Back to School Giveaway Hop 2014

Attn Bloggers: Looking to link up?
Check out the details. Getting ready to send  the kids Back to School?  
Check out these great giveaways and enter to win to stuff you'll need  as you get ready to put the kids back on the bus to school in the Fall.

An InLinkz Link-up

Lands End GiftCard Giveaway #BloggerOp

Thank you for your interest to help promote the Back to School Giveaways.  The giveaways are hosted by Uniform Mom and sponsored by Lands' End.

Free Facebook or Twitter Link on Rafflecopter Form for posting this giveaway on your blog.

Prize:

$100 Lands End Gift Card
Giveaway will be Open to US Residents only.

July Giveaway Details:

It will run from July 16 - August 1 at midnight, 2014.

August Giveaway Details:

It will run from August 1 - August 16 at midnight, 2014.

Your Responsibilities:

• Schedule the HTML post to go live on the giveaway start date.
• Promote the giveaway on your social media at least 6 times during the course of the giveaway.

Family Friendly Blogs only.  Questions: please contact me at navyplaid@comcast.net

SignUps

Name Labels from Bright Star Kids, a Review

The folks at Bright Star Kids contacted me to ask if I would take a look at their name labels and share my thoughts with you.  They provided me a complementary sample of a school value label kit as the basis for my review. All opinions are my own.

I had never heard of Bright Star Kids so I spent some time familiarizing myself with the brand by spending time on their website. I loved the site and enjoyed looking at the seriously cute, kid friendly products that they offer.  In addition to name labels, which I'll get to in a second, they carry cute wall art, personalized clothing, backpacks and kids accessories. I also figured out why I hadn't heard of them before; they are an Australian company which isn't normally on my radar because I'm in the US.  They offer worldwide shipping in a reasonable time frame for a reasonable shipping fee.  In fact name labels ship to the US, UK, the EU and Singapore and most arrive in 7-15 business days.

Many Uses for Name Labels

I'm a huge fan of using name labels for kids stuff.  When my daughter was in preschool, I made homemade labels for her bottles and food containers by writing her name on blank shipping labels or simply using masking tape.  They never held up, so I was replacing the labels on each week's supplies.  The personalized name labels hold up SO much better.  The stick-on labels actually stay on through the dishwasher cycle.  The clothing labels last wash after wash. 

I used the labels from the kit to label my daughter's summer camp supplies such as her sunscreen, her insect repellent spray, her sandwich container, and her flip flops. I even put a thin pencil tag on her favorite pair of goggles.  When school starts up in the fall again, we'll tag her pencil box, pencils, colored pencils, markers, highlighters, her composition books and her folders. I'll put the clothing tags on all layering items such as coats, sweaters, and winter hats.  The round tags with covers are great for rain and snow boots which she has to change out of after arriving at school.  It is also great to tag stuff for her activities such as her ballet slippers, tap shoes, and her soccer cleats.

Sounds like a lot of tags, right?  We'll it is, but there are over 175 labels in the School Value Label Kit:

• 10 Large Labels - these stick on labels are great for larger school items such as lunchboxes, water bottles, and food storage containers, pencil boxes, workbooks, or electronic devices. They are safe to use in the dishwasher, microwave or freezer.
• 30 Small Labels - these stick on labels are great for smaller school items such as glue sticks, rulers, staplers,  notebooks, hair brushes, eye glasses case, calculator, and small toys.
• 10 Subject Labels - these stick on labels are made from vinyl which are perfect to put on all your kids school books or notebooks. You can write their subject and class with a permanent marker or pen. 
• 80 Tiny Pencil Labels - these stick on labels are great for thin school items such as pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, or even, lunch utensils. 
• 16 Large Round Labels and 16 Clear Covers - this combination is perfect for shoes.  Use these in sneakers, flip flops, dance shoes, soccer cleats, or rain boots. 
• 30 Iron on Labels - these labels are designed be used on clothing items.  They are safe to use and stay on through the washer and the dryer.

Using the Iron on Labels

I had never used iron on labels previously, so I tested it out.  I gathered up a few new sweaters and hoodies that hadn't yet been tagged. For first things first, I had to identify the iron-on labels in the package. All of the stickers in the package have a color background and white lettering, except, the iron on labels which have a white background and the lettering is in the color we had selected.  They were otherwise indistinguishable to my untrained eye.

