Wall Slicks Review and Giveaway

If you are like me, you are always wishing your house looked fabulous. I see decorating ideas, and paint finishes, and I get all these grandiose visions in my mind. My problem is that we are a lazy folk. We don't like to paint. The choosing of colors, prepping the walls, taping off ceilings and baseboards... need I go on? It's just too much. ESPECIALLY with a toddler underfoot. I am also a fan of bright colors, bold designs and things that "pop". Enter Wall Slicks!

Wall Slicks is a completely fab company that designs vinyl wall decals to spruce up your home! They have everything from simple polka dots, to elaborate tree decals. You can customize the decals with the rainbow of 39 different colors that Wall Slicks offers. So, why a wall decal? Well, first of all, it's a really inexpensive way to add something really detailed to your homes decor. I don't know if you've ever looking into have a mural painted, or doing a faux paint finish on your walls, but it is very expensive, time consuming and labor intensive. I'm personally not into ANY of those!

Wall decals also allow you to change the look of a room pretty quickly and easily. Once you paint something, it's there for good, unless you are willing to paint over all of it. With a decal, you can just peel it off, move it somewhere else, and start with something fresh! I love geometric designs, but they are VERY hard to paint. We did a wall of stripes in Chunky Monkey's nursery and it was HARD! Its really tough to get things spaced out, and level. With Wall Slicks, if you make a mistake, you can gently peel it up, and start over!  It's such a simple way to make a big statement in your rooms.

Wall Slicks offers TONS of designs. There are geometric designs, nursery designs, sports themese, holiday decals, and ever words and sayings! Wall Slicks was super generous, and sent us TWO designs to check out. Our kitchen was bleak and white, so I decided to pick designs that would work in there. The first design we were sent was the new Poppies design. We chose to the flowers in red, because all of our accessories in the kitchen are red. No kidding, I even have a red crock pot and red coffee maker! 

The Poppies design comes with two 24"flower decals in the color of your choice. The center of the flower is cut out of the vinyl, so it shows through as whatever color your wall is. In our case, that means the design is red and white. The decals are on a paper just like Con-Tact paper that you use to line your cabinet shelves. Over top of the decal is a clear lining. You peel the clear lining off the base paper, and the decal sticks to the clear paper. You then adhere the clear paper to the wall, and get the design centered where you want it. The last step is to peel the clear layer off of the design, leaving the design on the wall. 

It was pretty easy! Peeling the design off the base paper was a snap, took about 10 seconds. We got it centered on the wall, and then smoothed it down, to get the design to adhere to the wall. We then began peeling the clear coat off. This was a little trickier, but it wasn't horrible. You do need to hold the decal down onto the wall when you first start. We found that it was much easier with 2 people working on it together. The center part of the poppies did tend to not want to stick to the wall, and stay on the clear paper, and we did rip a small area. We just slowed down, and peeled slowly, and it turned out fine. You can't even tell where we ripped it. Once we got the clear sheet off, we lifted some areas of the decal and smoothed it back down to remove the few air bubbles. It took about a half hour total to do! It looks totally fabulous, too!

 Here are a few videos showing the different stages of application and completion: (helpful hint: Turn off the music on the blog. Scroll down, and on the right hand sidebar, you'll see my music player. Just hit pause!)

The second design we were sent was the Diamond Pattern. I'm not 100% sure which size we were sent. Each sheet had 11 decals, and there were 4 sheets. So we ended up with 44 decals, but none of the packs on the website show 44. We realized there weren't going to be enough to put the diamonds as close together as we had planned. So, we reassessed and decided to space them out quite a bit more. 

Now, these were easier to get on the wall, because there was no clear top sheet over the decals. You just peeled them off the base paper, and stuck them up there, so that was nice. The trickier part here was that we had to be sure the design was straight and even, since it was a geometric pattern. With the flowers, you could just stick them up any way you liked, and didn't have to worry about it being level. So, we got out the level, and put it on the wall. We used the level to do the entire first row. We put the diamonds tip to tip, and then removed every other one, to create a more spaced out pattern. We did 5 rows like this, and every row alternated. Once we had the first row laid out, we just used the diamonds to continue to space everything evenly. Really, once we figured out how we wanted it to look, and did the first row, it went quickly. It took us about a half hour from start to finish! Again, we found it easier with two people. I peeled the diamonds and handed to Tom, and he stuck them on the wall. 

