2017 Gift Guide Archives

Must Have: Bluetooth Speaker Vanity Mirror

August 15, 2017 by Momstart 1 Comment

Sample received:

Zoe loves her new make up mirror, a Bluetooth Speaker Vanity Mirror. Her new mirror is from iHome. They recently launched the latest in its line of popular Bluetooth Speaker Vanity Mirrors, the iCVBT2, with Built-in Siri and Google Voice, which is available for purchase online and in-store now, for $79.99.

She loves it so much she made a video of the Bluetooth Speaker Vanity Mirror for our holiday gift guide. The Bluetooth Speaker Vanity Mirrors, the iCVBT2, is now available for purchase online and in-store at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Amazon.com for $79.99.

What we loved about this vanity mirror is that it was so easy to hook up to the phone and start using Siri. We connected Zoe’s phone and played some music and thought the speakers were of great quality. Zoe loves that she can plug her phone into it for charging while she is getting ready in front of her new mirror. She also loved that it came with a cleaning cloth because her brother touched it right away and left huge fingerprint smudges.

I like how easy the mirror is to use. I think it’s a great holiday gift idea. The iCVBT2 is the latest addition to iHome’s popular Vanity Speaker line which also includes the iCVBT7 portable, rechargeable 9-inch double-sided Vanity Mirror with 7x magnification, and a 6-inch double-sided Vanity Mirror, the iCVBT5. The ICVBT2 features a sleek new flat-panel design with a distortion-free mirror and multiple LED lighting options, consumers can listen to music, take phone calls and charge their mobile phones—all under the perfect lighting and reflection conditions for a flawless makeup application.

Features of the iCVBT2 Vanity Mirror:

7″ x 9″ flat panel mirror
Mirror accent LED lighting
Distortion free mirror
Bluetooth audio with speakerphone
Built in mic supports Siri or Google Now voice assistant
1 Amp USB charging port for mobile devices
100V-240V universal AC adaptor and cleaning cloth included
Weight: 1.61 lbs/0.73 kg
Available in Black and White

Home Made Ice Cream in The ICEE Float Fun Factory

June 20, 2017 by Momstart Leave a Comment

We received a sample to review.

As summer approaches and family fun begins, enjoy delicious frozen treats right in your own home with the ICEE FLOAT Fun Factory by Jupiter Creations! In less than 3 minutes you can make floats, fruit juice slushes, and frozen yogurt.

We used one of the ice cream recipes and it took 30 minutes of prep time and then just 3 minutes of machine time.

Check out our short video of what’s in the box and how to mix the ice once you assemble the ICEE FLOAT Fun Factory.

WHAT IN THE BOX

Every order comes with an ICEE Fun Machine, an ICEE Float Maker, cups, spoons, and a whip cream and sprinkles dispenser.

It’s so easy to do! Simply put ice, salt, and water into the aluminum drum. Then spin it until its nice and cold, and you are ready to make your favorite frozen treat.

Best of all, you get to choose what goes in your treats! You can use any juice, a variety of milk for different flavors or try some healthier options. We used heavy cream and mixed caramel sauce into it.

Kids and adults will enjoy the tasty treats made from the ICEE FLOAT Fun Factory. Perfect for family get-togethers, pool parties with friends, or a summertime snack.

For ages 5 and up.

The only negative I will say is that I found this to be a really messy way to make ice cream. Perhaps I did something wrong, or pored too much into the device at one time. But overall the kids enjoyed it and had fun time while having very tasty home made ice cream floats.

Weekly Munchies Delivered Right To Your Door: MuchPak

June 15, 2017 by Momstart Leave a Comment

We received samples to review and share.

Zoe loves getting new snacks to try and has become my resident video blogger. Here she’s doing a box opening of our newest shipment, the MunchPak.

MunchPak is a monthly delivery service that has lots of options, sizes, and customization. Plus as you can see from the video our family is quite excited about what came in our snack box.

MunchPak offers 3 different MunchPak box sizes; MunchPak Mini (5+ snacks), Original MunchPak (10+ snacks), and FamilyPak (20+ snacks)

I didn’t count how many snacks we received but I’m pretty sure we got the Original MunchPak to review.

