eBeanstalk: Review of Plan Toys

hypothesis The wooden school bus from Plan Toys provided by ebeanstalk will be a great way to foster creative play in my daughters without the need for fancy bells and whistles!

materials One Activity Bus by Plan Toys, all the great accessories, and two little girls ready to play school! About Plan Toys and ebeanstalk:

plantoysWe create innovative educational toys for every developmental stage of childhood. PlanToys® incorporates thoughtful design and age-appropriate challenges to stimulate children’s creativity. Our toys encourage healthy social interaction, promote natural learning and instill a sense of wonder. PlanToys practices the “Three R’s” of green living: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Our manufacturing processes are designed to reduce waste and save energy. We reuse materials, and have introduced innovative methods to recycle paper and other products. We are always looking for new ways to improve and preserve our environment.”

ebeanstalklogoeBeanstalk is dedicated to providing the learning toys and educational toys that promote a child’s development…and we go far beyond just toys. Our mission at eBeanstalk is to “plant the seeds that help children grow” while making gift-giving easy and special.

eBeanstalk is a place where you can give expert selected newborn toys, baby toys, toddler toys and toys for a preschooler. All of our learning toys are packaged into a GIFT SERIES, where every three months a new gift arrives that is perfectly suited the appropriate stage of a child’s development.

results What makes a good toy? A toy called the Activity Bus from Plan Toys who makes safe green toys was sent to me from a toy website called ebeanstalk. Ebeanstalk has toy experts and moms that find the great learning toys and baby toys through a toy testing program. Both Lily and Aubrie were excited to test out the Activity Bus by Plan Toys sent to us by eBeanstalk.  I was thrilled for my girls to play with an “old-school” wooden toy that required only the use of their imaginations.  The Activity Bus opened to reveal a large cargo space which housed many wooden accessories such as desks, street signs, and people.  Lily, age 4, enjoyed setting up a little scene and playing with the dolls as student and teacher.  Aubrie, age 20 months, enjoyed stuffing items into the bus and removing them…over and over again.

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I thought the bus was well made, but my oldest daughter lost interest after about 10 minutes.  Aubrie played with it for quite some time, but some of the pieces were too small for her.

summary

The Activity Bus by Plan Toys provided by ebeanstalk, would make a great gift for a child who is really in to “city play.”  The accessories leave lots of room for pretend play and the cargo space in the bus easily lends itself to many activities.  In addition to the activity bus, ebeanstalk also sells many great toys for kids of all ages.  Lily would just LOVE this Victorian Dollhouse!  Right now, ebeanstalk is offering FREE SHIPPING on orders over $65!  Hurry and order before the holidays!  You can also check out other great products on the Plan Toys Facebook Fan Page!

This review is the opinion of The Experimental Mommy. Other may have a different experience with the product. Thank you to eBeanstalk for supplying the product for review.

Get Buttoned Up: Review and Giveaway

Whenever anyone asks me how I am doing, my standard answer has become “busy!”  With the school year in full swing, the holidays on the horizon, and the zillion events we are trying to attend between now and the New Year, it’s about enough to make someone go nuts!  Well, we have found a resource for the crazy rat race with Buttoned Up!

About Buttoned Up from the website:   “Buttoned Up, Inc. was founded in 2004 by four women, three sisters and a best friend. They realized the necessity for a tool like Life.doc after experiencing significant life changes. Each of them felt the need to get their lives organized but were unable to find products that could help them control their chaos. They wanted to be liberated from the rigid organizational systems that they bought annually and stopped using after just a few weeks.  After several years of trial, error, effort and research, they started Buttoned Up whose mission is to give women the tools they need to live an organized life not a life of organization.”

Buttoned up sells organizational products and kindly sent me two of their wonderful organizational tools to check out.  First, I got the Collison Kit, which is perfect should (God forbid) I ever involved in a fender bender.  The Collision Kit is small enough to stick in a glove compartment, and holds a disposable  camera, pen, and clipboard with pre-printed forms to remind you to get all the details, including information from the other driver(s) and witnesses. There is even an envelope for your insurance card and registration!  This is a GREAT stocking stuffer  for a new driver or child going off to college.  I love gifts that are thoughtful and this is definitely one of them…..a much better idea than socks or fruitcake!

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The second item Buttoned up sent me is the Birthday Book , which is a great way to store all the important birthdays I need to remember.  The Birthday book includes a list of  important dates to remember month by month as well as a list of traditional gifts for anniversaries and gemstones that correspond to each month.  This would be a perfect little gift for  my Dad, who literally carries around a business card in his wallet with a list of the family birthdays on it, as well as his own….no lie.  Does Buttoned up sell a memory card for Dad’s brain?  Anyway……

The Buttoned Up website is awesome, easy to read, and chock full of tips to keep yourself on track.  The store carries a lot more than just the two products I received, and they are all offered for a very reasonable price.  For just a few bucks you can keep everyone organized this year!  The website offers countless tips for gift ideas, de-cluttering, keeping your finances on track, and more!

