Mama Says

Which cook are you? A new cook, a tired cook, or a cook that just wants a new idea?  The Mama Says “No more Frozen Pizza” recipe collection has tasty alternatives to take out.

Created by two Atlanta moms, Lynn Epstein and Iris Feinberg, the collection of two dozen budget friendly and easy to make dishes came right out of their own kitchens.  “It’s personal recipes from two families,” Epstein said.

Creators of Mama Says

Featuring main course recipes along with sides and salads, the laminated recipe cards come cleverly disguised in what else?  A pizza box! The picture of a completed dish on one side and the detailed instructions on the other are surefire roadmaps to a successful meal.

Recipe card with picture

Lynn says her son was always calling home asking, “what to cook and how to cook it”.  “The traditional recipe books I sent him were to complicated,” she says.  “He wanted easy to follow directions and needed to see what the dish was supposed to look like too.”

The Mama Says recipe collection evolved.  “We saw a need for a new kind of cookbook for a whole generation of recent college grads or students,” Lynn said.

The recipes are designed to encourage healthy eating and cooking.  For the beginner cook, stocking up on basic staples will get them through a lot of the dishes as the same ingredients are intentionally used.

“Sure it’s easy to order a pizza”, Lynn says, “but what’s better than recipes, tried and true that  come right out of our own kitchens?”

This is one box that really delivers and it makes a perfect gift for the new cook.  Available online at www.MamaSays.com and at a handful of retail stores, the collection is less than $20.

That’s a small tab for a great dinner!  Next time you want to reach for the pizza box, reach for the one that has recipes and not calories!

KathyDowDiscovers has a free giveaway of the Mama Says recipes.  Subscribe to Kathy’s List for a chance to win.

This will be one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moment for a lot of us.

Mommy Jana Brinkhaus and her husband Chris of Massachusetts  created their new spin on a baby bib in 2007 and named it the “myBibzy”  with the intention of offering protection from wetness without the inconvenience of a bib.

What it is, is simply a baby bodysuit with a built in bib!

myBibzy

Baby bibs come with baby clothes at baby showers  like it’s a given that one goes with the other and if you’ve done loads of laundry of tiny clothes with wet or stained necklines then you too get the picture of “myBibzy.”

MyBibzy  is made from 100% cotton and the bib consists of two types of materials.  The outer layer is a cotton knit terry that catches the drools and prevents the wetness from sliding down the front of baby or saturating baby’s top.  Then there’s the waterproof inner layer, which is 25% polyester, 75% vinyl and this keeps baby dry.

Teething babies drool, bottles sometimes leak and there’s the occasional spit up:  “myBibzy” to the rescue!  The terrycloth front dries and the wetness is caught in the inner layer, keeping baby dry.  Sweet!

The myBibzy is made in the USA and is 100% child safe, meeting all material safety standards for use in children’s apparel.  It has both neck and bottom snaps, and a tagless label in the back of the neck for added baby comfort.

Neck and bottom snaps

There are lots of different color options including the standard blue or pink, short or long sleeve, that make this the perfect baby shower gift.  There’s even an organic baby mybibzy!

While the whole idea of a built in bib is just a novel idea (and again, too bad we didn’t think of it) what makes this an even better creation is a personal story that goes along with it.

Jana shared with me that her beautiful baby girl was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes and in an effort to help all children and adults with this disease, the Brinkhaus’ are donating 25% of their profits from the sale of myBibzy to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in hopes of finding a cure.

That story right there – makes one of these right here  – something that should be on your list next time you shop for baby.

myBibzy

You can purchase the myBibzy on the website at www.mybibzy.com or contact them at info@myBibzy.com for further information.

Put one on your gift list or buy one for your own baby and slow the flow of your laundry!

We bundle our baby, add a blanket and a wind shield to the stroller and tuck them inside to protect them from the elements of winter before heading out, right?

