Design a Heavenly Pet Wardrobe is one of the really cool products on the market that is geared towards older girls (8+). It allows them to design clothing and accessories for 5 paper dogs and embellish with the included glitter, ribbons, sequins, and stickers. You can make over a hundred different pet fashions with this! I love that it requires them to use their imagination. It is one of those gifts that you never know where it may lead. You may find you have a design in your midst. Also, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this item goes to the SPCA International.

English Style Equestrian Sketch Book is a great book for any horse rider or lover (8+). This design guide allows you to design your own horses, riding gear, jodhpurs, boots, saddles, and more for dressage, polo, and general riding fun.  It includes 40 English-themed sketch pad pages, markers, colored pencils, eraser, sharpener, and design guide.  A portion of the proceeds from this goes towards the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The Project Runway Fashion Design Challenge Sketchbook is right from the awesome show. The spinner in this kit tells you where to start. The next step is to design a garment based on an endless combination of challenges such as creating a formal gown out of a garbage bag in 30 minutes. This comes with colored pencils, 2 fashion sketch pads, style guide, and pencil sharpener. You are only competing against yourself, but it definitely forces you to be creative.

Project Runway Shoe Design Sketch Book allows you to design a fun and fashionable shoe collection. The sketch book teaches you the history of shoes. You also are able to design your own line of footwear, and you are able to personalize your creations. Included in this kit are 2 sketch pads, 12 colored pencils, and a design guide.

Project Runway Graphic T-Shirt Design Studio Set allows you to make your own custom made shirts. It has a style to help you out, but the creation is all up to you. This includes 6 fabric markers, the Cooler Jeweler Tool (gem and stud setting tool), 50 gems, 50 studs, 2 yards of metallic ribbon, stencils, patterns, design guide and more!

The great thing with all of these kits is that it requires the child to think and use every ounce of creativity they have. The best part is that they are having fun while they do it, and there is not one battery involved.  I found all of these products to be high quality and would recommend the Fashion Angels line to everyone!

I love Lands End.  They have some of the greatest products.  They are priced great for the quality you get.  In case you don’t know, Lands End has more than just clothes.  I have a Lands End jacket (I did a review of it a while back), luggage, and slippers too!

Madison picked out these really cute kid slippers herself. I was leaning more toward some that looked like ice skates, and she was like “no mom, I like the penguins”, so as you see, she won that argument. We were in the market for some slippers for all of us for the basement. As you may know, we remodeled and put down tile on the floor.  However, that tile gets really, really, really cold, and it hasn’t gotten below 0 yet.  Also, my house is pretty much all hardwood floors.  Socks don’t work well, because everyone ends up slipping and sliding and falling all over.  Madison told me they were super warm and then makes me touch her sweaty feet when she shows me (the joys of being a mom).

Now, Mommy took care of herself too. I picked up a pair of these travel slippers.  They are extra flexible for easy packing and are super soft.  They also have a slip resistant outsole.  Since I go to quite a few conferences, these will come in really handy.  Also, I have been using them around the house.  These also save my feet from my ice cold floors (both upstairs and downstairs).  My husband is liking them since I am not sticking my ice cold feet on him anymore.

Another piece we have added to our travel arsenal is this wheeled duffel bag. Can I tell you how awesome it is? Without anything in it, it is small enough to fit under my bed. Space is it a premium in my house, so that is so helpful! It also comes in extremely helpful when we go up to visit my parents. We are trying to get 4 people in two tiny bedrooms, so space is limited there too!  It is made out of denier ballistic nylon which is resistant to tears, abrasion, stains, and moisture.  Basically, it wil take a lickin’ and still look great!  You can even get it monogrammed!

Now, all I know you want to know how to get your hands on this stuff, so I am having a giveaway. The winner gets to pick which item he/she wants! Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know what you want and why!
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

For 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
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This giveaway will end on December 5 at 8:00 pm CST is available to US residents only. Good luck!

We often travel to Wisconsin to visit my family. It is a 4 hour drive, so are always looking for ways to keep the kids busy and entertained.  Bill hates to stop, so it is a long four hours.  A great item to check out for car rides, bedtime, and really any time is the Giddio Audio Adventures.  We listened to the Billy Brown Goes Hiking CD on our drive home, and it was a life saver for us.  Will was super crabby, and the only thing that made him quit screaming was this CD.  It definitely holds your children’s attention.  It is geared towards kids aged 3 – 7 (though it worked on my 1 year old too!)  This is actually pretty cool.  Instead of a narrator reading a story, there is a full cast.  Everyone has their own voice.  I love that it makes my kids use their imagination.  I’m not the only one who likes this either — it has won several awards (Dr. Toy’s Best Products 2007, several iParenting media awards, and Creative Child magazine’s Seal of Excellence).  We ended up having to listen to it more than once, because they like it so much (run time is between 30 – 45 minutes depending on which CD you are listening to).

I love that you can even try this out.  If you go to their site, you can download Billy Brown And The Mystery Package for free!  You can also print off the CD covers and have your kids color them!  I highly recommend checking this out as a great alternative to TV!

Tim and Sallys Vegetable Garden is another great children’s book.  This book is about two siblings learning how to plant their garden.  We learn about how and when to plant different seeds, what tools are needed, and how to tend to the garden as the vegetables grow.  The book is written in verse, so the lines rhyme which is a skill we are currenlty working on with Madison.  She noticed the the lines rhymed right away, and we are glad to reinforce something we have been working on.  The illustrations in Tim and Sallys Vegetable Garden definitely compliment the story too.  There is also a word list at the end of the book that we also have been working on with Madison.  There is a picture of each item that was in the garden and then what it is is listed underneath.  Lastly, at the very end of the book, there is a Garden Journal, where your little ones can put down their own thoughts about their garden.

Right now is not gardening season here.  However, I have a feeling we will be reading this book a lot more come spring!  Every time we read this now, Madison wants to know when we are planting our garden!

I recently came across another item that falls along the lines of “why didn’t I think of that?”. The mom who came up with the Parking Pal, in my opinion, is a genius.  The Parking Pal is a circular magnet with a child size hand print in the center.  When you put it on your car/van/vehicle, you child puts they hand on their, and it keeps them safe while you load or unload your vehicle.  Being that I don’t have a driveway and we park on the street a lot with the minivan, I love that this keeps Madison safe.  I’ll be honest, when we first used it, I was completely surprised by something.  Madison knew what I wanted her to do without telling her.  She knew that I wanted her to stand there with her hand on the magnet while I was loading the car.  I love that this is intuitive enough that she just knew what was expected.  This has also been a hit with other moms.  They all wanted to know where I got this from, and all thought it was a great idea.  Now, the Parking Pal does come in several designs to pick from — everything from soccer balls, to fish, to flowers.  There is definitely something for your kids that you can get on there.  The Parking Pal will run you about $7.99.  However, $8 is well worth insuring my daughter’s safety.