Logan's 1st Birthday Bash & Multi-Prize Giveaway

On December 4th, 2010, God blessed our family with little Logan. He wasn't an easy baby and didn't sleep very well, but each morning his little smile would make us forget how tired we were and we fell in love with him more and more each day. As he nears his first birthday, we are in awe of him still and delight in his personality. He is already walking everywhere, climbing on everything, taking a special interest in all remotes and cords, sharing his toys and his paci with family and friends, growling like a little lion, screeching like a hawk, and just generally cracking us up with his antics everyday. We love him so much! Happy Birthday baby boy!

To celebrate, I have some great finds for his first birthday gifts and I want to share them with my readers! Here are our sponsors for our first birthday prize pack:

Joan Phelps Creations Etsy shop sent me an adorable Minkee plush creation in a penguin design for  review. Logan loves his little penguin; the fabric is plush and soft and he loves to touch it and put in his mouth, just like everything else these days. He carries this cuddly little friend with him while he explores and loves to take him on car rides. Logan's Sunday school class uses similar toys so there is some familiarity with the design of the toy. These are the perfect first dolls for teethers since they can be washed and dried. The embroidery thread is polyester and will not fade. I would love to have several more to use in teaching Logan animal noises. Besides the penguin we received, Joan Phelps Creations had these designs:

Lady Penguin, Turtle, Elephant, Duck, Dog, Bunny, Bear, Bat, Pig, Frog, Cat, Octopus, Bunny Head, Angel, Fish, Flowers, Glowbug, Astronaut, Butterflys, Fun Shapes, Heart, Star, Sun, Moon, Bug, and a Circle. Basically, a whole plush zoo!

In addition to these lovable creatures, Joan Phelps Creations has something for everyone. She has baby bibs, burp cloths, and blankets for little ones as well as a selection of quilted and blended yarn or wool knit items for adults. For Christmas she has some lovely 3D lace angels and quilted table runners that would make great gifts. Her hats and table runners have been her biggest selling items.






Based out of her North Carolina home, Joan Phelps Creations opened on Etsy in September of 2011. Joan finds it most rewarding to make a happy customer by doing what she loves. She has been sewing and making things since her childhood and now enjoys using her embroidery machine  to make unique creations. She has made many embroidered quilts for her grand children whom she cares for, and friends, a true labor of love. Her quilts and sewing creations are usually made with 100% cotton and Joan often up-cycles materials for unique looks. Joan finds it an adventure scavenging yard sales, thrift shops, and her friends' closets looking for usable materials for her work. Looking for something in particular? Joan takes custom orders!

After retiring from a 32 year teaching career, Joan hopes her Etsy store will supplement her income as well as be a job she enjoys as much as teaching others. She continues her love of teaching by helping others learn to knit and sew. Visit her Etsy store and you will see how truly talented she is at what she does.

In celebration of my kiwi Logan's 1st birthday celebration, Joan Phelps Creations has given me a Minkee Plush creation in an adorable pink elephant design to give to one lucky reader as part of this prize pack. Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form by clicking "read more" at the end of this post.

Fiori Designs Etsy shop also sent Logan a birthday gift to review and share with friends. Fiori Designs' focus is mainly amazing hair accessories for girls but they also have some great things this fall for our little guys too! Shop owner and artist Liz started making headbands just before her daughter's first birthday. Liz told me that after having two boys, she was super excited to have a baby girl to dress up in all the pretty things she'd seen in boutiques, but not so excited about how pricey some of the things for little girls are, thus she began creating her own items and eventually selling them on Etsy. Liz loves trying out new things, learning new techniques, and making beautiful things.

One of my favorite trends for baby girls right now is sewn flowers. Liz uses dupioni silk to create elegant hair pieces, perfect for upcoming Christmas photos, weddings, special occasions, or everyday use for us girly-girls. She also makes use of rhinestones, pearls, and re-purposed vintage jewelry as embellishments. Accessories with feathers are also a big trend right now.



