Kiwi Crate Review + GIVEAWAY-closed! (Yay! Free Stuff!)

Way back in April, a company called Kiwi Crate contacted me about trying out one of their crates and writing about our experience on the blog.  Of course,  I was super excited by the opportunity and jumped on it.  (Free kids' stuff?  Sure, send it my way!)  Within a couple of days, this box of goodies arrived in our mail:

Each Kiwi Crate box is filled with all the materials needed to complete 2-3 super fun, hands-on projects. The projects in each crate usually center around a certain theme (e.g., music, bugs, pirates, etc...)  Our box's theme was bugs.  It contained all the materials and detailed instructionos needed to make two bug related crafts.

Yeah, I was all set to shoot a lovely photo showing all the materials neatly lined up... but Chuck dove right in and wanted to start crafting

Wow.  Let's just say that I was super impressed by the quality and quantity of the materials.  They really do provide everything you need. (Our box even came with scissors for cutting!)  All of the materials felt really high end and nice. (No crapt here!)  Once we completed both projects, we even had plenty of leftover materials. (Cha-ching!  I've stashed those leftovers away into my craft hoard to use for other projects later... tee hee...)

They say that the crates are designed for 3-7 year olds.  Since, Chuck's not yet 2, we took things slow.  He only did one project at a time.  That was just fine by me because they were a great way to help pass long and rainy days (you know the ones I'm talking about... when you're cooped up in the house and both of you are bouncing off the walls.)

Here we are completing our first project in April (hence the hair):

He did not want to let this little bottle go...

Sticking a mini glow-stick into our bottle to make a firefly

And here we are finishing up our second project a couple of days ago: (Is it me, or does he look bigger?)

The crate provided us with everything- plate, paint, sponges, paper, and brush

Such concentration!

As you can see, we enjoyed all the pasting and painting.

You can sign up to get a buy one crate, or you can sign up to get a month-to-month subscription (where they'll send you a different crate every month, for $19.95 per month.)  If you're not too keen on spending the money, you should still peek at their website because they have a great DIY, kid crafts, and activities section, showcasing lots of great (and free!) ideas for projects.  I thumbed through the pages and definitely picked up a couple of good ideas there....

I'm amazed that there are companies like this out there for kids.  When I was young, I got a couple of mail magazine subscriptions and I remember being super excited whenever a new magazine would come in.  Can you imagine what a kid would feel like if a whole box of  goodies came for them every month?  Pretty neat, right?  So neat that I thought that this would be a great giveaway for you readers!

Yay!  My first craft giveaway!

**This giveaway is closed** GIVEAWAY GOODY and RULES:
I'm going to gift one reader a single Kiwi Crate box. To enter, simply visit Kiwi Crate's Single Crate page and leave a comment below telling me which Kiwi Crate you'd like to receive.  That's it.  The contest will close by midnight Friday, EST.  I'll announce the winner on Monday's blog post.

Sorry, this giveaway is open to US and Canadian readers only (since they don't provide shipping elsewhere.)



Good luck!  :) I'm excited that one of you will receive a lovely package of goodies.

(Don't have children?  Try out for the giveaway anyway.  You can always send it to a lovely, crafty kid that you know.)

Homemade DIY laundry detergent

Guess what I did with that microwaved ivory soap powder?  

Whoa. Whoa.  Back up the train.  Did I jump off the deep end?  What am I doing?  Homemade laundry detergent? What's next?  Refusing to shave my legs or pluck my eyebrows? (FYI- Hubby's eyes practically bugged out when I told him what I was planning on doing.)

Yes.  I made it. It's true.  Have you ever tried making your own laundry detergent?  I'd seen a whole bunch of recipes online calling for the same few ingredients.  Whenever I'd consider trying it out, images of my failed cloth diapering attempts would come to mind.... and then I'd decide against it.  (Psst- Wanna know what happened to my lovely cloth diapers?  It's a sad tale of stinky woe... read the * below.)

Ever since we found such a nice way to create soap powder, I thought, what the heck, let's try the recipe out. Couldn't hurt, right?

Ingredients:
- 1 C Borax
- 1 C Super washing soda
- 1 bar Ivory soap (microwaved into a fine powder)
- 1/2 C Oxi Clean

I simply mixed the ingredients together and stored them in an airtight container.

Now it's just a matter of waiting and seeing.  I'll try the homemade detergent out a couple of times and let you know the results.  Lots of other bloggers have given similar recipes rave reviews.  They claim that it makes your clothes super soft, works well with hard water, and saves you loads of money (you only use 1 Tablespoon for HE machines... which means that I can do quite a few loads with this batch.)

With Chuck's fairly sensitive skin, I'm hoping that it does all that... and works well with his skin too.  Cross your fingers!


