Homemade Christmas Gifts for Kids

Just wanted to give my readers some ideas of some homemade Christmas gifts that can be made for kids. I made these pajama pants for my daughter. Pajamas as always a good gift idea for any age, kids and adults. I also made her this Mermaid tail blanket, which she loves. I made it big enough for me to get in to so that it would grow with her and we weren't passing it on as she got taller.

Finally, I made these stuffed Stegosaurus dinosaur toy for both my son and a nephew. My son had helped me pick out fleece one day with the idea I might make him something with it in the future ad the green and black fleece is what he picked out and I thought it looked great for a dinosaur pattern. I drew out my own pattern and created this design.

Batman Cat Stuffie

This Batman Cat Stuffed Animal was a collaboration project between my son and myself. It was a present for one of his good friends that we made a couple years ago already . The stuffie was completely his idea and I took him to JoAnn fabrics to pick out the fabric he wanted and then he drew out the stuffed animals on a big sheet of tissue paper. I cut out the image and used it as my pattern to cut out the fabric pieces and sewed it together. He picked out the buttons and had to do the stuffing. I think it turned out quite cute.

Gift Idea!!!! 3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Light

Want to know a secret? Santa is bringing my son a bunch of Star Wars items, including one of these 3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Lights.  There are even more options than what I have listed below, but that will give you an idea of some of them that are available at Target. They have a big wall light version, plus they also have mini wall light versions which would make a great stocking stuffer. I am torn as to which one he would like best. I am leaning towards Darth Vader or Yoda.....Hmmmmmm.....Dark Side or Light Side? Such a dilemma!

3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Lights are the perfect gift this holiday season. They have a full range of comic book, super hero, Disney Princess, sports and car lights that look as though they are popping right out of the wall! They are battery operated and cool to the touch so you can place them any where in the room! Your kids will loves having these in their rooms and they're also the perfect editions to a den, family room, man's cave or office! Find all of these amazing products here: http://bit.ly/TargetUSFamily

Paw Patrol:
Chase, Rubble or Skye


Star Wars:
Darth Vader - Mask
Dark Vader - Light Saber
BB=8
Boba Fett
Yoda
Storm Trooper
C-3PO
Death Star
Kylo Ren


Marvel:
Deadpool
Spiderman
Thor - Hammer
Captain America - Sheild
Iron Man - Mask
Iron Man - Hand
Hulk Fist

My Little Pony:
Pinkie Pie
Rainbow Dash
Twilight Sparkle

Warner Bros:
Batman
Superman


Disney:
Olaf


Universal:
Minions - Bob, Stuart or Kevin

3DlightFX The Best Holiday Gift For Children,Teens and Adults! 3D Deco Lights Available at Target http://bit.ly/TargetUSFamily

Review: Elf Star Take-a-Part Build Toy

I got this product, Elf Star Take-a-Part Build Toy, for a deep discount for the purpose of reviewing it. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own.

The age on this is for 5 and older and I knew that my 6 year old son would love to try it out. There were 4 different kits to choose from and each kid had two different plans to make automobiles.

It comes with colorful instructions that were pretty easy to follow for my son and I. For the most part he could do it on his own but needed help holding the nuts in place while he used the screwdriver type tool to screw it into place. He thought being able to use the tools while putting it together made it more fun.

We have put together one of the designs so far. He wants to keep playing with that one for a while before he disassembles it and rebuild it to follow the other instructions.

The only thing I wanted to point out was that the packaging is just a brown box with writing on it as you can see in the picture. If someone were to be giving this as a gift it doesn't present as cool looking as a lot of other gifts would win this is just in a brown cardboard box. But since we were doing it for a review and playing with it at home it didn't matter as much but I know for some people the presentation of the packaging says a lot.

Product Description from Company:

The take apart vehicle is a great development toy for children who love to assemble and build! With this set, children can build their own vehicle, take it apart and rebuild again. Two plus models can be built from the set. Encourage your children to find more possible ways to build. The fun is endless! Features:

• Non-toxic eco-friendly rubber fiber material, safe to the children
• Large brightly colored pieces, easy for small hands to maneuver
• Precision craft, no sharp edges
• Fifty (50) pieces including necessary tools
Benefits:

• Improve hand-eye coordination
• Encourage spatial thinking
• Develop patience and attention
• Create quality parenting time
Recommended Age: 5 and Up

BUY THE ELF STAR TAKE-A-PART BUILD TOY ON AMAZON

Review: Cooper & Kid Gross Kit for Father's Day

This is the Cooper and Kid Gross kit. It is a project kit filled with multiple projects that are geared towards dad's to do with their kids. The above picture is of my husband and my kids before they are about to open the kit to see what is in there. I received this kit for free for the purpose of reviewing it. No monetary compensation was received. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs and video are my own. Speaking of video, check out the video below to watch them open it and see everything for the first time.

