Have you ever went to the Build A Bear Workshop?  If so, you will know that it is one of the coolest places around if you have kids.  It is seriously like watching magic happen as you watch your bear being made.  It is awesome that you can personalize it and everything.  However, when we moved from Aurora back to Chicago, I didn’t realize that we were going to be leaving our beloved Build A Bear Workshop.  I have no idea where one is now. That being said, there are a couple of ways for me to get my Build A Bear fix.

First, there is a celebrity auction going on right now! They will be auctioning off celebrity-built Build-A-Bear Workshop bears along with autographed copies of the Build-A-Bear Wii game. These bears and signed games will be on eBay’s Giving Works to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. The bears were built by celebrities like Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott, the Jonas Brothers, James Gandolfini, Melissa Joan Hart, Bonnie Hunt, Mitchel Musso, Meaghan Jette Martin and more.  This would definitely be a talking point for your house!

If that isn’t enough, Wii has come to the rescue for those of use who don’t like by a Build A Bear workshop!  They now have a game called Build-A-Bear Workshop® A Friend Fur All Seasons.  Up to four players can play and you can name, feed, and dress your bear.  You can even go on adventures with them!  This game is rated E for Everyone, so you can enjoy it no matter what age you are!  You can buy this game at places like Walmart, Target, and really any game retailers.  However, I have a great giveaway for you!  How would you like your own Build A Bear game?  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post.  Tell me what feature you think you’d like best about the Build-A-Bear Workshop® A Friend Fur All Seasons game.
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 14 at 8:00 pm CST is available to US and Canada residents only. Good luck!

Im Not Santa! is a cute book about a case of mistaken identity.  It takes a visit from the Jolly Old Man himself to sort this out.  This book is perfect for any little kids that have short attention spans.  It is simple and to the point.  The illustrations are great too.   I would actually say that this is more of a picture book than a story book.  This is under a series of books by the author.  Some other great choices would be Im Not Cute! and Im Not Scared!

I am all about saving the environment for my kids. However, I just wasn’t ready to jump on the eco-friendly shopping bags just yet.  I didn’t understand how many plastic bags I would save or how many less trip to the car would be made to carry in the groceries.

Ityse has changed me.  It has changed my life.  How, do you ask?  I will never go grocery shopping without these ever again.  Not only are these bags ecofriendly, they are also stylish.  I love that the bag the holds the bags looks just as stylish as any purse out there.  It isn’t obvious that you are saving the enviroment, and well, I like that.  This cute pouch houses 4 mesh bags and 1 black bag.

Did you know that the average family of four goes through around 1,000 bags grocery shopping over the year?  Isn’t that crazy?  Many cities are now either banning plastic bags or charging a 20 cent per bag tax.  In you live in one of the taxing cities, Ityse can easily save you $50 per year.  Best of all, these are made in the US.  Now, what was my turning point?  Look at this:

Now, this was a huge trip, so this was only half of it.  However, as you can see from the first picture, all five bags are full.  I was floored to see how much food was in those bags.  That is over half of my kitchen table.  Plus, everybody at the grocery store wanted to know where I got these bags.  They all loved them.  The girl bagging my groceries was even impressed.  She loved how the bags contoured around what she was putting in them.

I am glad to say that I am now doing my part to save the environment thanks to Ityse.

Do you have any knitters on your gift list?  If you do, you should definitely be looking at needles from Signature Needle Arts.  They have some of the nicest knitting needles on the market that are completely customizable for both you and whatever project you are working on.  You can choose the type of point – blunt, middy or stiletto; length; and custom end cap (end cap exclusive to single points).  They also have gift baskets, kits, and accessories that are perfect for any knitter.  You can even get gift certificates for the site.  Signature Needles are needles that once you start knitting with them, you’ll never want to put them down!

Want your kids to enjoy bath time even more? You have to get WettGiggles soap then.  I can honestly say that this has to be the cutest soap I have ever seen.  WettGiggles is actually a 3 in one product.  First, you have the soap.  It is made with natural glycerin, essentials oils, and shea butter.  The soap doesn’t dry out your skin and is actually quite nice to use.  Then there is the toy on top.  Lastly, in the soap there is a manicure brush to help get at the kid’s fingernails.  There are nine unique characters, and each has its own scent.  For example, Cupid, the pup, is coconut banana scented, and Juliet, the duck, is orange scented.  The scents also aren’t knock you over overwhelming, so they can be used in a house where heavy scents are an issue.  These also make an excellent talking point when you put them by your sink!  Everyone will ask where you got them from!

This definitely falls under a unique Christmas gift that every child will enjoy (and some parents too!).