Back to School on a Budget ~ Clothing Edition

I get a bit obsessive when it comes to starting off a new school year. I am a planner, so I like to be prepared for whatever might be thrown our way on the first day of school. This is exactly why I despise the fact that our elementary school doesn't tell us who our kids' teacher are until at the Open House the night before the first day. But when it comes to Back-to-School shopping I can be ready when I want to be ready and spend what I want to spend, so here is my top 6 Back-to-School clothing items to buy on a budget for my kids.

1. BOYS ~ Children's Place pull-on cargo pants $15.00

 I often buy Jonah enough of these pants to get him through the year. I love that I can buy them in "slim sizes" since he is skinny and that they are the pull-on style, so he won't have any buttons or snaps to fumble with come bathroom time. The price is right, coming in at about $10 a pair when on sale and with a coupon.

2. GIRLS ~ Children's Place leggings $8.00

These come in a variety of colors and go perfectly under dresses and tunics. Lily is NOT a tights kind of girl, so these do the job and she can get them on/off by herself so potty breaks at preschool aren't an issue.

3. BOYS AND GIRLS ~ Osh Kosh B'Gosh tee's $7.00

The whole 5/6 vs 7/8 and small vs medium thing kills me when it comes to kids clothes. Osh Kosh saves the day with their easy peasy sizing of 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on. Not to mention the tee's are $7 a piece right now, and that's a deal for a good quality shirt that will last you through fall and winter (and longer if you happen to have a kid that doesn't have a growth spurt over the summer).

4. GIRLS ~ Carter's dresses & tunics $13.20

These too come in even sizes, but I just love Carter's, I have always have since my kids were infants. They have a lot of fall play style cotton dresses to choose from and the prints are cute to boot.

5. GIRLS ~ Cherokee Dawna mary jane shoes $12.99

Lily is attending preschool at the dance studio she has been a student at for the last year, so in addition to her academic class, she also has 30 mins of dance each day. She's going to be changing out of dance shoes and into regular shoes on her own each day and needs shoes that are easy to put on by herself. The Cherokee Dawna shoes are just that! Simple but cute styles, with velcro straps make for a confident little girl.

6. BOYS ~ Jumping Beans Side-Stripe Microfiber pants $7.99

What boy doesn't like to be sporty? Some days Jonah wants to wear his "comfy" pants and these are them. He can pair them with just about any t-shirt in his closet and he is good to go, whether its in the classroom or on the soccer field at recess.

77 Kids ~ Kid's Fashion and Fun Wishes (GIVEAWAY!)

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Congrats to Betsy!

I LOVE kids clothing. Seriously. Like more than I love buying clothes for myself! So I was pretty psyched when I found out one of my favorite stores to shop at for myself when I was a bit younger now has a kid line, with a whole store devoted to kids clothing for babies all the way up to 14 year olds.

77 Kids, the baby-spring of American Eagle, has some of the coolest, trendiest, fashionable clothes of the season, so kids can be stylish, just like their older siblings that they look up to.  The prices are comparable to other kids clothing chains like Gap Kids, for example, so you won't be spending an entire paycheck on just a few cool pieces. I was able to find some really great deals on stuff for Jonah and Lily, without feeling like I totally overpaid for them.

The store is totally interactive and gives the kids ways to entertain themselves without making their parents completely bonkers! Like fun projected images of the ground, a picture taking station where kids can snap, edit and even print out photos, bean bag time cushions on the floor, and a place to create some magna-doodle type art. and psst, if the kiddie's are good, there is a candy station to reward them for their behavior. And right now, for the holiday season, they have The Magical Window in the front of the store, where kids can race each other, it's really pretty cool!

Of course, the quality of the 77 Kids clothing is awesome, but I just wanted to mention that some of the pieces run small (as does American Eagle clothing in general in my opinion), so in the slimmer fitting stuff, I suggest ordering a size up, or if you are lucky enough to have a retail store near you, take your kids in and have them try the stuff on. The return policy seems okay to me, so you can always return/exchange too if you aren't close enough to visit a store in person.

Another really cool thing 77 Kids is doing, is giving back to the communities they serve; their local children's hospital's to be exact. By making a snowflake on the 77 Kids site Wish 4 Snow, you are helping them reach their goal of 100,000 snowflakes made BY DECEMBER 14TH. 

Jonah, creating his very own snowflake!

If they reach their goal, 77 Kids will donate $25,000 to nine children's hospital's across the country. And by making a snowflake, you will be entered into a daily drawing to win a $77 77 Kids gift card! There is no limit to how many snowflakes you can make, so get creative and start making those wishes!

WIN IT!

77 Kids and The Motherhood are allowing me to give away a $50 Gift Card for 77 Kids to one of you (just in time for Christmas, right!? How awesome is that?!) and here is your chance(s)!

1. This one is mandatory ;-)! Go to the 77 Kids Wish 4 Snow Site and make a snowflake. Go ahead, wish for anything! Just come back here and tell me what you wished for as your entry! (you can do this once per day)

2. Tweet about 77 Kids, The Motherhood, and the Wish 4 Snow site. You can also do this one a day! I'll even make it easy for you, just copy and paste this! (you must use the #77Kids hashtag and link to the Wish 4 Snow site). Just make sure you come back here, leaving a comment telling me you tweeted!

"Enter 4 a chance at a #77Kids $50 Gift Card from @MommyInstincts & find out how 2 help your local children's hospital! http://bit.ly/eI1ngK"

The fine print:

*Contest will end Tuesday December 7, 2010 at 11:59pm CST

*Contest open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike

*Winner will be chosen at random by a random number generator from all correct entries and will have 48 hours from initial congratulatory email to respond. If original winner does not respond, and alternate winner will be chosen.
*Make sure there is a way for me to get a hold of you in case you win! If you don't feel comfortable publicly leaving your email, you may email me at mommyinstinctsgiveaways AT comcast DOT net with your contact info.

*Don't worry, by entering my giveaway I won't keep your info for any future use!

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

Full Disclosure: I worked with The Motherhood and 77 Kids to help promote the store and it's charity initiative. I received a stipend, but this in no way sways my views or opinions of the company, store, and/or products.