But what about Mommy?  What happens if she forgets her gloves?  She still has to push the stroller.  It’s even worse, if she had gloves with her but lost them during all the baby shuffling while shopping.

What to do, what to do?  Here’s the answer:  The Mommy Mitten!

It was during a chilly October walk in 2007 that a young entrepreneur mom, Amy Saperstein of New York City,   had a novel idea.  While it was early fall, it was chilly enough for Amy’s hands to get a little cold.  That’s when she got the idea for the  Mommy Mitten!

Amy and the Mommy Mitten

This easy to use, dandy little add on to your stroller,  is fleece lined and will keep your hands toasty while pushing the stroller. The Mommy Mitten is insulated, water resistant and machine washable. It velcros right on to the stroller handle and comes in either blue or pink.

Easily connects to stroller handle

I met Amy when she debuted her Mommy Mitten in New York at The Baby Show last year.  Below her girlfriend Kelly gives me a demonstration showing how chic all mommies can look using the Mommy Mitten.  A really cute idea isn’t it?  And no more cold hands!  That’s what I love about Amy’s invention.

Mommy Mitten Demonstration

There’s an external pocket for your keys, cell phone or pacifier which makes a quick run to the bodega or out for coffee much easier and this time you don’t have to worry about gloves!

A contestant in the “Most Innovative” category of the 2009 Home Based 100 contest by Start Up Nations, The Mommy Mitten is now available on Babies R Us Online.

If there are babies in your life, there’s still plenty of winter to get good use out of a Mommy Mitten.  Buy one for yourself or do another mommy a favor!  Mommy Mittens retail for $29.99.

You can visit Amy’s website, www.mommymitten.com for more information or to place an online order.

The Mommy Mitten, why didn’t I think of that?  Congratulations Amy, first time entrepreneur and you hit a home run with this idea.

There’s a new game in town that allows you to share your “kindness” and watch it multiply into the world  by using a 26 card deck of Boom Boom! cards.

Feeling generous, kind, or very humanitarian?  Perhaps that’s what the creators of Boom Boom! cards were thinking when they launched their universal “kit for a social revolution”  that enables card holders to do a good deed and pass on some good karma at the same time.

“We’re trying to incite a global revolution of kindness powered by Boom Boom! cards,” says Mary Beth Campbell, one of the Co- founders.

Mary Beth Campbell, Co-Founder Boom Boom!

The cards have individual acts of kindness written on them such as “Give five genuine compliments in one day”, or “If someone in line in front of you is short a few cents, reach in your pocket and help them out” and even a “Wildcard” where you can execute an act of kindness of your choice .

“Like a boomerang, we believe whatever thoughts, actions or words you put out into the world eventually finds their way back to you,” she said.

The cards  make a great gift  for yourself or someone you think really wants to see more good deeds and kindness in our every day lives.  Boom Boom! Cards are meant to generate social change  and transform the world one purposeful act of kindness at a time.

Here’s how you play Boom Boom!

Kit: Cards, card sack, pad, pencil

First,  register your deck of cards on the website at www.boomboomcards.com so that a card can be tracked as it moves from person to person or state to state.

Then choose a card and do the act as suggested (buy a stranger a cup of coffee for example); after that leave a Boom Boom! sticky note for the person you Boom Boom’d, either signing your name or leaving it anonymously;next,  log onto the website to share your adventure and finally pass the card on to someone else so that the act can be repeated.

By logging your experiences with the Boom Boom! cards online you are sharing with others your purposeful act of kindness.   The hope is to see your acts of kindness replicate themselves across the globe. This is a new take on “Reach out and touch!”

There are three editions  of cards; the Original Edition, Teen Edition and Sustainability Edition.  It’s a revolution!  Be a part of the Boom Boom! society.  Remember, you get back what you give!

A format for donating to charitable causes through the use of the cards is being planned,  Mary Beth told me when I met her at a media event and she along with co-founder, Helene Scott, were excited about the great feedback after the cards were featured in the Emmy Awards Gift Lounge.

