Get Ready for 12 Days of Giveaways!

It's almost Christmas and the presents, they are a-comin'! Have you been naughty or nice? At Bonggamom Finds, it doesn't matter, because everyone gets a chance to win! My 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways event begins on December 25 and I'll be giving away one present for each of the 12 Days of Christmas:

	Day 1: Bosch MIXXO cordless immersion blender game for Nintendo DS begins Dec. 25
	Day 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for Xbox 360 begins Dec. 26
	Day 3:Skin MD Natural lotion begins Dec. 27
	Day 4: Ribert & Robert DVD begins Dec. 28
	Day 5: Rabbids Go Home game for Wii begins Dec. 29
	Day 6: Imagine games for Nintendo DS from Ubisoft(2 winners!) begins Dec. 30
	Day 7: Squeeballs Party game for Nintendo DS begins Dec. 31
	Day 8: Scrapblog photo book or calendar begins Jan. 1
	Day 9: Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs game for Nintendo DS begins Jan. 2
	Day 10: A Century of Flavor cookbook (3 winners!) begins Jan. 3
	Day 11: Petz: Nursery game for Nintendo DS (2 winners!) begins Jan. 4
	Day 12: Yo! Gabba Gabba cd begins Jan. 5

(note: Links will not work until the giveaway goes live.)


To enter, visit Bonggamom Finds every day between December 25 and January 5, and leave a comment on the day's giveaway post. As always, I'll give everyone lots of extra ways to enter. For starters, post my giveaway button on your site and you'll get an extra entry to each giveaway:

<a href="http://bonggafinds.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img width="125" alt="Bonggamom Finds" src="http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/bonggamom/blog%20buttons/XmasGiveaways09.png" /></a>

Happy Holidays!

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Today is Free Shipping Day!

Today is the last day to order online and get your presents delivered in time for Christmas! Fortunately (and maybe not so coincidentally) today is also Free Shipping Day, when over 700 merchants try to convince you to buy stuff from them by dangling the shiny carrot of free shipping in your face. Not that I'm complaining -- I'm a sucker for free shipping so if you have some last minute holiday shopping to do, it's a Godsend! In fact, I did a quick run-through of some of the products and sites I've blogged about this year, and found several that are offering Free Shipping today (note: I'm assuming this promo is only good for today, and there may be some restrictions and exclusions so you'll have to check the site out yourself):

* Tiny Prints

* Bella Sara

* ToysAndGamesOnline.com and other CSN Stores

I'll keep updating this post if I see any other free shipping deals for today. Happy procrastination shopping!

I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Liv Dolls

Spinmaster's Bakugan is the hot toy for boys. But what about for girls? The Liv fashion dolls, Spinmaster's latest offering for girls, have got some unique features that really make them stand out from the crowd. We received a sample Liv Doll (Sophie, the blond hairdresser) to review; here's what we thought:


The Basics
Here's a description of the Liv Dolls from Spinmaster:
The Liv dolls -- Daniela, Sophie, Katie and Alexis -- are real teenage girls with trend-setting styles and cool features like easy to change wigs, 14 points of articulation so you can create lots of great poses, and real glass-like eyes that add to their amazing look! Just like the average teenager, the Liv girls are fun, funny BFF's who each have distinct personalities, likes, dislikes, and they all face the same challenges of growing up as girls everywhere! Don't forget to check out www.livworld.com where you can hang out with the girls online and visit their online diaries, virtual closets, photo albums, webisodes and more. All Liv dolls and accessory packs come with a unique access code for the site, that all unlock additional play features online.



The Bongga
Sophie is quite a pretty little doll, and I love her stylish yet wholesome look. Any doll that doesn't have that made-up, pouty, self-entitled Bratz doll look gets a thumbs-up from me! The wigs and hair-changing aspect make the Liv dolls quite different from all the rest, and give a whole new dimension to my daughter's play. Now she can change her doll's hairstyle without cutting it all off!

The Blah
The same multiple-points-of-articulation that make the Liv Doll so flexible and fun to pose also makes her easy to break. Sophie's joints are pretty sturdy, but I can easily imagine her wrist being twisted off by an overeager little girl. Also, make sure your daughter has a safe place to keep all the wigs, because a bald Liv doll might be a bit freaky.

The Bottom Line
Liv Dolls are fashion dolls that parents can feel good about giving to their little girls. Just ask them to watch the wrists!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Nanovor Nanoscope

When I attended the Time to Play Holiday Showcase last October, my friends from Time to Play all had one thing to say about the Expo floor: You've got twin boys, right? Well, you've got to go to the Smith and Tinker table! So I did, and they were right: 3Po and Jammy would indeed love to play with all that wonderful green slime enclosed in a barrel made to look like toxic waste.

Oh, no. The product rep told me. That's not our product, that's just a promotional item. Here's our product.

And then my eyes popped out of my head. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to pick them up, but I couldn't because Smith & Tinker's toy, the Nanovor Nanoscope, had me mesmerized. And if a grown woman with no personal interest in battles, monsters or videogames could think a videogame about battling monsters is cool, imagine what a young boy would think!



The Basics

Nanovor is an online battle game site: according to the back story, Nanovor are microscopic silicon creatures that live inside your computer, and love to destroy one another. A teenager names Lucas has figured out a way to control them and pit them in battle with other players. You can register at Nanovor.com, download the software onto your computer, create a Nanovor monster and pit your monster in battle against other registered players, all for free. You can also buy Nanocash in order to buy more Nanovor monsters and "upgrade" them (i.e. give them more powers).

