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Archive for November 30, 2011

Holiday Toys Shopping Guide and Safety Tips

With the holiday season just around the corner, it is understandable why everyone is in a jovial mood. After all, the holiday season is characterized by celebrations, concern, sharing gifts, showing some love and getting it right back. As you may acknowledge however, holidays would never be complete at least from the kids’ point of view, if you do not shower them with gifts. When children’s gifts are mentioned, the first thing that strikes in one’s mind is toys.  This would explain why the toys industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, more so at this time of the year. Complimenting this is the fact that numerous online stores have cropped up in effort to meet the demand for toys while allowing for convenience in doing so. You definitely could buy impressive toys from toysrus.com or even amazon.com among others.

However, even as you grant your kids their wishes for cool new toys, it is important that you put in place some measures to ensure that you do not compromise on their safety. Recent times have seen numerous new products being recalled by their manufacturers. The market has become cluttered with toys that are lead-tainted mostly from China. Studies show that quite a large number of toys in the market have particular chemicals that may have detrimental effects on the children. With the multiplicity of toys in the market, choosing healthy and safe toys becomes quite a herculean task. By following these tips however, you can fulfill the desires of your kid without compromising on their safety.

In determining the safety of the toy you buy from walmart.com, consider whether it is age appropriate. It is always important that you adhere to age guidelines that are indicated on the toy packaging since the handling of the toys by children in different age-groups will always be different.  Children under the age of three will put literary anything in their mouths. In this case, it would be important that you buy toys that are age-specific as toys for older kids may have minute parts that would pose choking danger. It is always advisable that you do not allow kids to play with broken or un-inflated balloons due to the choking danger. Avoid balls, marbles or game whose balls have diameters less than 1.75 inches. Be sure to give toys with sharp pints or edges a wide berth.  For children aged between 3 and 5, toys constructed with brittle, thin plastic should be avoided since they break easily leaving jagged edges. For children between 6 and 12, be sure to periodically check the toys for breakage as well as potential hazards. Dangerous or damaged toys should be thrown away or repaired. For toy guns, ensure that they are brightly colored to avoid being mistaken for real ones. Buying protective clothing to come with toys such as bicycles would be imperative to keep your kid safe any time. These includes helmets, elbow and knee pads.

It is always important that you avoid toys that have magnets more so for kids below three. These always have the risk of swallowing them. When two or more magnets are swallowed, they would attract each other thereby cutting via the intestines. This would definitely pose a big risk on the life of the kid thereby dampening the holiday fun. In case the kid is hospitalized, it would be important to inform the hospital staff about the likelihood of magnets in that child since certain x-rays should never be used.

It is always important that you be ware of chemistry sets, batteries and electric toys. These toys should never be bought for children aged below 8 years. Chemistry sets contain chemicals which may be hazardous for the young children with no skills for handling them properly. Electric toys may cause burns and shocks thereby posing danger for the kids while batteries found in toys are known to incorporate mercury which would not only be hazardous to the child but also to the environment.

When buying toys from toyrus.com, be sure to avoid those with long cords. Kids can very easily get entangled by toys that have cords such as pacifiers with ribbons around a child’s neck. Still on the same note, be sure not to place children’s cribs close to windows or blinds that have cords.

Still on the same, it would be important that you give toys that have minute parts a wide berth. In case the toy or even part of it can fit wholly within NO CHOKE TUBE or even toilet tube, never buy it for kids below six years.

Are the toys you buy from amazon.com a fire hazard? Electric toys incorporating electric plugs and batteries pose burn hazard and therefore should not be bought to children under the age of 8. For fabric toys, be sure that they are labeled flame resistant or flame retardant.

It is always important that you also consider the chemicals that the toys may contain. Recent times have seen phthalates banned in kids’ toys as well as kids’ care articles. Stricter standards have been put into place for metals such as lead as well as other likely toxic chemicals. It is always important that you look into these chemical’s trace amounts.

In safeguarding the safety of the toy you buy from walmart.com, it is always important that you conduct an intensive research as to whether the particular toys have been recalled. Be sure to check the product recalls over the internet more so when you are making the purchase long before the holiday season. Visiting the U.S Consumer Products Safety Commission website would therefore be imperative.

While looking into the safety of the toys you buy from amazon.com may be quite important, it is imperative that you extend the safety measures to even after buying them. Teach your kids to keep their toys safely after playing with them in order to prevent issues such as falls and other injuries.

Never place anything in the crib with a baby. That would include all toys, positioners, blankets, bumper pads, pillows, soft surfaces, and mobiles. Babies can become entangled in these items and suffocate.