This particular kit is the gross kit. If you choose to order this subscription box it will come quarterly. The box is filled with a large amount of projects to do over quite a while. On the first day my family opened it they spend quite a bit of time looking through everything. We are still using everything in the kit. It would not be possible to do all of this and one weekend. There will be different things to different quarters.

Here is the table in of contents inside the activity guide book. It has 9 different activities and most of the supplies are included there are a couple of things they included coupons for us to go by food products. I'm not sure if that is normal for many of their kids or not but this one is about what happens inside your gut so food does need to be a part of this.





So there's the video. You can hear them tell you every single item and describe it for you. Below is a picture the contents. It does include a kit to make a microscope. This is something that a dad should do but he will need help taking some parts into place.

When you sign up, you will also get access to online activities as well through their online access portal. So be sure to check your email. The fun doesn't have to stop after you use up everything in the box.

I know it's Mother's Day today, but in just over a month it will be Father's Day and how fun would this be to present to the dad and your kid's life. Something to create memories with them because that is what it is about. They will remember the time they spend with you and why not make the time awesome with a Cooper and Kid kit.

Find out more information about Cooper and Kid online:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

FREE Lowes Build and Grow - Monster Jam Blue Thunder

Next up in the Lowe's Build and Grow Monster Jam Series is "Blue Thunder". This event is happening this Saturday at 10am at your nearest Lowe's. These events do fill up fast, so you need to pre-register to guarantee a spot.

REGISTER TODAY!

DIY Dino Dig

No need to spend a lot of money on dinosaur dig kits when you can make your own at home using the dinosaurs your child already owns, a plastic container from the recycling bin, some water and plaster of paris.

Here you can see all of my supplies. I had my son pick out some small dinosaurs that he wanted to dig out. I bought this huge bag at Lowe's (25 pounds) for about the same price (actually it might have been a little cheaper) than the 2 pounds bucket that is marketed towards kids crafts. In my experience working with the 2 types of plaster, this is a stronger plaster too.

There are instructions on the bag, but basically it is 3 parts plaster to 1 part water. I used a container from a ramen meal and ended up mixing together 3 C of plaster and 1 C of water to fill the container to this level.

Just mix up to get the consistency you desire and the plaster is smooth. Thicker plaster will dry quicker.

Put it aside and let it dry. How long it takes to dry depends upon how thick you made it, your air humidity level, and how thin you make the mixture. For mine I took it out of the mold in a couple hours and then let it finish drying on a paper plate.

I am thinking I am going to start saving some containers and make some of these up for a Dinosaur Birthday Party for my son.

Review: Last Mouse Travel Game by FoxMind

My Thoughts:

This game, Last Mouse Lost, came just in time for a delivery to my children in their stockings from St. Nick.We have already play this game a few dozen times already just since they opened the package on Saturday. It is a simple game to play that even my preschooler can play it. And the games are quick that you can play a game in about a minute. What I love most about this game is that is completely portable and it just one rubbery piece, so there are no pieces to get lost. This is going to be perfect to have in the car to play as we take road trips for the the holidays. My kids often like interact with me while my husband drives, but I get sick from turning around too much, but with this game I can just reach back and grab it. This game is also quite affordable and costs under ten dollars, in fact at the time of this post it was $7.95. I also like that since this game is all rubbery, it can easily be washed, even in the dishwasher.

