Holiday Gift Guide – Review and Giveaway: Olive Kids

Gift Guide Category: Gifts for Kids, Stocking Stuffers

When our oldest daughter was ready for a ‘big girl’ bed, we went out and bought a bedding set with her favorite cartoon character on it. And a year later, we replaced it, with the ‘next thing’ she was into.  After that, I stopped spending money on cartoon emblazoned decorations and bedding and ever since then our girls’ rooms have been decorated with very cute but very generic flowers, butterflies, polka dots or stripes. Oh there may be a cartoonish accessory here or there – we don’t completely skip out on the commercialization, but we do limit it, at least as far as their bedrooms are concerned.

Which is one reason that I love the designs and styles that you can find at Olive Kids – cowboys, butterflies, mermaids, horses, rockets and other things that kids love, but aren’t tied to any particular show, book or movie.

What it is:

Olive Kids was begun by parents who were looking for options other than the commercialized products out there – and decided to create their own to meet the need for them and other parents out there who were looking for an alternative as well.

From the site:

Our emphasis is on color and fun, because we believe kids rooms should inspire creativity and play – not be an advertisement for a TV show or movie. Our kids bedding designs and coordinating room decor have a nostalgic quality yet are fresh and relevant. We aim our design at classic kids themes like transportation, pirates, outer space, tea parties, cowboys and more! We also pride ourselves on attention to 125detail. Our comforters have outline quilting, our shams have embroidery and soft plush, our cotton sheets have attached ribbon details – all this at a price that is affordable!

The products that you can find at Olive Kids include everything from bedding, clocks, growth charts, drawer knobs and pillows – to rugs, bookmarks, placemats and wall art. And much of it can be personalized as well, to create a product that’s not only different from the commercial stuff sold in most stores – but unique to your child as well.

Olive Kids generously sent each of my girls a personalized bookmark and matching name tag for us to try out and review. The bookmarks are encased in heavy-duty clear laminate, have an attached colorful tassle with beads (they include instructions for removing the beads for very young kids), and are generously sized at 2.25 in x 6 in. The name tags measure 4.25″ x 2.5″ and are made of a heavy duty clear laminate, with a clear 9″ lanyard.

Here’s my our take on it:

Each of my girls was able to pick out the design that she wanted for a bookmark and nametag, that were then personalized with their names. I was interested to see that they didn’t choose the same design for both items in all cases:

When they arrived, the girls were absolutely thrilled. The older two have been using their bookmarks constantly when they read. And I attached the name tags to their backpacks – with our track record in losing items (at least my oldest’s), having their names on things is definitely a great idea, and I love that the names aren’t prominently displayed either so it’s not a safety hazard. There’s space on the backs of the nametags to fill out contact information as well, so these can be used as luggage tags if you travel too.

The girls are impressed with the fun designs and are thrilled with having their names on them.  I am also impressed with the quality – both of the printing, and of the bookmarks and tags themselves. They are coated in a heavy plastic, making them extremely sturdy – something that’s definitely a good thing when kids are involved.

My oldest picked the ‘Butterfly Garden’ design for both her bookmark and nametag and is thrilled to have her name entwined with the butterflies flying around. My 5-year-old chose mermaids for her bookmark and one of her favorite things – ponies, for her nametag. My youngest loves having the ‘fishies’ and turtles on her bookmark and is all about the pink ‘tea party’ design on her name tag.

One thing I like a lot about Olive Kids is how well everything coordinates – the same styles that the girls had to choose from for the bookmarks and name tags are available in placemats, wall art, other accessories, and even bedding.

The bottom line:

Olive Kids has fun products for every style and budget – and with so many great style options, kids are sure to find something that they love. Whether you are looking to redecorate your child’s room, or just want some fun, personalized stocking stuffers, Olive Kids is a great choice this holiday season.

Where can you find it?:

The site is located at http://www.olivekids.com, and you can find all of their products and information on personalizing them there as well. The site also contains decorating ideas, a gift guide, celebrity sightings with Olive Kid products, and an Olive Kids blog. Products are also available at other retailers around the country as well (and even one in Canada!).

Would you like to win one?:

Courtesy of Olive Kids, I am able to offer a personalized bookmark and name tag like my kids received to a lucky reader. If you are looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for a kid on your list, here are the rules:

1. Enter by checking out Olive Kids, and leaving a comment here to let me know your favorite item (other than ones shown or mentioned here). Please don’t just say ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Sunday, December 7th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY.Fetch. US entries only, please.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If you don’t wish to leave your e-mail address, please make sure that you leave a unique name and check back with PRIZEYWinners to see if you won. If the winner hasn’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like extra entries, you can:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar) or subscribe via e-mail – leave me a separate comment to let me know.
• Mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post, and leave a separate comment with the link to your post so I can find it.
• Put the button for my Holiday Gift Guide on your blog’s sidebar – the code for it is in the sidebar.
• Either Twitter about, ‘Stumble’, ‘Digg’ or ‘Kirtsy’ this post – leave me a separate comment with your username at whichever site you chose (one extra entry).

So that’s a total of 5 comments/entries if you do all of the extra entry options.

Good luck! 

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED  – the random number generator has chosen comment #21 as the winner:

Congratulations to Jill W, whose extra subscription entry has won for her! I will be e-mailing you shortly to work out the details.