Lavender Llama Momma Scarf Review

It’s that time of year.

I have broken out my boots and scarves.
Sweaters and sweatshirts.
Fuzzy socks and slippers.
By the end of the night I’m chilly and you can usually find me 

curled up on the couch under a nice warm blanket.

I love scarves.
They’re a quick, fun accessory that also help keep you warmer.
I wear scarves a lot as I tend to keep my hair short or have it up in a ponytail which means my neck is exposed to the cold air.

I was looking around at some of my favorite online shops and came across Lavender Llama Momma Scarf.First I was in love with all of the beautiful colors. 

I mean just look at all of these beauties!

Then I read how this scarf can serve many purposes.
Besides being a beautiful scarf for mom it can also be a swaddling blanket, nursing cover, burp cloth, car seat/stroller cover, crib sheet, changing mat, and a tummy time blanket! It’s a generous size at 47x47” and I was afraid it would feel too bulky around my neck with how much fabric is there. I have to say though that I honestly LOVE wearing this scarf and I wish I had this when my oldest was a baby. I couldn’t decide what color I wanted so Sara surprised me. I had it narrowed down between Teagan, Quinn, or Harper. I was sent beautiful Harper for me to test out and review.

As a new mom I regularly forgot to bring a light weight blanket with us 

or I would forget my nursing cover.
Ok, let’s be real here I’m a seasoned mom now and I STILL forget those things!
Just before I received my scarf in the mail, we were at a friend’s house and I was getting ready to nurse Bug. I realized I didn’t have a blanket or cover. I grabbed a blanket that was laying around but it was one of the other kid’s special blankeys that they can’t sleep without. This has happened more times than I care to admit. I usually end up using my sweater or I go hide off in another room.

The dual-layer muslin fabric is lightweight and soft yet provides warmth on a chilly day.
While I don’t have babies that need to be swaddled I could see that this would be the perfect size to swaddle a little love. You wouldn’t have to worry about baby overheating as it’s so light and has wonderful breathability.
I was never able to swaddle either of my kids as they would fight to free themselves and receiving blankets were just not big enough to do the job. I love this as a nursing cover.
I’m able to tuck it behind my shoulder and be adequately covered all while Bug likes to try and pull it off of us.

Monkey calls this “the scarf blankey” and he uses it as a blanket every chance he gets.
The day I received this in the mail he ran off with it as soon as I got the few pictures I was able to.
He then toted it around like Linus minus the thumb sucking.
He even stole it for 3 days and slept with it in his bed!

Then Bug finally got a hold of it.
He attempted to wear it, then it was a blanket to sit on for a snack, and later to cuddle with.

We get together with some friends on a regular basis. We always put the kids to bed and then the adults can have some time to visit and hang out. On our way home Monkey always wants a blanket and I usually end up giving him my sweater or coat to use, leaving me cold. This time though I was able to give him my Lavender Llama scarf. The only problem is that both of my boys love it and end up fighting over it. Guess I’ll just have to get another one!

Another thing I could see this would be wonderful for is babies with separation anxiety.
Monkey was a terrible sleeper as a newborn as he had separation anxiety. I couldn’t get him to sleep in his cradle at all. Then one night after he fell asleep laying on my side of the bed without me right next to him I had an idea. I decided to put my pillow case on his cradle mattress. It worked wonders. Having mommy’s scent close by is such a huge comfort to babies. Since mom wears this item it’s going to take on her comforting scent which could make being left with a babysitter easier for a few hours as they can still feel like they have mom close by.

I honestly really love this scarf. I wish I’d had this when Monkey was a baby. I must confess I have even used it as a blanket a couple of chilly mornings while relaxing with my kiddos.

It's also hand-dyed, packaged, and was designed here in the USA. I feel this is completely worth the $22 and I will hopefully be getting a second one in the near future.

You can purchase your very own "scarf blankey" at
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LavenderLlamaMomma

Sara from Lavender Llama is giving a reader the chance to win one in the #OnTheGo Giveaway! Go HERE to enter to win your very own Lavender Llama Scarf in the color of your choice along with lots of other wonderful prizes!

Woolzies Dryer Balls Review

I recently told you all how much I dislike laundry and what I do to help keep it at bay.
But I need to add in one more thing; why does it have to take so long for laundry to dry?!
Also why do we use so many chemicals to "clean" our clothes?

I remember as a little girl my grandmother grating bars of Fels Naptha with her cheese grater to wash her laundry in a washer, which no joke, looked like this:

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She had two rinse basins and hand fed the clothes through the wringer.

