Staci Murray, Origami Owl Independent Designer Review & Giveaway

Staci Murray introduced us to Origami Owl which allows you to personalize beautiful lockets with unique charms.  As soon as I started browsing the jewelry a few months ago, I thought of my mom.  We just had to make her a locket for Mother's Day!

It was so meaningful to pick out the charms that reminded us of her.  We chose a Nana charm, a Mom charm, and one that says "I love you" in sign language.  I would sign this to my mom from the school bus window as it pulled away from the bus stop in the morning!

We can add to her locket later with more charms, plates, and dangles.  She loved it and we loved gifting it to  her!

Staci told me of a fellow Trisomy 13 mom who had made a necklace to remember her baby:

The beauty of Origami Owl also came up in discussion among one of my baby loss momma groups.  I would like to share with you how a few of my friends have remembered their sweet babies with these lockets.


My friend Sarah says:

Here is my necklace for Kash McKinley. The crystal K & M charms are for his initials. I have a crystal star charm just because he is my star. I can't help but wonder what he's doing when I look up at the stars. I also have the heart with angel wings because he has my heart & he's my angel. Then I have the heart charm with the blue baby boy foot prints. I picked the ball station chain & the medium crystal locket, & then added the angel wing dangle.

Kash was born April 11, 2011, & passed away April 19, 2011, from complications of severe Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn.

My friend Kelley (who lost Collin, then her triplet boys) says:

I have a letter C for all my boys and the new owl that has the blue rhinestones. Owls became my sign for Collin. I was contacted after I lost Collin by a friend I hardly ever see. I found out talking to her that she had also lost a baby almost full term and a husband all within a year of each other. I never knew any of this and my heart just broke. She had contacted me because she felt so bad that we lost Collin and wanted to gift me an Origami Owl! I had never heard of them until then. Well, that was my first sign from Collin. After that every time I went to Pier 1 that card with the big owl on it and the 3 lil ones in the nest would be staring at me every night. Then every time I turned around a new owl would come in so I just knew that had to be my wink from Collin.

My friend Tanya lost two boys, Noah and Joshua, to placental abruption.  She says:

My Origami Owl locket was given to me just recently by two friends of mine. They got the birthstone charm for each of my sons including my stepson along with a set of angel wings, a cross, and a  Forever Family charm. The background inside the pendant says Mama. 

As you can see, there are endless possibilities for personalizing these lockets for whomever you choose.  Staci Murray is generously giving our readers a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for her shop!  Please refer to our Rafflecopter tutorial to make sure you entering correctly!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Staci Murray, Origami Owl Independent Designer, allowed us to purchase our locket at a discount in exchange for writing this review. As always, the opinions and enthusiasm are 100% my own!

Why My Children Will Never Attend a Circus

As the circus rolls into town, I thought it might be a good time to summarize my thoughts of this type of "entertainment" since I'm pretty vocal about it.  Some agree with me, some think I'm over-reacting, and some (the ones I hope to reach most through this post) just haven't thought about the implications.

I'm going to throw Ringling Brothers a bone here and say that for the purpose of this post, we will assume that the abuse recorded in 2009 is no longer happening during animal training or performances.  This is a controversial topic, but I'd like to illustrate how it is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems with circuses.  Bullhooks and chains used on elephants are just one stomach turning aspect of this business that people continue taking their children to and supporting with their money.  Don't worry, your kids probably won't see any evidence of abuse at the show anyway, since the employees cover any wounds from the bullhooks with wonder dust.  Training animals using fear and the withholding of food and water aside, let's examine the other ways that a circus is abusive to animals.

Can you imagine how you would feel if you were constantly finding yourself in unfamiliar places being made to perform tasks that made you uncomfortable in order to be able to eat?

The animals are spending countless hours in confined spaces as they travel from city to city for shows.  Highlights from a 2009 case against Ringing Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus show that the circus records prove the animals, specifically elephants, are sometimes spending 100 CONSECUTIVE hours in their railroad cars.  During this time, the animals are living in their own waste in small, loud compartments where the temperatures fluctuate to unnatural conditions.

Circuses boast the breeding success of endangered species, but the conditions provide stressed and difficult relationships between these animals, including those between mothers and babies.  Unlike zoos, any animals born into the circus life will never been released into the wild.  Their babies will be doomed to spend shortened lives performing for profit just like their parents before them.

