My Little Pony Twinkle Wish Adventure DVD: Review and Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed, thank you to everyone who participated and entered! Congratulations to Katie, Kevin and kids comment, 17 , who said: This would make a fun holiday gift for our Pony Princess here in Holland. Pinkie Pie is our fave pony and we love Hasbros mini pony beauty salon with tiny wigs that come off and on to change hair-dos.

ER really enjoys playing with her My Little Pony ponies and play sets. She likes brushing their long shimmery hair, changing their outfits and hair dos, and making up stories about them. So she just loved seeing her favorite characters come to life on the soon to be released DVD My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure, from the Shout!Factory and Hasbro.

Storyline Synopsis:

Follow Pinkie Pie and all her pony friends on a fun-filled adventure as they discover that friendship can make wishes come true. All the ponies cannot wait for the Winter Wishes festival where the Wishing Star grants each pony one special wish. But when the Wishing Star disappears, they go on a journey to find it. During their adventure, they learn what it means for wishes to really come true! But will they make it back in time for the festival? Find out by joining Pinkie Pie and all her pony friends on this magical journey of discovery.

Approximate Running Time: 81 minutes. Suggested Retail Price $14.99

My Opinon:

The My Little Pony characters inhibit a candy colored world filled with sunshine, flowers, and waterfalls. Everything is adorable and cute including the scene changes with new ones frequently coming out of flower or heart shapes. The songs are catchy, "Somewhere Super New" was our favorite. I did think that some of the word choices were a bit casual and I'd have preferred more modeling of formal language and sophisticated vocabulary. But the songs and language were appropriate for the adolescent pony characters to use, so it's just a minor detail.

We really liked the overall story because it showed that the ponies can have little disagreements, be upset with each other, but still be friends. The My Little Pony characters have feelings and difficulties with each other that many young children have, like having trouble sharing. It also shows how they self talk about how they are feeling, how they make up, and conflict resolution. I also liked how at the end the wishes granted by the Wishing Star are not for material things. I felt that it was a good seasonal movie, a great addition to a personal DVD library that can be enjoyed year round because it's not overly Christmas themed.

Special Features:

On My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure, the special features are ones you'll actually use and enjoy. Since ER's favorite part of any movie are the songs, it's great to have the six songs in the main feature as sing along versions that you can play all at once. Now I can figure out what the words are to the songs my daughter now wants to sing everywhere we go. There is also a short prequel to the story, "Waiting for the Winter Wishes Festival" that will play automatically at the start of the video. You don't have to wait to see that though, you can see it online now!

There's also a very fun new animated short called "Ele-fun And Friends", with the main character based on a popular Hasbro game, that I liked a lot in the special features. It teaches kids how to say "friend" in four different languages through a catchy song while Ele-fun follows the end of a kite string to various different parts of the world and meets friends along the way. I liked it so much that I hope it will eventually become a featured animation itself. The animation is very well done and detailed. I thought it looked like a very well illustrated book.

Also included are four downloadable activities: coloring sheet, pony note to Santa, How to Make a Snowman, and Cut-Out Pony Ornaments that keep the My Little Pony fun going during unplugged time.

Lastly, the folks at Shout! Factory and at Hasbro have teamed up with Toys R’ Us and Target to give you a special My Little Pony coupon for more pony fun. Purchase the DVD at one of those stores, look for the coupon pictured below, and bring it back for your discount. Please note only original coupons from the DVD package are valid.

Giveaway:

It won't be in stores until October 13th, but I've got a copy of My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure to giveaway now! Enjoy this new seasonal movie at home and get ready for winter!

Enter:

Tell me your favorite My Little Pony product, visit Hasbro to see their selection or tell me what your kids like the most about My Little Pony.

Extra Entries:

• Follow my blog publically.
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• Post about this giveaway and link back to this post.
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Good luck! Giveaway open to US residents now through the day My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure is available in stores, October 13th midnight EST.
Disclaimer: Thank you to the Shout! Factory for the review and giveaway materials. This review relates my personal experience and opinions, that were not influenced by the sponsor at all. Your experience may differ.

Kaskey Kid's Baseball Guys Review & Discount Code

The playoffs may be quickly approaching, but no matter how your favorite team does on the field it doesn't mean that baseball season has to end at your home. As many of you know we are big Detroit Tiger's fans around here. Even after they lost BIG time last Saturday night, lost their place at the head of our division, are now tied, and might not even make it to the play offs!...But I digress. We're still hoping they can win tomorrow against the Twins. Maybe ER wearing one the several official team outfits she has, while she cheers on her favorite team, will give them some good luck!

