Lux Keepsake Quilts

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From the moment I found out I was having a boy, I started shopping.  I actually drove from my 3D ultrasound straight to the mall to start on his wardrobe.

I obviously took his wardrobe very seriously right from the beginning.  The problem with this was that once he started outgrowing his clothes, they were so cute I didn’t want to let them go.  I ended up with bags of clothing that was too small for him to wear, but too precious to give away.

A solution I came up with was having a quilt made with some of my son’s favourite items from his first year.  I had (and continue to have) a slight obsession with baby and toddler Ralph Lauren clothing, so I decided I wanted a quilt made with all of the Ralph Lauren clothing he wore in his first year.

I looked all over for the perfect person to make this quilt, and I found Lux Keepsake Quilts.

Lux Keepsake Quilts is located in Orillia, Ontario, and they offer to take baby clothing, adult t-shirts, or other types of clothing to create a keepsake quilt.

I contacted Lux through their Facebook page here, and made arrangements to get things started.

The first step was to send all of the clothing I wanted to be included in the quilt to Orillia.  This was some pretty precious cargo so I couriered it over.  Once the package was received by Lux Keepsake Quilts, they contacted me so I could breathe a sigh of relief, and then pay my deposit.

Either $100 or up to 50% of the price of the quilt is due once you have placed an order.  My quilt was a total of $250.00 for what I wanted.  I ended up sending less than the optimal number of items for my quilt, which didn’t bother me at all. I envisioned a rich blue-coloured quilt with patches scattered, which worked well with the number of items I sent. All quilts are machine quilted and come with micro-plush backing in a coordinating colour, and the current turn around time for a completed quilt is about 16-20 weeks.

It was totally worth the wait!  I love my quilt!  It is the perfect way to remember an amazing first year.  This quilt will absolutely last a lifetime.

 
 

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The quality is very impressive, and it’s beautiful!

Lux Keepsake Quilts also ships to the United States.

 

If you have any questions or are interested in learning more you can visit their Facebook page here, or email them at luxkeepsakequilts@hotmail.com.

 

 

Winner of the Little Monkey Designs Giveaway!

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Congratulations to our randomly selected winner – Julie Ann Welsh!  You have won a $30 gift card to Little Monkey Designs!  I will be emailing you shortly to help you claim your prize.

 

Thank you so much to everyone who entered, and congratulations again to Julie Ann!

How To Look Like The Put Together Mom With You Name It Baby!

You Name It Baby!

 

 

This morning I dropped my son off for his first day of Montessori school, and I think we were both pretty excited.  He had gone to daycare previously and liked that too, but we thought he might be ready to try something else out.  So I’m not the handiest of Mom’s….yesterday he wanted his tractor to pull another car so I grabbed a roll of scotch tape to stick the car to the tractor.  It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. I think I’d describe my sewing skills similarly. I ordered a large number of labels with my son’s name on them online, and when it came to sewing them into all of his gear for school, it wasn’t pretty. I used a travel sewing kit (it’s all I had!) and my stitching skills were so bad that I tried to find obscure places to place the labels.  So I’m not Martha Stewart exactly, but I do try to put in a bit of effort.

Next time I think I should save the sewing for someone else.  I refuse to ask my Mom as technically I am one of those too, so I think I might hit up this new online store I’ve discovered called You Name It Baby!.

Yes there is an exclamation mark as part of their name (it’s hard to tell I’m sure because I use a lot of them in my writing! See?), and they will literally personalize anything in their store.

The store was created in 2005 by two women who were new mothers who had a hard time finding places who did personalizing for their children’s items.

They focus on baby, toddler and kid products, but you can find all sorts other products on their website as well for adults.

They offer the option of colour matching if you have a swatch you can send them, and they offer free gift wrapping and delivery to the recipients address (without including the actual receipt).

I really like all of the camo gear they have.  There are some great style options, and their prices are great as well.

The Pint of PJs Sweet Dreams Sleep Set is my favourite item on the website.  It includes a cute ice cream tub with a matching onesie and a hat that has sprinkles and a cherry on top! So adorable.

Pint of PJs

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These Personalizable Sports Pillows are pretty awesome too!

Sport Pillows

 

 

They ship to the US and Canada, and their website has a huge selection so give yourself some time to browse through their online shop!

You can visit them at www.younameitbaby.com.

Check out more of my favourite finds below!

 
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Patterned Knits for Fall

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Pattern play is a big fall trend, and there are sweaters launched this fall that not only serve the purpose of keeping you warm, but keeping you looking trendy as well. I’ve been known to sacrifice practicality for a good looking outfit, and that includes being freezing cold for the sake of a cuteness. Luckily I won’t need to sacrifice much when it comes to cozy sweaters – they can’t help but be practical.

Since I sort of hate the whole dressing practically side to fashion, when I’m dressed for a casual lunch or play date, it’s important to avoid wearing comfortable workout gear all the time and opting for something like one of these patterned sweaters. I’m guilty of it all the time – wearing Lululemon’s or Nike workout gear when not planning to work out at all and instead to do errands or hang out. Sometimes I look around and see everyone wearing the same thing – Lycra, running shoes, and more Lycra. It’s easy to get comfortable (literally) with wearing workout gear for everyday life minus actually working out, so wearing this easy and comfortable trend in the fall substitutes fashion and comfort into the place of just comfort period.

