Venustas heated vest Review!

 

As many states are bracing for major snow storms it may be a great time to pick up a heated vest for when you need to go outside. I was recently gifted a Womens Heated Vest 7.4V from Venustas to test out for winter & it is wonderful to have on hand for the extra cold mornings. Whether you enjoy being outdoors or just get cold easily this is a great way to add a little extra warmth to your outfit when the temperature drops outside. This vest can be purchased for $159.99 on their website & they also sell heated jackets, gloves & more. 

The vest is sold in a S all the at up to a 4XL, it has a water & wind-resistant exterior to add an extra layer of protection during winter weather. This vest has six sections of carbon fiber heating elements, which include your back, the back of your neck, each shoulder and the front stomach area on both sides under the pockets. It has three different temperature settings low, medium & high so you can adjust to a lower setting if you start getting a little too warm & it comes with a helpful guide to teach out the color for each setting so you can adjust it using the black button on the breast of the vest. 

Depending on which setting you leave the vest on it will run from anywhere between three to ten hours when fully charged. The battery comes with a wall charger & instructions on how to make your battery last longer when you aren't using it during the warmer months. 

I can definitely feel the most warmth in the neck & shoulder areas of the vest, I don't notice the back as much but that may be because I wasn't leaning against anything while I was wearing this. It does really help keep you warmer when wearing this though, it makes a great middle layer between your shirt & your jacket to really keep you cozy. I haven't needed to wash this but you'll be surprised to know that it can be washed in a washer without any issues. 

Disclaimer- Venustas provided me with the products mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Build a wooden Gingerbread house!

 

Building a Gingerbread house can be a lot of fun, but they typically won't last that long so if you are looking for something to build with your kids that you can hold onto as a decoration for years to come why not build a wooden gingerbread house? Made by Me! has a build & paint your own gingerbread house kit which sells for $19.99 on amazon. 

When purchasing this kit I would also pick up an extra bottle of glue & a extra bottle of brown paint as there isn't enough of either in this kit otherwise we are quite happy with everything included. It comes with instructions on how to build the house, a little bit of glue, some paint, a paint brush, lots of pompoms & glittery stickers that look snow covered to put into your house plus the wood pieces to build it of course. 

The great thing about this kit is that it can be done alone or the whole family can participate by decorating different parts of the house. Your work station will get a little messy but it is no where near how much of a mess we usually make with the candy version of the gingerbread house, plus the walls held together much better & we didn't have to worry about gum drops falling off. 

I think this turned out pretty cute & there are still a few things my son would like to add to this to give it some extra holiday magic. I love that we can keep this for years to come & maybe even include in a Christmas village type set up. I am happy with the amount of time the craft takes up & the materials provided, for $20 this is a fun and worth while kit to pick up as a last minute Christmas craft or to hold onto to do next year.

Disclaimer-  Horizon Group USA provided me with the products mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

See Dinosaurs at Pangaea in Scottsdale, Arizona!

If you have a small child who loves Dinosaurs then Pangaea in Scottsdale, Arizona is an attraction that you might want to consider checking out at least once. We recently stopped by and redeemed our free admission using our POGO Pass, If you don't know what a Pogo pass is then stop by my review here to learn what it is all about. Without a Pogo pass general admission is $17.95 per child & $19.95 per adult, or you can purchase the Paleo pack for $32.90 which comes with extra activities. We went on a Thursday afternoon shortly before their last admission for the day, they are open until 5pm however they stop selling tickets at 4pm to allow everyone enough time to explore before they close. We had the entire place pretty much to ourselves which was nice because we were able to go at our own pace.

After getting your admission tickets you will walk through the gift shop into the back where the entrance for the exhibit is. Inside you'll find a few dozen very large Dinosaur figures & animatronics. You'll find the inside easy to navigate as they have your stroll set up, so you are self-guided along the trail which is set up to free like you are in another point in time. 

Seeing as this is self-guided tour there is no one there to tell you about each of the dinosaurs, so how are you supposed to know what you are looking at? Along the exhibit you will find touch screen kiosks that will tell you all about each dinosaur. It was neat to read some of the information such as what their names mean, how big they were, etc. You will also find a number of stations that have a chain & stamp attached to them, this is so children can stamp the little dinosaur field guide they are given at the start to complete as they walk through. 