All in all, we are VERY pleased with the way it turned out. I need to see if I can purchase just one more sheet of the diamonds. We need exactly 12 more to finish the last two rows and we have one left over here. So, one more sheet would do it. We spent an hour total working on on the projects, and at the end of the hour, our kitchen was left looking MUCH brighter, and with a polished look. I would absolutely use these again, and actually would really like to figure out a way to incorporate a Wall Slicks design in our bedroom! They are an easy, inexpensive way to brighten up any room. Think about all you could do in an apartment, or dorm room where you generally aren't allowed to paint! 

Lucky for YOU, Wall Slicks has generously offered to give a Newly Wed, Newly Bred reader any Wall Slick of their choosing!! For your first mandatory entry, head over to Wall Slicks and take a look around. Tell me what design and color you would choose if you won! This MUST be done first, or all other entries will not count.

Extra Entries:

1. Become a Facebook Fan of Wall Slicks
2. Follow Wall Slicks on Twitter
3. Sign up for the Wall Slicks newsletter (link on the left side bar)
4. Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect
5. Subscribe to my blog by email (must be confirmed)
6. Follow me on Twitter & tweet this giveaway up to 2x per day. Tweets must be at least 4 hours apart, and you must include my twitter name & Wall Slicks twitter name. Leave a permalink.
7. Blog about this giveaway & include a link to this post. Leave me the link!
8. Grab my button & leave a link where I can find it.
9. Become a Facebook Fan of NWNB. 

*Disclaimer: I was provided 2 wall decals by Wall Slicks for this review. This has no bearing on my honest review, and I was not compensated monetarily for my thoughts.

Fine print: This giveaway is open to US & Canada. Giveaway runs through 2/24/10. Winner announce on 2/25. Winning entries will be verified, and false entries will be disqualified. 

I Really Am a Mom.

It's true. I have hit the world of Mommy-dom, and there is no looking back. I mean, I'm not yet sporting elastic waisted jeans, or driving a grocery-getter. I do have SOME standards. I realized the other night, that I really am an adult. How did I come to this monumental decision? Catching puke in my hand? Using my own spit to smooth down my kids hair? Sleepless nights due to teething? Nope. I mean, I've done all those things. But that wasn't what caused my revelation.

Last Wednesday was the 3rd annual My Omaha Mommies birthday party. It's a big shindig, and a TON of fun. Each year we throw a big bash to celebrate MOM being in existence. Anybody who is a Mom, and part of a Mom's group can understand this. When you first become a Mom, you are so overcome with joy at your tiny (in my case, ginormous) bundle of joy, you have no room to think of such nonsense as a Mom's group. You have your baby, what else could you possibly need??

Then the sheer exhaustion hits. You are rudely shoved out of the hospital where there are people to help you with everything. You are sent home with this tiny, still adorable thing, but.... either you whoo-ha hurts from squeezing said bundle of joy out, or you have been gutted like a fish to try and retrive above-mentioned bundle of joy. Your boobs weigh about 73 pounds each. You hurt, you are tired, and this baby needs your constant attention. It never sleeps, therefore, you never sleep. For several weeks you are too busy and exhausted to even care if there have ever been, or still are, other Moms on the face of the Earth.

But you settle into a routine. Your body heals up, the kid starts sleeping for more than 7 minutes at a time. And you realize that you are LONELY!! This was when I began my frantic search for other Moms. Thanks to my good friend Google, I found My Omaha Mommies (furthermore known as MOM). I joined up, and started posting! MOM is a local group of stay at home and working Moms. We have play dates, outings, Moms Night Out (and In, sometimes!), and even Couples Nights. It has been SO great to meet other Moms! You've seen lots of C's friends in my posts over the months. I love this group, it is FABULOUS!

