Thanks to Tryazon and Spinmaster for the fun products to review!
Orbeez Soothing Spa
This is my favorite of the 3 products. It seems weird, but you soak these orbeeze beads for a couple of hours and then stick your feet in the Orbeeze Soothing Spa, turn it on, and the Orbeez cycle over your feet. It feels so good!
You can get more orbeeze already liquified or in these little “seed packets” that you just soak in water and they expand into these Orbeez.
While this was fun at a party, it’s honestly way more fun after the kids are in bed and I want to relax with a good book. And my feet feel so soft afterwards!
Hollywood Hair Extension Maker
These hair extensions are so fun! My girls and their friends all have long hair so they had lots of fun creating and then styling their hair with these colorful hair extensions.
I can also tell you that the markers that come in this kit are washable! Let’s just say that little girls don’t think about the fact that they’re coloring the table when they’re decorating ribbons for their hair!
Since these just require a hair clip to put in, you can use them over and over and style them many different ways! Every friend got to go home with their own extension!
Go Glam Nail Salon
We had lots of fun with this one. Both kids and moms got involved in painting our nails. And then Go Glam Nail Salon stamping machine made it super easy to decorate our nails. It took less than a minute to add the multicolored animal print to my nails!
This was the hot item at the party and everyone loved creating and showing off their Glam Nails!
Some moms went home with some fun new items added to their kids Christmas lists!
I was sent an awesome assortment of SprinklePop sprinkles to review. With such awesome and festive sprinkles we got started on our holiday spirit early!
At about $9 a bottle Sprinkle Pop creates mesmerizing sprinkle mixes that taste just as good as they look. These sweet mixes combine vibrant colors and innovative textures making every sprinkle batch feel like a work of art.
Bring SprinklePop home to your own kitchen and decorate those like a pro! As you get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas this winter, SprinklePop has the mixes that take your desserts over the top! You might just be tempted to add a splash to that whipped cream on your pumpkin spice latte too. I know I couldn’t resist adding whipped cream and sprinkles to my hot chocolate!
Their sprinkles are so much fun! There’s a great mixture of larger and smaller sprinkles. And their Marshmallow World even has mini marshmallows that are perfect for adding a little sprinkle to your hot beverage.
Since we received our sprinkles, we’ve been sprinkling everything! This Christmas Magic Sprinkle Mix was the perfect topping for my iced sugar cookies!
Having sprinkles pre mixed like this makes it so easy to create something super fun and cute without having to put a lot of effort into finding the right sprinkle. Everything I put sprinkles on was perfect!
They even have some solid color mixes, and glitter stars, and confetti trees. These sprinkles are so creative and fun! I’m just loving SprinklePop sprinkles for my holiday baking!
We love making holiday houses and this Chanukah House was no exception!
Made by Manischewitz, this product checks off all the holiday boxes: sweet treats, imagination, family fun, and meaningful giving.
The do-it-yourself ChanukahHouse cookie decorating kit (MSRP $12.99 – 15.99; 2 lbs., 14.9 oz.) comes with everything children need – from cookies and icing to a sanding sugar and a candy menorah – to build their own edible holiday cottage.
Best of all, when you give this charming gift to a young one, you’re also giving the gift of books to kids the world over. Because, the kit is at the center of a special promotion by Manischewitz to drive consumer sales and raise awareness for PJ Library, an organization that sends more than 225,000 free Jewish children’s books every month to households in the U.S. and Canada.
I’m always excited about organizations that provide books for kids! Every Chanukah House box features a callout encouraging consumers to sign up for free storybooks of their own from PJ Library.
While the ChanukahHouse kit is designed for Jewish families, and we’re not Jewish, I love things that add to my children’s cultural experiences. This was a fun and educational discussion starter. While building (and eating) the house, we talked about the monorah and the blue and white colors of the house and how in Jewish culture they celebrate Chanukah around the same time that we celebrate Christmas – so the holidays always overlap their items in stores.
It was fascinating to see my kids think through how not everyone celebrates the winter holidays the same way, and I loved how excited they were to discover how Jewish families celebrate this time of year.