The Nanovor Nanoscope is a handheld device that allows players to download their Nanovor monsters and take their battles offline. Players connect their Nanoscopes together in order to do battle. Here's a short (and, with my apologies, blurry) video of how it all works:



The Bongga
My boys adore the Nanoscope! And I love how they can do battle both online and offline. I'm not really comfortable with the idea of 3Po and Jammy finding complete strangers to battle with online, so the Nanoscope is a great way to take their Nanovor battles offline and keep their Nanovor battles between each other.

The Nanoscope is like a telephone; it's not really much good on its own (although you can play solo games; there are a couple of games included and you can buy solo game cartridges), and the real fun comes when you have a friend or two or three or four who also has a Nanoscope of his own. Seeing the Nanovor monsters jump from one Nanoscope to the next is the coolest thing ever! You can connect up to 4 Nanoscopes at a time; I have no idea how the Nanovors would jump between the 4 Nanoscopes but I'll bet it's the stuff that boy's slime-encrusted dreams are made of.

The screen is small, but of excellent quality. It only has 6 buttons (up, down, left, right, select, go back) so it's really easy to use. And it comes with a hard protective case, so hopefully your son will remember to put his Nanoscope back inside after he plays with it and extend the life of his toy.


The Blah
It takes FOR.E.VER. to download the Nanovor software, install it onto your computer, hook up the Nanoscope and get some Nanovor monsters onto the Nanoscope -- in our case, almost an hour! 3Po and Jammy were dancing around in excitement, but with each minute that passed I could see their enthusiasm drooping and the wait dampening their spirits (Is it ready yet? Why is it taking so long!) The instructions say it can take up to 15 or 20 minutes -- yeah, right!

Speaking of the instructions, I didn't find them too helpful; I would have appreciated more screenshots so I'd know what to expect when I connected the Nanoscope to the computer. If you're buying this as a present for your own child, I'd definitely recommend opening it and pre-installing the software before giving it to him (just tape the packaging back up!), so that once he opens his present, it's all ready to go.


The Bottom Line
Despite the difficulty I had with the initial setup, this toy has provided so much entertainment to my boys that I would recommend it to anyone looking for a gift idea. Just make sure someone else they know also has a Nanoscope!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Last-minute Gift Ideas: Keepsake Books from Scrapblog

Ever since the advent of digital photography, our photo albums have fallen by the wayside. That's why every year I like to take a select group of photos and create a keepsake photo book. After all, forcing your guests to click through thousands and thousands of your photos just isn't the same as leafing through the crisp pages of a book filled with treasured memories. It's short and sweet and a wonderful keepsake. It also makes a great present -- just think of a keepsake book filled with photos of the grandchildren, or photos of a trip you took together with a good friend.

I have to admit, most of my keepsake books haven't really been too fancy, just photos with a plain background. I'd love to give my books a bit of flair, but I'm intimidated by the the frills and complications of all the digital scrapbook sites I see. It takes me long enough just to select the photos!

So when Scrapblog, an online scrapbooking site, told me their site has an easy way to create scrapbook pages, I jumped at the chance to try it. They invited me to create a personalized album, and it's true: anyone can scrapbook, with almost no effort at all! With their Quick Mix tool, I was able to do it in 3 steps:


Step 1: Select a kit. Choose from a wide variety of themed pages to use. All the layouts are done for you so you don't need to fiddle with cropping and backgrounds and stickers and all the things that scrapbookers do (but all the things that last-minute gift givers don't have time for!):



Step 2: Choose photos. You select a bunch of photos that you want to include in your scrapbook pages. You can upload from your computer or use photos you have stored in various online accounts like Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket and more. Having the online option was really valuable to me because I hate spending time uploading photos that are already online on another account!


Step 3: That's It. The Quick Mix tool will populate the scrapbook pages with your selected photos. It figures out which ones are the landscape ones and which ones are the portrait ones! The photo below is an actual page from the scrapbook I've created. I'm doing a Keepsake Book of our trip to the Grand Canyon. I'm very please with how it's turning out, and I can't wait to receive it!


If you want more pages, you can add them with a single click. Don't like the way Quick Mix paired two photos together? You can switch them easily. Don't want captions? Delete the caption box.

And beware: since it takes, like, zero time to create the page layouts, you can actually spend a lot of time customizing them: adding stickers here, adding text there, switching photos around, changing the backgrounds, and all that. I have to admit, it's so much fun, I did a bit of customizing myself!. You don't even need to use the Quick Mix tool to create your scrapbook pages. You can stick the photos in yourself, using premade layouts, or if you're an experienced scrapbooker, you can create your pages from scratch.

When you have all the scrapbook pages you want, you can compile them in the hardcover Keepsake Book, a softcover book, a calendar, or greeting cards. You can even buy the finished pages and print them yourself.


Scrapbook prides itself on a quick turnaround time: orders ship within 2 to 3 business days. Which means, even with all the holiday rush, you can still order them in time for Christmas! Order by today, December 16 and select FedEx 2-day delivery, or order by tomorrow, December 17 and select FedEx overnight shipping, and they'll arrive by December 24th. And to help offset the cost of expedited shipping, here are some discount codes you can enter when checking out:

* Enter code CAL2010 to save 25% off wall calendar orders

* Enter code HOLIDAY25 to save 25% off your order


Win It!
I'll be giving away a Scrapblog Keepsake Book to one lucky Bonggamom Finds reader in my upcoming 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways event. Keep coming back to Bonggamom Finds, or subscribe to my updates, so you'll know when this giveaway starts!

I will be receiving a sample from this company to use in a future review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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CafePress Ornament Designer

Shh... I'll let you in on a secret. This Christmas I'm getting my mom and dad a series of tree ornaments personalized with their grandchildren's names! They love any kind of present that features their grandkids, so it's perfect for them.

I myself love commemorative holiday ornaments that show the passage of time. For example, how cute is the Baby's First Christmas ornament in the photo above? It's from Cafepress.com, the largest online retailer of user-generated t-shirt designs and other products. They've got all the themed ornaments you can think of, with a variety of templates to choose from including baby’s first Christmas, Hanukkah, Twilight/New Moon and more -- but the ornaments I like most are the personalized photo ornaments -- and this holiday season Cafepress has made it easy as pie to make them.

They recently introduced the Ornament Designer, a tool that lets users customize their own holiday ornaments with text and photos. You choose the border, upload the photo and customize the text, and Cafepress will send you a flat white porcelain tree ornament with your personalized design printed on one side. Cafepress generously provided me with a gift certificate so I could personalize my own ornaments.


The Bongga
The Ornament Designer is soooo easy to use! You can create your own ornament in 4 simple steps:

1) Log on to www.cafepress.com/designer/ornament

2) Pick a design style. This is probably the hardest part, because there are so many cute designs. They come in round or oval shapes, and a variety of holiday borders. If you want, you can choose to have your photo come right up to the edge of the ornament, with no borders at all.


3) Once you select your design, you'll be asked to upload a photo and enter text (if the design you chose includes customizable text). You can move the photo around and change its size to maximize your little darlings' cuteness. Speaking of cuteness, that baby in the photo is my new niece, Pizza. Yup, that's her nickname. Never mind why. Look at her, all pink and pretty in her wintery ornament frame.... I tell you, if there's anything guaranteed to melt a grandparent's heart, it's a Baby's First Christmas tree ornament!



4) Select the number of ornaments you want to purchase, and that's it! Your order will be added to the shopping cart, and once you check out, your cute new holiday ornament will be on its merry way. It's that easy!


Did I mention that the ornament designs are utterly adorable? I was so in love with Pizza's ornament that I decided to make another one with my kids on it. The vintage brown-and-blue design is to die for.



Finally, I am BLOWN AWAY (yes, I did mean to use all caps there) with how quickly my order arrived! I ordered the ornament last Wednesday, December 9th. The order confirmation email gave an estimate of Dec. 18-22 for my package arrival -- yet here it is in my happy little hand! It arrived yesterday, and I couldn't be more pleased. The actual ornament looks nicely kiln-fired, glossy on both the front and the back. The photo, borders and text came out very well, with nice, bright colors. It's truly a keepsake ornament!

The Blah
The character limit for text personalization is pretty limiting, only 10 characters. I couldn't even get "Christmas 2009" written on the ornament! And in the actual ornament, the "2009" came out really small anyway; it looks like there should have been more than enough space to write out "Christmas 2009". Last but not least, I would advise anyone who's thinking of making one of these ornaments to use a photo with only 1 or 2 people, otherwise the photo will end up too small to see.


The Bottom Line
The CafePress Ornament Designer is the easiest thing to use and a great option for a last-minute holiday present that needs to get ordered, stat!

I received a gift certificate to CafePress.com in order to review their custom ornament creation tool. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Last-minute Gift Ideas: Erin Condren Life Planners

Every holiday season my mom, an office manager, would receive all sorts of calendars and planners and organizers from clients. I hated them all because they were so ugly! Fortunately nowadays there's a much wider range of choices for organization tools. Case in point: the calendars and organizers on Erin Condren's online store look so stylish and chic, each one is practically a work of art. I was invited to choose from a Life Planner from her collection, and I fell in love with this one:
It's her classic "Taffy" design, and it's going to keep me organized in style all year long. I can't wait to receive it -- and once I do, I'll tell you all about it!

If you're looking for a last-minute holiday gift idea and can't wait for my review, the good news is that you can still order a Life Planner from ErinCondren.com -- along with an assortment of personalized calendars, gift labels, and other stationery -- in time for December 25. Orders placed today, December 16, will arrive by December 23 if you choose Priority Processing or Overnight Shipping.

I will be receiving a sample from this company for a future review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Last-minute Gift Ideas: Chic Canvas prints

If you're like me, you're just waking up to the fact that the 25th is just about a week away, and you have a friend or relative or two who you totally forgot about -- until their presents for you and your kids arrived in the mail.

Here's a great last-minute gift idea: photo canvases from Chiccanvas.com. They'll take any photo you send (okay, not any photo; you want to send them photos with resolutions of 300 dpi or higher for best quality) and turn it into a canvas work of art. It's a great keepsake gift for anyone -- and no, I don't just mean photos of your kids for your grandparents. How about a photo of Yosemite Falls for a godmother who went there for the very first time this year?

The good news is, they can still deliver in time for Christmas if you act now and order by the 18th. They'll even take 25% off your holiday order if you enter holiday09 at checkout. ChicCanvas.com will be sending me a photo canvas so I can see the quality for myself; I can't wait!

I will be receiving a product sample from this company to use in a future review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry Toothpaste review and giveaway - win a $100 Visa giftcard!

Win a $100 Visa giftcard! To find out how, keep reading....

When I was a kid, getting ready for bed was boring. We used whatever the grownups used to wash our hair, scrub our bodies and brush our teeth. No fun flavors or yummy scents, no cartoon characters on the bottles. No wonder I hated going to bed. Things are so much better in today's world of personal care products for kids! I know, I know, it's the usual You've-got-it-easy-in-my-day-I-had-to-walk-five-miles-to-milk-the-cow story, but as a parent I'm nothing but happy at the way kid-friendly products turn bathing and brushing teeth into a fun, pleasant activity. It goes without saying that the ingredients in a kids' product should be gentle, not harmful. BlogHer Reviews recently sent us a tube of Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry toothpaste for kids, which I was more than happy to try because I know Tom's of Maine has a reputation for safe, natural and effective. But is Tom's kid-friendly?

