Halloween Party Planning with Animal Print Glow Sticks... and more!

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All opinions expressed are our own.

In anticipation of our trick-or-treat fun with friends this Halloween, we just made a stock-up on glow wands, glow necklaces, and glow bracelets! Halloween is just no fun without glowing treats. 

Last year we had a glowing mishap... we snapped our glow wands in the kitchen before we left the house and glowing liquid squirted all over the place! Needless to say, this year I tested a few of these before the big night to be sure we don't end up with glowing ceilings, countertops, costumes, and children this year! Thankfully, I think we're in the clear!

Check out these amazing Animal Print Glow Sticks! They are the perfect compliment to my daughter's Snow Leopard Costume! We were so excited to find them. She and her girlfriends are going to love carrying these around during their trick-or-treating adventure. They come with a string so you can use them as a necklace or tie them onto whatever you tote your candy in. The colors are so vibrant and the prints are super fun!

The Glow Party Assortment is the perfect mix of colorful glow necklaces and bracelets. It comes with 50 pieces - 25 necklaces and 25 bracelets - and includes the little attachments necessary to attach the ends. They are long-lasting, colorful, and just perfect to share with our friends this Halloween.

Save yourself a trip to the store and order all your glow accessories online from Oriental Trading this year!

Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party

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All opinions expressed are our own.

My oldest daughter just turned seven and threw the most amazing Rainbow Unicorn birthday party to celebrate! This is actually the second time we've had a rainbow themed birthday. If you met her you wouldn't be surprised! Summer birthdays are always a little tricky because we love to plan outdoor shindigs. Thankfully the weather cooperated this year and even though we woke to chilly air and cloudy skies, we ended up with a hot summer day which was exactly what we hoped for.

We swam in rainbow pools with rainbow banners hung in the yard.

We decorated with rainbow balloons.

We served our favorite snacks in an assortment of rainbow colored bowls. Of course we even served up rainbow cookies and cake!

We created water bottle labels to go with our rainbow theme. If you've never done this before, it's such an easy way to add something special to your party. You can find a tutorial here. The rainbow birthday labels we used can be downloaded free from Catch My Party and the polka dots from Piggy Bank Parties. The stickers we used on the polka dot labels came from Oriental Trading.

We served up our foods on rainbow plates, with colorful plastic utensils. Aren't these rainbow straw cups the cutest? They were such a big hit with all of our guests!

My creative daughter loved customizing her cake picks by decorating clear picks with sharpies. She drew rainbows, flowers, hearts, sunshines, etc. and they added a fun personal touch.

We customized these colorful chevron party favor boxes with rainbow unicorn stickers which perfectly matched our theme, and we filled the boxes with an assortment of colorful treats!

I love ordering party favors and supplies from Oriental Trading because they come in sets of a dozen which tends to be perfect for parties. I'm always impressed with the number of options we have to choose from no matter what theme we decide upon. They are always fun and high quality. I prefer novelty toy favors over candies. After studying the website, we chose Rainbow Cake Necklaces, Rainbow Mechanical Pencils, Fish-Shaped Ring Toss Water Games, Rainbow Heart Rubber Bracelets, and Plush Tie-Dyed Dogs. The adorable dogs are my favorite and I started getting texts asking about where to buy these ring toss water games within an hour of the party ending!

Planning parties for my littles is one of my favorite things to do! My daughter has such fun participating and coming up with the plan she knows will be just perfect for her friends. This year was no exception. Our Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party was a huge success and I'm looking forward to next year already.

New Play Sets for Outdoor and Indoor Summer Fun

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All opinions expressed are our own.

This summer has been the first in a long time that I've been free of out-of-the-home work so the kids skipped camp and we've been enjoying our summer off with lots of stay-at-home days!

I don't shy away from some extra screen time in the summer - tv, iPad, iPod, etc. are okay with me within reason, but getting outdoors and moving our bodies takes the priority. 

I pulled together a list of some of our favorite outdoor activities on the blog a couple of years ago which I encourage you to check out if you're looking for some new ideas.

We are so thankful to have a big yard and a refreshing pool but even with those treats, summer days can get monotonous so we were excited to get a few new play sets for the yard this year to add to the fun.

Here's what we chose...

We are big fans of ladder ball but our old set broke, so we picked out this new one (with LED lights that are super cool for nighttime play) online from Oriental Trading. Ladder Ball is a great two player game in which players take turns tossing balls, connected to strings, and try to land them hanging on the horizontal ladder rungs. It takes some practice to get just the right toss but it's fun for kids and adults alike!

