Friday, May 23, 2014

Baby Shower Invitation Wording and Baby Sprinkle Wording Ideas for Gift Suggestions

As many of you know, I have a line of custom Baby Shower and Baby Sprinkle invitations on my Sweet Leigh Mama Etsy Shop. One of the top questions I get each day from my customers is, "How should I word this?" or "The mom-to-be only wants gift cards - how can I put that without being tacky?" or "This is the second (or third, fourth...) child, so they'd really just like diapers and wipes - how can I say that on the invite?" I've developed a few cute rhymes and poems to include on Baby Shower invitations to pass along the mom-to-be's wishes without throwing etiquette completely out the window : )

But before all that, here's some advice I give to all my customers: there's no need to dance around the issue of gifts. If someone is coming to the baby shower or baby sprinkle, they WANT to bring a gift to the mom-to-be and precious baby. And they want to give the mom-to-be to something USEFUL - whether that be a Diaper Genie off the registry, diapers and wipes, or a gift card, if that's what the family needs to prepare for the baby's arrival. So communicating the mom-to-be's wishes regarding gifts isn't rude - it's your job as a host, and guests will feel good knowing they brought something the mom-to-be WANTS and NEEDS : ) If a guest finds it offensive, they can stay home and stick their nose in an Emily Post biography. Just saying...

Now, on to the ways to word gift requests and the mom-to-be's wishes on a Baby Shower or Baby Sprinkle invitation:

HOSTING A BABY SPRINKLE INSTEAD OF A BABY SHOWER

Bottles, diapers and wipes galore,
Michael and Diane are having one more!
Big Sister Lilah has plenty to share,
This is only a "Sprinkle" to show that we care.

OR

Baby smiles and giggles galore,
Sophie and Matt are having one more!
Big Brother Joey has plenty to share,
This is only a "Sprinkle" to show that we care.


MOM DOESN'T WANT TO OPEN GIFTS - ALSO PERFECT FOR THE ECO-FRIENDLY MOM WHO DOESN'T LIKE TO WASTE WRAPPING PAPER

The adorable baby gifts will be put on display,
So no need to wrap in any way.
A ribbon or twine will do just fine,
Leaving Priscilla free to visit and dine.


MOM DOESN'T WANT LARGE GIFTS - JUST WANTS DIAPERS, WIPES AND THE BASICS

Bring diapers and wipes and new baby toys -
Just little gifts to share in her joy!


MOM WANTS GIFT CARDS INSTEAD OF TYPICAL GIFTS - GIFT CARD ONLY BABY SHOWER

Mommy and Daddy aren't quite sure
What they'll need once the baby is born.
Please bring a gift card for the parents-to-be
So they'll be ready for whatever they need.


SECOND (OR THIRD, FOURTH...) CHILD AND MOM JUST WANTS DIAPERS AND WIPES

Big Brother Evan has plenty to share,
This baby sprinkle is to help Mommy prepare.
With diapers and wipes and all the essentials,
To make the new baby feel extra special.


MOM DOESN'T WANT ANY GIFTS AT BABY SHOWER

Your presence is our present. Please no gifts.


MOM WANTS GUESTS TO BRING BOOKS INSTEAD OF GIFTS

Baby Smith already has all that he needs,
but books are always welcome for Mom and Dad to read.
So just bring your favorite fairytale or storybook,
And help create the baby's special reading nook.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Disney Princess Artwork for Your Little Princess - Perfect for Your Daughter's Bedroom or Playroom

Paige is officially a Disney Princess addict. I'm revamping her room a bit, and wanted to create something Princess-like, but I wasn't wild about the Disney Princess posters currently available. So I decided to use this precious Disney Princess clipart and feature all the Disney Princesses since the very beginning through today. All of them are there: Snow White, Cinderella, Tinkerbell (who I know isn't technically a "princess", but I just couldn't leave her out!), Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Sofia (our favorite little Disney Junior Princess!) and of course - Anna and Elsa from Frozen.

You can purchase this Disney Princess print (unframed) in my Etsy shop - Sweet Leigh Mama.

