Kidorable Backpack Review and Giveaway

Spring is right around the corner and that means getting out more and more with your little ones. If you are looking for a toddler sized backpack for the beach, the park, a picnic, school or an outing for the day Kidorable has some great ones. Here are a few examples of some cute ones, these could also make a great Easter gift!

Butterfly Backpack

Pirate Backpack

Ashley examining her new Ballerina Backpack!

My daughter, the baby of the family, is at the age where a diaper bag is not always needed on a short day trip. I like something compact and personal for each of my children to carry so they know which bag is theirs to hold things like snacks, toys, water bottles and whatever else they may need to keep them happy.


We just love our Kidorable Backpack and feel so lucky we get to take it on our next adventure! And luck you...Now through March 23rd, you can purchase your little one a backpack for 20% off by using code BACKPACK88 at checkout on www.kidorable.com

GIVEAWAY
Win a Kidorable Backpack for your little one

Enter in the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 



 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts March 19 2013 and ends on April 3, 2013 at 12:01 am EST. Winner will be emailed and has 72 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize. I was sent a product to review for this post.

Tsukihoshi Kids Shoes Review and Giveaway

Finding the right shoes for kids can be rough. Things are too tight, too loose, too big, too small, it feels weird or they just agree with what you say then when you get home it turns out the shoes don't fit at all. But that's normal when it comes to kids and shoes. For them its harder to know if a shoe fits right so us as parents have to start out by giving them good choices when it comes to the brands we have them select from.

Plus they need to look cool not only to me but to my kid. My son at 3 is staring to get an opinion on what he wants in the way of shoe and clothing color, I think its so cute! I have done a lot of research on kids shoes for fit, durability, light weight and colors available. One shoe company that is at the top of my list is Tsukihoshi.

Tsukihoshi is a Japanese brand that has been around 1873. These shoes have proper arch support, flex at the toes of the foot allowing for running and jumping in comfort, barefoot like comfort (great for little developing feet)
light weight, easy on and off, and two great features that I LOVE an anti bacterial removable insoles and the best of all they are MACHINE WASHABLE!!! How awesome is that!!

I really do love these shoes and so does my son. He picked out the orange ones, he loves orange. Even my husband who is picky about style loves them. I was impressed by that! They are so easy to put on my son can do it himself. It has a Velcro top and fake laces. So they look cool and not like a typical no lace shoe.

My son was running so fast all over the mall yelling "Super Cool" and showing people his shoes I had to put him back into his stroller! He has a several other pairs of shoes but since he got these he insists on wearing his orange shoes. I love how great they fit his feet! They are a true to size fit and sizes range from Baby to Toddler to Youth.

I even saw that many celebrities kids are wearing Tsukihoshi too. Tori Spelling, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sandra Bullock, Adam Sandler, Julie Roberts, Jack Black, John Stewart and so many more celeb parents buy these shoes for their kids.  They come in several styles for boys and girls including a mary jane one that is so cute.

You can find Tsukihoshi (when you say it the T is silent) at Nordstrom, online and other high end kids shoes retailers. A great investment in the foot health of your little ones!

Here are some other fun styles I like:

For the Girls:

You can learn more about Tsukihoshi on their facebook and twitter pages.

GIVEAWAY
For our Valentine's Day event we are hosting a giveaway for one pair of shoes from Tsukihoshi for the little Valentine in your life. Winner's Choice of style.

Enter in the Rafflecopter form:

a Rafflecopter giveaway




 *Limited to US residents 18 years old and above. Giveaway starts Feb 6,  2013 and ends on Feb 15, 2013 at 12:01 am EST. Winner will be emailed and has 72 hours to respond before another winner is selected. I was not paid for this giveaway or post. The opinions on this item are 100% mine and may vary from others. The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize. I was sent a product to review for this post.

Cookie's Kids Fall Clothing Shopping Online

As soon as October rolls around I know its time to update my son's wardrobe for the Fall. Without going in the closet to see if any of his clothing fits I know it does not. He was my baby still last year and this year he is a big running talking toddler! His pants are all too short and his shirts his belly stick out of them. Clothing to me has an emotional attachment. Each time I put away a season and size of clothing I know he will not wear them again, makes me sad but happy knowing another baby one day will wear them. That is why I like to buy quality name brand clothing that I can save for future kids. Cookie's Kids offers quality clothing for affordable prices, I can shop brand and low price! I always find something I love at their online store.

My son is almost 3 so he does have a bit of an opinion on what he likes. I showed him a few character outfits and his favorite was Elmo. I would have picked Cars but he wanted Elmo, glad I asked him! Since he has changed sizes and I now buy him a 3T. I wondered if he needed a 3T in everything or somethings bigger or smaller. I was glad to see Cookie's Kids has the ALVA Kids icon to help you find the right size in a specific brand. The application asked me info about my son's height to help determine what size he needed for the item, very helpful for online shopping. You can also shop in stores at Cookies Kids if you live near the 7 locations around New York City including the Bronx, Brooklyn and Jamaica.

 Since I signed up for the Cookie's Kids Email Newsletter I was informed about the awesome Clearance Sale that included some items for $0.99. I love a great deal like that. I was also looking for an outfit for my son to get his pictures taken in before he turns 3, a casual playdate outfit and something he could wear to the tumbling class I enrolled him in. #CookiesKids

The clothing from Cookie's Kids to update my son's Fall Wardrobe #CookiesKids

I was very happy with my purchase. I found everything I needed for under $30! Plus I found a few hoodies and a coat I want to get for my son asap. I love that about the site, there is everything you need and more! I like shopping online since I can email links to family for gift ideas since my son's birthday is next month. Makes it easy for them to know what he needs.