For the little gentlemen in your life, Liz creates beanie hats using unique fabric patterns that you won't see on every baby such as skulls, boom-boxes, and graphic prints. I love traditional baby designs and modern ones alike, so if you are anything like me, you'll love her designs. My son Logan's style can definitely be described as preppy punk, so Liz sent us a gray and black striped skull print beanie to review. The sewing work was impeccable, I could not even tell inside from outside, which is always great when in a hurry anyway. I put it on the baby and he didn't immediately try to tear it off his head like other hats, another plus! The hat was double layered for added warmth and had room to grow, I just folded the edge to get the perfect fit on my little guy. The hat we received for review is Fiori Designs best seller for boys. He best seller for little ladies is her "fiona" headband.

Logan in his hat from Fiori Designs with his toy from Joan Phelps Creations

Liz loves to work on custom orders and is always excited to work with a new customer and make them happy with her work. When I interviewed her, Liz told me "It's humbling, because I started doing this for my own enjoyment. So when something I made makes someone else feel as happy as I do, well that's a cool feeling!" I'm always excited to find shops like Fiori Designs, where a stay-at-home mom like Liz finds a much needed creative outlet and creates true works of art. Keep an eye on more great things to come from this shop, such as neck ties for boys.

In celebration of my kiwi Logan's 1st birthday celebration, Fiori Designs has given me a beanie hat in the winner's choice of fabric to give to one lucky reader as part of this prize pack. Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form by clicking "read more" at the end of this post.

 My Kids Laundry

 I came across this sweet baby and kids boutique at my local farmer's market and was super excited to work with owner and creator Sandra on a custom bib for Logan's first birthday. She was great to work with, putting together just the right colors and look for a super cute bib, perfect not only for Logan's first birthday but for any day as well! Since the theme is "lil' rebel," we went with a pirate skull applique and she embroidered Logan's name underneath. She was even kind enough to make a delivery of the finished product to my home since she is local. The final creation is a cotton and chenille snap closure bib that is long enough to cover the baby's shoulders and chest and has the perfect neck size. I'm so glad she got the neck size right because I'm always annoyed at my other bibs that gap and let food sneak in-between bib and baby's shirt.

Sandra started My Kid's Laundry five years ago.  She had a friend whose son had reflux and was going crazy looking for a bib, that wasn't plastic, to use on her son.  After much research she discovered that Chenille was super absorbent. With the attitude "you never know unless you try", Sandra made one bib and found it worked great. She started to give them away as gifts, then people loved them and wanted more. Since the creation of her website she has expanded from bibs into a well rounded boutique with something for every baby, boy, and girl. Some of the goodies you will find include bloomers, tooth fairy pillows, hair bows, dresses, toddler belts, aprons, nursing shawls for mom and much more! Her best sellers are her hair bows and she loves seeing children wearing her creations!

My Kid's Laundry would be the perfect company to work with on a custom order such as a monogrammed shirt or bib or even a full nursery bed set. On her website you will find an example of a custom baseball themed nursery that Sandra completed. You can also visit her on Facebook. I wish I had known about her a year ago when some close friends chose a Transformers theme for their son's room and had to search for specific decor you couldn't find in stores. It's nice to know now about boutiques like My Kid's Laundry so I'm not limited to what I can find at Babies R Us for a nursery theme.

A stay-at-home mom of four, Sandra currently works on orders during nap time. She hopes success will continue to come her way and she can continue this business as her full time job.

In celebration of my kiwi Logan's 1st birthday celebration,  My Kid's Laundry has given me a Christmas-patterned bib to give to one lucky reader as part of this prize pack. Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form by clicking "read more" at the end of this post.






Thanks again to all my sponsors! Readers, keep an eye out for bonus coupon codes and a possible bonus giveaway to be announced as I prepare for Logan's big day on December 4th!

UPDATE: Get your Coupon codes!!  HERE: birthday-bonus-review-coupon-codes post!