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Small Dolls for Imaginative Play: Magic Cabin Halfpenny Dolls Collection

March 29, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. I only promote what I love!

I am guilty of being far too quick to turn to electronic devices when I need to provide entertainment for one of both of my children when we are out and about.

I’m also guilty of being too quick to think that it’s my job to provide entertainment at all, but that’s a topic for another post.

I love when I run across pocket-sized play options that rely on the imagination, and not on passive viewing. So for road trips, plane trips, running errands, or most any time that kids might be away from home and get bored, one great option is to have some halfpenny dolls on hand.

These small dolls were sent to us from Magic Cabin (a site I have frequently noted as being the absolute BEST resource for imaginative play).

Halfpenny dolls are exclusive to the site, and are currently offered in 5 different sets (neighborhood friends, nature dolls, Halfpenny family, mermaid family and royal family). They vary in price, but the set featured above is just $24.98, and comes with 4 poseable dolls and a cute little house that the dolls all easily fit inside for transport and storage.

My daughters have been taken with the sweet small size of the dolls and with the excellent detailing. It is evident that these are artisan designed and handcrafted with love. The materials are soft and the figures are easy to play with and quite inviting.

The set is very lightweight, so adding it to an activity bag or even throwing it in your purse is quite easy and can provide a child with a starting point for some fun imaginary play in most any location. It’s a great alternative to handing over your phone for videos or games and in my experience, the kids love it even more.

It’s a good thing for kids to experience boredom. And it’s an even better thing for them to find a cure for their boredom away from a screen.

Shopping tip: always check the top banner on Magic Cabin for their latest coupon code (if one is currently available). If they are running a special, it will be listed there. The current one is 10% off + free shipping on orders over $80.

(Giveaway!) Fall Outdoor Family Fun: Kids Croquet Set

October 29, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 12 Comments

Thanks to Magic Cabin for providing the kids croquet set for review and giveaway. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m so sad to see October go, friends. Hands-down, it is my favorite month of the year. Where I live in eastern Tennessee, the weather during the month is nothing short of delightful. There’s a crispness in the air, but it’s not enough to keep you indoors at all. And while our trees don’t put on the same show that you’ll find further north, they still hold their own and give us plenty of beauty as the colors turn. And it seems like you can’t throw a rock around here without hitting a festival of some sort.

I LOVE IT!!!!

Since I want to be outside as much as possible, soaking up that good weather (that fortunately for us, should continue for most of November), I have been hunting for some great outdoor games for the girls. Magic Cabin has what I am quite certain is the world’s cutest kids croquet set. All you need is a patch of open spaceand two players and you are good to go!

The woodland croquet set comes with these 6 adorable croquet hoops (sorry…I’m not in the know about official croquet terms). It also comes with two wooden mallets and two balls.

The little critters stand up easily thanks to wooden planks. So there’s no need to poke the ground in any way! I really like this because it means that if you had a large enough space (such as a finished basement), you could even play this game inside once the weather is just too cold.

I only “sort of” know how to play this game. I know that you need to knock your ball with your mallet through each hoop. After that, it gets real fuzzy. But for a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old to play, I knew plenty! And friends, they were so cute playing this game together! They had such a blast and so many laughs, so I thought it be to not interfere in the fun with too many rules (not that I knew them!). We’ll work on technique down the line! 😉

This is my new go-to item for when we have play dates or for getting out a bit of energy before dinner. The set is absolutely lovely and my kids find it highly entertaining. I would highly recommend this if you are looking for something new for your kids to do in the back yard! It retails for $64.98.

Win it!: Lucky you!!! One Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a Woodland Croquet Set from Magic Cabin!

Woodland Croquet Set

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the right sidebar of the blog.

How to Make a Reading Nook for Kids (Giveaway!)

October 12, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 8 Comments

Thanks to Magic Cabin for supplying the fairy wings pillow. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Affiliate links may be included.

Our oldest is starting to read now, which is equal parts thrilling and excruciating to witness (as those of you who have been through this season of life already know!). I have been wanting to create a special place in her room that will draw her in, and serve as an invitation to read, and perhaps to even get lost in the world of great stories as her reading skills continue to grow. I’d love to show you what we put together!

We already had these really awesome rain gutter bookshelves in place in her room. Tim was able to make them a few years ago when we first moved into the house. They aren’t meant to hold piles and piles of books, but they do make a nice display. There are lots of examples of rain gutter bookshelves online, but here’s a tutorial to help you get started.

