Review and Giveaway! - StrollerShopper and Cap from Elodie Details

About a year ago, my husband started throwing around the idea of getting staffed on an international project. He gets these "brilliant" ideas every once in awhile. One of the places he started looking into was Stockholm, Sweden. At first, I was completely against the idea, but then Laura (yes, Baby Buy Products Laura) reminded me of all the awesome stuff I could buy for my kids. This softened the blow a little because I would have had fun shopping, but I'm not going to lie, I was more than a little relieved when he got staffed much, much closer to home. I'm not sure I'm ready for a Stockholm winter, our Chicago winters are tough enough! Luckily, in this wonderful day and age, I don't have to be living in Sweden to get to experience the incredible design of a company like Elodie Details. Sure, they are based in Sweden, but thanks to my trusty computer, I can easily order any of their fabulous products and have them delivered right to my door!

A little bit about Elodie Details. They are a parent-run business that operates with the philosophy that just because you are a parent doesn't mean you have to sacrifice good design. (Of course, this I say after spending my afternoon shopping for more t-shirts and sweaters that don't have to be ironed or dry-cleaned!) Elodie Details believes that products can look good AND be functional as well. I've gotten to experience this mix of function and design over the last month or so as I've been testing out their new StrollerShopper bags and cool new baby caps. This was my first Elodie Details experience, and I haven't been disappointed.

I'll start with the StrollerShopper, one of my new favorite products. As you might already know from my previous reviews, I'm a city-dweller and I like to walk. We walk pretty much everywhere, within reason. The idea behind the StrollerShopper is that you never actually leave home with less than you started with. Oh, how true this can sometimes be. While the strap of the StrollerShopper isn't long enough to fit over my Bumbleride Indie Twin, it is long enough to fit perfectly over the handlebar of my Bugaboo Chameleon which I have done a couple of times when I've been fortunate to only have to drag one kid with me to the grocery store. It helped me lug home some of the overflow of groceries from my under seat basket. Even though I don't use my single stroller that much anymore, I've found that I use the StrollerShopper most often for nights like tonight when we walked to the post office. Nadia rode her bike and I carried Isaac in the front carrier. I had a lot of stuff to mail, so, I just threw everything into my StrollerShopper, threw the bag across my chest (similar to how you'd carry a messenger bag) and we were off! The strap is nice and wide which makes it really comfortable, and Elodie Details describes the bag on their website as being practically bottomless and I'd have to agree. It doesn't look like much, but it will hold a lot of stuff! On the inside there is a pocket for diapers and wipes which means that if you're making a quick trip to the store, you could just pack the essentials not have to take an entire diaper bag, and you'd have plenty of room inside to transport whatever it is that you purchase at the store back home. Oh, and these StrollerShoppers are designed to coordinate perfectly with the awesome Stroller Bags, caps and even some of the Pearl Velvet Blankets that you can also find in the Elodie Details web store. I have the new black velvet bag which is very luxurious, but I also love, love, love the Cherry Blossom Birds fabric, too.

Isaac has also been our little tester of the baby caps that are new to Elodie Details this fall, too. The caps are available in 4 sizes: 0-6 months, 6-12 month, 12-24 months and 24-36 months, and they are also wind and water resistant, an important feature here in cold, wet Chicago. The caps are very simple in their design and are shaped to fit perfectly on your child's head. Isaac's hat is the 6-12 month size and while it's true, my little big-boned Cartman (his dad's chosen Halloween costume) does have a sort of giant head, the hat actually fits him pretty well. The velcro closures don't fasten underneath his chubby little chin, but honestly, I like the look better with them undone anyway. He's almost 8 months old, and I doubt that the this hat is going to be big enough to make it the whole winter, but I do think it will get us through at least until the first of the year. I'm pretty sure the hat is designed to fit pretty snugly, so I think the fit is pretty accurate. We also have the black velvet fabric which I really dig. It's sort of edgy without being too far out there!

The one product that I'm really considering purchasing to get us through the winter is the Stroller Bags. Don't be confused, these are not bags for hauling diapers and bottles around in, these are warm and snugly "sleeping" bags for your stroller. These bags are both wind and water resistant and have openings for a 5-point harness. My favorite feature is that the top is elastic and can be used as a hood. Nadia doesn't always want to keep a hat on in the winter, and I would be interested in seeing if this would trick her into keeping something on her head. If you're wondering if these bags will fit your stroller, the answer is probably yes. They are designed to fit most strollers on the market, but just in case, Elodie Details offers a generous 14-day return policy just in case! We have one warm "sleeping" bag, but will be needing a second for Isaac this winter. Just because it's cold out doesn't mean that my kids don't go out, and honestly, if they were bundled up inside of one of the awesome Stroller Bags, I don't think they'd even mind the cold!

Are you lucky enough to live somewhere where your winters are warm? Elodie Details doesn't just make warm weather gear. They have some really cool wax coated bibs, some very funky pacifiers and matching clips and also several fun bottles and sippy cups. All of these keep with the theme that just because you need a product to be functional doesn't mean that it has to be boring!

Full Review - based on 4 stars:

Functionality **** - The cap stays on and fits Isaac's head just right. We'll get a lot of use out of it these next few months as the weather turns colder and colder. The uses for the Stroller Shopper are endless. I've used it to tote stuff to the post office, home from the grocery store and even used it for travel. Don't be deceived by it's appearance. This bag will hold a lot of stuff! The fabrics are high quality and well-constructed. The bag is not falling apart, and Isaac's hat will be passed down to a sibling or on to a friend when he's finished with it!

Style **** - I love the fun and bright colors of the Cherry Blossom Bird and Retro Revolution fabrics, and you KNOW I can't resist the Rockabilly dots. The black velvet is like I said, edgy, but fun, and it totally works.

Price *** - When you first click on the Web Store DON'T BE ALARMED! The price you see is in Swedish Kroners, not American dollars. The Stroller Shopper is around $47 which isn't a bad price for all the function you will get out of this bag, long after you're not hooking it over a stroller. The hat is a little more pricey at around $28. However, if you think that your child will wear this every day for 6 or 7 months (at least if you live in Chicago where we are pretty much winter year round) then the price is easier to justify. I filled a sample cart and got as far as finding out the shipping cost to the U.S. It's a flat rate of a little over $10. You definitely want to make one big purchase to capitalize on this fabulous flat rate. Remember, it's coming from Sweden!

Overall Rating ***1/2 - A perfect marriage of function and style. Not cheap, but in this case you are paying for the quality and function as much as the style. I hate to admit that I've paid far more for products that haven't seen the light of day in months, some of them ever!

Would you like to win a StrollerShopper and a matching cap? Elodie Details is generously offering one lucky Kid Buy Products reader the opportunity to experience for themselves the fabulousness that is Elodie Details. All you have to do is go visit the Elodie Details website and choose your favorite product and fabric or design choice. Come back here and leave us a comment about your favorites and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a matching StrollerShopper and cap in your choice of size and pattern. All entries must be received by midnight on Monday, October 27th. Remember only one entry per household and you must be 18 or older to win. Leave us your email or check back the week of the 27th to find out if you won. Thanks Elodie Details and Good Luck to all our readers!