I have never been to a cookie exchange party but I’ve always wanted to attend one. I mean, an evening of exchanging yummy recipes and then coming home with about 6 dozen cookies? Sounds like heaven to me!

If you’ve always wanted to host a cookie exchange party but aren’t quite sure how to go about it, then today’s review is for you! The Cookie Party Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Hosting a Cookie Exchange promises to walk you through the event so you’re sure to have a successful party:

Robin Olson has made a 19th century invention a beloved tradition again with THE COOKIE PARTY COOKBOOK. ... Olson has perfected her ideas—through her rich and much-beloved website, the experiences of her guests, friends and her international network of bakers and hosting scores of parties of her own. Her knowledge is packed into this wonderful, informative, bursting-at-the-seams book.

In The Cookie Party Cookbook, you will learn:

• How to throw a cookie exchange, including a helpful timeline and suggestions on invitations, entertainment and refreshments.


• Tips for a perfect cookie swap (hints: don’t invite men or kids, do serve savories, think of at least one silly and fun activity or contest).


• Ideas for festive packaging, expert cookie decorating, baking tips and smart shipping


• Over 170 recipes for no-fail cookies, bars, candies and more (from Peppermint Pinwheels to Eggnog Logs).

Though I didn’t have time to actually throw a cookie party, I did want to try out a class cookie recipe, so we gave the Snickerdoodle recipe a test run. And by “we” I mean my daughter and her friend. I figured if they could whip up a batch of these cookies, the book would be a success! My daughter snapped a few photos while making the Snickerdoodles. Here are the ingredients (not sure why she used coarse kosher salt, but it worked!):

Then the girls mixed, scooped, rolled and baked!

And I can tell you those Snickerdoodles were delicious! I taste-tested them over and over and over again! I loved how the recipes all had icons letting you know the level of difficulty and if it was a great recipe for kids. Lots and lots of step-by-step guidance that both a novice and experienced cookie-party-thrower would find useful. This cookbook has everything! I’m actually getting pretty excited about hosting a cookie exchange, perhaps in the spring!

Here’s a little bit about the author:

Robin Olson, aka “The Cookie Exchange Queen”, started her website, cookie-exchange.com, more than 10 years ago and has built it into the category go-to site, with more than 1.5 million unique visitors each year. She’s been featured in a variety of media, from the cover of Country Woman magazine to the New York Times and the Food Network. She lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

*** Giveaway! We are giving away one (1) copy of The Cookie Party Cookbook! ***

Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•Leave a comment telling us your favorite cookie or cookie recipe.

•Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: February 7, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

In a Special video episode of Boutique Cafe, Daria is giddy to receive the new Project Life scrapbooking system from Becky Higgins! We unbox the kit, and show you all the goodies included in this gorgeous scrapping system. Becky I love you for simplifying my life like this!!

***Giveaway!!

PLUS we have an Amazing GIVEAWAY from Becky Higgins – she is offering a Boutique Cafe viewer a “Project Life” Kit of their choice!! Drawing takes place on Valentine’s Day at midnight (Feb. 14th, 2011).

Here’s how to enter. You may do as many as these as you like. Each counts as one entry into the giveaway. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

– Visit BeckyHiggins.com and comment below telling us why you need Project Life (or what your fave design is) – Tweet about this Review/Giveaway- include @BoutiqueCafe in your tweet (leave a link to your tweet in your comment) – Post this review and giveaway on Facebook (leave a link to you post in your comment) – Follow @BeckyHigginsLLC on Twitter and let her know you saw this video on @BoutiqueCafe – Post a comment to Becky on her Facebook group and tell her that Boutique Cafe sent you!

We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: February 2, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

I was so happy when I came across Leslie Lewis Designs and even happier when I received the opportunity to test a couple pieces. Plus, Leslie is based out of the Colorado area and I love it when I find companies local to me to review!

Leslie sent me her Oro Diamond necklace and her Posh Bracelet. Here’s a quick description of the necklace:

The Oro Diamond necklace is a genuine diamond inlaid in a vermeil disk.  Especially charming is the 14-karat goldfill bead chain.  It is so sweet and delicate yet with a modern twist.  It is an understated yet classic piece that can be worn with a t-shirt and jeans or with your favorite LBD.

This necklace is right up there with my Love Locket. I wear my Oro Diamond necklace all the time. It’s so easy for me to throw on and it makes me feel a billion times more put together when I’m wearing my regular t-shirt and jeans combo. I love it’s subtle beauty. I find it so unassuming and gorgeous all at once. This is one piece that every woman should own. It’s excellent.

