Clean Out Your Garage giveaway

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Did you know that National Clean Out Your Garage Day is celebrated on September 8?  Even though that date has come and gone, there's still time to clean up your garage before winter hits -- don't wait until the Spring Cleaning urge hits!  We do a big garage clean-out every 1-2 years, regardless of the season.  It's amazing how much JUNK our family of 5 can accumulate in just 2 years!  Whenever it gets too difficult to park Alfie's motorcycle, we know it's time to clean out.  It's not just a clean-freak issue, it's a safety issue.  Check out some statistics from a recent home safety survey conducted by The Lehigh Group, manufacturer of Crawford branded garage organization products:

* Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) have tripped over an item in their garage

* More than a quarter (27 percent) have hit an object when opening a vehicle door

* 22 percent have accidentally hit something when parking

Yikes!

Win a Clean Out Your Garage Day prize pack
To help people prevent accidents like these, Crawford, Ace Hardware and Quickie are giving away some essential tools for garage organization to one lucky Bonggamom Finds reader!  The Clean Out Your Garage Day prize pack (ARV $83.16) includes:

Crawford 16” Adjustable Storage Organizer: Designed for use anywhere in your home, garage, workshop, tool shed or basement, this system is great for hanging brooms, rakes and other lawn supplies.

Crawford Sliding Spring Grip Organizer: Grips slide into position anywhere along the bar for maximum use. Guaranteed to never lose tension, the grips can hold hardware, garden tools, shovels and more.

Quickie 2-in-1 Squeegee Pushbroom: This 2-in-1 pushbroom is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. Effortlessly sweep away dirt and debris or use the built-in professional-grade squeegee to push away excess water.

ACE Multi-surface Pushbroom: This durable pushbroom is perfect for sweeping heavy debris, including caked-on dirt, gravel and construction materials.

Lysol Sponges: Super absorbent and safe on most surfaces, these sponges can help tackle any tough mess.


Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell me the last time you organized your garage (or main storage space).

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.). 
1)  Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger (1 entry)

2) Follow bonggamom on Instagram (1 entry)

3) Follow bonggamom on Pinterest (1 entry)

4) Pin this giveaway on your Pinterest board (1 entry).

5) "Like Bonggamom Finds" on Facebook and write this on my wall (1 entry):
I entered the Clean Out Your Garage giveaway http://bit.ly/QmWcVD

6) Follow @bonnggafinds  on Twitter and tweet this, up to once per day (1 entry per day):
RT @bonggafinds: Enter to win a Clean Out Your Garage prize pack worth $80!  Giveaway ends 9/30 at http://bit.ly/QmWcVD #giveaways


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on September 30, 2012; I will draw a winner at random on October 1 and post his/her name after she/he confirms acceptance. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here. 


Disclosure: Thanks to Ace, Quickie & Crawford for providing the giveaway prize pack, as well a second prize pack for me.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.


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Crafty fun with Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape

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I love duct tape.  I'm no handyman, so duct tape is my go-to solution for all minor household problems.  Broken storage bin? Fix it with duct tape!  Did my kid's toy golf club snap in two? Duct tape!  Need to prop up the Halloween skeletons against the side of the house? Duct tape!  The Pea and her friends love duct tape too, but for a different reason:  Duct tape is all the rage, and people are using it to create everything from pillows to phone cases to prom dresses.  These days, duct tape isn't limited to the ugly silver kind.  There's such a wide range of colors and patterns for duct tape, so you can make something you'd be happy to use and show off to your friends.

The Pea has been begging me to buy her patterned duct tape for months now, but I've never gotten around to it.  So she's really happy that Scotch sent us several rolls of colored and patterned duct tape recently --   because now I'm hooked!  It's so easy to create cool stuff that you can actually use.  There are tons of duct tape how-to videos on YouTube, and Scotch even has their own gallery of projects using Scotch Colors and Patterns duct tape, complete with photos and instructions.

The Pea made her own little foldover purse -- so chic with the black plaid pattern and green piping! See the bow accent? She likes to make those into hair ribbons by gluing the bow onto a hairpin.  She and her friends love it!   I'm going to make one of those purses (minus the bow, probably!) to store our van's insurance and registration cards, and store it in the glove compartment.

By the way, the green and black plaid are sold together as a combo pack, which The Pea loves.  The rolls of duct tape in the combo packs are just 1" thick, so you can do more intricate patterns and projects without having to cut the standard 2' width tape in half.  One roll in the combo pack is a solid color and the second roll is a complimentary pattern (i.e. blue solid + rainbow, purple solid + multicolored hearts, black solid + black and white lace pattern, etc...), which makes it easy to create perfectly color-coordinated projects.


