MumsTheWurdUnique finds for hip parents and cool kids

We’re very excited to present a new feature at MumsTheWurd. Each week, we will promote a new boutique. Included in the feature will be an interview, in written or podcast form. Products from the boutique’s site will also be showcased as well as giveaways and discounts.

Our very first featured boutique will appear in this section on Sunday, June 1st and will remain for an entire week, until Saturday, June 7th. On Sunday, June 8th, a new boutique will be featured and appear in this section until the following Saturday and so on.

This is going to be really fun for us! We hope you’ll come by often to see who we’re talking about on a daily and weekly basis. If you’d like to be considered for our Boutique of the Week section, please fill out the contact form below or email us at featuredboutique [at] mumsthewurd [dot] com with “Boutique of the Week” in the subject line.

We promise a very fun year ahead with boutique features, giveaways and a lot more goodies to come your way. Thanks for reading us…we heart you!

Cheers,

The site is finally coming together. By next week (at the latest), we’ll have more giveaways and our new site feature, “Boutique of the Week”!

Keep checking in…it won’t be long now. : )

Cheers,

Alright. I love shopping. I could shop for hours upon hours. The only problem is…I’ve seen it all before. What I must tell you is nothing gets me more excited than finding apparel that is super unique and original. Denise, Matilda Jane Clothing’s owner and designer really hit the nail on the head with her funky and fresh sense of style. Her clothing line geared toward little girls and women makes my heart skip a beat!

Owner, Denise DeMarchis says:

“I want Matilda Jane clothing to make a little girl smile from ear to ear. I want her to love what she is wearing and be proud of how she looks. I want Matilda Jane clothing to showcase the sweetness of the child. I try to keep the silhouettes simple for that reason. It’s not about fancy embroidery or over-the-top embellishments. It’s all about the darling girl wearing it.”

Sizes in the children’s line range from six months to 12 years. Now best of all, the women’s line is available in sizes S-XL. The quality and attention to detail of these pieces is so impressive. I took my Matilda Jane Holly Hoodie to NYC with me last month and I’m sure heads were turning. My brick house tank accompanied me to Disney World last month, too. It was perfect in that gorgeous seventy degree weather!

I simply adore the funky and precious children’s line. We have the adorable Vintage Ellie Halter ($34) that you see to the left and I’ve been so anxious to get some shots of Hailey wearing it.

Matilda Jane Clothing is only available through trunk shows, juried art fairs and the Matilda Jane catalog. You can view the entire Spring 2008 line HERE.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind being seen at the pool hanging out with these guys. These are the most fashionable, trendy ducks I have ever laid eyes on and there are more where they came from.

At Designroom, you will find a slew of BUD luxury ducks like Moroccan, Punk and Peace duck pictured above. They are phthalate free and US and CE approved. You’re crazy if you think these are just fun for the kids…surprise someone with a luxury duck for their birthday or give one as a house-warming gift. Luxury ducks are $8.99 a pop.

I’m also digging this sweet swim ring in Daydream by BUD($12). I’ll be rockin’ this baby in the north woods in a few weeks.

I may have to splurge and get the matching BUD beach ball ($12). It would be fun hitting this 36″ inflatable around in the lake!

I could talk and talk about the BUD products by Designroom but I really don’t want to delay you from heading over to their website and browsing around the rest of the cool products there. Check out all of the fab new summertime products while you’re there!

I generally do no print out my digital photos. Reason being, I take A LOT…of digital photos. It’s very hard for me to choose which ones to print when I have five of the same shot. Besides, I took a break from real scrapbooking when I realized all of the cool things you can do with digital photos online or just with programs on your computer.

I broke down and took a disc of pictures to my local Meijer yesterday to take a stab at an photo creation. I’ve been eying up the HP Photo Center kiosks (photo on left) there for some time and never really thought about taking the time to make something.

I can say now that I’m glad I did and I will definitely continue making more. The process was painless and fortunately, there was a store employee there to guide me through, in case I needed help. If you decide to try out this neat way of making photo gifts, here are my recommendations:

• Before you go to the store, organize your pictures. My project consisted of about 100 photos and I could have saved time doing this before-hand. For instance, if you’re going to create a photo book, arrange your photos on your computer at home. Give the pictures filenames that will ensure they stay in a specific order. Choose only the photos you want to include in your photo book.
• Save your photos to a disc or memory card. The HP kiosks accept CDs, multiple size memory cards and USB drives.

Your pictures will be loaded onto the kiosk at the store (they will be deleted after you finish your project). Chose your photo creation. Pick from calendars, photo books, mouse pads, mugs, etc. Some creations are ready within an hour and some take more time. I felt that the prices were really reasonable too. I create a personal calendar for my mom every year with photos that I take. Next year’s calendar will be created at Meijer using the HP Photo Center kiosk.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out this HP Photo Services Demo.

Find a location by clicking HERE. Hopefully there is one near you!

For a limited time, if you buy a 16×20 poster, you get one free! Click HERE for the coupon. I think this promotion ends on May 31st…so there isn’t much time left.

Leave us a comment and let us know if you’ve tried out the HP Photo Center kiosk and what project you created. We’d love to hear about it!

*In case you’re wondering…I’m really digging HP products right now! I’ve had my HP Pavilion dv6707 laptop for about three months and I LOVE it!