Click here to read the rest of my Silly Strawberry review and enter to win a $100 Visa Giftcard...

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If "It's All Too Much", Peter Walsh is here to help

There's a lot to look forward to during the holidays: parties, cooking, baking, cards, presents, shopping, wrapping, travel, relatives...... and I'm getting stressed just listing it all down. "It's All Too Much" is a familiar theme that's running around this holiday season (kind of like the flu!), and it also happens to be the title of organization expert Peter Walsh's new DVD. Like with all his books, Peter is going to help you simplify your life and control clutter -- only this time, you'll get to watch Peter walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Here's a short preview of what you'll get from the DVD:


I can't wait to receive my review copy; hopefully his tips and tricks are going to help me make getting organized one New Year's resolution I can keep!

I will be receiving a review copy of this DVD as a reference for a future review post, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Join the Squeeballs Party!

At our house, we have a rule: no videogames or computer games or tv when a friend comes over for a playdate. Sometimes we relax the rule for a short dvd, but I've been pretty adamant about the video game rule because I don't like the idea of one kid hogging the game console while the other kid watches forlornly by his side, waiting for his turn. Even if they take turns, they're not really playing together, are they?

I recently received a game to review for Nintendo DS -- Squeeballs Party -- that actually lets kids play against (or with) each other on a single console. It just might tempt me to let the boys take the Nintendo DS out the next time they have a playdate. Here's my review of it:

The Basics
In Squeeballs Party, players "test" little creatures called squeeballs the same way auto companies test crash-test dummies. You can cook, slice, bat, splat, race, bowl, and generally try to destroy squeeballs in a variety of games. The game is made by PDP; it's available for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi, and as an Apple iPhone and iPod Touch application.

Here's a more detailed description of the game from the makers of Squeeballs:
"Squeeballs Party" features 12 small, furry creatures called Squeeballs that are manufactured on a secret island somewhere in the Pacific. Before the Squeeballs can be sold to children across the world, you put them to the test - to the point of destruction. The game's mischievous antics provide a nice mix of fun and guilty pleasure that both kids and adults will enjoy.

The ultimate party game, "Squeeballs Party" gets you up and moving this holiday season as you have to blow up, cook, slice, bat, bowl, shoot and bounce the Squeeballs. The game features a unique collection of 11 party games, each taking place in a different environment from lava-filled canyons, bowling alleys and kitchens to science labs and snow-capped mountains. As the game progresses and more challenges are met - each one more difficult than the last - the game showcases more than 150 unique challenges.

The Bongga
You just cannot help but fall in love with these funny-looking creatures, even as you're trying to destroy them. They just keep coming back for more! The version that PDP sent us had a bonus squeeball stylus included (it has a plastic squeeball on one end of the stylus). It's not too practical --we don't really know where to store it -- but super-cute nonetheless.


In addition, they sent us a couple of stuffed Squeeballs, which are possibly the most adorable swag items I've ever set eyes on:

They're like ball-shaped Ugly Dolls, so hideous that they actually look cute. 3Po immediately went for the green one and Jammy for the black one, leaving poor Pea out in the cold with no squeeball to love. I immediately went searching for a third one to buy, but the best I could come up with was a Gamestop promo that offered a free squeeball plush for every purchase of a Squeeballs Party Wii game. Since that was posted back in October, and since we don't have a Wii, I'm just going to have to keep looking.

The other thing I really like about this game is the fact that the Nintendo DS version has a multi-player mode that lets friends play games together, like on the Wii. So, for example, you can set up a Squeeball bowling game (which puts the Squeeballs on top of bowling pins and you try to knock them down) with 2 players, and each player takes turns bowling a frame, just like in the real game.


The Blah
This game doesn't fully utilize the touch screen and stylus the way other Nintendo DS do, so it was a bit difficult intially to figure out how to play each game.

And by the way, I'm serious about those stuffed squeeballs -- they are adorable, and it's such a bummer that they're just promo items and not actually sold separately. I'd buy them!


The Bottom Line
Squeeballs Party features adorable characters, classic, easy-to-play games, and best of all, it actually lets kids play on the DS together. I like it!


Sale!
PDP has dropped the price of Squeeballs Party for the Wii and DS from $29.99 to $19.99, just in time for the holidays!


Win It!
Watch out for a Squeeballs Party giveaway here on Bonggamom Finds; it's all party of my 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways event, starting December 25.

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Bonggamom's Friday Finds -- The Bestest Giveaways Around the Blogosphere

As a giveaway blogger, I've found it's a great way to get more traffic to my giveaways. And as a person who loves entering giveaways, I've found it's a great way to find out where all the best giveaways are.

So I've started a weekly giveaway roundup post that hopefully people will find useful. Feel free to leave links to your giveaways, everyone. And don't forget to get cracking and enter all those giveaways!

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Tiana's Cookbook: Recipes for Kids

Disney's new animated movie, The Princess and the Frog, opens tomorrow. I definitely want to watch this one, not just because I think no one does classic cartoon movies quite like Disney. I also think it will be interesting to see how Disney moves this fairytale from its traditional blond-princess, medieval/french rennaissance setting to Louisiana and the bayous. And I think it's great that The Princess and the Frog will help bring elements of Creole and African-American culture into young kids' consciousness.