I made a larger version of The Pea's purse, this time using a Halloween-themed pattern.  It has a wrist strap, so I can carry it around with me when we go trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  The Scotch Duct Tape website has instructions on how to make a variation of this clutch purse -- but frankly, the instructions are pretty vague, so I've decided to write up a set of instructions of my own, with more detailed step-by-step descriptions and photos.  Stay tuned, I'll be posting those soon!


I designed this Halloween treat bag all by myself!  It's made with 3 kinds of Scotch brand duct tape: orange, black, and monster-patterned duct tape.  Isn't it cute? You can find instructions on how to make my Duct Tape Halloween Treat Bag here.  I've even come up with a tiny version for The Pea's American Girl dolls!  Watch out for the instructions, I'll be posting those soon!

I'm definitely going to be buying more of this....


Disclosure:  I received product samples from Scotch/3M to facilitate my reviewThe views and opinions expressed here are my own.


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Toyota goes to Eat Real Oakland

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Yesterday I attended the Eat Real Oakland festival in Jack London Square.   I was in foodie heaven, sampling all the amazing dishes and wandering through rows and rows of artisanal cheese, chocolate, bread, spices and more.  The place was packed with people enjoying good food -- but it must have been a nightmare for parents navigating through the crowds with a stroller, and it must have been pretty boring for kids who wanted something to do other than look at jars of jams and bottles of microbrew.


Fortunately one of the presenting sponsors, Toyota, had a great booth -- the Creation Station -- at a less crowded section of the festival where families could stretch out and enjoy family-friendly activities between courses.  Since I'm a member of Toyota's TWIN (Women's Influencer Network) group, of course I had to check it out!



Since this summer, Toyota has been using the Creation Station as a way to showcase their family-friendly vehicles like the 2013 Avalon, the Highlander, Highlander Hybrid Limited, Landcruiser, RAV4 EV, Prius v, Prius Plug-in, Prius c, Sienna and Yaris models.  It's a great way to see how these models can fit into families' lifestyles -- without the annoying sales pressure that you have to endure at an auto showroom.  The Toyota Creation Station team did a great job of getting attendees to check out the vehicles via some fun activities:

Toyota Entune Demo
Attendees could ask Toyota personnel at the booth about Entune, Toyota's revolutionary in-car technology featuring popular mobile applications and data services.

Toyota Cargo Challenge
Attendees could form teams of up to four people and pack a bunch of items into the back of a Prius V.  The quicker you can do it, the better, because you could win prizes!

Toyota 3D Photo Booth
You could get your photo taken while sitting inside a Toyota Prius.  Actually, they snapped 2 photos of you, then combined the 2 photos into a singular lenticular 3D photo that "moves" as you tilt the photo in 2 directions.  It was such a cool souvenir!

After completing each activity, you get a stamp on your card.  When you get at least 1 stamp on your card, you can play their Giant Dice Game, where you roll a giant (beach-ball sized!) pair of dice, and win a prize corresponding to the number you roll.  You get as many rolls as you have stamps on your card (so if you did all 3 activities, you got 3 dice rolls and 3 prizes).


At the Kids' Craft area, kids could create Spin Art Cards....


.. and make Shrinky Dinks.  Remember those?  Toyota had a bunch of cute designs for kids (and grownups!) to color in, then they punched a hole in them, baked them in a toaster oven and hung them on a string.

 Everyone likes having activities and freebies, and there was no sales pitch,  so I think Toyota did a good job combining brand promotion with entertainment.   I guess I'm not the only one with that opinion, because there was a good-sized crowd at the Creation Station -- big enough to attract the interest of passers-by, but not overbearing.  Just the right combination for a festival!


You can check out Toyota's Creation Station at these upcoming family-friendly festivals:
Sept. 28-30: Brooklyn, NY at Dumbo Arts Festival
Oct. 26-28: Denver, CO at Boo at the Zoo
Nov. 23-25: Rancho Cucamonga, CA at Bass Pro Shops
Dec. 1: San Diego, CA at Miramar Children's Christmas Carnival


Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of Toyota.


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Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book for the iPad

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We are all looking forward to the opening of Tim Burton's new movie, "Frankenweenie", so when I heard that Disney Publishing was releasing a free interactive Frankenweenie eBook, I downloaded it to see whether it was just an extended movie trailer or something that could legitimately be called an eBook.   After a not-so-quick read-through, I'm happy to say that it's definitely worth the download.   Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book is like the eBook version of a beautifully illustrated coffee table book that gives readers a glimpse of how the movie was made.  It's filled with preliminary sketches, photos of character models, photos of sets, and more.  And since it's an eBook, you can watch video clips of Tim Burton talking about the history behind the film, listen to music from the movie, even purchase physical books and tickets to see the movie. Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book is like a collection of special features on a DVD -- photo gallery, "The Making Of.." featurette, etc.. -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it did end up on disc 2 of the Frankenweenie DVD.