The ChanukahHouse cookie decorating kit will be available at Ralph’s, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, and Walmart, and on Amazon, among other outlets.
We had some elf cookies and the kids just had to have one of them visiting the Chanukah House. I love how they got into the spirit of celebrating another culture’s holiday!
About Manischewitz
The Manischewitz Company has been making traditional Jewish foods since Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz first opened a small matzo bakery in Cincinnati, OH in the late 1800s. For more than 130 years, the company’s goal has been to provide quality kosher products that bring families together and celebrate the traditions of Jewish heritage. Today, Manischewitz sells hundreds of delicious products to communities across the globe.
About PJ Library
Part of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, PJ Library is a free program that sends families expertly curated, age-appropriate Jewish children’s books each month. At reading time, parents and kids can explore Jewish values and traditions together through engaging stories. The PJ Library experience changes at age 9 when kids can move up to PJ Our Way and choose their own middle grade book or graphic novel every month. To learn more and to sign up to start receiving free monthly books, visit pjlibrary.org.
Many thanks to Manischewitz for sending over this amazing Chanukah House Kit for me (and the kids) to review!
Mommy, Am I American? by Aila Malik, Illustrated by Dawood Marion
This is a cute little book about a little boy asking his mom who is an American? What does America stand for? And how he can be an American?
The author does a great job of staying out of politics and focusing on what really makes us all Americans. Caring for our neighbors, regardless of country of origin, political affiliation, religion, etc.
Parent activist and children’s book author Aila Malik has teamed up with Culk to create the Vote for Kindness clothing collection: https://tinyurl.com/VoteforKindnessMalik
Elections are opportunities to create new societal norms, new influences, and messengers for our children. Why does our voice matter?
“Who we put into office as leaders of our community, at all altitudes of government, serve as role models to normalize behavior for our next generation,” says Malik. “Kids won’t understand or remember the intricacies of a divided house on pushing through particular legislation, but they will remember expressions of anger, hate, and name-calling interviews. If we expect kindness and justice from our kids, in how they respect others, cooperate at school, and build community, we must be active in choosing candidates not just on their ‘doing’ but mostly on their way of ‘being.”
Malik is a first-generation Pakistani-American, lawyer by schooling, nonprofit executive by trade, author, and mother of three who is on a mission to expand patriotism. Her children’s book, Mommy, Am I American?, helps parents and caregivers of children in grades 1-5 learn the impact they can have through their children, and define kindness and inclusivity as accessible activism.
Malik traveled to 41 countries over a year (8 months before the COVID-19 outbreak) with her family of five–(husband, Kapil, son, Zayan (age 13), daughter, Kenza (age 10), and youngest son, Kaysan (AKA Kaysee; age 8) and documented their journey on her Franklin Street Globetrotters blog and shares videos on social. Here’s a preview:
Regardless of our political affiliations this election season, let’s show kindness and respect to each other as we vote, work, play, etc. And let’s show our kids how it’s done! Because that’s the American Spirit!
*I received a copy of the NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible for Girls Gift Set from Zondervan (HarperCollins Christian Publishing) for this review. This post is sponsored by Zondervan. *
Created especially for girls ages 8 to 12, this beautiful Bible, sticker sheets and coloring pencil set provides the tools for young artists to express themselves.
Girls will get creative through coloring and journaling in the NIV Beautiful Word™ Coloring Bible for Girls. Included are pencils to color, blend and shade the detailed line art surrounding hundreds of inspiring verses. This Bible gift set is perfect for the special young girl in your life and will become a cherished keepsake full of personalized creative expressions of faith.
Features include:
· Complete text of the accurate, readable and clear New International Version (NIV)
· Over 600 verses illustrated in ready-to-color line art
· Four colored pencils
· Six sheets of stickers designed for girls
· Thick white paper for writing and doodling
· Lined, wide margins for notes and reflections
· Satin ribbon marker
· Beautifully debossed and screen-printed cover
· Exclusive Zondervan NIV Comfort Print® typeface in a readable 8-point print size
I was expecting 1 gift set to review and they surprised me by sending 2. Which is perfect since I have 2 daughters!