To help us get jazzed up for the movie, Disney Consumer Products and Disney Press sent us a copy of Tiana's Cookbook: Recipes for Kids, along with a Princess and the Frog doll, some fun Princess and the Frog party goods and an apron. We had a grand time cooking up some of Tiana's recipes! Here's more about what I thought of the cookbook:


The Basics
Tiana's Cookbook: Recipes for Kids is Disney's latest movie-themed cookbook containing recipes from Princess Tiana's world that kids can make themselves. Here is what Disney Consumer Products and Disney Press have to say about the book and the movie:

Opening nationwide December 11, The Princess and the Frog is a magical fairytale set in New Orleans that marks Disney's return to musicals and the warmth and grandeur of 2D hand drawn animation. The film also introduces Disney's newest princess in more than 10 years, Princess Tiana. From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, adventure, comedy and heart where food and cooking are central to the storyline. Tiana's Cookbook: Recipes for Kids offers great Bayou-inspired dishes like those Princess Tiana would prepare. The recipes are rated on a five-frog scale in terms of difficulty so you can select the one that works best for your children.


The Bongga
There are going to be a lot of Tiana fans after families start watching The Princess and the Frog, and this cookbook is a fun way for those fans to explore Tiana's world! There are a variety of recipes for different tastes and abilities, and the recipes are rated for difficulty so you can decide which ones your child can tackle. I really like the fact that the recipes, while mostly simple, aren't "dumbed down" for children. No mashed potato faces or pigs in a blanket here; you get real food like gumbo and crumble. Of course, there are fun recipes like froggy cupcakes and alligator cake, but grownups will enjoy making and eating every single recipe -- even the peanut butter sandwiches cut into cute flower shapes make great tea sandwiches.



The first dish we tried was Tiana's famous beignets, which are dense, moist doughnuts. The recipe was super easy to follow, and The Pea was able to do practically everything by herself, even the deep frying.



In retrospect I would have cut the dough up into smaller squares (the recipe says it makes 16 doughnuts but I would have cut it up to make 32), but the end result was delicious! I've never been able to identify the difference between a donut I love and a donut that's so-so, but thanks to Tiana's recipe, I can now -- it's the nutmeg. The nutmeg is the magic ingredient! After munching on those beignets, my kids and I can't wait to see The Princess and The Frog, and we'll definitely be enjoying more of Tiana's recipes in the future.

The Blah
Since this is a kids' cookbook, I think it should have included step-by-step photos, especially for the more complicated recipes.


The Bottom Line
Tiana's Cookbook: Recipes for Kids is a fun memento for kid who enjoy The Princess and the Frog movie and a nice way for them to explore Tiana's world. It' s also a great cookbook and a wonderful way to introduce kids to a new kind of cuisine.

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Bosch MIXXO Cordless Immersion Blender

I'm a big fan of soup: tomato, cream of broccoli, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, pumpkin, butternut squash, split pea and ham, cauliflower and white beans, lentil, black bean... the list goes on and on.

We have soup about once or twice a week. Soup is nutritious and filling and cheap, and it's so easy to throw everything in a pot and simmer it on the stove, but I'll admit that sometimes I get lazy and open up a ready-to-serve can or box. Those are usually the soups that require blending to smooth out the lumps, like tomato soup or cream-of-anything. I just hate having to transfer everything to the blender and back again, so we usually have lumpy soup :)

Bosch appliances recently invited me to review their cordless handheld immersion blender, the Bosch MIXXO. I've never owned an immersion blender and have never owned a Bosch-branded appliance, so I was definitely interested to see how it would perform. Here's what I thought:

The Basics
The Bosch MIXXO Handheld Blender has all the convenience of a cordless device -- you can take it anywhere, and in particular, you can use it to blend food straight in whatever dish the food is in. Then just place it in its holder to charge it up. The MIXXO doesn't just make soups; you can also use it to make smoothies and cocktails and baby food. It even comes with a chopper accessory so you can chop onions and herbs and other small quantities of food.

Here's what Bosch has to say about their product:
The Bosch MIXXO Cordless Handheld Blender is a revolutionary cordless handheld blender used to prepare tasty food and refreshing drinks without the hassle of cords or plugs. The unit utilizes cutting-edge lithium battery technology – the first among kitchen appliances – to provide twenty minutes of continuous powerful blending; nearly twice as long as other handheld blenders.

The cordless feature of the MIXXO allows for ultimate multi tasking. Imagine being able to answer a phone call on the opposite side of the kitchen and continue blending a smoothie for an on-the-go breakfast, baby food for the newest addition, soup for tonight's dinner, and a cocktail for after a long days work. Even better, imagine cutting down on mess and cleaning time by being able to blend your food in whatever bowl or cup you serve your dish in.

The Bongga
You know how once you've set up a wireless router at home you wonder how you ever survived with archaic wired-up printers and computers? Using the Bosch MIXXO is kind of like that. Once you try it, you won't know how you got along without it. When I think of all the times I've had to put soup in a blender -- with all the spills and cleanup that implies -- or had to make do with lumpy soup...... The blade may be small, but it gets the job done. I've gone through 3 soup-blending sessions and it's still holding its charge! And cleanup is a snap, because the blade attachment twists right off. Oh, how I do NOT miss having to wash up that huge glass blender jar.



The Blah
I wish the blender tool had a snap-on cap or something that I could cover up the blades with; I feel like I can't put it down whenever my kids are in the kitchen! Also, I wish this blender had an attachment for mixing dough and batter. I haven't dared to try it on mashed potatoes or cake batter or anything like that because I don't want it to break, but I really wish I could! I know, I know, I'm being greedy but the ease and convenience of cordless has me hooked, and now I want it all!


