Lipstick to Crayons » For Baby

St. Louis Moms — You Gotta Sign Up for This!

lipsticktocrayons — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:05:25 +0000

If you’re a Mom (or a Dad) living in the St. Louis area, you absolutely must sign up for STL Kids Club Deals. These deals are launching this month, and will work similar to Groupon. STL Kids Club deals will offer special discounts of up to 75% off at the retailers, restaurants and service providers that parents and families in St. Louis use most. In other words, they will cater to the needs and busy lifestyles of families and they will arrive in your email Inbox if you’ve signed up for the deals.

It’s free to join, and you won’t be bombarded with all kinds of spam — just one or two emailed deals a week that you won’t be able to pass up! I have it on good authority that the first deal is amazing! (I won’t tell you what it is, and I’m not sure what day it will be distributed, but it will be this month. You’ll want to be signed up so that you don’t miss out, because I know it will go fast.)

Copyright © 2012 Lipstick to Crayons. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@lipsticktocrayons.com so we can take legal action immediately.
Plugin by Taragana

Posts like this

Adorable rooms for adorable little girls

LesleyWeidenbener — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:00:00 +0000

When I previewed the Indianapolis Meridian-Kessler Home & Garden Tour at The Design File last month, I only offered a peek at the sweet little girls’ rooms in the home owned by Jessica & Matt Albaugh. There were just so many beautiful rooms to see in this home and so I saved most of the photos of the kids’ rooms for a post today.

The Albaughs have two girls: 3-year-old Ellen and 1-year-old Kate.

Kate’s room (above and below) has beautiful, pale lavender walls with accents of darker purples, white and black, including the fantastic zebra-print rug shown below. I love this sophisticated but unexpected touch in a nursery!

I love the antique, painted wardrobe (shown below), which Jessica had in her room as a little girl. Not only does it provide fantastic storage, but the history makes it very special. Jessica made the terrific window treatments – in this room and in sister Ellen’s room as well.

She’s personalized both rooms with the girls’ names, using letters she found at clearance prices. I love that these are hung with ribbon.

There are also lots of other cute touches. Jessica made the memo board below using fabric she found on Etsy.

Sister Ellen has a pink and white room with an amazing cabinet wall that the Albaughs had custom built to make up for the room’s tiny closet. (I had a terrible time getting the color right on these photos…so I apologize. The cabinets were an off white.)

I love the fun window seat and handmade window treatments.

Ellen had butterflies flying above her bed, along with a couple sconces.

Jessica made a memo board for Ellen as well and and hung the family photos using ribbon.

Finally, here a photo of the girls in their basement play room. For more photos of them, the playroom and the Albaugh’s home, go to the original Meridian-Kessler home tour post.

Aren’t these rooms just full of inspiration? I love them. A special thanks to Jessica for the tour of her home and showing me the girls’ rooms.

Want to see other homes with great kids’ rooms? Check out these posts:

Beautiful, modern nursery in an urban condo

Fun, stylish nursery caps off modern home

DIY nursery: Color, creativity sets room apart

Try a random post.

White walls but colorful rooms

LesleyWeidenbener — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Last week at The Design File, I wrote about rooms with bright wall paint, but that’s not the only way to have a vibrant space.

You can create an amazingly colorful home with furniture and accessories. And sometimes, that’s more chic.

After all, there’s something so clean and stylish about stark white walls – especially when they’re livened up with fantastic art, pillows, rugs and other items.

The BHG room at right has white walls as well as neutral flooring and furniture. But the art, glass and pillows really bring this space to life.

It feels as dynamic and vivid as if the walls had been painted yellow or orange.

I love it!

The room below – featured in Cottage Living and photographed by Roger Davies – shows how you can take just one color and liven up an otherwise white room. The geometric art, rug and lamps add layers of texture, even though there is nearly no variety in the colors. The photo is now featured on MyHomeIdeas.com.

In BHG room below, the colorful, striped rug sets the tone for a fun, beachy room that is full of blues, reds, greens and even orange.

In this case, the walls are white and the art is fairly subtle. The color is added in all the great accessories – even the books stacked on the simple side table.

In the room below, a kitchen with white walls and cabinets is given incredible life with a bright red wooden floors. This would be a fantastic idea in any room with hardwood floors that are in poor condition – and it’s easier and cheaper than refinishing them.

This kitchen was featured in Southern Living and is now at MyHomeIdeas.com.

Kids’ rooms are among the places it’s most tempting to paint the walls.

But check out the fun room I found at the always inspiring Light Locations. The colorful flags, vibrant rugs and great textiles keep your eye moving all over this exciting bedroom.

Finally, look at the fun nursery below – with its bright orange crib, colorful wall art and great rug. It’s perfect for a boy or a girl. It’s from HGTV and was featured on Apartment Therapy’s Ohdeedoh.

