Are You Ready For Halloween?

October 21, 2013 by 8 Comments

With Halloween right around the corner, do you have all your ducks (or pumpkins, as it were) in a row?

No?  No worries.  Here are some Halloween goodies that can help you get your spooky on- in a kid-friendly way.

carve pumpkins

What’s Halloween without carved pumpkins?  Pumpkin Masters has the kits and accessories that you and your kids will love to use to decorate that perfect pumpkin.   Choose from carving kits, patterns, tools, jack-o-lantern lights and flashing strobe lights, and more.  Looking for spooky, cute, or something in between?  How about mom,dad, or older kids- do they want to create a real work of art (that’s maybe a little more complicated)?  Got you covered. America’s favorite go-to tools  are easy to find and come with all that is needed to have a safe, creative, affordable and of course a fun decorating experience.   Our new favorite? The Surface Carving Kit– this is a really fun and interesting way to shave your pumpkin into some amazing designs, and play with the lighting as well.  It comes with three interchangeable carving tips, 12 patterns, one tool and pounce wheel.  For more, visit http://www.pumpkinmasters.com/

pumpkin carving

Another fun pumpkin option is the Hallmark Pumpkin Talker.  Available in Batman, Cinderella, and Scooby Doo, you use the template to carve a pumpkin that looks like your image of choice. When you’re done, put the Pumpkin Talker device into your carved jack-o-lantern to hear it talk in the character’s voice when it senses that someone is near.  We tried Scooby Doo, a favorite of my son’s.  It sounds just like the lovable dog from the show, and the template was very easy to use.
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Celebrate a New York Halloween Tradition

September 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Come visit THE Halloween destination for Metro New York families and one of New York’s favorite Halloween celebrations! Boo at the Zoo at the Bronx Zoo is a fun-filled, animal-themed, kid-friendly, not-so scary, Halloween experience. This celebration combines this fun holiday with the Bronx Zoo’s mission of connecting people to nature. October weekends at the zoo feature hay mazes, costume parades, musical theater, magic, and more. Don’t forget to embark on a trip back in time as you ride our Dinosaur Safari!

Live Music

Gigi and the Lend Me a Hand Band is back due to popular demand and will lead zoo audiences on a zany, rollicking, good time with Gigi’s Dino-mite Prehistoric Party. Roar through the globe on the “T-Rex Express” and rock to a NEW, even more rockin’ version of the prehistoric favorite, “Tyrana.” Come participate in animal-themed musical performances, songs, and dances that are knee-slapping fun and celebrate the animals of the wild.

Presented by IKEA and New York Presbyterian Hospital

Location: by Bears

11:30am, 1pm, 3pm

Magic Shows

Join internationally acclaimed magician David Levitan for a special brand of magic that has won the heart of audiences worldwide. Be amazed as Levitan combines his magical expertise with his terrific sense of humor and encourages audience participation as a part of his spooktacular magic shows.

Presented by IKEA and New York Presbyterian Hospital

Location: by Bears

12pm, 2pm, 4pm

Costume Parade

March with mythical creatures and dinosaur creations from the Alice Farley Dance Company and the Puppet Kitchen in a fantastical Dinosaur and Dragon Creature Parade! Come see a large-scale Komodo dragon puppet, a flying Quetzalcoatlus, a Triceratops, and a zany paleontologist as they lead you on an exciting adventure around the zoo.

Presented by IKEA and New York Presbyterian Hospital

Parade: 12pm & 2pm (Zoo Center)

Photo Op: 3:30pm (Dancing Crane Plaza)

Children’s Theater

Beasts of the Magical World, a puppet musical

This BOOtacular puppetry musical tells stories of elves and sorcerers, snakes and Komodo dragons, and best of all, magic! Created by acclaimed puppeteer Noel MacNeal of Sesame Street and Nickelodeon.
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Halloween Adventure Spyro Boys Costume

September 9, 2013 by 7 Comments

With school days starting up again, the next big holiday to prep for is one of the favorites in our house, All Hollow’s Eve or Halloween.  Halloween is great because for one day a year, everyone can be who they want to be, instead of who they have to be.  Reality is a little thinner and costumes are the norm.

spyro costume

Every Halloween follows the ritual of, “What do you want to be or Halloween?” No matter what your pleasure, shopping online makes finding what you want so much easier then battling hordes at the local stores.

