I received three craft books to review this summer — and I just got around to looking at them. I received no compensation for reviewing these books.

The three books are all by Suzanne McNeill and published by Fox Chapel Publishing:

1. Vacation Crafting

2. Foam Crafts for Kids

3. Totally Awesome Tie-Dye

I looked through the books, and here is my opinion of them:

• Vacation Crafting has a lot of neat projects. Many of them would be for upper grade school girls. Some like the foam crafts and the fusible beads, younger kids could do as well. I would even like to do some of these crafts!
• Foam Crafts for Kids had a lot more crafts that younger children could do. We did start making a couple of crafts; we just ran out of time to finish them. We will finish them this week! There were a few crafts that were more advanced and perfect for tweens.
• Totally Awesome Tie-Dye I am definitely saving this for reference. I have tried doing tie-dye t-shirts a couple of times with not great success although I had kits. The pictures in this book are amazing, so I am going to have to set aside some time to read the book, figure out what we have done wrong in the past, and try again.

The couple of crafts we started on were pencil holders out of middle size Pringle cans for the kids desks at school. They get to decorate their area, so they thought they would like those. They got the painting of their can done, but still have to do the foam part. They also cut out foam letters to decorate so they can put their name on the wall over their area. They still have to decorate the letters. They had a blast!

One of my readers has the opportunity to win the Totally Awesome Tie-Dye book! Please enter the giveaway below. Winner must live in the United States.

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Creative K Kids is not responsible for the fulfillment of this prize.

Smartphones and devices are a way of life for almost everyone today.

I have my phone everywhere I go. Now that it is two years old, the battery does not keep charge as long as it used to keep charge. Last week, I worked in our church’s rummage sale, and I had to bring my charger with me as I was there all day long.

My daughter would try to remember to charge her emergency phone up before her basketball games, but sometimes she did not get her phone completely charged up. I did not want her going on road trips without a way for her to reach me.

So what do we do when our phone is dying and we do not have a way to charge it?

We use a portable charger!

Portable chargers have been around forever. We have a couple of them that I make sure are charged and ready for road trips — and in hurricane season! Last September, before we knew we had to evacuate because of Hurricane Irma, I had my portable chargers ready in case we were without electricity. And we would have used them if we hadn’t evacuated as our house was without electricity for several days. My Florida natural disasters may be different than yours, but no one is exempt from potentially being without electricity whether its a storm, blizzard, tornado, or some freak incident.

However, not all portable chargers are created equal, which is why I was excited to review the HubMini Portable Charger by myCharge. They sent me one in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation.

Here you can see what the HubMini looks like.

• In the first row, you can see what the HubMini looks like. It has the two integrated cables plus a USB cord to recharge your HubMini.

• In the second row, you can see how the integrated cables tuck into the HubMini.

• In the 3rd row, you can see how it is charging my iPhone plus my husband’s Samsung at the same time. Then you see the picture where it is charging just my iPhone.

• In the last row, you can see how it is recharging from my computer. When I opened the HubMini, there wasn’t much charge left in it, so I had to recharge it before I could charge my phone fully. When it is fully charged, all four circles will be lit. (last picture).

Here are some features I noticed right away and liked about the HubMini Portable Charger:

• It comes to you ready to use. I was able to take it out of the package and plug it in to my phone right away. It was not fully charged though.
• It has two integrated charging cables: one micro-USB cable and an Apple® Lightning™ cable so I can charge my iPhone and my husband’s Samsung at the same time (or a Kindle that belongs to one one of my daughters.)
• It is small — I can put it in my pocket and carry it with me — or put it in my purse.
• It charges quickly.

Here are some of the technology features that I copied from their website:

TECHNOLOGY:

• Smart-sense: ensures complete device compatibility
• Hyper-charge: ultra-fast charging of your devices; up to 65% faster than competitors 
• Power-stay: maintains battery power for up to 1 year
• Max-power: maximum power transfer from powerbank to device
• High-density battery: the smallest and lightest powerbank
• Safe-cell: provides the highest level of battery safety
• Rapid-recharge: powerbank recharges up to 50% faster than competitors
• Pass Through Charging: will charge the powerbank and connected device simultaneously

I like how I can send this with my daughters and they can charge their phone when they are traveling with their sport’s team. They can always get hold of me.

I don’t have to worry about my phone dying if I have this charger in my purse. If you have never bought a portable charger, I encourage you to give this one a try!

You can enter the giveaway to win one of your own!

Winner must reside in the United States.
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Creative K Kids is not responsible for the fulfillment of this prize.

• You can still enter these giveaways HERE and HERE.

I was given a Scratch and Draw Enchanted Animals book from The Quarto Group to give my honest review and to offer to my readers as a giveaway. No compensation was received.

I originally thought all my children would love having this book, but once I got it, I realized only my tweens and teens would be the ones to really enjoy this book. On the right hand page, there would be a drawing, and on the left hand page there would be a page with the scratch off dark metallic coating. The basic idea is that you can scratch off the coating with the included stylus trying to follow the drawing that is on the left hand side or you can make your own personalized scratch art drawing if desired. I feel like this book would be too difficult for my younger kids. This book is targeted to adults who would like to do this kind of art for a period of relaxation.

I found a drawing that was not extremely hard and tried my hand at it. I actually was able to create a reasonable likeness to the original drawing in a short amount of time. I am not much of a drawer, but I could see how it would be a relaxing, fun activity to help someone unwind after a busy day. I stopped when I got to all the flowers — I don’t know if I could do that!

