August Cake Mom Events

Birthday Month was a blast, and I hope you had a lot of fun reading all the birthday related reviews and posts and entering all the great giveaways!! I had a lot of fun hosting the event and even have a couple more birthday related reviews coming up soon.

I have some fun things planned for August. For the Not So Extreme Makeover event, I am going to feature some really great reviews and giveaways that will help inspire you to update your decor. Then, I will feature some excellent back to school products.

Although I have a lot of fun things planned, the posts may be a little slow this upcoming week. My four year old daughter, Bella, has to have surgery. It is nothing life threatening but having your preschooler have surgery and stay in the hospital is TERRIFYING!! Obviously, she will be my #1 priority this week so be patient if I am slow to email you back, select winners, etc. Your thoughts and prayers during this week would be very much appreciated as well!

Birthday Party Invites from Paperspring

Paperspring is a company whose purpose it is to help you share and celebrate important moments in your life. The following purpose statement (which I just love) is from their website:
In our fast-paced world of e-mail, text messages and other virtual communication, it's still nice to stop for a moment and feel an actual photo birth announcement or a photo holiday card. The texture of matte paper, the beauty of printed materials, and the portability of paper products make paper a timeless and cherished technology.Our purpose is to bring life to paper and paper to life.

I was very eager to work with this company who expresses such passion for their paper products. I was thrilled when I was able to customize and review a set of birthday invitations. My daughter, Bella, will be turning 5 in the fall and will subsequently have her very first "friend" party. I loved the Cupcake Fun party invites.

The customization and ordering process was a breeze. You simply choose the number of invitations and then click on the customize button. As you add in the information, you are able to see an immediate preview of your invitation so you can make sure the spacing is right. It is also much easier to proofread this way and assures that there are no unintended surprises when your invitations come in the mail.

The invites arrived amazingly fast and came adorably packaged in shrink wrap and a pretty bow. I was so happy with the results. The cardstock was thick and these definitely have a professional look to them. Each invitation was perfectly spaced and came with envelopes. I can't wait for Bella to give these beautiful invitations to her friends!

After this very positive experience with Paperspring, I can say that I fully stand behind the company and the products! In addition to invitations, you can also find a lot of great announcements, greeting cards, and more!

Buy it here: You can shop for Paperspring products on their website.  During the month of August, you
can save $10 off $50 plus free shipping with code PSAUGUST
I was provided with the above mentioned product for the purpose of facilitating this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.

Birthday Month Reader Cake: Roses

This beautiful cake was created by Linzy for her sister. I love the contrast of pastel pink with chocolate! Check out her blog, Flour & Sugar,  and her website, Sandwich Cookies and Cakes.

I have had so much fun featuring reader cakes this July! If you liked it too, then I am glad. July will definitely be Birthday Month every year and I am also considering featuring some great reader creations around the different holidays as well.

Birthday Month Reader Cake: Girly Party Cake

I had to share one more amazing cake with you from Cake Walk, a great blog created by a talented cake decorator, Melanie. Please check out her site! I adore this bright and colorful cake!

Birthday Gift Idea: Ebeanstalk & Connecta Straws Review

Ebeanstalk is a toy website that does their best to provide you with the best toys out there.With so many toys to choose from, it's hard to pick out the perfect ones for your children. Ebeanstalk wants to make sure they have the best toys around and they could really use your help. Head on over to ebeanstalk and tell them what your favorite baby toys and kids toys are! It's important to them to provide great toys by age and the only way they can make sure they have the right ones is to get feedback from moms like you and me!

I was given the opportunity to review Connecta Straws, with my daughter's help. The toy is targeted for 6 year old children and has over 200 pieces of flexible straws, connectors, wheels, and building rings.The toy is designed to inspire your child to be creative while applying some mathematics principles to their creations.

