Doll Sale at Pottery Barn Kids!

Another quick post today. :)   Pottery Barn Kids is having a 20% off sale on all of their dolls, plus free shipping!  The sale lasts until December 12th. 

I checked the website, and it looks like only the dolls themselves are included in the sale, not any of the doll outfits or accessories.  However, the outfits and accessories are still part of the free shipping.  Also, their doll bunk bed is 20% off today only (it does not have free shipping, however).

The 18" Pottery Barn Kids dolls have the same face molds as the current Gotz Precious Day dolls.  I think they're cute, although I prefer the earlier Precious Day face molds myself (such as Hailey's). 

Anyway, I thought I'd post this just in case anyone is interested.  You can go directly to their website HERE.

Happy Shopping!! :)  

Free Shipping on Toys at DisneyStore.com Today Only!

Hey everyone!  Just a quick post to let you know that (as the title says) there's free shipping on all toys at the Disneystore.com website.  It's today only, so if you want to take advantage of this great deal, head over there soon!  There's a page devoted just to the toys that are currently on sale as well, which you can find HERE.

All of their classic princess and prince dolls (except for Eugene and Rapunzel) are on sale for $10 each, and the singing princess dolls are on sale for $20 (singing Tiana is on sale for $15!).  Also, the Disney Animator Collection princess dolls are on sale for $20.  There are some other sales on toys as well. :)

I also thought I should mention, for those of you who aren't aware of it, that americangirl.com is having a "Daily Deals" special.  Each day, they have new items on really good sales.  I feel sheepish that I didn't post this yesterday, when all of the remaining holiday minis were on sale for $14 each.  Sorry if any of you missed it (I was trying very hard to avoid temptation, myself). :(  There are more sales every day, though, and they didn't sell out of any of the holiday minis yesterday (mini holiday Cecile was already sold out before the sale, which is probably good, because I totally would have bought her!!), so they may put them on sale again.  So check back on americangirl.com each day for new deals!  I've included a direct link to their Daily Deals page HERE.

Also, I just wanted to let you know that I will be posting rather frequently in the next week.  I discovered a bunch of draft posts from October that I'd never published, so I've scheduled them to post throughout this week. :D

Have a great day!

Piper's Outfit from Zulily.com

Wow, I forgot all about this post!  I was going through my drafts and found this post with all of the pictures but no words! :}

So, some of you may remember the sale at Zulily.com that I posted about several months ago?  Well, this is what I purchased.  You'll probably recognize it, as it has now become Piper's "meet outfit". :)  I got this for around $12 including shipping.

The pants are made out of a nice, stretchy material.  They seem like they'd be very comfortable to wear.  I'm not pleased with how this picture turned out.  The pants look much closer to the first picture than this one.  They're a true black and not as pilled as they look in this pic. :(

The top is adorable, too.  Its made out of a stretchy polyester-type material.  It coordinates really well with Piper's Chococat necklace, too. :)

This is the belt that came with the ensemble.  Very cute and stylish.

Here's the whole outfit.  I think it looks great with Piper's coloring. :)

Littlest Pet Shop Pets for your 18" Doll :)

Looking for a special Christmas present for your American Girl or other 18" doll?  How about some Littlest Pet Shop pets that are just their size? :)

I discovered these "Littlest Pet Shop Teensies" at my local Walmart.  This particular set was just $4.99. 

These teeny little pets are the perfect size for your 18" doll.

They're painted really nicely, too.  This monkey is adorable. :) 

I love the little elephant!

This set came with two carriers for the pets.  First, there was this see-through pink ball that opens in the middle.

It closes up so you can transport the pet easily.  It kind of reminds me of a hamster ball with a handle.

The handle/hanger fits just perfectly on Emma's thumb.

There was also this cute monkey face container that opens...

...to reveal a little home for your pet. :) 

Overall, I thought they were a cute, inexpensive toy for an 18" doll.  They come in these little sets like I got, and then there are also larger sets with more pets for around $10.

Have any of you seen these?  What do you think of them?

New Christmas Capelet Sets from Debonair Designs on EBay

Debonair Designs has 3 beautiful new sets to offer on eBay:

"Hogmanay"

I love the vibrant reds and greens in this set.  You can view the auction HERE.

"Candy Cane" 

This one makes me feel like eating peppermint candy! :)  I love the beautiful red she used.  You can view the full auction HERE.

"Starlight" 

This is one of my favorite shades of blue.  You can see the auction for "Starlight" HERE.

I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do. :)

Toy Story Squinkies!! :D

Hi everyone!  I saw these in Target yesterday and fell in love!!! :D  It's a good thing Charlie wasn't with me, or she would have been strongly hinting that these needed to come home with us. ;)

There are 3 packs in the series so far.  Series one contains figures from the first movie:

Series two has characters from Toy Story 2:

And series three has characters from the third movie:

Aren't they adorable?  One of my very favorites is the orange cone with Buzz's feet sticking out underneath in series 2. :)  Which ones do you like?

HERE is the page where I found the images.  If you want to see the more feminine Squinkies, too, you can visit http://www.squinkies.com/.

Christmas Tag! :)

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately.  This week has been completely insane! :}  I was tagged by Spicemuffin several days ago, so I figured it was about time to get this post up! :)

1.) What is your favorite part of the holiday season?

I love the music and the decorations.  Listening to Christmas carols and songs that I heard as a child always brings me so many pleasant memories of Christmases past. :)  The decorations are special, too.  I feel like I'm greeting old friends as I open up the ornaments and knick-knacks that brighten up our home for the holidays.  I especially love sitting in the living room with all of the lights off,  looking at the beautiful lights on the tree.