At the end once they have collected all of the stamps, they will get a prize. My kids received a small shark tooth! There are additional activities that can be purchased such as a rock sifting, dinosaur dig & more. They also have a small game arcade and grill you can order food from if you so choose. There were only a few other people there so even walking along slowly taking photos & videos along with checking out the information monitors and collecting stamps we were done in about twenty, that was with stopping to take a few photos.

The dinosaur animatronics were neat to see up close, they are literally within just a few feet of you & some are directly in front of your face. Sadly it looked like a few visitors may have taken advantage of being so close to them as a few were missing teeth and small pieces off their backs. The baby dinosaurs were so cute & they have everything set up to get some fun photo opportunities with the kids and family.

What were our final thoughts? It was a cute experience, however it doesn't take very long to look at the figures, read through the tablets, collect the stamps & reach the end. Entrance into the exhibit for two adults and two children is just over $75 which is slightly pricey for the amount of time spent here. It was fun to visit once, our kids enjoyed it though they may have been a little more excited if they were younger, we probably won't make a second visit as we were able to see everything during this visit.  Using our Pogo pass we were able to get the four of us in for free & it adds onto the savings we've already saved using our passes. You can get a Pogo Pass for a discounted cost $59.99 using code 6c8d10a3. You can learn more information about the pogo pass by visiting my review here.

You can find more Arizona attractions, events & restaurants by clicking the "Things to do in Arizona" link on the right hand side of my blog or click the purple link in this sentence. 

**This is not a sponsored post, we stopped by here as a family & I decided to share about our experience with my readers.

Joanne Arden Organics Bath Set Review + Giveaway!

 

The holidays are quickly approaching & you might be looking for a few last-minute gift ideas. If you have someone on your holiday list who loves bath products, a gift basket in one of their favorite scents could be a great gift to get. A store front on Amazon called Joanne Arden Organics sells a wide range of gift sets in a variety of scents, I was recently gifted one of their Mom's Lavender set to test and I will be giving one of you a chance to win a set as well. This set sells for $24.99 on amazon and has a four and a half star rating on amazon.

This gift set comes in a cute pink toiletry bag that says "Worlds Greatest Mother" and "Amazing, Loving, Strong, Happy,Selfless,Graceful". On amazing it shows that they have the word "Mother" in blue to point out that the words used container the word within them, however the set I received those letters aren't blue they are the same color as the rest of the bag. The bath products included are a body butter, a bottle of body wash, a bottle of bubble bath, a bar of soap, muscle rub cream, a lip balm and a small glass bottle of bath oil. Most of the products have a lavender set to them however the bath oil is a eucalyptus spearmint and the muscle rub is coconut milk & honey. All of the products are big enough they will last through quite a few uses, which is pretty good considering when you break down the price for the seven products + the bag everything comes out to $3.12 each. 

The scent of the products aren't overwhelming or overly strong. I like the combination of the lavender and chamomile, it is calming and will help you de-stress after a long day at work or running errands. I like the toiletry bag, it is quite large and will hold a lot when going on a trip or you can use it as storage in your bathroom. The bundle arrived quickly & everything inside of the gift set was packaged nicely, everything was individually wrapped which made it feel like getting more than one gift and it also helps protect the packaging. 

What is your favorite scent when it comes to bath products?

Prize Alert:
One lucky winner is going to receive a Lavender Bath set just like the one shown above.

This is open US Residents only! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 12/19/22

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment letting me know another gift set from their collection you would like to try out OR tell me which product from this set you are most looking forward to trying.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Joanne Arden Organics for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Dust-free kitty litter from Tuft + Paw!

 

In my personal opinion the worst thing about kitty litter is when it creates a little cloud of kitty litter dust when you are pouring it into the pan. It gets into your nose & on your clothing leaving you smelling litter even after you are done changing the box. So when I received an email from Tuft + Paw asking if I wanted to try out their new Really Great Cat Litter that is dust-free how could I say no? 

This litter really is dust free as advertised. Instead of little bits of clay, sand or crystals this litter is made from soybean byproduct & is in the form of little pellets. The pellets also help prevent you from having litter tracked outside of the litter box since it won't stick to your cats paws and fur as easily as traditional litter. It also disintegrates in water making it safe to flush down your toilet instead of having to bag it up to throw out. One bag of litter will last you for a whole month, you can buy one bag at a time for $29 for opt to get three months at a time for a discounted price. 