My son loved this Elmo outfit. He picked it out himself. I paid only $11.99 for an Elmo Hoodie and Jeans set. A great deal since I can pair the jeans with other items and the hoodie I know he will wear often.

I love this little outfit "Double Windsor" 50 Fifty. I only paid $10.99! I like button ups with a collar for getting pictures taken. We will be headed to a photo studio later this week and of course his best friend Giraffe will be there too.

I was thrilled to see many items in the $0.99 Clearance sale. I found just what I needed in my son's size for tumbling class. I found a pair of U.S. Polo shorts and a French Toast tank top each for $0.99. I saw a few items I should have purchased at the time for next year Summer clothing but were gone when I looked again. So hurry and get those on sale items before they are gone.

Along with the items I did buy I made a little Wish List Polyvore set for what I want to get next shopping trip. I call it the Go Green Cars Set. :)

Source: frugalfamilytree-bloggers.polyvore.com via FrugalFamilyTree on Pinterest

To get you started on updating your own kids Fall clothing Cookie's Kids has given me a coupon code to share with my readers. Awesome!!

Online Code: frugalfamilytree 10% off, no minimum! Excludes Furniture, Gear and Toys. Contiguous U.S. Only. Expires 11/30/12

You can see all the great items I found online at Cookie's Kids to get ideas for updating your kids Fall Wardrobe by reading my Google+ story. 

 *I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric

Update your Children's Wardrobe with CookiesKids.com

Each season that passes my son needs new clothing. Its still the one thing I am baffled by that each season he no longer fits into what he wore last year. Its also so fun to have a great excuse to go shopping! I have noticed summer clothing has been bright and even neon for this year. It reminds me of my childhood, the early 90s fashions. The fun and funky colors make for some stylish clothing. On the opposite side of that fashion is the always in summer style basics like leather sandals, jean shorts and polo shirts.

With my husband and I deciding what to buy our son can be a clash of styles. For me I like cute kid stuff, my husband the cool name brand stuff. So we meet in the middle with cool kid themed items. Since kids always need new clothing I like to shop price for stylish clothing.

I find online shopping for my son to be the easiest place to get him clothing. I can shop when he is napping or busy with an activity. Plus I can find the best sales and promo codes online. Who does not like to shop in their comfy chair at home with an iced coffee in hand right?!

I went through my sons closets to see he no longer fits in any of his last year shorts. Here in CA shorts are a must have. I love plaid shorts for kids. They are so cute and perfect to mix match with a variety of plain polos or tshirts. I was looking for something he could wear to the park but also cute enough to get his pictures taken in if matched with the right shirt.

I have shopped online before at CookiesKids.com for the winter and purchased some really great sweatsuits and jeans for him, I knew I would find great summer clothing there too. I found the cutest Spiderman red plaid set. My son thinks super heroes are cool and funny enough calls them all Batman, even if it is Spiderman. I knew he would love the Spiderman polo shirt and plaid short set as much as I did. It met my kid like fashion and my husbands cool kid style. I was surprised at all the cute and low priced Spiderman, Batman, Superman and even a few Transformer items I found. Every time I shop at Cookie's Kids I find clothing that I like for my son but also my niece and nephews. I enjoy shopping there since I can find items for ages from newborn to kids 16. I know we will be shopping there for many years to come.

He loves his Spiderman outfit, his shoes are just a bit too big

My son loves sports and this summer he has been so active with wanting to throw the football, kick the soccer ball and swing his baseball bat. With 100+ degree weather I knew he would need light weight shorts and tank tops. I found really cute and only $3.99 or $4.99 tops and Short Sets at Cookie's Kids. When we got it in the mail I knew as soon as he put it on and starting running around that it was just what he needed. He was not as sweaty and was able to move quickly. Not that I needed that fast boy to go any faster lol. Hes quick and this Mom needs to be quicker!

So cute in his Short set from #CookiesKids

With our new pool we needed some cool swim shorts too. I liked these ones since they have orange in them. Orange is my son's favorite color and for the price I had to have them.

Cookie's Kids is always having some sort of sale with discounts or freebies that making shopping there even more fun. Their email newsletter will send the deals to you a few times a month. I have found great items that way. This shopping trip I got a freebie that made me think of my little brother (who is all grown up and a young man now) a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stationary set.

I had a blast using Polyvore to put together outfits to see which one would look best. I found a few really cute items that I pair up into an outfit. My favorite was this one, its an orange, brown and blue plaid set. I love the Tigger hat and the shoes. You can see the other #CookiesKids outfits I made on my Pinterest Kid Fashion Board.

About Cookie's Kids:

If you have not yet heard about Cookie's Kids here is a little info about them. This year they are celebrating 40 years in business! In 1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.

As the brothers Cookie, Marvin and Sonny, who had come in as a third partner in the business, began to open new stores in new locations, inventory expanded. Besides the latest fashions, our customers wanted shoes, toys, backpacks and accessories and we were prepared to deliver.

By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory.

What summer clothing items do your kids need? Sandals? Shorts? Tees? 

Cookie's Kids has all of that plus even school uniforms for the fall.

Want to see more of the great items from CookiesKids.com you can read my Google+ story about my shopping trip. #CookiesKids

*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.