Knitted Kitten Hat Review

This is the first of several product reviews that I have scheduled in the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them!  I try to choose good quality, reasonably priced items to review.  Many (but not all) of the reviews are from Etsy shops.  I love to buy from Etsy to support the makers of handmade gifts.  If you've never shopped at Etsy, take a minute and browse.  You won't regret it! 

I LOVE cute hats for kids, so I was excited to find handmade knitted kitten hats at Sweaternana.  I was thrilled when Diane from Sweaternana agreed to send us a hat to review.  I requested a gray hat since our cat is gray, and she made it and sent it to us immediately. 

Not only are the hats well-made and adorable, they are also very durable!







Although, I originally planned for this hat to be for E, I decided that the girls can share it.  O fell in love with it as soon as she saw it.  She was especially excited about the braids "because they're just like Mary and Laura (Ingalls)." 












I chose Sweaternana as a shop I would like to review because her hats are very affordable...only 15 dollars for a beautiful, handmade hat!  Many of the hats that I looked at on Etsy were close to 30 dollars, so this seems like a steal!





These hats are made with 100% acrylic, Lion Brand Yarn.  They are machine washable and dryable.  Our hat is very soft, and I know the girls are going to wear it often this winter and for years to come!

Here are few more cute hats from Sweaternana... a bee, a bear, a snowman, and a panda bear.  I would love to be able to make hats like this for my girls one day, but for now I'm happy to shop at Etsy! (and maybe one day I'll learn how to knit with needles instead of just on a loom!)

Handmade Purse from Fat Connection

Pauline from Fat Connection sent O this adorable purse for her 4th birthday (I took pics then and just realized that I'd never blogged about it!  Sorry, Pauline!).  O loves her purse, and E loves it, too.  Luckily, O doesn't mind sharing, and E looks adorable with the purse over her shoulder as she walks around. 

Fat Connection is having a sale now, so you should check it out.  I love the iron-on transfers, and I may have to get this cat fabric to make something for my cat obsessed baby!

A Fairy Dress by Sarah's Silks...A Review AND a Giveaway!!!

Sarah from Sarah's Silks sent us a beautiful silk fairy dress for O to try.  O LOVES it!  It is beautiful, and O loves to wear it to fly around the yard.  Playsilks are our all time favorite "toys," and we love the silk dress-up clothes, too. 


The fairy dress is made of soft heavy weight silk with georgette rainbow wings attached. It is easy for O to put on and take off, and the wings have handles to make flying a little easier. 



Sarah's Silks is offering a silk dress-up costume to one lucky reader.  The winner will choose between a pink or purple fairy dress, a gold knight costume, or a wizard cape.  




I'm going to make entering the giveaway slightly more challenging than usual.  This time you have to go to the Sarah's Silks website and look around the site.  Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite Sarah's Silk item is...that's simple enough, right? 

Also, if you go to the Sarah's Silks facebook page and "like" it, come back and let me know in order to have a second chance at the giveaway.  This review is open to everyone (not just US residents!!!).  O will choose a winner on Friday night (October 29).  Please make sure to leave your email address in order to make contacting you simple if you are the winner.  Thanks!

A Personalized Book for E

A representative from Little Bunny Press contacted me a few months ago offering a book for review.  After browsing their site, I decided that I was definitely interested.  These personalized books are beautifully made.  The stories are cute, and the illustrations are great.  E LOVES animals, so I chose the Zoo book for her.


I uploaded a picture of E to the site, and in a couple of days they emailed a proof for me to approve.  It looked great, so then we just had to wait for our book.  The binding was not glued properly on the 1st book that was sent to me.  I emailed the company on a Friday night and within 2 hours they had emailed me back apologizing and promising to immediately send another book....AMAZING customer service!!!



The 2nd book was PERFECT, and it arrived the day before E's 1st birthday.  We took her to the zoo on her birthday, and this book was the perfect gift for her.  She loves to look at the animals, and she gets so excited when she sees her picture in the book.   I know that this book will always be a treasured keepsake for her!






Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Little Bunny Press is offering a 15% discount for readers of this blog with the coupon code : CHEERIOS

And the Winner Is...

Kellie at Training Up a Child! Kellie, please send your choice of shoes, size, and your mailing address to me at chasingcheerios@gmail.com

Thanks!

Zubber

O and I recently made insects using Zubber. I bought the kit from WM for 2 dollars. We had fun making the insects, and O was impressed with and proud of her insects. Although we had a good time, I was glad that I only paid 2 dollars for the kit.

