The Wishing Elephant Review & Giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed. I will announce the winner shortly**

Last month, I featured The Wishing Elephant in my "Lovelies for Less Than $20" feature. Carolyn, the designer behind the adorable baby and toddler wear from The Wishing Elephant, contacted me about doing a review and giveaway and here we are! You are going to love this shop!

The onesies and baby tee's here are so whimsical and fun. They are 100% cotton and the applique's are handmade of eco felt! (100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles!) How great is that! Cute clothes that you can feel great about buying!

The VW Bus onesies come in a bunch of colors too!! I just love the whimsy in all of the designs. So cute!! There are also great options for twins and triplets! Look at these charming sets!

Wouldn't these make great gifts for families with multiples?! 

I received the 1 Up Onesie for my review and it is even more adorable in person! I love the idea of this design! Yes, the applique is the 1-Up (extra life) mushroom from Super Mario Bros, but I love the thought behind it! A new baby IS an extra life, so this is fabulous for a new baby! Plus, the onesie arrived wrapped for gift-giving in tissue with a ribbon! It was packaged so nicely, and I love pretty wrapping, so that meant a lot!

I also love that the sizes are listed by height and weight as well as age. This really helps you know you're choosing the right size. And prices at The Wishing Elephant are really reasonable too.

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Win it!

The Wishing Elephant is offering one Jodibee Designs reader any single item in the shop! (Sorry sets aren't included.)

How to enter: 

For your first (mandatory) entry, please go to The Wishing Elephant and come back and tell me which item you'd choose if you won!

Extra Entries (Once you do the first entry, you can do any of these for an extra entry into the giveaway. Please leave a separate comment for each item you do!) :

- Follow Jodibee Designs on Google Friend Connect - 1 entry
- Subscribe via email - 1 entry
- "Like" The Wishing Elephant on Facebook - 1 entry
- Follow Jodibee Designs on Twitter - 1 entry
- Tweet about this giveaway - 1 entry (include a link & @JodibeeDesigns in your tweet & leave me a link!)
- Blog about the giveaway - 1 entry

That's it! Please also be sure to leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you win! Giveaway is open to U.S. residents and will end next Monday, August 23 at 12 noon est. I will choose 1 winner via Random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize or I'll have to choose another winner. Good luck!!

Disclaimer: I received a onesie from The Wishing Elephant free of charge to facilitate this review. They are also supplying the prize for the winner. The opinions in this review are solely mine and I was not compensated for my opinions.

GGT August Winner!!

 

Congrats to pixie13!! You won a $5 giftcard from me!

(pixie13, please check your email for one from me!)

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

Friendly Friday

Friendly Friday is a great way to find new readers and followers for your blog! It's hosted by three lovely ladies: Christi at The Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier & Charla at Healthy Home Blog! Be sure to follow their blogs and say hello! And if you want to join in, add your blog to the linky on one of the above named blogs and start following.

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by! I've had a bit of a stomach bug this week, so I've been layin low, but now it's crunch time. I'm still not feeling much better, but my boyfriend's birthday is Sunday and preparations are majorly delayed. I promised him lasagna. I know, to an experienced cook, lasagna is nothing. But to me, who doesn't make much that requires any sort of effort, this is a serious undertaking.  I haven't even chosen which recipe I'm going to make yet. I'm trying not to psych myself out! Wish me luck. I may need it

Thanks for visiting me for Friendly Friday! If you do decide to follow me, please leave me a comment so I can follow you back!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Weezer's New Album Named... Hurley?!

Yep, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the band has named its new album, Hurley, after the lovable Lost character played by Jorge Garcia (who seems just as lovable as his last character, in my opinion!) Check out my link to EW's page. Jorge Garcia's adorable face is even going to be on the album cover!

Very cool move, Weezer! Well played!

Saving Money For Back to School!

Yep, it's that time of year again. It's time for back to school. It seems the summers go faster and faster each year, don't they? Back to School shopping for supplies can be stressful, tiring and expensive! Here are ten tips to help make back to school shopping a less daunting task.

1. Make a list. Write down exactly what you need and don't forget the list from the teacher. The list will keep you from forgetting anything and will help keep you from over-buying.

2. Collect all of the ads from the paper for the week you are planning to shop. You can map out a plan of attack this way and figure out the best way to get the best for your money.

