LilSugar

Back-to-School Cool: 6 First-Day Outfits Under $35

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:35:48 PDT

Dress to the nines for the first day of school without breaking the bank! From school supplies to new clothes, back-to-school shopping can take a hefty chunk out of Mama's wallet, and these days that's the last thing moms want to hear. We know the first day of school is special - filled with new friends, a new classroom, and oftentimes a new outfit - but it doesn't have to send the family to the poor house.

Over the next few days, we're showing moms just how easy it is to dress a schoolyard prince and princess in a brand-new outfit at various budget levels. First up, head-to-toe outfits for under $35. Check them out!

Simple or Swank: White Lace Purses

babysugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:00:34 PDT

One way to keep mama's purse from getting too full of her mini-me's knickknacks is to give princess her very own tote. Instead of marking my wallet up with crayons, my daughter carries her wares with her wherever she goes. Spring into Summer with one of these delicate, white pocketbooks that is sure to go with any flouncy dress in her armoire.

Simple: Instead of treating the tot to an ice cream cone, use the $4 in the wallet for the zippered eyelet Children's Place purse that is reminiscent of Jackie O.

Swank: Shaped like a large coin purse, the $16 lace adorned Janie and Jack option has a clasp closure and a large bow for the tiniest of divas.

Check Out New Retailers on ShopStyle Kids!

LilSugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:00 PST

I use ShopStyle Kids, the Sugar Inc. owned search engine for children's clothes and goods, which allows you to browse and shop without ever loading the kids in the car, more than I'd like to admit so I was thrilled to hear the site has added some of my favorite brands. You can now cruise collections from Children's Place, Japanese Weekend, Tutti Bella, Crazy 8, and Janie and Jack.

The weather across the US makes it hard to tell whether to purchase Winter or Spring clothes right now, which is why I love Tutti Bella's tee shirt selection. They are perfect for layering and add a little rocker edge to your lil one's look.

Trendtotting: Pigskin Apparel

babysugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:10 PDT

Baseball is coming to a close and basketball is still in pre-season. You know what that means? Football! Lots and lots of football. Whether it's college or professional pigskin that's a household favorite, chances are someone in your house is watching a brown leather ball get tossed around a 100-yard field on Saturday, Sunday or both!

Many mamas and papas dress their mini mes up in their favorite team jerseys and encourage them to cheer the ballers on to victory. Personally, I just like to doll them up in athletic sweats that make them look sporty. Check out these bargain deals from The Children's Place. Cozied up like a lil prepster, your wee one will also have that athletic edge to him.

Trendtotting: Faux Fur and Fabulous

LilSugar — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:00:03 PST

When it comes to dressing lil ladies, faux fur is beyond fabulous! Considered a staple in the festive wardrobe, the fluffy jackets, coats, capes, shrugs, and vests move from classic to casual, pairing as well with a party dress as they do with denim. And, they are available in just about every size, color, and price range these days.

Whether your lil snow angel is heading out to holiday tea or unwrapping gifts under the tree, she's sure to be snug in fuzz.

Velvet Bow Faux Fur Coat ($25)	Faux Fur Crop Coat ($50)
Faux Fur Sweathshirt ($13)	Fashion-fur coat ($25)
Floral Embossed Faux Fur Coat ($25)	Furry hooded bomber ($50)	Quilted Faux-Fur Coat ($26)

8 Myths About Sex Differences

The Good Men Project — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:00:49 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Today, Agustín Fuentes points out that when it comes to men and women, what "everyone knows" isn’t what science shows.

Everyone knows that men and women are really different. We think differently and act differently because we are wired differently. I mean look at our brains and genitals: they are just plain different. Right?

Wrong.

What if many of the things we assume about the biology of difference are not so different at all? What if it is not our “wiring” but the ways in which our bodies and minds develop and play out in society that makes us seem so unalike? Could it be that men and women are more similar than we think?

I Dumped the Love of My Life and Now She Doesn’t Trust Me

Yes, women give birth and lactate and men do not. And yes, men are, on average, slightly larger than women and usually have greater upper body strength. There are these basic biological differences between the sexes and they are important . . . but why always focus on the differences and not the biological, and behavioral, similarities? Ahh, that would be because of gender.

