This is such a cute tutorial on how to make soap that looks and smells just like juicy watermelon. The Soap Queen laid it all out with each step and included pictures for you to see exactly how she did it. Love that she added watermelon scented oils so that the soap has that fresh and juicy smell. Perfect way to get that kid to wash their hands regularly. Flu season is upon us, time to bust out the antibacterial wipes/spray and increase hand washing. Not only that, but what a great idea as favors for a birthday party! Check out her tutorial with how she created the soap here.

We read to my daughter all the time. She’s constantly picking up books and asking for another story to be read to her. Then, before she goes to sleep, we brush our teeth, read three stories and then it’s time to close her eyes. Lately Corduroy has been her favorite book for us to read. It’s a story about a little bear who longs for someone to take him home. Thinking his lost button may help make someone love him more, he searches the department store when no one else is around. It’s an adorable story that teaches a valuable lesson about caring.

I was excited to see that Scholastic had a Storybook Treasures collection with Corduroy in it. I know how I love watching movies based on some of my favorite books, so I though this would be such a fun treat for her to see one of her favorite books turned into a short story. We put in the DVD and she was so excited to see Corduroy come to life. Even more exciting was seeing that there were six additional stories on the DVD, so just when she thought it was over, another would come on to watch. Wonderful stories that are truly classics. The best part is that you can opt to have the story in Read-A-Long mode. This way your children can learn to read and get accustomed to seeing the letters and words on the screen while hearing them and how they are pronounced. She was all shocked shouting “Mom, look, the words!” learning is fun and challenging them is great for their little noggins.

Head over to Scholastic for the Corduroy Storybook Treasures DVD here.  Get ahead of the game and purchase a few as stocking stuffers. I love purchasing little things months ahead of the time so that I’m not panicking come December.

Thanks to Scholastic for providing a sample to review.

Sometimes kids love the oddest toys. The toys that you never thing they would, like tupperware. I’ve found that my daughter loves the toys that I’ve made her MUCH more than most of her store bought toys. I saw this tutorial on Bowl of Oranges for making small bean bags for her son to toss around. Kids love tossing things and the texture of the bags is fascninating to them. You can come up with all types of games for them or just let them come up with their own. I love how she even created his name with different letters. You can create the alphabet and let them put the bags in order. or even cut the bags out of a specific pattern to make them into a puzzle for your child to figure out the order. The possibilities are endless when you make things yourself.

Scholastic has released several new DVDs that are wonderful.  Not only are they classics, but they are sign language films, perfect for ALL kids.  Each disc features 3 stories on one DVD: Goodnight Moon, A Creature Was Stirring, and Gladys Goes Out to Lunch.  Just released is also Five Little Monkeys jumping on the bed + 2 more stories: Little Quack and There’s Something in my Attic. All stories are narrated in American Sign Language and feature early reading activities.

The stories are perfect for all kids, teaching them about sign language, using fine motor skills, and also expanding their growing vocabulary.  With the read-along feature, kids can practice reading as well!  These are the perfect bedtime story DVDs, coming in at 36-38 minutes. Whether your child is hearing impaired or not, sign language is a fun and useful tool.  Baby signing is all the rage these days, so pop in these for even your youngest ones!

Purchase your own DVDs here for $12.95 each.

Thanks to Scholastic for providing samples to review.

Meet Cheri of I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. She is a mom to two boys and is basically my crafting HERO!  She did an overhaul on her kid’s playroom that left me raging with jealousy and incredibly inspired. And she has done it again: the Little Man Tea Party. A tea party for boys? Oh yes. She has a slight obsession with all things mustache and found a way to work it into the tea party. I thought that this was the most adorable idea for an all boy playdate or a birthday party or just because! Look at the tie sandwich! In case you’re new here, I have a bit of a tie obsession:) This blog is a must for mama’s of boys looking for inspiration. All of Cheri’s crafts are totally do-able, even for the most beginner of crafters and most include full tutorials. So get out there, get inspired and get your craft on!

We really love Asian cuisine in this house.  Well, we love a lot of cuisines, but we really love foods that require chopsticks, i.e. sushi, even the little one.  Mastering the art of chopsticks can be tricky at first, especially for the dexterously handicapped, i.e. toddlers.

Chopstick Kids by Fred makes it super easy for anyone to use chopsticks, plus they are super cute.  My daughter had a lot of fun practicing with noodles.  She easily used the utensils and has an early start on her chopstick skills!  The assorted Boy and Girl styles stand around 2 3/4″ tall, and are molded from food-grade silicone rubber, so they’re dishwasher-safe. They come with a nice set of melamine chopsticks, or you can use them with your own – the openings at the bottom stretch to hold those break-wood chopsticks or even your nice ivory ones.

Purchase your own set here at Spoon Sisters for only $8.95.

Special thanks to Amanda for providing samples for review.

My daughter is a huge lover of books.  She loves all kinds of books and will flip through them for hours.  We’ve entered the mandatory sleepytime book and wake up book chapter of our lives.  Even though my girl can flip through the same book over and over, I make sure she has new books all the time.  I must admit I’m a little addicted to buying her books.  I love finding new, creative, fun reads for her and may go slightly overboard.

