Fall Surprises with Hallmark

Well summer vacation is over and while the warm weather is lingering, the evenings are already getting a little bit cooler and definitely shorter.  Fall is in the air.

Were you surprised this year to find Halloween decorations already out when you were doing your final back to school shopping in August?  I certainly was, I definitely think it’s too early to thinking about costumes and I don’t even want to think about bags of candy sitting in my house… alone… unattended for weeks.  Let’s just say there probably wouldn’t be much left for the kids.

Still, I have to admit that I was pretty excited when I opened up my latest shipment from Hallmark to find some of their new Halloween products.

Like the Ghostly Singing Duo. 


Seriously, how cute is this?     They bob along to the tune of “The Addam’s Family” theme song.  Adorable.  I can’t wait to have this set up on my porch for all the kids to listen to on Halloween.

Or we have.. My Pet Ghost


These apothecary jars come with a ghost inside that appears when you press the top. $9.95

Or Shadows & Shrieks Witch’s Hat Door Decor

This is quite cool.  Simply hang the hat and brim on the door.  When kids approach the door, a witch’s face appears and cackling sounds play.  $24.95







Tricks & Treats Book of Frightfully Fun Halloween Activities

Okay, that’s a mouthful but this book is full of activities with everything from large bold images to colour to connecting the dots to word searches.  Lots of fun and for $4.95, it’s a fun book for this Halloween season. 








Of course, my Hallmark Press Pause package wasn’t just about Halloween, it also included some wonderful figures from Peanuts Sentimental Figurines and Disney Gifts.  Of course, I’ve always been a fan of Winnie the Pooh and am quite sad that my children have outgrown the theme but there is always a soft spot in my heart for anything Pooh bear related.

It’s also a delight to be able to begin to introduce the Peanuts gang to my children and re-live fond memories of Charlie, Lucy, Linus and the rest. In fact, I have since donated the Peanuts figurine pictured below to a local group that tutors children with learning differences because as the group’s leader said, “it espouses so much of what we’re trying to accomplish with the kids”.  I just love that sentiment.

$24.95                                                                                        $19.95

Of course, I saved the best for last. Well at least in my kid’s eyes.  They were just dying for me to open these up and get them going so they could try them out.



They were totally cool.  Even my five year old loved it.  Sure he couldn’t spell very much but that was fine, he enjoyed getting messages sent to him from his sisters.  I overheard them talking about wearing them to school so they’d have a secret message system.  Of course, I had to nix that because electronics are banned from class but still, it’s been a great way for my 6 year old to practice putting simple words together and a refresher for my 9 year old, who struggles with writing.  Very simple to use and easy to figure out. E was once given a two way text system but it was so complicated for me to figure out I never even bothered explaining it to her.  This was surprisingly simple. 

As always, I suggest checking out your local Hallmark Store or www.Hallmark.ca to see more of their fun new holiday products.

How about you?  Are you looking forward to Halloween?

Zeemaid

*disclosure I received the above products for the purposes of this review.  As always, the opinions expressed herein reflect the insights and observations of Zeemaid and no other compensation was received for this review.*