So I’m really getting into babywearing these days. I have a 3 month old now that loves to be held. I mean, he would have us holding him constantly if he could have his way. This has prompted me to become more interested in slings and babywearing. I knew that I wanted to “wear” Lennon when I started reading this blog, but I didn’t realize that I would want to try out every different sling known to man. Well, I want a closet full of slings. I don’t need a closet full, but it’s totally addictive. Today I thought, “My sling doesn’t match my outfit at all!” This is funny, because you should see me most days. Picture yoga pants, flip flops, and hair up in a messy bun. Hopefully when you’re seeing me I’ve remembered to take a diaper bag with me, but now you can bet that I WILL have remembered a sling! Now I want my sling to match my concert t-shirt and my Jan Brady plaid pants. It’s getting ridiculous!
On the left, is the Moby Wrap I got today (that’s not me, in case you wondered!). I instantly liked this wrap. It’s super easy to use once it’s on. I know a lot of people are intimidated by the giant piece of fabric, but if I can use it, anyone can. It can be used with infants/toddlers from preemie-35 lbs., and it is extremely versatile. Just look at all the different ways you can carry your child!

I’ve also been using my ModMum pouch quite a bit. Lennon likes to be held facing out, and he is so content in the pouch! I didn’t think I would dig the pouch, but this one is not only pretty to look at, but serves as an awesome perch for little L.

I also still really dig my ring slings from Rockin’ Baby Sling (Strawberry Fields-so appropriate) & Bronwen Handcrafted. Be sure to check out Rockin’ Baby Sling for the funkiest styles. Their fabrics are amazing-right up my retro alley! My light, silk ring sling from Bronwen will be perfect for summer.

I have not had the pleasure of owning one of her slings, but I just think that the owner of nest is rad, and you should buy a sling over at her store too!

To recap: babywearing is great, and I love having the chance to wear Lennon around in all these cool fabrics!

I recently tested some of the EPIC (Environmental Products for Important Causes) product line sold at BuyGreen.com and of course, I was impressed. It’s nice to be able to breathe and not choke after I spray some all-purpose cleaner on my counters and not feel like my skin is suffering because of toxic ingredients when I wash my hands. The EPIC hand soap contains no petroleum solvents, no dyes and no respiratory or skin irritants. Hey, the way I see it, we have to start somewhere and if that means using eco-friendly soap and cleaning products, then have at it my friends!

You should also be aware that 100% of EPIC’s after-tax profit is donated to environmental conservation, education, and research.

What is also lovely about BuyGreen is that they offer a breakdown on the products that they carry. Check out their standards for the EPIC Glass and Mirror Cleaner. I really like it that they offer this extra detailed information.

BuyGreen is all about making friends with mother nature and our beautiful planet.

“Our mission at BuyGreen is to become your most trusted source for green products, offering the widest variety of quality products, the best information for consumers, and the most enjoyable shopping experience.”

You will find more than just cleaning products at BuyGreen. You’re going to find green living items from clothing to office supplies to tech gadget accessories.

*Laura recently reviewed Isabella’s Dream, the I Dream Baby products which are also available from BuyGreen.

If you’re “going green”, then we highly recommend you bookmarking BuyGreen.com and visiting frequently.

I have been anxiously awaiting this. I got it today, took it RIGHT out of the box, cleaned it, and used it. I know, I am nuts. I love it, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

I’ve been using a 2nd generation Zune (launched November of 2007). Little miss pink (pictured above) traveled with me to Disney last month. When it comes to mp3 players, I like both Zune and iPod. They are only slightly different and I have my pros and cons about each player/software but if you’re contemplating purchasing an mp3 player and it comes down to either of the aforementioned, you’re going to get great quality either way you decide to go.

Zune comes in different colors and is available with a 4 gig, 8 gig or 80 gig storage option. I say the more storage, the better! Because if you’re anything like me, you don’t carry a “brag book” with you. Just sync your digital photos to the Zune and there ya have it, a portable photo album of the fam. The player also has an FM tuner, which is cool for local stuff. I really like the video display and quality, much better than the iPod (I’m not talking iPhone or iTouch here). Just recently, Zune updated its Marketplace and added an extensive video section where you can get download-to-own content from favorite tv shows like The Office and 30 Rock, to content partners like NBC, MTV, Comedy Central and so on.

The more I browse around the Zune Marketplace and and software, the more it’s growing on me. As an iPod owner, I’m so used to iTunes, so of course, this takes some getting used to. One nice option that Zune offers is their “Zune Pass“, where you get unlimited music for $14.99/mo. Can’t really beat that. There are also 5,000 podcasts available for download as well. I’ve even gotten “Social” on their website.

Overall, I think the Zune is a great product for the money and I would recommend checking one out.

Hi there! Slacker-moms-r-us here! Ahhh, just kidding. We’ve both been busy with this and that. We’re officially announcing the winners here for our past four contests. Winner’s have been notified via email.

Mia Reading “Bugaboo Bug” software contest: Julie E.

Rare Plumage Purse: Melanie P.

Zutano “Itzy Bitzy” layette set: Andrea S.

Way Out Wax set of Aromatherapy Candles: Heather C.

Congratulations, everyone! More giveaways coming soon and maybe a few other little “surprises”. Keep checking back!

Cheers,

The Mums