The aspects of the performance tasks are also so unnatural.  Animals are being forced to do "tricks" that go against their instincts and body structures which is what makes the performances so "impressive."  I would much rather watch animals be animals, wouldn't you?

Vet care is not provided accurately.  Sick and injured animals are still forced to perform.  Animals die and the losses are brushed under the carpet.

It truly breaks my heart that so many families will celebrate as the train is unloaded today and the shows start this week.  As my children get older, I will explain to them why we don't pay to watch animals perform for our entertainment.  We have a choice and a voice.  The animals don't.

Cowie's Accident

Have I really never introduced you to Cowie?  That's astonishing.  Cowie is E's go-everywhere-with-us lovey.  Cowie has such a rich history, all created by E.  For example, she told the owner of Five Stone Kids that Cowie's grandparents are Scandinavian.

Sometimes Cowie is E's baby, sometimes she is four (older enough to be admirable, but still young enough to be a playmate), and often Cowie is a "brone-up" who retaliates when I reprimand E.  If I tell her she can't sit in D's bouncy seat because she is too big, she'll say, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeell (a la Antoine Dodson), Cowie has a pink and purple bouncy seat and YOU can't sit in IT."

The other day, Cowie fell down the steps.  E applied about 20 band aids and I let her, thankful for the distraction and fine motor practice it provided her.

What I failed to realize is that band aids are NOT the same as stickers (which Cowie has had applied and removed more times that I can count).

I tried to pull the band aids off gently, but I quickly realized that Cowie would be left with a Brazilian.  I had to carefully pull back the band aids and cut them off.

This was my progress halfway through.  E noticed around this time and was very concerned about the fur that Cowie was losing.  She decided that Cowie needed a break.  Thankfully Mr. SPS took over when he got home and finished the job.  Cowie is fully recovered now, but get well cards can continue to be sent c/o E.

Cloth Diapering: A Tutorial on Prepping Hemp Inserts

When we decided to start cloth diapering with mostly pocket diapers, part of the draw for me was being able to change what we stuff them with to increase absorbency at night and nap times.  Besides the microfiber inserts that the Charlie Bananas come with, we tried Babykicks hemp inserts. 

We bought a set in both medium and large.  Keep in mind that hemp will shrink significantly once prepped and washed.

The great thing about these inserts, as someone on a message board pointed out, is that while two are sewn together, if you'd like to you can carefully seam rip them apart.  So much more stuffing versatility!  

Hemp needs to be boiled (or washed separately several times in hot water and dried completely in between washes) to remove all the oils before use.  

Boil a large pot of water and add a squirt of Dawn dish soap.  

Add your hemp inserts and stir occasionally.  (If you have a gas stove, be sure not to let the water boil over or splash out.  Since it will contain oils from the hemp, it is flammable!)  I boiled mine for about 30 minutes.  Some people rinse and boil again, but I boiled once, dried in the dryer, then washed them solo once in hot water and dried again before using.

After the hemp is prepped, you can wash them with your regular diaper laundry.  I hang them with the rest of our diaper stash, but then I usually throw them in the dryer for a bit, too, because they get very stiff when they air dry.  

While I initially used the hemp only for naps and at night, I am starting to transition to using at least one hemp insert for day time diapers, as well.  We have an order in with Angel's Rainbow Bottoms for more night time absorbency solutions!  

Sweet Potato Puree for Baby

We are waiting until D is six months old to start solids (in June) but we had these yummy, local grown, organic sweet potatoes from our CSA waiting to be used up!  I just had to prep a simple baby's first puree for him to freeze for next month.

Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes.  Pierce with a fork, then rinse again.  This way a bit of water gets in the tiny holes you just made to steam the potatoes from the inside out!

Wrap with foil and bake whole at 400 degrees for an hour.  Alternatively, you could peel and cube the sweet potatoes, but that was just too much work when you see how easy this way can be!

Let cool, then unwrap, cut in half lengthwise, and scrap out the yumminess!  The skin basically peeled right off at this point.

Blend in a blender or food processor with a bit of liquid of your choice.  I used 2 oz. of breast milk to get the four small sweet potatoes to the consistency that I wanted.  

Freeze in an ice cube tray for easy portioning and blending with other foods later.  Once frozen, I pop the cubes out and transfer to a Pyrex container for freezer storage but you can use freezer bags or any containers that you typically use to freeze your food.  (We've recently decide to swap out all of our plastic storage containers fpr Pyrex!)

