First Time Mom and Losing It

Every year it never fails, my husband and I go overboard with the Christmas gifts. She is our only child so we tend to go a little crazy around the holidays. Even though she received a lot of gifts this year, there are only a select few that she still plays with on a consistent basis.


One of the Christmas toys I see my daughter take out at least once a day is the Lite Poppers. She always loved building and creating her own things so I knew she would love it. The lights on the Lite Poppers is a huge plus that keeps her entertained for a long time. My husband always loved building as a child too so it's nice to see them spending lots of quality time building. She is having fun creating and making stories with her new creations and I love that she is learning while she plays.

While playing with the Lite Poppers I know she is learning how to construct, problem solve and using fine motor skills. Looking at the colorful and easy to follow instructions also helps to start on math and reading skills. At first we built the models in the book together and then I let her go at it inventing her own models.


Lite Poppers is a construction toy with unique spherical pieces that click and pop together to create virtually anything you want. It comes with a rechargable LED base that lights up the pieces. It also comes with cute little characters that can interact with your creation to create a great story. The fun and colorful instructions, comic book and trading cards that also come with each kit gets the kids interested in reading too.


For more information on Lite Poppers and to find out how you can purchase your own, head on over to www.litepoppers.com.

I have been homeschooling my daughter everyday for a few months now. To make it fun for her I found some amazing Christmas themed lessons. She has been more enthusiastic about these lessons but still gives me a hard time sometimes. I wanted to create a Christmas Tree that we could hang up but that also had a lesson included with it. I decided to create the Christmas Tree with some pom poms because that is my daughter's favorite.

First I created the template by creating a green tree and adding some circles. I colored in some of the circles to stand for the ornaments. The circles are the placement holders for the pom poms. I had tons of pom poms but not enough green so I went to to my local craft store to pick up a bag of green pom poms. Then I found some sparkly pom poms for the ornaments.


I printed out the Pom Pom Christmas Tree template onto some card stock so that the art piece would be more durable and easier to hang on the wall. Once I printed out the template I placed it onto my daughter's learning table and spilled out the pom poms next to her. Then I asked her if she could help decorate the Christmas tree by adding the pom poms were they belonged.

To make the process a little less messy I placed some Aleene's Tacky Glue onto a little paper cupcake cup that I had. This way she could dip it in instead of squeezing a ton of glue onto each pom pom. Since the Aleene's Tacky Glue is thicker it helps the pom poms stick on better and stay on faster. When all of the pom poms were placed we let it dry for a few hours before putting it on the wall. I used foam mounting tape to hang up the beautiful pom pom tree.

What Christmas themed lessons or crafts do you do with your kids? 

**I was invited to the event below and given a gift bag. All opinions are 100% my own.

This past Saturday my daughter and I headed out to the city to meet up with Santa. We went to the west side into the beautiful Lord & Taylors store. It was my first time there and I was amazed at how big the store was. It was fun for the toddler to go up seven flights of escalators. When we finally got to the 7th floor we headed on over to the Little Me section of the store and looked through hundreds of amazingly cute clothes. I went over to the newborn section and "awwww-ed" over the tiny little clothes.


There was a line to see Santa so my daughter patiently waited for her turn. While we were on the line the amazing staff from Little Me handed my daughter a cute gift bag with a whole bunch of goodies inside. They also had some yummy cookies with the Little Me logo. My daughter polished a whole one while we waited on line. Finally it was time to talk with Santa and he gave my daughter a whole conversation, made her dance and complimented the Candy Cane Glitter shirt I made.


Little Me was also generously monogramming every item of clothing purchased for free. Being a sewer myself I loved watching the two staff members at their sewing machines. There were so many beautiful clothes to choose from. My favorites were the pajamas. They had so many different ones from the standard two piece stretchy kind to the beautiful flannel and plaid ones. The plaid flannel nightgown would look adorable on any little girl on Christmas night.


Little Me specializes in clothing for Newborns and Infants. While at the Lord & Taylors store I also saw lots of pajamas for the other kids that went up to a size 10. My husband's best friend will be a father to twin girls in March so we will definitely be back to Little Me at Lord & Taylors for a couple of outfits for those little angels.

I love every holiday and I try to make it special for my daughter by making it fun. We usually do holiday themed crafts and food. Another tradition I like to keep is to make her a shirt she can wear. One of my favorite and easiest ways to decorate a shirt is to use a stencil, waxed paper and paint or glitter.