So are you won over by white walls? Or do you prefer your color comes from paint?

Want to see other ideas for adding colors? Check these out:

A trend for summer: Bright wall paint

Rooms inspired by nature

More orange – a beautiful accent too

Pretty in pink — even in your living room

Try a random post.

Color trends for kids’ rooms

LesleyWeidenbener — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:00:38 +0000

At The Design File, I love sharing the newest trends in colors. So I was eager to share Glidden Paint’s Top 10 color guide, which focuses on kids’ rooms and provides suggestions for nurseries to a teenager’s bedrooms.

“A bedroom or playroom is often one place in the house where a child or teen can inject their own style into the space, making it a true reflection of their individual personality,” said Barbara Richardson, director of color marketing services at Glidden. “The Top 10 Growing Up Colors offers a variety of classic and contemporary shades designed to stand the test of time and is sure to please kids of all ages.”

The room above by Glidden is painted Spring Green, described as a “refreshing, crisp green that reflects the outdoors and provides a feeling of nature.”

It’s so cute! The color is beautiful and room decor is very sweet and so DIYable!

Here are the other Growing Up colors by Glidden:

Blooming Fuchsia – A vibrant magenta designed to energize a youthful attitude in any bedroom.

Rich Navy – A deep blue designed to add a touch of boldness and adventure to a variety of settings. Rich Navy is shown at right.

Fresh Pink Lemonade – A refreshing springtime shade of pink that works well as an accent color in artwork, lamps, or painted accessories.

Sunbaked Orange – A glowing, warm, spicy color sure to enliven any space.

Sunbeam – a bright, cheery yellow reflects the sun’s warmth to create a cozy space. Sunbeam is shown at right.

Refreshing Mimosa – A creamy yellow color creates a cozy feeling. With a touch of red, this color can make any room feel warm and inviting.

True Turquoise – A daydreaming green-blue designed to create a serene environment.

Lilac Bouquet – a delightful and playful violet sure to please girls of all ages.

Blue Marina – Reminiscent of the shades of the ocean tide, this color creates a cool atmosphere in any room. Blue Marina is shown at right.

The Top 10 Growing Up color cards are available now in the Glidden paint color centers at The Home Depot stores nationwide. Consumers can also find the complete selection of Top 10 color palettes at www.glidden.com.

Want to see some other recent trends?

Check out these links…

High Point Report: Brighter colors mark spring

Orange: Is it the new neutral in home decor?

Home decor trends for 2010

Try a random post.

Beautiful, modern nursery in an urban condo

LesleyWeidenbener — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:10 +0000

Things have been hopping over at The Design File and so I’m a little late with my weekly post. But I’m so excited to share this fantastic, modern nursery with you.

Noelle, an expectant mother in Indianapolis, recently sent me photos of the nursery she created with her husband, Daniel. The couple lives in the downtown Lockerbie Glove Company in a cool area with some of my favorite homes.

I’ll let her explain the nursery in her own words:

When we bought our condo, the nursery was a workout room which we converted into my husband’s office for law school and work. The French doors allow plenty of light and the walls are open at the top on two sides which allows for great circulation and the ability to hear a baby without monitors. The curtains are a sheer gold color.

I first saw the aqua and chocolate dotted crib bedding on the Restoration Hardware Baby web site and fell in love. That was the inspiration for the room.

We knew we were having a girl so I wanted to keep it bright and girly without being forced to choose pink. I felt the aqua was very close to a Tiffany blue (every girl knows those boxes:). The exposed orange pipes and ceiling allowed for accents of red and orange.

My dad fulfilled his grandfatherly duty and painted the nursery for us. Much of the furniture was gifted by my husband’s and my parents including the crib and the changing table. We installed a do-it-yourself soft FLOR carpeting (squares) over the cement floor.

We chose a contemporary charcoal glider and ottoman that can be used in a small space as well as moved into a living room setting later on.

We decorated the walls with a series of circular frames on clearance from Restoration Hardware Baby (all the aqua was on clearance). They contain baby photos of me (age 2), Daniel my husband (18 months) and our English Bulldog Wilberforce (the day we got him).

The mobile is called “Infant Stim-Mobile” by Manhattan Toy and differs from a lot of mobiles in that it doesn’t move or play music and is inexpensive. It also displays high contrast graphic images for baby to view from its perspective (rather than look pretty for parent) and the cards can be swapped out to more complex pictures as baby grows.

The small table was recycled from our aunt and repainted white. The chocolate lamp is from Restoration Hardware Baby.

The plush bulldogs on top were from our wedding. We both attended Butler University and share a love for bullies (our Wilber is now one year old!).

The “Baby Wishes for Sweet Pea Pulliam” book was made by my friend and designer Abbey Fowler of Syddesign for my friends baby shower. She also made the dots that spell out “baby” hanging above the French doors.