The Posh bracelet is made with Swarovski crystal, quartz, freshwater pearl, labradorite, and Bali and Thai silver. It really does have a great weight and drape to it. I love the toggle clasp. Although I found it to be a little on the older side for me, I still think it’s a beautiful piece. I found the bracelet to be a bit on the small side as well, which is fine for me because I have small wrists. If you have larger than average wrists you’ll want to add a bit of length to your bracelet.

Speaking of jewelry age, one thing I love about Leslie Lewis Designs is that the designs satisfy a large age-range and she has many timeless pieces. You really could throw a trunk show and invite everyone you know from your teenage niece to your Grandmother and everyone would find something they adored. It’s not often that I come across a jewelry designer with this specific skill and I find it quite admirable.

Another note about Leslie’s pieces – they are so well crafted. I have no doubt that my Oro Diamond necklace and Posh Bracelet will last for years and years. Her jewelry doesn’t feel homemade, it feels extremely professional and put together. I’m extremely happy with these pieces and I highly recommend purchasing jewelry from this designer. – Katie

***Giveaway Leslie Lewis Designs is offering one $150 gift certificate to one lucky Boutique Cafe Reader!***

Here’s how to enter. You may do as many as these as you like. Each counts as one entry into the giveaway. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

• Visit Leslie Lewis Designs and leave a comment on this post telling me how you’d spend $150


• Tweet about this review and giveaway (leave a link to your tweet in your comment)


• Post this review and giveaway on Facebook (leave a link to you post in your comment)

We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: February 2, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Congratulations Kate! You’re our lucky winner.

With Valentine’s Day approaching and so much {LOVE} in the air, we wanted to share our love for you by offering a cool FREE Valentine downloadable. Thankfully my dear friend Maggie from Boutique Graphics/Bliss Photography was totally game, and she has created some GORGEOUS valentine card templates that you can customize in photoshop with your sweet children’s faces. Imagine the fun of sharing these beautiful customized cards with their classmates this year! Please take a moment to comment and thank Maggie for her generosity in creating these cards and offering them for FREE for our Boutique Cafe readers – we sure love her!

If you have questions on how to use these files, there is information in the zip package once you download. You can also ask a question in our comments section and we’ll help you out. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! – XOXO Daria

Free Downloads:

Click to download the PINK version

Click to download the BLUE version

Our family is made up of book lovers, each and every one. (I’m counting my husband who prefers listening to reading…) We have shelves lined crammed with books, so when I was approached about a review of the new children’s chapter book The Familiars, I was all over it.

Authors Adam Epstein and Andrew Jacobsen took their shared love of animals and magic and turned it into Vastia, an imaginative, fantastical, creative world full of magic. Here is a bit about the book from the website:

Running to save his life, Aldwyn, the street-wise orphan cat, ducks into a strange store. Moments later Jack, a young wizard-in-training, comes in to pick out his familiar—a magical animal companion. Aldwyn’s always been clever. But magical? Apparently Jack thinks so—and Aldwyn is happy to play along. Anything to get out of town!Once home with Jack in Stone Runlet, Aldwyn thinks that he’s got it made—a life of ease with a boy who loves him. He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he’s the telekinetic cat he claims to be.

Then, after the sky lights up with an omen, the unthinkable happens. Jack and the other young wizards are captured by the evil queen of Vastia. Together Aldwyn, Skylar and Gilbert must save them—but how? On their thrilling quest across the land, the familiars will face dangerous foes, unearth a shocking centuries old secret, and discover a mysterious destiny that will change them all forever.

I handed The Familiars to Lauren (age 10) knowing she’d totally get into a book filled with animals and magic—and she totally did! She whizzed through that book in record time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here’s what she had to say about The Familiars:

It was an awesome book because the words were pretty big and because they only had pictures when you really needed it to picture it in your head. And there’s much action and I couldn’t put it down. I love how it’s about magic and animals, my two favorite things. And when I was almost done with The Familiars, the teacher said, “Okay class, we’re going to have to do a book on the Newberry Award.” And I raised my hand and asked if we could already be reading a book. I thought it could be a Newberry book because of how good it was!

