Sunday Social Network Exchange!

Leave a comment and I'll follow you back! 

Reminder!

Don't forget that Bumbledoo is hosting their Facebook giveaways tonight!

You can get your entries in now to win all the prizes from the WAHM sponsors here, until 9pm, EST tonight.

At 9pm they'll start drawing and announcing winners, interspersing those announcements with flash giveaways of Bumbledoo products & gift certificates!

They sell diapers, training pants, mama cloth, and more...so many things you could spend those gift certificates on!

So head over there, and tell 'em Mama Chocolate sent you! :-)

A Merry Fluffy Christmas - Early Entries Opportunity!

I'm so excited about this event! It's gonna be BIG!
There are over 20 blogs participating and for 5 days, each of us is going to be giving away a cloth-diaper related prize package worth $25 or more, every day.That means each blog will be giving away, (at the very least,) $125 worth of fluff goodies during the course of this first week of December! I already have more than $200 worth of goodies lined up, and more being added!(See current sponsors here!)
Already, the blogs have collectively gathered more than$3,000 worth of prizes for you, and more are being added every day!How's that sound for a sweet way to kick off the Christmas season? Woo hoo!
Each giveaway will only be open for 3 days,  so I'm going to try to keep the bonus entry options minimal during the actual event, so that, if you want to, you can get to all the blogs and enter the giveaways in a timely manner.
I'll be doing some pre-event reviews for select sponsors.Be on the watch for these posts...you will have the opportunity to earn early extra entries into the event giveaways by becoming fans of the sponsors on Facebook, following them on Twitter, etc, so don't miss out!
To start off, I'm offering you extra entries in reward for spreading the news about this coming event!


<a href="http://www.giveawaysandlife.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq300/sashica13/MerryFluffyChristmas.gif" /></a>

For 5 extra entries, grab the event button and post it on your blog before November 15th!
Leave your blog URL in your comment and tell me where it is on your blog, (I will check!)Make sure you leave 5 separate comments here on this post, and I'll add them to the end of each giveaway that you enter during the event!Good luck! 

Wordless Wednesday - Cousins

Bumbledoo Facebook Giveaways!

Head on over to Bumbledoo on Facebook and start entering their sweet line-up of giveaways, all sponsored by work-at-home-mom (WAHM) companies! Easy entries and you have until 10pm, EST on 10/30, Saturday to get those entries in! 

Tell them Mama Chocolate sent you! :-)

More info:

The way it's going to work:

Today (10/26/2010), I will be adding a photo folder to my photos for each of the items these sponsors are going to giveaway. To enter the giveaway you must do the following things:

1. Find the sponsors you are interested in by browsing the pictures. Comment on the pictures that you are interested in. We will pick winners from the comments.

2. Visit the sponsors page and like them. You must continue to like them. If your name is picked, we will verify you are a follower of their page first. Please play nice. Most of our WAHMs hand make their stuff and volunteer a lot of their time to participate in giving away items.

3. Thank your sponsor for donating their time and item. Leave them a nice note.

4. Come back to my page on 10/30/10 @ 10pm. We will have flash announcements of who the winners are that night. In between each announcement, I'll be giving away bumbledoo gift certificates (from $5 up to $25 and maybe even $50) to my website and I'll have an auction folder up.

Maternity Photo Shoot

   While at the coast this weekend, my photographer sister, Suzy, and I planned to do a maternity photo shoot out on the beach. It stormed the whole time we were there, but we were able to snatch a few moments before we left on Sunday when it at least wasn't pouring down rain.

    It wasn't raining...but it was blowing! And the tide was up so high, there was absolutely no beach for us to use, so we settled with an ocean background and took the photos from the viewpoint instead.

   The wind actually made for some cool photos...when it wasn't making me eat my hair...

   ...or trying to blow me to the next county...

Yeah. It was cold and windy.

We got a couple cute ones with Katie, but then she wanted to chase seagulls with Papa instead...

These last two are my favorites!

   I love the photos Suzy got! She has a good eye for photography, does a great job with editing, and...she just bought herself a snazzy new camera, so her photos are becoming even more awesome!

   You should check out her blog, Life is Too Short Not to Wear Red Shoes, where she blogs as "Polka Dot" about photography, fashion and fun. :-) I love reading her blog...it simply oozes personality and life!

   She is currently running a photography contest for all of you who love to play with cameras. There are some pretty sweet prizes, so run on over!

Zookies Diaper Cover Review & Giveaway! 11/8

This giveaway is CLOSED.

