Sprig Toy Review - Dolphin Explorer Boat

 I'm just going to come out and admit it. I am that mom. The one who lies to her kids. I may have, on many occasions, lied about the fact that a toy didn't make noise. I have yanked batteries before they noticed how it was supposed to work, or let batteries die without replacing them.

What? I believe in the power of imagination!

And then, sometimes I'm delighted to discover toys that don't require batteries and that, by their simple, ingenious designs, are all about promoting the power of imagination. When they happen to be green toys, well, that's just icing on the cake.

All Sprig Toys are eco-friendly and unbelievable adorable. I guarantee that you won't be able to resist picking up the cute little people and I doubt that you'll leave their site without thinking of a few little people in your life who would love to create their own adventures with these toys.

I was fortunate to receive our buddy Captain Owen and his rugged little boat. Is he a fisherman? Is he a dolphin watcher? Depends on the day and who's telling the story.

Sprig Toy Dolphin Explorer Pros:

- Parents will love the eco friendly, made from recycled materials toy. Kids will adore the tough little boat and the adorable dolphins.

- The toys are made from Sprigwood, a mix of recycled plastic and reclaimed sawdust. It's smooth to the touch and very pleasant to handle.

- Two boats! For even more imaginative play.

- Waterproof, so great for pool, beach, or even tub time. Dolphins are the only hollow creatures, but they are well designed with no place water can stay trapped and make the toy moldy. Everything else dries nicely.

- The box is more than just a box! It has cut-outs that add a whole other dimension to the toys inside. 

Sprig Toy Dolphin Explorer Cons:

- Our kids aren't used to having toys that have to be fuelled so far by their imaginations. Captain Owen doesn't even have a face. It takes a while for them to get engaged and start having fun with this, but once they do it's hard to tear them away!

- Price point - $29.99 - is a hair higher than I'd go for a basic birthday party toy, but for a toy with this quality and ingenuity I'd invest for my own children, a close friend, or a family member. (Many toys on the site are more in my birthday party price range!)  

I am a huge fan of Sprig Toys and I was delighted to see that they're easy to find. I even spotted one of the trucks at Baby Gap the other day! They have trucks and princesses and even fun book/toys for interactive reading play. I know quite a few kids who will be getting some rugged chunky little imagination boosters in their stockings this year...

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Sprig Toys. I was given a Dolphin Explorer Boat for review purposes and was in no other way compensated for this review. The opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are mine and mine alone.

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Spud Bunny - Review and Giveaway

Once there was a potato Bunny. He had big floppy ears and adorable bunny slipper shoes, but he was a lonely bunny. All his other spud friends sported simple round ears and big toothy smiles. He always felt out of place around them.

Then, one day, much to his utter delight, he met another Spud bunny. A girl Spud Bunny. She had big floppy ears, two perfect front teeth, and even better, she had the same bunny slippers as him.

It was love at first sight.

They lived happily ever after.

And even had a little spud, who, for some odd reason
didn't share his parents endearing characteristics,
but he was cute enough. So it was all OK.

Spud Bunny Pros:
- Spud Bunny is part of the Mr Potato Head family, he's just got slightly longer ears and teeth than his regular spud buddies. What that means is that all his parts are interchangeable with all your other Mr Potato Head parts, which can lead to some pretty fun characters!

Spud Bunny Cons:
- Just like the Easter Bunny, Spud Bunny only comes once a year, so snap him up quick or you'll have to wait another year.

Spud Bunny Giveaway:
I have one adorable Spud Bunny to give away to a lucky Lemonade Stand reader!

To enter:
1) Visit the Hasbro Mr. Potato Head page. Tell me which is your favorite Spud.
2) Leave a comment letting me know about your own or your child's Mr. Potato Head memories.
3) Check out the fun Hasbro games and let me know which one you might try with your child.
4) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Leave a comment telling me you subscribed.
5) Subscribe to my other blog's feed. Leave a comment telling me you subscribed.
6) Tweet, email, blog about this giveaway.

That's a grand total of 8 ways you can enter! Please remember to leave me a way to contact you. And please, please, please, leave a separate comment for each of your entries. I can't credit you for each of them if you don't.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 10pm PST. This giveaway is officially closed! Thank you for stopping by. Make sure to check out all my other great giveaways!

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Wett Giggles - Review & Discount Code

What could be sweeter than a cute little bath toy lodged in a fun sudsy soap? Well, how about instead of a bath toy you got an adorable little nail brush?

Wett Giggles, Inc has come up with perfect little gifts. Use them as party favors or as birthday presents. Give them as part of a gift for wedding or baby showers! These little guys are sure to bring smiles to everyone's faces.


Wett Giggles pros:
- Adorable little characters encased in sweet smelling soap that come individually wrapped and adorned with a matching ribbon.
- Just enough soap to make it worth your investment, but not so much soap that a child would get frustrated about getting to the prize at the center.
- Encourage hygiene in little kids by introducing a fun new way to scrub away the dirt that builds up under your nails!
- Love the soap, but can live without a tubful of nail brushes? You can buy the soap or the nail brushes separately.
- Quite affordable! $10/soap+brush, $8/soap no brush, $5/brush no soap.
- Kosher glycerin of vegetable origin!

Wett Giggles cons:
- These things are so darn cute you're going to need to buy the whole collection. I'm sorry.
- And... yeah, sorry, I really have nothing else. Uh, you might end up with too many nail brushes? Not that that's really a con...

Wett Giggles DEAL!
So, in conclusion, you need one or ten of these right away. And because Wett Giggles, Inc rocks, they've given me a discount code to share with you.
Right now, on the Wett Giggles site, there's a 20% discount on all orders and just for The Lemonade Stand readers, until the end of February, by using the discount code: Carvp09 (Careful! Case sensitive!) you also get free shipping! So, what are you waiting for? Get that gift closet full of cute little dogs, ducks, and cows!

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Kid Kleen Bath Blizzard Review

My kids love bubbles. I mean, duh, right, what kid doesn't? So a while back when we discovered a bubble blower specifically designed for the tub we got very excited. It was terrible. Stopped working after two days.

So when we got the Kid Kleen Bath Blizzard we were a bit skeptical. What were the odds that this bath bubble blower would be any better? I pulled it out of the box and I put in batteries and dumped a ton of bubble solution into it, which gave us so so results. Then I read the instructions and I took out all the bubble solution, rinsed out the machine, followed the instructions, and presto! an avalanche of bubbles, just like the box promised!

Bath Blizzard Pros
- It was actually pretty cool. The bubbles poured out and filled the tub with a rich lather.
- The girls thought the avalanche was pretty.
- The bubble solution, when diluted properly, lasts a really long time.
- It's pretty quiet.
- And miracles of all miracles, after multiple uses the bubble blower is still going strong.

Bath Blizzard Cons
- This is my fault because I didn't read the box closely enough, but I was hoping for more bubbles flying through the air rather than cascading down into the tub.
- It is not the most exciting toy in the world and I can see how my kids would quickly lose their awe.

All in all a pretty neat toy that I would especially recommend for the younger set while they're still easily mesmerized by bubbles of any kind.