Apparently The Familiars is going to be made into a major motion picture soon, so you better grab a copy and familiarize yourself with the story. You’ll want to be first in line (and totally in-the-know) once the movie opens! In the meantime you can get acquainted with The Familiars blog and read more about the authors. As for where to buy the book, click here.—Emily

** Giveaway! The authors are giving away one (1) copy of The Familiars! **

Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway; please leave a separate comment for each one you do:

•Leave a comment telling us who will read this book if you win.
•Join The Familiars group on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you did.
on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.
•Follow The Familiars on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
•Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: August 28, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Hey all you Moms and Teachers, check out this out! You could win a siliskin glass for each of your students. Go to Silikid’s facebook page to find out more. – Katie

www.silikids.com

A few of our readers have been asking for an update on how my little Lola is doing. I’m happy to share that our darling girl is now 13 months old and the joy of our lives. We’re crazy for her, the boys are all so proud of each little thing she does. Thank you all for caring so much about my family, I will try to share more pics and fun stories since so many of you have been asking me to do just that!! I hope you enjoy the pictures, she is growing up so fast. – Daria

Lola’s photos were taken by: Lizzy Anne Photography

My most recent and amazing Etsy find has been One Life Jewelry. I swooned over their pieces of jewelry before contacting them and I was so happy when Arlyne, the owner, wanted to do a review on Boutique Cafe. She sent me her “Your Irreplaceable Spark” necklace and I’ve loved wearing it. It’s a little 3/8” 14k gold filled disc that’s been hammered and polished. It hangs from a dainty chain and is so subtle, yet so beautiful. Arlyne has so many other gorgeous pieces; one of my other favourites is her Sweet Leaf and Iolite necklace. I love the personalization of this piece; it’s subtle and delicate and most importantly, not tacky. I’ve found that sometimes personalized jewelry can land on the other end of darling, but One Life Jewelry is the master of perfect personalization!

Here’s a little of what Arlyne has to say about herself and One Life Jewelry:

“I was a clothing designer for many years in New York City. I thought I left designing behind me when we moved to Florida to raise our family, but now with all my time at the beach, under the stars, at parks with my two kids, I have found inspiration and passion again. Or perhaps it’s found me….

I enjoy making jewelry that will uplift and inspire. It’s like wearing small reminders of things we appreciate and make us happy.

One vision, one goal, one child, one man, one woman, one choice, one heart, one day, one moment, One Life…

One Life Jewelry.”

You just have to visit One Life Jewelry today! You’ll be “favoriting” so many items and coming up with lots of ideas for what your Valentines should give you next month! Make sure you check out the awesome giveaway below that One Life Jewelry is giving to Boutique Cafe readers! – Katie

****Giveaway**** One Life Jewelry is giving away a newly designed necklace, not even available in the shop yet! This is a Boutique Cafe exclusive! The necklace is called “Strength, Courage, Wisdom.” It’s three small 14k gold filled disks that are hand stamped in scripts and hung on a 16” chain comprised of 18k gold vermeil and genuine moonstones. The piece will retail for $100. See photos below.

Here’s how to enter: Leave a comment telling me what other piece of jewelry you like from One Life Jewelry. It’s that easy!

We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: January 28, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Congratulations Mal! You’re the lucky winner.

Check out these adorable wooden Tinkerspools from My.Friend.Amy on Etsy. I instantly knew I was destined to own one of these sweet spools for my sewing room, and when I approached Amy the artist who creates them she was most excited to share with our creative Boutique Cafe audience.

Here’s why I’m totally crushing on these Tinkerspools:

DESCRIPTION & FEATURES…
• removable head functions as a cap.
• assembled by hand and is her own unique design.
• handpainted with two to three coats of non-toxic paint and varnish for added protection.
• add trim around the spool such as bakers twine and ribbon!
• insert your favorite needles, beads and all things small.
• approximately 3” inches tall.
• handcrafted in the USA.
• handmade craftsmanship ensures each doll is unique.

These sweet spools hold your needles inside as a keeper, they also are perfect to hold your baker’s twine which is so hot right now. I would love to have a whole collection of My.Friend.Amy dolls with pretty threads on each one. One of the great things is how unique each Tinkerspool doll is, not only does Amy create cute designs but you can purchase blank DIY Tinkerspools and customize them yourself! These would make the perfect gift for the sewing fanatic in your life, they bring me a smile every time I look at mine. – Daria

**GIVEAWAY:
My.Friend.Amy is offering one of our lucky Boutique Cafe readers a Tinkerspool of your very own! Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•Leave a comment sharing with us your favorite Tinkerspool from the My.Friend.Amy shop
•Tweet about our giveaway and promotion on Twitter and include @BoutiqueCafe in your tweet so we can see it
•Comment and tell us how you would decorate and design your own DIY Tinkerspool

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: January 28, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

PROMOTION:
Additionally they are offering an amazing promotion for our readers – the first 25 customers who make a purchase in the My.Friend.Amy etsy shop may use Promo Code “dailydish” for 25 yards of green bakers twine on a wooden clothespin!! This is a limited time offer good until January 28th, 2011.

