Urbandale Mom Needs Help to Win Place on Walmart Shelves

An Urbandale mom has invented a neat new product and she's hoping you'll help her in a contest to get it on the shelves of Walmart.

A couple of years ago, Jill Lilienthal watched her oldest daughter and her friends parading around the house with their T-shirts cinched tight around their hips using hair ties to knot up the excess fabric. 

"Why is there not a cuter option for that?" she thought.

So she invented one.

The TLilly is a two-inch slotted vinyl disc that keeps the pre-teen set looking fashionable in the T-shirts.

Lilienthal said she searched the Internet to see if anyone was making the clothing accessory she was thinking about and all she found were those big, hard plastic discs that were were used for the same purpose in the 1980s.

So she worked on the design, found a manufacturer and now is selling her product at two local shops, the in Urbandale and Lillians in Valley Junction. 

And after attending a trade show recently, 14 East Coast outlets that have placed orders for the $5 accessory, and Lilienthal had some interest from Disney in a Mickey Mouse TLilly. 

The business has been a family venture. Husband Jeff gave her suggestions and advice. Her kids Grace, 10, Luke, 9, and Sadie, 5, help with the packing and unpacking of product.

But it may get too big for the Lilianthal home 140th Street in Urbandale.

Vote daily by texting 1554 to 383838 or through Facebook

Lilienthal entered the TLilly in a contest sponsored by Walmart to find new products. She is among 4,000 entrants with videos touting their products in Walmart's Get on the Shelf contest between March 7 and April 3.

The 10 products with the most votes go into the second round of voting on April 11 to April 24. The top three vote-getters will be given the chance to sell their product on Walmart websites and in stores.

People can vote once a day in the contest, either by texting 1554 to 383838 or by using Facebook to vote.

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