Buy Last Mouse Lost on Amazon

Product Description from FoxMind :

FoxMind's Last Mouse Lost Game is Easy, Affordable, Addictive Fun Make sure that you're not lost without FoxMind's new game, Last Mouse Lost. The quick, easy, and smart game without any loose parts and unique design, is an affordable, perfect stocking stuffer, executive desk gift, waiting room game, and coffee table conversation piece. It's technically a quick thinking reasoning, math strategy game that can have planned moves, but with every turn, the trap can be set and your next move might be the last mouse - and you lost. The new Last Mouse Lost game (MSRP $7.99) is a self-contained two-player game that is perfect for passing the time while traveling or used simply for stress relief because it is quite relaxing to squish the mice . The circular rubberized board has rows of puffed up bubble-like mounds with pictures of mice on each one. Players take turns pressing down any number of mice in a single row trying to avoid being the player to press down the last mouse. As soon as the game is over, just flip it over and it's ready to go again. It's even dishwasher safe.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Review: KidzLane Sing-A-Long CD & MP3 Player with Dual Microphones

My Thoughts
The KidzLane Sing-A-Long CD and MP3 Player with Dual Microphones is such a fun product and both of my kids are having fun with it.. It's a lot bigger of a toy than it looks in the pictures on Amazon. Look at my picture of my preschool son holding it to get an idea of the size. My 3rd grade daughter was worried it was going to be tiny and be too much like a toy, but it is not. The kids have been having a blast playing with it.

It comes with 2 microphones so that 2 kids can sing at the same time and do a duet. They can sing with the music or without. My son seems to have a good time just talking in it to hear what his voice sounds like. There are volume controls on it for both the music and the microphones so you have pretty good control over how loud it can get and it can get pretty loud. Each microphone also has it's own on/off switch. The buttons are big and easy to press which is great for little fingers that are still working on fine motor skills.

It does take 6 C batteries, but there is a spot that you can plug in a DC cord (not included) if you don't want to use batteries. It also has an USB port that you can plug a drive in to. There is also a Line In Jack that you can use and plug headphones or something else in to and does come with a Line-In cord to run from the CD player to your smartphone or mp3 player.

I really like the portable feature of this toy and the fact that it has 2 microphones so that the kids can play with it together.

BUY This CD Player on Amazon

Product Description from Dime Trading


Kids Sing Along CD-MP3 player and USB flash drive port, could also play WMA audio format, (UBS can only read a flash drive not from an iPod) Anti-Skip protection, 3 digit LED display, High output speaker sound system Fully programmable, choose your desired tracks, random play, intro play, repeat play Sing-Along dual microphones with ON/OFF switch & a separate microphone volume control knob Uses 6 "C" Batteries (Not Included), Line-in jack to connect it to your smart phone (included) AC/DC 9V jacks (AC adapter sold separately)

Check out my son demonstrating how to use the product, although he sounds a bit muffled because he has the microphone right on his mouth and if you hold it away from your mouth a little bit it sounds better.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

GIVEAWAY and Review: Wild Republic Audubon Stuffed Birds

My Thoughts

I was thrilled to be able to review a random Wild Republic Audubon Society Stuffed Bird with sounds. It didn't really matter to me which one they sent me because my kids actually play with their stuffed animals ALL THE TIME. I am not just saying that, they play with them so much and sleep with them and "teach" them when they play school or have a peregrine falcon (the one pictured above) be eaten by a stuffed T-Rex as they enact scenes or make friends with each other.

My son has named his Wild Republic Audubon Society peregrine falcon "Eek-y" because of the sound it makes. He absolutely loves this little guy and it would make an awesome gift for any yound bird lover or any stuffed animal lover. My son says that he most likes to play with this toy by making it talk and play with his best friend "Prince" starfish. This would be an awesome stocking stuffer.

One of you will get a chance to win one of these fun stuff birds by enter the giveaway below. I can't promise it will be there in time for Christmas, but we can cross our fingers. If you want it in time for Christmas, check out all the Wild Republic Birds on Amazon and order one today!

Product Description from Wild Republic:


Wild Republic is proud to continue it’s award-winning line of realistic birds with authentic sound. Licensed by the legendary National Audubon Society, with real bird calls provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these birds have become one of the hottest collectibles in the toy market. They sell well to both children and adult bird enthusiasts. Each bird is carefully researched, and comes with an educational hang tag that includes information about its appearance, eating habits, habitat maps and sound information. Avid collectors will be delighted that we’ve introduced a new series, Baby Birds. Join the flock.

ONE LUCKY WINNER WILL RECEIVE THEIR OWN

WILD REPUBLIC AUDUBON STUFFED BIRD (RANDOM ONE SENT)

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER BELOW

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Review: Zubels Organic Hand-Knit Cheerleader Doll

My Thoughts:

Let me introduce you to Pom Pom Pam from Zubels (cheerleader doll). She in an eco-friendly hand knit with 100% organic cotton yarn and is 100% non-toxic. She is a 12" soft doll and is sure to be cuddled often by any child lucky enough to receive her. The heart on her chest in the picture is just a sticker to let you know that it comes from their organic line. This cheerleader comes a variety of colors, including Purple and Gold for all the Vikings fans living here in MN.

