Archive for November, 2009

The quest to create the “ultimate kid’s pillow” is never easy …

 

“Scientists began dangerously experimenting, where they cross-pollinated throw pillows with baby blankets and leg stockings. They spliced DNA from old sweaters and abandoned teddy bears, and wrapped comforter innards with beanbag skins.”

And the result – The Kreechers!! This band of pleasantly plush pillow misfits is nothing like a traditional square pillow and everything like a horrible experiment that became experimental awesomeness – and who doesn’t love that! At first glance, these kooky critters may excite your nerves with their bold colors and whacky patterns, but you’ll soon find that behind their lopsided eyes, funky horns, and patterned bodies, they radiate personality – just like the kid’s who’ll love to play with them!

And who are these terribly unique, ultimate pillow pals? Let me introduce you to the fantastic Kreechers:

Stanley Kreecher	Eugene Kreecher	Beatrice Kreecher

Irene Kreecher	Walker Kreecher

This adorable pack of loveable ruffians includes Stanley, the hi-fi pillow that features a built-in blue tooth (literally); Eugene, the holiday sweater experiment gone south; Beatrice, the snuggly ugly duckling, who fears water; Irene, the mischievous monkey with a sassy spunk; and Walker, the googly-eyed serpent wanna-be with a forked tongue!

Have you found a favorite yet? Wait, there’s more!

Blanche Kreecher	Hank Kreecher	Mildred Kreecher

Floyd Kreecher	Herman Kreecher

Check out this colorful crew of creatures! This super silly group includes Blanche, the mean queen with a mutated crown and rainbow highlights; Hank, the leader of the kooky Kreecher pack; Mildred, who rocks out her green spikes to her own soundtrack; Floyd, the microwave experiment who radiates personality; and Herman, the hamster lab mascot with whiskers!

I love that each pillow features a unique background and funky look, but if you ask me, their kooky personalities make choosing the ultimate kid’s pillow almost impossible! But then, why choose one when you can collect them all?

It seems as though sidewalk chalk has been around since the beginning of time – it’s always been here whether white or colorful. I used to spend hours as a kid coloring stick figures on my driveway and playing hopscotch on the sidewalk (it was always a “I don’t know what to do” activity), but to me it was just a hobby that washed away when it rained. It’s a certainty that rain will wash away chalk creations, but it’s uncertain how chalk as an art medium will be used next.

I’ve always been impressed with the world of the street artist because they spend so much time creating a temporary work of art that is completely amazing! But street art has outdone itself, and its faithful chalk medium, with spectacularly realistic 3D renderings of life-like and fantasy subjects.

Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite works of art from a few very talented artists:

I hope you’re not afraid of heights because this artist’s 3D rendering of Green Label scotch has passerby’s looking twice as the bottle seems to rise above the water. I can’t believe the intricate detail involved – I’m afraid for the people standing too close to the edge!

Nothing about these beautiful blue birds will leave onlookers feeling deflated. From shading to shadows, this artist’s work brings to life an image that any bird chasing dog or bird watcher would love!

This is my favorite chalk creation because people are actually walking around the image! They think it’s real – that’s the mark of a true artist at work. That artist happens to be Julian Beever, an English artist who is famous for his art around the globe.

Once again Julian Beever creates a scene that almost everyone can identify with – Batman and Robin to the Rescue! The caped crusaders take on a whole new form as they climb their plane of existence into ours. Sometimes when I look at this artwork I’m fooled into thinking that it’s a page from a comic book instead of chalk artwork.

I’ve shown you a few of the greatest street artists from around the globe, but in our great hometown of State College, Pa we have our fair share of artistic talent. Street artists from around the country flock to State College during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts to showcase their talent in the Italian Street Painting District. Here is a small sample of the dozens of “paintings” showcased last year:

Source Citations:
“Amazing 3D Sidewalk Art Photos.” Impact Lab. October 28, 2009. http://www.impactlab.com/2006/03/09/amazing-3d-sidewalk-art-photos/
“Amazing Chalk Drawings.” Hub Pages. October 28, 2009. http://hubpages.com/hub/Amazing-Chalk-Drawings
“Downtown State College Improvement District Italian Street Painting Festival.” Arts-festival.com. October 29, 2009. http://www.arts-festival.com/italian_street_painting.html

If you’ve ever played with old-fashioned paper dolls with paper clothes, I know you will fall head over heels for the new and improved version of a pretend play classic – Best Friends Forever Magnetic Dress-Up Set from Melissa and Doug! I think that this fashion-forward dress-up set is great for youngsters who love colors and creativity especially because it takes the best aspects of paper doll sets and adds a magically magnetic array of clothing options for the ultimate doll dressing experience.

