Dress Me Up Organic is Jen Williams’ independent toy company, which is based in Victoria British Columbia, Canada. Specializing in handmade soft toys, baby linens and teethers (just to name a few), each piece is made in small batches by local crafters using natural, organic cotton. I absolutely love that!

Jen recently sent me a Large Organic Cloth Ball ($32.95) for review.  Dress Me Up Organic’s offers various colours of cloth balls, shown below:

The Dress Me Up Organic Cloth Ball is perfect for quiet (or not so quiet) indoor, dramatic play as well as a gross motor toy for young babies. It’s a huge hit amongst both my children – ages 1 and 3. I can see this being a favourite toy for many more years to come. Being durable, soft and cozy, it also makes for a great “sleep toy” too!

I love the organic Tree Ring prints and natural stripes.  It’s welcoming, warm and embraces nature with its certified organic cottons and wool!  It’s super fun to throw, lay on and kick around the house. Best of all, it’s gentle and won’t cause any boo-boos.  Here’s my 1 year old exploring it while I was cooking lunch:

The Bottom Line!

I’m a really big fan of Dress Me Up Organic and I think you will be too! Connect socially with Dress Me Up Organic on Facebook and Twitter.

Win it!

Jen has graciously offered one lucky Organic Mama reader the opportunity to win an Organic Cloth Ball, just like the one pictured above.  All you have to do is enter using the simple Rafflecopter Giveaway Entry Form below. Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sodee Naturals has been custom manufacturing natural body products for 13 years. They are home to the best Eczema Skin Protectant I have ever come across – which is an all natural way to help moisturize and protect skin. Sodee Naturals’ quality of natural products is second to none, which is exactly what I expect from a family-run company!

I recently had an opportunity to try a product from each Sodee Naturals category which includes eczema creams, body butters, shampoo bars, conditioning bars, soaps and shave creams.

First up was the eczema cream. I selected lanolin-free variety and I have to say this cream doesn’t mess around! Not only have I used it on my son’s delicate skin, but my husband has now claimed it for himself and his super dry knuckles. Long gone are the days of flaky, bumpy, itchy red skin. I can only describe it as a miracle cream that everyone should have in their cupboard.   Seriously. Go get some. $24.99

The sweet pink grapefruit body butter is amazing. The scent is light, inviting and the texture is super smooth. A little goes a very long way.  It really is the perfect blend andI’m really looking forward to trying their other scents! $14.99

The Red Raspberry Enriched Shampoo Bar is changing the way I wash my hair. Being the first “bar” of shampoo I have ever used, I was immediately pleased with the ease of use and the results. Not only is it super simple to lather up, but it literally leaves my hair squeaky clean. A little goes a very long way – so this is definitely a budget-friendly option for all m frugal friends!  The scent is wonderful and gives me a little pick me up each time I shampoo. Goodbye are the days where I used liquid shampoos.$7.99

The Pikaki Hair Conditioning Bar is a really unique surprise to me, also. It’s hair conditioner in a solid bar. While it doesn’t lather up like the corresponding shampoo bar, with a little practice it goes on smoothly and works like a charm. I think I am most surprised with this product. I was really skeptical in its ability to condition as well as my liquid conditioner, but once again Sodee Naturals wins hands down! $7.99

The Sea Salt Soap, summed up in one word is stellar.  Not only does it glide on effortlessly, but it lathers up like no other soap I have tried in the past. It is unbelievably rich and creamy and acts as a natural antibacterial.  My kids love the super suds! :) $4.99

Lastly I’ve been using the Southern Oak and Vanilla Shave Cream. I use it to shave my underarms and I am really pleased with the close shave I achieve. It goes on smoothly and smells delicious. Once again, leave it to Sodee Naturals to convert people from conventional to natural products! $13.75

The bottom line is this: like me, you will be impressed and very happy with Sodee Naturals! I have  no doubt in my mind I will be purchasing more Sodee Naturals products in the future. I highly recommend you make the switch from conventional to natural with Sodee Naturals!

Save 10% off your order!

Use discount code “organic” to save 10% off your entire order! :)

Win a prize pack!