Holiday home decorating ideas and money saving tips

Holidays are times of celebration, when everyone is supposed to be happy. There are quite a number of activities to undertake just for the sake of it. However, you will definitely acknowledge that holiday time comes with a big spending. This ranges from things like entertainment, trips, foods and even decorations. Talking of decorations, if there is one thing that characterizes holidays, then it has to be decorations. Every holiday season be it Halloween, Christmas, Easter festive season or any type of holiday comes with its own unique decorations. The decorations industry actually happens to be one of the most dynamic industries in the world raking billions of dollars. This should be underlining one fact; that decorating your home during holidays can eat up quite a large amount of your money. They definitely do not come cheap and therefore you could end up broke at the end of the season. This would dampen the mood of the festive season and make all the decorations immaterial. There are however tips that you could make use of when decorating your home during the holiday season and end up making big savings.

You could start off by changing the lights. Substituting the incandescent Christmas for LED lights would incorporate quite a large amount of savings. LED lights are known to use less energy compared to the incandescent lights and are even more durable. While they may actually come at a higher cost than the incandescent lights, they will save you a lot of money in the long run.

One of the cheapest and easiest ways of changing the feel of your room is by changing the curtains. You can always make or find curtains in holiday color matching the décor of the rest of the house. Ornaments or Christmas balls may be sawn in two coordinating ribbon strips and used to tie back the curtains.

Using live plants would also save you a lot of money during the holiday season. Recent times have seen an increase in the efforts made to go natural and organic. In this case, the Christmas decorations may be made from pine branches and cone from your backyard. You could have poinsettia plants in your mantle or cluster small plants on a window sill or side-table. Red berries may also be hung in the room to give it an elegant look.

Another way of saving on Christmas decorations is by clustering the decorations. You actually do not need to have every part of the room decorated. Instead, you could focus your efforts to particular key areas such as the corners of the living room, entry way. Having some magnificent and properly positioned holiday decorations would have a big impact while saving you quite a lot of money.

Use wall décors such as picture frames to reinvent the look of your room. Have the classic Christmas postcards placed in picture frames then hang them on the wall. Alternatively, you could change the positions of the pictures in order to give your room a new look. Luckily, the market is laden with numerous wall décors that would give the look of your home a complete overhaul. Shopping online will also provide quite a number of choices. Shopping for wall décors in a site such as homedecorators.com would save you even more money since all décors come with free shipping.

Paying attention to the house ware would also be important as far as holiday decorations are concerned. Chances are that the dishes that you currently have are chipped and cracked a far cry of what was at one time a matching set. Take this opportunity to have them replaced. Having new glasses and plates would uplift the look of your kitchen without depreciating your pocket. One of the places you could look into for house ware is wayfair.com. You definitely have all the degrees of freedom as far as experimenting with the house ware. In this case, you could consider matching or mixing varied styles of the house ware in order to give your kitchen a dramatic overhaul.

Turning your attention to the furniture would also be imperative. There are quite numerous thrift stores with good furniture at very low prices. Ensure that whatever you go for is complementing the look of your home. Many people give scratched furniture or that which has color they hate a wide berth. If it comes at cheap rates, just take it and do the other work later. In most cases, the furniture may be repainted, refinished and sanded at very low cost. Being on the look out for the discounts and promotions especially during the festive seasons is always imperative. If you can mix the various promotions such as discounts with free shipping, you could see yourself save quite a lot of money.

Another section that you should pay attention to is the towels and sheets section. Anyone can attest to the overhauling effect of these things. In most cases, you will come across table runners, throw pillows, fabric place mats, bed spreads and even table cloths of very impressive quality in the online stores and at very low prices. Still on the same, door mats or rags would give the entry point of your home a new look. After all, that is the very first thing that an individual would be seeing once they get to the house being sure as to its suitability would be imperative. When it comes to such items, it would be important that you have a lot of patience since it is unlikely that you get the most appropriate one for you the very first time. In any case, stores such as wayfair.com have such expansive selections that you will be lost for choice as to the best for you. Taking your time to explore the available options would be important while considering the decorations in your home already. Be sure to complement the immovable decorations when choosing the movable ones.

The key to decorating your home during Christmas always lies in researching. There will always be numerous stores both online and offline that have all the decorations you may need. Comparing their prices without compromising on the quality will always be important. Some of the spots you could check out for impressive holiday decorations include wayfair.com and homedecorators.com. You definitely will be lost for choice as to the ones to take home. In any case, you will always find something that fits your budget here.