My girls are thrilled with their new bibles! According to my oldest, all good Bibles come with a ribbon, and this one does not disappoint!
The colored pencils are soft and perfect for coloring in the beautifully illustrated Bible pages.
And what I find super interesting, the box that the Bible comes in is so pretty, that my girls insist on storing their Bibles, pencils, and stickers in the box after each use.
The Bible cover is so pretty, I keep trying to talk them into getting rid of the box, but they want to keep their Bible safe, and I totally understand!
It is fun to watch them pull out their Bibles and color the page we’re on while we’re reading each day. It’s great for helping them stay focused and for just being creative with their Bible!
I know it’s a different back to school than we’re all used to. So, this year I’ve been focusing on how I can make it fun for the kids and inspire their interests! I’ve got a few essentials on my list, but mostly, it’s important for them to engage and find something that they’re excited about or interested in doing every day.
First up, let’s talk about these cute masks from SwaddleDesigns. Typically, SwaddleDesigns makes swaddlers, blankets, and bedding for babies. These things are super cute and look so soft, but my littlest isn’t a baby any more. I was super excited to try out their masks! They sent 3 masks. 1 Adult and 2 Child masks.
The matching rose masks are both cotton masks. They are 100% cotton, 180 thread count, 3 layer cloth masks. There’s a pocket for a filter, the ear elastic is nice and soft, and even though this mask is 3 layers it’s still quite lightweight. My favorite part is the chin gusset. It’s a little tab shaped to go around your chin, this keeps the mask from riding up into my eyes and it keeps the bottom part of the mask from being super tight under my chin (like the straight rectangle masks seem to do). This is pretty much the only cotton mask that I’m comfortable in.
The child cotton mask is designed for kids 2 to preteen. It fits my 12 yr old daughter really well. So, if you’re concerned about sizing, it does actually fit a preteen. Depending on the actual cut, sometimes she needs the adult size and sometimes she needs the kid sizes, with these swaddle design masks, the kid size is perfect.
The polkadot mask is a 2 layer cotton mask of premium flannel. Because flannel is a little thicker the 2 layers work great. There’s no pocket in this one. The ear elastic is the same as the cotton masks so super soft and comfortable. Flannel is just a little bit warmer than the 180 count cotton so it’s super cute and fits great, and I can see her using it a lot more in about a month when the weather gets a little cooler. Right now, it’s just really hot on her face. They do have some super cute designs available in the flannel.
Between the 2, the 3 layer cotton is my favorite, but they’re both soft and comfortable, and cute.
Since I started with practical items, I’ll save the fun stuff for later. With all this everyone at home I’ve been teaching the girls how to do their laundry. And some new detergent doesn’t hurt! I do prefer the Biz Stain & Odor Eliminator Liquid to the powder. Mainly because with a HE washing machine, the liquid is just easier to use. My kids are a bit sensitive to detergents but they don’t have any trouble with Biz. Plus, with it’s odor eliminator it really helps reduce that odd smell that front load washers can tend to get.
I’m loving the OxiClean on the Go sticks. I keep one in my purse and they’re super handy with the reduced access to restrooms and such these days. Instead of having to wash something out of the kids clothes, I can just use my stain stick to go and take care of it.
And, I don’t know about you, but I very much dislike going to the drycleaner. So, unless it’s stained and I really have to have a professional, these Dryel at Home Dry Cleaner are awesome! It makes keeping up with my dry clean only clothing so much easier!
My last practical item here. This InnoGear Diffuser. With 4 timer settings and a color changing LED, my girls have been using it as a nightlight/room refresher at night. They also sent a set of 6 OnePure essential oils to go with the diffuser. I appreciate that these oils aren’t’ super strong. The girls are enjoying their nightlight and picking their evening scent.
I will say, Peppermint is my favorite scent for their room. It just smells so refreshing and almost clean. And my girls need all the help they can get with a clean room!