The included stylus had two ends: one end was tapered to scratch off larger areas, and the other end was pointed to scratch off smaller details. The bold lines above were done with the tapered edge end.

Another nice feature of the book is that all of the pages are perforated, so the pages can be torn out to make it easier to draw on the pages or they could be torn out to display the drawings when they are done.

• Rabbits and dandelions
• Woodland raccoons
• Elegant owls,
• Foxes
• Bears
• A whole forest worth of other enchanting wildlife.

I really liked this adult approach to Scratch and Draw art. It packs easily for long trips, and it can be worked on in a person’s free moments. There are many other options for these type of books that can be found HERE and HERE.

Enter the following giveaway to receive your own copy of Scratch & Draw Enchanted Animals.

Winner must reside in the United States.

Go HERE to enter a giveaway for Mean Green Extra Strength Cleaners!

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Creative K Kids is not responsible for the fulfillment of this prize.

Many of you have seen my first post this year that shared with my readers the power of Mean Green in every day cleaning. This year, I am an ambassador for Mean Green where I publish sponsored posts such as this one as well as receive free products for my honest opinion.

We have truly loved having this product at our disposal. I have it under every sink, and I used the Mildew Destroyer in my bathroom. It did a fantastic job on my shower and shower curtain! I’ll show you pictures in a future post.

However, not only can you use Mean Green cleaners inside the house, you can use them outside the house as well.

Look at all the different cleaners Mean Green makes for outside cleaning use:

I was given the Auto & Garage cleaner in a spray bottle to review. Here is what Mean Green says about this product:

Mean Green® Auto & Garage is a concentrated, multi-purpose cleaner and degreaser. Proven to beat other brands on tough grease and grime. Specially formulated to remove and dissolve petroleum based grease, grime, and oil from engines, tools, and concrete, to outdoor furniture, grills, painted surfaces, and more. Mean Green is the #1 Heavy Duty cleaner!

I used the Auto & Garage cleaner on my headlights and front grill of my minivan, and it did take off the grime and dirt very easily! It’s hard to tell in the photos, but my rag definitely was dirty and the car was definitely cleaner! I would like to try it on the oil that has dripped from my car on our cement driveway to see how it works.

The other cleaner I used outside was the regular Mean Green Super Strength Cleaner & Degreaser on the outside of our front door.

Many houses in Florida do not have screen doors. Since we have no screen door, our front door gets very dirty as well as a place for spiders to congregate as it sheltered under an overhang. We sprayed the front door with the Mean Green Super Strength Cleaner & Degreaser and wiped it down with a rag. It made a big difference, and the front door looked great!

Look at all the ways you can use the Super Strength Cleaner & Degreaser outside:

It’s so easy to use it! Here are the directions for outside use:

One of my readers will be able to receive two bottles of the Mean Green Super Strength Cleaner & Degreaser! Winners must reside in the United States.

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Creative K Kids is not responsible for the fulfillment of this prize. Winner will be contacted via email. If no response is heard within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Enter these two giveaways as well!

• Scratch and Draw Enchanted Animals book
• Kwik Stix Tempera Paints

I’ve now been a mother for 15 years, and the years go faster and faster.

My journeyhood of motherhood is very different now than when I started. I have no more babies. I am out of the house more than in it. Those early years, I was home most days babysitting other children as well as watching my own. Now I am teaching my children along with other children every morning and running around almost every afternooon.

The struggles my kids are facing are completely different as well. Friends, school, thoughts of college, hormones, and feelings are things we are now dealing with. It’s not an easier time, but it is a rewarding time.

What I would never change is our decision to have five children. We  may not have much money, but we are so glad for childhood treasures. When I started blogging, I was back in the years when I was home all the time. I had my last baby, and I was babysitting. I was done with the “up all hours” stage of life. My oldest children were in school, so I had time as I sat at home to write my lengthy blog posts. That was when I shared more crafts and Mother’s Day posts.

Now in my running around stage, I hammer out a few posts late at night, and that’s all the time I have. BUT, since my children are older, my second daughter said she will do some craft posts this summer for the blog! Older children are a blessing!

Here are some of my past Mother’s Day posts:

• • 36 DIY Mother’s Day Gifts and 10 DIY Mother’s Day Cards
  •  2 Easy Desserts Your Kids Can Make for Mother’s Day
  • Handprint Crafts for Mother’s Day with printable poem
  • Mosaic Terra Cotta Flower Pots
  • My Favorite “Mother” Quotes
  • My Reflections at 2:45 a.m. on Being a Mommy
  • An All-Time Favorite Post on Motherhood

Now on to the giveaway!

We are so excited to be giving away $250 in cash prizes for Mother’s Day to two lucky readers.

The prize will consist of 2 – $125 gift cards.

Each winner will choose the gift card you want. Please choose a gift card which comes from an online store and can be paid by US dollars. EX: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Kohls, etc. You may ask for more than one gift card but must add up to $125.

Please stop by and say hi to these wonderful ladies and their blogs.

The giveaway will end midnight on Friday, May 11th, a few days before Mother’s Day. You will have 48 hours to respond to the email claiming the prize. If we don’t hear in 48 hours, we will choose another winner. The giveaway is open to anyone over 18 years of age and able to receive e-gift cards from the U.S.
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