Tangled Tantrum Review and Giveaway!

If you’ve seen pictures of my daughter’s hair on Instagram, you already know that she is the queen of the bed head. It took her over 2 years just to grow enough hair to even get it tangled, but once she did, oh MAN were we surprised at how crazy it was!

Typical morning bed head for mini Spray Pal 1.0

We tried many different detangling products, but Tangled Tantrum Detangling and Conditioning Spray is by far our favorite. We wanted something more natural, so we skipped the name brand detanglers altogether. We checked out some of the products available in our favorite cloth diaper retailers, and the one detangler we tried left a strange taste on my lips when I kissed my daughter’s head after using it. So, we stopped using that one and went back to Tangled Tantrum.

Now that mini Spray Pal 2.0’s hair is growing in as fast and furious as his sisters, we needed something to tame it as well. I contacted Amber from Tangled Tantrum to see if we should go with the styling paste or the hair gel, and she offered to send us a tub of her Tangled Tantrum Separation Anxiety Styling Paste to try on him. We’ve been using it on him for a few weeks now, and this stuff is just as fantastic as the detangling spray! I love that both are paraben and alcohol free, so they are super gentle for my little ones.

Here’s what I love most about the Tangled Tantrum products, besides the fact that they both work great:

1. They are super lightweight, and they don’t leave a residue or funny taste on my lips if I kiss my babes’ heads.

2. They both smell great, and the smell isn’t overpowering. The styling paste literally smells like Hawaii.

3. All of the Tangled Tantrum products are made in the USA by a small, mom-run business (of course we super love this one!).

4. My daughter actually requests this spray before she will allow me to brush her hair!

Anything that makes getting kids ready easier in a safe and more natural way is a total win in my book. And we are so excited because Tangled Tantrum actually sent us an extra Detangling and Conditioning Spray AND Separation Anxiety Styling Paste so that we could give one of each away to our Spray Pal fans! We love introducing you guys to awesome products, so be sure to enter below for your chance to win!
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Spray Pal Market Research: Addressing the Comments

We've been conducting some unbiased market research about the Spray Pal, and the results have been fantastic to read.  We are so thrilled that the overwhelming majority of those who use a Spray Pal love it!  And we are learning a lot from the non-Spray Pal users, so thank you for taking the time to respond!  If you haven't taken the survey yet, you can do so HERE and you could even win a Spray Pal OR a BumGenius cloth diaper for the minute or two of your time!

A few of you left some very kind comments that we would like to address for you to show that we truly are reading each of these suggestions and taking them to heart!  We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to learn and improve.  Here goes:

1. In response to the $25 price point, the majority of responders selected the option that said "The price is just right" and a few even said they'd pay more!! LOL.  Don't worry, we don't want to do that.  Of the ones who selected "It should be less," a few of you left some comments that you understand why the price is where it is, but since you have a limited budget you choose to go without, which I totally respect.  And then a few made comments that you think $25 is a fair price if it includes shipping.  That's the part I wanted to address:

You guys know we offer free shipping on orders of $25 or more on our website, right?  Which means the Spray Pal splatter shield and all of the bundles ship FREE!  Many of our online retailers such as Kelly's Closet and Dream Diapers also offer free shipping when you spend a certain amount along with reward points and other loyalty programs.  AND...we have the Spray Pal available on Amazon prime...which will ship for FREE if you have prime or spend over $35.  Best yet, you can go into a local store and pick one up without any shipping charges!  Not only will you be supporting our small business, but you'll be supporting your own local business economy as well.  Win/win!  And if your local cloth diapering shop doesn't carry the Spray Pal, you can ask them to carry it and 9 times out of 10 I bet we'll get an email from them asking for wholesale information.  Most of our retailers became Spray Pal retailers because of customers like you who went in and told them about it, which we LOVE!!  We are all about supporting small businesses, especially cloth diaper retailers. ;)

2.  Spray Pal storage:  According to the survey, many of you already know this, but we do currently sell a Jaq Jaq Bird wetbag that works great for storing the Spray Pal.  Also, according to the survey, those of you who own one think it's pretty awesome! (It is also our personal favorite for cloth diaper outings, but I digress...) ;)  To address a few comments, this wetbag is not large enough to seal the Spray Pal completely inside, but we've found that actually works to our advantage.  By slipping the Spray Pal in there and leaving the top sticking out a little, the Spray Pal is able to air dry between uses while still being tucked away.  Some of you (as we do at times) leave your Spray Pal standing up in a trash can or tub to air dry, which is great, but the Jaq Jaq Bird wetbag will also do this for you if you'd prefer to have the shield more concealed (like my rhyme?). ;)