Wee Squeak Shoes Review and a Giveaway

We love Wee Squeak Shoes, so we're hosting another review and giveaway! A representative from Wee Squeak Shoes sent this super cute pair of shoes to O a couple of months ago. She loves the shoes...they are very well made, comfortable, cute, and easy to put on and take off. One of the best things about them is that the squeaks are removeable! She can run around squeaking for a while, but we can take the squeaks out so she can wear the shoes to church, school, and the library. What fun!

Here are a few words about Wee Squeak Shoes from the company...

Wee Squeak Children’s Shoes are footwear that's fun to wear! Comfortable and stylish, these little shoes are great for any season. With a variety of styles and colors to choose from, these children's shoes are a great gift idea as well as a way to help children learn to walk properly without even realizing they're being taught. Traditional Mary Jane’s, along with a wide variety of boys sandals, children’s tennis shoes and girls sandals in several different colors and styles, Wee Squeak Shoes has a very diverse selection. We even have accessories to go with our “Wee Snap” shoes…clip on flowers to dress up the shoes, as well as Crystal Crown accessories in white or pink. These decorative additions to our Wee Snap line will put a sparkle in any girl’s eye when she sees them gracing her toes!

Wee Squeak shoes are designed for children and parents alike. Our shoes actually make a fun squeak sound as the child walks. A cushion in the heal squeezes air through a tiny nozzle making the squeak sound. For those occasions when the shoe needs to be silent, the squeaker can be removed very simply by an adult. Shoe sizes range from 3-12. We have a wide variety of shoes for boys and girls, and we have expanded our collection Fall 2010.

Leave a comment to enter the giveaway for a pair of shoes. US residents only, please. My random number generator (O) will choose a number on Friday night (September 24).

Peek-a-Boo House

E LOVES this peek-a-boo house flip toy! She opens the windows and says "cat" and barks when she sees the dog. She will play with this toy for a long time while strengthening her finger muscles and developing fine motor control. I bought this toy from a 2nd hand shop for about a dollar...it's made by Melissa and Doug.

Blink Card Game

Many months ago a reader of this blog commented that she thought O would enjoy the game Blink. Ever since then I've noticed the game in WM or Target when I walked down the game aisle, but I couldn't bring myself to spend 5 or 6 dollars on it (I'm thrify by nature). I was thrilled, however, to buy a brand new game from the 2nd hand store for 1 dollar! I bought this game when we were on our way to the beach, and we had a great time playing it all week. It says it's for ages 7 and up, but O (at 4 years old) was able to play easily with help from me. Here's a description from Amazon...

It's faster than you think
Two players race to be the first to play all of their cards
Players quickly try to match the shape, count, or color on the cards
The first player out of cards wins
Fast and portable, Blink is instant fun for everyone


This game reminds me very much of a card game that I loved to play with my mom as a child...Spit. Not a very nice name, but SO much fun :) So, I have to say that even though I wasn't willing to spend 5 dollars on the game, I do think it is worth 5 dollars. However, it's even nicer to just pay 1!

Find It Game... a Review & a Giveaway

The winner is Helpful Housewife! Congrats!

Find It Games recently sent us a game to play with and review. We chose "At the Beach" since blue is O's favorite color, and we love the beach. There are over 40 hidden items to find in this game, and we have had fun trying to find them! The top cap of the game has a list of the objects in alphabetical order, which makes it easy to incorporate phonics into the game. In this picture O is looking for an object that starts with "b."

The lack of loose pieces makes this game great for traveling and playing around babies... since you don't have to worry about them grabbing a small piece and putting it in their mouths (this is a constant concern around here since E is extremely fast and puts everything in her mouth). E also loves to crawl around on the floor while pushing the game and watching it roll.

I really like that through playing this game, O is learning to pay attention to details and to concentrate. This game also requires persistance which is something that most 4 year olds need to practice :)

Find It Games is offering a game to one lucky reader, so comment on this post to enter to win a game (US residents only please). I'll get my random number generator (O!) to choose a number on Saturday night, so please leave your comment by then. Find It Games is also offering a discount that is good through July 31, 2010. Enter FIGBLOG to get 5 dollars off your order.

The Amazing Action Alphabet

A reader sent us The Amazing Action Alphabet flip chart and cd a few months ago, and these are great products! The Amazing Action Alphabet uses a multisensory approach to teaching letter names and sounds. Children see the letters, hear the sounds in a story, and then do an action. Learning is most effective when material is presented through the use of several senses.