You’ve seen plain and salted pretzels, and I’m sure you’ve even seen fancier ones like cinnamon sugar and Asiago cheese, but what about ooey gooey filled pretzels? Or ooey gooey filled pretzels made with all-natural, premium ingredients that are microwavable, a good source of whole grains, twisted by hand, made by scratch without preservatives, trans fats or hydrogenated oils? I was able to try these gourmet pretzels of which I speak, also known as Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels.

First a little bit more about these pretzels:

Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels offer an assortment of amazing pretzels, using all-natural and premium ingredients, like freshly shredded cheeses, hearty spices, unbleached flour, and whole grains. Our pretzel creations are then flash frozen, in order to deliver a superior quality and amazingly fresh delicious flavor.

My family received four flavors from Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels: Pizza Pretzel, Grilled Cheese, Cheddar Jalapeno and Spinach Feta Pretzel.They came packed in dry ice and were still nice and cold when they arrived.

The first time we baked them, we were in a rush heading out the door for a long drive south to St. George. The baking directions claimed 5-7 minutes, but they were still extremely cold in the center, so we baked them another 5 minutes. And even then they weren’t super hot, making them not gooey. We are them because we were rushing and hungry and late, but the kids weren’t fans. Nathan and I were okay with the Cheddar Jalapeno and Pizza Pretzel but didn’t sample the others. (Wish I had photos but we were in way too much of a hurry.)

Two nights ago we baked them again. I wanted to give those pretzels another shot in case our first review was a random one due to the circumstances. This time I baked them for at least 10 minutes before taking them out because they started to look too toasted. The centers were again cold—definitely NOT ooey gooey like in the photos, so I microwaved each one for another 10 seconds before serving. That definitely helped, but the consistency of the Grilled Cheese and Cheddar Jalapeno was still far from gooey and cheesy. Only one of the four kids liked their pretzel (the Pizza Pretzel), although I became a fan of the Spinach Feta Pretzel that evening. I really did find that one delicious, even if I couldn’t taste much of the feta. Nathan thought they were all pretty good. I would say the Grilled Cheese was probably the least favorite, while the kick in the Cheddar Jalapeno was tasty. (Again, wish I had photos but dinnertime was far too crazy.)

After taste-testing the samples, I won’t be ordering any of those flavors, but I am still tempted to try Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzels classic pretzel flavors like Traditional Bavarian, Whole Grain Bavarian and Sourdough Asiago. Though we didn’t like the fillings per se, I did love the flavor and texture and lightness of the dough…and I do love a good pretzel, so I’d be more than willing to give their non-filled versions a shot.They look tasty, don’t they?

And who’s to say a filled Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Pretzel freshly made and hot out of the oven wouldn’t be totally delicious and decadent? Unfortunately Utah doesn’t yet have a Café Twist!—Emily

Who doesn’t love stationary and paper goods? I know I sure do! Cards, etc are right up my alley and they’re even better when they’re letterpressed. Enter inkello. Cutest letterpress business name ever right? Well, they’re products are just as darling as their name.

I was sent a few of their items including the matchbook calendar, the gingham notepad and a couple sets of greeting card assortments. It was definitely one of my best mail days!

The matchbook calendar is just the right size to throw in your purse and help you keep track of the days. I love the style of it and the color (tomato red) is so rich. The notepad is a perfectly update notepad. Whenever I think notepad, I think of something rather awkwardly shaped and butterflies and pastel flower beds always come to mind. The gingham notepad definitely changed my mind. It’s size (3” x 4.75”) fits comfortably in the hand and it’s updated style makes me feel like jotting done a grocery list is chic. And the paper has a beautiful weight. This is no flimsy notepad, nor is it your Granny’s notepad! Onto the greeting cards. Inkello does an excellent job of exploring vibrant colors and mixing them. As well as sticking to more familiar color combinations and improving them. I loved the boldness that some cards expressed and the sweetness that others showed. Each sampler comes beautifully packaged in velum and a ribbon. I love these cards. It’ll be hard to part with them! If this is your first time visiting inkello, please take your time perusing their products. You won’t be disappointed! And I think you may find your shopping cart filling up rather quickly! – Katie

You remember when I reviewed Clarechen’s Hi Height crib sheet? I also was sent a couple baby speaks bib to review. These bibs are such a clever idea! Holly has been called a boy, even when wearing full-on pink. I’m sure a baby speaks bib would be the perfect solution to preventing the awkward, “actually, she’s a girl,” conversation. We’ve all been there and I think I can safely say we’ve all also been on both sides of that conversation!

