Sun Tails Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Sun Tails for the review free of charge.**

Every year during the holidays I look for fun and unique gift ideas for my loved ones, this year I was present with an opportunity to work with a company called Sun Tails on a review as part of my holiday guide. Sun Tails makes and sells mermaid fins and tails to transform you into a mermaid while you swim, they also sell shark tails. I was looking over everything and decided I would pick out a tail for me and test it out to see how it is before picking one up for the kids.



                                      

I was sent a Blue Lagoon Mermaid Tail + Monofin set. The Monofin is one big flipper that you put your feet in together, it is shaped like the end of a fishes tail and has three straps to help keep your feet in place and then the actual tail is made from a bathing suit material that gets put on and slipped over your monofin via a hole at the bottom of the tail. This set along with many others retail for $79.95 on their website but they are currently running a holiday promotion, Receive a 10% discount on your order at www.SunTailMermaid.com code: BestGiftEver  @usfg

                           

The tail comes with a kit that is what they call training wheels for your tail, it comes with two puffy protective sleeps and plastic sleeves that go over the tips of the tail to help protect the monofin and the bathing suit material from becoming rip, torn and ruined. Until you are used to your tail, how it works and what surfaces are not good for it you must keep the padding on the tips of the tail otherwise it will void the warranty it comes with. The tail is easy to get on and fits well, it is designed to hold your legs together to make it easier to use the monofin, and it has a slit in the bottom where you can pull it over the monofin to complete the look of having a tail. I found I needed a slight bit of help getting the monofin on and pulling the bathing suit part over it but I could manage it on my own.

I wanted to fully test out the tail, but it is starting to get colder out even in Arizona and the pool water was freezing so I was only in long enough to snap a few photos and get out. I dig hang onto the edge of the pool and test out the fin a bit and I can tell it will be a helpful work out during the summer once I get used to the tail.Once it gets wet the materials will suction to your legs like a regular bathing suit but once you get out it will not hold onto the water. The mono fin is a lot of fun trying to use and really does give you a unique swimming experience. 

Appalachian Crafters Giveaway & Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Appalachian Crafters for the review & giveaway free of charge.**

One of my favorite holiday traditions for Christmas is adding one or more new ornaments to my tree every year, I don't look for anything specific just something that happens to catch my eye. This year I got a jump start on adding something new to my tree, I was recently sent seven new ornaments from an Etsy shop called Appalachian Crafters. Appalachian Crafters is a family ran business that creates and sells a wide range of products.



All of the ornaments are handcrafted and made from wood, each one measures 3"x3" to 4"x4" and is about a 1/2" thick. Everything is sanded and smooth to the touch, there aren't any sharp edges or rough spots along the ornaments, they are smooth enough you could even rub them on your face. They are left with their natural wooden look, there is no coating or stains on the ornaments to keep their natural beauty.



The ornaments are light weight and have a little bit of flexibility to them, but as with all ornaments you should treat them with care if you want them to last for years to come. I like that the amount of detail varies from ornament to ornament, my favorite is the snowman ornament where he is holding the little bird. Since there is no coating on the wood it doesn't have any kind of chemical smell either, in fact these ornaments have no smell at all which is perfect for people with sensitive noses. Each ornament retails for $2.95-$3.95 depending on size and detail work, which is an amazing deal you won't be able to find in stores for something that is handmade. Along with handmade ornaments Appalachian Crafters also sells a number of other products included Harry Potter inspired newspaper digital prints.



I am slowly working on turning our kids bathroom/guest bathroom into a Harry Potter inspired bathroom. I re-did some of the towel bar fixtures (we had some crappy plastic holders from the previous renters) and I am working on getting Harry Potter themed goods to hang up and decorate with so these prints worked out perfectly. They were easy to download and simple to print everything is already set up for you.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner is going to win a set of 6 Christmas ornaments as shown above.

This is open to 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!
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know another product you enjoy from Appalachian Crafters.

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Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

The other day I posted a review of three out of the five Christmas themed books I recently received from Candlewick Press, Today I will be sharing the review of the final two with you. All five of the books I received are fantastic books and all make a great gift idea for the holidays. All five can be purchased through Amazon or at Barnes & Nobles.




Pick A Pine Tree - Written by Patricia Toht & Illustrated by Jarvis, it is forty pages long and retails for $16.99 it is a hardcover book. This is a book about a family that goes to a Christmas tree lot to pick out their tree and the decorating day they have with family & friends to get ready for the holidays. It has colorful illustrations and the book is a cute read, although I don't think it would be one that would be in our yearly Christmas book reading box it seems to better suit younger children close to toddler age.

                   

            

A Christmas For Bear - Written by Bonny Becker & Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, it is forty-eight pages long and retails for $16.99 this is also a hard cover book. This is a book about a bear who had never celebrated Christmas before but decided he wanted to and agreed to host a small party for him and his friend mouse. Through the book bear seems a little stern, to the point and not sure how a Christmas party works but through the book you find he had planned a big surprise for his little mouse friend and mouse has planned a surprise for bear as well and it ended off on a very happy note.

Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

Candlewick Press offers dozens of great family and kid friendly books for all occasions. I was recently asked if I wanted to review a selection of Christmas related books and of course I said yes, my kids and I love getting new books. I recently received five great books from them, I will tell you about three of them below and the other two will be on a separate post to help keep the review for getting too long. All of these books can be found on Amazon and at Barnes & Nobles for purchasing.



Red & Lulu - I was immediately drawn to this book because of the Cardinals on the front, Cardinals were one of my great grandmothers favorite birds because she loved the color red so this book reminded me of her and our holiday memories. This book is written by Matt Tavares and retails for $17.99. Red & Lulu is forty pages long and features a number of beautiful illustrations that were done in watercolor and gouache. The story is about a pair of birds that live in a giant evergreen tree and is the story about what happens to them once their beloved tree is taken away. I admit I was a little saddened by the start of the book but it had a happy ending and everything worked out alright. The last page also provided some educational information on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.



Elf In The House - This book is thirty-two pages long and retails for $15.99. The book follows the adventures of a magical night when a little girl is waken by the sound of jingling bells downstairs. The book will take you on a trip through the house to see what visitors have stopped by for Christmas. This is a great book for small children and would make a great book for new readers to read by themselves. It is written by Ammi-Joan Paquette and illustrated by Adam Record. The way the character illustrations stand out remind me of some of the new childrens TV shows with how it is colored and outlined. I was going to save this one for our Elf on the shelf to bring with her during the start of December but I wasn't sneaky enough hiding it and the kids saw it but they absolutely loved it and thought it was great.

           

The Christmas Fairy - This book is so darn cute! It is written by Anne Booth and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. This cute book is about a group of school ages faeries who are practicing standing still, and being quite so they can stand on a tree being a Christmas Fairy. One of the little faeries isn't like the others, she likes to wiggle and sing and this story is about her and her journey to becoming a Christmas Fairy. We really like the illustrations and we look forward to reading this during the holidays.I highly suggest this book as a Christmas gift for any little girl in your life. This book sells for $15.99 and is thirty-two pages long.

Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

I love books and reading so it has always been something I wanted to instill in my kids as well and now they are both bookworms along side their mama. Any chance I get to receive new books for our collection it is hard to say no so when I was offered a chance to review some books from the Candlewick Press I jumped at the chance. All of the books I received in this batch are Christmas themed and you can read about all of them below:



Press out + Color; Christmas Ornaments (Retail value $15.99). This isn't a book you read, instead it is an activity book that comes with 20 ornaments you are able to pop out, color and piece together to create one of a kind ornaments. Each page has one to three ornaments that range in size, pattern and style, each one is made from a thick cardboard and has holes pre-punched into them to make adding a ribbon easier. This book is illustrated by Kate McLelland.

Make & Play; Chritmas (Retail Value $11.99). This book is slightly cheaper than the press out and color ornaments but it has more to do for small children and as a family. This book includes 20 pop out play pieces/ornaments that are already full color on both the front and back as you can see from Santas backside above. Along with the pop outs there are also nine pages of songs, recipies and winter activities that you can do as a family. Each play piece is made from thick cardboard and is easy to remove from the page.


  

We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Sling along with me! (Retail Value $8.99). This is a fun childrens chunky slider book featuring a classic and memorable Christmas song, "We wish you a Merry Christmas". I remember singing this as a child and I sing it every year with my kids, this book helps give a fun spin on the song by adding adorable graphics and characters that slide out of or along the pages of the book which is a lot of fun for small children. The book is eight pages long and has five interactive sliding tabs, the book also comes with a free download of the song to listen to while looking through this book. I think this book is a lot of fun even as an adult! The sliders may feel a little stuck at first but after a few uses you won't have them stick any longer.

We're Going On a Bear Hunt (Retail Value $16.99). This unique book not only has a 3D snow globe on the front cover but it is also a pop-up book. There seemed to be a small gap between the snow globe on the front and the actual book cover but it seemed sturdy enough that it isn't going anywhere. The book features 20 pages full of creative and fun illustrations that will capture your child's imagination. It is a fun and simple book they can follow along with and enjoy for many years to come.



Gift Boxes to decorate & Make; Christmas (Retail Value $15.99).  This is my personal favorite out of all the books I received because I enjoy coloring, it helps me relax and unwind after a stressful day at work. It includes 24 flat boxes with various designs that is waiting to be colored in, each one ranges in the amount of details it includes so some will take longer than others. After you've colored both the inside and outside of the box you can pop it off the page and fold it up into a box, I used clear packing tape when I was done to help make sure the box stayed together. Once your box is build you can use them to gift small trinkets, baked goods, spa boxes, etc to your loved ones and seal it with a "To/From" sticker that has been included in the back of the book.

All of these books can be purchased on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles and all of them would make wonderful Christmas and Pre-Christmas gifts for families with small children.