3.  A few of you mentioned the squeezing out of the diaper not being as easy as you had hoped.  I totally agree with you...Mr. Spray Pal is way better at that than I am.  But I did figure out a technique that has worked well for me that I'd like to share in the photos below.  The trick is in the bend!  The Spray Pal is made of high quality materials that will stand up just fine to you bending the sh*t out of it (haha, see what I did there?!).  If you check out the graphic below, that was a diaper that had been sprayed for a photo about 2 hours prior, but had been left sitting in the Spray Pal before I thought to take these photos for you.  On the left, I'm just squeezing flat with my thumbs and nothing is really coming out.  You can see in the photo on the right that the water is actually squeezing out just by me bending it.  So, bend away and let the Spray Pal do the work for you!


I hope this information helps those of you who were wondering, and thank you for taking the time to leave the comments.  I'm sure others were wondering the same thing and just didn't speak up (or didn't realize they were wondering until they read this!), so hopefully this will come in handy for a lot of you.  If we come across any other comments that we can help you out with right away, we will do so.  Thank you so much!

Spray Pal Market Research

 

As a growing small business, we are trying to gauge exactly what direction we should take our next steps, and we could use your help.  We'd love to hear from Spray Pal users and non-Spray Pal users alike!

This survey is very quick and easy with fewer than 10 questions, it should only take you a brief moment.  Feel free to elaborate as much as you'd like in the comment boxes, we will read each and every thought you share!

For helping us out, you not only get to feel great about providing a small, family-run, made in the USA business important data to learn and grow, but you will also be able to enter for a chance to win your choice of a Spray Pal or a BumGenius 4.0 cloth diaper in Twilight at the end of the survey.  We figured it was only fair to offer a choice since not everyone owns a sprayer and needs a Spray Pal to stop the splatter, but who wouldn't love a cloth diaper?? ;)

Spray Pal Owners, please CLICK HERE!!

If you do NOT currently own a Spray Pal, please CLICK HERE!!

Thank you SO much for taking the time and helping us out, we truly appreciate it!

Kindly,
The Spray Pal Family

Thoughts on being a WAHM + a Giveaway!

The other day I read a comment after the Lalabye Baby cloth diapers sold out due to a website glitch while I was still sleeping that said something like, "Oh man, Jen is going to have a lot to deal with when she gets into her office today!"  This made me chuckle because my office is our 3rd bedroom, formerly mini Spray Pal 2.0's nursery, so it doesn't take me long to get to work.  The funny part was that I just happened to have slept with my family in a trailer in my driveway that night, so my commute was actually double what it usually is. ;)

Many people don't realize that Spray Pal is a WAHM business.  Up until just a few weeks ago, I was actually a 2nd grade teacher, and had been teaching since 2001.  When our son was born 3.5 months prematurely and spent 7 months in the NICU, I had to take quite a bit of time off, and I never went back full time.  I was fortunate enough to share a contract with another teacher so I could spend the other half of my week attending doctor appointments and therapy sessions with my son as well as spend time with my daughter.

The Spray Pal was actually invented before he was born, when my daughter was 6 months old and first started solids...but the word didn't really get out until about a year later while our son was still in the NICU.  It was quite a balancing act for the following 2 years or so, splitting time between raising my two kids, teaching part time, and running the Spray Pal business.  This is why we are so thankful to all of our customers who have supported us on this journey, because it quite literally allowed me to stop teaching and focus on my family and Spray Pal, which was such a necessary change.  As much as I love teaching, I need to be home.

Because we are so thankful to all the parents who help spread the word about Spray Pal on a daily basis, we have teamed up with The Mama Journey blog to bring you a giveaway that will showcase some other great WAHM small businesses and their products.  We know that much like us, most small businesses can't afford to do major advertising, and the best way to get their name out there is by word of mouth.  Social media is such a great tool for this, so we're using our blog to help spread the word!  We hope that we can introduce you to some great new brands as we spread the small business love.

