New Act Affects Work from Home Moms

Many of you may have already heard about the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that has been passed and will affect thousands of small business owners, especially moms with a side business out of their home. The act that goes into effect on February 10th , basically imposes stricter regulations for lead and phthalate testing on ALL products for children under the age of 12. This includes books, T-shirts, bodysuits, dolls, wooden toys, educational materials, puzzles, everything. Even things like soft blocks, aprons, crayon wraps, crochet/knit scarves, hats and more will be regulated.

However, rather than punishing the main culprit (toys mass produced in China accounted for every single recall in 2007), the new law will cause independent toys makers, indie designers, and hundreds – if not thousands – of other small business owners specializing in handmade children’s products to close up shop.

The cost of testing each product for lead and/or phthalates could cost anywhere from $100 to $4000 – an impossible price for those who make original, one-of-a-kind pieces, such as baby quilts, hand-carved wooden toys, boutique-style outifits, etc.

Small business owners in the US, Canada and even Europe have taken great care to produce items that are safe for children – mostly because the owners are parents themselves. Though toy producers will take the biggest hit, many children’s apparel companies will be put out of business as well.

The outcry has been HUGE, but more voices are still needed. To learn more about the issue, check out the following sites. CoolMomPicks especially is a great resource.

http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/blog/

http://thesmartmama.com/bg/

And to join in the fight to protect work from home moms like you and me, start by signing the petition here. We already have over 17,000 signatures and the more the better!

Mi Cielito Lindo is Growing!

As I have mentioned already, things are totally crazy for me. Latin Baby is growing and new projects (such as the Book Club and the Latino Family Gift Guide) are constantly cropping up. It is getting harder and harder for me to keep up with all the blogs, so I have invited some other talented Latina mamis from around the country to help Mi Cielito continue to grow.

The goal of this blog has always been to write about issues affeting Latina moms. My comadres bring a diversity to the blog that I am eager to have and will be writing about everything from art projects with the kids to health issues, fashion to the challenges of single parenting.

I hope you will welcome them with open arms and the warmth that makes us Latin mamas. I wasn't going to have them start until after the first of the year, but some are ready and willing to begin immediately with ideas for Navidad.

Welcome, Amigas!

The Indie Collective 2008 Spring/Summer Gift Guide

Ta-da! I am pleased to announce that Latin Baby has participated in Indie Collective's 2008 Spring/Summer Shopping Guide. We are, of course, listed in the Baby category. For those of you unfamiliar with Indie Collective, it is a showcase of independent artists, artisans, and designers of the creative arts community. Both Latin Baby and Mi Cielito Lindo are listed on the site and we have gained some great customers and readers from the association. So be sure to check them out if you are looking for new and original gifts that are often handmade by highly talented designers.

Computer Woes...

AARG! It has been a long week for me and I apologize for the lack of postings. But thanks to the weird goings-on at our local electric company, my computer's motherboard got fried sometime in the middle of the night last week and I have been struggling to get it fixed. I finally gave up and bought a new computer. Patooee on emachines from now on! All I can say is VIVA HP! I still have a lot of stuff to transfer and install and all the trial junk to uninstall from this new computer, but overall, I should be back in full swing within the next few days!
Thanks to all of you for hanging in there with me!
Ciao for now,
~Monica

Latin Baby's Etsy Store

Did you know that Latin Baby also has an etsy store? We've been on there for a while now, but I have recently added a few new items. Some of the products in the store are at discounted prices as a little "perk" for etsy shoppers. You won't find these products at the same price on our official web site. Most of the items featured are by the Latina artists that we support through our site, but a few are Latin Baby designs (aka me!)

In other news, I have some exciting additions coming to Latin Baby in the next couple of months. I hope you'll keep us bookmarked and check back to see our new products. I'll certainly keep you all updated.

There may even be some more give-aways on the blog to celebrate...

Ellaroo Rebozo Wraps Now Available!

Yippee! I am so happy to announce that our rebozo baby carriers from Ellaroo have arrived and are finally for sale at Latin Baby. We have 5 different styles and the colors are super! It is really nice to carry another line of products that supports Latino artisans. All of the Ellaroo Wraps are handwoven by a cooperative of weavers in Guatemala and are 100% cotton.

I am excited about these products for a number of reasons...

1) I so firmly believe in promoting positive, healthy parenting and as many of you know, I am a strong supporter of the practice of attachment parenting. Babywearing is an important aspect of this method of child rearing and I am happy to be able to offer our customers this new product.

