Double Blessings Celebrates 16 Years and a New Product!

Entwined Community member Double Blessings is celebrating 16 years in business! Double Blessings has provided nursing pillows and other products for twins since 1995. Twin mom and founder Sandy Clark launched a new product - the San Diego Bebe Twin Eco-Nursing Pillow - earlier this week at the All Baby & Child (ABC) Kid's Expo held in Las Vegas.

San Diego Bebe was designed after Clark witnessed a young mother unsuccessfully attempting to nurse her baby at a San Diego beach. The mother attempted to get some privacy by using a blanket but this was not working - the blanket was slipping, the baby was too hot and not getting milk while the mother struggled. Clark decided there had to be a better way, and set out to design a nursing pillow with a built-in mesh Privacy Cover, offering discretion while providing baby with continuous air. Clark says her "primary goal over the years has been to promote the womanly art of breastfeeding. Having privacy during the intimate, God-given act of nursing would further encourage this special bonding time between a mother and her child." San Diego Bebe is also designed green - made of 100% virgin polyfiber that is hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, non-flammable, and recyclable. San Diego Bebe offers both singleton and twin nursing options - order yours today!

Double Blessings is a proud Entwined Community member, and offers a free "TWINS ON BOARD" magnet with your order or $60; buy a onesie, get one free plus a free 60-minute nursery CD with your onesies purchase.

Congrats to Entwined Community member Gemini Greetings - Winner in StartupNation's Top 200 Leading Moms in Business

Congrats to Angelice Tyson, the twin mom behind Gemini Greetings! Angelice is being honored in StartupNation's Top 200 Leading Moms in Business for 2010, coming in at number 171! Businesses are ranked by the combination of popular vote and the special recognition of our judges for certain outstanding contestants.

Necessity is often the mother of invention, and Angelice's story is no different. She was frustrated that she could not find greeting cards to or from twins, triplets or more. Thinking that she was onto something, Gemini Greetings was created! Angelice must be on the right track as this is the second year in a row that her company has been awarded a Top 200 Leading Moms in Business distinction! Congrats to Angelice on this honor!

Gemini Greetings is a proud Entwined Community member and offers a free card with your purchase of $10 or more.

TWINdustry of the Week - Restaurant/Food

This week's TWINdustry of the week - restaurant/food related businesses! Everyone loves going out to eat, and what a better to connect with local twin/multiples families then at a meal. The next time you go out to dinner with the kids or for date night, find one that is owned by a twin/multiples family! Connect with entwined community members on BigTent and discuss how they got started with their restaurant or food related business. Don't forget we will close each week on Friday with a guest post by an Entwined Community business member in the TWINdustry of the week.

An additional bonus for businesses is savings on signups when your industry is selected as the TWINdustry of the week. This week, from October 11th to 17th, restaurant or food related businesses that are owned by twins/multiples or the parents of multiples can join as a business member of Entwined Community for just $5 - part of our introductory special offer that is open to all businesses!

I love to cook. I have to admit it was very difficult when the babies were very young to find the time (or energy) to cook. We were very fortunate to have friends and family who knew we were overwhelmed and they sent gift certificates for local restaurants in our area that delivered so we could order food and have one less thing to worry about. Check the directory to see if there are any restaurants in your local area - what a great gift for a new mother of multiples - a gift certificate to a twin/multiples owned restaurant -or a gift membership to Entwined Community! If there are not any restaurant/food businesses near you - your challenge this week is to reach out to foodie businesses in your local area who are twin/multiples or the parents of multiples and ask them to join our growing community!

Save the Date - Nov 7th Entwined Community Quarterly Business Mixer: Southern California

Save the date - join Entwined Community on Sunday, November 7th from 10a-1p for our first Quarterly Business Mixer at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. Admission to the event is free and you can RSVP on our Facebook page.

Stop by to meet fellow Entwined Community members and hear more about the products and services that they offer! Just started your business or looking to take it to the next level? Chat with experts in blogging, Etsy, photography and more on how to keep your business lucrative and moving forward. Appointments will be available for one-on-one consultations. If you are a twin/multiples business owner and interested in offering one-on-one mentoring sessions at the event on a variety of topics, contact us now.

If you are an Entwined Community business member and interested in FREE table space at this event, please contact us at info@entwinedcommunity.com - limited vendor table space will be available on a first come, first served basis. Business mixers will be scheduled on a quarterly basis in a variety of locations - upcoming destinations are Las Vegas (Winter 2011) - contact us for additional information on these upcoming events.

TWINdustry Guest Post - Education/Classes

This week we will not have a guest post - unfortunately we were not able to make it happen before our deadline of today! Stay tuned and we will run this topic again in the future - if you know of a twin or parent of multiples who teaches classes in their community or online, please have them contact us at info@entwinedcommunity.com .