Review: When I opened the package, I thought for sure my 7 year old son would love this toy. He loves Legos, so I was a little shocked when he showed no interest in playing with it. My 4 year old daughter, on the other hand, has played with this set for countless hours.  I was amazed at how engaged she was with this toy and how each time she built something, she made it a bit more challenging. Even though she is shy of the 6 year target age, she did really great with this product.

After reviewing this high quality product and having the opportunity to review Ebeanstalk, I would highly recommend the company. They have a great assortment and fantastic prices. I know I will be turning to them this Christmas season!

Buy it here: You can shop for this product, as well as many other fabulous toys on the Ebeanstalk website.

I was provided with the above mentioned product for the purpose of facilitating this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.

Technique/Terminology Thursday: Working with Candy Molds

Here is a demonstration of how to make chocolate suckers using candy molds.

You will need: a squeeze bottle (which I forgot to buy so I used my Wilton decorating bags and tips though it was not ideal), a candy mold, lollipop sticks, colored melting chocolates.

My son's birthday is in a couple of weeks and he is having a sports themed party so I decided to go with sports ball pops which will actually be used on the cupcakes for his kid's party.

For this mold, I chose chocolate, orange, and vanilla candy melts. Rather than buying red, I just used food coloring in a small amount of the vanilla for the baseball accents.

There are four different ways to melt the chocolate: microwave, double boiler, candy melter, and a warming tray. I opted for the microwave directions:
1. Place the wafers in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave for 30 seconds at half power or on defrost setting
3. Stir wafers (wafers will not change shape when melting unless stirred)
4. Repeat steps 2-3, until wafers are completely melted.

To achieve a layered look, you can paint on the top layer (do this first) or use a thin tip to fill in the small details. You will want to let this chill for 1-2 minutes before adding the next layer. If you mess outside the mold as seen below, this can be easily wiped clean before chilling.

To fill the mold with the desired back color, you can use a spoon or the squeeze bottle (or in my case, a bag and tip).

Place the lollipop sticks into stick channels of mold, with at least 1" of the stick inserted into the melted candy. Rotate stick cover end with melted wafers. Lightly tap mold on flat surface to release air bubbles. Refrigerate approximately 10-15 minutes or until mold appears frosty and pieces are firm.

Invert mold onto flat surface and tap gently to remove finished pieces. If pieces do not release easily, chill additional 3-5 minutes.

Since I am using these are cupcake toppers, I will not be wrapping them. However, if you wish you can easily package them with some baggies and twist ties.  You can see the finished cupcakes in a few weeks!

Birthday Gift Idea: Creativity for Kids Review and GIVEAWAY!! **ENDED**

Creativity for Kids is a company with a mission aimed at enriching the lives of children everywhere with fun and constructive experiences that stimulate and encourage their natural creativity. In addition, the company is dedicated to assuring that all products are safe and all products are made in the USA.

Creativity for Kids offers an amazing assortment of products, 277 at the time of this post! The website is very easy to navigate. You can search by product name or can browse through products. When you examine products, you can read detailed information on the contents of the kit and customer reviews.  My kids and I had the opportunity to review two products, and my children had a very tough time narrowing down their choices because there were so many great products.

Designer Doggie: My daughter is in love with dogs, so she decided to choose the Designer Doggie to review.The kit retails for $17.99 and comes with:

• Velvety dog purse 7 in x 5 in x 2.25 in (17.8 cm x 12.7 cm x 5.7 cm)
• Dog bone charm
• Plush dog with velvety collar and heart charm 6.5 in x 6 in (16.5 cm x 15.2 cm)
• Velvety dog cape 4.25 in x 3.5 in (10.8 cm x 8.9 cm)
• Ribbon leash
• Self-adhesive satin bows
• Peel and stick felt shapes
• Self-adhesive rhinestones
• Instructions and ideas

My daughter really loved this kit. She has been taking her dog everywhere with her since she created it. There were enough embellishments included in the kit to allow her to really use her creativity. Unfortunately, the rhinestones' adhesive was not very strong and they did not last on the collar for long. This was slightly upsetting to my daughter, but she still loved her dog in the end. Aside from the adhesive problems, I though the kit was great and is a great gift idea for little girls.

