Archive for the ‘Giveaways’ Category
July 10th, 2010 | Beauty and Exercise, Eco-friendly, Giveaways, baby shower, products | 3 Comments |
Are you pregnant or know someone who is and needs a little pampering? Sign up for the giveaway of the Pregnancy Pampering Kit, courtesy of Earth Mama Angel Baby. It’s the perfect gift for a mama-to-be! Retailing for $39.95, the products in the kit include the tea sampler, herbal foot soak, natural stretch oil (reviewed here), body butter, and bottom balm. Earth Mama Angel Baby’s natural products are toxin free and completely organic. Read my review of the natural stretch oil. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard mothers rave about their products.
To win: Look on the Earth Mama Angel Baby website and choose an item you have tried or would like to try and comment on this Bliss Nine blog as to what that is. Comment by next Monday, July 19th to win! A winner will be selected at random and notified. Good luck!
May 5th, 2010 | Beauty and Exercise, Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, baby shower, products | 3 Comments |
Throughout my first pregnancy, I used an expensive stretch mark preventative lotion (not to be named), given to me by a friend who swore by it and her friends swore by it. Isn’t that how we come to get most of our products? I dutifully slathered on the thick lotion on my belly morning and night. I knew there were parabens in it and that it wasn’t “natural”…but I had also seen my mother’s post-birthing belly and knew stretch marks were my destiny – so I needed all the help I could get. Stretch marks formed during the last two months of my pregnancy and were doomed to stay there for almost a year in all their purple striped glory. That expensive cream didn’t do a thing.
Come time for pregnancy number 2 – this time I didn’t use any specific products on my belly. Why put chemical laden lotions on my belly when it didn’t appear to help? When it got itchy, I just slathered on my toddler’s toxin-free California Baby lotion. I knew the stretch marks would soon arrive and probably leave a deeper impression than last time (even though they had significantly faded over time). Then I had a call from Julie of Earth Mama Angel Baby to review some products and participate in a giveaway on my blog. She graciously let me choose the item I wanted to try. Of course, I chose their Natural Stretch Oil! Though I had about 2 months left of pregnancy to go, I hadn’t seen any stretch marks develop and thought – even if this oil doesn’t help, at least its non-toxic, organic and vegan. As soon as I received it, I rubbed it on all over my belly. Usually scented products made me nauseous. Most pregnant women shun products with heavy scents. Though the Natural Stretch Oil has an herbal scent to it, I actually enjoyed the light scent. The best part was the oil absorbed easily and didn’t cling to my clothes or create a slick sensation.
 Now for the results: I’m currently almost 2 weeks post-partum…drum roll please…… no stretch marks!!! Okay, so I gained 15 pounds less than my last pregnancy, which may have something to do with it. But based on research, stretch marks will either be there or not. There is really no way to prevent them. So whether the oil helped or not, it was nice to know that I was putting something on that relieved the itchy belly and I knew was safe for my body and for baby. I’d like to think it did do something to prevent the marks from appearing  .
The product can also be used to massage the perineum in preparation for birth. I had intended to use the oil for this purpose as well because I had a bad experience with my episiotomy the first time, but I really never found the time or willingness to have my husband help me do this. But what a great option! I love it when a product has multiple purposes!
I will post the giveaway of the Pregnancy Pampering Kit in June, which includes the Natural Stretch Oil. In the meantime, if you want to give a gift to a mama with the propensity for stretch marks, tell her not to worry, enjoy the pregnancy and try the Natural Stretch Oil from Earth Mama Angel Baby. I will definitely be recommending this and the other products from Earth Mama Angel Baby to my clients!
And right now, the site is offering $10 for their Mother’s Day Special!