My cats seem to enjoy using this litter & I find it easy to scoop to clean out. It doesn't have the traditional smell of cat litter which is great for my nose and it seems to do well at hiding most cat smells that escape from the litter box. It is also light weight and I haven't noticed any of it being tracked around the bathroom, plus the low-dust/no-dust is a big help for the cats as well. This is a litter I would think about using again once what we currently have is gone. I also like that it conveniently ships to the house, perfect for anyone who doesn't want to carry around a big container of kitty litter at the store.

Disclaimer-  Tuft + Paw provided the products mentioned above for the review  free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchasing the product.

Wormholes the board game!

I was recently gifted a copy of the board game Wormholes sold by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) & it has instantly become a hit in our house. This fun game is a race across the galaxy trying to connect planets via wormholes while picking up & dropping off passengers to each planet. 

This is a one to five player game recommended for ages 14+ & the play time is 45 to 60 minutes. Both of my kids are younger than the recommended age, they are 9 & 13 however neither have an issue playing this game. The game is very easy to set up, you'll have everything put together and ready to go in less than ten minutes. All of the rules are easy to follow, simple to understand & everything is straight forward.

Depending on how many players are participating you'll have eight to ten planets ready to have wormholes set up to travel to them. Once all of the planets have had a wormhole connected to them there will only be three additional rounds before the game is over. The first person to connect a wormhole to a planet earns a point chip, however since the game will be coming to an end shortly after all planets have been connected the group may want to extend waiting to connect all planets to earn a few additional points by dropping off as many passengers as you can.

To pick up passengers you'll need to be directly next to a planet or the space station which is when you can pick up four passenger cards. There is a small catch to picking up passengers, you can't pick up cards that match the planet you are picking up from so they will need to be discarded & while at the space station you can only pick up cards that have been discarded. After picking them up, you will need to make your way across the board to the planet that matches the passenger card so you can drop them off at that planet. Each passenger is worth two victory points per passenger dropped off. 

There are chances to earn extra points through out the game as well. Once you reach the final round you will tally up all the points & who ever has the most is the winner. During the first few rounds of the game, I won each game but as we continued to play everyone started catching on to how to space out their wormholes better to rack up points so now it is anyone's game. This is a fantastic game to pull out when we are wanting to play a quick game that is fun to play. The board & game pieces are well made, bright in color and go together quite well. You can purchase this game on the AEG website for $49.99.

Is this a game you would enjoy adding to your game board collection?

Disclaimer- Alderac Entertainment Group provided the products mentioned above for the review  free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchasing the product.

Exploring Earth - Science Kit Review!

 

If your child loves to collect rocks, loves science or enjoys learning about earth then the exploring earth kit from The Young Scientists Club line sold by Horizon Group USA would make the perfect gift for them this holiday season. This fun kit comes with a dig kit along with supplies for a few science based hands on projects your child will have fun completing. It is recommended for ages five to seven, however I see no reason a child older than seven wouldn't enjoy this as well.

One or two of the projects in this kit can get a little messy so I would suggest doing this kit when the weather is a little nicer out so you can complete them outside & save yourself the hassle. If heading outside to complete the projects isn't an option, you can always lay down a plastic table cloth which will help collect any messes. In total there are sixteen activities included  in this kit & not all of them need to be completed at once so your child can spread them out over the course of a few days. The first project we dove into was the mineral dig, in the book it shows that it is supposed to come with eight minerals in total - four that have been polished & four that are unpolished. Our kit only came with seven of the minerals, we completely broke apart the block then even smashed the pieces into dust to check for the lost gem but it was no where to be seen, while a small bummer it is alright because we still love the others. It came with a little wooden chisel, but I was surprised that a little wooden hammer wasn't included as there is usually a chisel/hammer set in the dig kits we've done in the past. To help contain the mess we did the dig kit on the inside of the box everything came in & did it out on our front porch because the chalk the gems are buried in tends to get everywhere. 

The second project I would suggest potentially doing outside is the exploding volcano, chances are it won't end up everywhere but just in case we did this outside too for an easier clean up. Thankfully we have everything on hand that is needed for this project minus the volcano cone which comes with this kit. I like that the booklet that comes with this kit telling you how to complete the projects also has fun facts about the earth & spots for you to write down your observations of the projects you complete. This kit would make a great kit to use any time of the year & I think it would make a great gift as well for any child in your life interested in STEM projects. 

My son is nine so he was able to complete all of these projects by himself, younger children may need a help with a step or two of the process which works out because the projects are fun to do together. Horizon Group USA sells this kit along with dozens of others across their lines that are perfect for young children, all of the kits are fun yet educational, plus the best part of all is that they are affordable. You can purchase their products on Amazon, or at big box stores such as Walmart, Michaels Craft Stores, Etc. 

