Smart Product

Below are the CPSC recalls issued since Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Drop-side crib, kids jewelry and more make out this week’s list.
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Sport Cap 2.0 water bottle spouts
Hazard: The water bottle spouts can break or crack, posing a choking hazard to children and adults.
Description: The Sport Cap …

I was Tech Savvy Mama’s guest poster recently!  Did you get a chance to read the posting?  If you didn’t, you must!  http://www.techsavvymama.com/2010/05/tech-savvy-guest-caroline-from-smarty.html I highlighted two money saving websites that I believe all Smart Mamas should frequent.  I discuss how The Grocery Game has saved me over $4000 in just over 12 months and how Baby Cheapskate taught me how to buy baby food for 2 cents!
In the coming weeks I look forward to sharing the details on how I have made The Grocery Game (www.TheGroceryGame.com) work for me. I currently devote 15 minutes each Sunday to save my family thousands a year! Are you a Grocery Gamer?  Has it proven successful for your family? I would love to hear real stories from real mommies on how it has worked or not worked.  Please post a comment or send me an

This month is PGA Free Lesson Month! What does this mean to you? Well, throughout this month you and the family can take advantage of free family golf clinics by a PGA professional!  Yes, I said FREE!
This past weekend the three of us headed over to the renowned Biltmore Golf Course at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL.  We thoroughly enjoyed a 30-minute (10 for each) lesson by John Pallot of the John Pallot Golf Academy.  These lessons normally run over $100 per hour.
John met us at the Pro Shop and invited us to follow him by golf cart to an area of the driving range.  My daughter was is HEAVEN driving around in the cart.
I had the 1st lesson; I am a beginner.  John patiently showed me the proper grip and explained the difference between the different irons.  My swing was horrendous but by the …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 28, 2010.  Sweatshirts, bathing suits and more make out this week’s list.
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!

Name of Product: Buoyancy Compensators used for Scuba …

Winner:  Julie L who said the she’s a FB Fan!
Congrats Julie!

Win a 10-pack Personalized Butterflies Notecards by Dirtroad Sisters!
As we celebrate spring and look forward to summer, pen your notes on a set of Dirtroad Sisters (DirtroadSisters.com) fanciful note cards with bright and patterned butterflies fluttering across the white royal linen paper. This giveaway also includes a set of 10 folded notes with envelopes of your choice (white, pale blue, red)  Retail Value:  $15

To enter the giveaway:

Fan/Like my Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/SmartyPantsMama (1 comment entry)
Leave a comment on Facebook letting me know you really want to win the notecards! (1 comment entry)
Follow me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/smartypantsmama (1 comment entry)
Post this on Twitter: Win personalized notecards from @SmartyPantsMama http://bit.ly/b0zHhm (1 comment per day)
Visit DirtroadSisters.com and pick out your favorite stationery pattern. (1 comment)

Giveaway …

What a great honor! This weekend SmartyPantsMama.com was selected as the Today’s Most Loved Site at SiteJabber.com!  Woo Hoo! SiteJabber is a site that I am certain many moms already use.  If you haven’t yet, you must!  It is “a consumer protection service which helps people avoid fraudulent websites and find good ones.”  Essentially, it is a superb online tool to get consumer advice from other moms and dad on all sorts of webpages.
I have used SiteJabber in the past to learn what websites are valuable to other consumers, in hopes of finding a site that would similarly be helpful to me as a mom. Thus far, I have found tons of sites for my daughter and a number of great recipe sites for me!  There are thousands of sites already reviewed, with many more waiting to get their 1st review.  Do you …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 21, 2010.  A few hooded sweatshirts, a portable DVD and a Step2 play drum are certainly kid items that you may find in your home.
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 14, 2010.  Just three this week!  Of course there’s another sweatshirt with drawstrings are being recalled.  {annoyed!}
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Mares Nemo Air Dive Computers
Hazard: An O-ring in the high pressure air …

Wondering about Wonder Hanger?
Congratulations to Angi from timandangi.com/blog for winning her own Wonder Hanger!  She commented that, “We could really use these in our boys closet. It’s so tiny and they have so much stuff to hang.”  I am so excited for her to see the wonders of Wonder Hanger in her boys’ closet!
Yes, we’ve all seen it on TV.  The miraculous Wonder Hangar that claims to:

Triple closet space
Keep clothing organized
Keep clothing wrinkle free

I was intrigued. Would the Wonder Hangar actually work in my closet?  Mind you, my closet would never make the cover of any “organized mom” magazine!  It’s on my list of things to do, I swear!
Anyway, I wasn’t hopeful that it would work, but I put together the 8 hangars to give it a shot. Nothing to lose, right?  I decided to try it on Smarty Pants Dad’s side.  (Yes, I was not …

Once upon a time there were three little pigs.  The first little pig built his house of …
I am certain each of you, and your munchkins, can finish the story.  It’s a story that has been retold orally and in books from as far back as the 1840s!
I challenge you to use the storyline that we all know so well of The Three Little Pigs to introduce a new story and new vocabulary to your preschooler/elementary aged little one.  The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell is a great start.  With the great familiarity of the “pigs” storyline, your child will be quick to understand the story (what happens first, second…) as new words are introduced with this rather hilarious Southwestern variation.  A conversation about straw and bricks will easily be replaced with adobe bricks and tumbleweeds.  You can …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 7, 2010.  Guess what we’re seeing again????  That’s right, mores sweatshirts with drawstrings are being recalled.  {annoyed!}
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Decorative Wood Chests and Tables
Hazard: The surface coating paint …

Congratulations to Gigi!  She is the fabulous winner of theCLIF ZBar and Twisted Fruit Assortment Box! 
Woo Hoo!
Thanks to the so many readers for entering!
 
PR:  I will host Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Summer Blast, 4 of July, & Back to School blog parties.  I am looking for products that would be a good match for the parties to be offered to readers as a giveaway prize.  Please contact me, following the directions here, to submit your product for consideration.

I honestly laughed when I received the Le Baby Hair Gel as a sample.  I thought, who on earth considers putting hair gel on a littleone’s hair?  When I posed this comical question to some mommy friends, they looked at me, with an odd look, explaining that they have been using some sort of gel in their child’s hair (girl and boy) since they were itty bitty.  Could this explain why they children’s hair always looks combed and nice, while Isa’s tends to have a more spastic, frizzy look?  Should I have been using hair gel all his time?  Apparently!  Well, the two mommies, Michelle and Carmen, had big eyes when I took out the Le Baby Hair Gel.  They nearly fought over who got to check it out first!  There were honest, “Wows” and “This is great!” coming from them. Carmen explained that for her daughter’s super …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, March 31, 2010.  MORE sweatshirts with drawstrings are being recalled.  {frustrated!} Again, Burlington Coat Factory has recalled items.  Please think twice when shopping in that store!
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!

Name of Product: Indoor and Outdoor Extension Cords and Power Strips

     Picky eater in this house!  How about yours? 
I was provided with a sampling of both the CLIF Organic Twisted Fruit & CLIF Organic Z-Bars.  Here’s what I think:
The CLIF Organic Twisted Fruitare tasty and nutritious!  These fruit snacks come in 6 different flavors, increasing the chances of satisfying the pickiest of eaters!  Each snack is equal to one serving of fruit!  How great is that!  Last week, as a change from the standard snack of fishies or cheese sticks, I shared the CLIF Organic Twisted Fruit with Isabella’s playgroup.  See first hand what they thought:
 
Next up was the CLIF Organic ZBars.  We tried them out on the way home from the park and they were lovedby my daughter!  Isabella enjoys “bars” for snack with a stash of NutriGrain or its store brand version always filling the pockets of my bag.  While these bars are yummy and offer …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, March 24, 2010.  Guess what? Yet MORE sweatshirts with drawstrings being recalled.  {rolling my eyes} Additionally, Burlington Coat Factory seems to be the leader of the pack on retailers who attempt to sell this illegal item. 
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of …

                    
I was given the opportunity to try out Scent of a Name, a unique personalized perfume.  Recently my munchkin Isabella was my product tester.  Enjoy the video of Isabella and her doll getting all perfumed up!
I believe that Scent of a Name makes a perfect gift for girls, especially in that “princess” dress-upstage.  We already have every princess gown imaginable, tiaras, high heels, you name it. But, there is one thing, beyond her goodie-bag sized Hello Kitty perfume, that has been missing until now in her princess vanity – her very own personalized perfume!  For just $7 this roll-on perfume is a just what the little princess in your kingdom needs!!
To learn more about this product, visit RosemarysScents.com

