Kids Gift Idea and Black Friday Deals
Christmas is fast approaching! But I’ve got an awesome gift idea for your littles!
Barrett fell in love with the balance bike from Coco Village! He rides it everywhere!
It really is a great skill to build for kids too. Even big brother (8) can ride this one! Barrett is 3 and it took some prefecting. They also have a 3 wheeled version!
Plus, if you subscribe to the VIP list here, you will receive an email on NOVEMBER 23rd giving you special early access to all their Black Friday deals!!
Coco Village is our favorite stop for gorgeous and fun kids toys. Check them all out!
Here are a few more of their adorable kids items too!
Hope your kiddos will love these ideas!
XX,
Jess
New Way to Clean!
Let’s face it, life’s messy. Kids, pets, busy lives… husbands. 🤣
I’ve found something that makes it very simpler to keep it all clean. CleanSmart. Period. Spray it on. Walk away. That simple. How?! This cleaner is made with natural Hypochlorus Acid and made with 100% natural ingredients. It dissolves to saline solution and leaves no chemical residue. And no fumes!
This cleaner can be used on anything, door knobs and appliances to countertops, highchairs, toys, and switches. It’s even safe for use on baby’s pacifier, and safe to spray around food and pets.
Plus, CleanSmart kills 99.9% of germs, including Coronavirus, cold, flu, strep, RSV, staph, MRSA, E. Coli, salmonella, and listeria, to name a few! The EPA has approved CleanSmart to kill a while list of germs!
I even throw the mini bottle in my diaper bag to spray down items as we go (think shopping cart handles!)
So what I’m saying is, get some! Seriously. CleanSmart will change your house cleaning game. How much more simple can it get than spraying and done?! I’m so pumped that not only is it easy, but effective and safe for my whole family and the Earth. 😉
It’s now available on Amazon Prime too!!
Let me know what you think!
Jess,
XX
Guest/Play Room Transformation
When we moved in a few years ago the rooms were all boring and ugly…
Then we painted and added some fun flair to make this one a bright teen room…
Then, the teen grew up and moved out, so we had an empty space. 💡 We had an idea! A play room. But also make it a guest room, so that we still have a space for company to sleep…
And so the room became a guest/play room.
Paint again. Tone down those walls. New floors. New furniture. Make it fun, but grown up enough for guests… viola!
We went gray on the walls, but a touch darker than normal since we have lots of sunshine in here. We did snap in wood floor, since they are durable and easy to clean. Then the fun part…
We added a wall mural from PhotoWall! What better way to keep it fun for play and interesting but adult for guests?!
How cool is that?! It was actually super easy to install, just wallpaper in vertical strips, and it even comes with the paste. The boys are in LOVE with their new space!
You can head to PhotoWall too and use code ‘makemineeclectic25’ for 25% off any of their art, canvases, or wallpapers!
Next we will add furniture, so stay tuned…
XX,
Jess
Sensory Play Part 2
I wanted to follow up with some more sensory play ideas we have found since getting our table. If you are new here, here is the first post on sensory play, where we talk about our table and some items that are super helpful!
First, get a funnel. These come in a pack of three and are collapsible silicone. Makes putting it all back SO much easier!
Another thing we’ve fallen in love with are these super cute jars from Busy Littles! You can even customize your jar with her, just message her on Instagram to order!
These are so fun because she adds acrylic letters and numbers that she makes! We got an alphabet that she customized to a camo theme! We also got one of her winter jars and a rainbow number jar. The boys LOVE them all!
So, what have we learned? That ANYTHING can be added to a sensory bin! The boys love that they can mix, stir, explore, dump, and keep the fun going for hours. Ok, minutes. They are kids. But still, its impressive. And anything that entertains both a 7 year old and a 2 year old is impressive in my book!
Also, here’s a peak at the Christmas box from Little Creators Texas too! We still love these also!
Have you tried sensory play yet?!
Jess,
XX
Marineland, Family Florida Trip Ideas
Want to take the kids to Florida, but not quite ready to go all in on Disney just yet? We weren’t either. I have some ideas for you!
Must see in Florida? Marineland Dolphin Adventure!! Truly, this place is a must see and a pleaser for all ages.
Yes, we danced with the dolphins! 🤩 This dolphin is Dazzle and she was a sweetheart. We learned a lot about her and dolphins in general. You can choose tickets to swim with the dolphins or tickets to meet and greet with them (pet them!), like the youngest and dad did.
You can even get a package that includes painting with the dolphins! There are talks and training demonstrations…
There was a tour of the facility, which included learning the history here. They are the first facility of their kind! Movies have even been made here! You can see turtles and other sea life too. There was just so much to explore. Plus, who doesn’t love an adorable gift shop? They even had custom necklaces made with each dolphin’s fluke (tail fin). How neat?! There is also a photographer there to snap photos while you are in the water or focusing on the dolphin fun!
And the view over the ocean was divine, even on a cloudy day…
There is just so much to say about this place. Truly I can’t rave enough and highly recommend you visit there for yourself!
Want to make it a whole weekend and need more things to fill your time? Us too! I’ve got a few recommendations:
Tip- Fly into and stay in Jacksonville. It’s a big enough city to have plenty to do, but not a spring-breaker hot spot.
1. Check out the beaches! The whole family enjoyed the sand and water, even in the cooler winter time. We all love to hunt for shells and treasures. Best beach for shells, sea glass and shark teeth is Mickler’s Landing, a public beach at Ponte Verda. Jacksonville beach, Atlantic beach, and Neptune beaches are all public, close by and very nice. Public beach access in Marineland was also very nice!
2. Jacksonville Zoo! Also fun for the whole family.
3. See St. Augustine! The younger kids didn’t understand the significance and were not super interested, but did enjoy seeing the big stone “castle”. They had lots of lights up in the evening, the bridge is neat, and there is a huge light house. Plus shops and restaurants to please us bigger kids.
4. St. Augustine alligator park! We didn’t get to make it here, but this attraction looked so fun!
5. Catty Shack wildlife sanctuary! We also didn’t make it here, but it is on our list! You can see them feed the tigers!
6. Seafood! Need I say more? I’ll list a few of our tried and true favorites.
*Safe Harbor, Jacksonville
*Slider’s, Jacksonville
*Sonny’s BBQ, Jacksonville (not seafood, but totally a favorite worth checking out)
*South Beach Grill, Marineland
Tip- Hyatt Place, Jacksonville Airport is where we stayed. Casual yet nice, family friendly and spacious. Plus, you can sign up for Hyatt Club for free and get free breakfasts. Just one we would recommend!
I hope you enjoy visiting Florida too! Let me know how you like these spots!
XX,
Jess
Disclosure: we were hosted at Marineland only. All opinions of all locations listed here are fully our own. We want to be helpful for your family, with honest reviews!
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Toy Box
A project done! The abused vintage toy box started out like this:
The white is actually wood filler, added by me. But, you get the picture. It was old, and rough, and needed lots of wood filler and love. I sanded and filled and sanded some more. Finally I chose turquoise paint and white for the inside. Not as creative as I originally sought out to be, but it turned out fun so I left it there. I antiqued the edges a bit and roughed up the “wear spots”. I like how it turned out simple and fun!
After:
What do you think? I think it turned out super adorable. I was going to replace the handles, but the old ones are vintage ceramic and actually cleaned up nicely. I’m even tempted to keep this one! Why keep a toy box? … more news to come! 😉
Make Mine Eclectic 