Got kindness?  Get Boom Boom! Cards and share the innate altruism that lives in all of us.  www.boomboomrevolution.com

Along comes a new idea called  Paci Plushies, a line of lightweight plush animals which not only solve the “where’s the pacifier” question but helps baby develop motor skills.

The toy, invented by Stacy Dallman, wife of NHL Defensiveman Kevin Dallman of the LA Kings, was created to solve the disappearing pacifier phenomenon.

Mompreneur Stacy Dallman

Stacy and her husband grew weary of the nightly trips to the crib to find baby Ava’s pacifier and so Stacy got the “bright idea” to attach a toy to it so it would be easier to locate.  Presto!  It worked.  When her son came along she waited until the doctor gave her the OK to let him sleep with it and he also slept straight through the night with his Paci Plushie.

Call it the binky, the nuk nuk or whatever, one thing for sure is that most babies spend a good amount of time sucking a pacifier and most moms and dads spend an equal amount of time looking for the pacifier to keep baby happy.

You can buy the Paci Plushies in girl, boy or neutral gift sets or singly for $13.95 on the web site at www.PaciPlushies.com.  If a new baby is on the way this makes a perfect gift.

While the pacifiers with the button handle work best,  the Paci Plushie attaches to nearly all name brand infant pacifiers with its “hug ring” and best of all, Paci Plushies are machine washable.

When baby outgrows the newborn or infant pacifier, simply detach it from the Paci Plushie and replace with the appropriate size.  When you break the pacifier habit, the baby still has the Plushie as his favorite toy.

Safety was a major concern for Stacy and all Paci Plushies meet or exceed required standards.  The beans inside the body of the toy are contained within a safety bag.  Each Plushie has a reusable cap to keep the nipple clean.

There are eight different Plushies including Milo the Monkey, P-Nut the Puppy and Lovie the Lamb.  In a philanthropic effort to “give back”,  100% of the wholesale proceeds from the sale of Lovie the Lamb are being donated to a foundation that helps ensure children have a carefree childhood.

Knowing how babies and some toddlers are so attached to their pacifiers, losing one is almost not an option for a parent who needs to soothe a fussy baby.  With the Paci Plushie it won’t be hard to find.  Think about easing into baby’s room once he’s asleep to remove the pacifier from his mouth or the frantic search in the dark when baby wakes up without it.  Much easier when you have the Paci Plushie!

When toddlers can find the pacifier themselves because they can locate their favorite Plushie, it relieves mom and dad from the daily “where’s the pacifier now” routine.

Nookums, the New York based company that features trendy products for the childrens market  launched its Spring 2009 line of Paci Plushies pacificer holders but Stacy says a plush “hockey stick”  version could show up soon.

The PaciPlushie was featured in the September 2008 issue of Parenting Magazine and was the winner of the Mom’s Best Award for 2009.

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Mabel's Labels

School just started and the kids are leaving home with lunch bags, book bags, water bottles, gym clothes and other supplies.   Now is the time to use Mabel’s Labels to make sure that everything that goes to school, comes home from school.

In addition to the older kids and all their school gear, Mabel’s Labels are perfect for the toddler who goes to daycare or preschool. You can label the bottles, toys, shoes and  clothes with the super durable, indestructible labels and not have to worry about missing stuff  according to Tricia Mumby, one of the mom owners of the Canadian based company.

Labels, labels, labels

Mumby, whom I met in New York City at a new product event, says they worked on the labels for over two years before they launched the company making sure that the labels could withstand microwaves, dishwashers and  the laundry.

Not only are the iron on clothing labels perfect for school uniforms or gym clothes, but they also have sticky labels for shoes which are meant to fit on the insole and help a preschooler identify his shoes;  Bag Tags are metal tags used for labeling diaper bags, school bags or luggage and the Teeny Tags which are smaller copies of the bag tags can be used on a backpack or lunch bag.