I'm sure many of you have probably seen the quote that starts out like this:

"When you buy from a small mom or pop business, you are not helping a CEO buy a third vacation home.
You are helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, a mom or dad put food on the table, a family pay a mortgage, or a student pay for college." -unknown

Gender stereotypes aside, this quote is really very important and it gets shared quite often, which is great!  But, the more the same words get shared, the more we sort of tune it out and skim it over.  So, I'd like to create one specific for me, so that you'll know how real and true this is, and you can see the benefit to spending your hard earned money with a small, WAHM business.  Here's ours.  It only needed a few minor adjustments:

We truly do appreciate our customers and your amazing support.  Sure it's cliché, but we wouldn't be where we are today without you.  We hope that this giveaway will help more people realize how important it is to support small businesses and shop locally when possible. :)  Please check out the WAHM business sponsors and show them some love for their participation and donation of some amazing prizes!

1.  Brandalion Boutique:  The mom behind this one, also a fellow teacher, actually sent my son a custom pair of shoes to match the theme and colors of his 2nd birthday and they are absolutely adorable.  Check out her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/brandalionbeads

2.  KMChase Designs: This is a WAHM of two boys under two who is a veteran of the US Coast Guard!  She is CPSC compliant and runs her small business out of California.  She loves doing custom orders!  She also has an Etsy shop here: www.etsy.com/shop/kmchasedesigns

3.  Truly Charis:  This is another CPSC compliant mom who specializes in cloth diapers.  You can place an order directly through her Facebook page or join her Facebook group here: www.facebook.com/groups/trulycharis

4.  Binky Monster: Adorable handmade blankets, binky clips and more!  She is based out of California and also does custom orders.

5. Wooly Booly Designs: This WAHM makes all sorts of handy items from cloth wipes to wool dryer balls.  Check out her Facebook page for ordering info!

6. Growing Hearts Doula Services: This is a multi-talented WAHM.  She's a Doula in addition to making beautiful nursing necklaces and nursing pads!  Check out her Facebook page for more info :)

7. SheriePie Designs: Cloth diapers, crib rail covers, blankets and more!  Check out this adorable shop from SheriePie Designs :)

8. More Than My Next Breath:  This WAHM hand carves adorable rubber stamps.  The prize will feature the very smart and handy "Child Phone Number Stamp" which allows you to stamp your little one's arm with a spot to write in your phone number just for added safety and peace of mind for days you take the kids to crowded events.  Check out her Etsy shop HERE to see more of her cute creations!

 

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This giveaway is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Facebook.  I was not compensated in any way by any of the businesses involved. My son did receive a pair of shoes as a gift from one of the businesses for his birthday. All views are my own.  Giveaway is open to US only and the winner will have 48 hours to respond via email to claim their prize.  Winning entries will be verified.  Thanks!

Lalabye Baby Stocking Craziness!

For those who are just hearing about all this, a little bit of crazy went down in the middle of the night.  We had scheduled the new Lalabye Baby/Spray Pal exclusive cloth diaper, Goodnight Moon, to go live this morning at 8am along with all the other retailers.  Well, for some reason, our website decided that 8am would actually be better served at around 1am.  So as I lay sleeping, some of you middle of the night nursing moms with clicky stalking fingers must have discovered this glitch and started "buying all the diapers" LOL!  Since this glitch was out of anyone's control, we're going to let all the orders stand as they are, and we will learn and reevaluate how we do things for the next stocking, which will be soon!  We PROMISE we have more on the way, and we had NO IDEA this color combo would be so popular!

By the time I was up at 6:15 am, my phone was blowing up with the news and I quickly went and took down the premature posting.  We spent the morning, coffee and doughnuts in hand (don't worry, we didn't get any on the diapers), counting and sorting through the orders to see what we had left.  All in all, there are only SIX Goodnight Moon diapers left in this batch.  To be fair, we are going to have a random drawing (enter below) to determine who will be able to purchase one of these 6 this morning.  We will send you an invoice for the amount with shipping, and it must be paid right away to guarantee the order, otherwise we will have to choose another winner.  If you would like to add something to your order to make it qualify for free shipping over $25, please let us know when your name is drawn and we will invoice you for the adjusted total.



I hope this all makes sense and I truly apologize to anyone who wasn't able to grab one this time.  This was our first time doing a stocking like this and we honestly had no idea what to expect.  We have learned a lot from this and we will definitely let you all know as soon as the next batch arrives in a few weeks!  Thank you all so much for your support and for helping #makeclothmainstream!

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