 

 

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Nordstrom Woven Heart Print Open Cardigan

 

 

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Victoria’s Secret Bateau Sweater

 

 

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Aritzia Gambler Sweater

 

 

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Aritzia Sea to Sky Sweater

 

 

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Ralph Lauren American Flag Cardigan

 

 

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Forever 21 Shredded Star Sweater

 

 

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Zara Jacquard Sweater

 

 

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Billabong Sea Voyage Sweater

 

 

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Billabong Late for Luv Sweater

 

 

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Billabong Loosen Up Sweater

 

 

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American Eagle Star Sweater

 

 

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Aritzia Alpert Sweater

 

 

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Victoria’s Secret One Button Cardigan Sweater

 

 

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Nordstrom Woven Heart Geo Pattern Cardigan

 

 

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Nordstrom Print Tassel Trim Poncho

Little Monkey Designs Giveaway!

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I love having things created just for me. I’m a bit of a diva that way. Something one-of-a-kind is always better than picking up something else that is one-of-a-million copies. Especially since I had my son I’ve wanted to have everything personalized for him so it can be a keepsake later in life just to show him how special he is. And how much he rocks. I know, I will totally need to work on the whole humility thing, because I don’t want to send him into the world thinking that wherever he goes a sippy cup will magically show up with his name etched into it because there’s ALWAYS something just for him.

When it comes to these all so important keepsakes and personalized treasures, it’s best to trust a professional who can design exactly what you want and how you want it.

Little Monkey Designs is a one-stop shop for all things unique, trendy, and personalized with some serious polish! They offer personalized wall art, birth announcement prints, invitations, party printables, personalized growth charts, family tree wall art, and much more.

 

 

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The options are endless! You can choose how to tweak almost all of the products in the Little Monkey Designs shop, but some of them are so perfect already you may want to purchase them as they are. The wall art is so bright and cheerful. It’s totally the spot where you can find all of your favourite Pins from Pinterest!

 

 

Dream Big Little One Wall Art

Dream Big Little One Wall Art

 

 

Little Monkey Designs offers colour match free of charge. You can upload a colour swatch and they will match your design colour to the swatch so it will blend in with your decor perfectly.

 

 

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Their growth charts are awesome because they can be personalized with not only your child’s name, but their photo can be included as well. I feel like one of these would work much better than the Sharpie lines I have been adding to the closet doorframe in my sons room.

The growth charts are printed on either premium matte vinyl or artist grade canvas, and they come finished with wooden dowels placed through the hems on each end for a finished look, and a matching ribbon as well so hanging them is easy.

 

 

Growth Chart

Growth Chart

 

 

Growth Chart

Growth Chart

 

 

I slacked on making an imprint of my sons hands and feet when he was a baby (I even had the kit – there was really no excuse) and I regretted not doing it so much. If you haven’t done it yourself, another great way to commemorate how incredibly small those tiny feet and hands are is with the Little Monkey Designs Hand & Footprint Wall Art.

 

 

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The wall art that Little Monkey Designs offers can come in a print or canvas. Some of the designs are so freaking adorable! You an even take care of the printing yourself if you would like, which is a great option for all of you control freaks out there.

 

 

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Little Monkey Designs can also take your images and have them printed for you on premium gallery wrapped canvases.

My favourite idea is the World Travel Map. You can customize your travel map to show everywhere you have lived and traveled in the world. It’s a really polished way to reflect where you have been!

 

 

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Little Monkey Designs also offers wedding prints where you can either choose a pre-deisgned print, or have a custom one created to match your wedding theme.

 

 

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You can choose to have a birth announcement customised or pre-designed with their typographic, photo or illustrative options. Another awesome idea is the chalkboard print! I think these are a great way to commemorate a milestone with personal information posted in a creative way – it’s a great keepsake.

 

 

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Their invitations are pretty awesome. Much better than the standard ones you can buy in a box, and the cost of customizing them is very reasonable and comparable to buying generic ones in a store. Little Monkey Designs offers custom designed invites as well which I will totally be taking advantage of. It’s really hard to find invitations for a gossip/wine drinking/food binging/no boys allowed party.

 

 

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Printable birthday decorations can be hard to find, and once you find them they can be very expensive! Little Monkey Designs has quite a few to choose from, and what I love is that they can customize for your event as well.

 

 

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I think the best part about Little Monkey Designs is their creative services. Many online shops aren’t willing to change or personalize their work. What you see is what you get. Little Monkey Designs will not only give you the option of customizing the products they offer, but they provide branding solutions to companies from the ground up. They are willing to work with you to learn about the marketplace your company is in, your goals, your vision for the brand, and about your competitors to create the product you need to bring your vision to life. They can create logos, brochures, custom graphics, and anything else you need to give your company a boost creatively.

To learn more about Little Monkey Designs, and more importantly to shop the Little Monkey Designs store, check them out at www.littlemonkeydesigns.ca, or click here for their Facebook page!

You can now find Little Monkey Designs products in store at Melissa’s Bowtique in Port Hope, and in Baby World of Stoney Creek in Stoney Creek. Coming soon you will find Little Monkey Designs in a few other local shops – keep checking their Facebook page for announcements!

 

 

Now for the fun part – a giveaway! Little Monkey Designs is offering one lucky sparkleshinylove reader a $30 gift card!

To enter all you need to do is like the sparkleshinylove Facebook page here (you are still eligible if you have already liked the page – it just shows you already have great taste!), and comment below this post with what you would use the giftcard for from Little Monkey Designs.

The contest begins now, Wednesday, August 27th, 2014 at 9:00am EST, and will end on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014 at 9:00am EST. The contest is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Good luck to everyone who enters! I will announce the winner on the blog next Wednesday!

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