We also found some good old fashioned Lawn Darts because those are fun for all ages! Another great game for two players who take turns tossing their "darts" through the air and try to land them in their ring. This is tricky! I haven't figured out the special touch with these yet. They always bounce out of their ring when I throw them. My husband, on the other hand, has mastered it!

Bean bag toss games and some good whiffle ball never disappoint. I think we go through a whiffle ball and bat set each summer. My daughter is notorious for breaking balls when she hits to hard and my husband is notorious for breaking the bats when he hits too hard! This one is holding up so far this year and it's certainly gotten a lot of use!

Perhaps the highlight of the summer has been this Inflatable Water Slide! I'll be honest, the anxious mom in me cringed at the idea of it, but truly that has been so fun and we've avoided injury thus far!

New England summers always come with their fair share of thundering, rainy afternoons, so we thought it would be good to add a little something new to our indoor play sets as well. 

All kids love to play house - at least my two do! With this super cute, amazing quality play set from Melissa & Doug, they can play house, and help with chores all at once. 

My big girl is a big helper - she loves to help with housework. My one year old has recently started to look for chores she can do. She helps empty the dishwasher, throws every little crumb on the carpet into the trash, and puts away laundry without being asked (I find her Daddy's socks in her sock bin all the time!). Both of them adore this new set and it's been perfect for our days inside.

It's hard to believe we'll all be back to school in just a month's time! I'm glad we've had the opportunity to make a lot of fun memories this summer - both inside and out!

You can find all these fun play sets online at Oriental Trading.

We Love July... We've Gone Red, White & Blue Already!

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All opinions expressed are our own.

I cannot believe it's almost July! This is my first summer off from work in a long time and I am living it up. We are doing our best to venture out of our own backyard at least a couple times a week for some new adventures such as the playground, or our favorite children's garden. We are loving lazy days too, though, and are enjoying the sunshine right outside our own door.

We've had a great month, but the countdown to July has already begun! One week from today we enter our favorite month of the year! July is always an exciting time for us - multiple family birthdays and parties, tons of day trips, a road trip, cookouts at least every weekend, and of course (because we would never miss a reason to celebrate...) the 4th of July!

We are in 4th of July mode already around here! A quick online Oriental Trading order (I avoid shopping in stores if I can help it!) had us all ready to go.

We have a super fun Large Patriotic Bean Bag Toss Game, some Patriotic Traffic Cones to be sure we're playing fair, and a Patriotic Ball & Bat Set to replace the two whiffle ball sets that my husband and daughter destroyed last summer by hitting balls too hard.

For the littlest family member, we have an adorable Inflatable Patriotic Pool full of Patriotic Mini Rubber Duckies.

Because you really can't celebrate right without candy, we've got some of that too... some Patriotic Candy Corn Fun Packs and some Red, White & Blue Tootsie Pops!

And to get us ready for actual 4th of July Festivities like fireworks, we got some Mini Star Premium Glow Wands, in red, white, and blue. They will be perfect for the big night!

Oriental Trading is having a great sale on patriotic goodies right now - up to 50% off! Order in the next two days and you're guaranteed to get it by July 4th! Woohoo!

Bunnies, Chicks, Candy, and More... Easter with Oriental Trading

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All opinions expressed are our own.

There's another holiday coming up, and Oriental Trading is again my one stop shop! Without ever leaving my house and braving a crowded store, we're ready for Easter.

For our family, Easter is a fun time to celebrate the start of spring, the gift of Jesus’ resurrection, AND all things cute and cuddly like chicks and bunnies! My six year old daughter, who recently wrote in her school journal that her greatest temptation is candy, also sees every holiday as an opportunity for some new candy treats! Oriental Trading has you covered no matter what you’re celebrating this spring!

I love that when I’m shopping online with Oriental Trading, I can get everything I need for crafting, snacking, decorating, and gift giving all in one place. In fact, I’m often surprised at what we can find! My daughter was in charge of our most recent Oriental Trading order. She loves to browse through the different sections of the Oriental Trading website and come up with her list of must-haves. Not surprisingly, sweet snacks were on the list. We were able to do a complete stock-up on name brand candies - there’s a huge variety, bulk packaging, and reasonable prices. We have so much candy this Easter that I’m pretty sure the Easter Bunny just may borrow some when he fills eggs for our kiddos this year!

We love crafting anytime, but especially at holiday times. It’s a great way to get our house decorated and ready for entertaining family and friends. We love hosting holiday meals at our home and part of that is just making the space special for the occasion. We will use our Sand Art Easter Shapes and Self-Inflating Easter Mylar Balloons to do just that. Both of these come in a set of 12 - an assortment of 4 different Easter themed designs in each.