We then headed to Amazon to pick out some sort of fun netting option. We landed on this canopy that is really intended to be a canopy over a bed, but we made it work in this space. We wanted something large enough to cover the entire area, but if you want something smaller, I totally love this daisy canopy, exclusive to Magic Cabin.

We also bought lights on Amazon, and while you will likely be able to find Christmas lights in the stores at this time of year, we wanted to get white wire lights so that they would blend in better. Those are a bit harder to find!

There are two rugs on the floor for softness and a pop of color. The shag rug is actually a washable rug, and the blue rug was an Ikea find. Also on the floor we have the sparkle fairy wings lounge pillow. This is exclusive to Magic Cabin, so you won’t find it anywhere else, and it actually was the reason I put together the reading nook in the first place. I saw this item in the catalog a few months ago and it just got the wheels spinning in my head about how great it would be to create a space for Darah where she could let her imagination soar while reading.

We put some beautiful butterflies that I actually found a while back at a thrift store on the walls for some added decoration and whimsy. Magic Cabin has some other great products that would look great in an area like this. I particularly like the felt butterfly wreath and the decorative butterflies.

At the far end of the nook we have a bin with additional books in it, as well as a place where Darah hangs her necklaces. Admittedly, the necklaces don’t really have anything to do with the reading nook, but the truth is, we live in a small house. We’ve got to make use of our vertical space!

Darah named the area butterfly cove, and she is really enjoying sitting in there and reading. I enjoy getting to hang out in there with her, too!

I’m so glad we put this together. I think it is a great use of a space in her room that was somewhat awkward. Now it has a clear function!

Have you put together any sort of special reading area for your little ones? Do you like “butterfly cove”?

Win it!: Magic Cabin has generously offered a sparkle fairy wings lounge pillow for one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader!

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Creating an Outdoor Oasis for Kids: Magic Cabin GardenFort (Giveaway!)

July 18, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 94 Comments

My husband did most of his growing up in the Pacific Northwest. Home to lush greenery, mild temperatures, and very few icky bugs. Heading outdoors was a joy to get to do, and as a result, he has a deep love for nature.

I was raised in the muggy deep South, where stepping outside 6 months of the year feels like taking a bath, and the bugs are as big as your fist. I, therefore, detested going outside, even as a child, and never really developed that love for the great outdoors.

Encouraging a Love of the Outdoors

I hope for something different for my girls. While the weather in Chattanooga is more similar to my growing up years than to Tim’s, it has enough differences to convince me to give outdoor time some priority in our daily schedules. And my girls both love to get to go outside. I’ve been thinking about what I can do to encourage that love and not squelch it with my own personal preference for being inside. Lately I’ve been considering adding a swingset to the garden. The kids need ways to get their energy out and I think a swingset would help immensely with this need. But this is something that is going to require a bit of saving up for, so I need a simpler solution for the mean time.

Want to see one of my main solutions? It is a work in progress, as it needs time to “grow” but here are the bones of what is going to surely become a source for many great memories for my girls:

This is the GardenFort, available exclusively through and sent to us by Magic Cabin. It takes about 45 minutes to get completely set up, and it is ideal to have 2 people working on it, especially as you work to get the netting secure around the frame. The kit also comes with 3 varieties of seeds that will turn into lush, blooming vines. The end result is going to be something truly magical. Here’s an example :

As much as I disliked being outside, if something like this had been in my backyard, I would have had a very hard time resisting it. My girls already love to play inside of it. Darah calls it her secret fort (though it is not exactly “tucked away” in the backyard!). We are enjoying bringing blankets, books and toys outside and sitting inside of this special space. I can only imagine how magical of a place it will be to my girls when it is covered in vines and truly starts to feel like a little secret garden.

Magic Cabin is, without question, my very favorite online source for imaginative play. The GardenFort is just one example of the imaginative finds there. Here are a few of my other favorite garden related items that would be ideal for encouraging more outdoor time:

1. Swing Seat

2. Child Size Garden Planters

3. Elfin Garden Accessories

What do you think about the GardenFort or these other great outdoor items? What do you do to encourage a love of nature and of being outside? Is it something you struggle with, personally? I’d love to hear!

Butterfly Gift Ideas (GIVEAWAY!!!)