Dog before:

Dog after Bella Decorated:

One very happy Bella and her dog, Malesha (I have no idea how she came up with the name):

Shrinky Dinks - Alien Invasion:  I used to love Shrinky Dinks when I was a child, so I was very excited when my son chose the Alien Invasion kit to review. The set sells for $16.49 and comes with a bunch of great products in addition to the classic Shrinky Dink sheets:

• 5 printed sheets of Shrinky Dinks film
• 8 colored pencils
• hole punch
• jump rings
• coil key chain
• note pad
• star laser (batteries are included)
• gel pen
• foam dots

I though the extra products were great! Jack thought the kit was really neat. He was not quite sure how Shrinky Dinks worked, so he was completely fascinated when his colored aliens shrunk right up into smaller pieces of plastic that could be played with. He could then attach his aliens to the other products included or just play with them. The product worked great and Jack and I found the kit to be fantastic.

Jack working on his Shrinky-Dinks

Before being placed in the oven:

After being baked:

Final results:

One happy Jack:

Buy it here: You can purchase these kits from the Creativity for Kids website and from Amazon. 

Win it here: One lucky Cake Mom reader is going to win a Beach Buddy Shell Craft Kit! 

This fun-looking kit will allow your child to turn 25 real sea shells into a bunch of sea creatures! Check out the details here.

**Please read the rules**

This is open to US residents only. You must complete the mandatory entry before completing optional entries. Each optional entry needs to be added as a separate comment. Comments that do not follow the rules will not count and will be deleted. PLEASE LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT!

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what other products besides the ones mentioned in the post you would love to have from Creativity for Kids.

Optional entries: Leave an additional comment for each entry. For example, if you blog about this contest, leave 3 separate comments!

1. Follow my blog (publicly)
2. Subscribe to my blog via email and confirm the subscription
3. Grab my button and post a link to your blog
4. Blog about this contest (with a link to my blog) and post a link to your blog (3 entries)
5. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this contest (can be done daily). You must place a link to your tweet.
6. Enter another one of my contests. Enter as many as you like, but this method is only worth 1 entry regardless of how many you enter.

7. Like Creativity for Kids on Facebook. 

8. Buy something from Creativity for Kids between now and the end of this post and receive 10 EXTRA entries. You can either buy from their site or purchase one of their products from Amazon using this link to enter Amazon's site.

The winner will be selected on 8/7 via random.org and will be emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

I was provided the above mentioned products for the purpose of facilitating this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own

Birthday Month Reader Cake: Feminine and Fun Cake

To help celebrate Birthday Month on Cake Mom, I have asked my talented readers to submit pictures of their favorite cakes that they decorated!

Loren from The Baking Sheet has another fantastic cake she wanted to share with all of you. She made this cake for her niece. The bottom layer was a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache filling and the top layer was strawberry cake with buttercream filling. Man, she is making me hungry for cake!!

The Celebration Shoppe Review

The Celebration Shoppe is a stylish online party shop full of party products.  With so many products that can help you coordinate a themed party, it is obvious that the owners of this store want to help you throw a great bash! They even help inspire you with fantastic party ideas on The Celebration Shoppe blog!  

I am going to be throwing my daughter a Tinkerbell/Fairy party this September, so I have been on the look out for some cute party products to fit the theme. I immediately fell for the Woodland Fairy party collection.  The collection is cute, colorful, and has a lot of products to really help you throw a great celebration. Not only can you order the invitations, plates, napkins, cups, thank you notes, and placemats right from their store, you can also order coordinating printables! 

The printable option is a great idea because you can save a lot of money (especially for those large parties) by paying once for a PDF file and then printing out as many of each printable that you will need.