Below are a couple of photos from the book.  An entire chapter is devoted to showing how they recreated the scenes in the movie, like the pet graveyard, Victor's classroom, Victor's attic and Victor's kitchen.  Since the movie was filmed using stop-motion technique, they had to create actual physical sets.


Another chapter introduces the main characters in the movie: Sparky, Victor, his parents, their neighbors, his science teacher, his classmates, their pets.  The photo below shows how the camera captures the animated figures on the set.  I had just assumed that Frankenweenie was a computer-animated film, so I was amazed to see how much effort has to go into making a film via stop-motion animation!



About the book:
It’s alive!!...and on your iPad! In anticipation of the much-talked-about stop-motion animated film directed by Tim Burton, “Frankenweenie,” (in theaters October 5, 2012), Disney Publishing Worldwide is excited to release Frankenweenie: An Electrifying Book for the iPad. Available on the iBookstore, the fully interactive book integrates videos, vibrant music, and original sketches to offer readers a fully immersive behind-the-scenes look into the making of the movie. This is Disney Publishing’s first project created with Apple’s iBooks Author software.

“We’re thrilled to give fans a look at how Tim Burton and his creative team brought Victor Frankenstein and Sparky to life in the town of New Holland,” said Lyle Underkoffler, vice president, Digital Media, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “Using iBooks Author, Disney Publishing was able to include more digital content than ever before—including previews of animated storyboards documenting the transition from sketch to screen.”



Disclosure: 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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VTech Switch and Go Dinos

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Kids love dinosaurs and kids love vehicles -- so why not combine them?  That's the idea behind VTech's new Switch and Go Dinos transforming toys.  Each Switch and Go Dino transforms from a vehicle to a dinosaur in just a few moves.  Each one has an LCD screen with customizable dino eyes and vehicle drivers, and each one gives off unique sounds and dinosaur facts.  There are seven Switch and Go Dinos:


Race Car / Sliver the T-Rex
Sports Car / Horns the Triceratops
Rally Car /  Tonn the Stegasaurus
Zip Car / T-Don the Pteranodon
Tow Truck / Attila the Ankylosaurus
Jet Plane / Span the Spinosaurus
Car Carrier / Brok the Brachiosaurus

VTech and Mom Central sent us Attila, Span and Brok to review, and even though 3Po and Jammy are at the top of the age range (3-8 yrs), I was pleasantly surprised by how much they are enjoying all three! Here's what they love about Switch and Go Dinos:

When in auto mode...
* Each dino has its own cool auto feature.  When Attila the Ankylosaurus is in tow truck mode, it can tow any vehicle.  When Brok the Brachiosaurus is in auto mode, the boys love launching the race car and the pterodactyl into the air!
* They think it's really cool that the toy knows when it is in auto mode, and the LCD screen on the windshield shows a graphic of a truck driver. They also enjoy toggling through the different kinds of drivers.

When in dino mode...
* They like how wheels beneath the dino's feet make it really easy to glide him around
* They think it's really cool that the toy knows when it is in dino mode, and the LCD screen on the windshield (now the face of the dinosaur) shows the dinosaur's eyes. They also enjoy toggling through the different kinds of dino eyes!

Best of all, it is really easy to transform from auto to dino mode, and back again. They figured out how to do it on their own, without having to read the instructions. Younger boys will probably need a parent's help, but the transformation process is really simple, so after you teach your son how to do it, he will be able to do it on his own. The parts are quite chunky, and there aren't too many complicated moves, so it won't be too frustrating, even for a 4 year old.

To show how easy the transformation is, 3Po and Jammy made an entire series of videos for all the Switch & Go Dinos we own!  Check them out:
How to transform Span the Spinosaurus into a jet plane...



.. and how to transform the jet plane back into Span the Spinosaurus



How to transform Attila the Ankylosaurus into a tow truck...



... and how to transform the tow truck back into Attila the Anyklosaurus



How to transform Brok the Brachiosaurus into a car carrier...



... and how to transform the car carrier back into Brok the Brachiosaurus


The sound effects and moving parts (when in dino mode, you can press a button and will swing his neck to and fro) will probably appeal more to the younger kids.  In my opinion, it's not VTech's most educational toy (yes, the dino does spout some dino facts, but I'm not sure if the kids are listening), but it's certainly one of their most entertaining! The more inexpensive models (Sliver, Horns, Ton and T-Don go for around $15) are a no-brainer top purchase.  The bigger models like Span ($30) and Brok ($50) are more expensive, but if you have a younger child, I think it is well worth the price since he will get many years of play from it.