What do you think? Didn’t Noelle and Daniel do an amazing job on the nursery? Thanks to both for sharing their photos.

Do you have a room to share? Email me at thedesignfile [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Try a random post.

Pampers and Liz Lange Diaper Clutch Giveaway – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:15:16 +0000

I have to admit that when I first saw the all-new Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max, I thought: “There is NO WAY I am putting this paper thin diaper on my toddler at night — I’ll be changing sheets in the morning for sure!” I figured the thin design would be nice and comfortable for my toddler to wear cruising running, racing, jumping, climbing all through the house during the day. But she takes in a lot of liquid and we sometimes have leaks with a regular, full-bulk diaper at night.

Then, after a few days of letting her wear these newly-released diapers during the day, I noticed that they barely felt wet when I changed her and seemed to have much more capacity than the standard 2-hours. So, I gave them a try one night, and no leaks! In fact, I think she could have gone a few more hours in the morning before insisting on a change. I was sold!

Pampers has completely redesigned its Cruisers diapers, making them 20 percent thinner with no sacrifice in performance. The new Pampers Cruiser with Dry Max helps lock wetness away up to 12 hours, making this their driest diaper ever. (I wonder how much sippy cups of juice that translates into?)

To celebrate the launch of the diapers (now available to the public), Pampers is giving one of my readers a Liz Lange diaper clutch AND a redeemable coupon for a free week’s supply of diapers of the all-new Cruisers with Dry Max. The clutch is 100 percent polyester with all-leather trim and retails for $50. Enter the contest below for your chance to win.

Giveaway Guidelines

To win, leave a comment below telling me why you want to try the new Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily, but be sure to leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time March12, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by March 20, 2010, he/she will forfeit the prize to alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA and Canada residents only please.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO KAREN M, COMMENT #29.

Posts like this

Ultimate Giveaway for Multi-tasking/Nursing Mom

lipsticktocrayons — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:58:12 +0000

I nursed all three of my kids (each one a little longer than the last, meaning I didn’t wean Baby No. 3 until she was 20 months!) Doing this required that I use a breast pump from time to time, and in addition to sucking breast milk into a bottle, it often felt like it was sucking my time into a black hole!

If I’d known about this amazing product back then, you can bet I’d have been busy writing or blogging or something while I was pumping — the Easy Expression Hands-free Pumping Bra. This little ditty holds the breast pump shields in place while you pump, freeing your hands to do other things. It helps you “milk it for all you’re worth.” (I love that!)

Not surprisingly, this bra was invented by a Mom – Gretchen Penny. She came up with the idea for a hands-free pumping bra after practicing pumping milk a few weeks before she was to return from her maternity leave from American Airlines. She was determined to provide breast milk for her son because of its proven health benefits, but she was worried that pumping would take too much time and render her unproductive at work.

“I was not going to give up feeding my son breast milk just because I had to return to work. At the same time I knew I had a job to do,” says Penny. “So I invented the Hands-Free Pumping Bra, which has helped thousands of women like me each year to provide the gift of breast milk to their child as well as remain productive and successful at work.

The Easy Expression™ Hands-Free Pumping Bra benefits include:

It’s easy to use with its convenient front-zip style;
It enables a woman to be discreet when she pumps because it can easily be slipped on under a blouse;
It holds the breast pump shields in place so a woman’s hands are free to hold a book or type on her computer;
It enables a woman to hold her preemie baby while pumping, which many experts say helps with milk production and let-down;
It allows busy moms of multiples to care for their children or do laundry while simultaneously pumping.

The bra is available and in white and now black, too, and retails for about $34 at these locations nationwide. But one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win one for free by entering the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter, you MUST subscribe to my email mailing list by using the button in the right sidebar of this site and then leave a comment below telling me you did so. If you are already a subscriber, leave me a comment telling me so and include the email address to which the subscription is sent.

Receive additional entries by doing any or all of the following, but you must subscribe or be a subscriber first. Leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

Blog about this contest.
Tell me in a comment why you think nursing a baby is important.
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati.
Stumble this post.
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar.
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Feb. 9, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Feb. 11, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO SUSAN, COMMENT #5.

Posts like this

Gerber Giveaway

lipsticktocrayons — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:18:44 +0000

Feeding a baby can be a challenge and if you’re like me, you’re always willing to try something new if it will provide nutrition, variety and some ease into the feeding routine. That’s what the new Gerber 8 Grains and Yogurt and Gerber DHA Purees promise to do.

Gerber 8 Grains and Yogurt Cereal adds variety to your baby’s diet while introducing her to the taste of yogurt. It is made with eight natural grains (wheat, barley, rye, corn, sorghum, rice, millet, oat), real yogurt and live and active cultures. The product has no artificial flavors and is an excellent source of iron for healthy mental development.