Disney Princess Artwork - Disney Princess Poster
https://www.etsy.com/listing/190033246/disney-princess-artwork-11x14-disney?ref=shop_home_active_4
 

Monday, May 12, 2014

New! Curious George Carnival Birthday Party - Curious George Invitation

Since the kid's were born, I've wanted to do a Curious George-themed birthday party. Well, this year it is finally happening... with a twist : ) Instead of just Curious George, I'm creating a Curious George Carnival! More pics to come (after the big event) but wanted to share the Curious George Birthday Party invitation I created (and is now for sale on my Etsy shop - Sweet Leigh Mama). Let me know what you think!


Curious George Birthday - Curious George Carnival - Curious George Party Invitation
https://www.etsy.com/listing/189321925/custom-curious-george-carnival-birthday?ref=shop_home_active_1

 

Vitamin World Wants to Help Mamas Get Back Their Bikini Bodies With New "Bikini in a Box": Vitamin Packs PLUS Zumba DVD

 
With bikini season kicking off in a couple of weeks, the thought of fitting into itty-bitty-bathing suits can leave many of us in a hot sweat. Experts say that the average woman gains five to seven pounds every winter, and while you may not notice those few “L-B’s” under chunky sweaters, beach season may have us running for our sarongs. Instead of panicking stop by your local Vitamin World store and pick up the new Ultra Woman Daily Vitamin Packs featuring Zumba® for a kick-start to your summer.
 
These special edition vitamin packs are equipped with a full length Zumba® DVD and CD so ladies can kick their bikini bodies into high gear right in their living room. Together with a healthy diet, this “bikini in a box” can help bolster your new fitness regimen with tailored pre-packaged vitamin packs to help you reach your goal. Finally, if you’re over watching the workouts or just love the music, this pack comes with a CD with your favorite Zumba® tunes so you can Samba away your waistline while you’re cooking, driving or getting ready for a hot date!
 
The limited edition Vitamin World Ultra Woman Daily Vitamin Packs featuring Zumba® are available for $69.99 and $49.99 for members, exclusively at VitaminWorld.com and in Vitamin World stores in Ultra Woman, Ultra Woman Sport and Ultra Woman 50 Plus formulas to suit every bikini body.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Emotional Health for Parents - Guest Post by Nomi Bachar

::GUEST POST COURTESY OF NOMI BACHAR WITH GATES OF POWER::

As parents, there is nothing more precious to us than our kids. We are willing to sacrifice time, energy, and money to ensure their wellbeing. The big question that haunts us as parents in this day and age is “Why are so many youngsters today, emotionally imbalanced, using drugs, feeling lost, angry and despairing?”
 
What are we overlooking as parents? What might be our blind spots? These are not easy questions that have easy answers. One fact is undeniable, as parents, we are the role models to our children. And if we don’t take care of our inner and outer wellbeing, they don’t learn to do the same. We have a sacred responsibility to become as balanced and healthy as we can, so that we impart and inspire with our lifestyle and influence our kids.
 
In short, we can raise our children better and the work starts with us. We must overcome the fact that emotional balance is not yet valued by society and as a result is not taught to our children in schools.  We cannot be expected to fill in this gap since we ourselves did not fully acquire the tools necessary when we were growing up. Thus the cycle continues and we see our children making emotionally unfulfilling choices that we at times feel helpless to solve. What we are passionate about is guiding our children, supporting them, and creating a constructing and fulfilling life.  Let’s start by healing ourselves.
 
We have all have sets of confining perceptions and beliefs that translate to frozen energetic emotional structures and lead to negative programming. We may not be aware of the limiting programs that are running us (unless we study ourselves), and we may get frustrated and saddened by the fact that we cannot change things we want to change, but it is the inner program that has to change before our lives can begin to change. Misplacing our anger about our inability to change is as ineffective as being frustrated with what’s coming out of a printer; directing your anger at the printer will not change what’s being printed. Instead, we must go to the computer and change the document itself. Once we’ve recognized this misplaced anger and frustration, we can follow these tips to create emotional health within ourselves and as a result in our kids.
 
