Caron Designs is company that offers handmade whimsical accessories & gifts for those special occasions in life such as baby showers, weddings, house warming, and more. What makes these products so unique is that fact that many of the products are crafted from recycled glass, clay, and other organic materials. There are a variety of items to choose from in the online shop and if you don’t see what you want, they offer a custom service too.

Caron Designs was kind enough to send me a few of their fantastically re-purposed products to share my thoughts upon. I happily obliged a went with the Whimsical Cheese Platter and one of their newest products It’s a Wrap fashion accessory. Each item arrived styled up and ready to present to a recipient as a gift, all you would need to do is add a card and slip the item into a gift bag.

The Whimsical Cheese Platter is ever so lovely! It came with a beaded cheese spreader and the platter has a hook on the top so when not in use you could hang it up for storage or as a work of art! I really liked that the platter was created out of glass and not just any but that of wine bottles that had been recycled. Talk about taking something old and creating something new and beautiful. An item that in turn can be used for years and one day if called for become another product. I feel also that the price is very reasonable for such an item at only $17.00.

The other product I was sent to review is called “It’s a Wrap!”. This fun fashion accessory can be worn in so many ways. It can be a necklace, a scarf, a belt…or however else you please for it to be worn. The product is made out a stretchy fabric material which features a clear glass pendant with metal cuffs on each side hanging from the center. It’s a very pretty product that would be a must accessory for those who love multi-function. The product is completely brand new and not listed on the site yet. I may be gifting the one I was sent a long to a friend because I typically don’t wear brown. I do think the product will be available in a variety of colors though. I’d recommend keeping an eye out for it on their site if you are interested!

Feel free to visit Caron Designs website to purchase any of the products mentioned above! Other items you can find while there inlcude; Zipper Pulls, Jewelry for Jeans, Cakes Testers, Cheese Platters, Sun catchers, Soaps, business card holders, and more!

Disclaimer: I was sent the above mentioned products to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Although many programs insist that you directly sponsor a child, this program is different. You will be donating money to a family, local charitable organization or government association that will work to put the money to use in as many different ways as possible. This helps the child and other children in the community get the resources that they need to grow and thrive. It Doesn’t Take Much You don’t have to give a lot to get a lot out of the experience.

For as little as $50, you can make sure that a child can get a drink of water, go to school and get health care as well. For many people in Australia and other developed countries, $50 is just a few hours pay. You May Get A Tax Break Depending on your tax situation, you may get to deduct the amount of the donation from your taxes. While this article is by no means meant to give tax advice, it is something to consider when giving to this worthy cause. As always, talk to a tax professional before determining if you can gain a tax advantage when you make a donation.

UNICEF Is Funded By Your Donations Your donations are the only resources that UNICEF has to draw from when support children and communities around the world. Therefore, they are not able to do their work without your generous contribution. Consider what you would do if your child was stuck in poverty and needed assistance. You would hope that there would be people willing to step up and contribute to the cause. UNICEF is a wonderful organization to donate to. If you have just a few dollars to give, it can be the difference between a child going to bed hungry and having a hot meal at night.

Theme: Imagine creative and fun ways to serve using your unique gifts!

Unleashing Imagination

Children are spending more and more time in front of TVs, iPads, computers, and video games. That doesn’t leave much room for kids to dream up their own visual images—like the ones that fill their minds when they hear a great story! Rather than passively receiving images, kids actively engage in making images themselves when they hear a good story. Their imaginations are enriched and stimulated, and the material becomes more personal and memorable.

Adventures in Odyssey is all about great stories—and the power of the imagination. The beloved audio dramas are heard on over 700 radio stations, and AIO has recently expanded to books and devotionals—including The Imagination Station series, a fast-growing line of early chapter readers. You can check them out by downloading a FREE e-book of Imagination Station #1: Voyage with the Vikings!

This summer, Adventures in Odyssey encourages kids to write their OWN stories, as they join in ACTS: A Call to Serve! AIO is helping children use their imaginations to serve their family, community, and world this summer—maybe by sending a care package to a missionary or baking cookies for the local fire department. Check out www.whitsend.org/acts  for details and a chance to win fabulous prizes, including a mission trip with a parent to Costa Rica!

More important than prizes are the stories your child will tell about the creative ways they served others, and how they grew as a result. And what they come up with really might change the world!

A Creative Story of Service

Fourteen-year-old Matthew, a dedicated Adventures in Odyssey fan and natural tech whiz, was inspired by a trip to the Apple store to create a smartphone app for his church. Since then, he has created 21 apps for different ministries, including his local pregnancy resource center, Joni and Friends (an international ministry for people with disabilities), and even an “Adventures in Odyssey Fan News” app! Matthew used his God-given talents and imagination to bless others through technology. Which of your kid’s unique gifts are waiting to be unleashed for God’s use?