For many, choosing the “right” costume is dictated by a few things:

1) Scary or sweet? – If your little one a blood and gore kind of kid or a more character driven individual.  Little Man is definitely character driven and loves to dress up as his favorite characters or animals.

2) What new movies, games, TV shows are out?  The newest stuff is always the ‘coolest’.  Be it video games, movies or TV shows, try and find out what your little ones are into now.  This can be difficult to differentiate between the cool ‘right now’ stuff or the cool current stuff.  Sure Annoying Orange might be cool right now, but is it really more fun then Skylanders?  Not if you are my son, LOL.
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Happy Father’s Day!

June 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Happy Father's Day

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Hallmark Mother’s Day Gifts

April 30, 2013 by 5 Comments

Spouses of mothers, this one is for you.

It’s go time. Time to make that special lady in your life feel as special as she is. Moms are an all important part of every family. No matter who they, are they are always there, be it a biological mom, a grandmother, a motherly friend of the family, an aunt, all who fit in the shoes deserve the recognition on Mother’s Day. (PS Mother’s Day is May 12.)

With Mother’s Day around the corner, it’s time to think about and work on some gifts. One of the first places we start every year is the Hallmark store. This year at Hallmark they have this great new craft/ gift idea called Magic Prints. Magic Prints are a clean non toxic clean, easy, clean, way to make hand/ foot/ leg/ear prints without the mess. Did I mention there is little to no mess?

100_3866Any way the way this works is with a special mitt , liquid and paper. The adult wipes the clear liquid onto the hand/foot of the [Read more…]

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Are You Ready For Easter? Hot Toy Guide

March 28, 2013 by 7 Comments

Are you ready for Easter? For those of you getting ready for Peter Cottontail’s arrival, check out these fun new toys to fill your little one’s basket and bring a smile to their face.

Easter ToysFor many, stuffed animals or toys are a must in an Easter Basket. YooHoos, a popular line from Aurora’s stuffed toys expand this year to include a colorful Easter Egg Assortment. These feature the original YooHoos dressed as colorful and decorated Easter eggs in pink, purple, blue, and green. Each YooHoo makes a fun sound or plays an Easter tune when squeezed. (5”, SRP: $9).

Also from Aurora are several varieties of stuffed lambs, perfect for this time of year. The Jesus Loves Me lambs come in pink or blue, has silky soft “wool” plush, and embroidered eyes making this safe for even the youngest children. Each comes with a matching festive bow around it’s neck that matches the design in it’s ears. At 9″ they are $13 each. Alternately there is the 8” “Blessings” lamb, who is pure white with a white bow with the words “Jesus Loves Me” around it’s neck. This lamb is super-soft and cuddly and has embroidered smile and eyes. At 8” and the cost for this lamb is 9$.

For more information or to purchase go to http://shop.auroragift.com (use code YooHoo13 for free shipping on orders over $50).

interactive story buddies
Hallmark has a great variety of Easter gifts available, as well as some fun and funky greeting cards. Whether you want to make the recipient laugh or reflect, if they are old, young, or in between, some of the sweetest, cutest cards you will find come from Hallmark. It’s also a great way to keep in touch with distant family and friends, increase personal interactions and socialization, encourage your child to write and learn how to format an envelope, and can even be a fun trip to the post office for you both. Real mail has en entirely different meaning and feeling then emails, it is more personal since it has your handwriting and can be personalized in other ways, and is [Read more…]

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Magic Cabin GlVEAWAY – Cute Duck and Nesting Eggs Toys @magiccabin

March 25, 2013 by 19 Comments

Easter is on the way, and there are so many cute things to stick in to an Easter Basket. But, why bother with a basket when you have adorable Easter eggs to put treats and toys into? Beautifully painted and decorated papier-mache eggs that both nest into each other and also are perfect to fill with treat and toys from the Easter Bunny or mom and dad.

Easter ToysSince the Easter Bunny represents all that is spring, the perfect filler for the largest of these eggs is the adorable Fuzzy Duckling. How cute would this guy be coming out of an egg Easter [Read more…]

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Bazooka Candy Brands Easter GlVEAWAY

March 25, 2013 by 25 Comments

With Spring just around the corner, are you ready for the Easter bunny to come hopping over? Special for Easter this year, Bazooka Candy Brands is offering an Easter candy assortment filled with Push Pop, Baby Bottle Pop, and Ring Pop varieties for you to enjoy or use in [Read more…]

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