Check out VTech's Facebook page for the chance to win a lifetime supply of VTech Toys including the Switch and Go Dinos, and the chance for your child to appear in a VTech commercial! Aside from the grand prize, 25 winners will each receive Switch and Go Dinos for their very own!  You don't even need to own a VTech Switch and Go Dino to enter!  The Show and Tell with Switch and Go Dinos video contest ends October 1.  

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for VTech. I received VTech Switch & Go Dinos product samples to facilitate my review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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Blooming Morning Glories

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During the summer months, I am so preoccupied with getting the job done, that sometimes I fail to take a little time out of my day to enjoy the little things. Over the past few weeks, as I've been walking to work each morning {one of the "little things" in my day that I love}, I've noticed a vine growing on my neighbors fence. One morning, as I passed by, I saw that it was blooming, with beautiful blue morning glories. When I came back home later that day, I passed right by the vine without paying much attention. The next morning, as I went to work again, the bright blue blooms were there once again. I made sure to pay special attention to the vine as I returned later in the day. The blooms were gone again, there were only shriveled up petals. Each morning, the blooms become more abundant and the petals keep getting brighter and bluer. I find this flower to be so fascinating!! Once again, it's the little things in my day, like blooming morning glories, that bring me much happiness! :O)

    

Fun With HERSHEY'S CAMP BONDFIRE - Summer Never Ends

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The wee ones asked me this morning if summer was over.  It's the first time it's been under 70 degrees since the start of school, and it's a grey, dreary morning.  We carefully checked the calendar and decided that no, summer wasn't quite over yet - even though it felt like it this morning.  And, I promised them, there are some things about summer that we'll keep alive so there's a part of summer always in our hearts.

Their eyes brightened at this notion, and they immediately asked what we'd do.  Put on the spot, there were only a few things I could come up with in the heat of the moment.  We'll still do lots of playdates, I promised.  That's something we frequently do in the summer, but once school hits, we get too busy to think about it.  And, I smiled broadly, we will still make S'mores every once in awhile.

At that, the mood brightened and lifted, and I was off the hook.  It will never cease to amaze me how simply mentioning s'mores or setting a few ingredients on the kitchen table induces such excitement not just in the wee ones but in everyone who sees or hears about them.


We've been having "HERSHEY'S CAMP BONDFIRES" this summer, and it's been a blast.  The lure of making s'mores is a draw for just about anyone I know.  And they come running.  Even at BlogHer this year, the Hershey's S'mores Suite was one of the places to be.  I know I enjoyed my visit(s) - and my s'mores.


Back home, we've had just as much fun.  We invited friends over to chill with us in the evenings after we've left the pool so exhausted we can hardly move.  There's just that last bit of energy we need to expel before we all head to our own homes, and Camp Bondfire was born.  It rotates from house to house sometimes, depending on whose house is clean enough to host others.  The first words out of the mouths of every one of my friends is "Oh please excuse the mess.  My house is a disaster right now" - regardless of how spotless it is.  It's become a running joke.




I remember the days as a Girl Scout sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows for our s'mores and telling stories, bonding with the others there.  It's the same idea today.  Sitting around and chatting - you can't do much else when eating a s'more - is a great bonding experience for the kids and adults.  I'm so proud of the wee ones that they're starting to learn to toast their own marshmallows.  We've lost a few soldiers to the fire along the way, but there always seems to be just one more in the marshmallow bag when we need one.

And once the marshmallow is done to the perfect level - perfectly evenly golden brown on all sides and gooey for me, burned to a crisp for my husband and Mister Man - we sit back and enjoy with family and friends.  When the wee ones were on their RV trip with my husband and parents, the nightly s'mores were a favorite treat, too.

While the kids are usually the ones who ask for seconds, the adults rarely turn down the offer of a freshly toasted s'more.  The gooey marshmallow melting the creamy milk chocolate with a crunchy graham cracker to hold it all together is something that appeals to everyone.  Even when Mister Man had his sensory issues and couldn't eat many foods because of the textures, s'mores was always a winner in his book.  It was our little therapy to give him something with so many different and gooey textures.  At least that was our justification, because who just makes one s'more?  We always had to make enough for ourselves, too, because... yum.

Because no one can resist HERSHEY'S CAMP BONDFIRE.  And really, who wants to?  Especially when you have the opportunity to enjoy a "double s'more."  Lucky boy, right?


How do you celebrate your own Camp Bondfire?

In the interest of full disclosure, I received supplies to host my HERSHEY'S CAMP BONDFIRE gathering to share with my friends.  I was also compensated as part of this campaign.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.