I accepted this product for review because I knew O would love it even though she already knew her letters and letter sounds. I was right...she does love it, and I wish I'd had it sooner. It's fun to play the cd while flipping through the flip chart, and I'm looking forward to introducing letters and sounds to E using this method.

I have only a couple of complaints...I really wish the flipchart had a built in stand instead of lying flat (I guess I'm spoiled by all of the testing manuals that I use because they all have built in stands). Also, a couple of the stories were a little difficult to understand because the voices were a little strange (the main one that I didn't like was A). However, most of the stories (and voices) were great. Overall, this is a great product, and the price is right. I hope you'll check it out and let me know if you like it, too.

Trap Door Readers

O LOVES these trap door reading cards! I was very excited when Arwen from Walk Beside Me emailed and asked me to try out these cards. I printed them on cardstock and followed the directions for cutting and folding them. They were easy to put together, and O has thoroughly enjoyed reading the words. These cards are a great way to make reading fun! Thanks, Arwen!

You can purchase the trap door reading cards for download from here or here.

Sustainable Homestead

Cayce from Sustainable Homestead sent us 2 lunchbox napkins and a reusable baggie to try, and I thought this review would be perfect for Earth day!

We only use cloth napkins in our house as I can't stand the waste of paper napkins. (Elliott insists on buying paper towels, but he doesn't use them very often, and I usually just use them for art projects :) All of our napkins are quite large, so it was fun for O and E to have napkins that were just for them! They are the perfect size for little hands and faces (and they must taste good, too!). I love the fabrics that Cayce uses for her napkins, and we use them often when we have picnics on our porch and in the yard. They are fun for an impromptu game of peek-a-boo in addition to being great as napkins.

The napkins are approximately 7"x7" and are made from 100% cotton fabric. They have rolled edge hems and are double thickness.


The reusable baggies are perfect for picnics or school lunches. Here's what Cayce has to say about the baggies...

"Are you looking for a good no-waste replacement for those thin plastic baggies? Look no more! My reusable baggie is made from soft ripstop nylon with pretty rolled exterior seams and features a reinforced fold-over top to hold items inside. Fold over closures are easier for little hands to open and close. No food bits stuck in velcro. No crumbs trapped in internal seams. Ick! Just bright and bold colors and easy clean up with this reusable baggie! They are approx. 7"x8" unfolded, a similar size to their throw-away plastic counterparts.

These bags also make GREAT party favor and gift bags! They can be made in almost any color or combo of colors to suit your individual needs. What a great way to promote green living at your next party or event!"

We were so excited to use these products, and I'm sure that we'll be using them for years. They are very well-made, and it feels good to use handmade, reusuable products instead of mass produced, disposable goods. Thanks, Cayce!

Make sure to mention Chasing Cheerios when you order (for the next 2 weeks) to get 10% off your order! Earth Day is a great day to start going green, so give it a try with these fun, handmade products!

Handmade Rainbow Gnomes

Clare from Little Red Whimsy sent us a set of rainbow gnomes to play with and review. I was very excited to receive this set since I love for my girls to have well made, original, handmade toys that inspire creativity. This set includes 6 gnomes that are made from wooden pegs. They are dressed in tunics made from wool felt and hats made from 100% wool felted sweaters. They come with 6 matching mushrooms in a drawstring pouch.

I especially love the gnomes with the braided hair. They are so sweet and are the perfect addition to our fairy play. O and I have had so much fun with these little gnomes, and I know that both girls and I will be playing with them for years. If you are looking for a special handmade gift to put in your child's Easter basket, I think these dolls would be perfect!

Also, Clare at Little Red Whimsy takes custom orders. Make sure to browse her "sold" section as she will take custom orders for items that she does not have in stock.

I think this Gnome Sweet Gnome Mushroom Cottage Stacker is just AMAZING!!!

A Fun 1st Piano

CSN Baby sent us a "My 1st Piano" to review. Although the ages for the piano are from 6 months to 2 years, both O (3 and a half years) and E (5 months) really enjoy playing with it. It is a sturdy, well built piano that will surely be handed down to O and E's children one day.

The piano features a 25 key, two-octave keyboard. It comes with a songbook and a removable color strip that fits (not very well...we had to cut ours to make it fit) behind the keyboard for play by color teaching. O enjoys playing songs of her own creation, but I'm hoping she'll develop an interest in using the color strip to play "real" songs. I think this piano is great introduction for O and E to the world of music, and I'm hoping it will spark their interest in taking piano lessons one day :)