Cool Products

Tired of the same old boring, cookie-cutter Valentine's Day cards? Create and order custom cards online! As readers here know, one of our favorite places to order cards and invitations online is Tiny Prints.

Tiny Prints' cards feature sophisticated, modern designs, and of course they have a wide selection of Valentine's Day cards, including custom photo cards and really cool kids' Valentine's Day cards to hand out to friends and family. Their selection of kids' cards features cute original illustration as well as popular characters like the Backyardigans, Kai Lan, Spongebob Squarepants, and Dora the Explorer.

They also have Valentine's Day party invitations and stickers, so check them out. They also have quick turnaround and delivery times—we're always amazed at how fast our cards arrive. Take 15% off your order of $75 or more through January 28, 2010 with coupon code JAN2DAY.

Send your kids back to school with eco-friendly, non-toxic lunch kits from Kids Konserve! Through September 30, 2009, Kids Konserve is offering Marin Mommies readers 15% off their orders using the coupon code marinmom.

Kids Konserve offers some great products to help make school lunches greener, cleaner, and waste-free:

While reusable bags are a great idea that cuts down on waste, not all of them are created equal. Local Marin company AAH HAA! Inc.'s line of Clean Conscience bags don't just take the place of disposable shopping and lunch bags, but are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, and are (amazingly, in this day and age) made in the USA! Also, unlike many eco-friendly bags out there, Clean Conscience bags are available in fun designs and colors, not just the plain-vanilla unbleached look.

AAH HAA! Inc. was founded by Corie Thornton, the company's "Clean and Green Designer." She's passionate about her mission to not only help clean up the environment, but to provide affordable, good looking, and functional American-made recycled products. “Trash is a terrible thing to waste,” says Thornton. “We’re un-wasting, recycling, and up-cycling plastic trash to convert them into beautiful and durable products that consumers can enjoy. Otherwise, all of the plastic we use in our products would end up in landfills, and plastic remains in landfills for hundreds of centuries before it even begins to decompose.”

School's about to start and getting organized both for yourself and the kids is a must. Our favorite way to get organized is with the BusyBodyBook! The BusyBodyBook is a stylish and easy-to-use family organizer designed specifically for families. It allows you to keep track of the entire family's schedules at a glance, and it's something I can't live without. BusyBodyBooks are available for both 2009–2010 academic year (August 2009–August 2010) and traditional January–December, 2010 calendar year versions.

To help you get organized, we're giving away a free BusyBodyBook to a lucky Marin Mommies reader! Send an e-mail with BUSYBODYBOOK in the subject line to contests@marinmommies.com by midnight PST on Friday, August 14, 2009. One winner will be selected at random, and we'll announce the winner on Saturday, August 15. Good luck!

One thing that I'm trying to do to help the environment is to use fewer paper and plastic grocery bags when doing my shopping. I've managed to amass a sizable collection of Trader Joes reusable shopping bags (although I haven't yet won that $25 gift certificate), but the big problem with them is forgetting to bring them with me when I go shopping. I think I actually only have them with me maybe 30% of the time. Otherwise they're at home or in the other car.

That's why I was so excited to get a sample of Waste-Less shopping bags. Waste-Less bags are large, lightweight, reusable shopping bags that fold into a very small size—small enough that a set of three fits into a nifty little carrying case that you can put in a purse or jacket pocket. Keep a set on you and you'll never have to worry about forgetting your reusable bags again. The design is pretty stylish, too, and more designs are apparently on the way. Of course, you don't have to use them just for groceries; they make nifty tote bags for beach gear, books, and school stuff as well.

2008 is out and 2009 is here, and now's the time to get organized in your busy life. If you're a regular reader of Marin Mommies, you know that I love my BusyBodyBook! The BusyBodyBook is a stylish and easy-to-use family organizer that allows you to keep track of the entire family's schedules with its handy and easy-to-read Weekly Grid. 

BusyBodyBook features include a spacious 5-column layout with enough room to write everyone’s appointments and activities in detail, a planning calendar to record birthdays and anniversaries, a month-at-a-glance for a quick overview, and plenty of space for notes. They're available in both calendar year and academic year versions.

Sometimes getting kids to communicate their feelings can be difficult, but Kimochis, a new line of stuffed toys created by a group of Marin mompreneurs in San Anselmo, are here to help. Kimochi (which means "feeling" in Japanese) toys are cute and huggable characters that come with a set of feelings inside—little dolls that represent feelings like jealous, grateful, shy, happy, and brave. These feelings and the Kimochi characters assist children, parents, and teachers in discussing their feelings, becoming better communicators, and cultivating confidence and character.

Our Kimochi, Bug (an adorable caterpillar with a hidden pair of butterfly wings), was an instant hit with our three-year-old daughter, who insists on carrying it with her just about every place. The different feelings that came with Bug all store in a handy pouch on his tummy, where they can be stored and then pulled out to play with and of course communicate about the feelings they represent. Overall it's a really appealing and well made toy. We're definitely happy to make room for Bug in our home!

Some of the best loved books in our house are those published by Barefoot Books. Founded by mompreneurs in the UK in the 1990s, Barefoot Books has become a successful childrens' book publisher through a winning formula of great stories accompanied by beautiful art and illustrations. Many of their books, like Whole World pictured above, come with sing-along or read-along CDs, many narrated by well known award-winning actors. Stories presented in Barefoot Books are both timeless and timely, and include tales from a variety of the world's cultures.