Because it feels good to give to friends, gift-giving is always a part of our holiday celebrations. I think my daughter would make it a part of every single day if she could! She chose some adorable Mini Easter Cameras and Jumping Bunnies to gift to her classmates for Easter this year. The Mini Easter Cameras remind me of the old viewfinder toys we had when I was a kid. Each click of the camera reveals a sweet Easter image. These little cameras are sold in a package of 24 so we have plenty to enjoy and plenty to share! The Jumping Bunnies are super cute and very fun! Just press down on their backs and they hop across the floor! We are having so much fun racing them and challenging them to see who jumps the furthest! This set comes with tons of bunnies - 144 to be exact! These are a hit in our home so we know for sure they’ll be a hit with our friends as well.

We love a lot of things but there are three things we REALLY love. Well… way more than three… but this next item was the perfect compilation of three current favorites: stickers, bunnies, and emojis! Seriously?! YES! Are these not the best? This roll of 100 stickers is almost too cute for me to handle. We adore them. They are individually perforated so easy to share too!

My bunny obsessed six year old could not have been more excited to find that although Oriental Trading does not sell LIVE bunnies, they do sell bunny ears. This Plush Bunny Ears Headband is the perfect way to let the world know her love for bunnies and let the Easter Bunny know her desire to get one soon. 

We can’t wait to celebrate Easter this year, largely in part to this huge assortment of goodies from Oriental Trading to help us get ready! If you’re looking for supplies to celebrate Easter this year - at church, home, school, or anywhere - Oriental Trading has what you need! Crafts, supplies, snacks, toys… you name it. As always, there’s a huge variety at an affordable cost. The only issue you might have is narrowing down your list! Oriental Trading is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders through April 6 - just enter the promotion code EASTER17 at checkout. Happy Easter!

Celebrate Christmas with Oriental Trading this Year!

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All opinions expressed are our own.

'Tis the season for decorations, crafts, gift giving, and so many other good things! I have always been excited to celebrate Christmas but this joyful season has taken on a whole new excitement with young children in the mix! I always turn to Oriental Trading as I prepare for holidays and Christmas is certainly no exception.

Oriental Trading has crafts, party supplies, gifts, and more to help ring in the season and get you in the holiday spirit! Our Christmas shopping spree included Christmas tree ornaments, crafts, gifts for family and friends, home decorations, and even goodie bags for our holiday cookies.

I'm always pleased with the variety, quality, and affordability of Oriental Trading products. Here are some of the goodies we chose to help get us ready for Christmas this year!

I fell in love with this Vintage Christmas Tree the moment I saw it on the Oriental Trading website. When it arrived at my home, I loved it even more. It is adorable and added the perfect, simple, Christmas touch to the shelf above our front doorway.

We added these fun Christmas Goodies Ornaments to our tree this year. Reminiscent of all our favorite holiday treats, this set of 12 resin ornaments comes with colorful, glittery ornaments in the shapes of cupcakes and decorated sugar cookies. 

We are always looking for new craft ideas around here and the holidays are the perfect time for crafts - to use as both decorations and gifts! There is no shortage of holiday craft ideas, supplies, and kits available through Oriental Trading. 

This craft that my daughter has spent hours working on so far, is a life-size, cardboard, playhouse! Our Color Your Own Santa's Workshop is still not complete, but our goal is to have it fully colored and built by Christmas Eve! This little girl who loves imaginative play is so excited for this new fun house to play in with her newly crawling baby sister. This playhouse even has windows and doors that open and close. We can't wait to see the finished project!

We've also been hard at work coloring these Color Your Own Christmas Ornament Bulbs. These plastic bulbs open and close easily to reveal a two sided snowman picture for coloring. This pack of 12 ornaments is plenty for us to decorate our own tree and gift some colored masterpieces to friends and family!

The Beaded Christmas Tree Ornament Craft Kit comes with all the beads and pipe cleaners necessary to make 12 super cute and festive ornaments. I adore these. They are so easy to make, with just the right about of fancy! They make for a fun activity, and a great gift!

Stickers, stickers, stickers. It's become a tradition for us to get new Peanuts themed stickers for each holiday! The Peanuts Christmas Stickers were a perfect addition to our Christmas card mailing this year and they have, of course, made their way onto many a note or picture for school friends. These stickers are fun, festive, and come in a roll of 100!

I am so grateful that my sweet 6 year old daughter loves gift giving as much as I do. Before Christmas vacation every year since she was 3 years old, she has requested to bring cookies to her friends and teachers at school. This year is no exception. Oriental Trading has a huge assortment of seasonal goody bags. These Snowman Goody Bags will be perfect for our cookie gifts this year!