With that being said, I thought I would give out some recommendations for other young readers out there.  I’ll purchase a stack of books and see which ones my daughter gravitates to first.  This week it is Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis.  This book is part of the New York Times Best Seller collection Ladybug Girl.  I love this collection, based around the adventures 0f Lulu and her basset hound, Bingo.  In this book, Lulu is at first excited, then scared of the intimidating waves.  After playing around on the beach, where it is safe, she realizes she must overcome her fears and face the ocean.  This is a great book about confidence, trying new things, and being brave.  My daughter loves The whole series! Purchase

The next favorite book this week is Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper.  If you know me, you know I love anything cupcake related.  How can you not?  Like mother like daughter I suppose because she also loves cupcakes.  This book is about a vanilla cupcake who doesn’t feel special sitting next to his fancier brothers and sisters with all their glitz and glam.  From Pink Princess Cupcake to Polka-Dot Cupcake, all of the poor, plain, vanilla’s siblings look super fancylicious.   When he isn’t picked, he starts to throw himself a little pity party.   That is until the plain Candle comes around, who also has fancier siblings.  Now it’s a pity party of two.  They brainstorm and Candle comes up with a lot of interesting ideas of how to make Cupcake special, until… well I won’t spoil the end but you should be able to guess.  And BONUS there is a recipe at the end to make DELICIOUSLY PLAIN vanilla cupcakes with PLAIN buttercream frosting.  This book is a great lesson about feeling comfortable in your own skin, and that we are all special (and delicious). Purchase

I recently came across Tralala Inc., a unique French designer line of children’s clothes. The pieces are a fusion of French vintage with color and vibrance of American Spirit. Tralala has a huge following and their items are made in limited quantities to boutiques in the US, Middle East and Japan. I was captivated by their Spring 2010 line. The ruffled skirts, embellished tanks, vibrant colors and gorgeous sundresses. Each piece is more adorable than the last. I squealed, yes, squealed when a few Tralala samples arrived. The quality is exquisite and the small unique flares to each piece are truly unique. I was saving the sundress for a birthday party my daughter was attending, the dress was a true show stopper. Adorable vintage design with bright colored flowers and a small sparkly flower sewn into the front of the dress. People were stopping me asking where I found it. She actually refused to take off her yellow capri’s the other night. They were so comfy and adorable, she begged to wear them to bed…and then to school the next morning to show all her friends.

Sarah:  I’m literally blown away by Tralala’s apparel.  Literally.  Like I really blew off my chair.  The clothing is amazingly creative, girly, and playful.  I love all the little embellishments added to the clothing, really setting them apart from mundane children’s clothing.  They are also top quality garments that will last and last.  Dare I say I have found my favorite kids clothing line?!?! Could it be?!  I can’t wait to purchase more of these beautiful outfits as my daughter really adores them all.

Check out Tralala’s Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 lines here. Unique boutique lines that are truly one of a kind. I guarantee you will fall in love with their items. They just released their Fall 2010 line, so be on the lookout for the pieces hitting boutiques shortly.

photo courtesy f8kids

Special Thanks to Tralala Inc. for supplying samples for review.

I’m hopping on the bandwagon here and wanted to share with you a wonderful idea that was featured on Cristin’s blog, Serendipity. One of their back-to-school traditions is to have each of their children pick a word to inspire them for the school year. Once they pick their word, Cristin has them print their word on muslin with a pencil. She then embroiders every word, adds a little fabric into the embroidery hoop and does a simple stitch across. She hangs them in a small section of their kitchen to inspire them every day. I absolutely LOVE this idea. Give your children small tools and help them learn that they can do anything they put their mind to and to always make personal goals. Love the added touch of them being in the children’s handwriting. So personal.

The first year we moved into our house, I made a couple dozen mason jars filled with cookie ingredients for all of our neighbors for Christmas. I decorated them with Christmas color fabric and red/green twine. The neighbors all loved them! We promised to do them every year since they were pretty easy. Then…we got lazy. We swore to start them again this year and the recipe/tutorial from Bakerella for their Cowgirl or Cowboy cookies seriously inspired me. They’re so lovely! Check it out on their site here! Get creative. What a wonderful gift for teachers or even as favors for birthday parties or any party! Easy, yummy and gorgeous.

One of our ITKM contributors, Jennifer, has a little one that is obsessed with buckles. Why aren’t there any modern and dare I say, cute buckle toys out there? So many cheesy, bulky and expensive toys, with buckles just slapped on them. I decided to run my search on etsy (love that site) and found some adorable and portable buckle toys by a shop called Claspy. They have three patterns to choose from and the fabric rolls into a small roll that closes by a button (yet another technique for little fingers). You can choose from two styles, either the two buckles and a velcro tab or the two buckles and a thread to sew with. One better for younger and the other better for a little older. Better yet is the $10 and $12 price tags! Check out her adorable creations here. Great toy for long car rides or flights.

I have a weird obsession with my travel mugs. I get all possessive over it and absolutely go bananas if someone else uses it. Last time I had this weird attachment, my husband said I was silly and let his friend take my mug (without my knowledge) to the golf course as they played. They returned with no mugs in hand and I stopped breathing for a few minutes. I actually made them call the course to see if anyone found them. Sigh, told ya I was crazy. I recently found my new beloved travel mug from Yedi Housewares. They make these gorgeous Polka Dot Travel Mugs that are made with a double wall porcelain to provide insulation for your hot drinks. The cup is topped with a reusable silicone lid and I’m not letting anyone else use it! The cup is microwave and dishwasher safe (unlike most other travel mugs) and you’ll be saving the environment as you drink your treat in this stylish mug. The lid is perfectly snug on top of the cup and absolutely zero leaks. The cup gets a cozy warm, but never hot, so your hands can hold your steaming hot drink without a sleeve.

I dare you to browse around their items, their whimsical designs are absolutely beautiful. Their Polka Dot Tea Set was just featured in Oprah at Home Magazine.  Their Candies line is so simple, yet elegant and fun. Pull these items out the next time you have people over and I guarantee they’ll be complementing you on them and begging to know where you got them. Modern, stylish and trendsetting. Head over to their site here. Hurry though, they’re all selling out fast! Last time I saw them on a sale site, they literally lasted ten minutes. TEN!

Special Thanks to Yedi Housewares for supplying sample mug for review.