sparkleshinylove - A lifestyle blog for girls who love a little sparkle!

Roxymandy September 5, 2014

Winner of the Treehouse Big Day Out Festival Passes

The winner of 4 passes to the Treehouse Big Day Out Festival is Shelley Hua!

Congratulations Shelley – I’ll be contacting you shortly so you can claim your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Roxymandy September 4, 2014

Lux Keepsake Quilts

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.

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.

Roxymandy September 3, 2014

Winner of the Little Monkey Designs Giveaway!

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!

Roxymandy September 2, 2014

How To Look Like The Put Together Mom With 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.

These Personalizable Sports Pillows are pretty awesome too!

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!

Roxymandy September 1, 2014

Patterned Knits for Fall

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.