The Bottom Line
The Bosch MIXXO cordless immersion blender frees you up from the messiness and inconvenience of a corded blender. If you're big on creamy soups, it's a must-have!

Win It!
Sorry, I'm just teasing. No giveaway today. But I will be giving away one of these babies in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned -- keep logging on to Bonggamom Finds or subscribe to receive updates so you don't miss this giveway!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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You're Invited to a Style Lab Twitter Party

Great news: Bonggamom Finds is partnering with Ubisoft to bring you a Twitter Party that's stylish and girly and oh-so-fun. We're talking fashion, makeovers, and games girls play. We're talking moms, daughters, sleepovers and manicures. And we're talking prizes!


What: a Style Lab Twitter party
When: Tuesday, December 15th, 5:00 - 6:00 pm PST
Where: Chat with us on Twitter using the hashtag #games4girls (you can use services like Tweetchat or Tweetgrid to follow the conversation)


So come and join the party, and be sure to follow @bonggafinds and @Ubimoms on Twitter throughout the party for contest details, updates, prize information. We'll have 3 prize packs to pass out during the party, each containing two great Style Lab video games for the Nintendo DS:

Style Lab Jewelry Design: Create beautiful designer jewelry with your own unique designs. Make jewelry that fits your style, then order, own, and wear your own creations






Style Lab Makeover: Discover and experiment with makeup, hairstyles and other makeover activities using your own face! Take on beauty challenges to earn points and rewards, learn tips and tricks, and discover your own unique style with personality quizzes and in-game expert recommendations!




RSVP here: (Note: You do not need to RSVP to join the party, but you must participate in the Twitter party on Dec. 15 in order to be eligible to win the prize packs above. One of the prize packs will be drawn from the RSVP list below and announced during the Twitter party.)

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More Twitter Parties
Ubisoft is sponsoring a "Week of Style" -- December 9 thu 15 -- so lookout for additional Twitter parties hosted by other awesome bloggers like Momma Findings and Girly Mama. Just head to Twitter and look for the hashtag #games4girls!


Win more Games for Girls
You'll get the chance to win some fun Style Lab games at next week's Twitter party.... but the fun is starting right here and now! Two lucky Bonggamom Finds readers will each win one game from Ubisoft's Imagine line for girls:

One reader will win an Imagine Detective game for the Nintendo DS. In this game, girls can live the thrill and adventure of being a teenaged private investigator fighting for truth and justice in Imagine® Detective! Discover clues, take photographs, question witnesses; it’s up to THEM to solve the mystery!




One reader will win the Imagine Boutique Owner game for Nintendo DS. In this game, girls can unleash their creativity and design all types of gifts, including flower arrangements, plush toys, and jewelry. Please customers by helping them choose the perfect gift, then offer complimentary gift wrapping to make it extra special for them!




Required entry:
Put your name down on the RSVP list above (scroll to the top of this page!) AND leave a comment on this post saying you RSVP'd.

Extra entries:
(you can only do each entra entry once; please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Become a fan of Bonggamom Finds on Facebook (leave a comment with your FB id).

2) Tweet out the details of this party, including the #games4girls hashtag and @bonggafinds in your tweet, anytime between now until 5:00PM PST on December 15. Then come back and leave a comment here with a link to your tweet. Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Join @bonggafinds @Ubisoft 4 a Style Lab Twitter party Dec 15, 5-6PM PST RSVP http://tinyurl.com/gamesforgirls win great prizes! #games4girls

3) Tweet out the details of this giveaway, then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your tweet. Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Win Imagine games for Nintendo DS from @Ubisoft and @bonggafinds -- 2 winners! http://tinyurl.com/imaginegamez #games4girls

Maximum of 4 entries per person. This giveaway ends at 5PM PST on December 15. I will draw 2 winners via Random.org and announce their names at the #games4girls Twitter event. You do not have to be present at the Twitter party to win the Imagine games, however you do have to be present to win the Style Lab games . Good luck, and see you at the Twitter party!

I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. Party prizes and giveaway prizes were provided by Ubisoft. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Kill Bugs with EcoSMART -- Win a bottle of Home Pest Control Spray

I've got a great giveaway for you today. EcoSMART, maker of safe pesticide solutions, is offering to give away a bottle of their Home Pest Control Spray, which kills and repels over 100 common household pests. EcoSMART's products are safe to use around children and animals because they are based on plant essential oils used by plants and trees as part of their natural defenses to kill bugs and ward off pests. I have not tried this product so I can't speak personally about how well it works, but anything that kills ticks and cockroaches without harming my kids is worth a try, right? They also have an insect repellent that I'd love to try because it's organic, DEET-free and quick drying.

Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a bottle of EcoSMART Home Pest Control Spray.

Required entry:
Leave a comment on this post and tell me why you think EcoSMART products would be important to have in your home.

Extra entries:
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following, (you can only do each entra entry once; please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Grab my blog button and post it up on your blog (leave a comment with your blog URL).

2) Subscribe to Bonggamom Finds updates by email (leave a comment with your email address).

3) Become a fan of Bonggamom Finds on Facebook (leave a comment with your FB id).

4) Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your tweet). Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Earth-friendly giveaway from @bonggafinds and EcoSMART http://tinyurl.com/ecosmartie

Maximum of 5 entries per person. US addresses only. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on December 17, 2009; I will draw a winner at random on December 18 and post the winner's name as soon as the winner confirms acceptance. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!