Bag Tags

The labels I liked best and put to use myself are the Skinny Mini’s!
If you have cameras, tape recorders, a cell phone or anything else that could get lost in the shuffle, having a skinny mini is the assurance you need. Hey, even adults need to label sometimes!

Labels on camera, microphone

Kathy Dow mini's

All labels can be personalized with names up to 20 characters and in your choice of colors. For the kids a favorite sports icon or one of the other icons help make identifying their belongings easier.

The company also has what they’ve labeled a “Neat Freak Combo”  that include the Crafter Pack, Cord Control and Curbside labels. You can organize your entire household with this pack.

There’s only a few days left for the September Back to School Combo pack which includes tag mates, 40 skinny minis, 16 shoe labels and two teeny tags for only $39. Check out their website at www.Mabel.ca and place an order that will help you and your kids keep your things coming back home.

Imagine a scene of school kids grabbing at a pile of backpacks, book bags, shoes, water bottles….now imagine Mabel’s Labels.  It can make things a lot easier can’t it?

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Snap Cap Necklace

This jewelry phenomenon is best described by tweeners who are Maddie’s target audience so I enlisted my granddaughters, Jordyn and Madison, to give you their spin on M3GirlDesigns and Snap Caps.  (see video)

As described in the video, Maddie came up with the idea when starting the 6th grade and looking for a way to decorate her locker.   She was 11 years old when she started the company and is the Founder, President and head designer of Snap Caps, while her younger sister, Margot is her Vice President and an assistant designer.   Her mom,   the third “M” in the company name,  is CEO.

M3Girl Designs Pres. & VP

M3GirlDesigns has been featured on television news programs and in magazines including Time for Kids and  TV’s Inside Edition, and is growing at rapid speed.  “We have 25 employees now and have sold well over half a million Snap Caps since we started the business”, Maddie reported.

During her interview with KathyDowDiscovers, I asked Maddie how her friends treat her now that she’s a successful entrepreneur.    “My friends are all very happy for me,” she said.  Asked if being a busy entrepreneur  interferes with being a regular teenager and hanging out with friends, she said, ” We still hang out.  We like to go to the mall, see movies and have sleep overs, just like any other 13 year old girl.”

The Bradshaw girls recently attended the celebrity gift suite at the Teen Choice Awards where they got to meet some of their favorite stars.  (see media pictures on their web site at www.M3GirlDesigns.com).

Their newest collaboration is with the Make A Wish Foundation and they have designed a special Snap Cap collection for that project.  Some proceeds from the sale of that cap will help to grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions.

There are nearly 50 different cap collections including special collections for Easter and Valentine’s Day.  There are different color cords and all Snap Caps are interchangeable and sharable with friends too.  At $7 per cap it makes collecting them an affordable hobby.  The necklace cord also sells for $7.

Tween girls are going crazy over the jewelry line, “They seem to love our products, we’re always coming out with new designs and we will be in several international markets in the coming months”, the girls reported.  Although this is a “girls rock” company,  guys aren’t left out.  There are designs that appeal to boys and they can wear the snap caps on their wrists.

With the the rocketing popularity and sales, there are imitators selling a similar product.  Asked what she thought about that, the bright entrepreneur said, “Imitation is the greatest honor, so I am flattered.  However, it is also frustrating that people copied my idea, I think of it like cheating on a test.” (Well said, Maddie!)

Now leader among “trends for the tween set”, Snap Caps are sold in over 1,000 stores and Maddie says President Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia have Snap Caps too. 

Asked what she’ll do when she grows up, Maddie’s future plans include becoming either an immigration lawyer, a patent attorney or a publicist.  For now, she’s concentrating on Snap Caps, “I’m always coming up with something new” she says.

This Tween Entrepreneurial story is one readers should share with their own young people.  It’s a success story for kidpreneurs everywhere.  “Follow your dreams, and make sure that whatever you’re doing, you’re having fun,”  Maddie says.