The bibs are cute and great, basic colours. Pink for girls, blue for boys, and yellow with 3 blank conversation bubbles so you can fill in what you want! They’re a soft knit cotton that is fairly absorbent. These bibs make great baby shower gifts. Check ‘em out here to purchase. – Katie

Got a great Biz but no funds?? Tell me why you need FREE Ad Space on BoutiqueCafe We’re drawing a winner tonight at 10pm!! Good Luck!

Entries are coming in:

Here on our Twitter Account – just tweet to @BoutiqueCafe
and on our Facebook Group – Just post and let us know why you need a free ad for your business

AND This Contest is Now CLOSED -

The FREE AD Frenzy is complete and we have our winner…well WINNERS! I loved all of your comments on Facebook and Twitter so much, I understand the pangs with owning your own small business so I’m giving free ad spots to THREE winners instead of one. I’ve randomly drawn the winners and they are as follows: Artsy Fartsy Scraproom (AKA @Hotmamabree on Twitter), LuLuBelle’s Couture, and MyLilDarlings Boutique! Congratulations

Obviously there is great need for affordable advertising and getting your name out there in as many places as possible. I am currently working on an idea for Boutique Cafe which I hope will be a real help to all of you. I’ll be posting about it shortly when I’ve worked out the details. Hang in there friends – someone cares…ME!! Daria

Welcome my friends to the wonderful and imaginative world of felt play food! Royal Rugrats had my daughter Lola and I baking up some serious fun with their beautiful felt kitchen utensils set. Lola is only 1 year old so she’s new to the baking scene, however that didn’t stop my little darling from diving in and exploring what each spatula and measuring spoon was like. She LOVED these and so do I!!

Royal Rugrats is a fantastically well stocked shop on Etsy featuring handmade felt play sets including things like vegetables, peanut butter sandwiches, strawberries, bacon and eggs, cookies, spaghetti and even sushi!! Lola received the precious kitchen utensils and some little sugar cookies designed for little fingers and big imaginations in mind. I fell immediately in love with the quality and beauty of each piece in her set, they are sewn with great care and I expect they will last Lola for many years of fun. I also loved the sizing of each piece in Lola’s set, they were perfect for her and I know any little child would be thrilled to have a play set of their own. It’s just the type of thing I would have squealed about when I was a kid.

Brooke is the owner and designer behind the Royal Rugrats products, she has a fashion design degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and a merchandising degree from Oneonta State University. Brooke began her business creating these soft play foods and sets because she didn’t like the hard plastic kinds available in stores. Then she discovered the beauty of working with felt to create her designs and became hooked, she now runs Royal Rugrats Yummies full time and the response to her store has been incredible.

We’d like to invite you to bake up some Felt Fun of your very own. This type of play is so wonderful for children, it broadens their minds and helps their imaginations to dance with creativity. Lola and I will be play baking again today, why don’t you stop by Royal Rugrats and join us. – XO Daria

GIVEAWAY:
We think these soft felt foods are the cutest thing going, but you don’t have to take my word for it! Royal Rugrats is giving away 1 Kitchen Utensil set (value $22) to a viewer in Canada or the US. Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•Leave a comment sharing with us your favorite felt set of play food from Royal Rugrats shops
•Follow @royalrugrats on Twitter and Tweet about our giveaway and promotion
•Like Royal Rugrats on Facebook, and post to let them know Boutique Cafe sent you there

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: January 23, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

PROMOTION:
Additionally they are offering a SWEET AS CAN BE Promotion for our readers – For a shop promo on either her Website or ETSY shop they will give the 3 Valentines cookies to anyone who makes a purchase!! Simply purchase your order and put “Boutique Cafe Cookies” in the message area on either site and they will be added to the order for FREE! This is a limited time offer good until February 10th, 2011.

Plum Organics. I’m a fan. I’ve reviewed a few of their organic baby and toddler foods for Boutique Cafe’s Daily Dish and I don’t recall having anything negative to say. Organic, delicious, easy—what’s not to like?

