Nina's Beanies and Bows Giveaway (closed)

There are so many accessories out there for little kids! Ill be the first to admit, I'm not the best person to coordinate and pick them out. So my little girls are generally in comfortable clothes and no accessories.  Nina, from Nina's Beanies and Bows has created some great hats and accessories to go with them that are interchangeable! What a great idea, especially for someone like me or even the fashonista who has different accessories for every outfit for their kids!


Please tell us about yourself and how you started your business:
I am a local designer from Anchorage, Alaska. I stay busy working from home and feel grateful for the opportunity to be home with my children. I am the mother of two little girls that are my inspiration for everything I create. Last year I began making bows and accessories for them and found it to be a fun challenge and relaxing at the same time. I caught the ‘crafting bug’ quickly and wanted to coordinate every outfit they owned! It just wasn't practical to have that many hats so I decided to make all my bows and flower clips interchangeable. Not only are the combination possibilities endless but pieces could be worn alone in the hair or clipped to a headband and cleaning the hats when needed was easy. Last summer my daughters’ collection of hair clips was overflowing but I was hooked on making them so I began to give them as gifts. Soon after that I started to receive requests for custom pieces and was encouraged to go into business by my friends and family. I started with a few Craigslist ads and one day I received a call from the owner of Sweet Adeline's Children’s Store asking if I’d be interested in carrying my products in her store. I have been truly blessed with success I never imagined possible and I can’t wait to see how my business will continue to develop over the coming years! I absolutely love creating each and every piece! I could never choose a favorite and I feel it shows in the quality of my work.


Where can I purchase these products?
Currently my products can be found on my Facebook business page https://www.facebook.com/ninasbeaniesandbows and at Sweet Adeline’s Children’s Store in Anchorage in the Huffman Square (1120 Huffman Road Ste #4)

What do you love about Alaska?
Summertime is my favorite time in Alaska! I love sitting on our swing in the backyard watching my girls blow bubbles and giggling as they chase them around the yard. Summertime means visiting different parks in town, grilling outside and just enjoying the fresh air. But what I love most about Alaska is the sense of community and ability to achieve anything you put your mind to. I think it’s a great place to raise my children and I can’t imagine doing it anywhere else.

Too cute right?! Just have boys? You can join in on the fun, she offers boys embroidered beanies! Nina is going to let the winner choose a beanie and you get to choose the color and style as well! Here are the rules:

1. Must live in Alaska.
2. Leave a comment on what kind of hat you would get with your email address, and that's it!

A winner will be chosen randomly Monday night! Good luck!!

Sweet Adeline's Children Store (Closed)

Have you visited the cool, Eco-friendly Sweet Adeline's Children Store here in Anchorage? If not, you gotta get in there! Jessica, the owner, has some way cool things to look and play with! Talk about community, this store has it going on! She sells several products made locally, offers affordable classes for the wee ones, and is constantly giving back to the community.

 She sells several of our giveaway items there, so if you didn't win, get down there and buy it! The thing I love about this store is the unique "green" items. Each product is carefully picked out and are BPA, Phthalates, or PVC free.

 Doesn't the picture of the store look inviting to parents with small ones! They can actually play while you shop, I love that!
 What about the art classes? They are 4 week sessions that cost $8-$20 and are for ages 18 months to 10 year olds. She is offering French classes there as well. There is still room for the art classes this summer so sign your child up today!

We are doing a giveaway from Sweet Adeline's, wahoo!!!

A sweet bunny puppet, bun glaze, and rubbit oil.

A bear happy blankie and some bubbly soap ( I gotta go get my kids some of this!)

Here are the rules:

1. Must live in Alaska

2. Leave a comment telling me if you have been to Sweet Adeline's yet and if so what is your favorite product.

3. Be sure to leave your email address, anonymous WILL be counted. =)

A winner will be chosen on Monday, good luck!

Happy Bottoms Diaper Service Giveaway (closed)

It's been awhile, so sorry! Gotta get back in the game!!

For awhile now I've wanted to try cloth diapers, but couldn't fork up the money without knowing I would like it. I contacted Theresa, owner of Happy Bottoms Diaper Service, for a trial run. If you want to get into cloth, this is a great way to test it out without spending hundreds of dollars first. Check out what the Risk Free Trial includes.

Theresa came to my house and taught me the basics of cloth diapering to get me started. Cloth diapering can be overwhelming at first, but Theresa was so warm and kind. I never felt dumb for asking questions and not knowing. She was an email or phone call away if I had a question, the task didn't seem to daunting knowing that. She helped set up everything and then left...here I go!

I have to admit, the first change I was kind of grossed out. I didn't grab it correctly so it was very wet. But how many times have I had to grab something that was gross with kids? Soaked bed sheets, blow out diaper, throw up on kid and MY clothes, the list goes on! So I continued on.

It took me a couple of days to get in the swing of things but I actually started liking it! The BEST part is I got to put all the diapers and wipes together and send it with Theresa to be washed. I didn't have to touch it!! I was worried about the smell, but there wasn't any. Unless I'm just so used to the smell of 3 kids. =) Every Monday morning, I would put my red bag with dirty diapers and wipes on the front porch, then Theresa would pick it up and leave me fresh, clean diapers! Now THAT'S service!

I hear all the time how cute babies are in cloth and now I believe them! This is not the only reason why I feel in love with cloth diapering. Saving on money in the long run is a HUGE plus for me. I changed her diapers far more then when she had a disposable on. I have to admit I would think, "this disposable diaper is barely wet" so I wouldn't change it. With cloth, I didn't feel like I was out money. Or how about when you go to change baby and they pee on the new one. Really? I barely got any use out of that one! I feel like that's all I'm doing is buying diapers! So its great know that with cloth, it just needs to be washed and reused again.

It was great thinking that I wasn't throwing another diaper into a landfill. I was making the earth a little better for my kids. I'm concerned with all the chemicals now days going into our bodies, especially my little ones. I loved knowing that there was no foreign chemicals going into my babies body.

I started afraid to cloth and now I'm working on buying them! It was SO worth trying it out with Happy Bottoms Diaper Service! Theresa offers a great service that you can have part or full time! Just think, you don't have to launder diapers, someone does it for you! You don't have to make midnight runs to the store for more diapers because you used the last one!

I HIGHLY recommend using Happy Bottoms Diaper Service. Theresa is a mom to a little one so she understands a lot and she uses the product herself! She has a pretty wicked sense of humor, which I like! Humor and service!

Theresa donated 2 $50 gift certificates for a giveaway! You can use it towards the service or buy something for the store.

Want to win? Please follow the rules!

1. You must live in Alaska.

2. Visit the "About Us" page and then comment on how you would use the gift certificates

3. Leave an email address so I can get a hold of you, no way of contacting you, your comment will not be counted!. Thanks!

Ill randomly pick 2 winners Monday evening!