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Disney Toy Story Jessie Costume
by carlz2001uk
Both of my girls went through a massive Toy Story faze after the release of the third film. We did have the first and second films on DVD but when I took them to the cinema to see Toy Story 3, their love of it just seemed to increase and we were soon writing lists to santa for all things Toy Story.
Before we knew it, our ... house was literally inundated with Toy Story stuff, and a few items seem to bring endless amounts of fun for them. They loved the Lotso Hugging Bear (mainly because he smells of strawberries), and they loved Mr Potato Head (who doesn't), but their favourite, and still an item that gets used today, is the Jessie Cowgirl dressing up outfit.
I say it still gets used today, and I mean this quite literally. I told my youngest to get dressed ths morning and she came down wearing said dressing up costume which has prompted me to write the review!
The Disney Store is a regular stop in our house and when we saw the Jessie dressing up outfit we had to buy it. It wasn't cheap at £25 but it has given the girls so much fun and they have worn it to endless children's parties.
With the dressing up outfit you get a red cowgirl hat with a red plaited pony tail which is detachable. The silky top has lovely detailing on it and the trousers with the elasticated waist are ideal for growing children and means you will get longer use out of it. The top is fastened by Velcro pieces around the back, much like usual dressing up outfits.
The one thing I will mention about the outfit is the hat. Although it is very authentic with the red long plait, it is quite heavy, especially for little ones and my two girls when wearing it, often found that it tipped back under the weight, so would often result in them detaching the plait (which is secured with Velcro) once they had arrived at parties and other children had seen them in it. The foam hat is red and sparkly and the girls particular loved this part of the outfit despite the weight issue.
They do look very authentic dressed as Jessie, but there isn't any kind of accessory you can add to it that heightens the dressing up experience. For example, we have just bought the Merida outfit and were able to buy the bow and arrow to go with it, but as Jessie only really has her horse Bullseye as an accessory (and he is obviously way too big) there isn't really anything you can add to it. The gold cowboy boots are I suppose an extra that you can buy, but apart from improve the look of the outfit, they don't heighten the playing experience.
The sizes started at 3-4 and I seem to recall they went up to around 7-8. I'm actually not sure these are available to buy in the Disney Store anymore, after a quick search online didn't bring anything up. This is a shame as Toy Story will no doubt become a timeless film that children will always enjoy and it is nice to have toys for the films they love so much.
The quality is excellent and it has lasted and lasted, despite a lot of use by my two girls. It washes well too.
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ELC Butterfly Fairy Outfit
by cornishchic
My daughter goes to a nursery two afternoons a week, the nursery uses different staff members to plan each weeks activities. A couple of months ago one of the members of staff organised a fairy tale week full of enchanted stories and lots of glitter crafts, the finally activity on the Friday was a fancy dress party. Of course, being a ... fairy tale week I had the delight of searching for a cute dress for my daughter to wear.
Luckily we get each weeks plan a couple of weeks ahead so I had time to search online for the perfect dress. When browsing on Amazon I spotted this butterfly fairy costume in the Early Learning Centre store with a price of just £9.99 with free super saver delivery, a whole lot cheaper than the Disney outfits I was also eyeing up.
The dress was a little confusing when we first received it. I tried it on my daughter and it fit her lovely at two and a half years old. The bodice is made from mostly a stretchy polyester material, I'm guessing this is why they say it can fit children between 2-4 years old. The front of the bodice has a shimmering nylon detail with sequins running down the front. The underskirt of the dress is made from a silky pink material and it feels lovely and soft. On top of the underskirt is a mesh that floats down over the top lovely, this also has a shimmery, glittery look to it.
The part that confused me about the dress was the wings on the back. They can be detached as it is held in place by Velcro. The thing that I didn't understand was how to make the wings stick out as they just hung down and looked like a wedding dress train! After inspecting the dress for what felt like forever I figured that there was a little loop of material on either wing right at the very end. I put this loop of material over my daughter's index fingers and all became apparent! The dress now made my daughter look like a butterfly fairy!