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Want to get Buttoned Up?  The Not So Blog is one winner their choice of either the Collision Kit or the Birthday Book!

How to enter:

1. Visit the Buttoned Up and tell me another product that would help you get organized!

Additional entries

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and Buttoned Up on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 2nd. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This review is the opinion of The Experimental Mommy. Other may have a different experience with the product. Thank you to Buttoned Up for supplying the product for review.

Fancy Friendship Bracelets: Review and Giveaway

hypothesis The Fancy Friendship Bracelet will be a great way for your child (ages 8  and up) to be creative and strengthen the bonds of friendship by designing bracelets to trade with friends!

materials One Fancy Friendship Bracelets kit which includes 5 different color cords and over 200 sparkling beads.   About the Fancy Friendship Bracelet kit by Klutz:

klutzlogoHow-to books from Klutz come packaged with the tools of their trade (from juggling cubes to face paints to yo-yos), and are designed for doing, not just reading.  We think people learn best through their hands, nose, feet, mouth and ears. Then their eyes. So we design multi-sensory books.  The appeal of this hands-on approach is borne out by sales figures; Klutz is a fixture on U.S. book and toy bestseller lists, and is available in 24 countries around the world.

Introducing Fancy Friendship Bracelets, the original Friendship Bracelet’s new best friend! Klutz started with super-simple instructions for a flock of all-new bracelet designs. We added five different colors of cord and more than 200 sparkling beads. Then we threw in some stylish charms for good measure. The result is even better than we hoped.”

results When I was a girl, I remember making  friendship bracelets and even friendship pins, but they were nowhere near as cool as the designs in the Klutz book!  Fancy Friendship Bracelets gives you everything you need to get started and create some great gifts for your friends.  The kit is for ages 8 and up, but I decided to let Lily try it with supervision.  It didn’t go so well.  At almost 5, she just does not have the dexterity needed to create a bracelet.  However, for the correct age range, this book would be a great holiday gift!  The kit comes with step by step instructions and includes the cord and beads to make many different bracelets.

bracelets

summary

I think the Fancy Friendship Bracelet book would not only make an excellent holiday gift, but great birthday gift or stocking stuffer as well!  The book can be purchased directly for $19.95!

Not into bracelets?  Check out all the great items by Klutz!  The Invasion of the Bristlebots looks cool!

Would your daughter love to make some bracelets?  Klutz has generously offered TWO readers TWO books each…one to keep and one to share with a friend!

How to enter:

1. Visit the Klutz and tell me another product you would love to own!

Additional entries

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook.

5. Sign up for the Klutz newsletter!

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 1st. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This review is the opinion of The Experimental Mommy. Other may have a different experience with the product. Thank you to Klutz for supplying the product for review.

Wordless Wednesday

Since Jennifer has done such a fabulous job helping me here at The Not-So-Blog, I thought it was time to show my gratitude by displaying some old, embarrassing pictures of us when we were little! LOL!  That’s me on the left (age 6) and Jennifer with the blonde hair (age 5).  My brother is on the right and Jen’s little brother is the one holding his nose! Enjoy!

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Halloween 1980

To Paint or not to Paint?!?

With the kids and all their stuff, it sometimes seems like the walls in our house are closing in around us.  My husband and I have talked about selling our house and trying to get into something bigger, but with the economy the way it is right now we are being patient and making the most of what we have.  Just this weekend, Hubby was making a list of things in the house that need to be tweaked in order to  update it.  We need to repaint the kitchen and family room and can’t decide on a color.  With this in mind, I think the Weekend Project software is perfect!

weekendpunchWeekend Project with Kristian Cunningham (as seen on HGTV and the Rachael Ray Show) is designed to help you complete your projects around the home in a weekend.  Thinking of  refinishing, organizing, or repainting?  This is the software for you!  You can easily try out paint colors, cabinet finishes, new tile, and other touches before you go to the trouble of bringing it home and deciding  it’s not right!  Having a baby?  Weekend Project can help you design a dream nursery for your little one that will look like you paid top dollar for a professional!  Other features include being able to choose from thousands of faux finishes, interior and exterior paint, blinds, stone and solid surfaces, and more.  You can even add new lighting and see the results of that lighting in the software.  The Plant Finder feature can even suggest plants based on your geographic location!   All along the way you get tips from expert Kristian Cunningham.   Weekend Project makes it all sound so easy….the hardest part might be deciding what part of your house to update first!

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Top Ten Toys of 2009: Mom Approved!

Your kids think Santa just *knows* what they want to find under the tree on Christmas morning, but what happens when Santa doesn’t really *know* what to leave?!?  Cool Baby Kid and The Not-So-Blog have compiled a list of the things our children are asking for this holiday season in hopes of helping parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even Santa himself select a gift that brings magic, fun and a smile to the face of your child!

santalist

Keep in mind, the kids’ lists were WAY longer than we could post, so we picked the Top Ten Best Toys of 2009 (also known as “Things we would want Santa to leave our kids for Christmas” or “Mom approved gifts for our kids….no grandma, please DON’T buy my child another farting parrot…oh yes, it DID happen” ).