Disclaimer-  Horizon Group USA provided me with the products mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

The Immersive Nutcracker event!

 

It is always nice to get out of the house & be able to do a family event together as a family. New to Arizona this year is the Immersive Nutcracker being hosted at the Lighthouse Artspace Phoenix located in Scottsdale at 4301 N Scottsdale Road Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. The lighthouse does not have it's own designated parking so you will need to park at the parking garage up the street or find an open street parking spot, during the time we went we were lucky & found a parking spot just one street over so we had a short three minute walk to get to where we needed to be. 

When purchasing a ticket you will need to select a time slot you'd like to visit, we selected the 4:30pm time as I felt like it wouldn't be quite as busy during that time. Tickets are $29.99 each or if you buy the Family pack it lowers it slightly to $26.99 per person for a total of $107.96 for a family of four, it includes admission + a small gift. 

Okay, so now that I have the information about the event out of the way now comes the part which is always a little awkward when a review isn't always a hundred percent positive. But, that is the whole point of reading a review, to read the good & the bad to make a decision on whether you want to purchase a product or attend an event. While this was a neat short experience to see, is it worth thirty dollars a person to see it? In our opinion, no it should be at a lower price point. They had a few cute photo opportunities set up that you could stop & take photos at including one that had a life sized nutcracker you could take a photo with then you walked into the main exhibit. There were two large rooms that had projectors on the walls & floor, the floor projectors played things like gems, snowflakes and lights to match the mini Nutcracker movie being played on the walls. The movie was about twenty minutes long then it went to a few winter scenes, in total we were there about half an hour so roughly it came out to a dollar per minute per person to be there. 

We stuck around for a little bit to see what else might pop up on the projectors, but not much seemed to be happening. Exiting the exhibit takes you into the gift shop then the exit to head back to your car. I saw a few people enter & then exit without spending more than five minutes watching the projectors so it felt like we weren't the only ones who weren't sure what to expect. It was fun for some of the smaller kids, as they were able to run around and chase the projections on the floors and it was calming sitting there for the twenty minutes watching the nutcracker on the large walls, however I feel like it might be better suited to be closer to ten dollars a person than thirty, we were never offered the "small gift" either so I can not comment on what the admission was supposed to come with. There are thirteen different cities across the nation so each one may have different photo opportunities & be set up slightly different than the one here in Scottsdale. Keep in mind this is just our opinion, you could end up enjoying it significantly more.

If you are looking for other fun events to attend for the holidays or in general in Arizona check out my "Things to do in Arizona" section which features delicious spots to eat & events like the Phoenix Zoo Lights, Sugar Rush the drive thru holiday light event and more. 

Disclaimer- US Family Guide along side The Immersive Nutcracker provided tickets to the event mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchasing the product.

Holiday gifts for Outdoor lovers from Oceas.

If you have someone on your holiday shopping list this year that loves being outdoors & going camping you should check out the products sold by Oceas. They have some great products to help make your trip a little more comfortable & I will be sharing two of those products with you on this post which are the Backpack Cooler & The Puffy.

The backpack cooler is my favorite out of the two items I was gifted to review simply because it is the product we use the most out of the two. It isn't just great for camping, but it is also good for bringing on hikes, picnics & short car trips. The inside of the bag is made with a insulated, leak-proof liner so you can add ice packs or loose ice so you can bring cold drinks & food along with you. According to their website it can hold up to 45 cans of soda, I haven't tried to hold that many cans as we generally don't buy canned soda, but it holds several of our extra large water bottles, some re-usable ice packs along with snacks with plenty of extra room. Along with the inner pocket there are also two zipped pockets, one large one along the front and one at the top of the bag plus two mesh pockets on either side of the backpack. This back pack is comfortable to wear even when it is full of stuff, the straps are padded to give it a little extra cushion. I like using this for hikes, days at the lake, etc because we don't have to drag a large ice chest with us in order to bring drinks. You can pick up their cooler backpack for $59.99 it can be purchased in grey, black or blue & it comes with a bottle opener keychain. 