August 19th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Giveaways, Nursery, products | 20 Comments |
It’s been a fun summer of giveaways for us and we are sad to see it end. But we are ending it with a BANG – with two products for two winners, generously provided by Serena and Lily! Their products are consistently well made and we are so pleased to give those of you, who have not had a chance to personally experience their products, a chance to win one of their eco-friendly items. As you may recall, we’ve blogged about these two organic and gorgeous items before – the Serena and Lily Market Sling and the Take-Me-Home Gift Set.
This time, we are giving away the color “punch” (aka pink) Take-Me-Home Set – perfect for any baby shower gift or gift for your own baby girl (or confident baby boy, LOL). Retails for $68.
And for another winner, we have the Market Sling in Cloud/Petal in size Medium. Retails for $129.
To win: comment on which item you would like to win and what you do to help the environment. If it’s as simple as not asking for a bag when you buy a book – so be it. We love great tips on saving mother earth! If you would like to win both, comment separately on each item. Good luck! Winner will be drawn and notified next Wednesday, August 26th.
UPDATE: Zmama and Scott are the winners via random drawing. Thank you all for participating and being excited about the finale! Look for future giveaways in the future – though they will not be as condensed as the summer giveaway.
August 12th, 2009 | Beauty and Exercise, Celebrities, Giveaways, Health | 2 Comments |
It’s important to exercise or get some movement during pregnancy. Studies have shown that women who exercise during pregnancy have an easier time during delivery of their baby. Pregnant with her second child, Gabrielle Reece worked with a doctor and trainer to film 15 minute workouts from each month of her pregnancy as well as three months after her pregnancy. This DVD covers all 3 trimesters consisting of nine 15 minute exercises for women during their pregnancy as well as warm up and cool down sessions.
The video requires some equipment to start, such as elastic bands and an exercise ball (make sure you use an anti-burst ball/maternity ball). So have those on hand before starting. Also have some water and a towel nearby, should you need it. Don’t be frustrated if you feel like she and the trainer move faster than you are ready for. I often find that with the exercise DVDs. Once you get the hang of the exercises, you will be moving just as speedily along. This DVD Retails at $19.97.
To win: please submit a comment on why you would like to win this DVD.
July 29th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, products | 11 Comments |
If you want a perfect gift for a mommy-to-be or for a new arrival, look no further than this adorable and organic onesie Take Me Home Gift Set from Serena and Lily. We are giving away the green onesie set which includes a perfectly folded gown, hat and swaddling blanket in a gorgeous white with green trim. Again, Serena and Lily sets it all in their signature beautiful box. This particular box is called their Newborn Keepsake Box. You can use to put cards and other mementos in it. And the lid holds a place to put a picture and information about the baby’s birth date, time, weight and height. Too adorable! And I really did try taking a picture of the box and the complete package, but the pictures I take always look like they’ve been taken in the back of a van with a stolen camera  . So I will leave it to your imagination and browsing of the Serena & Lily website to get an idea how lovely it really is. An awesome reader of the blog found the picture of the box! haha! Thanks so much! And if you win this gorgeous gift, which retails at $68, please take a picture of it and send it back my way so I can show people!
To win: enter a comment on who you plan to give the Take Me Home Gift Set to (even if it’s you!) and tell us about your favorite summer memory so far. The giveaway ends August 5th.
UPDATE: Candace won – again via husband picking a number! Please don’t be disappointed. Try again – we have one more Serena and Lily sling and one more gift set to give away at the end of the month.
July 22nd, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, Maternity Wear, products | 18 Comments |
Bliss Nine is so excited to do a giveaway of the Hot Mama Gown! On April 7th, I blogged about the Hot Mama Gown, the awesomely organic alternative to the generic hospital gown. Since then, I’ve become an ardent supporter and fan of Deidrea, the creator of this gorgeous gown. We first met on Twitter and then face to face at the Baby Celebration in Los Angeles, where I saw Deidrea’s attention to detail from her gorgeous box to her matching stamps with her logo on them!