I was given the opportunity to review the full printable Woodland Fairy collection. For $18.50, you can get the PDF file for cupcake wrappers & picks, straw slips, thank you tags, cello bag toppers, placecards and napkin rings. This is a great deal! I have a perfectly good printer at home and usually make all these things myself, but I am short on time and patience these days. So, I would much prefer to pay this small price and save myself a lot of time.

 

Each of the PDF files comes with a how-to sheet which explains what the product is, what you will need to assemble the final product, how-to, and tips for making the most of the file.

I really liked this collection. The pink and green color scheme was really great. I also liked how everything coordinated, yet each of the printables was a bit different so it can make for a really great look when all the products are placed together on your party table. I was easily able to follow the directions on the files and create some good looking party supplies! When my daughter's birthday comes around, I will definitely be using these. The picture below was just for demonstration purposes, so I will definitely use thicker card stock for the party.

Connect here: Become a follower of Celebration Shoppe on Twitter, Facebook, or their blog and be the first to find out about special promotions including giveaways!

Buy it here: You can buy Celebration Shoppe products from their website.

I was provided with the above mentioned product for the purpose of facilitating this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.

Birthday Gift Idea: Costume Super Center

Kids love to play dress up, so why wait for Halloween to buy costumes? Costumes can make a great birthday present, and kids can even dress up to match their theme for some extra fun.  Costume Super Center is a great website for finding costumes for the whole family.

The have a wide selection of girls and boys costumes. In fact, they had so many to choose from that my son, Jackson, had a hard time deciding on which costume he would like to review. He finally decided on the Prince of Persia Dastan Costume. This brand new costume is inspired by the hit movie and sells for $44.99. You can choose from small, medium, or large and can also purchase additional accessories, such as Dastan's dagger and sword, to help complete the look.

My son was very eager to get his costume, so I was thrilled when it arrived in less that one week! The officially licensed costume included: 
3-D armor-like top
Detachable chest emblem
Belt and sash
Belt buckle
Pants
Gauntlets
Boot covers

The quality of the costume is comparable to typical costumes you buy at stores around Halloween except that there were many more pieces than I have seen in other costumes. The material was breathable and light. It will be a great Halloween costume because it can be easily layered underneath for warmth without taking away from the look of the costume. I appreciated all the details to the costume, but since there were so many pieces, it was hard for my son to get dressed without help. The belt was fastened with Velcro, and would not stay fastened. We tried using some safety pins and this worked well to keep it together.The fit was pretty good and true to his normal size of clothes.

The only major complaint I had was the boot covers. They would not stay up at all. Jackson could not walk more than a few steps without them falling down (see picture below).  He was not too upset about it, stating he would just wear regular shoes with his costume.

On the whole, our experience with Costume Super Center was positive and I would recommend their site for their discounted prices, wide selection, and speedy delivery.

Buy it here: You can shop for all your costume needs from the Costume Super Center website.

I was provided with the above mentioned product for the purpose of facilitating this review. All views expressed here are my own (and my son's) and no other compensation was received.

Kitchen Clothesline Review and GIVEAWAY!! **ENDED**

Kids are messy. There is just no getting around it. My daughter cannot help me bake or eat anything without staining her clothes. Which is why I am glad I discovered Kitchen Clothesline, a home based company found on Etsy that creates handmade bibs and twirling skirts for kids and aprons for kids and adults.

All products sold by Kitchen Clothesline are 100% cotton, fully lined, and machine washable.   I was given the opportunity to review one of the unique bibs this shop has to offer.  The bib can be used for babies who have learned to sit up through preschool. The elastic band around the top allows your child to put on and take off the bib by themselves and avoid smearing their food all over themselves during the process.

I thought the bib was great. The size was absolutely perfect and my daughter loves to wear it. I used to get really annoyed with classic bibs when she was younger, because the Velcro or ties would always get stuck in her long hair, so the elastic band is a great alternative for her. The back does die, but she has gone without that and has had plenty of coverage. She has been insisting on using it all the time, and it makes me happy that she is not staining all of her clothes!

