Unfold the Fun with Hallmark Poster Cards for Kids

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #shop #cbias #KidsCards

Hi lovelies!  Are you a card-giver?  I know I am.  But it's difficult when it comes to giving cards to kids.  They seem less than thrilled when you force them to not open the present and instead first open the card.  They really couldn't care less about it, and seem to do it just to appease us parents.  (Did you even read the card?  Well what did it say?) It then just gets tossed to the side and is not even an afterthought anymore, tossed into the pile of wrapping paper and tissue paper and other, well trash.  It's such a pet peeve of mine!  Well Hallmark has recently introduced these amazing poster cards for kids.  They are the same size (when folded) as any regular card, but when you open it allll the way up, it's now an awesome poster they can hang up in their room!  And what kid isn't obsessed with posters anyway?  Icing on the cake?  It can still be mailed in its envelope!

My son recently had to go to a birthday party for his best friend, so when we went to pick out the card, I suggested this awesome Avengers poster card (it even glows in the dark!).  My son was so enthralled with it that he wound up keeping it and I had to buy another one for his best bud!  Kid approved!

When you first open it, it looks just like a regular card, with plenty of room to write a special message!

Unfold the next fold, and it becomes a mini poster!  My dude thought this was the poster and he was way stoked with it just like this, until...

Open it all the way and behold the glory!  You can see the shiny Avengers logo over the characters.  This is what glows in the dark!  So cool, right?

Before you hang it up, fold each fold in the opposite direction so that it will lay flat and not have the folds raised!

I picked up the cards at Walmart, in the kids cards area.  Look for the cards that say Poster Inside! 

Now before you head to the store, click this link to join (for FREE!) Hallmark's rewards program where you'll earn a reward for every 5 Hallmark cards you buy at Walmart!

Be sure to check out Connections from Hallmark to sign up for Hallmark Rewards, and to see great content from other bloggers. Join in the #kidscards conversation on Twitter!  

xo

Lia

Nestlé® Butterfinger® Cookies + Crispy Crunchy Bars for Lunch Boxes #MyGoodLife

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone. #MyGoodLife #CollectiveBias

Hi lovelies!  Can you believe summer is just about over?!  I can't - it seems like it just started.  My kiddos head back to school in just a week so it's now that time to start thinking about packing school lunches again.  While this may be a dreaded chore for some, I really have fun getting creative with my kids' lunches and making something that'll put a big smile on their faces.  I always include Juicy Juice® boxes in their lunch, it's my favorite and theirs too!  As much as I try to keep their lunches healthy, I do include a treat or two so I wanted to create something fun with Nestlé® Butterfinger® and Crunch® bars other than just including them, so I came up with a couple of fun and best of all easy and quick recipes!

I like to do any baking/extra-long preparing on Sundays, and the kids love to help cook!  It's a great way for us to spend some quality time together, and preparing things in advance gives us more time throughout the week to really have more time to spend together.

Let's learn how to first make some easy Nestlé® Butterfinger® cookies!  {Click to keep reading!} 

Target Gift Guide for Kids ~ #MyKindOfHoliday + GIVEAWAY!

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.

Hi lovelies!  With Christmas nearly here, it's time to finish up that shopping!  I'm sharing some of the items on my kiddos lists with you, in the event you're still searching for what to get that kid on your list!

My 12 year old daughter loves Lego Friends sets, and my 8 year old son is currently obsessed with Lego City.  Together, they love playing games on our Xbox + Kinect.  If they're really good, perhaps Santa will leave a few of these items under the tree!

Luckily, I do most of my shopping at Target.com, so it's super easy for me to get all their gifts at one spot.  In store, I take advantage of the savings offered using their Cartwheel app, as well as my RedCard.

Now for you, my lovely loyal readers.  Target would LOVE to give one of you a $25 gift card!  To enter, use the rafflecopter form below.  As a mandatory entry, visit Target.com and leave a comment letting me know what your favorite gift for kids is and who you would give it to!  That's it!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

xo
Lia

Just Dance Kids 2014

Hi lovelies!  With the holidays approaching/upon us, it's time to start thinking what the heck to get the kiddos in your life.  I try to maintain a healthy balance between electronic toys and actual activities that get the heart rate going for my little ones.  I'm thrilled to be partnering with Ubisoft to review their newest video game, Just Dance Kids 2014.

My kids love the Just Dance games for our Xbox 360 Kinect.  It's such a great idea, a way to make them move while still 'playing a video game'.  It makes me happy to see them being active and not just couch potatoes, and heck I love to play along too!

While my kiddos are a bit older (8 and 12) than the intended audience, this game is perfect for them regardless.  My daughter was so giddy to find some of her favorite songs by Selena Gomez and One Direction among many others.  My son just loves to be silly and goofy so he likes to throw on The Wiggles or Yo Gabba Gabba and laugh the whole way through it.  The dance moves are much easier with Just Dance Kids 2014, so even my no rhythm having self could follow along and get a bit of cardio in.  Seriously, I'd much rather dance to a fun upbeat song on the Kinect than go to the gym.

So I think my favorite part is the Parent's Corner, where you can create custom playlists or even check how many calories were burned! (Genius, right?)  That way I can justifiably skip the gym knowing I burned more calories than I would have had!  But it's for kids, right.  There's some really fun modes you can play in, too, like the Freeze n Shake (stop dancing when you see the stop sign and start at the shake sign) or my favorite, Balloon Pop (dance to fill up and pop the balloon, shake to grab stars and points).

Since we have the Xbox 360 Kinect, there's an exclusive Just Create Mode, which allows kids to make their own music video using their own choreography and routines.  So cool!