3. Check online for any printable coupons or online deals. Sometimes even just a free shipping code will save you a trip to the store and not cost you any extra for shopping from home. One less trip to the store is ALWAYS nice.

4. Spend time comparing your ads and coupons. You may find even better deals when combining sales with coupons.

4. Check club stores like Costco or Sam's Club for certain items you may need in large quantity. If you have the room to store items in bulk, you can save a lot of money this way.

5. Use your savings club cards! Drug stores and grocery stores also have sales at back to school and sometimes you can earn rewards points or bucks AND savings on your items. Double savings!

6. Talk to your kids! We know they will want to express themselves through some of their supplies. Character and licensed items can be expensive, so be sure to discuss this with your kids. Talking about it ahead of time and agreeing on a plan can make shopping go much more smoothly. Options like "iCarly lunchbox or backpack, not both" will give your child their much-wanted input and save you money and stress in the store.

7.  Read your favorite Deal-finder or Money Saver blogs! I have gained a wealth of knowledge about saving money from my favorite bloggers. And they're always willing to share tips and advice.

8. Remember to start early. Sales change weekly, so if you start shopping early enough, you can maximize your savings.

9. Check clearance bins at the store or try the dollar store for some items.  You never know what you might find and you can save plenty by shopping the bargain bins!


10. Organize a swap! Talk to family or friends with children. Certain items, like backpacks or lunch boxes/bags are quite durable and last more than one school year. Your kids might want something new though, and swapping gives the kids new-to-them items without the cost! (This may work with wardrobes too!!)

Staples is offering a 25% off coupon on their Sustainable Earth by Staples eco-friendly notebooks and writing pads. These notepads are made from 80% sugarcane so less trees are used! Coupon expires 8/14 so hurry if you want to use it! Print coupon. 

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging program, making me eligible for a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Big Brother

Ok, I can't go on without commenting on Rachel's behavior last night. I was pretty fired up about it.

Is she really that clueless?! Maybe someone needs to attach a mirror to her face so she can see the terribly rude faces she makes! Last night, when Kathy got 2 pins and then missed a whole bunch... Did you see Rachel's face?! This evil, snide smirk spread across her face. And then when Kathy came back and beat her, Rachel had the nerve to tell her she was a poor sport for cheering?! Seriously?!

If Rachel wants everyone to stop coming after her, she really should think about how nasty she is to people. When she wins something, does she think it's good sportsmanship to run across the yard screaming telling people to watch their backs?! Or to get a life-vest? Seriously Rachel, get a clue!

And Brendon seems like a real dope. I know I shouldn't call people names. I don't really know the guy, but what is he thinking?! I mean I don't think it'll work. I think everyone will vote out Rachel no matter what he says, but why would he sacrifice himself in the game for her? That's just dumb. It looks to me like  Rachel won't deal with his push-over puppy dog personality for much longer anyway. Does he really think they're in love and going to last forever?! Rachel is constantly annoyed with him and blaming him for their losses. I just think it doesn't look good for them.

I'm looking forward to tonight's eviction episode. It should be very interesting and drama-filled. Isn't that why we watch BB anyway? For the drama? :)

Treat Yourself for Under $5 Shipped!!

I love packaging! If I'm giving a gift, half of the joy of giving for me is the wrapping. I love fancy papers and tags! Don't you think it's nicer to get a gift that's in pretty packaging?

The Paper Place sells wonderful tags, cards & embellishments for making your packages special! They're having a clearance sale right now also, so now is the time to treat yourself!! If you love wrapping half as much as I do, you'll love the selection and prices at The Paper Place right now.

Aren't these tag sets adorable?! And right now, they are only $1 each!! Yep, you get 20 or more tags (depending on the set) for only $1 + shipping!! (Shipping for the first item is $2 + $0.75 for each item after that.) 

The Paper Place also sells cards to go with your pretty packages. They offer some super-cute notecard sets for $5 too (including shipping!) 

So when you're treating a friend or family member to a lovely gift, if you can make that gift even more special for just a little bit of money, isn't it worth it to fancy it up? I think so!

 (P.S. My GGT Giftcard Giveaway ends Thursday at noon est! Don't miss your chance to enter to win your choice of a $5 giftcard!)