Club Penguin Giveaway

I received a great amount of interest in the post about the Puffle Party that recently went on inside the world of Club Penguin.

If you missed it, the Puffle Party happened from March 15 to March 27.  Club Penguin, for the first time was taken over by all things Puffle.  During the Puffle Party players experienced new game play including new costumes, new games, and new rooms.

A Puffle is a small, fuzzy creature that Club Penguin members can adopt as virtual pets. So far, over 28 million Puffles have been adopted in Club Penguin! Because Puffles are easy to care for and also help kids to take care of real-life pets, both kids and parents alike love Puffles. Now, not only are Puffles available in the virtual world of Club Penguin, but are now available as plush toys from JAKKS Pacific.

Any kid who is a Club Penguin fan will Love the Puffle Plush. The Puffle Plush are authentic, serialized, and collector based plush that are high quality replicas of the unique Penguins and Puffles that are in the Club Penguin online virtual community.

You can now find your favorite Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip on Puffle. The 4" Puffle Plush feature accessories like a jester hat and knight. There will be new Puffle Plush released throughout the year, leading to a high collectability element. Plus, all the Puffle Plush items contain a unique coin that unlocks aspects of the online world.

The new Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip-On Puffle are available at Toys "R" Us and retail for $6.99 and $3.99, respectively.

Do you want to win some Puffle Plush for yourself?  Fill out the form below for a chance to win.  One winner will receive 4 Puffle Plush toys, 2 Puffle Key Chains, and a 1 month FREE Club Penguin Membership Card.  The Giveaway will run from 4/4/12 at 9:00pm EST until 4/11/12 at 9:00pm EST.



Thanks to JAKKS Pacific for providing the items above in order to facilitate this giveaway. All opinions are 100% mine.

Green Works Review

I have been on a mission to make my house safer since having kids.  I started slowly by making changes that made sense for my family.  The first change - cleaning products.  After researching some of the ingredients used in cleaning products, soaps and the like, I decided that there has to be a better way.  I started with making some homemade cleaning products.  I also started to buy some products that are organic or natural .  Most recently, I am loving Clorox's Green Works natural line of cleaning products! 

My favorite have been Green Works Naturally Derived All-Purpose Cleaner.  I have been using this cleaning product all over my kitchen.  From the granite counter top to the kitchen cabinets, everything has been perfectly cleaned.  What drives me crazy is residue and streaks left behind on the countertops.  I am thrilled to say that this product does not leave any residue or hazy streaks behind after cleaning.  I will be using this product in the bathroom as well, but for now, I am enjoying using Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipes for that job.

Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipes are perfect for a quick clean-up.  Just one wipe will do the job to clean most non-wood surfaces.  The pleasant scent will leave your bathroom smelling clean and refreshed.  Green Works wipes are naturally derived wipes that are made with ingredients such as coconut-based cleaners and essential oils.

I also tried Green Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner in the bathroom.  This product did a great job cutting through all the grime in our toilet bowl.  It left it sparkling clean and again, without any harsh chemical smell.  It is also safe for septic systems.

None of the Green Works products that I tried had any harsh chemical smell or left any residue.  Green Works are formulated using plant and mineral based biodegradable cleaning ingredients, which is a much safer option when it comes to cleaning. 

For more information about Green Works products and tips on making your home greener, visit www.GreenWorksCleaners.com or visit them on Facebook or Twitter using "greenworks".

Thanks to The Clorox Company for providing the items above in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are 100% mine.

CHANGING CAREERS

Guest post of the week by Deangelo Spencer

I finally made the decision to quit practicing law two months ago. When I got out of law school, I was on fire and wanted to work sixty hour weeks, go to court, and basically live at the office. Now, after five years, I think that I am already burned out. Actually, I know that I am burned out. Practice law just wasn’t fun anymore. I was constantly in a bad mood and dreaded going to the office. I gave my two week after a really stressful day at the office without any thought of what I was going to do next. I decided that I wanted to pursue something that I have loved to do since I was a kid, baking. My grandmother was a wonderful sweets maker and even sold some of the things that she made. I decided to open my own bakery. The shop is going to be too small for a comfortable office, so I had T1 Dallas come out to my personal residence and upgrade the networking at my house to work as the command center for the bakery. I don’t live too far away and when I am not at the bakery, I have all of my calls forwarded to the house. So far, I love what I am doing!

Orange Cream Cookies

I am super excited about this cookie recipe!  One of my favorite flavors is orange creamsicle.  I treat myself once or twice a year when I buy orange creamsicle fudge from our shore vacation or when we go to the Renaissance Faire.  And, of course, you can always buy orange creamsicle ice cream. YUM!

I was introduced to this recipe around the holidays when my husband brought home a smattering of cookies from his office party.  I had to try this one out, so now, I have a cookie recipe from Betty Crocker that helps to fill those orange creamsicle cravings.

Ingredients

• 1 pouch (1lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 5 drops yellow food coloring
• 2 drops red food coloring
• 1.5 cups white vanilla baking chips

Directions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, stir all the ingredients except the baking chips until soft dough forms.  Stir in baking chips.

• On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough with 1 1/2 tablespoon-siz cookie scoop or by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

• Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until dough is set (do not overbake).  Cool 1 minute from cookie sheets to cooling racks.  Cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Bathtub Finger Paint

I am a horrible Mom!  I let Mason run out of finger paint for the tub.  He loves it, and I have slacked off.  No worries though!  I found a simple and cheap recipe so that we can make our own at anytime...and never run out again!  You can feel good knowing that you can let you child use the paints to paint on his/her body or the tub tiles.  When bath time is over, the paint will wash away.