Gender is a powerful reality; it is the perception and expectation of differences between males and females and it shapes both our bodies and our society. Gender differences are real and important, but they are not hard wired or even static. There is no biological or evolutionary mandate that only women really care for babies and show emotions, or that males are the best at economics and politics and prefer beers and skirt-chasing to domestic bliss. These are patterns of gender roles and expectations that shape the ways we look at our biology and behavior. They influence the way we expect the world to be. It is the strength of the societal myths about sex that fool us into thinking that men and women are so different by nature.

So let’s bust some of those myths.

Gender and sex are the same thing.

Sex and gender are interconnected, but not the same thing. Sex is a biological state that is measured via what chromosomes you have (XX or XY, usually) and aspects of your body and physiology. Gender includes the roles, expectations and perceptions that a given society has for the sexes. Most societies have two genders on a masculinity-femininity continuum. Some have more. We are born with a biological sex, but acquire gender. There is a ton of individual diversity within societies and sexes in regards to how sex and gender play out in behavior and personality.

There is an extensive body of data demonstrating this, but people interested only in specific differences between men and women choose to ignore it.

Male and female genitals are totally different.

Most people think that male and female genitals are about as different as can be: penis=male and vagina=female. But even this basic dichotomy is not quite correct: the genitals emerge from the same mass of embryonic tissue. For the first six weeks of life the tissue masses develop identically. At about 6-7 weeks, depending on whether the fetus has XX or XY chromosomes (usually), the tissues to start to differentiate. One part of the tissues begins to form the clitoris or penis and another forms the labia or scrotum. Another area begins to form into either the testes or the ovaries. This means that physiologically, male and female genitals are made of the same stuff and work in similar ways.

Male and female brains are different.

If there were really deep seated differences between male and female human behavior and biology they should show up in the brain. The genitals start in the same place and end up looking different, the brain does not. Our brains are pretty much the same. Male brains are a bit bigger than females’ (like their bodies) and females’ brains stop growing earlier than males (as with their bodies). However, whatever one may believe about other organs, in the case of healthy brains, size really does NOT matter one iota. There also might be a few differences in a small part of the brain called the straight gyrus (need more testing in this one). Other than these minor aspects there are no consistent and replicated reliable differences in male and female brains; it is a human brain . . . but how we use it is another matter.

Hormones make the difference.

Everyone thinks that males and females have different hormones . . . testosterone for men and estrogen for women. Nope, all the actual hormones in males and females are the same: there are no male-only or female-only hormones. Both men and women can get a flood of testosterone when they get into a fight or take part in an exhilarating sports match. Both men and women can get a flood of oxytocin and prolactin when they pick up a newborn baby. There can be differences in the levels, patterns, and impacts of some of these hormones in male and female bodies, but individual variation is often more important than the variation between the sexes.

Keep reading for the rest.

Band-Aid Magic Vision: Ga Ga or Gag?

Rebecca M Gruber — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:04:28 PDT

Like most tots, my lil ones have a bit of an obsession with bandages - one slight scrape and they're begging me to fix it up. Some of that is probably the fun characters they get to place on the boo-boo, but I have a feeling more of it has to do with the attention they receive. Imagine how they would react if it was none other than Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, or Miss Piggy calming them down?

Band-Aid Brand just introduced Band-Aid Magic Vision, a bandage that works in conjunction with a free iPhone app to help soothe injured kids. Here's how it works: Apply a bandage to an injured child (it can even be a pretend injury, if your kids are prone to inventing cuts and bruises the way mine are), and then point an iPhone or iPad loaded with the app at the bandage. The app then allows kids to interact with one of the three Muppet characters as they comfort the kids. Your children can pose with Miss Piggy on a runway, help Gonzo with one of his crazy daredevil acts, or swing with Kermit as he sings "Rainbow Connection." They can also photograph themselves interacting with the characters, and that sounds like just the cure tots need when they're facing noncritical injuries. What do you think?

Space-Saving Decor Tips For Kids' Rooms From Design Expert Kelly Edwards

Lisa Horten — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:40:01 PDT

We recently caught up with design expert Kelly Edwards, who has been featured on HGTV's Design on a Dime and Style Network's Tacky House for her scrappy style and ability to transform ordinary rooms into incredible spaces, even on a budget. Kelly's decorating and design expertise apply to any room in the house, but we were eager to hear her ideas specifically for lil ones, and she didn't disappoint! Read on for five of Kelly's best tips for making your kids' rooms organized, creative, and playful spaces that can grow along with them.