What’s to like?

Better than the old-fashioned paper dolls, the Best Friends Forever Magnetic Dress-Up Set features magnetized wooden dolls that young ones can use to create endless fashion possibilities with the included clothing accessories – shoes, slacks, tops, dresses and skirts – totaling 51 pieces in all! Each piece of magnetic clothing fits securely in one of the six storage compartments for quick and easy clean-up when play is done. My favorite aspect of this magnetic set is that each piece was easy for my granddaughter to pick up and the task of dressing and undressing each doll helped her to develop her motor skills.

Plus, each doll of this dress-up set measures 7.25 inches high and is held in place by its own slotted wooden stand making it easy for little hands to grasp as they dress each doll or to allow the dolls to stand independently. This dress-up set also introduces youngsters to the concept of cultures because each of the 4 magnetic dolls is a different nationality!

After young ones have dressed their fashionistas in every fashion possible, the fun isn’t over yet. Each of the dolls and clothing pieces can be traced to make traditional paper dolls and clothing with folded paper tabs, which allows kids to design their own cool clothes. So whether kids are preparing for the fall fashion show or a tea party with international flair, the Best Friends Magnetic Dress-Up Set provides endless possibilities.

Not to be picky…

While I think that the Best Friends Forever Magnetic Dress-Up Set is certain to get the creative fashion juices flowing in young ones, I found that the magnetic shoes were a little small. If children of the appropriate age are playing with this set, these show will pose no problem; but, if households have children younger than 3 years of age, they want to remove the shoe pieces until young ones are a little older and less likely to put the pieces in their mouth.

At the end of the day

A magnetic marvel for all fabulous fashionistas, the Best Friends Forever Magnetic Dress-Up Set is recommended for children 3 years and older and retails for $24.95!

This staff review was brought to you by Darla, a Warehouse Shipping Associate. Here’s a little more info (in her own words) about this dedicated Growing Tree Toys team member:
I have worked at the Growing Tree warehouse since November 2008 assembling, wrapping and shipping toys to our customers. When I’m not sending toys across the country, I enjoy busying myself with all my hobbies: counted cross-stitch, Sudoku, bird watching (Cornell winter bird counts), collecting Wade porcelain, 2 pet society finches, the Bible, and traveling to East Africa. I live outside of State College, PA with my husband, a retired fisheries biologist, and we have 4 children (and 4 precious grandchildren).

“Designed to help parents and caregivers of all achievements and backgrounds make informed decisions about which new products are right for their children, the Parents’ Choice Awards is the nation’s oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children’s media.” This program honors quality material for children in categories such as, our favorite, toys! But, who are these wonderful toy testers you ask? Parents’ Choice Award panel members include educators, scientists, performing artists, librarians, parents, and kids themselves!

Let’s introduce the rest of the winner! Drum roll please … the winners are:

4 years

A new twist on an old favorite, the S’Match Matching Game from ThinkFun challenges players to match cards by color, number or category. But wait, how you match is determined by the game spinner, adding a twist to what players need to remember!

8 years

The Friends 4 Ever Bracelet Kit from Alex Toys allows kids to show the world that they are so important to each other that they share and wear their imaginative bracelet masterpieces everywhere they go! This fabulous friendship kit includes 4 color-coded foam looms, which allow kids to make 2 distinct bracelet styles in 8 funky patterns; 22 colors of floss; funky beads for adding special accents; and a beading needle – my oh my!

A fun-filled cross between poker and Yahtzee, the Yamslam Game from Blue Orange Games promotes calculated risk and smart strategy. In this game, it’s all about the luck of the dice roll because players score points based on what combinations (or attempted combinations) they roll. Score high and score often to claim victory! For 1 to 4 players.