So, getting back to the MOM party. We rented a room at a local community center. We had about 50 Moms in attendance! There was TONS of delicious foods, music, a group picture... TONS of fun! We also have a raffle each year. We collect donations from tons of local companies, and then at the party everybody buys raffle tickets. We set up bags in front of the donated item, and you just put your raffle ticket in what you want. We had TONS of great stuff. Children's Museum passes, hair bows, a birthday party at a local bounce house place, gift certificates to restaurants. There was an awesome cloth diapering basket from Top to Bottom Baby Boutique! I put a few tickets in that, but not too many. I figured I have enough diapers, and others probably wanted to share the love. I bought $40 in tickets, and put most of them in my coveted bag.

What was it? The spa pedicure? No. The Gypsy Mama baby wrap? No, but I did put some tickets in there. What was I dying to have SO badly that I threatened to run down anyone who won it in the parking lot after the party?

It was...... a $250 gift certificate. To get MY CARPETS CLEANED. No joke. It made my year. And THAT is how I know I am a Mom.

As soon as my name was called, Sarah and I got up and did a booty bump dance in joy and celebration. I really wanted to cartwheel down the red carpet (oh yeah! We had a red carpet set up!) but seeing as how I was wearing a dress, I didn't want to give anyone a peep show from hell, so I refrained. I know everyone's retinas thank me. Guess what else I won? A gift certificate to a local character company, to have Elmo come to C's 2nd birthday party! Guess we already have a theme!

The days of being excited about beauty products, shoes, nights at the bar.... they've all been replace by sheer joy over a carpet cleaning gift certificate. I have earned my Mommy badge.

Ah... who am I kidding? When the party was over, we hit the bar for karaoke. Cause that's how I roll.

Ecostore USA Review and Giveaway!!

Everyone knows I cloth diaper. It was honestly more of a money saving decision, at least more than it was a green living decision. I mean, I was all for the eco friendly choice, but it wasn't the forerunner in the reasoning. We have gradually been learning about other eco friendly choices we can make, and are adopting some of them.

I was approached by Ecostore USA to do a review and giveaway of their products. I knew a bit about them, from other blogs, but hadn't researched them much. I decided after looking over their site, that it was something I wanted to try. Now that I have a toddler who is active, and touching every. single. surface. in our house, I wanted to be more aware of the things I was using to clean them. I was generously offered 2 products of my choosing!

The first thing I chose was the Citrus Spray Cleaner. It was touted as being great for any surface. It is completely chemical free, and has only natural products. I'll be honest. I was pretty doubtful that this was going to do as good a job as my good old Clorox wipes. I mean... chemical free? So, one night after the hubby had cooked, and splattered God-knows-what all over the stove, and then let it cook on, I decided to put this stuff to the test. I mean seriously... it was like cement on the stove. I sprayed down the stove, and wiped right away. I was surprised it was taking some of it off! I re-sprayed, and let it soak for about 5 minutes, to try and permeate the mystery substance. I went back over it, and was totally stoked to see that it all came right off! No joke! My stove was sparkling clean! I then took it to our granite counter tops, and found that they were gleaming when I was done!

It's a citrus based cleaner, so I expected it to smell fruity. I don't think it did. It smelled a bit like Simple Green to me. Not at all a bad smell, it just wasn't what I expected. But, my house wasn't left with that chemical-y smell after cleaning. I actually used this cleaner on the bathroom, too! The toilet, sinks and counters, and it easily cleaned ALL of them!

The second product I selected was the Herbal Fresh Shampoo for pets. I knew Halia was in need of a bath, so I figured it would be a great thing to test out! We put her in the tub and got her wet. We poured on the shampoo and lathered her up. It lathered up REALLY well. I can't stand when stuff doesn't lather. It had a very clean, light scent. We scrubbed her down, and we were impressed with the amount of dirt and hair that was rinsing away. We were able to rinse it out easily, and her fur was left very shiny, soft and smooth. I really like that we weren't exposing her to any unnecessary chemicals, but she still was very clean. This is a gentle enough shampoo to use often.