After personally spending 2 months having to hand wash all of my clothes while in Africa, I have a new found appreciation for the modern form of laundry (even if I still dislike it.)

For a long time I just bought liquid laundry soap and dryer sheets but then I had our first son who had a lot of skin issues. I began seeing homemade laundry soap recipes on the net and asked my husband if he would mind if I tried making it. I began making laundry soap and noticed our son's skin clearing up a lot. Plus it was saving us money and lasting so much longer. But I was still using dryer sheets and he still had bad patches of skin.

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I was given the opportunity to try using Woolzies Dryer Balls.

I remember my mom using a plastic version of dryer balls when I was younger and they didn't seem to really help a whole lot. The clothes maybe took a little less time to dry but man they still zapped you like crazy!

Needless to say I was actually very skeptical about wool dryer balls. But with cloth diapering and constantly having to triple check that there were no dryer sheets hiding before drying my diapers I figured it was worth trying.

It took some practice to figure out how long I needed to dry my clothes as they truly did cut down on the dry time. Over dried clothes=static cling zap galore! As fun as it is to watch someone pull a fleece blanket and a fuzzy sweater apart in the dark, being the one to pull them apart and get zapped is not as fun. Once I figured out about what my drying time needed to be, I truly did notice a big difference in the static! 

After using them for a little while I noticed they didn't seem to be doing as good of a job at reducing static but I thought I read something about it on the package. Sure enough when I looked at the box again (yes, I still had it.... Don't judge!) I saw on the side of the package that you can put one dryer ball through a wash cycle with your regular clothes inside of a sock and it will reduce static again like before. I tried it and it really did work! 

As you can see from the pictures above they do vary in size and shape because they are handmade! It doesn't change how effective they are though. According to the Woolzie's website they are also safe to use even if you have a wool allergy. 

"Q: If I have an allergy to wool, can I still use WOOLZIES?

A: Yes! Absolutely! Since the wool is not directly touching your skin and does not shed,
everyone can use WOOLZIES without any allergic reactions."

I did notice that they made a little more noise than my laundry before but I got use to it really quickly and honestly all of the snaps on my little love's onesies make way more noise than these dryer balls. They're nowhere near the noise the plastic ones my mom used or the sound of using a tennis ball. Plus there is no plastic or any sort of harsh chemicals used in Woolzies dryer balls so they're safe to use for the whole family, and your cloth diapers!

If you miss the smell the fabric softeners left behind Woolzies recommends after your laundry is dried to apply some essential oils to a couple of balls and air fluff your laundry for 10 minutes. It'll still give your clothes the great smell you love without chemicals, residues, or possibly making it so our precious children's jammies are no longer fire retardant.  

The only other minor complaint is that they do a really great job of hiding in your laundry. My husband has several times gone to put on a pair of his work pants only to find he had a dryer ball in his pocket. Sometimes they also find their way into my son's pant legs. Before I changed how I fold laundry (you know...just throwing them all in hampers vs folding them right out of the dryer) I would constantly be missing a dryer ball or two. However, if you do put the laundry into hampers to take them into another room for folding, just take a small handful of clothes at a time and give a slight shake. They'll either fall right out, you won’t grab them at all, or you'll feel the difference of them being in there. Not a big deal.

Overall I think Woolzies dryer balls are wonderful. I can confidently say they have reduced the drying time and static better than dryer sheets ever did. I love that I know exactly what is coming into contact with our clothes, that I don't have to worry about ruining cloth diapers, and the money they're saving our family.  I honestly believe they're worth the $34.95 you would pay for 6 extra-large dryer balls.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Woolzies guarantees their dryer balls to last for 1,000 loads or your money back! I personally have been using them since approximately February. I figured out I have done about 200 loads of laundry since I started using them. They're holding up very well and still have a lot of life left to them. I wanted to compare how much they are vs a traditional dryer sheet.  Dryer sheets vary greatly in price from $24.89-$67.25 (not including applicable tax). I totaled how much each would cost to have a total of 1000 dryer sheets. Meaning you could only use one dryer sheet per load of laundry to get the same amount of use out of all of those boxes of dryer sheets as you are guaranteed with Woolzies. So dryer sheets are $0.03-$0.07 per sheet. A set of 6 dryer balls are $0.04 for 1000 loads. Price wise they are actually on the low end and I'm not even going try and factor in the gas or electric savings by reduced dry times! And honestly...I never only used one dryer sheet per load of laundry. 

You can buy them either via Woolzies' Website, at select national retailers, or via Amazon.com. Be sure to come back here everyday from October 1st-15th for your chance to win a pack of your own!