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“Let’s Get Cooking” Pretend Play Gift Guide from YoYo.com

23 Nov

As the days get colder and we get cramped inside, it’s easy to turn on the TV or electronics to keep little ones entertained (at least it is for me).  It’s extremely important to keep our kids imaginations going and encourage them to use their imagination.  One of our favorite activities is the girls pretend they are chefs at a fancy restaurant and they take my order and make me food in their kitchen.  Their kitchen (featured in the gift guide) could use more pretend food and accessories to keep their imagination going.  Here are some of my favorites from YoYo.com:

yoyo.com gift guide

KIDKRAFT MODERN CORNER KITCHEN W/STOOLS – ESPRESSO, $225: Your child will love waking up to this YoYo.com exclusive KidKraft Espresso Kitchen. Whether baking some cookies or preparing a holiday meal,this kitchen will let your child’s imagination run free.  The two stools and extended countertop make it perfect for a tea party! If you live in a small place, it’s sleek modern look will still look great in a living room or dining area. If you plan on putting this kitchen together the night before, put the kids to bed early because it takes a while to assemble.
KIDKRAFT PASTEL SMOOTHIE SET, $24.57: We love smoothies! Kids can pretend to make smoothies in their kitchen for siblings or friends.  The knob on the blender turns. There are 6 fruit halves that are attached by Velcro and can be pulled apart easily.

HABA BIOFINO PANCAKES, $28.49: Kids can pretend to make pancakes for breakfast.  Included in the set is an aluminum skillet, chocolate sauce and a strawberry garnish to make “breakfast” extra special.

KIDKRAFT ESPRESSO TOASTER SET, $25.99: The interactive set includes a pop-up toaster, a stick of butter that can easily be pulled into smaller pieces and then put back together, 2 slices of pretend bread, a butter plate, and a butter knife.

KIDKRAFT ESPRESSO BAKING SET, $25.99: Get your little chef baking, cookies, cakes, and other pretend creations. Includes a rolling-pin that rolls back and forth, a cooking pan, a measuring spoon, and 2 chocolate chip cookies.

MELISSA & DOUG TRIPLE-LAYER PARTY CAKE, $19.99: Mix up this layer cake in the baking set for a surprise party for a friend or parent.  Each slice has a self-stick tab so the wooden pieces stick together.  A wooden knife is also included to slice the cake into pieces.

SCHYLLING CUPCAKE TIN TEA SET, $19.99: Adorable cupcake tea set.  Have a tea party after baking the layer cake in your kitchen.  Set consists of four teacups and saucers, four serving plates, tea-pot and serving tray.

Find fun toys and more this Holiday without stepping into a store at YoYo.com. All gifts are delivered to your door with free 2-day delivery (or faster) on orders over $49. Other sites include: BeautyBar.com, Casa.com, AfterSchool.com, BookWorm.com, Look.com, Wag.com, soap.com, and Vine.com

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Happy Shopping (& Cooking)!

Disclaimer:  I received a sample kitchen to review.  All opinions expressed are my own.  Some information about the products came from YoYo.com  Images for gift guide are from YoYo.com.

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Bunny Love (@BarefootDreams)

13 Jul
Image from Barefoot Dreams

Image from Barefoot Dreams

When I was pregnant with my oldest child, my friend gave me a Barefoot Dreams Cozy Chic Bunny Buddie as a baby shower gift. She never got attached to it so it just sat in a drawer. A few years later,when my second was a few months old, my oldest found “Bunny” and gave it to her little sister. My youngest and “Bunny” have been inseparable ever since. Of course with the exception of when “Bunny” takes a bubble bath and she has to use the back-up bunny. She doesn’t like back-up bunny nearly as much and tosses it to the side as soon as her favorite bunny is done drying.
I mentioned in my MAM post that we can’t go anywhere without the duo “paci and bunny”. If they get left we have serious problems, especially bunny because my daughter has to rub her satin ears against her face to fall asleep; some part of bunny always has to be touching her. My youngest also gives bunny love by rubbing bunny against our cheeks. Bunny is her best friend and lovie so if something were to happen she would be heartbroken. We were an hour away from leaving for The beach for a week when I hear cries “bunny,bunny, bunny… ” coming from the other room as I was finishing packing. My older daughter kept saying don’t come in here Mom so I knew something had happened but I wasn’t ready for what I walked into.

20130713-080826.jpgMy heart sank when I saw “Bunny”. My youngest couldn’t stop crying, her sister hurt bunny. She was trying to steal it away why bunny split down the belly. My oldest started crying because she felt horrible and it was sweet because she kept telling my youngest she could have her teddy to sleep with. I knew that wasn’t going to work and the other bunny wouldn’t work so I had to start surgery on bunny before we jumped in the car for a long ride to the beach. Both girls fell asleep because they had gotten so upset. An hour later surgery was complete. Bunny will have a scar but my youngest was relieved when she woke up to bunny next to her and was even more excited to have her for the long car ride.

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We love our Barefoot Dreams Bunny. One of the best gifts I received and although my oldest didn’t use it, my youngest has gotten so much love and joy from it.
Does your child have lovie or security blanket? Have you had a moment in which you lost it or it tore? What did you do?

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Make It Personal With Melissa and Doug

22 Oct

Since the start of the school year, my daughter has made many new friends which means more birthday parties.  As we were shopping for a few upcoming parties, my girls noticed all the Christmas decorations were out and holiday toys were already on display.  Every year the Christmas season starts earlier, which is why it’s no surprise my girls have already started making their list for Santa.

We are huge Melissa and Doug fans.  Most of the gifts we give to friends and receive as presents are Melissa and Doug.  Last Christmas my girls favorite gifts were the Doctor and Veterinarian Role Play Costume Sets.  Recently, Melissa and Doug started adding personalization’s to some of their products like on the role-playing costume sets.  My girls love having personalization on their toys, backpacks, lunch boxes, you name it because they know it is theirs.  It adds an extra special touch to gifts for birthdays and holidays.

Some of our favorite Melissa and Doug products that can be personalized are:

Role play costume sets make great gifts for the holidays and for birthdays. My girls love this hair stylist costume set. They play hair dresser often. The next time they play I am going to have them come up with a name for a salon or I will use our last name so they can share.

One of our favorite gifts to give.

The magnetic chalkboard and dry erase board is at the top of my girls Holiday list. They love drawing and working on their letters. It would like to get each of them a personalized board.

I purchased the magnetic responsibility chart a while ago and use it with my older daughter. However, now that the youngest is older we need to get one for her. When there is multiple children it is great to have it personalized so they can recognize which chart is theirs.

My parents have a dog, Harley, that looks like this. My girls always ask for a dog so for the holidays I plan on getting them a “Harley” to have at home and to play Vet with in their Veterinarian costume.

Click here to see all products that can be personalized!

Disclaimer:  This was a sponsored post but did not alter my opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.  All images are from http://www.melissaanddoug.com.

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