This diffuser is super easy to use, shuts off automatically if the water runs out, and with 3 diffusing settings you can pretty easily control how strong or mild your scent is just by turning it up or down. Plus, I’ve always loved the color changing night lights! I find the right scents super soothing, and this collection of scents is awesome!
My kids were so excited about this “A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids“. I have the brownest thumb ever but my daughter wants to grow everything and I don’t know where to begin. This book has easy to follow instructions and suggestions for where to find the items to build your selected terrarium.
There are lots of awesome looking terrarium ideas to pick from, and lots of helpful hints including things like how to pick the right container, the best plants, and how to care for your terrarium. There’s a section on the different types of growing mixes and care instructions for individual plants.
This is a terrific project for homeschooling or just encouraging your kids to explore some different plants.
We’ve been using this “Kitchen Explorers” cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen for the baking segment of our homeschool this year. With all this extra time at home, and my kids already love cooking, we’ve been branching out and trying new recipes. The recipes in this book are tasty and easy enough for the kids to make.
I love how we can get some science, math, and tasty treats all at the same time! If you get this book, you definitely need to make the cake in a cup. It’s amazing!
My kids were super excited when their CrunchCup arrived! With no group snacks at events this year, we’re getting plenty of use out of these cups! You put the milk in the outside, the cereal in the inside, and then when you tip the cup they both come out at the same time, so you can have your cereal and milk (or snack and beverage) at the same time without needing a spoon!
The first thing I was worried about was leaking, but there’s a little seal between the color and the clear plastics that seals well. So far, we haven’t had any leaking. It did take everyone a few tries to get the hang of how far to tip the cup. None of us had any experience trying to drink a beverage and a snack at the same time so it does take a little practice to get milk and cereal without getting too much at once. Once they got the hang of it though, they now want cereal on the go all the time!
With the different color lids we always know who’s cup is who’s. Check out their youtub video for a demonstration!
And last but not least. Hasty Baker card game. We love baking so much, we’re even playing a card game about it! Actually, this game is pretty simple to play and it has some bonus/powerup cards that keep the game interesting and different every time we play. I can see why it won the 2020 Tillywig Best Family Fun Award. It’s simple enough for my 7yr old to play and fun enough that I even enjoy playing with the kids. A fun game that the entire family can enjoy.
I have a love hate relationship with styling services. I try, but there’s one critical time of year that none of them can figure out. I have yet to find a styling service that can nail clothing for the summer in the south. I think they all live somewhere where it never gets up to 90 degrees and they have no idea (despite my efforts on many styling sites to explain this baffling phenomena) of the importance of sending outfits that do not require any sort of jacket ever.
So, while I am sharing my favorite styling services, I actually do not recommend any of these if you require clothing for 90 to 100 degree summers. Despite repeated attempts to explain that even at 2 am a jacket of any kind might kill me, they all insist on sending me jackets for “those chilly nights”. I’m not sure what’s chilly about a low of 89 at night.
Summer is my favorite season, and I absolutely love the heat and I love not needing a jacket. None of these services get that.
If you’re looking for the perfect holiday outfit, or something to wear to the office, these styling services are all terrific. So, that’s what I use them for.
This is the first clothing subscription box that I tried and sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it. I used to love my fixes, and then they changed stylists on me and she just didn’t get me. I haven’t ordered anything for a couple of months and I’m focusing on updating my style profile – if you go in every day you can like or dislike different clothing pieces to help your stylist out.
I’ll also request a new stylist next time and hope things go better. I’ve had good success in the past and when I look on their site, they have cute clothing. They’re just not sending any of it.
They do carry a few things in talls, which is nice, because I’m tall and even though things like crop tops are super cute, they just don’t work for my height, so it’s nice to have a company that can send me things just a little bit longer.
I find that most of their styles are fairly practical and have gotten many of my basic pieces from them. I keep encouraging my stylists to send me something crazy, but so far, no one has.
With 4 kids, I’ve tried out quite a few kid subscription boxes. So far, KidBox is the only on I’ve found that consistently sends me high quality clothing that fit my kids and that my kids want to wear. I liked to get the seasonal boxes for my kids because it helps me keep up with having clothing for them in their correct sizes as new seasons arise (lets just say that my son was not excited about none of his pants fitting at the beginning of winter last year – and we would all like to avoid that incident again).