Today I bring you the latest in their lineup of healthy, organic baby food products: Super Puffs. Here’s why Plum Organics calls these little snacks “super”:

• Made from real fruits & veggies


• Whole grains


• USDA certified organic


• Delightful flavors


• Lightweight packaging (and it fits in cup holder)


• BPA-free, recyclable container

Super Puffs come in five bright colors and flavors: blueberry & purple sweet potato; spinach & apple; banana & peach; strawberry & beet; mango & sweet potato.

We busted open the strawberry & beet flavor at home and Livi dove right in:

She enjoyed munching on those for a bit and also liked the banana & peach, but since those first couple days, they’ve remained untouched in the pantry. I’m thinking it’s because she’s no longer a baby and prefers string cheese, tortilla chips and vanilla yogurt to Super Puffs. Due to the fact she’s not the target market for Super Puffs, I gave a few containers to a friend’s daughter who had a 7-month-old baby girl. Here’s her take on Plum Organics Super Puffs:

Taste Tester Info:
Morgan Kate was 7 mo. old when she tried them and had no teeth. She was strictly on breast milk and small amounts of rice cereal and first foods vegetables baby food. She had only recently tried a rice type cookie wafer. She sat up easily and was beginning to get up on all fours and go from sitting to crawling position but wasn’t actually crawling.Like:
Great packaging
Love that it’s organic and low in sugar.
Appealing taste
Didn’t crumble
Some vitamins
Didn’t make a mess all over her face and bib
Nice coloring but didn’t seem to stain anything
Didn’t seem to pose any kind of choking risk (she would not have given her Cheerios or rice puffs cereal; she felt better that these were designed for babies)

Not Sure:
She was more interested in playing with them than eating them.
The ones she put in her mouth she kind of rolled around at the tip of her tongue and they often fell out of her mouth.
She seemed to want to put them in her mouth only because they were there, not because she was hungry or liked the taste.

Didn’t Like:
Quite bland—not worse than any other product in this category but not sure if an older child would eat them
Didn’t contain any fiber or huge nutritional value so wasn’t sure they would supplement baby food.

Would she buy them?
Possibly when Morgan Kate was a month older. It would also depend on cost because so far she just pushed most of them on the floor.

So there you have it! Overall I think Super Puffs is one of the best choices in snack finger foods for babies. They are organic, healthy and packed with vitamins, plus they’re portable, lightweight and easier to clean up than Arrowroot cookies!—Emily

Henderson, NV (January 2011) — pediped^®, one of the leading children’s footwear brands, has always had the mission of giving back to children in need.  pediped® will take this goal to a new level this new year with the launch of the pediped foundation™.   The mission of the pediped foundation™ is to enhance the lives of children and provide financial support to charities and organizations that are aligned with that goal. The pediped foundation™ works with charities that are dedicated to the health, education, basic necessities and the personal fulfillment of children around the world.

pediped^® footwear will host a fundraiser starting January 5 through February 6 to benefit the pediped foundation™.  During the Purchases with Purpose fundraiser, select styles available on pediped.com will be marked down as much as 50 percent and half of the sales from the promotion will be donated to the pediped foundation™.  The funds will be used to provide monetary support to organizations including Make-A-Wish Foundation and other worthy children’s charities.  For more information on the pediped foundation™, visit www.pedipedfoundation.org.

Happy New Year! Did you get everything you wanted for the holidays? If you didn’t get something from the Vintage Pearl, then you must read on and add your favourite item to your Valentines wish list.

I was sent the Mama Bird Necklace to review with 2 pearls which signify my first daughter and my upcoming second. I chose to not have anything stamped on it as I liked the simplicity of the copper bird. The necklace is really sweet and an excellent and subtle way to celebrate the “Mama” in your life. It’s a great necklace for every day wearing and it even arrived with it’s very own polish cloth, which conveniently helps me to keep it in tip-top shape.

The Vintage Pearl was begun by a stay-at-home Mom, Erin, looking for a creative outlet. And it grew into a popular business. The Vintage Pearl even has a storefront with a studio in Tulsa, OK! Exciting, right? You can check out Erin’s blog here.

Many other items can be found from the Vintage Pearl, and since each item is hand stamped, you can guarantee that your’s will be unique and made especially for you. Some of my other favourite items are the initial on a chain necklace and the silver cuff bracelet. I would love a little baby spoon as a keepsake for my second daughter. The spoons come hand stamped with your choice of words. Darling! -Katie

***Promotion! The Vintage Pearl is offering Boutique Cafe readers 15% off from now until the end of February. Just use the promo code CAFE15. Whatcha gonna get?!

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