-Win!-

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was provided the above  information to share from Adventures in Odyssey and Tyndale.  No other compensation was received.

The Piano Guys released their second album this year! My husband & I like this one as equally as their first release that came out last year. It’s always great fun to enjoy hearing covers on songs we already know and love. The collaboration of those chosen to be included on the album we thought were a a good mix. And I’ve found that their take on some some of the pieces preferable to the original songs!
There are 12 tracks on this album making the run-time approximately an hour. Fans will delight with familiar mash ups of songs new and old, I know we were! A few of our favorites include; Nearer God to Thee, Lord of the Rings, & Twinkle Lullaby.

Song List:

1. Begin Again
2. Rockelbel’s Canon
3. Mission Impossible
4. Lord of the Rings
5. Berlin
6. All of Me
7. Just the Way You Are
8. Nearer My God to Thee
9. Waterfall
10. Charlie Brown Medley
11. Me and My Cello (Happy Together)
12. Twinkle Lullaby

My husband and I love the CD and highly recommend it. You’ll almost find me daily upping the volume of my CD player to the Piano Guys. Anytime I listen it’s almost like the first time. I love closing my eyes, listening, and just feeling the sounds of every instrument played. I love orchestral music and this album totally sets the bar high in being my favorite album of the year.

You can purchase The Piano Guys 2 album on Amazon.com for only $10.00 and it’s eligible for free super saving shipping. Also if you already don’t own it, I would recommend getting their first album too!

 Check out the video below of “Nearer My God to Thee”
(If you havent seen their videos, I encourage you to do so!
The videos are simply stunning, uplifting, and inspirational, in my opinion.)

Join Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and all their pals in the newest Clubhouse crusade. When the legendary Crystal Mickey goes missing, Mickey and friends go on an adventure to save the Clubhouse from losing its magic. Grab your hat, buckle your seatbelt, and get ready to embark on a thrilling adventure in “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: The Quest for the Crystal Mickey!”

There’s no time to lose after greedy Plunderin’ Pete snatches the legendary Crystal Mickey statue from the Clubhouse. Without this sparkly statue’s magic, the Clubhouse will disappear forever!

Can the world’s most extraordinary hero “Kansas City Mickey,” get the magical statue back in time? Only with help from young viewers at home…and the right Mouseketools can Mickey journey across the Sandy Desert, brave the Rushing River and make his way through the Hidden Jungle. But watch out for Pete’s trickiest traps!

Our Thoughts…

As a mom I’m always on the look out for good wholesome entertainment for my children. It doesn’t get much better than the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This show features the well known characters of Disney that I personally grew up with myself. 

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is geared toward children preschool age and up. In watching this show they’ll be learning  about friendship, teamwork, sharing and problem solving! There’s a total Indiana Jones feel to the entire DVD and that’s a total win with me and the kids! Nothing like a little adventure and action to keep us entertained! Run time is 120 minutes with five fun filled episodes:

1 – Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Quest for the Crystal Mickey
2 – Donald of the Desert
3 – Donald the Genie
4 – Goofy’s Coconutty Monkey
5 – Goofy’s Giant Adventure

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: THE QUEST FOR CRYSTAL MICKEY  to anyone. I can’t help but think how fun this would make for a Summer time vacation DVD  to add to your collection for your kids! A fun bonus is that this DVD also comes with a  FREE Adventure Activity Map and Stickers!

Buy it:  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Quest for the Crystal Mickey is available on Amazon.com for $13.96 as of this posting.

DISCLAIMER: My thoughts are mine  own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for hosting this giveaway or review other than the sample above mentioned.

Someone’s Sleepy is a book by Deborah Lee Rose & illustrated by warmly by Dan Andreasen. In this perfect for bedtime story, readers and listening ears will be calmly led into tender tale  of  a mother readying her sweet little daughter to bed. This tale I imagine mimics most children’s bedtime routines from  taking a bath, brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, making sure special toys are in tow for the night, and receiving plenty of snuggles, hugs, & cuddles from either mom or dad.

The story is written in a rhyming format that makes reading the book flow nicely. I would almost say it reads as if it were a lullabye. The illustrations are very soft & soothing grasping a child’s attention fully covering every page. The book is 32 pages long but short enough to be read in a few minutes. My children age 2 1/2 & 5 years old liked looking and discussing what they saw on each of the pages.  I’ll be reading this one again to my kids to lull them to sleep.

If interested in purchasing you can find Someone’s Sleepy on Amazon.com in hardcover or e-book format. This book would a be wonderful read to any child in helping them drift off to a sweet sleep full of magical dreams.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Abrams Books for Young Readers in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion in any way.

It’s very easy to use, basically hit record and you’re well on your way. There are options and setting that you can choose from with the handy touch screen interface. You can even create and edit videos before uploading them to your computer. Though if you just want to import it all directly from the camera and edit after with the included software, you can choose that option as well. The camcorder is very light and comes on as soon as you open the LCD screen. I didn’t find my arm or hand tiring in the least after extended use.

