I hate you, I love you...

by Emily

First I received this:



Only, instead of a Mary and Joseph, I got 2 Josephs, and no Mary. A different Nativity story I guess?













Then I bought this:



You can "compose" your own classical music with various instruments at various volumes. After one battery change, it just up and quit working. My children are pretty gentle with toys, so I was disappointed.









Then I got this on sale for a Christmas gift:




My 1 yr old loves Elmo. He was frightened at first, but now he LOVES it. However, instead of functioning properly, all this Elmo does is let you "honk" his nose. All the other cool things he's supposed to do, he's not doing.












I love all these toys, my children love them. I hate spending money (or getting as a gift) and having them break/missing parts.

Back to the Nativity: My wise s-i-l Melissa suggested I call Fisher Price about the Nativity. Since then, I have taken the time to call customer service for big label toys like these when they aren't working.

Fisher Price Nativity: they simply sent me an entirely new character set, with Joseph and Mary! No sweat off my back.

Disney Little Einstein Composer: it is out of production, so they sent me a paper voucher ($) for the price of the toy, to be used at a regular store like Target or Toys 'R Us.

Fisher Price Elmo: they emailed me a free shipping label, I will mail them the broken Elmo, and they'll probably fix it or send me another one.

I love getting great toys at garage sales for cheap, when they break you don't mind so much. Out with the old! In with the new (gently used garage sale finds)! And I hate it when I get a new toy (bought or gifted) and it breaks, but I also love knowing that if I throw down $20 bucks on a new toy, there is great customer service to back it up. Of course, you have to take into consideration normal wear-n-tear on a toy. Still, it doesn't hurt to call and ask.

Thank you, Mattel!

Going, Going...Gone!

by Kristen

Okay everyone are you ready to try something new and fun? How about some "economy shopping"? Thanks to Tiffani at http://paulandtiff.blogspot.com/ for sharing this! (I copied it directly from her blog).

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

What is a nickel Auction? Watch this video to find out.


Here are the rules that they listed on KSL under the video:

Those attending can bring whatever they want to try to sell (items you are going to give to goodwill, grocery items you really aren't going to consume, bottles of lotions or bath essentials, partially used scrapbooking supplies, clothing, books, home décor, etc.)

Since all good gatherings require good food, everyone brings a potluck dish to share.

As you arrive, you sign up for a selling slot.

Participants sell in the order they arrive. Each seller has a 10 minutes time limit. All bids start at five cents and bids need to be dividable by 5 (no 38 cent bids, here!). You can jump the bidding, but the amount must be dividable by five. The bidding can go as high as the bidders are willing to go, no limits. *Some auctions opt to allow the seller to set a starting bid.

For timing purposes, no commentary about the item being sold is allowed (Example: "I bought this three years ago, my daughter loves it," etc.)

Once the item is bid out, toss the item to the winning bidder and someone (working as scribe) writes down the name of the person and the price they committed to.

Then the next item starts, same process!

When that seller is all done, the scribe shouts out the totals for all the winning bidders, they put their money in a bucket of sorts that gets passed around the room (like a collection plate) and it all goes to that seller.

The next seller starts.

So do you wanna give it a try?

Reading the comments about this on KSL was very interesting.