Buy it here: You can purchase the bibs for $12.00 or the other assortment of products from the Etsy shop. 

Win it here:  One lucky Cake Mom reader is going to win the bib of their choice from Kitchen Clothesline!

**Please read the rules**

This is open to US residents only. You must complete the mandatory entry before completing optional entries. Each optional entry needs to be added as a separate comment. Comments that do not follow the rules will not count and will be deleted. PLEASE LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT!

Mandatory Entry: Tell me which product from Kitchen Clothesline is your favorite.

Optional entries: Leave an additional comment for each entry. For example, if you blog about this contest, leave 3 separate comments!

1. Follow my blog (publicly)
2. Subscribe to my blog via email and confirm the subscription
3. Grab my button and post a link to your blog
4. Blog about this contest (with a link to my blog) and post a link to your blog (3 entries)
5. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this contest (can be done daily). You must place a link to your tweet.
6. Enter another one of my contests. Enter as many as you like, but this method is only worth 1 entry regardless of how many you enter.
7. Buy something from Kitchen Clothesline between now and the end of this giveaway and receive 10 EXTRA entries!!

The winner will be selected on 8/4 via random.org and will be emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

I was provide with the above mentioned products for the purpose of facilitating this review.  The views expressed here are my own and no other compensation was received.

Birthday Gift Idea: Noodle Head Review and GIVEAWAY!! **ENDED**

The Noodle Head  company has been in business for 5 years and is dedicated to creating fun products for children. The company thrives on making children smile and getting them excited about fun, new products. The company sells the following innovative products: Pawparazzi Pets, Young Picasso Canvas Painting Kit, Bag Buddies, Jelly Flyers, Adventure Logs, Flip Flop Fun, Travel Buddies, Sassy Silk Halter, and Teen Flip Flop Fun.

I was given the opportunity to review one of the Travel Buddies. The concept is great! My kids often fall asleep in the car and it always looks so painful when their necks are falling off to the sides of their bodies. The animal product line, comfortably holds a child's head in place so they can sleep while on the go. There is a large assortment of animals to choose from.

My daughter, who frequently dozes in the car, was thrilled when her frog Travel Buddy arrived. It is really soft and very adorable! I have a travel pillow that I just love and Bella used to like to try it out, but it was always too big for her. This one is just the right size for smaller necks and heads and the stuffing is soft.

Bella loves her frog, and even sleeps with it at night. She tried it out in the car and it was so cute to see the smile on her face as she was cuddling with her travel pillow. This is truly a great product for kids, especially those that spend a lot of time in the car (or a plane). The Travel Buddy will definitely accompany us on future vacations.



Buy it here: You can buy Travel Buddies from the Noodle Head Toys website and on Amazon.

Win it here: One lucky Cake Mom reader is going to win a Travel Buddy!  The winner can choose from animals currently in stock.


**Please read the rules**

This is open to US residents only. You must complete the mandatory entry before completing optional entries. Each optional entry needs to be added as a separate comment. Comments that do not follow the rules will not count and will be deleted. PLEASE LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT!

Mandatory Entry:  Tell me: what is your favorite product from Noodle Head Toys?

Optional entries: Leave an additional comment for each entry. For example, if you blog about this contest, leave 3 separate comments!

1. Follow my blog (publicly)
2. Subscribe to my blog via email and confirm the subscription
3. Grab my button and post a link to your blog
4. Blog about this contest (with a link to my blog) and post a link to your blog (3 entries)
5. Follow me & Pawparazzi on Twitter and tweet about this contest (can be done daily). You must place a link to your tweet.
6. Enter another one of my contests. Enter as many as you like, but this method is only worth 1 entry regardless of how many you enter.

7. Like Noodle Head on Facebook.

8. Buy a product from Noodle Head between now and the end of this contest and receive 10 extra entries!

The winners will be selected on 8/3 via random.org and will be emailed. The winners will have 48 hours to respond.

I received the above mentioned samples for the purpose of facilitating this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.