One thing I believe makes this camcorder stand out from the rest is the Built-in Projector with External Input. You can easily project the video you take on the camera and project to any surface. You can set the camera up on tripod if you so choose, opt for lights out and enjoy watching video from the camera itself or from another device( You can project the screen of tablets, smart phone or pc with the video camera with purchase of a sold separately adapter). There’s a slider button on the camera that specially can adjust the focus of what you are projecting as well. When using this feature, I would recommend keeping it dark and projecting onto a solid surface for the best viewing quality.

The Balanced Optical SteadyShot is amazing. I in the past using camcorders would produce pretty wobbly videos! But no more with this camcorder. The image is crisp & clear, the 55x extended zoom is wonderful, and the wide angle lens allows to get more of the picture in your videos! I believe this camcorder would be ideal for shooting at any sort of sports game, or even taking along to the zoo to get really up close and personal video of the animals! There’s an auto adjust feature that makes recording without changing options ideal for the environment you are shooting in that much easier for you.This camcorder was built with the consumers needs in mind not letting you miss out on those once in a life time moments by fiddling with options or not allowing a matter of distance and width prevent you from getting it all in!

I wanted to mention the exceptional high sound quality with 5.1 ch MIC and Auto Wind Noise Reduction! In my recorded videos, I didn’t hear any fuzz or distortion in the least. It’s very crisp and clear.

This camcorder is more than just that, it takes pretty nice still images too! The auto adjust feature allows for great photos with little adjustment on your part! So if you were wanting to just take your video camera along on vacation or wherever but still want to get pictures too, you get the best of both worlds with decent 8.9 mega pixels still image recording.

When fully charged, this camcorder has up to 9 hours of battery life. Though if you were going to be needing more time than that between charging, you could easily purchase a second battery. I didn’t feel it took very long to recharge the camera fully, maybe two hours. As is, there’s 32GB of internal memory available on the camera. There’s a SD slot too so you could use an SD memory card up to 64mb if you are needing more space for recording.

I haven’t quite explored all the wi-fi capabilities nor the GPS. But when I do, I’ll be editing my review with my thoughts upon those features.

Overall, highest recommendations for the Sony HDR-PJ430V High Definition Handycam Camcorder!

Interested in Purchasing?

Sony HDR-PJ430V High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 3.0-Inch LCD (Black) is currently available on Amazon.com ($800. range) and eligible for free super savers shipping!

”Doc McStuffins” is an imaginative animated series about Doc McStuffins, a six-year-old girl who communicates with and heals stuffed animals and broken toys out of her backyard playhouse clinic. Assisting Doc with the day-to-day operations at the clinic are her much-loved friends: Stuffy, an overly proud dragon; Lambie, her cuddly best friend; Hallie, a jolly and caring hippo nurse; Squeakers, an alarmist squeaky toy fish; and Chilly, a snowman who spends a lot of time getting check-ups at the clinic. Whether it’s a case of loose stitching, low batteries or a blow-up toy who’s sprung a leak, Doc and her pals are always there to lend a helping hand, while imparting to young viewers the importance of taking care of oneself and others.

Our Thoughts…

Boy were we ever excited when we got sent a copy of the latest Doc McStuffins DVD, “Time For Your Check Up” to share our thoughts on! Both my son age 2 and my daughter age 5 totally adore this fun Disney Junior series and for good reason! It’s whole some entertainment with fun characters, great stories, and many life lessons to be learned as well as reminded just of.

Doc McStuffins is a really cute show that deals with everyday sort of issues that could happen to any child. The episodes are great and teach children important things relating to our bodies. For example, the first episode on this DVD is called “Gulpy, Gulpy, Gators. In this story we find out that the Gator toy has a stomach too full of marbles! In that, children are taught all about over-eating and getting stomach ache and how it’s important to always make sure they know they should eat things in moderation.

Episodes on this DVD:

1 – Gulpy, Gulpy Gators! / One Note Wonder
2 – Tea Party Tantrum / Blast Off!
3 – Arcade Escapade / Starry, Starry Night
4 – Bronto Boo-Boos / Brontosaurus Breath
5 – Doctoring The Doc / Hot Pursuit

The animation is quite eye catching and there are fun songs that are sung! The characters are fun loving and I’m sure we can relate to all of them in some way! I asked my daughter if she had a favorite episode and she told me she liked every single one. She really likes this show and has asked to watch it every single day since we received the DVD. Approx. runtime is 120 minutes.

I can’t say enough great things and highly recommend Doc McStuffins DVD for children ages 2-6 years old!

Interested in Buying?  Doc McStuffins: Time for Your Checkup can be purchased on Amazon.com for $14.00 as of this posting and eligible for free shipping.

Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.