The winter months are the perfect time to heat up your home with freshly baked goods. Baketivity is a super fun baking kit option that comes with an adorable chefs hat and child size apron. This. as well as easy to use recipe instructions, pre-measured ingredients and a delicious product. We baked one of the cupcakes kits, not only was it a joy to create, but the final product was a delight too. Baketivity offers single kit purchases as well as subscription purchases.

Little GF Chefs

Baking is a wonderful family activity and Little GF Chefs creates gluten free, allergy friendly baking kits for children, that can be delivered monthly or you can order a one time kit. While they have a big variety of options, we made the Under the Sea Cookie Kit which was such fun and actually looked like the above photo. What many parents will also appreciate is that the coloring for the cookies is all natural made from plants. Also the kit provides step by step instruction to create works of art.

The Under the Sea Cookie Kit makes 18 cookies and includes the cookie mix, icing, plant based food coloring, easy to use recipe instructions and tools to make your masterpieces.

Best part for parents of kids with allergies. “The recipe, mixes, and decorating supplies that come in your kit are all gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, tree nut free, egg free, soy free, sesame free, fish free, shellfish free and artificial dye free.”

Go Go Bird

What a delightful, hilarious fun outdoor toy that will keep you laughing and running. Ours actually flew up and got stuck in a tree the first day using it- luckily a city of Scottsdale park worker was kind enough to help us get him down! It can fly up to 200 feet. So best to keep your birdie away from trees.

This thrilling, flying, and lightweight bird is the perfect blend of a real outdoor activity and today’s trending drone toys. Check it out here. The easy-to-use remote control allows you to fly your bird up, down, around and through targets like hula hoops and more!

Octobo

Got your preschooler at home for the holiday break or home all year. It’s helpful if they know their letters when they attend kindergarten. It is a fun and creative way for them to learn. The Octobo is an award-winning, educational sensory plush robot that enables development in an interactive environment. Through guided storybooks, interactive tokens, and educational apps, your child will learn ABC’s, how to spell over 80 words and rhyme. Be sure to check out the different packages as they offer a variety of choices.

Clixo

A sensory creative toy that broadens the imagination and allows ideas to flow. Clixo is a fabulous toy that allows both kids and adults to create anything their imagination will allow, by clicking the magnetic pieces together. It is a lightweight toy that is easy to carry and relaxing while stimulating. It’s a perfect gift for all ages.

ABC Mouse

Not only are Hexbug Nanotopia hilarious and fun, but the whole family can enjoy the process of putting the playground together. It is a sensory toy for kids powered by vibration technology and has over 130 pieces. With tons of snap-together track pieces and obstacles, this is a vibrant playset to let your nano® loose in. Batteries are included so you can start the fun right away.

Please join my mailing list for the latest relaxation techniques, natural products, greatest toys and activities fo adults and kids and more. Would be great to hear from you so please connect with me!

www.masadasiegel.com * www.masadasiegelauthor.com

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The Creatives

Don Draper (not his real name) has been one of my TGIF subscribers since forever. I’ve wanted to have lunch with him every time I would go to New York but my schedule was usually too tight. Fortunately, a few days ago, I had such an opportunity and Don treated me and my wife to a scrumptious Italian feast. I knew he was in the ad business but I didn’t know he was that good. Being in the ad business myself, it was particularly fun to exchange notes.

When I mentioned the TV series, Mad Men, he scoffed at the shenanigans the writers depicted as far from his reality. What was real though was how competitive the ad business is. No matter how good you are, there is no assurance of faithful clients. Sadly, it is common for even the large companies to steal ideas/concepts from creatives who present their “marketing pitches.” And the field is getting more competitive because new technologies change the landscape dramatically and new “guns” crop up everyday. Don, who is also an art professor, confirmed my beliefs about the politics of some schools who treat their students more as customers and were more interested in providing “fun” rather than an education.

With so much uncertainty in a “creative” career, why do so many people pursue it? One Broadway play,  “Chorus Line,” has a banner song entitled “What I did for Love.” The lyrics truly encompass the rationale behind an irrational quest. Artists/creatives pursue their uphill dreams for the love of art and not for money. Of course Steve Jobs was one amazing creative who was also gifted with an uncanny business sense.

If you are a creative, you know exactly what I am talking about. And if you know of one, on behalf of the creatives of the world, please treat your artists well. Feed them right. Don’t take advantage of them. Pay them what they’re worth. Encourage their ideas to flow. In a drab template-driven world of logic and business, creatives are the special sauce that gives the dish that amazing flavor. Artists are the spice of life. Their imagination and talent can help you reach the stars.

TGIF people!

“When I have a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion, then I go out and paint the stars. ” — Vincent Van Gogh

Announcement: If you are in the Temple City, CA area tomorrow, Saturday Oct.27, I volunteered to do caricatures at the pre-Halloween event of the Temple City Baptist Church starting at 4pm. There is no charge.

Some helpful links I googled for creatives: Article in Entrepreneur magazine(mostly for performing arts), Graphics, Negotiate Your Salary, etc.

Joke of the Week

Part 2 of Witty Sayings By Phyllis Diller

Shared by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Videos of the Week

Crazy Cheap Asian
Sent by Art of Sierra Madre, CA

This is a parody of the famous movie. There are actually people like this. My Dad’s side of the family is famous for this.

WATCH VIDEO

Crazy Body Stretching
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

My back started to ache just watching this. I was surprised to find that there are a lot of these contortionists in Youtube. I wonder if they ever get back pains.

WATCH VIDEO

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who shared this photo

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