Season of Light - Making Candles

Recently, A Toy Garden sent us a candle-making kit to review. The girls were so excited when they heard we were going to make candles to decorate the Thanksgiving table.

Multicolored Beeswax Candle Making Kit ($19.95)

After my little "we can only have fun if we listen" speech, I handed each girl a sheet of beeswax.

"This is going to turn into a candle?!?"

Linnea smelled hers....mmmmm....beeswax. There's just a touch of honey scent.

I showed them how to roll the wax.  Our house is chilly, so we warmed the sheet with a hair dryer first.

Look how careful Arielle is.

Linnea is all done.

"Look, Mom!" She was so proud.  This is a great project for preschoolers like Linnea who like quick results.

Arielle was still working.



 

A Toy Garden also sent Stockmar Wax Sheets ($31.95)

We used small cookie cutters to cut out leaves and other shapes.

 

 We just wrapped them around the candles and pressed them on.

 

Beautiful!!!

The girls got lots of compliments on their hard work.

This is a great holiday craft.  You could make it a family tradition.  I think we will. The candle making kit is also available in Christmas or Hannukah colors (make your own Hannukah candles - cool!) and in natural beeswax.

And, check out A Toy Garden for stuffing stuffers and unique holiday decor. Arielle loves the child-sizes cardinal wreath ($14.95) that decorates her door.

Thank you, A Toy Garden! This was a super fun review.  We'll definitely do this again.





We love Mary's Soft Dough so much...

that we are reviewing it again!

We first reviewed Mary's Softdough in March 2008. Arielle was 3 1/2, and Linnea was 16 months old. We loved it then, and we love it now.

Normally, I mix dough myself. But, sometimes I'm busy or I don't want to do the dishes or I need an emergency gift or something fun to pull out right away.

Mary's Softdough is just as healthy and natural as dough I make myself. It has the perfect dough texture and it smells good.

It is made of flour, water, salt, cream of tartar, soybean oil, food coloring (all stuff we have at home) and sodium benzoate (a food preservative that keeps it from getting moldy so it can be used for up to a year). It comes in so many colors and scents and even with sparkles.

The Playful Pink Glitter Softdough is the favorite here.



Mary's Softdough is available in a big, 18 oz,. rainbow tub ($8.95), big single color tubs ($9.95), and small 4 oz. single color tubs ($3.35 plain, $3.95 for glow in the dark or scented).

Linnea just came up to me, "Mommy, I'm good! Can I do play dough? Pease pease pease pease?" Playing with dough is one of her favorite things. And, now that she doesn't eat the dough, it means she stays in one place for an hour or so... long enough for me to write this.

Linnea does mush colors together. This drives Arielle nuts. If this is a problem for your children, I suggest a big, single color tub.



Hard at work.








Masterpieces.





Terrapin Toys offers a Soft Dough Tool Set ($7.95) for extra fun. Like the dough, the tool set is made in the USA. The girls love the roller and cookie cutters. Check out the squirrels.



We also like to use small kitchen utensils (an old garlic press is awesome, as are plastic pizza cutters), cookie cutters, blunt tip scissors, tiny plastic figurines and dinosaurs, toothpicks, textured rollers and sometimes small hammers and golf tees for dough-play variations.



You can purchase the whole line of Mary's Softdough products directly from Terrapin Toys.

Carl and Me is having a competition

Carl & Me: Exceptional Toys For Boys is working with a retired carpenter in Georgia. He is employing a small team of workers from an economically disadvantaged area, and they are making handmade toys like this wooden car carrier which will be sold on the website.


Wooden Car Transporter JIMMY ($39.90)



The transporter is 17" long and comes with three removable cars.



The toys are are made of untreated, natural wood that is sanded smooth and can be decorated using paints, markers or food coloring. A playable art project!

As a way to introduce these handmade products, Carl & Me is sponsoring a competition. If you buy one of these car transporters and your child decorates it, send in a picture. Email the picture to karen@carlandme.com

Carl will pick the winner on January 15, 2010.

Linnea and Arielle got to try this out. Linnea could not wait, so she "borrowed" a purple marker and got to work.


Silly, Linnea. That's not what I planned.
I mixed up some food coloring with water to make a paint. Painting is always fun.


And, it requires a lot of concentration.


"What are you looking at?" Linnea likes to mix her colors.