Gerber’s DHA & Antioxidant Purees are made with 100% natural fruits and vegetables and come in six varieties, such as Apple Blackberry and Farmer’s Market Vegetable blend to help introduce your baby to new tastes. Gerber Purees with DHA have 18mg of DHA per serving to help support brain and eye development and are an excellent source of either vitamin A (from beta carotene) or vitamin C, protective antioxidants that are essential building blocks of baby’s natural defense system.

If you’d like to try these products for free, and win a Gerber teddy bear and recipe tin, as well, then enter the contest below:

Giveaway Guidelines:

Leave a comment with a valid email address in the comment section below.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do.

Blog about this contest.
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed.
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati.
Stumble this post.
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar.
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Jan. 27, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Jan. 30, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO BARBARA, COMMENT #60.

Posts like this

BEST, BEST Toddler Toy This Year

lipsticktocrayons — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:38:08 +0000

If I were “king of the world” and got to give an away for top toy for toddlers this year, it would be the Tag Junior from LeapFrog, hands down.

Leapfrog has long been a leader in creating educational but FUN toys, and now they’ve gone and created one that even a two-year-old can enjoy. The Tag system makes it fun for toddlers to connect words with pictures and other thoughts. By pressing the Tag Junior Book Pal onto the pages of specially designed books, the words and pictures come to life.

The Tag Jr. is easy for a toddler to use because all she has to do is touch the book pal (which fits perfectly in a toddlers chubby little hand) anywhere on the page and she will be rewarded with a response. Each Tag Jr. book has a theme and focuses on a skill.

The Tag Jr. system is geared toward young preschoolers ages 2-4. Leapfrog
also lets you create an account at LeapFrog’s Learning Path site where you can track your child’s learning progress online and download and print free activities to compliment your child’s Tag Jr. books.

LeapFrog toys are always fun-forward and engaging with educational benefits and skill-building fundamentals that last well beyond the holiday season. In other words, they’re invaluable.

Upsides:

Easy for a toddler to use
Great learning tool
Encourages reading
Portable – great toy for road trips and hotel stays
Reasonably priced

Downside:

The process of downloading the audio from the Leapfrog site to your Tag Jr. Book Pal was a little tricky for me, but there is lots of online support on the site.

You can buy the Tag Junior here for $24.99 and it comes with a book. You can buy extra books here and here.

Also from Leapfrog is the Text & Learn. Tech-savvy preschoolers on your shopping list can imitate Mom and Dad (Big Sister in our house) with this durable, just-for-kids learning PDA. Games focus on letter recognition, shape matching, and QWERTY keyboard skills, allowing preschoolers to exchange text messages with Scout, check Scout’s planner, and explore in a pretend browser mode. You can buy it here for $21.99.

Posts like this

Child’s Room Wall Decor Giveaway

lipsticktocrayons — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:10:22 +0000

Thankfully, my darling 2-year-old still loves her crib. Sometimes, she will play in her crib for an hour after waking in the morning or after a nap. I am in NO HURRY to move her into a big girl bed, but I am looking forward to decorating her “big girl room.” These adorable pieces of wall decor from Poochie Prints are among the reasons for my excitment.

Poochie Prints is a great online resource for affordable, sweet and modern wall prints for kids rooms and nurseries. They also make personalized baby and kid stationary that are great gifts.

I’m planning to redo my toddler’s room in pinks and greens, with a simple Pottery Barn valance that I picked up at a garage sale, a set of Pottery Barn Barbie Sheets, a beautiful quilt of pinks and greens that my Grandmother made that LOOKS like Pottery Barn but is a priceless heirloom, a hand-painted stool/coat rack that I also picked up at a garage sale, and these adorable Poochie Prints on the wall. I love Pottery Barn for its simplistic, yet elegant designs, and these prints offer the same approach — simple sillouettes that don’t overwhelm but rather compliment your style.

Even more cool, however, is that Poochie Prints will create custom designs for you at no up charge. If you have a certain design in mind for your child’s room, they can make it happen. You can even send in a paint chip and they will match your print to that specific shade. Customer service like that for no extra charge is pretty rare.

Poochie Prints is also very affordable – each print costing only $25 including the frame. But one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win a set of three prints for free by entering the contest below:

Giveaway Guidelines:

Visit Poochie Prints Web site and come back here and tell me in the comment section which wall print you like the best.

Receive additional entries by doing any/all of the following, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do.

Blog about this contest.
Subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed.
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can tweet daily if you want, but make sure you leave a comment each time you do).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati.
Stumble this post.
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar.
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 14. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Contest open to United States residents only. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If winner does not claim prize by Dec. 15, 2009, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner.

This giveaway is closed. Congrats to Abby, comment #31.