The First Step
 
We need to identify the different voices or aspects within ourselves.  Gates of Power® Method, defines three inner aspects
 
·         The Emotional Self – the place within ourselves where all emotions reside
·         The Defensive Self – the set of survival / defensive skills we acquired to be able to feel safe and loved
·         The Expanded Self – the part within us that holds our wisdom, intuition, compassion, and highest perspective
 
Most of us experience inner confusion, conflicts, and emotional discomfort because of lack of unity between these three inner aspects. Our Defensive Self is most of the time the leader or shall we say the “tyrant” repressing our Emotional Self and ignoring our Expanded Self.  It is clear that the Expanded Self should be the leader of the inner team and the real master of our lives. Most of the time it takes work to establish that.
 
The Second Step
 
Make the Expanded Self your inner leader. The good news is that every one of us, with no exception, is born with an Expanded Self. No matter how estranged we have become from it, it is always within us. The expanded self has two faces: the witness and the healing guide. One face is only observing—it is pure awareness; the other is actively guiding our journey toward wholeness. Most of us don’t experience life from our Expanded Self. Our Expanded Self is the one who can heal our inner being through the art of inner dialogue. It can heal and support our Emotional Self dissolve and soften our Defensive Self, so that all aspects of the self work together in a constructive, healthy way.
 
The Third Step
 
We need to take an active role in healing our emotional self. We must admit and accept that human experience is fraught with different experiences. We tend to interpret some of our hurtful experiences and losses as personal deficiencies. We create a negative sense of self and a negative outlook on life and people. We hide our pain and lack of self-esteem under our Defensive Self, and live a contracted, limited, and at times destructive life. But there is no need to keep ourselves in bondage. Each one of us has unique and meaningful gifts, talents, and capabilities that are meant to be expressed and enjoyed. We are meant to be a contribution to each other. The secret, as I explained before, is acknowledging your Expanded Self and learning to live within its expression and guidelines.
 
The Fourth Step
 
I suggest that you take the time to notice when you are operating from your Emotional Self, when you are reacting and acting from your Defensive Self, and when you experience life from your Expanded Self. Become aware of the relationship among these three aspects and teach yourself to be guided by your Expanded Self, since that part possesses your wisdom, insight, and compassion
 
The Fifth Step
 
Gates of Power Method identifies seven portals or Gates through which our expression and energy flows. We call them the Seven Gates of Power.
 
The Seven Gates of power are:
·         The Gate of the Body 
·         The Gate of Emotions
·         The Gate of Dialogue
·         The Gate of Creative Expression
·         The Gate of the Life Path
·         The Gate of Silence
·         The Gate of Knowledge

All these gates are facets of your life and ideally they need to be open, energized, and expressive. Fundamentally, when all three inner aspects work together in unity, led by the Expanded Self, your energy, creativity, and loving nature is naturally expressed through the Seven Gates and you become the person you were meant to be and the one that your kids need you to be.

The process of healing, strengthening, and balancing ourselves takes commitment, time and discipline. Gates of Power Method can help you achieve that.

About the Author:

Nomi Bachar, a holistic spiritual counselor is a self-healing, self-actualization expert and coach. She is the director of White Cedar Institute for Expanded Living LLC and the creator of Gates of Power® Method. She is also the author of Gates of Power: Actualize Your True Self  (Findhorn Press).

To learn more about Nomi Bachar, please visit:  http://www.gatesofpower.com/

Need a New Pair of Glasses? Try Peepers for a Stylish - Yet Inexpensive - Pair of Glasses!


Committed to offering fresh and fashionable eyewear without the premium price, Peepers is the leading designer and marketer of innovative and expressive eyewear products for both men and women. And…they have everything – readers, bifocals, traveling readers and bifocals, foldable reading glasses, bifocal sunglasses as well as the designer readers and shades.
 
Peepers believes eyewear is an extension of one’s personality and continues to exceed customers’ expectations with impeccable quality, exceptional delivery and unforgettable style ($9.50 – $25.00; www.peeperspecs.com).
 
PS: Oprah, herself, is a HUGE fan of the brand (image via Instagram)! You know they must be awesome if Saint Oprah endorses them!
 