I asked on our Facebook page if there was interest in me writing about the foods I made for D as he starts solids and the response was overwhelming!  With E, we used the Wholesome Baby Food website as our primary resource, but we also have several baby food recipe books that I'll be sharing with you.  Just like we did with E, when we start D on solids at 6 months, I will print out this chart to put on the fridge and introduce a different fruit/veggie every 3 days to check for allergies or sensitivities.  We skip baby cereal entirely at first, adding it later when the baby is ready for more complete meals.  

Show & Tell: Jeda Symonds-Poynton, Diabetes Mom

Jeda Symonds-Poynton is my Australian friend.  She is a fellow baby loss momma, but I've asked her to come to share with us today primarily to talk about her daughter Emalee's recent diabetes diagnosis.

Jeda, can you tell everyone how we know each other?

Our angel babies bought us together. Sometimes through a tragic loss you meet some amazing people!

Who shares your life with you?

My family consists of me, my husband Anthony, our daughter Liana (10), Emalee (5), Logan (2), and Maya (1). A crazy and busy family but an amazing one!

You inspire me because you are such an advocate for your daughter Emalee who was diagnosed with diabetes. Can you talk a bit about what that has been like for you and for her?

Emalee having diabetes has changed our whole families lives! When I lost Kayla I felt like I died too.  Liana didn't just lose a sister, she also lost a mother for a while. The day Emalee was born breathing was the day I was reborn, she saved me, she fixes my broken heart and she is my hero. When Emalee was diagnosed with type 1,  it killed me all over again. I wanted to be able to fix her as she did me but there was nothing I could do.  I still cry and ask why her, why me! I just want healthy children. Emalee has 4 needles a day, 2 in the morning and 2 at night before she eats. She also has to have her finger pricked every 3 hours and it doesn't stop in the day. I also have to check her through the night every 3 hours to make sure she doesn't hypo in her sleep which can be deadly! But everyday we fight with and for her and we get better at managing it as well. It's only been 9 months since she was diagnosed but it feels like forever!

Ideally, how do you see Emalee handling her diabetes in 5 years? 10 years? How do you plan to help her accomplish this?

In 10 years from now, I'm hoping for a cure. They are saying something amazing will happen in about 5 years. We plan on doing what we are doing now! Teaching her the foods she can have and can't have too much of. She has always been an active and pretty healthy child but now sometimes we have to tell her she can't have too much of fruits as they make her sugar levels rise high so it's just all about how much she can have!

What inspires you about Emalee?

Well, I can certainly say she is stronger then me. She has taken to her new life amazingly. With her starting kindergarten this year, I really thought it would be so hard on her, but she has been so great with doing her own level testing at school.  She sees all her friends being able to go up and get whatever they want from the canteen and she knows she can't do that, but she is okay with it. When we go to birthday parties, when we tell her she has to stop eating she does. She is only 5 but my god she is so grown up. We do have our bad days and days where she doesn't want this and doesn't want that but like I said, she is 5 and kids will be kids I look at her as my inspiration!

She sounds like an amazing little girl!  Who else inspires you?

My mother inspires me. She is a very sick lady but still stands head strong. She has had many heart attacks, strokes and also suffers from MS. My whole life I've seen her work hard for my sister and I. She lives for helping others. At the moment she is waiting to have an operation on her legs as she has no circulation in her legs what so ever and lives in pain but still manages to always come over to see her grandkids. My kids are what are keeping her alive! If I can grow up and be half the mother she is then I know I have done my job.

What are your passions?

My passions- WOW, having four kids I really don't get much time to myself these days. I've been a mum since I was 17 so everything I've done has involved my children but I do love going out for dinner and watching a movie. I love going out on the weekends to families house and sitting around chatting and watching the kids play with their cousins. So I guess when it comes to it all of my passions all come back to spending time with family and my kids.


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Read more about our Show & Tell feature.

A Rafflecopter Tutorial

We've been so fortunate to be hosting giveaways every other week (at least) for our readers (with more offers coming in) so I've been using Rafflecopter to maintain the entries.  I've received questions about how to use Rafflecopter, so I am writing this tutorial to help you enter each and every giveaway we host correctly!  Let's get started!

1.  The first thing you need to do is log in!  You can either click the blue Log in w/Facebook box or the Use Your Email box below that.  This is how Rafflecopter will let me know who you are and how to contact you when you win!  

