2011 HOT Holiday Toy List

I usually check out the Black Friday deals, and sometimes venture out to score a great sale. With my boys, I usually find out what's hot this year ahead of time, but since we've given up TV completely, my kids are a little out of the loop, too. If you are like me and like to be in the know when it comes to what your kids maybe asking for this year, here is a list of some of the Hot Holiday Toys for 2011. Who knows, you may even catch an early deal.  

Monster High Dolls are based on books webisodes and feature characters related to famous monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolves and more. The main characters include: Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Lagoona Blue, Cleo de Nile,Deuce Gorgon and Clawd Wolf. Monster High Dolls are created by Mattel and start around $13.99.

Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll have bendable hair that you are able to twist, curl and straighten. Each doll comes with a brush, clips, hair beads, an a pet with a bendable tail.  The Lalaloopsy Dolls are rag dolls that magically came to life, taking on the personalities of the fabrics that were used to make them. They live in a colorful, silly world where you keep the magic alive. Silly Hair Jewel Sparkles has wacky, wild hair that really bends! Looks like these are priced around $30.00.

Lego Ninjago is the newest theme and while it uses elements from the previous Ninja Theme, there are some changes. The Bandits and Shoguns have been removed and replaced with the Skeleton Army and vehicles have been added. This series focuses on the 4 Mystical Powers and the mastery of Spinjintzu. There is a large variety of Lego Ninjago products and you may find them for as low as $3.50.

Sesame Street Let's Rock Elmo comes with his very own microphone, drums, and tambourine. Elmo interacts with the instruments to bring 6 rockin’ songs to life. There are also other instruments you can purchase separately to grow your band. You and Elmo can rock out for around $58.00 and extra instruments will be around $20.00.

LeapPad LeapFrog Explorer Tablet is a personalized tablet just for kids. With a library of 100+ games, apps, digital books, and more this is sure to provide lots of learning enjoyment. The 5″ touch screen provides easy use for little fingers and the built-in camera will be lots of fun. There are bundle options but the LeapPad Explorer by itself is running about $99.00.

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks give you all of the fun with none of the cleanup. The wall mounted Hot Wheels Wall Track provides all the enjoyment of stunts, flips, and  tricks but at a whole new level. 3M Command Strips provide easy hanging and there are additional track sets to continue to build. Expand your horizon vertically for around $30.00.

Transformers Dark of the Moon Ultimate Optimus Prime is going to be one of the most popular Dark of the Moon Toys. Battle Sounds, glowing weapon lights, and launching missle sounds are some of the electronic features on Ultimate Optimus Prime.  He will convert in to Omega Combat Armor for show time and all of this for around $60.00.

Nerf Vortex Nitron is a disc blaster with ultimate technology and a cutting edge trigger. Center your aim with the electronic scope and targeting lights and reload in a shorter amount of time with the 20-disc magazine and on-board magazine storage. Nerf Vortex Nitron is fully automatic and fully customizable with the Tactical Rail System. This bad boy is going to run you around $40.00.

My Keepon is the newest addition to the Wow! Stuff Line. Little Robot with a Big Personality is what My Keepon boasts and this Youtube Video Shows it. What’s neat about My Keepon is that proceeds of every purchase go towards research on the use of robots for Autism. My Keepon will dance about $50.00 out of you pocket if you are looking to entertain yourself with one.

Thanks, Sweeties Freebies for this list!

Product Review: Mixbook Personalized Cards

As the holidays approach, there's one thing many families do to keep in touch: send Christmas cards. One favorite way to send out cards is with a customized photo of the family. A common place to get these done is your local photo processing place. These come out looking like a photo, though, and aren't very professional in my opinion. That's why I was excited to review Mixbook's personalized photo cards.

First, their site is very easy to use. I was able to choose from a variety of styles of cards and edit the cards to my wants. For instance, I changed my card to say, "Merry Christmas, May Jesus' love shine brightly during on you and yours during this holiday season." On the back, I was able to customize our family's name and add a photo of my kids.

When the holiday photo cards arrived, I was really excited to see how they came out. They were a nice, thick quality with crisp printing and great resolution on the photo. They were a beautiful matte finish and something I would be happy to send out to my friends and family this Christmas. Their prices were also very reasonable for the quality of card produced. 

If you're interested in learning more about Mixbook, you can like them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Save on the Holidays -- 5 Must-Do Tips to Slash your Budget

The Holidays are coming quicker than you know, and it's this time of year that our frugal souls can make a run for it. Keep in your holiday budget by planning ahead.

1. Stock up on Christmas gifts throughout the year. At the end of every season, stores have items on clearance. Stores like Kohl's frequently have coupons like $10 off $20 which can be used on clearance items as well. Stocking up on toys, bath products, candles, fun gadgets, sports items, etc. can be a smart way to save on gifts. Tip: Target has their annual toy clearance in July, usually the last Thursday is when prices hit their rock bottom.

2. Stockpile non-perishable baking goods when you see a sale. Throughout the year, you'll see sales on sugar, flour, baking mixes, chocolate chips, canned fruit, etc. Buy extras and you will have what you need for all of that holiday baking!

3. Use those great sites I keep telling you about: EBates.com and Swagbucks. EBates can help you save money on your online purchases and by using Swagbucks, you can earn giftcards. Use the giftcards to buy gifts, or to give as gifts or stocking stuffers.

4. Participate in cookie swap. Instead of making dozens and dozens of different cookies, costing you lots of money in the process, get your friends together and bring cookies in bags to swap with each other.

5. Santa shops at JBF. JBF, or Just Between Friends, is an excellent consignment sale. There are tons of like-new clothes, baby items, books, electronics, strollers, furniture, and toys. Most items are at least half off retail and you can hardly tell the difference between new and JBF. In my area, the JBF sale is this week. If you haven't already, check out my previous post on JBF, and go to the Just Between Friends site to see when a sale is happening around you.

Do you have tips for saving around the holidays? Share below! I'd love to hear from you!

Free Customized Trick-or-Treat Bag!

Vistaprint is offering a FREE customizeable tote bag! I've ordered these before and they were high quality with clear printing. I gave them as gifts to friends, who loved them.


Vistaprint currently has styles including Holiday bags just in time for Halloween! An awesome idea for a personalized trick or treat bag. ONLY pay for shipping!


Click HERE to get started on yours. Once you are on their site, scroll all the way down until you see the tote bags on the bottom left. Click on the bags, then on the next page, click on the drop down menu and choose Holiday, and you will be able to choose from various Halloween themed totes. Shipping is usually less than $5.


Tip: you can order one of each type of free item and ship them together to save on shipping. If you want more than one of an item, however, click on the link two separate times and ship them separately. Shipping will be slightly higher for two separate shipments, but you won't have to pay for the second item.


Also on this page were business cards, t-shirts, mouse pads, mugs, invitations, notecards, and several more...all FREE!


Thanks for the great idea, Frugal Fanatic!

Father's Day Freebies

Father's Day is just around the corner--this Sunday! And that means freebies for Dads. Check out this blog entry from Thrifty Coupons and Deals that lists lots of Father's Day goodies.