At $100 for a minimum of 3 outfits (or 8 pieces) with seasonal add ons (like socks, jackets, swimwear, etc.) it’s a great price for the convenience of having high quality clothing shipped to my door without having to spend hours shopping online. If I don’t need a box for any or all kids for a specific season, I just skip.
Currently, this is my favorite clothing subscription box. First off, they send you a LOT of clothing! Enough that you know they probably don’t ever intend for you to keep it all, but they definitely want you to find something that you like.
This clothing is used, but still in great condition, and so much cheaper than other clothing subscription options. I like to shop their site as well, so I’ll add things to my favorites, and often, when I’m just not sure I want to commit to something without trying it on, I’ll request a favorites box. This is where they send you a box filled with clothing that I’ve favorited. I’ve had some things really not fit and some things that were amazing using this method and it’s such an easy way to try on and only pay for what I want.
You can also request seasonal, themed, or just a box of whatever you’re looking for. It’s fun to try thing and I always find a few things that I love.
With all this staying in, we decided to arrange date night at home. Usually, we get the kids settled with a movie and some popcorn and then start on our activities. It’s often hard to come up with something to get us talking about something other than work and kids, so we tried out a couple date night boxes.
So far, this is my favorite date night box. It’s super high quality, like letters are each on their own letterhead, a playbill is on that shiny paper that playbills usually come on, the missing cufflink is actually a cufflink. Pretty awesome! Their mysteries run in sets. Most of them have about 6 boxes per mystery. So, if you’re getting a monthly subscription, it can take you six months to actually solve the full mystery. You solve little things along the way, but you don’t identify the killer until the last box.
You can speed up your boxes if you’re getting impatient but I actually like waiting and having something fun like this once a month. It takes us more than one evening to solve it, so sometimes we get in a couple weeks of date night on just one box. Pretty awesome!
Our first box arrived right as school started, so I’ve opened the box and looked at it, but with adjusting to our school schedule we haven’t carved out date night time yet. I think we’re about settled in, so this should happen this week.
This month was Japan inspired and it’s a sushi making kit. I keep saying that I’m going to try making sushi, so here’s my chance! It has the rice, seaweed, mat, etc. so I don’t have to go find any of the special sushi ingredients or tools. You do have to provide your own protein and veggies so that slowed us down a bit on getting to this. However, my husband went shrimping with a friend this weekend so I’m thinking that we’re going to use some of that fresh shrimp for our sushi, yum!
The box also includes a link to a playlist and a couple of little games (like a suduku puzzle). At $40 a month this box was interesting enough for me to go ahead and get next month’s box. And I’ll probably decide after that one if we’re going to keep getting these or not. They’re supposed to mix it up with different activities every month. So, we’ll see what we get this time!
They also have a digital option for $8 a month, but, I really like getting something special in the mail.
YVY has 3 cleaners, all purpose, kitchen, and bathroom. They sent me their all purpose cleaner to review and I’m loving it. It has a great citrus scent and worked well on every surface that I tried it on. It was easy to insert the pod in the spray bottle. Since the spray bottle is reusable you just get pods every month. Less waste already, and they have a way for you to mail back your old pods and they can reuse them, reducing waste even further.
Just think of all the plastic I’m saving by using and returning empty pods for recycling!
You can purchase just once, or join a subscription for $20 every 30, 45, or 60 days. Your choice. Pause or cancel any time. Pretty simple! You can choose a home kit with all 3 cleaners. This kit comes with 3 bottles and 6 pods (2 of each). Or, pick a kit of just one cleaner type. This kit comes with 1 bottle and 6 pods. Then you get 6 pods every subsequent subscription cycle – so you only get a bottle when you sign up. Once you have collected 30 empty capsules, you just let them know and they’ll take them back for recycling.
I love that I can clean and reduce waste at the same time.
Their products are made with 100% natural citrus and amazonian botanicals, so no harsh chemicals when you’re cleaning. I love something that clean well but it’s still ok for me to breathe it in while I’m cleaning!
