11/21/14: Lite Brix Mansion and Fashion Boutique Fun

Up next in my Holiday Gift Guide is Lite Brix from Cra-Z-Art.  They are awesome building sets that add light to the fun.  We received the Lite Brix Mansion and Fashion Boutique and Lauren couldn't wait to build them.

 First I will start with the Fashion Boutique.  Lauren went right to work building.  She was doing a great job with the directions and just some help from my husband and I.

The real fun starts when you light it up.  The lights change to different colors.

There are so many cool accessories that go in to the Fashion Boutique like little purses, dresses, and bags. 

Lauren set it up just like the picture but you could configure the boutique however you wanted to. 

The hanging dresses are stickers that you stick together.  They are a little hard to get hanging.  I helped Lauren with this.

 Here is the finished product.  Pretty cool!  

 It comes with a little doll Ava so she can start shopping.  There are also other mall components that can be bought separately.

 She also loved the Mansion.  This one was a bigger job so we worked together on the assembly.

 

 There are 144 steps so this one takes a while to make but it is well worth it in the end. 

 Here it is completed.  These brix also are compatible with other blocks which is nice.

Here it is lit up along with the Sports Car that we also have.

 Lauren was thrilled with it and loved watching it light up.

These are some other sets we received in the past that Evan loves.  Here is the Super Jet Fighter.  It makes two configurations.

 I think these are a great toy and challenging for kids to put together.  They are made by Cra-Z-Art who also put out another super hot toy last holiday season, The Cra-Z-Loom. 

 Here is the Lite Up Fashion Boutique as packaged.

Here is the Lite Up Mansion and Lite Up Sports Car as packaged.

Definitely check them out this holiday season.

Disclosure:  I received these Lite Brix sets for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

12/6/13: Cra-Z-Loom Bracelet Maker from Cra-Z-Art

If you have a school age child you probably have heard of the new Loom Bracelet craze.  Just like we had friendship bracelets when we were kids now Loom Bracelets are the new "in thing" to trade amongst friends.  We did not have a loom and my kids were coming home everyday with bracelets from their friends.  The Shimmer 'n Sparkle Cra-Z-Loom Bracelet Maker from Cra-Z-Art is a great way to make these cool bracelets to share with friends and Toys 'R Us was nice enough to send me one.

 I have to admit, making these bracelets is some what addicting.  I have been watching You Tube videos online to learn different techniques.  We have learned how to make the Fishtail and Starburst that are more advanced techniques but we first started with the basic ones.

Here you can see some of Lauren's collection.  As you see she has a cool one that hooks on to a ring on her finger.  She got that one from a friend at school.  She also has a cool little ring she made.

 The Cra-Z-Loom comes with 600 latex-free rubber bands to make 24 bracelets.  I like that this loom comes with directions to make a few different bracelet types.  I also like that the pegs are labeled with numbers so it makes it easier to follow along in the directions as it tells you what number peg to hook bands on.  This was our starting point after we laid out our bands and looped the first set of greens.

 Here it is fully looped.  Now you just pull it off the loom and put an "S" hook on the ends.

 Here is a bracelet we made.  We decided to do a holiday one with Green and Red.  There are so many possibilities with so many colors of rubber bands.  Make them, trade them, and have fun!

 This is such a hot holiday item and really allows kids to get creative and have patience to use the loom to make these super cool bracelets.  You can find the Cra-Z-Loom here at Toys 'R Us.  It retails for $14.99 but I see it is on sale right now for $12.00.  They also have a refill set here.

Find Toys 'R Us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/toysrus

Find Cra-Z-Art on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/CraZArt/350612738324792

Follow Toys 'R Us on Twitter:  @toysrus

Disclosure:  I received the Cra-Z-Loom from Toys 'R Us for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/3/13: Lite Brix Mansion and Sports Car

Last year I did a review of Lite Brix from Cra-Z-Art and fell in love with them.  At that time they only had sets for boys.  This year I was happy to see they had some wonderful sets for the girls and my daughter was excited to build them.  There are now lots of Lite Brix Sets for Girls and we received the Lite Brix Mansion and Sports Car to play with.

Lauren and I got right to work putting the Mansion together.  This was a big job so I stepped in to help her out with the assembly.  

 There are 144 steps so this one takes a while to make but it is well worth it in the end.  Make sure you hear them snap together to make sure they are secure.

Plus there are lots of accessories that you need to find just the right place for.

 Here it is completed.  These brix also are compatible with other blocks which is nice.

 After the Mansion was complete the next day we put together the Sports Car which in comparison is much easier to put together and was completed quickly and is super cute.  The car comes with a person and a little dog which Lauren had fun playing with.

Lauren had fun setting everything up just where she wanted.

 I love that Evan got in to it too and the two of them were playing with their little town.

 They quickly got to work putting their vehicles in place and since Evan had experience with Lite Brix he helped Lauren putting some together.

 Here is the Mansion and Sports Car lit up.

 Evan was smart and decided to connect the car to the house to light up.  We had run out of batteries and the pack for the car took 3 "AAA"s and we only had 2.  This way with the connector we could light up the car.

 Lauren was thrilled with it and loved watching it light up.

 Another picture without the flash.

 While we were at putting together blocks Evan decided to bring out his Super Jet Fighter.  I love this one!  It makes two configurations.

 Here he is having fun flying it around.

Here is some video to see them light up including the Mansion, Sports Car and Jet.

 With the Jet, the majority of the blocks all light up.  I would suggest checking each section you put together to make sure it lights up.  We did find that we had one faulty connector and after it was all put together the top section would not light up.  Once I tested section by section I found the faulty connector.  It was sort of like looking for the faulty light in a string of lights.  One goes out, they all go out.

 I think these are a great toy and challenging for kids to put together.  They are made by Cra-Z-Art who also put out another super hot toy this holiday season, The Cra-Z-Loom.  Check out the full line of products.

 Here is the Lite Up Mansion and Lite Up Sports Car as packaged.

And fully put together!  Definitely check them out this holiday season.

 

Disclosure:  I received these Lite Brix sets for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

10/28/12: Cra-Z-Art Lite Brix Star Shuttle and Launcher Review

I am kicking off my Holiday Gift Guide for 2012 with one of my favorite toys from the Time to Play Holiday Showcase.  It is Cra-Z-Art's new Lite Brix.  Specifically the Star Shuttle and Launcher caught my eye.  You may remember my post about me wanting to be an Astronaut.  I knew immediately my son would love it.

You may know of Cra-Z-Art as the company that makes creative products for kids, easels, markers, crayons, and other cool products.  You can check out their entire line here.  Let's start with how it all comes packaged.  Here is the box with all of it's contents (minus the cars my son was setting up a jump for).

There were quite a few pieces but as the package says it is for 6+.  We definitely had to help my 7 year old put it together, but we each took sections.  Evan worked on the rocket.

I helped put in the connections for the lights in that assembly.

The nice thing about these blocks is that they also connect to other blocks you may already have.  So you can add some light to other block sets.

Evan playing with that finished product.

I worked on the launch pad and John worked on the Star Shuttle with Evan's help.  Evan also made the 2 astronauts.

 Here is the whole assembly.

 I think this picture is super cool.

 Evan showing me the Star Shuttle and Rocket.

 How cool does this look?

So cool!

Evan playing with it and connecting the connections to make it light up.

A different set of colors.

Showing the pieces separated.

A bit brighter.  We all had fun creating this Star Shuttle.  What a cool innovative toy.

There are nine sets available this holiday season including the Lite Brix™ Space Trooper, Lite Brix™ Lazer Copter™, Lite Brix™ Lumi-Cycle™, Lite Brix™ Lumi-Star Racer™, Lite Brix™ Lite Up Fire Station, Lite Brix™ Super Jet Fighter, Lite Brix™ Star Shuttle and Launcher, Lite Brix™ Extreme City Lights™, and Lite Brix^™ Lumi-Port^™ , which was selected as a Top Holiday Toy for 2012  from Toys "R" Us. I will also be reviewing the Super Jet Fighter.

Backed by major TV advertising, the Full Lite Brix™ line is available at Toys R Us stores nationwide, Barnes and Noble and select other retailers.  

Disclosure:  I received this Lite Brix set for review purposes for my holiday gift guide.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.