Age: 18-40 months
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons liquid soap
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• food coloring

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together for each color and store in a covered container. The mixture will last for a few weeks.
• I added a little more cornstarch than the directions called for.  Mix soap and cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency your child likes!

Get this and more ideas from the The Everything Toddler Activities Book.

FREE Easter Printables

I cannot believe Easter is right around the corner! I will be decorating around the house this week for sure. Along with my usual decorations, I will have Mason color some pages to hang around the house to show off his brilliant use of colors, also known as scribbling!


Click HERE for printable letters from the Easter Bunny and Easter coloring pages from FreeEasterPrintables.com

Click HERE for Easter mazes, coloring pages, cards, egg decoration printables, mini Easter basket printables, and word puzzles from kaboose.com

Click HERE for coloring pictures of Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, baskets and more from freecoloringpages.com.

Click HERE for free Easter craft patterns and projects. Print and color your own Easter holiday coloring books, calendars, games, and more from About.com

Click HERE for Easter word searches, coloring pages and more from momsbreak.com

Click HERE for free Easter printables from coloringbookfun.com

Click HERE for free Easter coloring printables from coloringpages.net

Click HERE for the cutest free personalized letter from the Easter Bunny to your child from easterbunnyletters.co.uk

Click HERE for free Printable 3D Easter Bunnies from allfreeprintables.com

Click HERE for free Easter coloring pages from hp.com. Once you are there, be sure to click around on their site. They have other free printables like cards and games too.

Club Penguin Puffle Party Review

There is a Puffle Party going on inside the world of Club Penguin right now! That's right, from March 15 to March 27, you can be part of the Puffle Party too. Or, even better, you can throw your own Puffle Party!

Club Penguin, for the first time, has been taken over by all things Puffle. Because of member requests, players will be able to transform into a Puffle themselves and role play as their virtual pet in-world. During the Puffle Party players will experience new game play including new costumes, new games, new rooms, and will be able to interact with a Puffle Handler.

In case you are not familiar with Club Penguin, you might be wondering, what is a Puffle? A Puffle is a small, fuzzy creature that Club Penguin members can adopt as virtual pets. So far, over 28 million Puffles have been adopted in Club Penguin! Because Puffles are easy to care for and also help kids to take care of real-life pets, both kids and parents alike love Puffles. Now, not only are Puffles available in the virtual world of Club Penguin, but are now available as plush toys from JAKKS Pacific.

Any kid who is a Club Penguin fan will Love the Puffle Plush. The Puffle Plush are authentic, serialized, and collector based plush that are high quality replicas of the unique Penguins and Puffles that are in the Club Penguin online virtual community.

You can now find your favorite Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip on Puffle. The 4" Puffle Plush feature accessories like a jester hat and knight. There will be new Puffle Plush released throughout the year, leading to a high collectability element. Plus, all the Puffle Plush items contain a unique coin that unlocks aspects of the online world.

The new Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip-On Puffle are available at Toys "R" Us and retail for $6.99 and $3.99, respectively.

If you are interested in throwing your own Puffle Party, here are some tips on how to pull it off!

1. Pick a day and time to celebrate the Puffle Phenomenon.
2. Invite a few friends over to celebrate with you!
3. Make a Puffle Cake (recipe below).
4. Have a fun craft for the kids to complete (see below).
5. Log on to Club Penguin and join the Puffle Party online. Make sure you play Puffle themed games, get a matching hat for you and your Puffle and go to the Puffle Only room where you can become your own Puffle.
6. Get ready to have fun with your Puffle Plush pet. You can style their crazy hair in different styles, or take your Puffle for a walk, feed it or tell it a bedtime story.
7. Tell JAKKS Pacific about your party. Visit www.facebook.com/jakkspacifictoys. Like The page and post photos or make comments from your party.
8. Have fun!!!!!

Puffle Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups self rising flour
• 1 stick butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup cake icing in your favorite Puffle color
• 1/4 cup white icing
• food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the sugar, eggs, and flour in a large bowl
3. Melt the butter in the microwave then slowly stir in the milk. Add this to the mixture.
4. Grease a 9 inch round pan. Pour the mixture into the pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake looks done. Let it cool.
6. Cover the cake and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
7. In the morning, cut small pieces out of the cake and make it look like the Puffle's hair.
8. Frost the cake with your favorite Puffle color. Don;t forget to use the white icing for the eyes.
9. Enjoy!!!

Puffle "Hair Day" Craft

Materials:

• Eggs
• Cress Seeds
• Cotton Wool
• Paint and Brushes
• Pens or markers
• Egg cup
• Teaspoon

Directions:

1. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes
2. Cut the top off the egg and use a teaspoon to empty it out.
3. Clean the shells carefully.
4. Paint the shells the color of your favorite Puffle. Let them dry.
5. Put the painted eggshell in an egg cup, then draw eyes and mouth on it.
6. Dampen some cotton wool, then place it inside the egg.
7. Sprinkle some cress seeds on the cotton wool.
8. Move it to the window sill so it can get lots of light.
9. Sprinkle a small amount of water on the seeds everyday.
10. Watch your Puffle grow hair.

Thanks to JAKKS Pacific for providing the items above in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are 100% mine.