2.) Who do you celebrate Christmas with?

My hubby and I usually celebrate most of Christmas with my family, although we get together with his family as well, usually on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day in the afternoon.

3.) What is your favorite gift that you have received?

I've had a lot of special gifts over the years.  Of course, the one that tops it all was the engagement ring I got from my hubby (then boyfriend) on Christmas Day of 2001. :D  Aside from that, one of my most memorable ones was the beautiful porcelain baby doll that my mom made for me the Christmas I was 11.  She was so cuddly and adorable, and incredibly special because my mom made her. :)  I still have her, although she's currently packed away.

4.) What's your favorite Christmas carol?

I love "What Child is This", "O Holy Night", and "Jesu Bambino".  And I just have to add that two of my favorite Christmas songs are "Round and Round the Christmas Tree" by Bing Crosby and "Home for the Holidays" by Perry Como.

5.) What's your favorite Christmas food?

Definitely my aunt's homemade fudge and gingerbread.  She brings them every year for Christmas.  Mmmm, I can almost taste them! ;)

6.) Can you sleep on Christmas Eve?

Um, now that I'm a mom and getting less sleep than I used to as a girl, it's easier for me to sleep than it used to be.  But I still get really excited and usually wake up to check the time several times throughout the night.

When I was a little girl, it was my job to wake everyone up on Christmas morning, but I had to wait until 5:30.  I can still remember waking up every hour and checking my clock with a flashlight (I didn't have a digital alarm clock or anything like that).  Then I'd count by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100 to pass the time.  I did a LOT of counting most years. ;D

7.) When do you wake up on Christmas Day?

We normally wake up at 6:30 (we decided to push the time back an hour since the girls are so little).  Although last year, my hubby and I both couldn't sleep, so we went out to the living room at about 5:00 am and sat by the tree together.  It was a really special time.  That might just have to be a new Christmas tradition. :)

8.) What's your most memorable memory?

I'd have to say my hubby's Christmas proposal on the beach.  You can't get much better than that! :)

9.) What are your Christmas Traditions?

Our traditions have changed a bit over the years.  When I was in high school and college, and then when hubby and I were first married, we would go over to the coast with my side of the family and rent a beach house. 

When that started getting too expensive, we did Christmas Camp.  My brother was the cook at one of the local Christian camps (about 45 minutes away from us in the mountains).  We would go up to camp for 5 days with my side of the family and spend Christmas there.  Side note of interest:  one of these years I got to experience my very first "White Christmas".  It snowed on Christmas Eve, and when we woke up on Christmas morning, the ground was covered with a blanket of white.  It was absolutely beautiful! :)

My brother stopped working for the camp last year, so last Christmas we all met at my aunt's house and stayed for 5 days, just like before.  That's what we're planning on doing again this year, too.  It worked out very nicely.  Her home is big enough to house all of us comfortably without feeling crowded or claustrophobic.  Also, being in town was really nice since my hubby works for UPS and usually has to work late on the Friday before Christmas (sometimes on Christmas Eve, too...depending on what day it is).  It was great to be able to be with my family while I waited for him to get off, without having to worry about where he was or if he could get to us.

So, that's the place we go.  As far as other traditions, we always start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  We do 2-3 Advent Calendars starting in December to help the days go faster. :)  We usually head over to my aunt's house the Friday before Christmas and spend the entire weekend playing games, watching movies, visiting, and listening to Christmas music. 

On Christmas Eve, I tuck the girls into bed and read them the Christmas story from the Bible.  In the morning, we wake up at 6:30 and open our stockings.  We then have a traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, and sausage gravy.  Then we open our gifts from one another.

This year will be a little bit different with Christmas being on a Sunday.  We may not go to church that morning.  I know that sounds horrible...but I'm just imagining piling 3 tired, crabby kids into the car and making them sit still for an hour, knowing full well that they have presents waiting for them back at Mimi's house!  I think we'll just play it by ear. ;)  Maybe we can listen to one of Pastor's sermons on the radio that morning. :)

10.) Do you have a real tree or an artificial tree?

Sadly, in recent years we've converted to an artificial tree.  I was always a real tree girl myself.  My family always went to the mountains to cut our tree and bring it home.  It's been our tradition for as long as I can remember.

However, the sad fact of life is that things have to change.  Another fact of life is that at least 2 of my children are ALWAYS sick over Thanksgiving weekend.  I don't know what it is, but no matter what I try, their immune systems have officially gone kaput by then.  And let's face it, going up to the mountains to cut a tree in the snow isn't too fun when you have a bad cold!

So, our tree-cutting tradition fell by the wayside over the last couple of years.  I've also discovered how nice it is to open a box, put a tree together (a pre-lit tree, no less!), plug it in, and be done!  No dying tree (since yours truly is HORRIBLE at remembering to water!), no constant vacuuming of pine needles, no waiting for hubby to finish stringing the lights before we can hang ornaments...wow, there are some definite advantages to an artificial tree!! 

I do miss the pine scent, but last year my brother gave me these pine-scented sticks you can hang on your artificial tree to make it smell like the real thing.  It helps...a little. ;)

I do hope we can go back to having a real tree once the girls are a little bit older.  I'd love for them to be able to experience the same Christmas tree-cutting adventures that I used to have. :)  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens, though. 

Thanks for the tag, Spicemuffin! :)  It was fun being able to reminisce over Christmas memories and traditions.

I tag:

Mickey's Girl
Jen of Dolls and Nachos
Emma
Phoebe of Love That Doll
And anyone else who'd like to participate!

Have fun, everyone! :)  More posts are coming soon!

P.S.  Do you like my new Christmas playlist?  I had so much fun putting it together. :)