This is an excellent holiday gift and with the shopping season right around the corner, shop early so you can get the design you want.  Visit the web site at www.m3girldesigns.com.

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Looking for a clever place to help your school age kid keep a few important things?

KEEPERS

Keepers, a hands free neck wallet is the perfect place for a few dollars, a lunch meal ticket, keys  or ID.

With our kids back to school soon here comes another great product made by a Mompreneur out of Atlanta, Georgia.   Tamara Jones, President of Keepers Bagatelles was problem solving when she invented the Keeper.  The Keeper is  a product of ME TOO! BRANDS, LLC.

Imagine this senario:  Lunchtime at school and the change purse comes out. Through the line and pay for lunch.  Sit down and eat,  finish and take the tray to the garbage.  Dump.

Oops,  everything on the tray slides into the garbage.  The change purse is gone in a blink.   Sound familiar?

Ahhh, if only you had one of those “Keepers.”

Developed by a mom who got tired of replacing the change purses that ultimately went the way of the lunch trash, Keepers Bagatelles is a unique  product that is finding its way around the necks of more and more school age kids this fall.

Product N Press Media Event

The Keeper holds essentials for school kids and also for college students, teachers and sports fans who are finding the hands free convenience a reason to wear the stylish Keeper.  The Keeper can be used as a badge holder for those who carry ID cards that need to be swiped and with the rear ID window Mom’s can tuck away emergency info for a “just in case” moment.

Tamara says more new products are on the way and include  a phone keeper, an aqua keeper and a passport keeper.

Sometimes ladies, keep what you need in a Keeper and leave the handbag behind. There are designs for guys too.

Not just another good idea,  the Keepers are made from sustainable fabrics and sewn in the USA by refugees who have been granted asylum in the United States.

Jones explained that the organization, Threads of Promise, is fulfilling its purpose in helping the refugees ultimately run their own businesses.  The invention of the product,  says Jones, is  helping obtain bottom line goals of awareness of environment issues, social responsibility and, of course, profit.

The Keeper’s official debut was in August, ‘08 and is priced at just $24. This convenient Keeper will hold your essentials in a fashionable way and has been designed with safety in mind;  Tamara created the Keeper with a breakaway safety buckle.

Think soccer or football games when handbags are a nuisance; think field trips when ID and some money are essential; or how about a walk across campus?  There are a number of occasions when a Keeper will work perfectly.  With many different designs available, you’ll find one just right for you or any member of the family.

The company has begun a school partnership program where Keepers Bagatelles will design a keeper in school colors and then donate 10% to the school PTA.

Keepers Bagatelles are available at www.keepers-bags.com. Be sure and get one.  Your support for the Threads of Promise mission will be appreciated.

Sign up for Kathy’s List for updates on more unique, one of a kind products.

Keepers Bagatelles President, Tamara Jones, is donating a Keeper for a KathyDowDiscovers free giveaway!  To enter, just email Kathy@KathyDowDiscovers.com with subject line: Keepers!

In June I met a  couple of cool moms and friends, Amey and Anne, at a New York City Product Expo and they have a few other lessons they want kids to remember.

The mompreneuers launched BEBANDS,  flexible ID bracelets that carry inspiring messages relating to a state of mind.  Just over a year ago the two moms came up with this ideal product to help students “know their bottle” and at the same time commuicate a message to themselves with words of encouragement throughout the day.

BeBands

The BEBANDS  were created with the hope that “soft messages” worn either on your wrist or transferred to your water bottle at lunch time will help change the world “one band at a time,” said Anne.

While “knowing your bottle” was the instrumental purpose with waters bottles abound in lunchrooms, the moms figured it’d be a good opportunity to lay a few subtle suggestions and reminders on them at the same time.

Some of the inspirational messages include “Be Committed, Be Courageous, Be Your Best, Be Grateful, Be Humble and Be Real”.

(It’s like a chance to whisper in your kids ear all day long!  What parent wouldn’t want that?)  These are subliminal messages that are Good!