They sell five different types of blankets for various outdoor needs, I received "The Puff" which is a padded blanket which can either be used as a regular blanket for warmth or you can place it under you for a little extra cushion. This is a soft nylon shell filled with cotton, it is water proof, durable & can be rolled up to fit perfectly back into it's carrying bag just like you do with a sleeping bag. It comes in three different colors - black, blue or green & has a second side with a lighter shade of which ever color you choose. It has a stretchy strap attached to the blanket itself so when you are done rolling it up, you can put the strap over it to hold it into place which makes it easier to get into the carrying bag. You can purchase this blanket for $69.99 on their website along with their other blankets that include the Sherpa which looks so soft & warm. This blanket is not only good for camping, but you can use it at home or take it with to sit on while you picnic or hang out on the beach. The materials used are easy to wipe off & dirt or sand will simply shake right off of it. 

What are some products that would help make your camping or hiking trip easier & more comfortable?

Disclaimer- Oceas provided the products mentioned above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchasing the product.

December Beauty & The Book Giveaway!

How is it December already? It always feels like the first six months of the year drag by, then the last six are a blink and you'll miss it. November was a great start of the holiday season for us, many of the holiday events opened, lots of houses in the neighborhood are putting up decorations & we've put up our decorations and tree as well. This month I am looking forward to some of our holiday traditions, we like trying to watch a holiday movie each night & we like going out on drives to look at holiday lights.

For those of you who live in AZ I have several reels & posts up about some fun holiday events and non-holiday events and hot spots around the state for you to check out. And for all of my readers as a whole, I have lots of great new reviews headed your way this month. This time of year usually has an increase in people catching colds, I know a ton of people where I live are sick as the cough drop/med isle is almost wiped clean so I hope all of you are staying safe & healthy. If you do happen to catch a cold, may it be over quickly! 

For this months bundle I wanted to include some products to help hydrate your skin this winter along with some other fun goodies for a self pampering day and of course makeup!

What's Included in this months giveaway? Let's take a look;

🎄 Copy of "Endless Water Starless Sky"
🎄 Hydrangea scented gift set
🎄 Jergens Ultra Healing Lotion
🎄 Ecotools makeup sponge applicator
🎄 Gamelyn Games Multiuse Tool
🎄 Blue Eyeshadow Palette
🎄 Nude Eyeshadow Palette
🎄 Black eyeliner pencil
🎄 NYX Lipstick
🎄 Maybelline lipstick
🎄 EOS lipbalm
🎄 Gold Glitter makeup mirror
🎄 Winter Berry Bath Bomb
🎄 Two Face Masks
🎄 Foot care mask
🎄 Disney car deacl
🎄 Clay/Mud Mask Applicator 
🎄 Two fabric hairbands
🎄 Snowflake Earrings

One lucky winner will win it all! When I notify the winner it will be via yahoo under my blogs previous name so it will come from Burningmoonproducts @ Yahoo.com so please make sure to add it to your approved list or be sure to check the spam filter on the email address you enter this giveaway with. I had to re-pick a few winners a few giveaways ago that didn't respond to emails or my IG message letting them know they won so new winners were selected for those giveaways. 

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 01/04/2022

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment answering at least one of these questions.

What is something on your Christmas wishlist this year?

Tell me about something you are looking forward to this month.

What is your favorite part about the holidays?

What are you looking forward to winning the most from this prize pack? 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can complete as many entries as you want, there are several one-time activities and daily activities that can earn you more entries into the giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye on my site & social media pages for more giveaways headed your way.

Skulk Hollow - Board Game Review!

 

Board games are always a great way to spend one on one time together bonding, competing, talking & laughing while having a great time. I was recently gifted a copy of the board game Skulk Hollow from Pencil First Games, they were also nice enough to include the Ancient Relics mini-expansion kit that offers additional cards for your game. If you've been a fan of my blog for a while this might seem like a familiar company as I did a review of their game Heroes Welcome a while back which is still a favorite of ours that we play quite often. 

Skulk Hollow is a two player game which is fantastic for the nights when just two of us want to play a game or if we want to do a tournament style run with the game. Our kids stayed the night at their grandparents house the Friday night after we received this game, so it gave my husband and I a chance to learn the rules & play a game by ourselves. The rules are very straight forward, easy to understand & easy to execute once in play. We didn't spend that long reading the rules before we were able to play, it is always nice when games offer you a engaging & rewarding game without overly complex or complicated rules. The recommended age is 12+ however our nine-year-old has no issue playing this game. 