I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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$1 Oatmeal at Jamba Juice

I've tried Jamba Juice oatmeal and it is gooooood. So when I received this coupon for $1 Jamba Juice Oatmeal, I wanted to post it and spread the warm fuzzies all around. It's good until Friday, Dec. 11 so head on over now. Although I warn you, you might get hooked.

I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Tiny Prints Holiday Cards

And as a thank you for hosting a Tiny Prints giveaway on my blog this summer, Tiny Prints sent me a voucher to use on their site. I was so tempted to use it right away, but I resisted the temptation and saved it for a holiday card order. Since we're spending the holidays away from home this year, I didn't want to go through the hassle of buying holiday cards, printing our holiday photos and sticking them on the cards. Besides, this year I wanted cute cards.


The Bongga
Oh, Lordy, Lordy, are these cards cute. They were definitely worth the wait. Alfie says they are the best holiday cards we've ever sent! The cardstock is nice and thick, and the paper has that matte finish I love. The ink used to print the photos really blends into the paper; it doesn't stick out like a shiny sore thumb (did that make sense? Sorry I don't know the technical terms, I'm not in the printing business). And I love the software on tinyprints.com that let me customize not just the front layout, but the inside and back layouts as well. I was able to stuff the card full of photos, and even write our holiday newsletter on the back flap. Bonggamom doesn't let any space go to waste!

The Blah
There's only one thing I would change about this card. I wish the layout had allowed me to put text only on the back flap (the only 2 layout options for the back flap were a photo only, or text plus photo). There wasn't much space to write anything, so I used the smallest font size, and it came out much smaller than I had realized. Oh, well. At least now the relatives and friends who don't want to read our newsletter can say the font was too small for them to read!


The Bottom Line
Tiny Prints cards are simply the gold standard for customized stationary.


PS: Check out the note cards that Tiny Prints gave me and the other SV Moms bloggers at our holiday party. Again, they are the best (note: I Photoshopped my real name out of the photo below and wrote "Bonggamom" on it, so the real thing looks even better than it does in the photo).

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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PartyLite for the Holidays

This holiday season I find myself with too many things to do and not enough time to do it. So, unfortunately home decorating has gotten shoved to the bottom of my to-do list. As of December 1, my holiday decorating was limited to hanging the kids' Advent calendars on our kitchen wall. Not exactly the stuff Martha Stewart model homes are made of.

Fortunately a package arrived for me from PartyLite with exactly the thing I needed to create a holiday ambience without any fuss at all. They sent me a set of Red Twirls Decorative Sleeves and white pillar candles to match. Can you say Instant Holiday Decor? With those on our dining table and the Party Lite Change-O-Luminary on our coffee table (with the snowflake magnetic panel stuck on, of course), I can cross "Decorate home" off my holiday to-do list with a clear conscience, and it only took me seconds to accomplish! Here's more about what I thought of the sleeves:


The Basics
PartyLite is a direct seller of home ambience products like candles, candle accessories, home fragrance, accent decor and more. They carry an assortment of seasonal products for the holidays, including the Ruby Red Hurricane lamp, porcelain Hanukkah votive holder, and the Red Twirls Decorative Sleeves, which I reviewed. These sleeves come in two heights (6" and 8"), and are made with shiny red metal. You simply set a pillar candle on the red base and slide the sleeve over it. You can purchase Party Lite products from Party Lite consultants at a party. If you don't have a Party Lite consultant near you, you can purchase them online -- or consider becoming a consultant yourself!

Here's what Party Lite has to say about this product:
Ornate swirls on the stamped metal sleeve create stunning patterns of light that dance on nearby walls and tabletops. Metallic, shiny red finish. Available in two sizes, each sold separately.

The Bongga
I love how the deep red color makes a such bold statement. Right from the moment anyone steps into our living room, their eyes are drawn to these candles. And once it's time to dim the lights and light the candles, these sleeves really look great! You can see the gorgeous swirl patterns they make in the stock photo at the top of this post, but just in case you think it's some kind of fancy-shmancy photographer trick or Adobe Photoshop magic, I took a photo of my own:

See? Swirly shadows, even in my lo-tech photograph. Lo and behold, instant holiday ambience with just two candles!

The Blah
Alfie and I aren't fans of the bright, shiny, glossy metal they used to make these sleeves. Our tastes both run to the deep, dark matte finish of the Change-O-Luminary we reviewed in October.

The Bottom Line
These Red Twirl Decorative Sleeves from Party Lite are an easy way to add holiday ambience to any room!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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All Decked Out

With all the things I have to do this holiday season, I may not have the time to decorate my house for the holidays -- but I can certainly make time to decorate this review blog. I've always liked giving my blogs seasonal themes, and now I've found a holiday design that screams Ho! Ho! Ho! (no, I don't mean that kind of ho, even though the little minx carrying the ornaments and presents certainly looks like one) in a fun, chic, not-too-tacky way. Hmm.... I'd better start thinking about what this blog is going to look like when Valentine's Day comes 'round. Hope you like the new look!

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Bonggamom's Friday Finds -- The Bestest Giveaways Around the Blogosphere

As a giveaway blogger, I've found it's a great way to get more traffic to my giveaways. And as a person who loves entering giveaways, I've found it's a great way to find out where all the best giveaways are.

So I've started a weekly giveaway roundup post that hopefully people will find useful. Feel free to leave links to your giveaways, everyone. And don't forget to get cracking and enter all those giveaways!

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Zooni Mop Top Hats

One of the cutest things in the swag bag I received from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog Holiday Party was a pair of shaggy hats from Zooni children's wear. I first saw them at a local trunk sale, and fell in love with their cutie-patootie animal socks and mittens. Their specialty, however, are their one-of-a-kind, shaggy Mop Top Hats.



