Back-to-School Craft: Speed Car Erasers

Vroom! Vroom!  An eraser car is a creative, fun activity children can make as a back to school craft or even on the weekends! Adult supervision will be required, especially for smaller children, to prevent little ones from putting pieces in their mouths. Have fun!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• Knife (have a parent do this part of the craft)
• White Glue
• Thumbtacks
• Cardboard
• Permanent Markers

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Begin by cutting erasers with a knife (a parent’s job; kids can use scissors for this, but the cuts won’t be as straight).
2. Stack the erasers to make cars, trucks, and trailers. Pencil-cap erasers and automatic pencil eraser refills make good cargo. Use white glue to hold the pieces together.
3. To make tires, press thumbtacks into a piece of cardboard, color them with permanent markers, then remove the tacks and press them in place on the vehicles.

CHECK OUT LE TOP BABY AND CHILDREN’S CLOTHING AT
www.letop-usa.com

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Tips for Putting Your Baby to Sleep in a Crib

I was talking to my best friend Kristen yesterday who had a baby boy in February – and she is dying of sleep because it has become really hard to put him down for naps and even to bed at night. She kept pushing on me that when I have a baby, nothing is predictable—except for a shortage of shut-eye!  It’s every parent’s recurring nightmare: you and your baby are super tired, but your baby will not fall asleep.  In the first few months of your baby’s life, getting her to sleep can be a challenge. Newborn babies sleep around 16 hours a day, but due to the need for frequent feedings, these often occur in one- and two-hour stretches at a time. When your baby is 3 months old, sleep time increases up to five-hour intervals, and by 6 months, she may sleep from nine to 12 hours at a time. Mayo Clinic experts point out that regardless of your child’s age, it’s never too soon to learn how to put a baby to sleep in a crib to encourage good sleeping habits.

This post has been moved to our website. To view the full post and specific tips for putting you baby to sleep click on this link: http://blog.letop-usa.com/?p=25614

CHECK OUT LE TOP BABY AND CHILDREN’S CLOTHING AT
www.letop-usa.com

 

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Smart Tips for Back-to-School Shopping & Le Top’s NEW Pre-Fall Styles!

To your kids, shopping for new clothes, gear, and school supplies may be the only good thing about going back to school. Here are some back-to-school shopping tips to get you in the mood for fall clothes in the middle of summer!

Shop Le Top’s NEW pre-fall arrivals and click HERE 

• Start early. If you haven’t already, try to get your child’s school supply list from the school. Or compile your own list of items (backpack, notebooks, pencils, pens, etc.) you think your kid will need right away versus items (calculator, text book covers, Spanish dictionary, winter coat) that can wait till later in the school year.
• Shop at home first. It’s easy to forget in August that you’ve packed away extra school supplies last spring. Try to find as many items on your list around the house before you hit the aisles. Chances are, you probably have binders, colored pencils and highlighters left over from last year. Once you’ve completed your search, gather everything together to determine where you can save.
• Make a list and a budget and keep it with you at all times. You never know when you might stumble onto a sale on your way to the dentist or the grocery store.
• Buy a lunch box. You can save so much money when you send your kids to school with a homemade lunch. Added bonus: It’s likely to be a healthier choice. And you can monitor the cost of your homemade lunch purchases by using grocery store coupons, packing leftovers and reusing water bottles.

Also check out Rabbitmoon’s mix and match styles HERE

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Hand Cookie Recipe for Kids! Fun!

To all of our loyal readers:

I am sorry I have been a little M.I.A. lately! I am getting ready for my wedding that is in 2 weeks (and counting), and working diligently on prepping and gearing up our Le Top and Rabbitmoon websites with our Fall 2012 collections for you shoppers and fans! I promise to be back with great daily blog posts soon, and appreciate your understanding for our minimized  blog posts the past few weeks. Keep busy with your little ones with this SUPER CUTE cookie recipe…could be a cute idea for mother’s day!! Or to even give to your grandmother’s (as long as they aren’t diabetic)!

 

THE RECIPE!
Yield: Makes 8-10 cookies

Cookies are a perfect-size snack for little hands. This recipe was designed with kids in mind!

Older children can use their hand to outline the cookies, drawing around it on the dough with a skewer and using a knife tip to cut along the line. If your child can’t cut with a knife, make a pattern from a manila folder or translucent parchment works well; it will allow you to see the shape of the cookie through it.