How to play? The set-up is simple, each player will play as a different race of creatures - you will either be a Guardian or a member of the Foxen clan. I wouldn't really say either is the "evil" character as they each have their own reason for why they are fighting the other. The Guardians are massive creatures that are almost like gods who created the lands, once they created those lands they went into slumber. The Foxen are a clan that came to be & live in those lands created by the guardians. The Guardians are now awake once more, they are so massive that as they walk they literally destroy whole cities under their feet. So the foxen are racing to stop the guardians while the guardians are set on walking their paths to wherever they are headed. 

Each Guardian has special abilities & items that need to be set up on the board specifically for them, and each Foxen have their own special abilities as well. Once you reach the goal for which ever species you decide to play as then you will win the game. I really like this game, it has a great intro story, the game pieces are fantastic & the game is fun to play.  The Guardians each have their own card box which fits not only the playing cards you will need, but the wooden tokens that represent them as well. All of the boxes fit so nicely into the game box & the bottom of the plastic dividers show you where each box goes. I have to say though that so far, I kind of suck at playing this hahaha my husband kicked my butt both of the times we played together. I just need a little practice & to pick my cards better next time then I think I will have a better chance at winning a round of the game. When my son played a round against my husband, he did a lot better than I did. This will definitely be one of our new favorites go to games when we want to play a board game. 

Does this look like a game you would be interested in playing? Who do you think you'd want to play as; one of the giant guardians or one of the cute little Foxen?

Disclaimer-  Pencil First Games provided the products mentioned above for the review  free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchasing the product.

Send the gift of Cheese Brothers this holiday season + A Giveaway!

During the holidays it is always nice to have out a few things to snack on through out the day as family & friends spend the day talking, playing games, opening gifts & being together. This year make your snack tray extra special by picking up some cheese & other treats from Cheese Brothers. I can be a little picky when it comes to the cheese I like, but with the Cheese Brothers I haven't tried a cheese from them that I haven't liked. When we make a charcuterie tray with their cheese it is always a huge hit & nothing is left on the tray when everyone has had their fill. 

You can buy one of their gift packs for yourself or for a loved one this holiday season, they have several gift packs to choose from or you can buy the cheese individually to create your own gift basket. We were sent their "The Best Gifts are Cheesey" holiday gift pack for a review. This gift set comes with four different cheeses which are the Smoked Gouda, Dill Havarti, 3 Amigos (Jalapeno, Habanero + Chipotle Gouda) & Fratello (Parmesan + Asiago mix) along with a 5.5oz salami & a jar of cherry lavender jam. You can purchase this gift set for $59.95. I also received a block of Bantam which is a honey siracha gouda & a green onion cheddar to try out. 

What's a better way to try out some new cheeses than making a snack tray? We've tried out three of these cheeses in the past & they were favorites of ours so we were happy to get them again (the three on the left in the photo above) and three of them were brand new that we couldn't wait to try. 

Paired with your favorite crackers you are sure to fall in love with this selection of cheese. All of them has light scents so nothing is too over whelming & they pack a lot of flavor into every bite. The cheery lavender jam that comes with this goes surprisingly well with the cheese & even the meat which isn't a combination I thought I would enjoy so much. The cheese is good by itself or you can shred it & cut it up to add to your favorite dishes, the Fratello is really good in pasta & on top of garlic bread. The gift pack will last you quite some time especially depending on how you use it. We were able to put together a whole snack tray by using just a quarter of each block, which is enough for four to six people to enjoy, you could add a few extra people in there if there are other appetizers or snacks out as well. So we have plenty left over for incorporating into our favorite dishes & enjoying it with more crackers. 

The spicy cheeses we tried - the 3 Amigos & the Bantam were really good. The added spicy peppers gives the cheese a nice kick, I'd love to shred some of it up & try it in a homemade mac & cheese with some fresh jalapenos mixed in. They all smell good too, sometimes with cheese it can tend to smell a little funky however that isn't the case with this cheese - it looks good, smells good and tastes fantastic.

Along with the cheese flavors mentioned in this review they have a ton of other flavors & variety of cheeses they also sell some products from other small business owners like crackers, jams, and meats that can be purchased along side your cheese order. The gift packs would make a fantastic gift for the holidays, or really as an anytime gift. You'll be sad when the cheese is gone & will want to place another order! I wish I could find this at one of my local stores, it is by far our favorite cheese brand.

What is your favorite type of cheese?

Prize Alert:
One lucky winner is going to receive a "The Best Gifts are Cheesy" pack to try out for themselves.

This is open US Residents only! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 12/06/22

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment letting me know which cheese from their catalogue you'd like to try. (Link is the purple)

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Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Cheese Brothers for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.