My Favorite Things!

I know I've been on a blogging hiatus for awhile, maybe I can get back into the groove, but I'm not making any promises! Anyway, obviously I'm not a paid advertiser, but I had to share some of my favorite things with everyone because they are making me so happy! It's the little things that count, right?! These are in no particular order, but if you haven't experienced these products, you just have to and you will see what I mean. You can click on any of these titles to go to their sites.

These are the best curlers for hair I've ever seen. They make a perfect curl every time, they are easy to put in and take out, they aren't heated so no hair damage and they don't leave the weird bent ends that most curlers do. I haven't tried them in my hair yet, but I just love what they do to Hailee's hair. You can get them at Sally's Beauty Supply or on their website. They cost a pretty penny, but they are worth it. Here are some pics.

Here's what they look like when you put them in. You do it while her hair is wet and then take them out when it's dry. The orange curlers go one way and the pink ones go the other. I found that out when I used them for the first time and Hailee requested I use all pink and when I took them out, I realized all the curls were going the same direction.
Here's what they look like when you take them out, although they usually look better. They hadn't dried completely on this day, but I had to take them out so they didn't turn out great. Also, I have no idea why I took this picture in front of a window, so sorry...but you get the idea.

Ok, so my kids rooms could not be cuter! They were already cute to begin with and then I discovered these little babies at a mall kiosk during the holidays. They're very inexpensive and have darling artwork. You can put them on any hard surface and peel them off just as easily. Every time I go into Hailee's room, she has them moved around to different locations. Here are the two I bought for my kids (they're not just for kids though, they have lots of different kinds).

Pixos/Chixos!

This is the coolest kids toy I've ever seen, hands down. You take these little plastic balls and put them into whatever kind of design you want and spray them with water. The water fuses them together permanently. I've had some serious fun with these things, oh ya, and Hailee has too:).

So then, they combined these with another idea. They made plastic dolls out of the same stuff so you decide what shoes, pants, shirt and head the chixo has and fuse them together with the water. THEN, (you think it can't get any more exciting, huh?)...they have a little Chixo house and furniture and you can use all the pixos to design everything for the house. Oh my gosh, this has been so much fun. This is the one I bought for Hailee. We have made rugs, bedspreads, couch cushions, a saucepan for the kitchen along with a cutting board, cutting knife, cheese, orange, & carrot, we even made a toilet seat cushion. How fun is that? Love it!This next one totally geeks me out, I know. I discovered this book when I was nursing Hailee a long time ago at Ty's aunts house. She would take so long and I was desperate for something to help my boredom. I grabbed this book off the shelf and immediately fell in love. I came home that night and ordered it from Amazon. It was first published in 1988. This woman is a GENIUS! I have used many of her ideas and there are a ton more that I want to use! I swear, everything you've ever seen on any crafty, creative, homemaking blog has already been thought of by this woman!
Here are a few of my favorite ideas from her book:
1. Mix food coloring and milk and let your kids use new paintbrushes to "paint" on their toast!
2. Make a playhouse for your kids by sewing a cover to hang over the top of a square card table. The one in her book has a little door to go in and out and little applique flowers at the base. It's so cute!
3. Breakfast in a muffin tin. She fills 6 of the muffin slots with muffin mix (those jiffy boxes only make enough for 6, so it's perfect). She fills the other 6 with a deli slice of ham pushed down into the tin to form a cup and breaks an egg into it. You can bake them all together!
4. Create a traveling kit for the kids for long road trips by using an travel hygiene bag and hanging it over the back of the seat in front of them. Then you fill it with activities such as games, cameras, coloring books, and whatever your kids like and travel supplies like wipes, first aid kit, garbage bags, snacks, etc. I want to go on a road trip just so I can use that idea.
5. When camping, create a "dressing room" by flipping an umbrella upside down and hanging a shower curtain around it.
There's lots more. Seriously, if any of this interests you, it's worth going to Amazon and paying the $5 for a used copy.

This girl makes and sells bows for kids hair. I'm not trying to help out a friend, I don't know this person. She just runs a great business and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about it. First of all, her bows are really well made. All the bows I've ever bought from her are still intact, which is more than I can say for most bows I've gotten for Hailee. Second, each time I've ordered from her, the package arrives on my doorstep within a week. Third, she has bows in any style or color and if she doesn't have what you want, you just email her and she'll make it. Lastly, you cannot believe her prices. I cannot believe her prices. Almost ridiculous. Every time I buy from her, I end up buying 20-30 bows because she charges so little for them that I just have to have every kind! Here are some of the styles she has. I especially love the tiny clips for baby hair. Can you believe all of these bows are either $1 or $2 each?? I know, neither can I. This is why I have her button on my sidebar too, so if you ever forget the URL, you can get to her website from there.

So there you go. My favorite things! I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do. If you have any favorites, leave them in the comments so I can know about them too!