Zookies sent me two diaper covers to review:

"Strawberry Fields" in Medium (17" rise, 15-25lbs)

and  

"Green Tambourine" in Large, (19" rise, 25-30+ lbs)

This diaper cover can be used over any prefold or fitted cloth diaper. It can also be used alone as a swim diaper. 

The inner layer of the cover is waterproof PUL (polyurethane laminate) and the outer layer is a 100% cotton print. It has a "crossover" hook & loop closure and fold over elastic to keep everything inside. Laundry tabs on the inside keep the hook and loop secure during washing and prevent snagging on other items.

They also sent me a couple cute wipes!
You should definitely check out their wipes collection! They've got some really cute sets!

Katie is right in the middle of these two sizes, (at 23 lbs,) so Zookies sent me both to review.

Both of them fit her great right now, depending on how much I'm trying to stuff into the cover!

The medium size can't hold everything I have to put in there for her nighttime diapers. She's a little super-soaker and I have to stuff that thing, so I would use the large size! But for daytime use, the medium is perfect!

 I love the prints! The Strawberry Fields one is so cute, I just wanna let her run around in nothing but her diaper, (something she'd think was pretty awesome!)

I like how the PUL is on the inside and then there's an outer, softer layer over it. The 100% cotton makes it much more...cuddly. :-)

The only thing I haven't liked so much about these covers is how long they take to line-dry. This is mostly because of the extra layer, I suppose, especially where all the gathers are around the back and leg openings. This is what I'd consider the only "con" and it's a little, teeny one. I have enough other covers to keep me going while they're drying, so it hasn't really been a problem.

The other thing I love about these covers is the velcro/aplix! It is super strong, and Katie hasn't been able to get it undone, like she can with my Thirsties covers. 

The elastic holds snug against her body and legs, but is soft, (no nasty red marks!) and we've had no troubles with blow-outs! Yay!

That's something I love about my cloth diapers...if I ever put a disposable diaper on Katie, (a more and more rare occurrence!) we're almost guaranteed to have leakage. They just can't hold it in on my kid! I know part of it is her super-soaker skills, and the other part to it must be her shape...she's so slender, I don't think the disposables hug her body snuggly enough!

Go check out Zookies shop! There are so many cute prints to choose from, and they sell more than just diaper covers!

They also currently carry bibs, cloth wipes and reusable bag sets, all at very competitive prices!

Adorable bib with chenille backing!

Handy-dandy reusable snack/sandwich bags!

Zookies has generously offered one of my lucky readers their very own diaper cover in their choice of size and print!

To Enter: (Mandatory Entry!)

    Visit Zookies Etsy shop and come back and tell me what print or item you like best! (Don't worry...if you win, you won't be held to this choice!)

    (You must be a follower of Mama Chocolate for your entries to be valid!)

Bonus Entries:

(only valid if the mandatory entry is completed!)

You must leave separate comments for each entry, (if it says 3 entries, I need 3 comments!) Please leave your email address in your comments, so I can contact you if you win!

     -  Favorite ("heart") Zookies Etsy shop (3 entries)

     -  Become a fan of Mama Chocolate on Facebook (1 entry)

     -  Follow Mama Chocolate on Twitter (1 entry)

     -  Purchase something from Zookies before November 5th (10 entries!)

     -  Post about this giveaway on your blog. You must have a link to Zookies and a link back directly back to this giveaway included in your post for it to be valid. Leave a link to your post in your comment (5 entries)

     -  Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page. Make sure you include a link to this giveaway in your post! (5 entries)

     -  Tweet about the giveaway! You can copy and paste this:
     #WIN a #clothdiaper cover #giveaway from Zookies @ChoresChocolate http://tinyurl.com/29q2upr"
    or use the retweet button at the bottom of this post.
      Give me the permalink to your tweet in your comment (1 tweet per day - one entry each)

Giveaway ends November 8th, Monday, 2010, at 10am, PST.
This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada. I will choose the winner via Random.org, and the winner will be announced here on the blog and notified by email. Make sure to leave your email address or have your contact info available in your blogger profile. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, after which a new winner will be chosen.

*I received two diaper covers from Zookies for the purpose of this review. I received no other compensation, and the opinions expressed in this review have not been influenced in any way.

WINNER! Dizzy Fish Designs Cloth Wipes

We have another winner!

The Dizzy Fish Designs giveaway ended with 157 valid entries, and the random number generator picked #99.