Learning to knit has never been so fashionable or so fun! The Knitwear Designer Kit from Alex Toys is the fun and fashionable kit that lets kids test their fashion know-how on the friendly Molly Dolly by creating her a wonderful wardrobe. This all inclusive kit features everything young ones need to knit away – wooden knitting needles, sewing needles and easy-to-follow, full-color instructions that show kids how to make 12 fashions for their favorite friend, including a coat, skirt, dress, scarf, leg warmers, and more! Plus, kids can add buttons and ribbon, but most importantly – they can add their personal flair!

Now, instead of admiring the raw power of rushing water from a distance, the Hydropower Science Kit from Thames & Kosmos lets kids explore the intricacies of water power on their own! Perfect for the child interested in the environment and renewable energy, the Hydropower Science Kit provides all of the supplies to build a waterwheel, a sawmill, and a hammer mill – all of which harness the energy of moving water for various types of physical work.

All Ages

Ugly is the new pretty! With a one-of-a-kind appeal and an adorable look, Uglydolls show kids of all ages that you can’t fake ugly. Check out the four new members of the Uglydoll community whose award-winning finesse that both kids and adults will love.

Mr. Kasoogi	Mrs. Kasoogi

Uppy	Black and White Turny Burny

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see which of our toys will win next year!

Source Citations:
“Parents’ Choice Awards.” Parents-choice.org. November 2, 2009. http://www.parents-choice.org/aboutawards.cfm
“Toys.” Parents-choice.org. November 2, 2009. http://parents-choice.org/award.cfm?thePage=toys&p_code=p_toy

To this day I am the reigning Uno champion among my family and my friends. While most of them say that my luck is too good to be true (ahem… that I cheated), I say that I’m merely lucky – lucky enough to attract most “Draw Four” and “Wild” cards in the pile. I admit that, yes, that sort of luck seems suspicious, but the game of Uno is and will always be about the luck of the draw. So, how can you cheat chance?

When you see the Uno Card Game today, you can experience themed Uno decks ranging from the Simpsons to the Cars movie to the extremely popular High School Musical 2; however, I was fortunate enough to grow up with the blissfully blank original version of this classic game (which I still have to this day because classics never die).

While the mechanics of the Uno Card Game have always been deceptively simple – there are 4 colors of cards (red, green, blue, and yellow) with numbers that range from 0 to 9, 3 “action” cards (reverse, skip, and draw two), and special action cards (draw four and wild) that players use to empty their hand of cards – players often forget that their success relies strictly on chance.

Then again, unless you were playing with your parents (and not even always then), the official Uno rules were strictly voluntary making “chance” a little less likely. I mean whether you drew cards from the “pick up” pile until you had one to play or you discarded as many action cards in a row as possible during a Uno face-off, everyone made their own rules to this game – whether or not they admit it.

Here’s a small piece of Uno history that I dug up from the YouTube archives – the very 80’s Uno Game commercial (Enjoy!):

It is that time of year again – time for some holiday shopping madness! The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960’s for the shopping frenzy that is the day after Thanksgiving. And ever since, businesses, shoppers and Santa’s elves have tried to make the most of the shopping deals found on Black Friday. Today most people associate this shopping holiday with midnight sales, newspaper coupons, long early morning lines and for some, running and sweating, but since the early 1980’s we have always enjoyed the opportunity to help our customers and friends who visit our store, kick off the holiday season with some great toy ideas.

But as the ecommerce world grew, so did the need for websites to have their own Black Friday. Since websites are generally busier the first part of the week, Monday seemed to be a natural fit for the ecommerce world. So we now have Cyber Monday (the term seems to be lacking some originality in my opinion☺) – the Monday after Black Friday!

Being a multi-channel merchant, we are lucky enough to take part in both of these great days in our store and on our fabulous website. While our store will be bustling with long time customers and friends, we know that many customers will also be coming back to see us online! And this year, we have some special deals for our online customers. I can’t give away too much right now (don’t want to ruin the surprise), but in order to stay in the loop on our Black Friday weekend deals, join our email updates and you will be the first to know.

Best of luck shopping and we hope you find everything on your list!