UPDATE:  8/26- I just finished using the first batch of laundry detergent.  Let me just say that it works.  It didn't hurt the machine or our clothes.  For the most part, our clothes come out clean.  However, I definitely had problems getting rid of tougher stains.  (Think messy toddler eating spaghetti kind of stains...).   I used stain remover to help with the tougher stuff.  So, this can't be the only thing you use when you wash your clothes.  Since I have an old bottle of regular detergent in our closet, I'm going to go back to using that stuff until the bottle is done.  I'll see if I notice any difference, but if not, I'm just going to stick with the homemade stuff.





*Ahh, curious to hear my sad cloth diapering tale?  Well... let's just say that the diapers worked great when Chuck was young and we lived in Michigan.  But after moving to New Jersey, we ran into a couple of pretty big problems.

1. Chuck started really eating solid food and his waste started to really smell bad.  I had to do laundry more frequently... which wouldn't have been a problem if we had our own washing machine.  Unfortunately, cloth diapers weren't so economical for us because we pay per load.

2.  Our building's laundry machines are located in the basement.  I had to take my "goodies" down with me in the elevator.  Stinky diapers aren't a great way to make nice with neighbors.

3.  I had some buildup on the diapers, so they became doubly stinky when soiled.  (Think highly concentrated vinegar mixed with rotting eggs.)  I could have just fixed the problem by washing the diapers many many times and then hanging them to dry in the sun.  But, I didn't like that option because I'm a cheapo and there really wasn't a nice way that I could line dry them in the city.  (Resting them on city benches?  Hmmm... maybe not...)

So alas, my lovely cloth diapers are now neatly folded and hiding away in Chuck's closet, awaiting to be used again....

Microwaving Ivory soap

Yup.  I was shocked too when I saw the results.  But it really works.  We tried making this puffy soap with a friend.  Chuck didn't seem too excited by the transformation, but his friend loved it.

I just took a bar of Ivory soap, cut it into quarters, placed the pieces in a bowl, and microwaved for 2 minutes.  (Note: It's got to be Ivory soap.)

Why did it expand?  Well, unlike other brands of soap, Ivory soap has a lot of air inside. As you heat the soap, the water vaporizes and the air expands, causing the soap to poof out.  (See Steve Spangler for more information.)

I had to wait a couple of moments before I could touch it because parts were pretty hot.  The texture reminded me of crumbly cotton candy.  As we played with the soap, it slowly broke down into a fine powder.

You can still use it as soap... but I'm going to use the soap powder for another reason....homemade laundry detergent!

What's up, Chuck?

Here are a couple of random photos from the past couple of weeks:

A good friend stayed with us before heading off to study in Berlin.  Chuck sure misses her a lot.

Chuck is getting to be more active and independent... which means that hubby and I are always on our toes.

I love how you can always find bits of beauty and life  in unexpected places

In college I was vegetarian for about a year and a half.   Then, during sophomore year one of my roommates lured me back to the meaty side with a delicious piece of steak.   Thanks, A. Now I can enjoy delicious meaty meals like the one above. 

There's nothing  better than jumping on a newly made bed.

Hope you have a great week!

Domino's gluten free pizza

One of the toughest things about having a child who's allergic to wheat (among other things), is that hubby and I very rarely eat wheat too.  Sure, we sneak in the random cookies or pasta when we're out on date nights or late at night when Chuck's asleep (oh boy, do I feel naughty then).  I usually don't mind the sacrifice, but there is one wheat-filled goodie that I sorely miss:  pizza.  It's one of my favorite foods.  And as a longtime lover of that holy trinity of cheese, tomato sauce, and crust, it's been really really tough not eating  pizza and not passing on my love to my son.

By now you're probably thinking, "Boo hoo.  Cry me a wheat-filled river.  Leslie, haven't you heard of gluten-free pizzas?"  Well, sure, there are gluten-free options out there... and trust me... we've tried a whole bunch.  But the resulting pie is always the same.  The pizza looks like a re-heated frozen disk and the crust tastes like dirty cardboard.  Sacrilege!  Poor Chuck usually just pulls off the cheese and eats that.

So when we found out that Domino's made a gluten free pizza crust, hubby and I were.... well... skeptical.  

But, we really didn't need to be.  Chuck loved it.  He ate two whole slices- crust, cheese, sauce, mushrooms and all.  Hubby and I even snuck in a couple of bites (while Chuck wasn't looking) and we were quite surprised by how good it was.

Now, Domino's does note that the pizza shouldn't be eaten by people with Celiac's disease.  Although the crust is certified to be gluten free, they just can't guarantee that any cross-contamination didn't occur at the restaurant.  So maybe this wouldn't be a solution for everyone.  But, since Chuck didn't break out in any hives or develop a rash after eating the pizza, hubby and I are deeming it a win..

In case you're curious, here's what the gluten free pizza looked like in the box:  (minus the 2 slices that Chuck devoured)

 And here's what the pizza looked like up-close:

Oh yeah, and here's Chuck.  Now he's a bona fide pizza lover too, just like his mama.

Have a great weekend!  See you next week!