2)We are really focusing this year on expanding the number of brands that we carry to make sure we are a one-stop shopping center for Latino families. We added our new layette at the beginning of the year and have now added the baby carriers, too.

3)By covering our basis and offering products for families at different stages, we have seen a jump in our gift registry, which makes me so happy that we are offering the products that you all want.

We have a lot of changes and additions coming to the company. Several projects are in the works with other companies and hopefully will see fruition this year (maybe by the end of the summer!) We are really working hard on our customer service, so please don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to see us offer a particular product, or even just to let us know what you think of the store. Many of the products and designs we now carry are the result of customer requests. We are listening, Amigas! And we LOVE to hear from you!

If you haven't had a chance to sign up as a Preferred Member (a free subscription), hurry and do so. You can click here for a description of benefits.

Wishing you all a lovely week. ¡Un abrazo a todos!

~Monica

A New Look and a Giveaway!

For a while now I've been wanting to change the style of this blog. Make it more feminine, open, beautiful. Do you think I've succeeded? I hope you like the new look. I absolutely LOVE it! Lots of playing with colors, fonts, and pictures.

To celebrate, I am doing two things. First, I am announcing that Latin Baby has now added larger sizes to two of it's most popular baby T-shirt designs...Americanita and Abuelita's Angelito. These shirts are now available up to size 5/6 T. You can find them on the For Toddler's page. We also have one of our infant tee designs (Mi Reina) on sale for 50% off. You can find it here.

The other thing I am doing is a LB giveaway! Yippee! I am going to give one lucky winner one of our bestsellers - a "Gimme la Leche" bib. All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is post a comment below on how you like the new look of Mi Cielito Lindo. Or, if you are one of my "shy" readers, you can send us an email here. The contest will run for a week through March 1st, and I will announce the winner next Sunday. Buenas suerte and get those comments posted, Amigas!

To Market, al Mercado....

Hola, Amigas!
Sorry for the lack of posts - we have been muy ocupadas! This past weekend we were busy participating in the Dallas Gift Market. This weekend Latin Baby will be at the Dallas Women and Children's Apparel Market. There are so many awesome products on the market now and my next few posts will highlight some of them.

Feliz Navidad

For all of my friends and readers out there, just a quick note to say thank you for all your support this past year. It has been a wonderful year with so much growth and success for all of us at Latin Baby. Next year is already looking to be very busy and prosperous. We appreciate all of your help and loyalty. So from all of us to all of you....

¡Feliz Navidad!

Dia de Gracias...

Gracias....

-For mi familia.

I love you, Husband, for you are my best friend, the one who makes me feel loved, respected, needed, beautiful, intelligent, equal and wanted. I am so blessed to have you.

I love you, Hija, for you are the joy of my life. You are smart, sweet, proud, beautiful, fun, independent, stubborn and lovable. I am proud of you.

I love you, Hijo, for you are the warmth in my heart. You are sweet, kind, loving, snuggly, smart, muy guapo, determined, and joyful. I am proud of you.

-For mi mamá.

I love you, Mom. You drive me crazy, but I know that your love for me is complete, sincere, and pure.

-For Andrew.

I love you, Andy. Your support and love over the years has always been cherished and means so much to me.

-For all my extended family and friends.

I love you. Thank you for all of the joy, laughter, tears, arguments, and loyalty. You have made me the person I am today and I hope I have been a good friend to you all, as well. If not...I'm sorry. I promise to try harder!

With much Love,

~Monica

Car Seat Safety

Well, it has definitely been a busy week filling orders and getting new products ready to launch. Add in a family visit with 6 kids (ages 20 months to 8 years) under one roof (mine) and it has been a little more on the crazy side! Finally getting my house back in order and have found some time to post some updates....

According to SeatCheck.org, car accidents remain the leading cause of death for children ages 3 - 14. Despite the fact that 96 percent of parents believe that their children's car seats are installed correctly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research shows that 7 out of 10 children are not properly restrained in a vehicle.

Enter SeatCheck - a national campaign created by Chrysler to help parents properly secure their children in motor vehicles. One of the best aspects of SeatCheck is their free child safety seat inspection locator service. The website is available in both English and Spanish and also offers valuable tips and information on car seat safety.

To visit their site in English, click here.

Para Español, clique aqui.

Update...

My apologies to those of you who have been waiting for an update! This week has been hectic, as I have traveled to TX to help out at Latin Baby's booth at the State Fair of TX in Dallas. I promise to feature a few great programs and products by the beginning of next week, so hang in there comadres!