Being a newbie, I then read the directions:

1. First, I emptied my iron of any water and turned it on the highest, non-steam setting.  
2. Once it was hot, I placed  the sticker on the clothing, topped it with the parchment paper provided and gently moved the iron around it for approximately 10-15 seconds.
3. In the last step, I peeled the parchment paper off and checked the edges to make sure it had merged with the fabric.

It wasn't hard at all.  And I'm NOT a crafty person.  I did five items in just a few minutes.  Since I like to pass along my daughter's clothes when she outgrows them, I placed the iron on label onto the manufacturers sewn-in tag on most of her sweaters.  That way, we can simply cut out the tag before passing it along for another go in another child's closet.  For some square tags, I cut the iron on tag into two pieces stacking them on top of each other. On another shorter tag, I simply cut off the extra space from the ends of the label to make it fit. Both variations seemed to work just fine.

The Value of Using Name Labels

In my opinion, the value of personalized tags is two-fold.  First you save time by only tagging items once.  These labels stay on throughout the school year.  No more tagging with homemade tags every Sunday night.  Second is the value of the kids stuff.  We parents spend a pretty penny on back to school clothing and supplies.  It is a pity when it ends up unclaimed in a bin at the lost and found.  And then there is the sentimental value attached to a favorite sweater or super duper 4-color pen or sparkle gel pen.  When those things disappear, sometimes, tears are shed.  Prevent the tears and increase the chance that kids won't loose the stuff you buy them, but placing a label on it.  It's like insurance for kids stuff.

Adventrure of Ai, eBook Giveaway Signups #BloggerOp

Bloggers are invited to help promote the Adventrure of Ai, eBook Giveaway.  The giveaway is sponsored by Adventures of Ai, a children's eBook written by New York Times bestselling author, Craig Bouchard. The story is a part non-fiction and part fiction fantasy targeted at girls and boys ages 9-12 for the pressures they will encounter as they grow up, and incorporates subjects like art, history, poetry, music and mathematics.

Giveaway Details:

• Free Facebook or Twitter Link on Rafflecopter Form for posting this giveaway on your blog.
• Prize: 2 Winners. Each will get a copy of the eBook.
• It will run from July 16 - August 1 at midnight, 2014. 
• Giveaway will be Open Worldwide 

SignUp

Family Friendly Blogs only.  Questions: please contact me at navyplaid@comcast.net

Pin These Budget Friendly School Uniforms for Girls

If you have a tight Back to School Budget, check out these school uniform options for girls that were selected for the our Back to School Best Bets:

Follow Uniform Mom's board Best Bets on a Budget for 2014 Back to School Uniforms for Girls on Pinterest.

Pin these Budget Friendly School Uniforms for Boys

If you have a tight Back to School Budget, check out these school uniform options for boys:

Follow Uniform Mom's board Best Bets for 2014 Back to School Uniforms for Boys on Pinterest.

The Kickoff of the 2014 Back to School Shopping Season

Have you seen the Back to School ads popping up in the weekly circulars and in your inbox?

I am now more attuned to the retail cycle that I was before I started this blog, but it still seems really early. My daughter just got out of school 2 weeks ago, and the neighboring school district, that had even more snow days to make up this year, got out last week.  But here we are kicking off the Back to School shopping season.

According to National Retail Federation’s 2013 Back-to-School survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, families are paying attention to these deals earlier than ever before: 24 percent of consumers with children in grades K-12 last year said they began shopping for school items at least two months before school started, a significant increase from 15 percent in 2007.

"In places like New York City where school ended just a few days ago, preparing for “back to school” can be hard to believe for some parents. But for families who wish to avoid the long lines typically associated with late August school and college shopping, spread out their spending and ensure they get their hands on the hottest products at a reasonable price – some retailers have them covered."

AN EARLY PULSE ON THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPER

By Kathy Grannis The National Retail Federation 

The research from the NRF's Retail Insight Center shows that over 76% of adults in households with school aged children say that the economy will impact their Back to School Shopping.  The chart below shows how:

Economy's Impact On BTS Plans

Information Among households with a school age child

Charts from the NRF Foundation’s Retail Insight Center.  To access this data and more research please visit the Retail Insight Center.