1. Tag and Tag Junior by Leapfrog

2.  Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia, LLC

3. Lifestyle Grand Walk-In Kitchen by Step 2

4.  DS Lite or DSi by Nintendo

5. Explore & Grow Busy Ball Popper by Playskool

6.  Smart Fit Park by Fisher Price

7.  Netpal by Disney

8.  Ripstick by Razor

9. Little Mommy Walk & Giggle Doll by Mattel

10. Just One Kiss Princess Tiana Doll by Mattel

Do you have another excellent toy suggestion?  What are your kids hoping shows up under the tree?  Leave a link to your child’s “must-have” item this year!  Make sure you leave the gender and age of the child along with the link (ie.  Girl, age 4, Zhu Zhu Pet)!

Hot Picks from Haute Mamas: November Edition

Looking for some fabulous posts to read while you are enjoying a relaxing holiday season? Check out these Hot Picks from Haute Mamas and then leave a link of your own for others to visit!

hautepicks

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Erin at The Mom Buzz

How to Green Your Swiffer Wet Jet, Marianna at Green Mamas Pad

Best Christmas Ever, Ellen at Thrifty & Chic Mom

Got Zhu Zhu?  Top Ten Ways to Score a Hamster!, Bridgette at The Experimental Mommy

Expose On A Fat Girl Part 3, Lee at MySentimentExactLee

Have Kids Will Travel! Spotlight on Kid Friendly Maui Hotels from Sarah at The Ohana Mama

Chop Socky Chooks DVD Review and Giveaway!

With the days getting colder I have found that the kids are inside more.  My son is working really hard in school and I find that letting him watch TV for a little bit is a great way for him to relax and unwind when he can’t be outside after homework is done.  I keep pretty close tabs on what shows they watch and am always on the lookout for stuff that he enjoys but is still within the parameters of what I think is appropriate.  Therefore, I was excited to review one of Twentieth Century Fox’s latest, Chop Socky Chooks!

chop socky

This series is good for tweens rather than toddlers and my son really got a kick out of  the three crime fighting chickens (Chick P, KO Joe, and Chuckie Chan) working together to defend themselves against the evil Dr. Wasabi.   My son found his lines to be the funniest!  Full of martial arts, spy gadgets, and wacky adventures, your adventure loving child will think Chop Socky Chooks is EGG-cellent!

Would you like a copy of Chop Socky Chooks for your child?  This DVD would make a great stocking stuffer this season!   The Not So Blog has FIVE copies to give away!  Here’s how to enter:

How to enter:

1. Tell me why you want to win Chop Socky Chooks!

Additional entries

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on November 29th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

Kleenex Tissues and $50 Visa Gift Card: Giveaway

As I sit here writing this post, I am actually battling some sort of bug.  Fever, chills, and a sore throat are no picnic when you are trying to take care of your family.  Kleenex is trying to help Mom’s keep their families healthy with their new anti-viral tissues.  About Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues:

kleenex

When you battle cold and flu bugs, you now have another weapon: Kleenex® Anti-Viral* Tissues. They look and feel like the tissues you know and love. They’re soft to the touch, even for young children, and they are also fragrance free. But what’s lurking underneath is anything but good news for cold and flu bugs. You see, the middle ply is treated with citric acid and sodium lauryl sulfate (a common ingredient found in popular hand soaps) and when those two come in contact with moisture, it’s goodbye to cold and flu bugs in the tissue (in about 15 minutes).

Kleenex has set up a fun little website to help you learn how to “Battle the Bug!“  Check out this video!


Kleenex wants to help you win the battle by providing one lucky Not-So-Blog reader with a box of Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues and a $50 Visa gift card!

How to enter:

1. Visit the Battle The Bug website and tell me how you help fight the bug in your home!

Additional entries

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Kleenex on Facebook.

5. Join the battle and sign up for special offers from Kleenex!

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 5th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

Put a Face on Fun and win $1,500 from Balloon Time!

Nothing screams fun more than a child’s smiling face!  Do you have a picture of your child laughing, jumping, being silly or simply smiling?  Right now, Balloon Time is hosting a “Put a Face on Fun” contest to find the most vibrant, personable child in the USA.  The winner will receive $1,500 towards their education and placement on Balloon Time kit packaging! All children ages 3-11, and who are legal residents of the U.S. are eligible to win, but HURRY….the contest ends on November 15th!

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My goofballs having FUN!

Balloon Time would also like to offer one Not-So-Blog reader a voucher for a 30 Helium Balloon Kit (redeemable at any store that sells Balloon Time products) to help stir up some fun at your home!

How to enter:

1. Tell me one FUN activity you love to do with your child!

Additional entries

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and @BalloonTime on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Unlimited! (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog on Facebook.

5. Sign up for Balloon Time’s Celebrations e-Newsletter!

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on November 27th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.