We were all pretty excited when Kaskey Kids, makers of sports action figures packaged by sport, sent us a set of Baseball Guys to play with. I thought they were the perfect thing to encourage ER's interest in the game. ER and the main baseball fan in her life, Papa had a great time recreating a Tiger game with them. It's very handy for Detroit fans that one team is white and blue, tailor made for our home games! But NOT that game, can you tell we're still a little upset around here?What's included? All of the following for $24.99

BASEBALL GUYS: Red vs. Blue

Red and Blue teams face off. A fully adjustable scoreboard keeps the game as exciting and realistic as possible!

Set includes:
24 2 1/2" players
1 umpire
1 fully adjustable realistic scoreboard
28" x 28" washable felt field
10" x 6" x 5" stackable container with attached lid and handle

What I really like about the Baseball Guys is that they are not teeny tiny and the paint is applied really nicely. So they each look like and are a quality figure. You get plenty of them so you can play a regulation game and still have some guys in the dug out. Or as Brad likes to add to one side, pitchers from the bull pen warming up. I also appreciated how they came in a stackable container, although ours keeps popping open when we try to carry it around.

Baseball Guys are truly action figures, and encourage open ending play. While they do come with some basic instructions and playbook, there isn't a "game" that you have to play with them. You're encouraged be creative and use your imagination to make up your own plays. They put your child in charge of the action, they can move the players where they want when they want. They can be played with independently or with friends or family.

Kids could also use them to follow along to a baseball game over the radio. I think that this might be a good way to start out, until kids are familiar with the various plays. This way they can eventually make up the story of their own imaginary games. I also like the simple dice game sent in by one of Kaskey Kid's seven year old patrons and shared on their website in the Kid's Corner, Ways to Play.

Besides the Baseball Guys we received, Kaskey Kids makes several different set of sports action figures aimed at kids 3-8 years old: Football Guys, College Football Guys, Hockey Guys, Soccer Guys and Girls, and their new Baseball Guys and Football Guys Mini Packs.

Mini packs offer new team colors and variety. They can be used as new opposing teams for the full set you already have or new customers can use them as a way to try out Kaskey Kids. They are priced right to be a great smaller gift purchase, like a stocking stuffer!

Their collegiate lines are very popular and they currently carry 10 popular teams. Alumni are finding new uses for them, as table decorations during tailgate parties, collectables for themselves, or as a fun toy to play with their children or grandchildren.

Kaskey Kid's sports action figure sets would make a great gift! There's bound to be a team or a sport that represents your child's or family's interests.

Enter "GoGuys" for a 10% discount and start getting ready for the holidays!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Kaskey Kids for providing the review set of Baseball Guys. This review reflects my opinion and experience with the product, which was not influenced by ths sponsor in anyway. Yours may differ.

Stand Up Mini Book

Here is a little 6X6 mini book I made two years ago for my friend Margaret. It commemorates the first time our families went to a special Halloween event, held at a museum and historical village in our area, together. What I like about it, is that you only need four sheets of cardstock to assemble it. It has a front and back pocket for sticking in journaling tags or memorabilia. The best part is that when it's open it stands up and you can use the little clip you see on the left side of the book to hold it together. Then you get a 360 degree view of the book.

I embellished mine simply so that the pictures of our little girls all dressed up in their Halloween costumes would be the focus of the book. I included their names, what they were dressed up as, and their ages in the photos.

If you are interested in making a similar book, here is a link to the directions at Memory Makers Magazine. Designed by Sandi Genovese, I got my directions from either her DIY show or HGTV - can't remember which, and have them saved on my computer as a PDF file. I can't find that version online anywhere anymore but think that the PDF version gives a clearer description with better photos. I don't know how to attach PDF files to blog posts and besides, I'm hesitant to upload someone else's copyrighted material to a download service, but if you have questions you can email me and I'll do my best to answer them.

Update: 10/15/10: Sandi's new online program, The Scrapbook Showgram with Sandi Genovese just featured this project! It's a great way to learn how to make it because it's a video:) You should subscribe to her email alerts, so you don't miss any episodes, while you're there. I do!

Shared At: Paper Issues and