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Another hooded sweatshirt recall and a number of children related recalls.
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Remote Control Kits for Electric Fireplaces and Stoves
Hazard: The plug-in wall unit can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard …

Smart Mamas:  Please review this important safety warning about using sling baby carriers with babies. Three babies died just last year from being in a baby carrier the incorrect way.  Below is an easy to understand illustration by the CPSC.  Review the illustration and read the more detailed warning at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10165.html

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Please promise me that if you ever design sweatshirts for children, you will NOTinclude a drawstring around the neck!  The most common recalls issued by the CPSC  are clothing items that pose a strangulation hazard to children.  It seems so obvious to me, yet every week we see more and more items recalled.  Makes me proud of the CPSC for catching the items, but super frustrated with the designers and distributors for creating such safety hazards for children.  Can you tell I’m annoyed? 
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find …

Watch my review!
Where can I buy it?  Retail stores in North America such as, Office Depot, Best Buy, Ace Hardware, Hastings, Zellers, Wal-mart Canada, Canadian Tire, Giant Eagle, Loblaws, Fingerhut, RadioShack, The Home Shopping Network, The Shopping Channel, ThinkGeek.com, and many more shops coming soon this fall including Bed Bath and Beyond & The Container Store.
How much? $4.99 for the 2.65 oz package (great price!)
Where can I win one?  Here!
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Entry #1 What are you most excited to clean with CyberClean? Visit cyberclean.tv to get ideas! Share as a comment.
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Got crumbs in your keyboard? Win CyberClean to pull the dirt out! To enter go to:

 
 
 
 
Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, March 3, 2010. Once again I’m seeing recalls for hooded sweatshirts. Childrens’ hooded sweatshirts are frequently recalled due to drawstrings around the neck. The drawstring poses a tremendous strangulation risk to children.
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name …

Each Wednesday I provide readers with a detailed list, including photo and sold at locations, of the most recent CPSC product recalls.  All information comes directly from the CPSC website.
Previous postings can be found below:
March 3, 2010: Scotsman® Commercial Modular Cube Ice Machines, Scooby Doo, Tweety and Batman Fork and Spoon Sets,Lutron and Meijer Roman Shades
February 24, 2010: Martha Stewart Collection® Enameled Steel Kettle, Hooded Sweatshirts w/ Drawstrings, Pumptec Electric Motor Controllers Submersible
September 30, 2009: Flame Guards on Clear-Vu® Torch Fuel Containers, Single and Double “Parachute” Hammocks & Wooden Bunk Beds
September23, 2009: Trudeau Garlic Duo Slicers and Clarks® children’s shoes
September 9, 2009: Children’s Animal Masks and Pendants, & 10 Speed SRAM Bicycle Chains with PowerLock connector links
September 2, …

Oh, why do I love Color Wonder???  Let’s just say that the dining room table and chair
would look much different than they did tonight when I found Isabella “making a picture” when I was cooking.  I thought she was coloring and when she suddenly mentions that the “painting” was looking great!  Surprise, surprise, I FREAKED knowing she was sitting in the dining room, quickly envisioning the colors of the rainbow decorating my table, chairs and floor.  Before the true freak out I made a HUGE sigh when I realized she was painting with Crayola Color Wonder!!!
If you don’t have Color Wonder in your home with children, stop reading this and go out and buy it! It will save your sanity, I swear, when the painters are making their masterpieces. Color Wonder is a “magical”  clear paint that does not make any marks on anything but the special Color Wonder paper. 
 
This is not …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, February 24, 2010. There are 2 recalls for roman shades. Roman shades pose a strangulation hazard with children. There is a recall for a children’s fork and spoon set that was sold at Dollar Tree stores in January. The prongs of the fork can snap and potentially cause a choking hazard. Please review this listing of recalls and see if you have any items mentioned.
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!

Name of Product: Scotsman® Commercial Modular Cube Ice Machines (Modular Cubers)
Hazard: The solenoid, an electrical component …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, February 17, 2010. Again I’m seeing recalls for hooded sweatshirts. At least once a month childrens’ hooded sweatshirts are recalled due to drawstrings around the neck. The drawstring poses a tremendous strangulation risk to children.
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines (pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts. Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please …