My daughter absolutely loves this dress and often asks to wear it when she takes her dollies shopping. Though now, she prefers to wear it without her fingers in the wing loop holes so the wings just hang down, it isn't really a huge problem as they aren't that long that she trips over it but she won't let me remove them completely for some reason!
When it came to the day of the party, although it was July it was quite chilly so I put a plain white T-Shirt on my daughter before putting the dress on just to keep her a little warmer. She didn't complain of being cold or having any discomfort so she must have been ok. When she got home the dress had definitely seen better days with food all down the front. The care instructions say to hand wash only so that's exactly what I did and let it air dried and the dress was as good as new again. The care instructions also say it's not suitable for tumble drying or dry cleaning.
The dress was available to purchase in just one size, it doesn't say on the label what size this is but if I remember rightly the age on the website was 2-4 years. It isn't now showing on Amazon anymore so not sure if it's still available to purchase or not. I would like to think they would start selling it again as it really is a lovely dress up costume.
I'd definitely recommend this butterfly fairy dress from Early Learning Centre, it fits lovely, looks fabulous and the wings of the butterfly being attached to the thumbs is a nice addition even if my daughter doesn't use them nine times out of ten! Its well worth the £9.99 spent.
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Alfred Franks Lazy Town Sportacus Sunglasses
by bringingsexyback
THE DESIGN
These sunglasses are quite a dark blue but that doesn't mean they are only for boys and are good for any child who likes the Sportacus character out of Lazy Town. The are supposed to fit children from three years old to seven years old but I don't think that is right and my six year old daughter is just now ... starting to say that they feel too tight on her head and I noticed the last time that she wore them the skin behind her ears was very red so I do not think she will be able to wear them again. The sunglasses have a small picture of Sportacus on each arm and the Lazy Town logo is on one arm as well as being printed on the plastic inside the glasses.
COMFORT
My daughter has always liked to wear sunglasses and she very much likes these even though the Lazy Town design is now getting a bit too young for her. The arms of the sunglasses are very smooth and the shape is good so that they fit behind her ears and hold the glasses on straight without them tilting to one side or falling off completely like a lot of childrens sunglasses do.
WHAT I THINK
These are very good sunglasses and help to protect the eyes against UV rays, this is good because a lot of childrens sunglasses do not do this. I like the way they are very stable on my daughters face and do not slide off her nose if she puts her head down or is running around playing. They can be worn as normal sunglasses or as part of a costume, but only boys would probably be dressing up as Sportacus so my daughter has not worn them for dressing up and only as sunglasses. She had a Stephanie costume from Lazy Town and I bought her the pink sunglasses to go with that but she has preferred these blue ones from the very start.
I have been shocked at how durable they are because like most children my daughter is not always very careful with her things. There are a few parts on the sunglasses now that have been scratched and one arm has got a little piece of plastic that has chipped off completely and that must have happened when my daughter has dropped them outside. The plastic lenses are dark enough to protect her eyes but are not that dark that she can't see through them even when the sun is not strong enough for her to need to wear sunglasses, the lenses are not scratched at all and that has made me surprised because they are made of quite thin plastic and do not look like they are going to last for long at all. They are easy to keep clean and can just go in the washing up bowl with the rest of the washing up, you have to make sure you rinse all the soap off the lenses though because they get very streaky if you don't.
WHAT MY DAUGHTER THINKS
My daughter has liked these very much every since I bought them for her. I knew she would like them because she has always liked Sportacus and he is a very good role model because he teaches children that fruit is better for them than sweets and candy. She says sometimes that she wishes they were bigger because they are getting too small now and make her ears sore but I am going to look around and see if I can find a bigger pair for her because she likes them so much.
ANYTHING ELSE
These sunglasses cost £5 when I bought them and I have seen them in a lot of shops that sell Lazy Town toys and dress up costumes.
5 Dooyoo Stars.
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