I truly wish (and I’ve heard so many mamas who have since discovered HMG say the same thing) that I had the Hot Mama Gown during my labor and delivery. While learning and starting breastfeeding, I had to take off half the top of the generic gown to give the baby access. I also had a serious episiotomy – so while walking to the bathroom (shuffling in pain), my gown would inevitably be untied in the back, leaving my whole backside exposed – not pretty. The Hot Mama Gowns are created with the same attention to detail and love Deidrea gives to everything else. These gowns are made with organic cotton in varying beautiful prints. I love how the snaps down the back keep the backside covered! And the nursing panels are ingenious. These are perfect gifts for baby showers and just to make a mama feel good when she may not feel like she looks good after giving birth. A mommy can wear them after birthing to provide easy access for nursing and healing. Believe me, pregnant ladies, you will wish you had one or two or three during those first couple of weeks!
Bliss Nine is giving away the colorful Shalon gown, size small (fits size 6-8 pre-pregnancy size), which is one of the newest prints from the Hot Mama Gown collection. Don’t worry too much about the size, as it is roomy with ribbon tied panels to accommodate the larger bellies. Its beautiful bright colors will brighten any hospital room and provide a matrix of colors for the baby to look at while cuddling and nursing the newborn. Retailing at $149, it also comes in the gorgeous box we all keep talking about – yes, it is that gorgeous. So feel free to gift it and the lucky mama will feel splurged on! Visit Hot Mama Gowns for more prints and great model pics of the gowns.
To win you can either one or both of the following:
1) If you don’t already, follow @blissnine and @hotmamagowns on twitter, and tweet this giveaway with hashtag #HotMamaGownBlissNine – I know it’s long (each tweet with hashtag is an entry)
and/or
2) Visit the Hot Mama Gown site and comment on your favorite Hot Mama Gown print or your favorite feature of the gown (comments count as 2 entries)
The most entries will win. Deadline to enter is July 29, 2009, 9:00 a.m. PST.
UPDATE: Erica Hennings won with her persistent tweeting of the giveaway. Enjoy!
July 15th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Giveaways, Nursery, products | 12 Comments |
I have been using the Dapple Baby Safe Dish Liquid since it first rolled into Babies R’ Us earlier this year. I love the easy to squirt container, the way it gently washes the bottles and that it is safe for my baby. True, you can probably go more natural such as something water and vinegar based to wash out the bottles, but I feel a bit better using a soap because of the possibility of bacteria from the milk. The dish liquid rinses fast and their website boasts that their products are phthalate-free, paraben-free, SLES- & dye-free and not tested on animals. The toy cleaner wipes are awesome! They smell lightly of lavender, which comes from the essential lavender oil they use to scent the wipes. Lavender oil is also a natural anti-bacterial agent. They are very moisturized, so one wipe can easily clean more than two toys (depending on toy size) and then use a dry cloth to wipe the toys off or let them air dry.
I love that these products were created by two moms with entrepreneural spirits and a team of experts to create safer cleaning products for baby. Dapple gave us some samples of their products to give away at the New Mom Expo. We are pleased to be able to do a giveaway of the following full-sized Dapple Products 1) Baby Safe Dish Liquid 2) Toy Cleaner Wipes and 3) Toy and Surface Cleaner. The group of these three products retails at Babies R’ Us for $19.99.
All Dapple products are environmentally-safe, biodegradable, and free of parabens, SLES, and phthalates, as well as synthetic dyes or fragrances. Check out Dapple Baby for all their products and product information. Bliss Nine plans to use them in an upcoming seminar on toy cleaners too!
To Win: Comment on the blog about your favorite toy ever. Or if you’ve tried Dapple products before, comment about it for a chance to win this set of Dapple Baby products.
Winner will be selected at random on July 22nd and notified via e-mail.
UPDATE: The winner (again chosen at random by husband picking a number ) is The Happy Runner, #5. Congratulations! Can’t wait to giveaway more stuff in the coming weeks – we have some great goodies!
