Cutest Review Ever! (Which means...)

A Christmas giveaway! Instead of some words of inspiration or motivation this week which is Christmas (because I know everyone in training is going to remain in training -- and can I just say real quick, how cool is it that we have totally exercised right through the holiday season without stopping and without gaining that Holiday Seven that everyone else seems to pack on? I'm proud of us.) I have something a little funner and less workout-ier.

OK so I've been waiting the longest time it feels like for my little man to be big enough for the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

When he turned two, I tried to bribe him into *not* yelling and acting like a lunatic at the mall play area by telling him we'd go right over there (this is me pointing) across the way to make his own little friend at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Unfortunately for him, it was around lunchtime and that was a bribery that didn't work but only because he was done with his mall-life and we had to skedaddle before things turned really ugly. But everytime I pass one I want to go in and I know he will just love it because he's all about the "friends" and he's all about making choices, the independent little being that he is.

So you can imagine because I've always wanted to go, I jumped at the chance to review one of their little guys. The Build-A-Bear Workshop sent me a little Build-A-Bear but he's a Build-A-Moose technically because his name is Hal the Christmas Moose.

The Build-A-Bear Workshop has a couple of little cuties, just like Hal, special for the holiday season and they're all really cute, especially if you're looking for an inexpensive gift for a little girl or boy who wants to make a friend all by themselves. The process goes like this just in case you didn't know, and I didn't: your child picks the friend they want, and there's Hal and his sister, Holly, or Chilly Cheeks the Penguin for the holidays or they can pick out a bunny, koala, dog, cat, bear, turkey, oh yes, they even have turkeys...pretty much anything, really (they can stuff a turkey! hahaha!). If they want, they can record a little message that will play everytime they hug it. Then, they bring their friend to life by giving him or her a heart and helping to add the stuffing. Finally, they get their little friend some new digs. They can pick an outfit for their friend and they can choose any kind of outfit in the world from sports to Hannah Montana.

Now our Hal, he was sent to us nekked, so naturally we will have to the store to go get him dressed up and I think this could be the start of a Christmas tradition, because each year they come out with new holiday animals. But the cutest part about Hal is that his antlers light up! He's so cute and huggable that I'm really not sure which child of mine is going to get him because he's that cute and I know there will be some tugging, pulling and tears involved. But he's pretty child-proof, there are no hangy chokable parts so he's a good choice from ages one and up, so the little one will probably get him. So since the little guy will probably get him, that'll give me a good excuse to make one from start to finish with the older one when we go to get Hal dressed. Yeah, that'll work! Thanks for helping me work that out in my head! And that'll work out great because these guys are pretty affordable, especially because they are custom-made from start to finish.

So to prices. Nekked, Hal is $12, which is a pretty great price and a lot of their guys are $10 and $12. Outfits run about $10, and then you can get a sound or a message for anywhere between $1 to $8. A gift that your child makes all by him or herself for just over 20 bucks, that's pretty good! There are also accessories involved so you can make your friend for as little as $20 bucks but go up from there as much as you want depending on if you want sunglasses, shoes, etc, etc...

Oh, and older kids can make their friends come to life online when they leave the store, too, because there's this whole other bear-world going on at buildabearville.com, where they can name their friend and have him or her do all sorts of stuff!

The best part about this post? A giveaway, of course! The Build-A-Bear Workshop is giving you a $10 giftcard to their store and that will buy you an entire guy! So basically it's a free guy!

All you have to do is leave me a comment by 8 p.m. et Christmas Eve telling me either who in your life would love to make a Build-A-Bear or what it was like when you made a Build-A-Bear if you have already. I will announce the winner here on Christmas Day. If you're a non-blogger, you'll have to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you, and if you're a blogger, just make sure that there is an e-mail address somewhere on your blog or in your profile so that I can reach you. Oh yes, and if you post about this contest on your blog, you get a second entry (just let me know in the comments!)

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

Cutest Review Ever! (Which means...)

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2008/12/cutest-review-ever-which-means.html