaway will run from August 31st until September 15th.

These bags are made with quality fabric and are designed to meet your needs. I simply can’t get enough of these bags and have tons of fun creating my own designs. Cotton Candy Totes is very dedicated to making their customers happy and providing them with individualized service. Enter the giveaway using the rafflecopter below. Enjoy!

If you absolutely can’t wait to win and must have a bag now or want one to gift for a baby shower, Cotton Candy Totes is offering 15% off all bags through 11/1/12. When ordering you must provide coupon code MISSION.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: CraftyMamaB received no compensation for this review. CraftyMamaB is not responsible for the shipment of this prize. The prize must be redeemed through Cotton Candy Totes and will be shipped by the prize Sponsor.

DIY Sticky Note Holder

Teaching has to be one of the hardest (not to mention thankless) jobs on the planet! As the beginning of the school year was approaching, I was trying to come up with a “Back to School” gift basket for B’s new teacher. I found this great DIY Sticky Note Holder idea from Paper Wings via Tricia on Pinterest and thought it would be a great addition to the basket.

This has to be one of the easiest DIY gifts I’ve ever made- and it’s cheap too! I knocked three out in about 5 minutes, and for less than $3.00 each. I tend to have bits and pieces of partially used scrapbook paper and ribbon around, so this was a great way to use up the scraps! The best part about these little holders (besides how freaking cute they are) is that the possibilites are endless…and they are actually useful, unlike a lot of gifts out there.

Supplies:

• 4×6 Plastic Picture Frame ( $0.96 at my Walmart)
•  1 pad Sticky Notes (Super Sticky Post-its 5/ $5.96 at Walmart)
• Scrapbook Paper cut to fit frame
• Coordinating Ribbon
• Embellishments  ( Flower Embellishments 4/$1.50 at Michaels and Chipboard Letters 26/$0.99 at Target)
• Glue Gun

The assembly is pretty straightforward- slide the scrapbook paper into the frame, slap the stickies on the front and use the glue gun to add ribbon and embellishments.

We added the Sticky Note Holder to this cute little gift basket filled with some other goodies, wrapped it in cellophane and tied it with a nice bow to present to the teacher on B’s first day of class.

Happy Crafting!!

It’s Back to School time!

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time! My little guy starts Kindergarten today and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve been a single mom from day one, so I’ve made a lot of life decisions based on the fact that I knew I didn’t want to be working Monday-Friday 9-5 when it came time for B to go to school.

When I returned to work after my maternity leave was up, I immediately knew I needed to go back and finish my college degree. I knew that my dead end, $10/hr desk job wasn’t going to cut it for the two of us. I decided health care was the place to be, but Nursing wasn’t for me (based on what I saw of my mom’s career as  a Registered Nurse in the Long Term Care field.) I stumbled upon Respiratory Care in the college handbook, and decided to look into it…and here I am, almost 6 years later.

I’m still a single parent, but I’m a hybrid of both the working and the stay at home mom. I work 3 12-hour night shifts a week, which allows me to be home during the day. Because I made the decision to move us back into my Mom’s house, my mom watches B for me at night when I’m working, and drops him off to me on her way to work. I’m able to drop him off at school,go home and catch some ZZZZZZ’s and then be there to pick him up at the end of his school day.

Is this arrangement always easy? Heck, no. Some days, I want to sleep through the alarm in the afternoon. Some nights, B is upset that I can’t cuddle with him before bedtime. I have, however, already been able to chaperone a field trip B went on during his summer camp. Chaperoning more trips, being present in the classroom, and being able to attend school functions without having to rearrange someone else’s schedule are the reasons that this crazy schedule is totally worth it.

The first day of Kindergarten has made me realize that time flies, and my little guy is growing up way faster than I ever imagined. The older he gets, the more fun I have with him- which is why Back to School isn’t a sad time for me, I welcome it with open arms. I love to watch B learn and grow, and the opportunities for us to learn together are endless, and I can’t wait!

I have been on Pinterest looking for some fun Back to School projects, and this one is one of my favorites. I’m planning to do this at the beginning of each school year, so when B is all grown up we have something to look back on and reminisce about.

The inspiration for this interview came from Meet the Dubiens , originally pinned by Danielle on Pinterest. I asked Ben the questions, and then we put his school uniform on and went outside to take some pictures.

I think this is a great way to document images as well as your child’s personality! Mr. Personality wasn’t thrilled with my picture taking plans, so I had him give me his grumpy faces first… So I could get a nice sweet B picture….

Happy first day of school!!

Hello world!

Welcome to my new site! I’ve transferred my posts from my first blog, Baked by Beth, to this site in order to incorporate some of my other interests. I hope you enjoy!