July 8th, 2009 | Charities, Gifts, Giveaways, Safety | 2 Comments |
The story of Adam’s Blankie is a beautiful and and uplifting one. The company began with the love of stay-at-home mother, Kari. She wanted some bedding and clothing with a modern design ethic for her son Adam. With her mother, she came up with some great products and named the business after her son – Adam’s Blankie was born! In 2008, Kari’s family nearly lost Adam to a drowning incident. Believing in the love of God and healing qualities of the blanket she created for Adam, he survived and is now a healthy two year old boy!
We are happy to say that Adam’s Blankie contributes 5% of its profits to a Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children in Arizona, ages 1 – 4 years old. The organization has been very active nationally to provide public awareness about tragedies and preventative measures. Kari wants to share that there are 3 parts to drowning prevention called the ABC’s – Adult Supervision, Barriers, and Classes. With the heat racking up, swimming in pools is a popular pastime for many families. It doesn’t take a pool for a child to drown – children can also drown in toilets, bathtubs, & buckets of water! A tip we learned from our local YMCA is that floaties can prevent lifeguards from seeing below the water, which is important because they need to see anyone who may be below another person. Also, floaties don’t support babies/children necks or backs. As advised by the Y, go with a life jacket.
Okay and now for the rockinest and cutest bib your boy or girl would ever want to wear! The motto the business follows is “Creative, Comfy and Cute”. Retailing at $14.50, it is an adorable bib with a classic rocker vibe. We love the colors, the guitar print and the soft terry cloth. The pearl snap closure is also baby tamper proof and won’t fall apart like the Velcro stickers do. Like other items on the Adam’s Blankie site, the bib has been pre-shrunk in baby detergent. Check out their Etsy site for details on these handmade products. Adam’s Blankie also welcome’s custom orders – so if you see a print you like, feel free to mix and match. Get it for your little one or as a gift for another lucky super star!
To win the bib STEP 1: please comment on our blog as to what your favorite item from the Adam’s Blankie site. STEP 2: Visit the Adam’s Blankie blog and comment. Adam’s Blankie and Bliss Nine will put our heads together regarding our favorite comments and declare a winner on July 15, 2009.
UPDATE: Winner is Megan R. – CONGRATS!
June 30th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, products | 18 Comments |
When I think of Serena & Lily products I picture myself lying on a beautiful bed, with pillows galore and soft white sheets, on a sunny summer afternoon. Oh! And the bed is on a deck stretching over a lake! Creating stunning textiles and products since 2004, Serena & Lily epitomizes luxury for baby and what products you would want for your baby and to decorate your nursery. Not only do they have a great selection of organic products for baby, from slings to paint, they are beautiful to boot!
At the New Mom Expo talk, we proudly showed off the Serena & Lily Market Sling to show the bright and gorgeous colors in which 100% organic fabrics can come. The hand embroidery makes this sling unique and special for baby and wearer. We are excited to do our first giveaway on the Bliss Nine site of the Prague Market Sling, which retails for $129. Our favorite is the Green/Marigold sling. The exterior is a beautiful grass green with white embroidery and the interior is a warm marigold color (all organic cotton). The slings come in an exquisite Serena and Lily box, so it makes the perfect gift for any mommy and/or mommy-to-be.
To win the Prague Market Sling in Green/Marigold, size small: Post a comment with the name of your favorite charity and your favorite Serena & Lily product
However, there is a twist. If there are more than 25 separate entries, Bliss Nine will give away second market sling in Cloud/Petal, size medium. The pink petal color inside is beautifully bold and so perfectly soft, it’s scrumptious!
So yes, there may be two winners! So get your pals together and sign up. The more the merrier!
Contest ends July 8, 2009, winner will be notified by email.
NOTE: The winner was chosen at random - I had my husband pick a number from 1-13…really (excluding my own post of course and duplicates)! Thanks for your great contributions and I look forward to reading your comments in our future giveaways! Also of note, we have another sling and another Serena and Lily product to give away.
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