Supplies:

• Plain White Shirt
• Candy Cane Stencil
• Wax Paper
• Fabric Glitter Glue
• Fabric Glitter
• Aleene's Fabric Fusion Adhesive (optional)

Step 1: Click on the link to download, save and print out the stencil. If you don't like this one you can do a google search for "candy cane stencil." There will be hundreds to choose from.

Step 2: Place the printed stencil under a piece of wax paper with the paper side up. Trace the stencil design onto it.

Step 3: With an exacto knife, carefully cut out the parts of the candy cane that you want to be red. I made sure that the first piece was red and alternated it with white.


Step 4: Trim the excess paper around the stencil and then carefully place the design on the shirt, paper side up. Use an iron to stick the wax paper onto the shirt. Make sure you iron it enough so that the edges are fully adhered onto the shirt.


Step 5: Use a foam stencil brush to pounce on the glue onto the cut parts of the stencil. You want to make sure you are fully coating the stencil. Sprinkle on the red glitter being careful to cover all of the cut parts of the stencil. Let dry for at least 6 hours with overnight being best.


Step 6: Remove the excess glitter by carefully grabbing two ends of the stencil and funneling it back into the container. Carefully peel off wax paper.

Step 7: (Optional) Place some of the Aleene's fabric fusion adhesive onto a paper plate and dab on some glue over all of the red glitter. Allow to dry completely. Preferably overnight or 8 hours. This prevents the glitter from falling out over time.

Step 8: Make a bow with the ribbon and then use a strong fabric glue to glue it place.

When I went to the Toy Insider HoliDAY of play event in October I was most excited to see the toys that taught while being fun. Being a former teacher and a mom of a soon to be preschooler I know the types of toys that would keep her engaged. Since she will be going to Pre-K4 soon I want her to learn at home as much as possible while she plays.

At the HoliDAY of play event they had a whole category just for STEM. STEM covers Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. When I first went to the STEM station I didn't think that there would be many things for a three year old, boy was I wrong! The Thames & Kosmos company has some amazing engineering kits and three of them were aimed at kids 3+.


The one that mostly caught my eye was the Amusement Park Engineer kit. My daughter is at the age now that she can finally get into some rides at the arcade we go to. I love that this kit is a part of a fun story involving two very curious kids. They build simple models to solve problems that their family encounters while at the amusement park. While reading the story you can help your child build 20 different structures and machines. Some of these structures include a Ferris wheel, carousel, pirate ship pendulum, bumper car and so much more.

The Amusement Park Engineer kit is made up of large and colorful plastic building pieces that are perfect for little hands. While the kids are having fun building the structures it helps develop fine motor skills. It is also helping with science and math skills, and reasoning and development skills.

Click on the link to learn more about the Amusement Park Engineer. They also have an Automobile Engineer Kit and an Aircraft Engineer Kit.


Which one of the kits would you have most fun playing and learning with? 

**I received the products below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


This year I had the opportunity to go to Sweet Suite 15 and the Toy Insider HoliDAY of Play to get a first hand look at what was going to be the hottest selling toys of the year. These are the toys I feel a preschooler would enjoy the most.

Play All Day Elmo - $59.99 - 18 Months to 4+ Years
The Play All Day Elmo has two modes, one for toddler play and one for a preschooler. This was perfect to use with my toddler because once she became an expert on that mode and becomes a preschooler next year I can switch up the mode and she has a whole new Elmo and games to play with. The Elmo has 8 different modes of play and 150+ play responses like turning him upside down and tickling his tummy. It also has a Nap switch when you are done playing with him where he will sing a song and go to sleep.


Design & Drill® Flower Power Studio™ - $32.99 - 3+ Years
I love that it is a drill set made for girls. Girls want to be handy with tools too and my daughter loved it. Having the base fold and close was a big plus to contain all of the little pieces. Once I put the batteries into the drill my daughter was in love! She felt like a big girl using the drill and got the hang of it pretty quickly. She wouldn't stop until each nut was drilled in place. I love how it came with a booklet of designs to try.