In all, we LOVE this game!  It's a must-play on constant rotation, and for me it's also a great workout!  If you're at a loss for what to get those kiddos on your list, head on over to Amazon and get them a copy of Just Dance Kids 2014!

xo
Lia

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Kid DIY ~ Adjustable Perler Bead Necklace

Hi lovelies!  It's been a while since I've done any Kid DIYs, and with summer coming I thought now is the perfect time to do some more!  My kids love fuse beads aka perler beads.  When they'd go to summer camp, they would make hundreds of these things I swear.  I never knew what to do with them either!  Well now I'll show you how you can make them a really cute necklace with their own art they can wear!  {Click to keep reading!}

My Week in Review ~ 3.31.13

Happy Easter, lovelies!  I hope you had an amazing weekend!  I wanted to share some of my week with you.  Yesterday I went to a Colorado Avalanche (hockey) game with my bf, his daughter, and his mom.  So here's a pic of the 3 of us together at the game :)  This was my first hockey game since I used to go see the Providence Bruins when I was in high school.

I *finally* made some of my past 2 WhimseyBox projects, and they're so useful for keeping me sane and organized.  Plus they're fun to look at, too!  If you haven't looked into WhimseyBox yet, I highly suggest you do so!  It's a craft box (like the beauty ones!) that comes monthly, and I'm obsessed!  Plus, use my referral link and get $5 off your first box!  (They run $15 a month, and come with a project and all the necessary supplies!)

The kiddos were on Spring Break this week, and I've tried to keep things on the inexpensive side.  So we took a trip to the thrift store the other day.  I hit the gold mine with books, these were all under $5 a piece, most were only $3!  So far I've finished The Carrie Diaries, and am starting Four Blondes next.  It's reasons like this I refuse to pay full price for things, I got 12 books for the price of 2 of them!

Friday I took the kiddos to Chuck e Cheese to play some skee ball (and other games).  It was so fun, I love arcade games!  The kids had a blast, and I did too!  Plus, Bella shared her 'winnings' with JT, which made my day.  Sometimes just a small gesture like that reminds me how lucky I am.

I've been doing tons of spring cleaning, and I wanted to share a quick tip that worked pretty well for me.  I put a measuring cup with 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave and set the time for 10 minutes.  Now it completely boiled over and made a mess and leaked out, (should have put a wooden stirrer in!) but it steam cleaned the entire microwave, and I just wiped all the mess out with a damp cloth.  So easy, it's ridiculous.

I won this Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream from Amber of Real Girl Glam and LOVE it!  It gets rid of puffiness well, and I'm hoping that with continued use it works on the darn bags and circles!  PS ~ If you're not familiar with Amber's blog, you should check it out!  

What were some of the highlights of your past week?

xx

Lia

How to Fix Ripped Jeans Without Sewing

Happy Friday, lovelies!  I hope you've all had a fabulous week and are ready for the weekend.  We're supposed to get upwards of a foot of snow tomorrow in Denver, so I'm planning on doing some early spring cleaning, and maybe some crafting too.  Now this is a great project to tackle this weekend; best thing is, it only takes a few minutes yet saves you hundreds of dollars a year.  No joke.  I'm talking about the holes in your kids (or yours!) jeans.  I spend $15-20 a pair, times 5 pairs each kid, and within a month or two I've got to throw them out.  Such a waste of money, especially as a single mom with two kids!  One day it occurred to me I'd only need to sacrifice the outgrown pairs I'd ordinarily throw away and could save the rest of the jeans.  Did I mention with no sewing?!  In the year I've been doing this, I no longer have to replace worn out jeans; I only buy new ones when they've outgrown their old! {How to after the jump}

Kids Craft ~ DIY Bookmarks

Hey lovelies!  The other night, the kids and I were all reading and realized that we had no bookmarks!  My wheels instantly began turning, and in a few minutes, I had the kids crafting! {More after the break}

Kids Fashion Haul at Target

Hi lovelies!  Here's my *first* shopping haul video!!  This one is for kids' fashion and how I save a ton of money on their clothes...  Please let me know what y'all think, if you would like to see more haul videos, if me pushing up my glasses annoys you, anything.  PS: JT makes several video hijacking appearances.  Be forewarned.




xoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 25 ~ Portable Reusable Upcycled Tic Tac Toe

I came across these white plastic washers and tile setting spacers when going through the tool box, and was so excited!  I reused a bubble envelope I had received mail in, and made a portable tic tac toe set for the kids!

You will need:

• White plastic washers
• White tile setting spacers
• Bubble envelope
• Duck tape
• Electrical tape
• Scissors
• Velcro (not pictured)

Cut a little bit off the top of the opening on one side only, so that the other side will fold over nicely.

Cover the entire exterior of the envelope in duck tape.

Done!

And this is where the game board will go!

Use the electrical tape and make the grid.

Affix the velcro to the opening of the envelope.

Play!

And store the pieces inside!

What do you think?  My kids LOVE this.  It's great to bring to restaurants, it will fit in your purse so easily.  All these materials were on hand, so it cost nothing!

xxooxoxo
Lia

Bella's Necklace DIY

Miss Isabella was checking out my blog earlier and was quite jealous that Mr. JT has made his cameos but not she.  Well she did even better and did a necklace DIY for kids!  We have these plastic rings from the dollar store, and I grabbed some extra ribbon....

She strung the rings on the ribbon...

And smiled so I could take her pic...I even cropped JT out of the pic!

Showing us her handiwork!

 Miss Bella the model :)

And there's the big toothy grin I love!  Maybe Bella and I will collaborate on some kid DIYs again in the near future!

xoxo
Lia