   Comment number 99 is.... Diaper Dad! 
Congratulations! I'll be sending you an email shortly, and you'll have 48 hours to respond before I must choose a new winner!

Update: Winner has responded and been confirmed!

  If you didn't win, be sure to head on over and enter my other giveaways going on, and stick around for more giveaways coming up soon!

Current Giveaways:

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer Book: details here!

American Country Designs Small Wet Bag 11/1 Enter here!
Sweet Bobbins Pail Liner or Pail Liner Kit 11/3 Enter here!

Hooray for Friday!

I'm always glad for Fridays to come around...but I've been especially looking forward to this Friday for sometime...

This is why:

Ah! Sweet bliss!

  I've been needing a good dose of beach, and I'm going to be there, soaking it in, ALL weekend. Besides refreshing myself with the salty, clean air, the fellowship will be sweet! My whole family plus our BFF family will all be together for the whole weekend! We've done this every year for many years, now...but we're growing! Everybody is getting married and having kids! What used to be 14 of us, only 3 years ago, (yes, it only took two families to add up to 14 people!) is now 19! 20, actually, if you count the Baby Within. :-)

  Now I'm wondering if I can pull off following in my mother's footsteps here...
  They took a vacation (camping!) when she was about 37 weeks pregnant with their second, (my brother,) and he decided to come early! By the time they decided these contractions were the real thing and they'd better get to the birth center, Joseph was almost born in the car!
 
   Oh, dear. I'm already starting to hope for and imagine early delivery scenarios. I could still be a whole MONTH away from holding this little one in my arms.

  *sigh*

Sweet Bobbins Pail Liner Kit Review & Giveaway! - 11/3

This giveaway is CLOSED...Congratulations, Mom2Boys!

Sweet Bobbins sent me one of their Diaper Pail Liner Kits to review!

Besides selling great quality pre-made pail liners and a host of other things, Sweet Bobbins sells the pattern for their diaper pail liner! Or...you can buy their kit, which includes the pattern, plus all the materials you'll need to sew your own!

This is a great way to save a little money if you have a sewing machine and very basic sewing skills!

Pail Liner Kit

She also sent me one of their OBV-backed (Organic Bamboo Velour) cloth wipes! SO soft! 

I want to just rub in on my cheek all day! LOL!

She makes nursing pads out of this OBV stuff, too! I would love to have some of those!

Here is the pattern: 

It was very easy to follow, with helpful, full-color photos accompanying almost every step!

I had a few issues along the way with my silly machine rebelling against the slick side of the PUL...but I was able to work it out okay, using my serger instead, and still got the whole thing done in under an hour, (even with Katie's "help" and phone calls the distracting influence of an episode of Psych...I'm a multi-task woman, people!)

Here's how it turned out:

Pink, of course. :-)

It fits my pail perfectly! 

Sweet Bobbins has graciously offered one lucky Mama Chocolate reader their choice of either a pre-made pail liner, or one of their pail liner kits, (which would provide you with the pattern for keeps, should you want to make another in the future!)

Winner gets to pick out of 10 different color options, (subject to availability)

 To Enter: (Mandatory Entry!)

   Become a fan on  Sweet Bobbins Facebook page and leave a comment there, either with a link to this review or telling her your favorite pail liner color or item in her shop. Get creative! Leave me your Facebook name in this first entry so I can confirm that you did it!

    (You must be a follower of Mama Chocolate for your entries to be valid!)

Bonus Entries:

(only valid if the mandatory entry is completed!)

You must leave separate comments for each entry, (if it says 3 entries, I need 3 comments!) Please leave your email address in your comments, so I can contact you if you win!

     -  Favorite ("heart") Sweet Bobbins Etsy shop (3 entries)

     -  Tell me which color you would choose if you won (1 entry)

     -  Become a fan of Mama Chocolate on Facebook (1 entry)

     -  Follow Mama Chocolate on Twitter (1 entry)

     -  Purchase something from Sweet Bobbins before November 1st (10 entries!)

     -  Post about this giveaway on your blog. You must have a link to Sweet Bobbins and a link back directly back to this giveaway included in your post for it to be valid. Leave a link to your post in your comment (5 entries)

     -  Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page. Make sure you include a link to this giveaway in your post! (5 entries)

     -  Tweet about the giveaway! You can copy and paste this:
     #WIN a diaper pail liner or liner kit #giveaway from Sweet Bobbins @ChoresChocolate http://tinyurl.com/2eyee48"
    or use the retweet button at the bottom of this post.
      Give me the permalink to your tweet in your comment (1 tweet per day - one entry each)




Giveaway ends November 3rd, 2010, at 10am, PST.
This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada. I will choose the winner via Random.org, and the winner will be announced here on the blog and notified by email. Make sure to leave your email address or have your contact info available in your blogger profile. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, after which a new winner will be chosen.