Not only is this little doll just adorable she come with minimal packaging to reduce the waste of resources and uses cotton yarn that is dyed with eco-friendly low impact dyes. I hope to be able to review other of their "dolls". My kids are huge fans of stuffed animals and there are so many that I know they would love to have. If I had to pick which ones my kids would want the most (which is hard to do because there are 105 dolls to choose from, all handknit), I think my son would pick Dino Dinasour because he is a huge dinosaur fan. My daughter might be most drawn to Bunny Girl Pish.

I do want to point out a couple of things that I think my readers might love and that is there are some holiday dolls that include a red-nosed reindeer, Santa, and elves. There is also an assortment of colors for the football players, including Purple and Gold for all Vikings fans.

Product Description from Zubels


Zubels, the finest hand made 100% cotton dolls in the world they come in these sizes 7" rattles , 12", 14" and 24" We also offer sweaters and hats to match - their is no product in the market that delivers such great looks with our high qulality standards.... 

 About Zubels are 100% cotton (some organic) hand knit toys, hats and sweaters which are sure to be cherished and loved by children of all ages.

Mission Zubels were born of a creative group working together to bring smiles to children (and to us). There was a need for an eco-friendly yet purposeful toy whose only requirement was a little love and imagination.

Find more information about Zubels online:

website

facebook

twitter

instagram

G+

pinterest

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Turn a Counter Top into a DIY Chalkboard and Shelves

This post has 2 projects in one. The first one I will tell you about is the DIY Chalkboard I made with the kids from a leftover piece of countertop (after we did the bottom project.)

As I have mentioned in a previous post, we bought a cabin up north and it was pretty much ready for us to bring our stuff in to it with only a few projects (thankfully!) so some of those projects have been creating spaces outside for the kids to play and encourage them to be outdoors even more.

The picture below show what the leftover piece of countertop looked like. It was a cheap countertop that was clearanced out at Lowe's because it was already cut to size (and either returned or cut wrong). I used Chalkboard Paint Spray that I bought from Lowe's ($6) and painted the entire front side, which would have actually been the underside of it as a countertop.

Then I let the kids help me apply some fun colored duct tape, that they had in their stash, around the edges to seal the wood and over the ledge to cover the paint edges and make it look nice. We bought some Crayola Chalk that is actually a rectangular shape that so it doens't roll off the ledge.

The kids think it is fun to be able to play school outside!

The picture below is how my husband made shelves to go alongside our over the range microwave. Originally in the house there was this HUGE exhaust fan over the stove, but it shorted out and was broken, so we replaced it with an over the range microwave with exhaust. The only problem was that this former exhaust was so big that we couldn't find a microwave big enough to fill it, so we added shelves instead.

My husband bought the piece of counter top because it was the perfect surface for storing oils, spices and more on because it was washable and then we wouldn't have to paint anything (we even put leftover contact paper in the back on the wall). Because the countertop was the same type of material he was looking for to make the shelves and the fact that it was deeply clearanced (where he would had had to pay regular price for the sheets of this material) it was not a huge expense.

And as luck would have it, the leftover piece after he finished making the shelves was the perfect size to make the above chalkboard.

Bug Tic-Tac-Toe

This was a fun little project to do at our new cabin with the kids to let them help create an outdoor activity. We have several stumps in the yard, so why not put some to use and with this one we made a Tic-Tac-Toe board. My kids painted all the markers that are ladybugs and bumblebees. They used acrylic paint on flat black river rock (purchased for $1 at Wal-Mart).

Isn't this just too cute!

Review: Ultimate Dino Dig

I was so excited to be able to share with my son that we were going to be reviewing Ultimate Dino Dig. We have done a couple of other dino digs type activities before, but this one is different. This one has 3 REAL DINO FOSSILS! My son has been saying for almost a year now that he wants to be a paleoentologist and so we have been fueling that interest by taking him to see dinosaur exhibits at both the Science Museum of Minnesota and Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in the past few weeks and just yesterday, we did our own dino dig with the Ultimate Dino Dig Kit.