I’ve only used their surface cleaners, but they have dishwasher soap, laundry soap, and toilet cleaner as well. My favorite is the “more shower to you” spray. These cleaners also come with 1 bottle per cleaner and refill pods. These are my favorite spray bottles to clean with. They’re comfortable to hold and spray really well.
They have window cleaner, kitchen cleaner, shower cleaner, and all purpose cleaner. It looks like they’re revamping their surface cleaners subscription because I don’t see that one available at the moment. These are also non-toxic and I can clean all day with these without them bothering me. Not having to turn on the bathroom vent just to be able to breathe while I clean is nice!
And the way my kids like to use ALL the spray in the bottle when they clean, it’s super easy to just have some refill pods on hand and reload my cleaner when needed.
After using both of these cleaners, I really can’t pick a favorite. YVY is a bit stronger smelling but it also cleans a little better. But Trumans has almost no scent and is super easy to clean with. They’re both terrific option if you’re looking for a more natural cleaner with less waste. Of course, if you’re like me, I like to have both options on hand to fit my cleaning mood for the day!
I’ve done quite a few posts about my favorite subscription boxes. So, I have to include a couple that I like for my husband and son! I received both of these boxes for free to review.
Live Outlaw Soaps is pretty awesome! You know how little boys can be about bathing … it’s just not their thing. And, I’ll be honest, I can’t blame them. Most bath soap is very fruity or sweet smelling. Not exactly exciting to a boy.
Well, my Outlaw Soaps box came in the mail and my 7yr old was super excited when I told him that it could all be his. These soaps have very manly scents. Honestly, perfect for guys. My son actually doesn’t fight me about taking a shower.
The scent sticks around for a while, so my kid actually smells good for more than 5 minutes! I’m loving the quality and fun all wrapped up together in these soaps. Seriously though, when my box arrived, I could smell the soaps before I opened the box!
I’ve considered stealing the Calamity Jane lotion from my son, because it smells so good, but he’s informed me that even though these are called Outlaw Soaps, stealing is not allowed.
Though, to be honest, The Gambler is my favorite. It’s on the counter in the boys bathroom for hand washing and it makes the entire room smell good!
Outlaw Soaps has subscriptions ranging from $7 to $67. There’s 12 different subscription combo options, from a monthly bar of soap all the way to a bi monthly box with cologne, deodorant, soap, and lotion. You have the option of sticking with your favorite scent forever or a different scent in every box. There’s some really flexible options here so you are easily able to get exactly what you want every month.
You can even gift a subscription for a selected amount of time (anyone know of someone who could use a fun set of soaps for Christmas?).
Don’t want a subscription? You can also purchase each item individually. They have soaps, body wash, hand wash, lotion, cologne, deodorant, air fresheners, and beard oil. More than everything my son needs to stay clean and smell great!
Drift has 3 subscription options. Wood visor freshener, rove vent freshener, and room spray. I was sent the Mill wood visor freshener and the Mill room spray. They’re both great, robust, scents!
The Room Spray is in my kitchen window and I use it when the house just needs a little freshening up scent wise (you know, I made fish for dinner and I don’t want to smell it all through tomorrow). It’s a great scent, and a little goes a long way.
The Wood visor freshener is my favorite though. It’s this little cedar wood block soaked in essential and fragrance oils that you just slip inside your black visor clip each month (you can see the visor clip in the picture with the wood block still packaged inside of it) You can get a subscription for monthly or bi monthly and you can pick your favorite scent or the scent of the month and they’ll send you a new limited edition scent every month. With scents like zen, grove, and teak, they’re perfect for making the car smell great without being obnoxious.
What’s more, the black visor clip keep the scent block well hidden on the top of your visor. My husband used the block in his car and loves it! He said it was really strong the first couple of days, and you want to be careful not to touch the wood if at all possible – he touched it and then his hands smelled like his car air freshener for the rest of the day. But, this is definitely something he would be excited about receiving every month. He loves having his car smell great! And at $8 a month, this is a great price!