The Bongga
Can you say cuuuuute? The colors of this hat are gorgeous! It gets even better for younger kids. They put little ears amidst all that shagginess to make the hats look like monkeys, lions, puppies and pandas. They also have styles with little hearts or flowers or fishies.





The Blah
This is the kind of style that people either love or hate. Unfortunately, my husband falls into the latter category. He insists it's a girl's hat. I think it looks cute on my boys, but I will admit these hats are probably more suitable for younger boys. And since largest size is for 5 year olds, I think Zooni must agree with me. However, the black-and-white Hipster Mop Top scores way high on the dude points, and even boys ages 5 or 6 could wear it without fear of schoolyard taunting.


The Bottom Line
Zooni hats are street-stopping stylish, and an easy way to put some ZING into your little one's outdoor wardrobe. I wish my head were smaller so I could wear one, too!


Save now!
To get 15% off your Zooni purchase, use the coupon code LUVZOONI when you shop at Zooni's online boutique.

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Win a $25 Giftcard from Hellman's!

When the holiday rush sets in, it's all too tempting to resort to takeout, frozen food, food from a box or even --yes, I'll admit -- ramen noodles. Which is even worse, considering the amount of gingerbread cookies and eggnog that's floating around to tempt us! The more real food I can get into my kids during this season, the better for their health, right? To help out challenged parents like me, Hellman's has partnered with celebrity chef Bobby Flay and created the Hellman's Real Holiday Helpings website.

Hellman's Real Holiday Helpings has the tips and tricks busy parents need to help them make real, simple meals. You can print out coupons, watch videos of Bobby preparing some recipes made with Hellman's Real Mayonnaise, and enter to win free groceries for a year. Best of all, the site has a collection of great holiday recipes, from main dishes to desserts, about half of which were developed by Bobby Flay. There's even a section entirely devoted to turkey, as well as a section for dishes made from leftovers. How cool is that?




Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds winner will receive a $25 American Express giftcard to use in their own Real Holiday Food shopping trips (or whatever they want!). To enter, visit the Hellman's Real Holiday Helpings Holiday Recipes section, then come back here and leave a comment telling me which recipe you'd like to try. This entry is required, and must be completed before any extra entries will count.

For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following, (you can only do each entra entry once; please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) Grab my blog button and post it up on your blog (leave a comment with your blog URL).

2) Subscribe to Bonggamom Finds updates by email (leave a comment with your email address).

3) Fave Bonggamom Finds on Technorati (leave a comment with your Technorati id).

4) Tweet this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your tweet). Here is a sample tweet you can copy and paste:

Win a $25 giftcard from @bonggafinds and Hellman's http://tinyurl.com/yj574xo

Maximum of 5 entries per person. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on December 22, 2009; I will draw a winner at random on December 23 and post the winner's name as soon as the winner confirms acceptance. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a $25 giftcard -- courtesy of Hellman's Real Holiday Helpings program and Mom Select -- to use in my own Real Holiday Food shopping. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Vicks ComfortFlex Thermometer

We are a Vicks family. As a doctor, my dad's first line of defense against chest congestion was never medicines, but a good, thorough rubbing of Vicks Vaporub on our chest and back. My mother uses Vicks Vaporub to cure all her ailments from chest colds to mosquito bites. Even my extended family is into Vicks; all my dad's siblings love it, and when her nose is stuffy, my aunt snorts that Vicks Vapor Inhaler tube like it's crack or something.

With Vicks rubbed (like that pun?) into my childhood, it's no surprise that when I became a parent and had to buy thermometers, I went to the drugstore and grabbed the most familiar brand on the shelves: Vicks. Our Vicks thermometers have stood up to 3 kids, 8 years and countless fevers. I'd be happy to keep using it till the battery runs out, but Vicks recently sent me a sample of their latest and greatest thermometer, the Vicks ComfortFlex -- so our old Vicks thermometer has been relegated to backup thermometer and this new Vicks ComfortFlex is taking center stage.

The Basics
Vicks ComfortFlex thermometer is a digital thermometer that reads temperatures in about 8-12 seconds. It has a large, backlit color-coded display. It's also flexible and waterproof, and comes with a storage case.

Old Vicks thermometer versus New Vicks thermometer. Sorry, Old VT, you've served us well but it's time to retire.

The Bongga
I love the lightning-fast temperature reading -- no more squirming and squiggling for the kids while waiting for the thermometer to beep! And the backlit display is so easy to read -- no more squinting for the adults! The color-coded display feature (the backlight LCD is green when the temperature reading is between 97 and 98.8F, yellow between 99 and 100.9F, and red for 101F and above) is a nice bonus, especially for new parents who don't know whether to smile in relief or freak out when they read the temperature numbers (having said that, Alfie found this feature absolutely useless, since he's color blind!).

The Blah
The readings only seem to show in Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Most people in the US are used to Fahrenheit, but I'm thinking of my relatives in the Philippines and Europe, who would love to get their hands on this thermometer but would prefer to read temperature in Celsius. Hopefully Vicks has an international version of this temperature?

The Bottom Line
The Vicks ComfortFlex thermometer makes temperature reading super easy -- if only the fever were just as quick and painless!

I received a sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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CyberMonday Deals at Mabel's Labels

Here are some great Cyber Monday deals from Mabel's Labels:

30% off Holiday Gift Tags and Return Address Labels
Regular Price: $18.50, sale price $12.95

40% off Selected Write-On! Stationery, in choice of Bzzz or Cowpoke designs
Regular Price $34, sale price $20.40

Backyardigans Write-On! Stationery Kits 40% off

I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post.

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