Little Tikes School Bus Review

I was recently asked if I wanted to do a review for CSN Stores in exchange for a gift certificate. This is the ride-on toy I picked out as a present for a friend's baby.  Looks pretty fun, huh?

Here's What I Like:

• It's a Little Tikes Brand (known for their durability)
• Two modes of operation: Rocking on base and Scooting
• Ease of assembly
• Quick shipping from CSN!!
• Bright Colors
• Inspirational theme (you're 1 and ALREADY riding on the school bus?!?!) ;-)
• It's for ages 12-36 Months....but I think it could easily be used well beyond that

        Here's What I Don't Like:

• Not many interactive parts on the Bus, it's a simple design (which can be a GOOD thing)
• Limited rocking range

The child I gave this toy to just turned one year old, and this toy is something that he is *just about* developmentally ready for. I think this skewed the review a bit. If my munchkin had had a chance to play on it, I know it would have seen a LOT more use. This baby had also received a couple of other ride-on toys that had many more gadgets than the bus, and held his interest more. However, I think a lot can be said of simplicity; it leaves more to the imagination and doesn't overwhelm the senses as easily. Too many gadgets, in my mind, can be too much for little kiddos.

This toy would be perfect for those of you whose children like to be moving, those who are easily overwhelmed by too many gadgets, and those parents who are looking for a toy that's a little more quiet than others. :-) This is the type of toy that will be used diligently by toddlers, by riding/rocking on it, and even incorporating into their play.

If you're interested in buying the toy

Click Here!!!!

Pea Pod Baby Shower Craft

A little more than a year ago, I hosted a Baby Shower for my sister. I made a set of cards like the one above for the invitations. That little baby cracks me right up!! Just poking his head out of a pea pod. What a cutie!!  If you would like to try your hand at these, here are the directions:

You'll need:

2 shades of green paper

cream colored paper

yellow curling ribbon

scissors

blue marker

glue 

set of blank cards

 Tape

~Cut a pea pod shape (like the one below) out of the darker green paper.

 ~Cut an elongated crescent shape out of the same paper.

~Cut some circle shapes out of the light green paper. 

~Cut one circle out of the cream paper. 

~Curl a long piece of ribbon and slice the end into thin verticle strips which you'll then pull down to make lots of thin curling strands.  Cut on piece to be the baby's curly-cue. :-)

~Put two small dots on the cream colored circle for the baby's eyes.

~Using a small piece of tape, tape the ribbon piece to the back of the baby's head (so that is sticks up on top)

~Glue the crescent shape to the middle of the card.

~Glue the pea pod shape over the crescent (leaving room for the peas and the baby to fit into the middle of the pea pod)

~Wait for the last step to dry, then glue the peas and the baby circle to the middle of the pod by tucking them slightly in between the crescent and the pod. 

You're all done!!

For the inside of the card I made it pretty simple. I found a stamp that had lots of curly embellishments and used that, the rest I wrote out. I know, it's not very professional....but I think that writing invitations by hand makes them so much more personal. :-)

Let me know if you try it out!!

Here are the Linky Parties I Joined:

(Check them out and Be Inspired!!!!)

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Works For Me Wednesdays

Show Us What You're Workin With

Thrifty Thursday

Gone Tenting!!

Image from DownEast Magazine 

I'll be back soon!!

Wanna Save Some Money??

I don't know about y'all, but recently I have been on a big money saving spree. I am a Goodwill shopper and a yard sale stopper. I clip my coupons (no foolin') and I do lots of car poolin'. :-)

I just discovered this site where you can find the best coupons for Savings. It's so very WORTH IT!! Especially if you do lots of online shopping. There is also a great selection of printable coupons so that you can march yourself right to the store and use it in person. Check out these Home Depot Discounts. When I saw those coupons I totally had this moment:

Minus the balding Picard, of course. You see, we JUST replaced our old fridge and bought ourselves a new energy star one. Only, if we had done some browsing at Savings.com, we could have saved %10. **sigh**

Here's a fun one for those of you going to school in the fall (or sending a loved one to school).... how about a coupon code for HP products. Now, THAT could come in handy. Do some browsing on their site and you'll be surprised at all the savings....and it may help you to avoid those pesky *facepalm* moments. :-)

Brought to you by your friends at Savings.com and endorsed by me because, hey....I like to save money!! Don't you?? This post is a paid advertisement, but it is written in my own words. I don't endorse something unless I appreciate the company or product enough to write a post about it.

Seal Polymer Pup

Boy-oh-boy am I in love with polymer clay. So is our Munchkin!! Where else could you get such quick animal toys. For this project, all I did was shape some polymer clay in the basic shape of a seal based on this picture I took on our last vacation.

We called this seal Phoebe. She was a regular at the low tide rock island in front of our cottage.  Once I finished shaping the seal, I baked it according to the directions on the package. Once dry and cool I put on a coat of heritage white acrylic paint over the entire seal. Then, I sponged on a light grey and finally a darker grey/black. 

For the face I used a tiny paintbrush and some black ovals for the eyes, nose and mouth lines. Grey for the cheeks and the forehead line to the nose. I sponged a bit more grey around the face and that was it. Munchkin named it Dasher as first (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a perennial favorite in our house) but soon changed the name over to Phoebe once I mentioned what picture I used for my model. :-) 

We're heading off for our Munchkins first tenting expedition. It's about a 4 hour drive away to the middle of nowhere. Should be fun (fingers crossed)!! I'll tell you all about it when we get back and hopefully I'll have some pictures to share. :-)

Here are some parties I am linking up to:

Thrifty Thursday

Frugalicious Friday

Plant a Punkin Seed Party

Frugal Friday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays