Hazelnut Kids Blog

Trees are a common theme around here at Hazelnut Kids. We hug them, we try to save them, and we even plant them. Well now we display them! I would like to share a couple of pictures sent to me by Denis Chirles, Executive Director for the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry. Hazelnut Kids donated several Plan Toys Stacking Trees for their lovely TREEscape exhibit. If you are in the Charleston, SC area looking for something special to do with your little people, stop in and check them out!

We love Sarah’s Silks at Hazelnut Kids, and anyone who has ever purchased their products would know why. Everything they make is just beautiful! Vibrant colors, soft textures, and elegant designs can describe each Sarah’s Silks product. They are simple enough to allow for childrens’ imaginations to fill in the blanks, yet the attention to detail speaks of the love and care that went into creating each piece. They use lovely silks and non-toxic dyes to achieve every color in the rainbow!

We are thrilled to offer so many new Sarah’s Silks products, and even more excited to offer a giveaway! Sarah’s Silks will send one lucky winner a basket of 7 playsilks.

I know in our house, playsilks have been skirts, capes, rivers, Easter basket fillers – the possibilities really are endless. So don’t miss the chance to win this wonderful prize! Simply check out our new Sarah’s Silks products, and tell us what you love. You can receive extra entries by following Hazelnut Kids on facebook and Twitter, and subscribing to the Hazelnut Kids newsletter. (sign-up is on the bottom left of home page) You can also tweet about our giveaway or share a link with your facebook friends for additional entries. Just remember to tell us with additional comments. PLUS, get another entry by following Sarah’s Silks on facebook! Which really, you should do anyway – who wouldn’t want to be in the know with all their great stuff?!

Bridgett – Manager, Hazelnut Kids

This Giveaway is closed. Congratulations to our winner, Laura W! And thanks to all who entered!

What child doesn’t love to listen to stories?! Here at Hazelnut Kids, we decided it was time to offer some audio entertainment to our collection of inspiring toys for children.

We were pleased to discover Smart Dreamzzz, and we think you will be too! Smart Dreamzzz was created by a parent of two young children, and an expert in child psychology. Dr. Kristen Race is committed to helping families create a strong foundation that will lead to children making good decisions as they grow. Her CD’s guide children through age-appropriate meditation that help with sleep, and stress management.

Animal Dreamzzz provokes a relaxation response in the brain, making it easier for children to fall asleep. It includes 3 stories (about 15 minutes long each) about a giraffe, a baby elephant, and a cuddly bear.

Day Dreamzzz stimulates the memory, attention, and problem-solving areas of the brain. This CD includes 7 stories that help children relax during their stressful day – and is great at home, the car, or in the classroom!

Stories include The Magic Bottle, A Day Dream, The Sky Ride, The Relaxed River Otter, The Sleigh Ride, The River Ride, and Fireside

Dino Dreamzzz includes 3 stories (about 15 minutes long each) about a long neck, a stegosaurus, and a triceratops.

Each Smart Dreamzzz story begins with a soothing voice instructing your child to find a comfortable position and listen to their breath. She leads them to a state of relaxation and complete stillness. This in itself is worth the price of the CD. The bonus is a series of creative and imaginative stories that allow your child to experience adventures in their mind.

From Day Dreamzzz…. “The Magic Bottle”

“Imagine far off in the distance you hear the sounds of a waterfall. Pretend you are walking down a path in a beautiful mountain forest. As you walk, the sound of the waterfall gets louder and louder. You continue to walk down the dirt path and you start to feel a mist on your face. You’re getting closer! The sound gets louder and you find yourself coming to a clearing in the forest. Before you is a big beautiful waterfall cascading down layers and layers of rocks as the water makes its way down to the river below. You walk to the edge of the river and discover something amazing that has just washed up on the bank. It is a beautiful magic bottle!”

I play Day Dreamzzz in the car on the way home from school when I sense boredom, restlessness, or arguing between my two children. It works like a dream (no pun intended) to relax them and make them forget what they are arguing about. (Tracy)

You can find other testimonials HERE.

GIVEAWAY

So for the July 30th giveaway, simply comment on this blog telling us which Smart Dreamzzz CD you would like. You can receive extra entries by following Hazelnut Kids on facebook and Twitter, and subscribing to the Hazelnut Kids newsletter. (sign-up is on the bottom left of home page) You can also tweet about our giveaway or share a link with your facebook friends for additional entries. Just remember to tell us with additional comments.

Good Luck and thank you for reading!

Bridgett – Manager, Hazelnut Kids

Tracy – Owner, Hazelnut Kids

EarthLust Leaf Stainless Steel Water Bottle

Stainless Steel is an industrial looking material that is known for its strength and safety with food products. There is something amazing about how EarthLust has taken this masculine material and transformed it into visually delicate pieces of usable art!

EarthLust is an environmentally responsible company born out of California. The owners were inspired by the birth of their child, and quickly committed themselves to protecting his health as well as the environment.

As if their purpose as a company was not inspiring enough – the designs on their bottles are truly captivating as well. Some of the designs were even created by the owner herself, derived from family experiences in nature.

One of the favorites already is the EarthLust Elephant Stainless Steel Water Bottle. It has a vibrant green base – with a precious silhouette of an elephant parent and child.

EarthLust Elephant Stainless Steel Water Bottle

Hazelnut Kids is proud to offer 13 ounce, 20 ounce, and 7 ounce (baby) bottles. We also carry the optional Sports Bottle Top for convenience.

Giveaway!

So what do you think? Take a look at our selection of new EarthLust Stainless Steel Water Bottles, and tell us which one you would love to have. Tell us about it on our blog by July 15th, and be entered to win that very water bottle!

Enjoy!

Bridgett – Manager, Hazelnut Kids

Kathe Kruse Nature Conservation Angel

Congratulations to Wendy Cray Kaufman for winning our Earth Day Giveaway. We are so pleased with our friends who posted their Earth Day commitments on our blog and inspired us to do more to protect the earth. In fact, each one of them will receive $10 to spend at www.hazelnutkids.com.

As Earth Day approaches I am overwhelmed by all the Earth Day specials, Earth Day sales, and Earth Day advice. As a retailer of earth friendly toys, Hazelnut Kids is obligated to take advantage of such a great day of recognition, but the girls (Bridgett and Shannon) and I have also decided to TAKE ACTION!

Tracy, Shannon, and Bridgett "One Day Without Shoes"

We are each advocates for protecting the earth, we are each mothers of young children, and we each believe in living a simple and sustainable life. Is there any wonder we found each other here at Hazelnut Kids? The three “R”s have been a way of life for us since before it was “cool” so this year we are kickin’ it up a notch.

Tracy:

I am a religious composter, but I tend to teeter out as winter sets in. This year I am committing to winter composting and looking for any “words of wisdom” from others who compost in three feet of snow.

Shannon has convinced Bridgett and I to join her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture.)  We are splitting a share and looking forward to the bounty of local food that will be available all summer. I am also planning for my own vegetable garden to supplement and I will use it to teach Jackson and Ivy about seasonal eating.

Bridgett and Tracy

Shannon and Tracy at The Family Wisdom Conference

I have wanted to try natural Easter egg dying for a while now. This year, I happened to receive a recipe for it in the mail – so I decided to go for it!

My friend and I divided up the grocery list, and made plans to tag team the challenge. Between the two of us, we actually had everything we needed already at home.

We used blueberries, spinach, cranberries, and turmeric – but there are lots of recipes out there! It takes a little time to boil the ingredients down, and even longer to soak the eggs in it – but I think it is worth it!

Isabelle

In a moment of weakness, I will admit, I was concerned that the natural dyes were not going to do their job – and I dissolved some leftover from last year tablets. A desperate attempt to salvage what I thought might be the loss of Easter tradition for my kids – brightly colored eggs in their basket in the morning, dyed by themselves. I quickly regretted this decision, but it was a good learning experience for me. Sure, the dissolved tablets made for instantly bright colored eggs for the kids, but the eggs they put in those bowls were done too soon! There was no anticipation or excitement building up – just instant gratification. And don’t we have too much of that already?!

I was surprised to see how even with the vibrant artificial colors available to the kids, they still gravitated to the natural dyes. They enjoyed periodically checking on the eggs to see the progress they had made, and somehow appreciated the soft colors. They thought it was really cool that we had made our own colors, with natural foods. Additionally, they were able to eat the eggs that had cracked and soaked in those dyes, and raved about the tasty eggs, and how they could eat them because the “dye” was just food! No way would I have felt great about turning over a cracked egg that had soaked in a florescent pink!

our finished eggs

So, as I type with green finger tips (from the regrettable moment when I took an egg out of the bowl with the artificial dye) I ponder a lesson learned. My kids did not need instantly colored eggs, neon hues, or stained skin. They just needed my benefit of the doubt that they were patient, inspired, and appreciative.

Happy Spring!

Bridgett – Manager,  Hazelnut Kids

Jackson hiding his loose teeth and Ivy showing off that mega green bow!

I was downloading some pictures from my camera and found the ones I took on St. Patrick’s Day for our $50 giveaway on facebook. I had never done a random drawing before and wasn’t quite sure how to take 361 fans and put them in a hat. I had a few gimmicky ideas, like finding the fan with the most letters from “Hazelnut Kids” in their name. My voice of reason, Bridgett, who had just returned from her Statistics class, reminded me that the drawing should be random and then proceeded to explain what that really meant. Well, there is not much fun about a true, random drawing, so I did the next best thing and had my six year old choose a number between 1 and 361. He chose his lucky number 8! He didn’t have a good reason for 8 being his lucky number, but I went with it! We then took our list of fans, omitted all owners, employees, and spouses, and selected our 8th fan which turned out to be Ronessa Butler of Traverse City! Ronessa was thrilled and within hours of receiving her GC code had placed her order with some lovely items for her soon to be 3 and 5 year olds. What fun! Stay tuned for future giveaways, and if you aren’t a fan on facebook yet, please consider.

Tracy Coe – Owner, Hazelnut Kids

At Hazelnut Kids, we use beautiful, 100% post-consumer recycled gift wrap. The only problem is – we are left with lots of scraps after lovingly wrapping our gift orders with this paper. As cabin fever set in at my home, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Find a use for all this leftover paper, and entertain the young, creative minds at home! I thought, what a great opportunity to test out our new Clementine Art Glue as well.

So, I gathered some colored paper from our art closet, got out the gift wrap scraps and Clementine Art Natural Glue I brought home from work – and we got busy! We cut the papers into small square pieces, and then used decorative scissors to cut out a slightly smaller size of the gift wrap paper. Thanks to Clementine Art, there were no overwhelming fumes as the kids glued their gift wrap pieces to the colored paper. When they got some on their fingers, I thought “oh well, it won’t hurt them!”

For the finishing touches, we used a stamp on the back of the cards that says “To:” and “From:” so they could be used as gift notes for packages. We tied scrap pieces of raffia left over from gift wrapping at Hazelnut Kids to make a nice detail at the top of the cards.

My daughter was so inspired by the project that she searched her stash of “saveables” to see what else she could use to make cards with. About a year ago, she saved every piece of gift wrap after a family member opened all of their wedding gifts. She did not want it to get thrown away, and just knew that she would find a use for it someday! She had quite a collection – and it made for some really beautiful cards!

I was happy to do more than just recycle our gift wrap scraps, and the kids were proud to make such lovely and functional cards. We were all happy to use a glue that was gentle on our noses, skin, and the environment! What kinds of treasures can you make with your would be trash?!

Happy creating!

Bridgett – Manager, Hazelnut Kids

Perfect Life Cycle Teaching Tool!

Now that March has hit, Spring is threatening to come. Living in Northern Michigan – we are certainly ready to welcome it!

At Hazelnut Kids, we decided to add a couple 5-Layer Puzzles that would help take advantage of the learning opportunity that Spring presents (as well as a few people layer puzzles).

We have two options available for ages 4+; the Butterfly 5-Layer Puzzle and the Frog 5-Layer Puzzle. Each puzzle takes the child through the entire life cycle – from eggs all the way to the adult life. They are made out of birch wood with non-toxic ink, and have 30 pieces.

Help your child hop into Spring and check out our new layer puzzles today!

Bridgett, Manager – Hazelnut Kids