Britta from Sodee Naturals has graciously offered to giveaway 1 body butter, 1 eczema cream, 1 shampoo bar, 1 conditioning bar, 1 soap and 1 shave cream to one lucky Organic Mama reader!! All you have to to enter is fill out the simple Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The hubster and I love movies just as much as the next couple, and if given the chance to watch a cartoon or a comedy, you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t be the cartoon. Of course, being parents to a preschooler and a barely-one year old often leads to us watching one too many kids movies each month.  I’m sure you can all relate.

It seems nowadays the hubster and I find ourselves watching movies at home while the kids are in bed. No, it’s not as fun or romantic – at all, but what’s the alternative? I don’t want to shell out big bucks twice a month to a babysitter – especially with our youngest being so, well … young.

Besides, I personally think seeing a movie should be an experience, not just an action. I want to get dressed and actually you know, leave the house! Especially after having a new baby, when it seems there’s no where “appropriate” to take your baby so that us mamas can have a little break.

That’s what’s so exciting about Empire Reel Babies – parents now have the opportunity to go to the movies with their babies, toddlers, whatever – during the day! Can you say hello fun to your maternity leave now?! :)

That’s right, no more worries of interrupting others because you need to change your baby mid-movie or your little one needs a feeding. They even turn down the volume a little so your little one’s ears are safe – and dim the lights a little so you can still see around you while you’re fidgeting for that favourite baby rattle! Best of all, you get a few hours out of the house every couple weeks with some other parents and their children – which means you aren’t stuck at home in your yoga pants 24/7!

About Empire Reel Babies

• Twice a month you can enjoy a new-release movie in a baby-friendly environment.
• Each theatre is equipped with a change table, bottle warmer, play mat and swing, so you can take care of your little one while you catch the latest blockbuster
• They even keep the lights on dim and lower the volume a bit

Promotions

Be sure to take advantage of the all-new February promotion: it’s ‘Bring a Friend’ month! Buy one admission to EmpireReel Babies and get a second free:

Visit Reel Babies to see a location near you! You deserve it!

Disclosure – I am participating in the Empire Reel Babies program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Empire Theatres. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Aren’t organic eggs beautiful?!

Being a stay at home mom means I have the luxury (ha!) of shopping with my toddler and preschooler any day of the week I choose.  But since it’s so much easier to shop sans-kids, the hubster and I made arrangements to drop of our preschooler for a sleepover at my parents’ home before dinner.  That allowed us to do some much needed running around with just one kid in tow.

We headed over to Walmart because I was given the opportunity to try the brand new Equal Cook and Bake Sucralose Sweetener – it’s the one in the yellow canister. It’s also on Rollback down to $7.97 from $9.97 *cha-ching!*

Upon roaming around the sugar and sweeteners section in the baking isle for 5 minutes, staring blankly at every kind of sweetener BUT Equal, I felt like a ridiculously naive shopper.  Clearly the next step was to enlist my husband’s help in the search. Unfortunately he wasn’t much help either, and the two of us stood in the isle staring at the same products for another few minutes until finally giving up and began searching for a Walmart employee to help us.

We finally hunted someone down, and they said to look in the Pharmacy section. The Pharmacy? Really? How…random. But I guess it makes sense because Diabetics shopping in the Pharmacy would be able to find Equal Sweetener easily…right? Err…I don’t know, either.

I suffer from hypoglycemia and wouldn’t think to go there for a sugar substitute. Again, maybe I’m just a ridiculously naive shopper. Anyways, we did find the Equal Sucralose Sweetener there! Yay, success! :)

We did a lot more shopping before heading home. We picked up organic eggs, organic apples, organic bananas (see a theme?) and organic tortilla chips amongst other things.  Check out my Google + story!

When we arrived back home, we ate dinner and put mr. toddler to bed before whipping out the delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the #EqualCanada  facebook page. Next up was to make and bake these wonderful low-cal gems with the hubster! Yay for teamwork ;)

The cookies are a HUGE hit amongst our family – no one could even tell they had 27% fewer calories than the traditional recipe! Here’s the 411:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup stick butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup Equal® Spoonful or Granulated*
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

*May substitute 8 packets Equal sweetener

Directions

1. Beat butter with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until blended. Mix in Equal® and brown sugar until combined.
2. Mix combined flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350° F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden color. Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack.
4. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Find Equal Canada on Twitter and on Facebook!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own and have not been influenced.