Happy Holidays

So the holiday season has begun. Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is on it's way, and before you know it the winter holidays will be upon us. And apparently snow is predicted for Friday (glad I'll be in Texas for the weekend!).

Are you ready? Why not reduce your stress level and start buying early. I actually squirrel things away in my closet all year long and then see what else I need about this time of year--those new "likes" and big buys. And I would say that a good portion of what I buy comes from resale stores, some of it still brand new. Of course, the younger kids don't know the difference between new and used, and the older kids don't really care as long as it is something they like. If you start early and put your name on the Wish List, you can save a bundle of money.

We're getting ready for the holidays as well. All our holiday-wear is going out on the floor. We have put some absolutely adorable dresses on the racks! And we have all sorts of really cute stocking stuffers, including wood pencil sharpeners and matching pencils, wind-up toys, tops, mini-Slinkys, Silly Putty, and Christmas Duckies (the old-fashioned real rubber kind).

So why wait? Come on in for some holiday shopping, put your name on our Wish List if there's something in particular you are looking for, and then you can relax and enjoy the holiday season!

BLOG DEAL DAY

Blog Deal Day

Thursday, October 28th

Get the deal a couple of days early:

$5 off any purchase of $25 or more

Just let us know you saw it on the blog!

Local Suppliers

Did you know that some of our new items are made by local moms? We are happy to be able to offer our customers home-grown merchandise. Here are the local items we currently have in stock:

We are now proud to carry the book Ecofrugal Baby: How to Save 70% Off Baby's First Year by Laura K. Cowan. When Laura decided to become a stay-at-home mom and was concerned about spending the average $10,000 for baby's first year, she worked hard to cut costs. This book is the fruit of her efforts. She shares with readers all her tips for saving money without sacrificing quality or safety. The book includes cheat sheets after each chapter, baby gear checklist, and cost calculator. The cost of the book is $19.99, which seems a small sum to pay for information that could save a new parent up to $7,000!

Sheila Tidwell makes our Bowlicious Bows that are displayed at our counter. Her bows and ponytail holders come in all colors and sizes and run $2.99 for the itty bitty baby hair clips to $6.99 for the larger, more complicated big girl clips. She is so creative in how she combines patterns and textures. You could find something to match any outfit, and if you don't see what you want, she is happy to make custom clip.

Blossoms bows by Megan Traynor are unique hand-made bows that are designed to either be worn directly in the hair or on a headband. The headbands are $4.00. Baby clips are $5.oo for a pair and a pair of big girl bows are $6.99. Her round, button bows are $6.oo and the other bows that work with the headbands are $5.oo.

Janie Richardson has created adorable Felt Clips in a variety of colors and for various occasions. Right now we have Halloween and Apple Clips displayed. There are also cupcakes, butterflies, and flowers. Who can resist when small clips are only $1.99 and bigger clips are $2.99.

And one of our newest consignors, Andrea Klooster, makes Precious Impressions hair clips. They are for sure absolutely precious. The tiny, detailed clips are perfect for babies run $2.49 to $3.49.

Add that extra-special touch to any gift. Jeralyn Grossman has handmade some of the cutest Gift Cards I have ever seen. They are perfect for occasions such as baby showers, birthdays, and graduations. And so you can write your own, personal message, the inside is blank. the cards are $3.95 each.

Trying Something New

We're always looking for new ways to help our customers here at Grow With Me. And we do listen to what you have to say. So here are a couple of ideas we are going to give a try:

We are going to start posting more regularly on our Facebook site. Unless it gets overwhelmingly busy, which does occasionally happen, we're going to let you know what great stuff is coming in as we're receiving it. Feel free to post on our page or email us or give us a call if you want to put an item on hold. We can hold things for up to 48 hrs. We may even try some last minute Facebook Deals. So stay tuned!

And we heard you. You all love coupons! So for those of you on our email list, we will be including coupons from time to time. So keep a look out for those as well.

If you haven't put in your two cents about a meeting space for mom's groups here in the store, make sure you head over to our facebook page and give us your thoughts!

We're really excited about these new developments and we hope you will be too. Always free to let us know what you think. You can leave us comments on our Facebook page or on our Blog or you can send us an email. We love to hear from you!

Fabulous New Finds

It must be time to start thinking about Halloween because we have been getting a lot of new costumes in this week. If you don't want to make the trip in to check for a particular costume, feel free to give us a call. We'll be happy to take a look for you. And besides costumes, here's some of the new stuff we have in right now:

*Jeep Overland Jogging Stroller

*Jeep Wagoneer Tandem Stroller

*Evenflo Exersaucer

*Ikea Toddler Bed

*Graco Travel Lite Pack & Play

*Fisher Price Aquarium Cradle Swing

*Germ Guardian Nursery Sanitizer

*Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder (new in package)

*Hearthsong Dollhouse Mansion

*Thomas Train Tracks and Trains

*Playskool Clipo Creativity Table

*Fisher Price Toy Washer

*Gross Out Doodle Monster

*Designer Girl Doll

*Wood Easel Paper Roller

*idog with Case

Homemade Halloween Costumes

We have a great assortment of Halloween costumes to choose from, although they've been going fast. But have you considered trying to make your own this year? Of course some costumes are more difficult than others to create from scratch, but here's what we get out of making our own costumes in our house:

*It's a great way to spend some time together

*When the kids help out it really gets their creative juices flowing

*And then they feel so proud of themselves when they get to wear the costume that they helped to create

*It can be much cheaper than buying a costume

*Buying used items to make costumes is Green

*It is just plain fun!

Some of the easiest costumes to make include ghost (of course), clown, cowboy, princess, ballerina, fairy, witch, train engineer, scarecrow, cat, bunny, spider, bee, 60's, 70's, or 80's outfit, geek (no offense), or snowman. But what you can come up with is really endless. Last year we managed to put together a Jo from Little Women costume and a very scary monster. The coolest thing about making your own costumes is that if you do it year after year, eventually your kids will think up all kinds of interesting ideas on their own as they get older. Although a little gruesome, a couple of years ago my daughter decided she was going to be some kind of drowned ghost and instructed me to buy a white dress. I found the dress at a resale shop for a few dollars. She rolled around in the mud in the dress, put leaves and fake seaweed in her hair and painted her face white. And we were both happy.

So google "making your own Halloween costume" and then come on by for some of your materials. You can find some fabulously cheap clothing to cut up or roll in the mud in our Second Bloom Room where everything is $1!

New Stuff

So I'll get right to the point this week--we have some great new stuff right now! Here are some of the items you might be interested in:

*Peg Perego Prima Papa High Chair
*Combi Trevi High Chair

*Kolcraft Cuddle N Care Rocking Bassinet

*Tiny Love Gymini Activity Mat

*Munchkin Fresh Feeding Set

*Summer Positioner with Heartbeat

*Born Free The Smart Glass Bottle

*Summer Bed Rails

*Infantino Mobile

*Cars Ride-On Car

*Schylling Junior Chef Set

*Summer Fun Jr. Skateboard

*Little People Circus Set

*Tonka Race Track

*Franklin Foam Teeball Set

*Fisher Price Activity Table

*Wooden Rocking Horse