CafePress

This week I was given the opportunity to select an item from http://www.cafepress.com to review. I
selected a T-Shirt because well I just love T-shirts with cool saying on them. Their are a tone of options on the site and it took me forever to decide what I wanted to get. I finally decided on a breast cancer awareness t-shirt. I always have a difficult time buying shirts on line. I never seem to get the right size. So i measured and used the sites sizing guidelines to choose a size. The shirt I wanted said that it was fitted and ran small so to size up if I did not want it to be snug. So I sized up one size and made my order ordering is very easy and simple.  The shirt came very quickly I believe it shipped out the next morning and arrived with in the week.  To my surprise my shirt was too big. With my measurements I guess I should not have sized up. But my measurements are always between two sizes. I contacted customer service to ask about returning it for a size smaller. I filled out the little form and stated that I wanted to exchange it for a smaller size gave the item number and the new size that needed. I got a reply back from customer service a little later that day. They told me they wanted me to be completely happy with my order and they would send me a replacement right away. I love great customer service and this place has good customer service to get back to me the same day and send out the replacement order the day after. I received the replacement T-shirt very quickly it actually got to me a day sooner than they had said it would.   

The Shirt fit wonderfully its comfortable and the quality of the shirt is great. Its made of a nice soft cotton so its perfect for every day. It washes well and hardly even wrinkled when I forgot and left it in the dryer over night. It line drys well too.  The color and style of the printing is vibrant and beautifully done.  Way better than most of what I have bought at some of the chain stores. I haven't noticed any fading either so I am confidant that it will look good for years to come.  Check out the Picture to see just how cool the shirt really is.

All in all I found the prices on the site to be very reasonable.The variety of items that they offer is great they have everything from clothing to I phone cases to water bottles.  I cant wait to order something else. Click the links to Check out some other great items like birthday invitations, Business Cards, greeting card templates.

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

Speed

I have been trying to teach the Hotrod Princess how to skip count for a couple months now. This seems to be something that she is having a hard time understanding. I have been looking for different ways to help her get the hang of skip counting and I have finally found a fun game that seems to work. Its called "SPEED". its made by highhill educational supplies and you can find it on amazon for about $18.99. You can click HEAR to find it.  "Speed" is  a fun card game that teaches kids to multiply and how to multiply faster. It even helps teach skip counting. Once kids are familiar with the numbers in a game, multiplication gets easier. The game consist of eight decks of cards 2's - 9's in which kids learn skip counting. Its a two player game where players play against each other to see who can get rid of all of their cards first. "Speed" is a great hands on multisensory game that is short and quick. Its perfect for kids that have short attention spans. The repetition of the game helps kids with memorization. Its great for all learning styles.

one of our games 

We have been playing "Speed" for a few weeks now and I can already tell that it is helping the Hotrod princess with her skip counting. We are still working with the 2's right now. I went over the directions a couple times to be sure I understood how to play the game and what the rules were. I explained it to the Hotrod princess and then showed her what we had to do. She picked up how to play the game very quickly.  Over the last few weeks she has gotten faster at playing "speed".  She now makes less mistakes when skip counting by 2's. I can only see things improving from hear as we advance through the game. I think my skip counting is even getting better. I have noticed that I am getting faster at figuring out what cards I can play next.  We have so much fun playing "SPEED" that she often chooses "Speed" over many of our other games. Its a very fast game so we can usually squeeze in a game or two while we are waiting for it to be time to go some place. It has become a great rainy day activity that we really enjoy . I cant wait for Snoopy to start skip counting so they can play together. She is already sitting with us when we play.

I wanted to see how my sisters son who is autistic would like the game. They came up this weekend and we played a few rounds. He did very well with it and seemed to enjoy playing the game with us. It was easy for him to understand how to play and I think it will help him get better with his multiplying skills. He learns best with hands on activities and "SPEED is very hands on. It's a fast game so his hands are constantly moving. This is very good for his need to fidget,  it keeps him moving and doing quickly which also helps with concentrate.

Their is also a "SPEED" app for the I Pad the light version is free and the full version is 99 cents. You can click hear to read some more about it hear on her blog.
You can also check it out on facebook

All in all "SPEED" is a great educational game that I am more than happy to have in my house. Its worth every penny.


Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.

The Quietest classroom Pencil Sharpener

Its no secret that I love a great classroom product and I love sharing them with you. On my quest to find something new this year I came across  http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com the makers of The Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener. That's right folks a pencil sharpener that's actually quiet. The Quietest classroom Pencil Sharpener has a sleek retro design an all metal frame and blades. Automatic stopping once the perfect point is formed. It works on all standard sized pencils. Has a clear disposal try that comes out for easy cleaning. Its so easy to use even my five year old can do it on her own. I also love that they sell replacement blades and they are very affordable. A single sharpener sells for $24.99 and comes in Blue, Red, Green, and Black. A package with one replacement blade sells for $14.99. They also sell a Teacher Specials where you get 3 sharpeners for $53.97 that's $17.99 each a great deal if you need more than one sharpener.

Me and the girls have been needing a good quality pencil sharpener for a while now and we were very excited when it arrived. We received the blue sharpener to try out in our home class room. The color is a tad lighter than what it looked on my computer screen but we all know how screens vary in color. It came in a box like most things that are shipped to you. Then the sharpener its self was in a clear flexible plastic box We are currently using it to store our sharpener tell we get the shelf for the classroom built. Then it will be clamped to the shelf. Assembly was super easy you basically have to put the blades in through a hole in the back and turn the locking ring. There is a hole on the front of the sharpener that you can insert the provided clamp into so that you can clamp it to a table or you can leave it portable. We are truly in love with the Quietest Pencil Sharpener. Its simple to use my kids cant keep sharpening the pencil away to nothing. It hardly makes any noise at all. Its a beautiful color so it looks cool in my class room also known as my living room. It can be clamped to a table or shelf or it can be left portable did I mention its got grips on the bottom to help keep is from slipping both when clamped down and portable. Its sharpened every pencil in the house several times over now and the girls are both writing more just because they want to use the sharpener to sharpen their pencil again. Its so easy that even my 3 year old can do it on her own. She says its hard to turn but she always gets the pencil sharpened. The only slight issue I have had with the sharpener is the clamp. The part that goes into the sharpener its self needs to be a bit longer. We have had it slip out of the hole a couple times. Its really not that big of an issue and would not stop me form buying the sharpener. because it really does do a Wonderful Job. Check out the video clip below to see it in action.

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review. All opinions are my own or what my kids thought of the product.