INGREDIENTS:

For Dough

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, for decorating

For Decorating

• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• Sanding sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Add reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
4. Make cookie pattern and heart stencil while wrapped dough is chilling. For the pattern, have your child trace his or her hand on a manila file folder, and cut out the tracing. You will lay this on the dough and trace around it with the tip of a paring knife. For the heart stencil, cut a heart shape from a piece of parchment paper, discarding center.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a well-floured work surface, roll out cold dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out hand shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Dough scraps may be re-rolled twice.
6. To decorate the cookies with sanding sugar hearts, lay the heart stencil over a cookie. Combine the egg white with the water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash in the heart, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lift stencil and repeat with remaining cookies. Bake until edges just begin to brown lightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on pans for 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

CHECK OUT LE TOP CHILDREN’S PLAYWEAR AT
www.letop-usa.com

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Le Top Darling of the Day: Erin

This adorably little cutie pie, Erin (2 years-old), likes to dance and sing. Her favorite song is “we like to move it, move it” from the Madagascar movie and you’ll often find her walking or dancing around singing it. When Mom is waiting for red lights or stuck in traffic, she likes to tell the other cars “go guys, go guys”. Awe! She’s obsessed with camping and when Erin and her big brother Devon are playing pretend, she’ll flash those baby blues and say, “Bye mom I’m gonna go camping now”. Looks like a future adventurer. “Why” is currently her favorite word!

We think Erin is simply stunning in these outfits (left-to-right) from the Le Top “Secret Garden“, “Pizzazz“, and “Purrrfectly Pink” collections. Congratulations to Erin on being the Le Top Darling of the Day!

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Last Chance for the Casting Call Tomorrow!

The Le Top and rabbitmoon casting call for our Fall 2012 photo shoot is tomorrow. If you are still interested in having your child model our beautiful clothing then contact acoutis@letop-usa today with all the information outlined below.

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Casting Call on Friday

The Le Top casting call is just a few days away. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a child that wears a size between 9month and 3T (unwashed) that loves to ham it up for the camera then read on. Your child could end up modeling Le Top or rabbitmoon clothing. All the details are below. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow!

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Le Top and Rabbitmoon Casting Call Next Week

CHECK OUT LE TOP CLOTHING AT
WWW.LETOP-USA.COM

CHECK OUT RABBITMOON CLOTHING AT
WWW.RABBITMOON-USA.COM

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What is Cyber Monday & Le Top SPECIAL deal for you!

It’s a special (shopping) day today! Cyber Monday! And just in time for your holiday shopping. My best friend is having a baby in February and is extremely stressed thinking about the cost of Christmas gifts on top of buying new baby furniture, baby clothes and kiddo type items to prep her apartment for her new arrival. What a better way to reduce that stress than by taking advantage of Cyber Monday deals today and save on holiday shopping (especially from your home or at work without the hassle of carrying heavy bags and the holiday mass rushes on the streets!). Her question to me, “What is Cyber Monday???” Well…here is a little debriefing, as well as our special Le Top (www.letop-usa.com) and rabbitmoon (www.rabbitmoon-usa.com) Cyber Monday deals and savings!

20% off + free shipping*
on all orders

HURRY & SHOP NOW
www.letop-usa.com

Use online code LETOPCYBERFF11 at checkout.
Ends December 4^th

* Offer valid on letop-usa.com only. Offer is applied at checkout with promo code LETOPCYBERFF11. Offer not valid on phone orders. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion or sale items and cannot be applied to previous purchases. Offer valid through Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:59pm ET and shipped via regular shipping (5-10 business days). Le Top is owned and controlled by C.K. Enterprises and reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time.

20% off + free shipping*
on all orders

HURRY & SHOP NOW
www.rabbitmoon-usa.com 

Use online code RMCYBERFF11 at checkout.
Ends December 4^th

* Offer valid on rabbitmon-usa.com only. Offer is applied at checkout with promo code RMCYBERFF11. Offer not valid on phone orders. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion or sale items and cannot be applied to previous purchases. Offer valid through Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:59pm ET and shipped via regular shipping (5-10 business days). Rabbitmoon is owned and controlled by C.K.Enterprises and reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time.

What is Cyber Monday?
Just as Black Friday represents the biggest physical store shoppingday, Cyber Monday is the biggest online shopping day, as people continue their Christmas shopping when they return to work. Mondays are good retail days for any online businesses, and typically, a Monday in December is usually when online retailers see their highest single day profit for the year. Why Monday? Now that over two-thirds of the American population have high speed internet at home, that trend of shopping at work has drastically reduced. People shop at home as well, but it’s still usually on Mondays. In this tough economy, people are looking for deals more than ever.

Background on Cyber Monday:
Despite the fact that Cyber Monday gets linked with Black Friday, it didn’t take off because of any drastic deals offered by online retailers. It was the perception of deals that propelled it. In fact, usually the products offered were those that didn’t sell on Black Friday. However Cyber Monday took off because of aggressive marketing campaigns by various online businesses who wanted to be a part of the buzz mostly conceived in consumer’s minds. Its fame eventually reached shoppers through word of mouth. The process of how Cyber Monday came onto being shows how important it is to relate to online shoppers in an organic way to ensure continued success.

Enjoy our holiday Cyber Monday deal and shop away! 🙂

 

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Happy Thanksgiving from Le Top!

Le Top gives thanks to our readers and loyal customers this Thanksgiving. May the good things of life be yours in abundance, not only at Thanksgiving, but throughout the coming year. Cherish your friends and family today, and have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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