Ecostore USA offers a great variety of products, and I was surprised that they were affordable. They offer plant and mineral based products that allow you to offer your family and household eco friendly choices without breaking the bank. I honestly believe that their products stand up to the leading chemical based products, but are a much safer choice.

Ecostore USA has been kind enough to offer up a $25 gift certificate to one lucky reader!! So, if you'd like to give chemical free cleaning a try, head over to Ecostore USA. For your first MANDATORY entry, sign up for the No Nasty Chemicals Newsletter. It's located on the right side of the page.

Extra Entries

1. Follow Ecostore USA on Twitter
2. Become a Facebook Fan of Ecostore USA & leave a comment telling them I sent you!
3. Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect
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5. Grab my button and leave a link where I can find it!
6. Follow me on Twitter, tweet the giveaway up to 2x a day. Tweets must be at least 4hrs apart. Leave a permalink
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Facebook & BabyCenter readers, you will need to go to the actual blog to enter!

Fine Print: Giveaway runs through 2/20/10. Winner announce by end of day 2/21. Open worldwide. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Winning entries will be verified, falsified entries will be disqualified.

Softbums Review and Giveaway!

I've been cd'ing for over a year now. I've used about every type of diaper out there-- pockets, AIO's fitteds. I've discovered the cuteness of fleece, and been sucked into the world of wool. In all my time trying different types of cloth, I have found that I LOVE a printed diaper.

Enter Sarah, the brains behind Softbums diapers. I met Sarah through the weekly #clothdiapers Twitter chat, and she very sweetly offered up a diaper for Chunky Monkey to put to the test! Even luckier for me, Softbums was about to release it's first ever printed diaper! Sarah sent an adorable Later Gator print Softbums our way! It's about ten shades of cuteness.

Softbums are an AI2, meaning the soakers snap in to the diaper. They are bamboo and oh so cuddly soft. I like that they are long enough that you can double them over for extra absorbency, too. These babies do NOT leak! Carson has worn these for play time, day time and even nap time. C sometimes will take a 4 hour nap, and he has woken up dry every time!

Softbums uses PerfectFit technology to size it. It literally goes from itty bitty newborn size to ginormo toddler size. There is a small opening at the front of the diaper. Think of a pocket opening, but much smaller and on the front of the dipe. You reach inside and grab the elastic, and they have "snuggers" on them. You pinch the end of the snugger down, and move it along the elastic to tighten or loosen it. You just let go of the snugger to lock it in place. If you've ever had a fleece pull over, sometimes at the bottom they will have a stretchy cord with a similar snugger on it, to pull it tight. It really takes about 2 seconds to do and you can get a completely custom fit.

This diaper shell can be reused with different soakers, since it is an AI2. Softbums suggests having 2 soakers for each shell. It's a great way to diaper, and it takes up very little room in diaper bags, or storage at home. It is a very trim fitting diaper. I have some fluff that I love, but it is very... well, fluffy! It's a little bit tougher for C to move around in those. That isn't the case at all with Softbums. It really seems about as trim as disposables! It affixes with Applix. Normally, I'm not a velcro fan, but I don't mind Softbums velcro. It overlaps, which I appreciate, so you can get a really great fit. It also isn't exposed velcro, which I detest. It has PUL on the back, so the velcro doesn't get curled and icky looking with washes. It also doesn't seem to create a diaper chain in the wash. 

All in all, I LOVE Softbums. I love the soft bamboo soaker next to C's skin. I love the trimness (YAY for being able to fit jeans on him even with cloth on!), and I love the great fit and cute print. Lucky for YOU, my little stalkers, Sarah is super generous and has offered up a Softbums to one of you lucky readers! For your first MANDATORY entry (meaning, do this first, or none of the other entries count!), head on over to Softbums and take a look around. Come back, and tell me which color you would pick if you are the lucky winner!

Extra Entries

1. Sign up for the Softbums newsletter
2. Become a Softbums Facebook fan
3. Follow Softbums on Twitter
4. Follow my blog publicly through Google Friend Connect
5. Subscribe to my blog by email (MUST be confirmed)
6. Grab my beautiful blog button. Leave a link where I can find it!
7. Blog about this giveaway, and link back to it. Leave the link!
8. Follow me on Twitter & tweet this giveaway up to 2x daily. Must be 4hrs apart. Leave a permalink.
9. Become a Facebook Fan of NWNB. 