Please watch the video below as I tell you all about the product there and show you everything included, plus you get to see both my kids at work on it. My daughter wanted to participate as well because she thought digging for real fossils is pretty cool!

The pictures above and below both show the real fossils that were in our Ultimate Dino Dig Kit, including poop, bone and a tooth.

My son was very gracious and was willing to let his sister participate in the digging and even keep half of the contents. My son is such a little boy, so his main concern was that he get the fossilized poop and let his sister have the bone and tooth.

Also in the dig are 19 plastic pieces to put together a T-Rex model, which is the other piece my son wanted. You can see from the picture above that he make it look like his little T-Rex model took a great big dino poop. LOL!

Here is the entire contents of the Ultimate Dino Dig kit spread out. Now that the dig has been done we will be reading the guide book (over & over I am sure!) and doing the activity book as well.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thrifty Thursday: Cheap Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Slime Ooze

Some times desperate times call for some creativity. I need to give credit to my daughter for this idea.

My son was invited to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party and we comprised a gift bag full of TMNT items including a book, a puzzle and the above pictured action figure. I let my son pick out everything and when we were home I was looking more closely at the items. The action figure DID NOT include the ooze slime that was to be launched by Leonardo. Aaack! So, I went online to look at how much it cost it was $18.99 (more than the action figure) for disposable ooze.

We made our own slime (I'll share that recipe later in a future blog post) and while it was fun to play with, it was not the right consistecy to work with this toy. Ugh! So, we went to the dollar store to see if they carried slime - nope! But my daughter saw this bottle of Aloe Vera Soothing Gel and we looked at it. It was the right color and the right consistency and certainly the right price (plus, if my son's fair-skinned friend burned, he had his ooze to rub on himself).

Review: Velocity 2.0 Marble Mania Toy

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

My kids are always excited when we get a package to review, even more excited when the package is in a large box. The first question they always ask is "who gets to review this one?" and when I say it's for the kids I am met with many cheers. Well, this was a big package for the kids and I had so much excitement in the house that they weren't willing to wait more than an hour for me to be ready to help them get this set up.

We had the opportunity to review Velocity 2.0 Marble Mania. I have included several picture showing the both on both sides, as well as all the pieces laid out and a picture of my children with the finished piece. Plus as a bonus I included a video of showing Velocity 2.0 Marble Mania in action.



We have had Velocity 2.0 set up for about a week now and my son still goes in to the family room and plays with it a couple times a day. The set includes 300+ pieces and VERY detailed instructions. The instructions were so great! They go piece by piece telling you want to put in place. All the pieces are labeled with a number so you can easily identify the correct piece, although after a while you know which size gray block is #9 or #12 without looking at the number. You do want to make sure you follow the directions exactly because they are in the order they are in for a reason. If you miss a step you won't be able to build upon it and you will have to re-read the instructions to see what you did wrong before you can proceed further.

The first thing the instructions tell you to do is to lay out all your pieces and group them together. There are lots of little bags of pieces to open, so this is a very helpful step. All of my pieces were included and there was a half dozen extra pieces of some of the most abundant pieces. The only bummer we had was that the batteries (included) that is in the flashing disk died very quickly. I am guessing it was somehow turned on in the package and ran down the batteries. The kids saw it work for about a hour as we worked on setting it up and then it no longer would turn on. They are ok with that because the flashing disk is just for show, it isn't turned on by marbles or anything.

The kids have been having a lot of fun with it. My 8 year old daughter started putting together the set on her own but then after a few pages she asked for help (there are 40+ pages of steps), then I stepped in and began working on it and enlisted the help of my 4 year old to hand me pieces.

My kids do want to take it apart and see what kind of other creations they can make with it, but they do thinks it is pretty cool the way the toy is intended. They do the same thing with building block sets where they follow the initial instructions and then want to use their creativity to play with the toy more. I can't wait to see what they come up with. This toy is going to provide hours of distraction and enertainment.

You can BUY the VELOCITY 2.0 MARBLE MANIA toy from

The Learning Journey International website

Product Description from The Learning Journey International:


This new Marble Mania set in the coaster series features two exciting hand cranked marble lifters that allow children to send marbles into the twisting and turning tracks at a high velocity. The set has more than 300 pieces that will engage kids in the building process for hours on end! Requires two button cell batteries (included). Colors may vary. Ages 8+ years.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.