And the Winner Is...

The winner of the Mooiste nursing cover givew way is...Jessica!

An email is on it's way to you with more information!

Thank you all for participating!

Mooiste Nursing Cover GIVEAWAY and Review

Hello! Happy Thanksgiving! I'm super excited to do my first real giveaway on the blog, especially because I love the product I'm giving away, but first I wanted to mention that you should hop on over to With Great Expectation and read the guest post I made as part of Logan's series Miracle Mommas. While you're over there, check out the rest of Logan's blog! She conceived her little girl through IVF a few months before we conceived Cai, and is now expecting her second little one CONCEIVED NATURALLY (a most welcome surprise from the Lord). I love her blog for the godly perspective she provides on infertility, PCOS, and motherhood.

Now, to the review and giveaway!

I recently received two Mooiste nursing covers; one to review and one to give away, and I LOVE them! Mooiste is a small company based in South Africa. Mooiste means "the most beautiful" in Afrikaans, and the fabric is definitely beautiful.

The first thing I noticed about this cover when I pulled it out of the package is that it is luxuriously soft. It's a stretchy bamboo jersey that is thin enough to be breathable yet not be see through.

It provides full coverage all the way around which is saying a lot for me right now. Cai is a skinny kid, but he's tall and I have enormous boobs and am pretty fluffy, but we both fit completely under the cover. I don't have to worry about side boob or love handles peeking out of the cover. I love that.

It's also cute and trendy enough that you could wear it outside of nursing. It doubles as a poncho or cowl. We also used it as an infant seat cover a few times, and that worked really well. The packaging also suggests that it could be used as a swaddle; we're past the swaddling stage, but this definitely is soft and stretchy enough to do that.

I was asked to do a short video review, which I've never done before, and I'm probably super awkward, but you can see that below. Sorry that I'm talking so quickly; I needed it to be short enough to be able to upload onto the blog, but I wanted to fit in my favorite things about it!

The giveaway begins today and ends on December 2. Enter below using Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lena and Natalie Crochet

I think I mentioned a while back that I've been planning to start selling my crochet items again. Well, I finally am! If you're friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram (@lenaandnataliecrochet, you know that already. But, if you only read the blog (I think there are a few of you), you don't know that I will be selling things via Instagram starting October 5!  Here's the whole story...

The Name
First of all, a little background on the name. My Oma, my maternal grandmother, taught me how to crochet (and knit, but I prefer to crochet). She taught me some basic stitches, and I've taught myself everything else through books and the internet. Most of you who know my Oma know her as Helen, which is legally her name, but her family calls her Lena. I believe it's short for Magdalena. When she moved to the U.S. from Germany she changed her name to Helen, but I love the name Lena. The first part of the name of my crochet "store" comes from my Oma who taught me the physical act of crochet, but also shared with me her love for yarn and color and creating things.
My paternal grandmother, my Grammy, was an artist. She painted beautiful landscapes and portraits and animals. She and my Pop-Pop met in art school in New York. I took art lessons from Grammy off and on; private lessons and in art class at my school where she taught for a year. She taught me about how colors work together and interact and how to pay attention to colors around me. Her name was Natalie.
And thus, Lena and Natalie Crochet

The Store
For now I will be selling directly through Instagram. Basically, every Monday, I will post pictures of a few items. The first person to comment with their PayPal email address commits to purchasing the item. I will send an invoice, and when the invoice is paid, the item will be shipped. For now, I'm limiting the store to Instagram, but I may also open an Etsy store again. I have yet to decide. I know there are some people who are not on Instagram, and I understand that you will not be able to purchase anything yet, but I will eventually solve that problem...maybe.If you desperately want something I posted on Facebook, send me a message and we can talk about it. I am not currently doing any custom orders; it is just two much with a baby and making enough to have new items every week. Plus, I'd like to have time to make some stuff for my own kid. :)

The Giveaway
I'm also hosting a giveaway on Instagram. It was supposed to end tonight at midnight, but I think I'm going to extend the deadline one more day. The winner will receive a $25 credit to my shop!
To enter:
1. Like the original post on Instagram.
2. Share the original post on Instagram and tag @LenaandNatalieCrochet.

For an extra entry, tag a friend in the comments of the original Instagram post. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on October 3rd.

What do you think? What kinds of things would you like to see in the store?

Sneak Peek!

 Just wanted to give you all a sneak peek of some of the giveaway prizes. I used some of the ideas from comments as inspiration, and worked all weekend on getting some products together. There are many more things to come including little girl headbands and pins for hats, but take a look at these hair clips and combs.

Red flower comb.

Set of small red flower bobby pins/

Beaded pink flower clip (although you can't really see the beads in this pic).

White flower comb.

It worked out well that I recently got my hair cut! :o) Stay tuned for more updates!

Ideas Coming Out of My Ears and a Giveaway!

Last week (or was it two weeks ago now?) Johanna and her mom gave me a suggestion that prompted some other ideas that I can't believe I didn't already think of!

Their idea was to make and sell some plain hats and then sell flower pins separately allowing customers to customize their own hats. I LOVE the idea and am working on it now. I plan to list plain hats in various colors and then list flowers, individually and in sets of probably three. I think I'll list specific sets, and leave the option of customization (color and style) open.

In addition, I have decided to  start selling flower hair clips, bobby pins, and headbands, both crocheted headbands and regular headbands. I've started making some flowers in different colors and styles, but won't be posting the new items in my Etsy store until I have time to buy the materials needed and really do this right. Today's snow day helped and hindered in this process as I had lots of time to work, but couldn't really go out and get the materials I need.

I also need your help! I'm posting some pictures of the flowers I've made so far. The pictures don't do them justice, but it's all I have right now. Anyway, please leave a comment with your opinion of this whole idea. Do you have any suggestions for colors or designs? What would you like to see me make? Would you make any changes? In return, I will pick one person who comments who will receive a free pin, clip, or headband; your choice!