Facebook & BabyCenter readers, you will need to go to the actual blog to enter!

Fine Print: Open to US & Canada. Giveaway will run until Saturday Feb. 20th, winner announced by the end of the 21st. Mandatory entry must be fulfilled first. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Winning entries will be verified, falsified entries will be disqualified. 

What We've Been Up To....

I sort of fell off the blogging band wagon. And then got run over by it. I'm sorry! But I really was just enjoying having a healthy family. You know, for the whole 5 days or so it lasted. It seems we are all coming down with, or have a cold. Ah, well. I'll take it. A cold is better than a hospital stay, no?

Last week Chunky Monkey was feeling well enough to have some of his friends over to play! I was feeling well enough to break out my Martha Stewart hat, and bake orange cranberry bread for everyone, too!

For those of you who don't know (and clearly, you must be living under a rock), we cloth diaper, and C is rarely in clothes at home. So be prepared for a fluff-tastic viewing! He was sporting the Thing One Goodmama. I've had it for over a month (after searching high and low for it), and it was so soft and squishy, I had a hard time bringing myself to put it ON him! I always said I would NEVER be one of those cloth diaper "collectors", buying diapers because they were cute, and not letting him wear them! So, I put it on him! I really like it! I wish they made it in other colors, it's so cute!

I've got some other posts coming up in the next few days, but hopefully this chunky monkey-fest will tide you over!

C, climbing his slide & showing his fluffy bum off.

I'm really not sure what to make of this pose. I'm fairly certain you could find it in a Playgirl magazine somewhere.

B, checking in with her online peeps.

Dawne, holding W, and H overseeing things

All of Chunky Monkey's buddies!

I swear this is about the only shot I end up with of H, no matter what. He LOVES to put his face right next to the camera!

Ok, I lied. I did get this. I'm not a heartless bastard. Even H's Mom thought this picture was HILARIOUS! She reads my blog, so she'll see it. Don't worry. No small children were harmed while capturing this shot.

E, taking a small break to check his email.

J (E's big brother) was VERY proud of his Ben Ten shirt. I really have no idea what Ben Ten is, but I know it's popular over at the Remington's.

C clearly thought we were hysterical.

Miss B, getting ready to go home. I LOVE this hat!

Isn't she adorable?

This is a new trick, mastered at the playdate. Clearly he enjoyed his stay at the hospital, and would like to go back. Because this is definitely going to result in that. I'm such a rockstar Mom, I just took his picture, instead of getting him down.

Hey Trina, how YOU doinnnnn'?? Wanna feel my fluffy bum?

Strosgirl's Blog Designs WINNER!!!

We have a WINNER!!! But, I'll torture you a little more, before I tell you who it is! Angie has some spectacular news for everybody who entered the contest, but didn't win! Anybody who entered, and would like a bloggy facelift, will receive a faaaaabulous discount! Whichever package you pay for, you will get a FREE upgrade to the next package! Pay for a Single, and get a Double. Pay for a Double, get a Triple! How awesome and generous is that?? So you can all have rockin' blogs!

Soooo, I guess you'd like to know who the winner is? It was lucky number 74!!! You will be contacted by email, and have 48 hours to claim your prize!

Joe @ 20 To Life said...74

My daily tweet!
https://twitter.com/Malisce/status/7994205587

kolo*****@gmail.com

JANUARY 20, 2010 12:10 PM

The Swine-fluenza

Lots of doses of this

alternated with doses of this

Along with syringe feeding this

mixed with using LOTS of these

Oh, and don't forget dozens of changes of these

and smearing on lots of this during the change

are happening at our house, for Chunky Monkey.

As for Mommy? She is also using LOTS of these

and guzzling this

and this

by the gallon.

There is lots of this

and this

being devoured, in hopes of feeling better.

Why, you ask?

Because Chunky Monkey and I have now been hit with the piggy flu. What's a little H1N1 shared between Mommy and baby, right?!?!