Back To School Clothing Swap

The eco-friendly way to shop with The Painted Pomegranate at the JCC!

Sunday, August 22
10 am - 2 pm

Parents will bring children's lightly used clothes, shoes, hats and jackets to swap. (Please no undergarments).

Each item of clothing = 1 ticket
Parents will use their tickets to purchase clothing from each other!

Call to register today! (203) 387- 2522 x227
$10 registration fee

Sandbox Threads Week Long Sale!

For those of you who don't know, Sandbox Threads is a fantastic online store, started by a stay-at-home dad who was tired of searching high and low for cool clothes for his son. We are big, big fans!

Summer Clearance Sale!

Once Upon A Child is having a huge Summer Blow-Out Sale this Thursday!

The sale is from 2:00-9:00 pm. As they advertise, the later you go, the more you save. Here's the breakdown:

From 2:00-5:00, you save 60%
From 5:01-7:00, you save 70%
From 7:01-9:00, you save 80%

If you've never shopped at Once Upon A Child, you are truly missing out! My little family went to a wedding last weekend and my two-year old son had nothing to wear. I ran over to Once Upon A Child and got him the cutest Gymboree dress shirt and sweater vest set for $5.00!

Here are the participating CT locations:

Bristol
Weathersfield
Manchester
Hamden
Milford

Happy Shopping!

Save Our Beloved Sandbox Threads!

I received the following message from Andy, the owner and designer of Sandbox Threads. Please do what you can to help him and all of the small business owners who are in trouble!

Happy New Year from Sandbox Threads

Last April, I sent an "April Fools" email saying that Sandbox Threads was going out of business. It was a joke. This time around, I'm not sure.

Right now, many of you might be thinking that the recession and slow sales are driving us out of business, well, that is not the case. Our sales are up from this time last year, and until yesterday, we were having a very good 2009.

That was until I finally started paying attention to the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act). On Feb. 10, the CPSIA will go into effect, and while the intent of the legislation is good (keeping lead toys out of the hands of children), the umbrella, over-reaching implementation will destroy thousands of small businesses catering to children, like SBT.

This legislation requires lead testing for all products designed for children 12 and under. In order to stay in compliance, we would have to test all of our onesies/shirts in every color, size, style. The cost of testing the products we offer would be approximately $1,200,000. Needless to say, we do not make anywhere near that sort of money, and thus, we will have to close up shop. The fine for one noncompliance starts at $100,000.

In recent days, some positive news has started to trickle out, and Congress seems to finally get it, but as of yet, no official delay or rewrite of the legislation has occurred.

So, how can you help? Just follow the below link and write to your Congressperson and Senators. It will not take five minutes to write all three folks, and you just might help save SBT along with most other small companies that produce products for children.

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help

Once Upon A Child - Huge Sale This Friday!

Once Upon A Child's
Beat The Clock Sale
Black Friday Nov. 28th

8:00am - 10:00am
40% off (All Apparel)

10:01am - 11:00am
25% off(All Apparel)

11:01am-12:00am
15% off(All Apparel)

Locations:
Bristol 860-584-8131
Wethersfield 860-571-8773
Manchester 860-649-1577
Hamden 203-248-3981
Milford 203-876-7981

Thanks for passing this on, Sarah!

Hand Me Downs Site Launches!

From Daily Candy Kids:

Experienced moms know that the best way to pay it forward is to hand it down.
Do your part at Handmedowns.com, a new online classified listing for baby and kids gently used products and services.
With everything from gear and clothing to classes and nannies, Handmedowns.com connects buyers with sellers and sellers with buyers. It also pulls relevant listings from eBay, Craigslist, Kijiji, and Oodle.
Which means that faster than your husband can say, “That’s it! I’m throwing this bouncy seat in the alley,” you can post a listing to sell (or give away) whatever plastic eyesore is blocking access to your closet.
We’ve heard editions will be popping up in most cities before long.
Pass it on.

Available online at handmedowns.com.

Thanks for passing this along, Marna!

Booties For Sock Houdinis

At Toddler Tunes this chilly morning, I watched as baby June tugged at her adorable wooly socks only to reveal a second pair underneath. Her mother explained that she double bags June's footsies in an effort to outsmart her little sock Houdini. I remember when my little guy (now 16 months) used to pull his socks off... Oh, who am I kidding? He still loves to free those toes! Especially in the car...or in the grocery store...or in his crib at night--Really anywhere at any given time. But when he was still tiny, like June, I would try anything to keep them on. Then one day the sky opened up and a friend (and fellow blogger mom) gave us the most wonderful gift: Zutano booties. (Note the "us" here, because it truly was as much a gift for me as it was for him). Zutano booties are the only booties that I, and my fellow blogger moms, have found that these little Houdinis can't get off. Plus, they are washable (though they do shrink on the first wash), super cozy, and come in tons of colors. I love these booties so much that they have become a baby shower gift staple.

You can find Zutano booties on the Zutano website, among many other baby boutique sites, or at Urban Baby in New Haven or Mirabelle in Westville.

Enjoy! And as always, spread the word!