Legoland Discovery Center Annual Pass - $65.00 - 2 to 10 Years
What kids don't love LEGOS? We took my daughter when she was 2 and a couple of weeks ago when she was 3. She enjoyed it both times so much that we are getting her an annual pass for the Holidays. Going just three times pays for itself and there is so much to do! You get a factory tour, view mini land made out of LEGOs, build and race cars, watch 4D movies, sing karaoke and the littlest ones have their own DUPLO village to play with and so much more. Great for when the weather gets colder and it's the gift that keeps on giving.


Learn with Homer Learning Program Annual - $79.95 - 3 to 8 Years
Learn with Homer is a learning program that was developed by top literacy experts and proven to give results. I love that it has supplemental material you can print out and extend the lessons. One of my favorite features is allowing the children to record and hear themselves sounding out letters and words. My three year old has been using the program for about a month and a half now and is already reading and just started spelling words.



Sands Alive - Price Varies on Kit - 3+ Years
I got to first experience the Sands Alive at the HoliDAY of play event. I have been hearing about this sand for a while now and just wanted to play with it. You can easily mold it and manipulate it with tools. Then just knock it over and watch it come alive with how it moves.


Stikbot Studio Pack - $14.99 - 6+ Years
Although this one has a higher age range, I have been helping my daughter create movies using the Free app and one of the Stikbots we got in our HoliDAY of play gift bag. The little figurines have suction cups and joints that allow you to move them however you want to easily create stop motion movies. After you are done with your movie you can upload it to social media and share your creation. The package includes two stikbots and one tripod.


Amusement Park Engineer - $64.95 - 3+ Years
I love that the Amusement Park Engineer has a story connected to the kit where you have to problem solve and build things to help out. You go around the amusement park fixing and building things that are useful. The plastic pieces are big, bright and easy to put together which is best for little hands. I love that you can build 20 structures and machines with this one kit.


How do you find the perfect gift for your child? 

**The toddler and I were invited to the #PlayAllDayElmo Event and received a gift bag for attendance. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


When I received the invitation to attend the #PlayAllDayElmo Event by Hasbro I quickly RSVP'ed! My toddler has been an Elmo and Sesame Street fan since she was an infant. I have bought her every big Elmo toy for Christmas and they have always been a big hit. As soon my toddler woke up in the morning she yelled in excitement because today was the day! I might have told her a few days too early about the event! We took a long train ride to Spring Street and headed to the Crosby Street Hotel.


We went down to the event space and was greeted by an amazing staff. They took the care to decorate everything in cheerful colors, balloons and Elmo decorations! Cookie Monster and Grover was there to take pictures with the kids and then my daughter got escorted to a huge play room full of amazing Sesame Street toys.


We got to play with the Play All Day Elmo and given a little demo on it. The Play All Day Elmo has two modes, one for toddler play and one for a preschooler. This was perfect to use with my toddler because once she became an expert on that mode and becomes a preschooler next year I can switch up the mode and she has a whole new Elmo and games to play with. The Elmo has 8 different modes of play and 150+ play responses like turning him upside down and tickling his tummy. It also has a Nap switch when you are done playing with him where he will sing a song and go to sleep.


After playing with the toys we went to a screening room and the real Abby Caddaby and Elmo were there! All off the kids (and parents) squealed in delight when we saw them. We got to watch the new Play All Day with Elmo DVD while the kids jumped and clapped and did what the DVD asked them to do.



The Play All Day Elmo is the perfect holiday gift for kids ages 14 months to 4+. The Play All Day with Elmo DVD would be an amazing stocking stuffer too.

Last week I showed you how I made my daughter's Christmas Skirt. I wanted to create a simple hair band to go with the skirt and this is what I came up with.

Supplies:

• 2 inch black satin ribbon
• scrap gold fabric
• scrap red velvet fabric
• fusible web
• plain hair band
• hot glue gun

Directions:

1. Take scrap red velvet fabric and wrap around headband. Hot glue ends in place.
2. Draw a one inch square. Draw 1/4" inch lines on each side of square. Draw another 1/4" line on right and left side of square.
   
3. Place the buckle template underneath a piece of fusible web paper side up. Cut out and place on the wrong side of the gold fabric. Iron on and cut out the template you traced.
   
4. Remove paper backing and place on top of the wrong side of another gold piece of fabric. Cut out.
   
5. Cut a piece of ribbon that is  12" long. Overlap ends by 1/2" and sew in place. 
6. Thread ribbon through the buckle going in from the back and out again into the back. 
   
7. Glue the "belt" bow to the headband.