*I received a pail liner kit  from Sweet Bobbins for the purpose of this review and giveaway. I received no other compensation, and the opinions expressed in this review have not been influenced in any way.

Wordless Wednesday - Small Steps

American Country Designs - Wet Bag Review & Giveaway!

CLOSED: Winner to announced SOON!

Peggy from American Country Designs sent me one of her beautiful wet bags to review!

A little about American Country Designs, how it began and who is behind it:

Peggy says: "My love for creating began when I was 12. I learned to make teddy bears, which I made for all my family for Christmas gifts. At the same time I was also introduced to wood shop tools. Being able to make my ideas a reality immediately got me hooked. Ever since I have been making my creations for gifts, selling at stores and at shows. I owned my own Crafter's gift store for over 7 years where I was fully inspired to create, made lots of great friends with the same interests and also learned new and useful techniques to use for my own designs. I love making people smile and happy with their new found treasures and try to make things that delight you and of course I take pride in my work. I strive to make and sew the products well.

As a stay at home mom of two, I feel lucky to have the opportunity to have my children with me all day and do something that I greatly enjoy: being creative. My oldest (3) loves to be my little helper and even has her own sewing machine, (the play type.) I look forward to teaching both my girls how to sew and be creative and encourage them at every opportunity.

* * * * * * * * * *

American Country Designs specializes in wet bags, but they carry other useful and fun items and are adding more!

 

 Small Essentials Purse/Tote

Pacifier Keeper 

So handy!

Yoga/Pilates Mat Tote Bags 

(half off right now!)

Now for the review!

 Pretty Package!

 Ta da! Love this print (Zoo Sage) she sent me!

 Handy snap-able loop to attach to your stroller, doorknob, etc...

 Beautiful stitching job! I was impressed with the professional work!

Waterproof interior

The seams are sealed to prevent any moisture or odors from escaping

This is the Small size (11x11),
advertised to hold approximately 2-5 diapers.
 It easily held 5 of my thick bamboo preflats plus extra liners. I think I still could have stuffed at least one more in there!

   I love this wet bag and would definitely recommend it! It holds the moisture in really well, which was a great relief! The cheapo drawstring wet bag I have been using for months seeps moisture. 

*GROSS!*

   American Country Designs is going to give away a wet bag identical to the one I reviewed to one of my lucky readers!

To Enter: (Mandatory Entry!)

   Visit American Country Designs Etsy shop and comment here, telling me your favorite item or print!

    (You must be a follower of Mama Chocolate for your entries to be valid!)

You must leave separate comments for each entry, (if it says 3 entries, I need 3 comments!) Please leave your email address in your comments, so I can contact you if you win!

Bonus Entries:

(only valid if the mandatory entry is completed!)

   -  Favorite ("heart") American Country Designs Etsy shop (3 entries)

   -  Become a fan of Mama Chocolate on Facebook (1 entry)

  -   Become a fan of American Country Designs on Facebook  (1 entry)

   -  Follow Mama Chocolate on Twitter (1 entry)

   -  Purchase something from American Country Designs before October 23rd (10 entries!)

   -  Post about this giveaway on your blog. You must have a link to American Country Designs and a link back directly back to this giveaway included in your post for it to be valid. Leave a link to your post in your comment (5 entries)

   -  Post about this giveaway on your Facebook page. Make sure you include a link to this giveaway in your post! (5 entries)

   -  Tweet about the giveaway! You can copy and paste this:
     #WIN a small wet bag #giveaway from American Country Designs at @ChoresChocolate http://tinyurl.com/2e7hf2x
    or use the retweet button at the bottom of this post.
      Give me the permalink to your tweet in your comment (1 tweet per day - one entry each)

Giveaway ends November 1st, 2010, at 10am PST.

This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada. I will chose the winner via Random.org, and the winner will be announced here on my blog and notified by e-mail. Make sure to leave your email, or have your contact available on your blogger site. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, and if there is no response another winner will be chosen. 

*I received a small wet bag from American Country Designs for the purpose of this review and giveaway. I received no other compensation, and the opinions expressed in this review have not been influenced in any way.