You can customize your MunchPak with a variety of snack options such as Spicy, Chips, Gummy, Sweet, and Crunchy which you can select as preferred or non-preferred.

They also have drinks! You can choose to add a soda, coffee, juice, and/or tea to your MunchPak. Our kids got butterscotch flavored root beer.

You can choose for your subscription to renew every week, every two weeks, or every month. If you go to the movies often, or have family movie night getting it once a week might be perfect.

They also offer customizable gift subscription options. This would make a fantastic gift for the holidays. We might even be including it in our holiday gift guide this year.

And to top it all off they have an online store where you can specifically purchase your favorite snacks and drinks or you can use the app. They just released their very own Snack Scanner app which is available for download on both Android and Apple devices

The snack packs start at 9.95.

How it works:

Pick out how many snacks you want

Pick out how often you want it delivered. You can do a one time gift

Pick out your preferences

Let them know if you want a drink added

And wait for it to arrive.

Shipping is free unless you want it expedited.

A Mother’s Day Tech Guide

April 24, 2017 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Mom’s love tech for Mother’s Day so with the help of our friends at Verizon we’ve put together this fun Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

We also kept it short and simple as we wish our lives as mothers were more simple. We also wish for a little alone time or more time to get everything done and better quality time with our children. There’s technology to help all those things.

The LG G6 has a compact aluminum and glass body that fits comfortably in your hand.

To help manage hectic family schedules, moms (and dads) can keep track of where kids are and when they get there with the Family Locator secure app. Set up daily or weekly schedules and receive a text or email when family members leave or arrive at locations that you choose, like school, work, soccer or home.

Google Pixel a great phone that keeps everything Google in the palm of your hands. I hear for the price it’s a great value.

Busy moms can take charge – literally – with the Mophie powerstation plus 600 to ensure their phone always has enough juice while on the go. For parental peace of mind, the Mophie powerstation provides a safe, quick charge. No more stress from dead or dying batteries!

Need a little alone time? Listen to your favorite podcast or music while you get some exercise with the Bose SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones. They not only deliver heart-pumping sound, they also monitor your heartbeat as you move to the music.

I love keeping track of my exercise so the Fitbit Charge 2 makes an excellent gift.

For time spent with kids in the car, the new Hum^X service offers drivers navigation, roadside assistance, vehicle diagnostics as well as Wi-Fi Hotspot capability that allows up to 10 devices to stream content over the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Long live the connected family road trip!

The Fun in Wobbly Worm

March 23, 2017 by Momstart 46 Comments

This is a partnered post and contains affiliate links.

I actually had a lot of fun with this campaign. My kids and I created a fun commercial type video for Wobbly Worm.

Wobbly Worm is a game for toddler, or rather kids age 3+ but probably appropriate for 2-7. It’s cooler than I initially thought because it is battery operated. It’s not just your average ring toss game. You have to toss and get the rings on while the worm is actually wobblying.

I also made a box opening video. Wobbly worm comes with….

1 Wobbly Worm, 9 Rings, 1 Instruction Guide

Does not include batteries.

The Wobbly Worm features….

It’s twisting, turning fun! Try to hoop the loopy worm with all your rings to win.
Wobbly Worm grows with you! Add segments for more motion as you get older
Wobbly Worm stands 3 feet tall at its tallest!
Wobbly Worm is for 2-3 players ages 3 and up and requires 2 C batteries (not included)

My kids had fun working with me. We made a lot of video and I edited to the short version that you saw above. We have the longer version here:

You can find Wobbly Worm at

Wobbly Worm is the wiggly, giggly, wobbly fun game that preschoolers can play with their older siblings. Younger kids hold the rings and try to loop them over Wobbly Worm’s head as it wobbles by. Older kids can stand back and toss the rings over Wobbly Worm’s head. Three hoop sizes make it more challenging – the smaller the loop, the harder the hoop! Wobbly Worm is a fun, active way to help your child improve their dexterity and sense of timing.

It was hard to get Zoe and Miles to actually slow down and challenge themselves. With it moving and bouncing they had a hard time getting the rings. But as you can see they had fun.