 
 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gifts That Give Back

http://gifts.rescue.org/
Just in time for Mother’s Day, the International Rescue Committee has launched its collection of charitable “Rescue Gifts” — perfect gift options for the last-minute shoppers who want to celebrate the special moms in their lives, while also helping to support vulnerable refugee mothers and their families around the world. The IRC’s symbolic “Rescue Gifts” offer shoppers gift options for loved ones that can have a lasting impact on the lives of uprooted families living in the midst of conflict or natural disaster in places like Syria, the Central African Republic and the Philippines.
 
Gift options like a safe delivery ($24) can ensure critical supplies and assistance to help make childbirth safer — and happier — for both mother and baby, and maternal health care ($52) can provide a mother-to-be in places like Kenya with the advice, medical assistance and other support she needs to keep herself and her baby healthy.  In a country like Afghanistan, $56 can send a young girl to school for a year and give her the chance of a better life.
 
For shoppers who still haven’t found the right present for the socially conscious or eco-friendly moms in their lives, “Rescue Gifts” can be purchased and personalized e-cards sent right up to Mother’s Day itself.  Celebrity watchers who want to give back can shop the favorite gift collections of the IRC Voices, including Morena Baccarin, Rashida Jones, John Legend, Jencarlos Canela and Sarah Wayne Callies. Morena, a new mom herself, has chosen gifts that are all focused on supporting mothers and empowering women and girls in some of the world’s worst conflict zones. 
 
Ingrid & Isabel, a maternity apparel company, will match all “Rescue Gift” purchases to the IRC up to $30,000 as part of the IRC’s Mother’s Day campaign.  There are more than three dozen gift options at varying prices. The recipient of each “Rescue Gift” will receive a personalized printed card or an eCard describing the gift and how it will impact the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Gift buyers can see the catalogue at www.rescue.org/gifts
 
About the International Rescue Committee: A global leader in humanitarian assistance, the International Rescue Committee works in 40 countries offering help and hope to refugees and others impacted by violent conflict and disaster. During crises, IRC teams provide health care, shelter, clean water, sanitation, learning programs for children and special aid for women. As emergencies subside, the IRC stays to revive livelihoods and help shattered communities recover and rebuild. Every year, the IRC also helps resettle thousands of refugees admitted into the United States, in 22 cities across the country.  A tireless advocate for the most vulnerable, the IRC is committed to restoring hope, dignity and opportunity. For more information, visit www.rescue.org, and follow the IRC on twitter, @theIRC / @IRCpress.

Boogie Wipes Launches Yearlong “Motherhood’s Snot Easy” Contest - Win a Year's Supply of Boogie Wipes or a Disney Cruise!

::GUEST POST COURTESY OF MY FRIENDS AT BOOGIE WIPES::
 
From wiping gunky noses to changing diapers and years of lost sleep, Boogie Wipes® knows that motherhood is snot easy. (GET IT? sNOT easy? L.O.V.E. IT!) To honor moms and create an opportunity for priceless home video footage, Boogie Wipes® is launching a yearlong “Motherhood’s Snot Easy” contest. Each month starting in May 2014 for Mother’s Day, ten families will win a year’s supply of Boogie Wipes®, one case per month. And, in May 2015 a grand-prize winner will be chosen to win a 7-day Walt Disney Cruise for four.

HOW TO ENTER: To start the entry process, moms must get out the video camera and film their children answering four questions, capturing what children really think about moms in priceless videos. Moms will ask their kids the following: 

1. What does mommy cook for you at dinnertime?
 
2. What type of clothes does mommy like to wear?
 
3. What does mommy do all day? Is she busy?
 
4. Does mommy pick her nose?


When the video is complete it can be uploaded on the Boogie Wipes® contest page to complete the entry process. For rules, regulations and full entry details for the “Motherhood’s Snot Easy” contest visit: www.boogiewipes.com.

 
About Little Busy Bodies
The first-ever saline nose wipe, Boogie Wipes®, was invented by two moms as a solution for their kids’ sore, red, stuffy noses. Little Busy Bodies Inc. was founded in May 2007. Sales of Boogie Wipes® reached $1 million in the company’s first year of business and by 2009; Little Busy Bodies tripled its revenue to $3.4 Million. Boogie Wipes® are now sold in 50,000 retail stores across the U.S. and Canada including Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and Toys ‘R’ Us.