Kelly Edwards's 5 Pieces of Design Advice That Every Mom Can Put to Use

On Space Saving and Storage: Look for furniture pieces that your kids are going to grow into. Stay away from the typical bins and baskets, and instead opt for some really cool furniture for a more put-together look. Whether it's a midcentury modern credenza that's been in your family for years or a thrift-shop find, not all furniture has to scream "kids!"
On Coordinating With the Rest of Your Home: Your kids' rooms are where you can really have some fun. Visitors will judge your home on your kitchen and your bathroom. They're not the ones spending time in the bedrooms, you and your children are. Turn their rooms into places for creativity, and don't be afraid to try out that fun paint color.
On Trends: Remember, it's just $20 or so for a can of paint, so wall colors are a great place to try out a trend like neon. If that scares you, get a giant canvas, and paint that instead of the wall. Tack their artwork up on it. It'll add a splash of color to the room without your having to worry about repainting.
On Making the Most of Small Spaces: Look for ottomans with removable tops - you can stash everything in there! In a nursery that doubles as a guest room, put a twin bed in there along with your crib, but be sure to buy an upholstered box spring with drawers built in, so that you have extra storage without the boxes and bins showing.
On DIY With Kids: A fun DIY project that your kids can partake in is to find an old TV armoire and paint it with chalkboard paint, which you can either buy at the store or make yourself by mixing a cup of latex paint with two tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. The armoire becomes a great storage piece, and the chalkboard paint turns it into a piece of furniture that they can really have fun with.

Easy Ways to Get More From Your Food Budget

LearnVest — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:48 PDT

Go the extra mile with your food budget with these tips from LearnVest.

For years, many people - my husband, mom, sister and even my son - told me to stop wasting so much food.

Throwing away half a piece of chicken here or a handful of grapes there never seemed like such a big deal to me. If I was full or no longer in the mood for that particular food, then I had no problem tossing it.

That is, until I experienced a bad case of sticker shock during a recent trip to the supermarket. The cost of bread, eggs, fish - basically everything I was purchasing - had increased. And, according to the USDA, we can expect prices to rise even higher this year.

As I forked over my money and left with only a handful of bags, I realized just how important it is for me to pay more attention to what I spend on food . . . and to confront how much of it I shove down the garbage disposal.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with wasteful ways. In 2010, 33 million tons of food was thrown away, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Obviously, wasted food means wasted money, but figuring out how to make your grocery budget go further can be a challenge.

To keep more food in your fridge (and more money in your pocket), try these expert tips.

1. Ward Against Freezer Burn

Those large bags or packages of frozen veggies or meat come in handy when you have a large family, but "each time you open a bag of frozen food, air gets in and will cause freezer burn within two to three weeks," says consumer saving expert Andrea Woroch. Freezer burn will dry out the meat and make it less tasty. Woroch suggests going small.

Read on for more.

8 Things You Think Are Good for Your Money . . . That Aren't

LearnVest — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:03:23 PDT

You may be wasting money when you think you're saving. LearnVest shares eight of the biggest money misconceptions.

Frugalista. Recessionista. In the past few years, people have coined a lot of silly words describing women and their approach to money, but the thought behind each of them is the same: You care about your hard-earned dollars and want to make them stretch.

That's true of most of us: We scrimp, we pinch, we try to feed our proverbial piggy bank as much as possible. Yet sometimes, in our excitement to be financial overachievers, we overreach.

It turns out there are a number of things that sound like they'd be doing good things for your money, and make you feel like you're saving more . . . when, actually, they're having the opposite effect.

Paying Every Debt Equally

When you have multiple debts to pay off (a credit card here, a student loan there) you might feel like a rock star simply for keeping up with them all and dividing your attention in a lot of different directions. Which, in a sense, you are! After all, you should always pay at least the minimums on all your loans.

But, if you have extra money to pay down your debts, you’re doing yourself a disservice by dividing it equally. The debts with the highest interest rates grow the fastest, so you should focus your muscle on the most toxic debts first.

Read on for more.