Pickles & Paisleys Blog

A Blogtastic Extravaganza! With Paper Coterie

Posted on 16 August 2011 | 82 responses

Welcome to Pickles & Paisley’s nook of ABE! Today I am giving away 10 $40 gift codes PLUS free shipping to the FABULOUS Paper Coterie! I met them at BlogHer, and let me tell you… They are so super nice and their product is even better. I came home with cards, a journal, and even had a chance to review a personalized growth chart with Austin’s name & picture on it! It sticks to the wall, which is SO COOL, but since I’m not planning on being where we are for much longer, I am just going to hang it somehow so I can take it down easily. You *CAN* restick them {so if you’re rearranging your kid’s bedroom, you can move it) but what am I going to stick it on whenever I move, kwim? So I think I’ll just keep it on it’s paper for now :)

He’s cute. I know it.

Paper Coterie also sells journals, address books, calendars, memory boxes, and so much more. They’re so affordable and really adorable.

Thanks to ABE & Paper Coterie 10 of you will win $40 toward Paper Coterie. They are celebrating “Begin Anywhere” month in August. They “want to invite you into their world to browse, learn something new, and be inspired! While you’re there you can experience their inspiring chat with NY Times best-selling author, Kelly Corrigan, and enter to win signed copies of her book, Lift. And because they want you to stay awhile, they’re extending a special offer throughout the entire month of August.”

So take a look around and enter here to win!

What’s Your Living Room Style?!

Posted on 5 July 2011 | 3 responses

Like I’ve said countless times before, I LOVED my old apartment. It was so ME and I had it decorated almost exactly how I wanted it. I live in Charleston, SC {right by the beach!} so I had a bright/southern/beachy/Carolina look going on, and *I* think it was fabulous ;)

One thing I did lack was a coffee table. We had one just like a winsome solid wood coffee table but *ours* was huge and took up a lot of space and I wanted more room for Austin to play on the floor. So we took it out, and it wasn’t too bad actually! But now that he is older, I could probably definitely get one {when I get my own place…}.

But keeping up with my old decor is super important to me. Every time I open my storage building I get really sad and wish I could hang my pictures and look at the every day. So finding something that totally matches my taste and decor is vital. Also, may be round coffee tables would be best for toddler heads and mommy knees? LOVING this one!

It looks perfect! I want it now. LOL. I’ll stuff it in the storage unit with all my other stuff!

What style living room do you LOVE?!

Chuggington Train Set Review & Giveaway!

Posted on 25 June 2011 | 112 responses

Austin is 19 months old this week *sniff sniff* and his interests change all the time. But we got him a train table a few months ago and he LOVES it! So do I! I like to set up my old school Polly Pockets and pretend the trains are going through the PP city… BUT ANYWAYS…

Chuggington is a show on Disney that I really like. They are way less creepy than other train shows I’ve seen, if you know who I mean… Actually they aren’t creepy at all, they’re really cute. I LOVE Koko!!! Learning Curve came out with a TON of Chuggington systems. Wood, die cast, and talking ones with Vee interacting with the trains, just like in the show! Y’all. I want these. Having a kid with cool toys is SO MUCH FUN.

Learning Curve sent me, I mean Austin, the Over & Under Starter Kit. It comes with two trains (Koko, yaaay! and Wilson), Vee, a clock tower, and lots of train track pieces! Things I LOVE about this set compared to the earlier mentioned creepy trains is:
Way nice tracks. They seem a lot sturdier and just better quality.
Bigger Trains. The trains fit on the standard tracks, but they’re a little chunkier, which is PERFECT for baby hands!

If I could outfit our entire train table in Chuggington I totally would. I love the bright colors and the quality of it all! Austin likes them too…

Please excuse our lack of photos but as you know we are moving and storing most of our belongings per the split, so most of his train stuff is boxed up :( But I kept Koko and some tracks accessible!

When the trains come down from the clock tower Austin says “Weeeeee!” LOL!

He still likes to take the tracks apart and just “beep beep” the trains {I’m teaching him Choo Choo, promise!} but hey, that’s okay! He has a good 30 years to put the tracks together! Look at me, 26, I LOVE it!

This Over & Under Starter Kit retails for $49.99. Train sets are a bit pricey, so if you’re going the train track {hahaha get it?!} definitely stick with Chuggington. I am! Austin definitely finds more interest in this show than other train shows and like I said before, the set is just way better quality that the others I, I mean Austin!, has.

So run to Target now and get one, OR, enter for your change to win one here on Pickles & Paisleys!

To Enter:
Comment below! What Chuggington train is your child’s favorite? If you don’t know the characters, which one looks the most fun? ;)

Extra Entries: (one comment each please!)
-Like Pickles & Paisleys on Facebook
-Tweet about this giveaway. 2 tweets per day, at least 2 hours between each tweet. One comment per tweet.
“CHOO CHOO! Win a CHuggington Clock Tower train set from @KatiesPickles! Ends 7/9 http://tinyurl.com/5v2z2gn”
-Follow Pickles & Paisleys on
Follow/Subscribe to Pickles & Paisleys some way or another! By email, RSS, Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs (those two boxes to subscribe are on the main blog’s footer!). Comment which one you signed up for! Or do 2, 3, or all 4 for 2, 3, or 4 extra entries!

Giveaway will end on July 9th at 10pmEST. Winner will be chosen via And The Winner Is. I received the set to review, no compensation was received. All opinions are mine {& Austin’s} & honest.

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