Inspirational Reminders

The bracelets are not only cool jewelry and a fun way for the kids to identify their water bottle but these bands are adult friendly too.

Aren’t there times during your work day when you  have to “Be Positive, or maybe “Be Flexible?”  In the past we’ve been reminded to “exhale” when things got stressful but a quick glance at your wrist with BeBands can help you “Be Calm, Be Cool and Be Fearless”.

There are seven different theme packages of BeBands, each with 5 colorful bracelets with other reminders  such as “Be Quiet, Be Tough, Be Whatever” in addition to some fun ones like “Be a Kid, Be Awesome or Be Chill.”

Whatever it takes to help keep our kids positive and encouraged in today’s world is OK with me.  I’m giving these mom’s an A+ for this great idea, and while the bands are only in a few stores in the Connecticut area, soon you’ll be able to find them online at their web site at www.bebands.org.

Do two things at once:  pick up a couple packages of BeBands to wear (and share)  for inspirational reminders AND keep germs from swapping unidentified water bottles at bay.

Subscribe to Kathy’s List and email subject line BEBANDS   to Kathy@KathyD0wDiscovers for a chance to WIN a package of the BEBands ID Bracelets.

In a “giveback effort”  the moms hope to donate a portion of their sales to water purification projects in Africa.  “Be Inspired!”

That’s exactly what prompted Adam Ancira to create a jewelry line of handmade bracelets using Synergy Beads. A teacher, with no background in creative endeavors such as jewelry, Ancira, who follows a holistic and spiritual path, says he was looking for something that would be a visual reminder.

“I wanted to remind myself to see situations differently if overwhelmed or overworked; to take a deep breath and calm down,” said Ancira who handcrafts each bracelet in his Ann Arbor, Michigan home.

www.synergybeads.com.

The beads, ordered from abroad, are made from cocoa wood, handcrafted clay, recycled glass, quartz or lava rock and fashioned into unisex bracelets in two sizes: regular or large.

What makes the bracelet more than just an attractive piece of jewelry is that each one is categorically tagged for either Abundance which is meant as a blessing of success and achievement for the wearer; Awakening which is meant for removal of personal barriers or  Serenity, Gratitude and Balance which are among the dozen different styles he offers.

If his intentions to help you experience calmness, enlightenment or clarity aren’t enough, Ancira has purposely designed his product to be “green.”  All beads are made of natural or recycled material, the shipping packaging is made from 90% recycled paper and each piece is wrapped in 100% recycled tissued paper.

Is this a good guy or what?

And there’s still more.  Ancira has committed to donate 5% of his annual sales to the Animal Placement Bureau, a no kill animal rescue in Lansing, Michigan.  All bracelets are priced at $17.99 and shipped free in the U.S.

Buying one of these stylish bracelets brings more than just a good look to your wrist;  a prayer is said for the wearer before each bracelet is shipped.  If just looking at the bracelet isn’t enough to make you slow down and count your blessings, remembering that it was made with hope and promise and sent on the wings of prayer might just do the trick.

“A miracle is just a shift in perception,” Adam says encouraging each of us to remember our inner peace and just chill.

There are two kid sized bracelets available:  one that stands for Unity and encourages our young to have empathy for others as well as a bracelet for Growth which encourages joyful awareness.

Although the Synergy Bracelet is new on the market, Ancira is hopeful that business will continue to pick up.  The jewelry was recently included in a VIP gift bag for a charity event for the empowerment of women. Celebrity artists Wynonna and Naomi Judd were gifted with a Synergy Bracelet at that event.

Remember “that you were meant to shine and inspire those around you,” Adam says.

I’ll just add that you should remember to get one of these for yourself and for someone you know.  These bracelets are perfect reminders “not to sweat the small stuff.”

Subscribe to Kathy’s List to be updated each time a new product is introduced and to get more information on Ancira and his Synergy Bracelets or go directly to his site at www.synergybeads.com.