TWINdustry of the Week - Education/Classes

This week's TWINdustry of the week - education/classes. As a part time instructor at my local university, I too love sharing things that I am passionate about. If you are considering taking a class in your community, find one that is taught by a twin or multiple! Connect with entwined community members on BigTent and discuss how they got started with their teaching career. Don't forget we will close each week on Friday with a guest post by an Entwined Community business member in the TWINdustry of the week.

An additional bonus for businesses is savings on signups when your industry is selected as the TWINdustry of the week. This week, from October 4th to 10th, educators who are twins/multiples or the parents of multiples can join as a business member of Entwined Community for just $5 - part of our introductory special offer that is open to all businesses!

Learning is a lifelong love of mine, and as my children get older, I can't wait to see where their interests will lie and what they will love to learn about. I hope that you will be able to connect with a twin/multiple educator in your area for your next educational pursuit. Check the directory to see what teachers are in your local area. Not any listed near you? Your challenge this week is to reach out to educators in your area who are twin/multiples or the parents of multiples and ask them to join our growing community!

Happy October from entwined community!

It is finally October! Here in Las Vegas it is still very hot - triple digits - but hopefully fall weather has found you! There are so many things to look forward to in October - pumpkins, fall foods, football and of course Halloween! I hope that you will create some wonderful memories with your family over the weeks ahead. A very special set of twins celebrate their 2nd birthday on October 7th - Harper and Finley, the fraternal twin daughters of Lisa Marie Presley and granddaughters of Elvis Presley.


Each month we highlight a business and member of the month on our website. This month we are highlighting member business Rebecca Novotny Designs. Rebecca is originally from Pennsylvania and lives in Florida. She designs beautiful jewelry pieces out of her home studio. Take a look at these beautiful Pumpkin Orange Faceted Quartz and Carnelian Cluster Dangle Earrings - they would make a great addition to an outfit inspired by the fall color palette. Rebecca offers 10% off for entwined community members. Rebecca is excited to support entwined community member businesses - she is already a member of Twiniversity and looks forward to using her member discount Robyn's Nest Boutique and Trends in Twos.

October is also a special month in the Novotny household - her boys will turn 1 this year! She is busy planning a pilot-themed party for the boys in honor of their dad, who is in the Air Force. Look at this cute picture of them trying on their Halloween costumes! The whole family looks forward to their first trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving together.

Our Member of the Month for October is Lana D! Lana lives near the Tulsa, OK area and is the mom of adorable 3 1/2 year old identical girls. She is currently pregnant with her second set of twins - check out that cute babies bump! Lana is the President of the Northwest Arkansas Mothers of Multiples Club.

Lana and her family love to celebrate Fall - she stretches out the decorations from early October to Thanksgiving! This also saves time since she doesn't have to switch out Halloween with Thanksgiving decorations. Her family makes a trip to the pumpkin patch each October and pick out some pumpkins for the porch and now that her girls are older, she'll get some smaller ones for them to color and paint. She also loves to get outside and go hiking/camping with the girls as often as possible this time of year.

TWINdustry Guest Post: Jewelry

Each Friday, we highlight an entwined community member who works in the TWINdustry of the Week. This week's post is by Rebecca Novotny, twin mom and the entrepreneur behind Rebecca Novotny Designs.

If you would have told me five years ago, that this is where I would be today; I would never have believed you. Five years ago I was graduating college, searching for a teaching job, and planning to marry my best friend. I did marry my best friend, and I did land my first job teaching elementary school art…but three years ago we made a decision that changed our lives forever: my husband resigned from his teaching job to join the US Air Force, and I agreed to leave my job to travel with him.

We moved three thousand miles from home, and I started working for a local tutoring center. About a year later, my husband and I received huge, exciting news…we were pregnant! With TWINS! I stayed at work until August, moved across the country again, and then got put on ‘modified bed rest’. I have always been an active person, and bed rest was terrible for me, but important for my babies. My creativity started to run wild. Scrap booking, photography, and LOTS of jewelry! Due to tight finances, I started giving out handmade jewelry as gifts. I started receiving requests to make jewelry for bridal parties, family jewelry, and earrings to match dresses for special occasions. Everyone seemed to love it, and I loved making it!

My goal for Rebecca Novotny Designs on Etsy is to create enough income that I can continue to stay home with my boys. My priority first and foremost, is my family. My husband I both believe in the importance of spending time quality time with our children. It is extra important for one of us to always be here, when the other one is sometimes forced to spend a lot of time away. The great thing about having your own business is the flexibility of being able to work around the hectic schedule of a family with multiples. I create new jewelry and work on orders during nap times and after bedtime. When we get moved to new duty stations, my business can move with me. It allows me to spend every moment that I can with my babies, and still have something to do for myself. The additional income makes me feel like I am doing something proactive to help my family as well. Rebecca Novotny Designs is a proud entwined community member business and offers 10% off orders for entwined community members - be sure to find me on Facebook too!

Rebecca Novotny has identical twin boys and designs jewelry for Rebecca Novotny Designs. Contact her at rebeccanovotny@hotmail.com .