April 29, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 84 Comments

Are you starting to see butterflies in your area? We have several garden plots near our home, and those have started to attract some butterflies. Our 3 1/2 year old is positively giddy about this, and loves to go outside and see if she can spot one.

Watching her flutter around in her butterfly wings, chasing after all sorts of creatures and pretending that she, herself is a butterfly (or a fairy), is one of my very favorite things to witness. It is nothing short of magical to watch a child experience pure fun, and to use her imagination for creative play. These are the moments that people tell you about that make all the really hard aspects of parenting worth it.

Since Darah is fascinated by butterflies, I have been looking up places to find butterfly gifts. In particular, I’ve been interested in options that weren’t necessarily toys. At least not the plastic, light up, “let me entertain you and you watch” type of toys. And friends, It hit the jackpot while browsing at one of my very favorite online stores: Magic Cabin.

Magic Cabin, in my experience, is THE place to go online when you are looking for creative play gifts. In particular, I think they have an unparalleled collection of gift ideas for children who love the outdoors, fairies, butterflies and nature. I recently received a butterfly wreath that is just so beautiful, yet made of materials that my child can touch and feel without me worrying that it will be damaged.

Darah chose the spot in our house where this hangs. She put it on a blank space in our living room. I asked her why she chose that spot and she said, “I can look at it every day from my chair while eating.” And she is right! This butterfly wreath is playful, colorful, and also very special. I hope Darah will choose to keep it for a long time.

close up of butterfly wreath butterfly gifts

Isn’t that detail so lovely?

If you know someone who loves butterflies, be they young or just young at heart, this wreath is really exceptional. It also happens to be a great deal, currently on sale for just $37.50. Additionally, I’ve got 4 other personally selected butterfly gift ideas that are all fantastic!

1. Connectagons with Butterflies and Flowers ($19.98)

2. 48 piece Butterfly giant floor puzzle ($12.98)

3. butterfly chair ($99.00)

4. fabric butterfly wings ($15.98) (we own these…they ROCK!)

Which item is your favorite??

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the butterfly wreath from Magic Cabin!

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

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I received a complimentary item for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Magic Cabin Adirondack Side Table Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

January 5, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 301 Comments

At Darah’s school, work is completed on small child-sized tables that are placed throughout the room. Children are not assigned to a table, but are free to choose any free spot to sit in for each lesson they work on throughout the day. They feel comfortable freely moving about the classroom because everything there is on a scale that works well for 2 year olds. The chairs, the tables, the shelves, the sink….everything is just the right size for the kids!

This really got Tim and me to start thinking about how our own house is set up, and how monstrously huge many items must seem to Darah. While it isn’t practical for us to give her miniature versions of everything, we thought that if she had a table of her own, where she could easily seat herself for activities throughout the day, she might really enjoy that and get a lot of use out of it. We were definitely right!

To find a quality wooden table, we turned to Magic Cabin. If you aren’t already familiar with this site, definitely bookmark it, because they have a WONDERFUL selection of quality toys and accessories for kids. It’s impossible for me to browse the site without finding at least 10 things that would be amazing to own and that would promote learning, laughter and the use of imagination.

We received the side table from the child’s Adirondack collection that Magic cabin has and decided that it was the perfect size for a small table (a bigger table might be more useful to some, but we have a small house, so we took that into consideration when making our choice). The table arrived in a flat box and needed some basic assembly. It actually made for a fun project that Tim and Darah worked on together (she LOVES to “fix things” with her daddy!). It was all put together in 10 minutes. We actually decided to remove one of the wooden pieces on one side to make it easier for Darah’s legs to fit under the table. It now sits in our kitchen/dining room, right up against the wall and by her pictures of bones, which is something she is currently really into.

As soon as her table was ready, she asked if she could eat meals at her table and do lessons there. She actually refused to sit with us at the “big” table for 3 days and had all her meals at her own place! Now she’s back with us for meals, but snacks and lessons are still happening at her table. It’s great to see her confidently approach a space that she knows is her own. I’ve also seen an increase in her playing with her lessons that we have on a nearby shelf. That makes sense, because now she has a place to take them and work on just like she does at school.

We are extremely pleased with the quality of this table and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something similar. We would also recommend Magic Cabin as a great resources for children’s playthings. Definitely check them out; you won’t be disappointed! They are having a post-holiday sale, so you just might find something for a steal!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win this fantastic Adirondack side table from Magic Cabin! Woo hoo!

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