She also plans to gift her friends some Mini Gingerbread Men. These sweet little vinyl toys look just like the real thing (keep out of reach of the little littles!). They are so cute and I think my daughter is right that her friends will adore them. There are 48 little decorated gingerbread men that come in this set so I'm guessing she'll be giving each classmate a few. Aren't they the perfect little gift?

The selection of festive and fun holiday items available through Oriental Trading will not disappoint! Whether you're looking to decorate, find a creative gift, or craft with your kiddos there are a variety of affordable options to choose from. Christmas is right around the corner but it's not too late to order your holiday goodies from Oriental Trading today!

Shopkins Birthday Party with Oriental Trading

We received free product to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. 

All opinions expressed are our own.

Summer time means birthday time in our house! Our oldest daughter turned six years old this summer! Last year we had the most amazing summer birthday pool party with the help of Oriental Trading. It seriously was AMAZING. No exaggeration. It was so perfect - weather, snacks, party favors, friends, everything. Maybe it was a little risky for us to try to duplicate that party this year...

Not surprisingly - because it's hard to get perfection twice - the weather forecast for this year's pool party took a turn for the worse about a week before the big day. Cold, cloudy, rainy. Needless to say, we had to change our plans and move the party indoors. Thankfully our daughter had chosen a theme that could work for both an indoor or outdoor party! I had encouraged her to choose a "pool-ish" theme again this year, but when she studied the Oriental Trading website it was no surprise that she chose Shopkins.

I'll be honest, I was shocked with the amazingly fun variety of Shopkins themed items that Oriental Trading has to offer! We were able to pull of a fantastic Shopkins birthday party for our six year-old that she and her friends are sure to remember for a long time!

We stocked up on Shopkins dinner plates, dessert plates, and napkins. Shopkins Photo Booth Props doubled for decorations, along with some colorful streamers and Shopkins theme printables colored by the birthday girl herself.

This party was planned in full by the birthday girl. Knowing the things she and her friends love, we started our party with a Shopkins egg hunt! Each friend found one egg with a Shopkins friend inside for them to keep!

We set up crayons, markers, and colored pencils in these perfectly sized and colorful Neon Storage Bins with Lids and had a great time coloring Shopkins themed printables. These bins were perfect for this occasion but we actually use them on an ongoing basis too, to keep the crafting area of our playroom organized and ready for creativity. They are good quality plastic, include covers, stack perfectly, and are obviously perfectly colorful! You'll notice the Shopkins Tablecloth - it was the perfect decoration for our crafting and eating area. The Shopkins themed printables we used for coloring are available for free right on the brand's website. 

This Shopkins cupcake topper came from Oriental Trading's Shopkins Cake Decoration with Candles Set. My daughter insisted on having it to add a little something special to her birthday cupcake. It comes along with 8 colorful candles and truly was a nice touch to our birthday treats.

We never have a party around here without fancying up the drinks so water bottle labels were a must! Creating your own water bottle labels is so easy and fun. Feel free to check out my DIY Water Bottle Label Tutorial! We used our favorite free printable template and added Shopkins Stickers from Oriental Trading. Didn't these turn out super cute?

The Shopkins Photo Booth Props were a huge hit at this party! It's funny - I was nervous about how these would hold up at our outdoor pool party and almost didn't get them for that reason. I'm so glad we added them to our birthday list because they were so much fun at our indoor party and would have been if it had been outdoors too! We set up a photo booth with a basket of these props and took tons of pictures with our friends. Everyone's favorite Shopkins were included in the set. The photo booth made for such a fun party activity and a souvenir to remember the day. We took pictures of the birthday girl with each friend and then printed and used them for our thank you notes. What a fun memory!

Party favors were a mix of Shopkins themed and pool party themed since we were originally intending an outdoor party. From Shopkins Stickers, to Shopkins Tattoos, to Shopkins Pencils, and even Shopkins Bracelets, Oriental Trading has Shopkins goodies galore! I love that Oriental Trading party favors are so affordable and there are endless options for whatever party theme you choose! My daughter and her friends were thrilled with this years' treats.

We had lots of leftover goodie bags from last year's party. Oriental Trading sells these perfectly sized, quality, and super colorful Assorted Plastic Bags in a 50-pack for a steal. If you haven't picked these up for your parties, I highly recommend it! They will last you a long time!

We had such a fun time celebrating our birthday girl this summer! There's no better way to celebrate than to surround yourself with your favorite things - family, friends, and Shopkins! Oriental Trading was the perfect place to find everything we needed to pull off a great kid's birthday party!