2. You can see now that we're logged in because it says, "Hi, D!" (That's me!) above the green box on the right. Let's look at the other information that we can tell from the giveaway from this picture.  At the top left, there is a countdown to let us know how much time is remaining in the giveaway.  It ends in one day and 9 hours.  In the top center, we see how many entries the contest has so far.  170 entries so this is a popular giveaway!  Then on the top right, we see how many entries you have chosen out of how many are possible per person.  This let's you know that you can put your name in the "hat" for the drawing 8 times, but you haven't completed any of them yet.  You need to click the green +1 (which means that this activity counts as one entry for you) where it says "Click to Enter."  The task that you need to complete is listed to the left.  You must be a fan of Angel's Rainbow Bottoms on Facebook.

3.  Here is what comes up when you click on the green +1.  If you aren't a fan on Facebook yet, you'll need to click LIKE under Angel's Rainbow Bottoms.  If you are already a fan, it will look like it does above with the like button grayed out since we've already become a fan.  But you still have some work to do!  It is asking you for your Facebook name, if it is different then the one you've logged in with (mine would be since Rafflecopter knows me as D and my Facebook name is my actual first and last name).  Then you MUST click the green button where it says I'm a Fan!

The great advantage of using Rafflecopter is that it will simultaneously manage two things:  It will track all of the ways you've entered, but it will also verify for me, the giveaway host, that you have done what you said you would.

So, for example, let's say when I pick a winner, the entry where you liked Angel's Rainbow Bottoms on Facebook is what is drawn from the "hat."  Then, as a responsible giveaway host, I also need to go and check to make sure that you ARE in fact, a fan of Angel's Rainbow Bottoms on Facebook.  That's why I need your Facebook name.

4.  You've now completed the mandatory entry (liking Angel's Rainbow Bottoms on Facebook) which has unlocked seven more ways for you to enter the same giveaway!  You can see at the top right that you've completed 1/8 of the potential entries so far.  Your other choices are listed here as well as how many entries they are worth to the right.  First, you can Leave a Blog Post Comment for +3 entries.  You can also share this giveaway on Facebook, Like Still Playing School on Facebook, Tweet about the Giveaway, or Follow us on Twitter.  You can stop now or you can do a few more of these activities to increase your odds of winning. We'll look closer at some of these other options.  

5.  You probably want to leave a blog post comment since that will get you the most entries, right?  You will click the +3 next to that choice and this text box will pop up.  It tells you specifically what we would like you to comment on.  For this giveaway, we'd like to know what kind of custom diaper you'd be interested in ordering.  You will click the green box that says I Commented!  WAIT!  Don't forget, you still need to go comment on the blog post.  Let's do that together.

6.  You need to scroll alllllll the way to the bottom of the post to leave a comment.  You can choose many options from the drop down box shown above.  If you have a Google account and you're signed in, that will be easiest.  You can also choose Name/URL to manual input your name for your comment.  Regardless of which way you choose, make sure you DO leave a comment using a name that I can identify you with when I'm verifying entries (anonymous is not a good idea)!  When you are done commenting, you can scroll back up to the Rafflecopter again to enter in more ways.  

7.  The last entry we'll look at together is Tweet about the Giveaway.  If you click the Tweet button (next to the number 8 which means 8 people have done this already) a tweet that I've already written about the entry will come up.  After you've tweeted, you'll have to paste in the tweet URL and Rafflecopter offers a handy tutorial about how to do that where the link says How do I find it? 

8.  To summarize, the most important thing you need to know about Rafflecopter is that you not only have to log in and let Rafflecopter know which actions you are choosing to complete to enter (by commenting, liking on Facebook, tweeting) but you also MUST then remember to go complete those actions, too.  If you don't and you are chosen to win, I won't be able to verify your entry and I'll be forced to choose a different winner.  That's just sad for both of us, isn't it?  

One last small detail about Rafflecopter: It allows me to add additional entries as the giveaway host.  That means when I occasionally offer my Facebook fans extra entries for a future giveaway (for taking a survey, proofreading a post for me, etc.) I can then manual enter them myself (which is why you should LIKE us on Facebook).  I can also delete entries that don't make sense (like if someone accidentally comments anonymously, or the entries I demoed to show you this tutorial, since I'm not going to win my own giveaway, of course)!

Any further questions?

Psst, now that you've learned all about Rafflecopter, you can enter one we're currently running only for our Facebook fans here!