Mandy and Randy Review and Giveaway

You have no idea how excited I was to find this company, and to share it with all of you! I found MandyandRandy.com by accident while looking for something else and I fell in love with their products! The quality is amazing and I have not met nicer people in my life! Mandy is so awesome, and guess what? She uses cloth diapers!! How cool is that!? Who would have guessed that I would stumble upon this awesome green teething/toy gear and that the owner of the company would use cloth diapers!

Okay, now to the fun part! I am in love with everything about this company from how they began to why they do what they do. Here is an excerpt from their About Us page:

“Under a moonlit sky in Flowery Branch, Georgia over a backyard BBQ, Mandy & Randy was founded through a love for children and family. The recent recall of one of our young Emerson’s toys, and headline news of other toxic foreign toys, had turned the conversation to the concern for the future health of our children. Internet searches revealed alternative options to mass produced synthetic toys, paving the way for our inspiration of creating 100% natural wooden toys. Randy, a long time wood worker, said “I think I can make him a safe toy”. And he did. In fact, he made better teethers, rattles and rolling toys for Emerson to play with than any we have ever seen on the market, and thus, eight original Mandy & Randy toys were born.”

For my review I explained to them that I couldn’t decide between a teething  toy or a rattle. The rattles are made with dried corn on the inside! I could only imagine how cool that sounded, But with my LO teething right now, I know that we would probably use the teether more than the rattle. Well, they are so awesome they sent me both!! I reviewed not only the “Tye the Turtle” Teether but also the “Peace of Wood” Rattle. How cool are the names too!! The first thing I fell in love with was the packaging!

How cute is that! Wait till I show you what’s inside!

Well it gets better when you open the box and look inside! Here is what I saw!

Isn’t that just so cute!! I love the Tags and everything!

This is the “Peace of Wood” Rattle. It is made of all natural Maple Wood and finished with a 100 % pure Beeswax Polish so you don’t have to worry about your little one getting any kind of yucky chemicals in their mouth. On the tag it also tells you how to care for it which I loved. They don’t leave you hanging at all!

When I received these toys and really got to touch and feel the quality for myself I was even more in awe of the craftsmanship. You can clearly see through the pictures the quality of the work, but until you see it in real life, you are just missing out! These toys are clearly made with love and attention to detail. They are so smooth, and soft. (Yes I know I’m talking about wood, but it’s true!) They are also very light feeling, not as heavy as I would have thought. The sound the rattle makes is the best part! Of course it’s hard to describe sounds, but it does sound like pieces of dried corn rattling around in there! It’s so cool! Most rattles bug the heck out of me, they are just too loud, or irritating for me. I don’t know why, I’m not into a lot of kids toys that make the same sounds over and over and over again. They begin to grate on my nerves after a very short while. This rattle is of course the exception. It’s actually a pleasant sound. I find myself wanting to pick it up and shake it just to hear the sound. When the kids do it, I’m not screaming “Okay that’s enough, thank you!” which is unusual. At first I didn’t even realize this about the rattle, one of my kids pointed it out to me, and I was like “Hey you’re right, I’m not screaming at you every time you play with it.” So I think the kids like it for that reason too.

Another thing I love about this toy is how durable it is. It has been thrown down from various heights and hasn’t cracked or even dented yet. We took it grocery shopping and it was thrown from the buggy. LO has been in the Moby Wrap and it was thrown from there. It’s been thrown from the car seat onto the pavement. It’s been dropped a lot since we got it, and it still looks brand new.  I have no idea why heirloom toys like this haven’t been on my radar until now. Duh!! I could have saved tons of money if I would have had this attitude about quality , before my fourth child came along.  I’ve always been the one to want to buy cheap toys, just in case they break I won’t be out a lot of money. This review has made me realize, if you invest in good quality toys in the long run you will save money and still have something to pass down to your grandchildren. I think that is awesome! I’m going to be looking for more toys like this in the future for sure.

The other toy I reviewed was “Tye the Turtle” Teether.

Aren’t these little guys so cute! You’ll love the reason why there’s two in this box too!

Again, same as the “Peace of Wood” this toy came with care instructions on the tag and in super cute Eco friendly packaging. It is also made of Maple Wood and finished with the 100% Beeswax Polish. This has been the most popular with my 9 month old. She pretty much always has it in her hand and/or mouth. It’s the perfect size for teething. It was hard looking at the pictures on the web, although they are great I couldn’t get a feel for how thick they were. While they are thick enough to be sturdy, they aren’t too thick that a baby couldn’t get their mouth around it. I also love the fact that it can fit around my wrist like a bracelet, so I can always have it handy while grocery shopping. Whenever the baby starts trying to chew on the buggy I can quickly give her “Tye” instead. I’m sure they don’t recommend everyone putting it on their wrist in case it gets stuck on there, but I found it works for me.  These toys are just so cute you want to stare at them all the time. Whenever you pass by them in a room you always take a second look and think, “That thing is so cool!” If you want an Eco-friendly, safe, long lasting, quality toy I definitely recommend checking out MandyandRandy.com. You won’t regret doing business with them, they are so awesome! 

Mandy and Randy have also offered 15% off code!! Enter "nickisdiapers" during checkout! 

Giveaway Info:

Now for the fun part! Remember the picture above where there are two teethers? One is for y’all!! You get a chance to win it! You get a chance to feel the same as me about these toys!! Mandy and Randy were so generous by donating a “Tye the Turtle” teether toy for one of our followers!!  

Mandatory Entry: Go to Mandy and Randy and tell me what you love from their shop

2. Like Mandy and Randy on Facebook

3. Like me on Facebook

4. Follow the blog and place your GFC name below

5. Share this review and giveaway and place the link below

This giveaway ends on June 1, 2011 at 7:30 PM EDT.  At that time I will choose a winner via random.org.  The winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to email me back to claim their prize.  If the winner does not contact me back within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.  Good luck!

*THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN BY JULIA*