Arielle likes to focus on details.


It's getting pretty...


Almost done!


Linnea invited her car out to lunch.


All done! After a fun morning, the girls had a fabulously colorful car transporter to add to their car collection. Watch out highway, here we come!

November Savings at Stubby Pencil Studio

Happy November from Stubby Pencil Studio. Until November 30th, they are offering 10% off with the code "HOL10". This code can be combined with our special code for free cards.

Stubby Pencil Studio was our Toy Store of the Year for 2008. I love their selection of eco-friendly art supplies perfect for gifts and stocking-stuffers. Here are a few suggestions.

Star Crayons ($8.95)

Made in the USA from recycled crayons. The National Crayon Recycling Program has prevented more than 45,000 pounds of old crayons from ending up in landfills. All crayons used must conform to ASTM D 4236 safety standards. I like the festive star shapes.

Do-it-yourself Kaleidoscope ($12.00)

This is an easy and fun rainy day project. We tried this last month. It is just challenging enough, and the result is a sturdy kaleidoscope that is fun to look through. Arielle and Linnea decorated their kaleidoscopes with Disney Princess stickers and count them as treasures.

Washable Markers($3.95)


Non-toxic, washable markers made in the USA with 25% recycled plastic. The packaging is 100% post-consumer recycled paper. These are the eco-friendliest markers around.

And 10% off at UrthChild!

It's our lucky coupon day. UrthChild is offering our readers 10% off with the code "STB09". Happy holiday shopping!

UrthChild has a great selection of natural toys. Our favorites are the Holztiger animals. I bought a few for each birthday and Christmas since Arielle was two, and now we have quite a collection.

Holztiger zebra ($14.99)



The girls play with them alone, in combination with dolls or blocks, or invite them to tea parties.

These little sapling blocks ($18.99) would make a nice gift. How simple and how beautiful!



Little Sapling Toys are handcrafted in Idaho out of natural wood - maple, cherry, and walnut - and are finished with bee's wax and organic jojoba oil.

And, UrthChild sells the Mimi the Sardine Splashmat ($29.95), which you've seen in the background in many of our messy art posts.



The mat is a big 36"x46". I originally bought them to put under Arielle's highchair. I used them for Linnea as well, and now we use them for messy art. They go through the laundry over and over and over.... I highly recommend this; you'll really get your money's worth.

Here's Arielle painting salt-dough ghosts and pumpkins.




Check out all the great toys, natural clothing, art supplies, and baby care needs at UrthChild - all PVC, phthalate and BPA free. One percent of your purchase goes to support the Nature Conservancy and The Rocky Mountain Institute. And, gift wrapping is available - in a reusable cotton bag!

Stubby Pencil Studio's new website

Our 2008 Toy Store of the Year, Stubby Pencil Studio, has a cool new website with lots of new stuff!

Our old favorites are still there.

Easy to manage, Triangular Paint Brushes ($7.95)



We are using them to paint fall pictures with Washable Tempura Paint ($10.95) during art time today.

The Made By Me kits ($4.00) that my girls love. We made trains earlier this week.



And, there are plenty of Color 'n Kids Recycled Cards. Arielle loves sending these to Daddy when he is away and her siblings at college. Last weekend when we were stuck inside, Arielle spent hours coloring these cards with the Metallic Colored EcoPencils ($5.95).

Be sure to use our code, to get a free sample pack of Color n' Kids holiday cards! Use SARA-FF09 for Frosty Friends or SARA-CW09 for Christmas Wishes, a $7.95 value. Only one bonus code per order, expires 12/31/2009.

Last year, Arielle gave cards and Holiday Smencils to her preschool friends. It was inexpensive, and they loved them!



I could go on and on forever.... but then there wouldn't be space for the cool new stuff.

ABC Animal Magnets ($25.00)

We have these on the freezer and they are the cutest alternative to the plastic ABC magnets that I grew up with. The girls love naming the animals and they are too large to be eaten.



Cool activity books. I want to get Hello Matisse ($9.95) for Arielle. I love Matisse.



And, gorgeous board books, coloring books and games featuring the work of Charlie Harper.


Charlie Harper Memory Game ($14.95)





And, lots more.

Just for Halloween...

Halloween Chico Bag ($6.00)



Halloween Colored Pencils ($5.00)



And, now I need to go paint, so take a look at the website.