Bratz™ Crystalicious Deluxe Review

 

From a very young age all three girls have LOVED Bratz dolls, to be honest when I first saw them I wasn't convinced, but now 11 years on, I can honestly say they are the easiest doll for a child to play with, I love the way that you can change their feet/shoes so easily, and they are so much easier to dress than the other types of dolls. The accessories they have for them are great and they have definitely take over the entire house!! We have Snow Cottages, Aeroplanes, Cars, in fact we could probably make an entire Bratz town.

 

But like any good toy, they constantly have a new range of dolls to keep the girls transfixed. This year on Eowyns birthday list we had Bratzillaz and the new Crystalicious range, so you can imagine Eowyns sheer glee when we were offered a Cloe Crystalicious Deluxe Doll to review!!

 

Here is what they say about these new Bratz:

 

The Bratz™ girls are truly dazzling this season, with MGA Entertainment® unveiling several exciting new lines of the popular fashion doll range.

The Bratz™ girls have gone crystal crazy, sporting sparkling new hairstyles and fabulous fashions in the new range, Bratz™ Crystalicious Deluxe (RRP £19.99). The new doll line encourages girls to get creative by designing trendy, beaded and crystal hair styles for their Bratz™ dolls, using the cool hair accessories provided. Girls will have hours of play time fun creating new styles and looks for their doll.

Each doll comes with a range of accessories including: glitter hair gel; hair clips; sparkly jewel stickers for hair or skin; glitter shimmer flowers to decorate fashions and hair; a star brush; and a crystal bead strand with a glitter tinsel hair extension for use on the doll or girl’s own hair. The doll also comes with a hair dryer to use on the doll, which has realistic sounds and light-up function. Characters available in the range include Cloe, Jade and Yasmin.

 

Eowyn loves her new Cloe, she can be found most nights in bed with Eowyn and I have sat on her nurmerous occasions when Eowyn has lined up her Bratz to sit on the Sofa, leaving just enough room for herself, and no-one else!!

She loves the little hairdryer and so does her little brother, especially when she blows his hair with it!!

She is always playing with both her sister's hair and trying to put it in hair bobbles, which they are not too keen on, so this is the perfect alternative.

 

A great adition to the ever expanding extra large box of Bratz dolls and accessories, a perfect Christmas Present for any little Bratz fan.

 

She loved the sparkly silver tube of glitter to put in Cloe's hair, and also on herself!!

 

 

Financial Life In The Family

With a family of eight, and only one main income into the house, we obviously need to be careful with money. I am not saying we go without, by any means, but we do keep an eye on our spending.

Holidays are usually taken in the UK, in a self catering cottage or possibly a caravan, we have taken the four eldest to Disneyland Paris twice and hope to go again with all six, but their passports alone will cost £360, so we shall have to save for them first!!

When news of the new scheme and website PKTMNY was discussed, I was very keen to test it out. the four eldest get pocket money each week, although I have to admit, at times, it is usually a piece of paper with the amount written on it, as I have not got the right amount of change!! So this service sounded perfect, I could set them all up with accounts, arrange for the money to be transferred and I could then add extra or limit spending, but at the same time the children would become more responsible.

After we had set up their accounts we discussed the subject of money, and how they choose to spend it. The two boys never have very much money, as soon as they get it, they spend it, but the girls are keen savers.
The PKTMNY scheme has certainly changed the boys for the better, they can now see the money going up or down, depending on their spending or saving, they have set themselves targets to buy things (mainly Skylander related!) and they are now working towards it, instead of wasting it.

Even when going shopping the other day, they were comparing prices and discussing which was the best value for the money, which is amazing, considering usually they just pick up the first item I ask them to get.

I can definitely see this having a positive effect on the way that they all treat money. Since they were all born we have been saving for them, but they do not see this, so did not have any idea about the amount you could actually save if you put your mind to it. The giant Lego sets the boys have seen suddenly become a real possibility, instead of just a wish for Birthday or Christmas.

I hope that this new found interest in money will stay with them through their lives and they will learn to manage money responsibly, although the prospect of six children going to University is not one I am going to think about now!

This post is part of a project with BritMums, sponsored by PKTMNY, highlighting it's launch (http://www.pktmny.com). The new tool allows parents to easily pay and monitor their children's pocket money online, whilst allowing their children to earn, save, spend and manage their money in a totally safe and fun way. We have been trialling the service and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

#TeamSkylanders Introducing Shadow Slayer

 The final Skylander created in the Morrison Household is by Lochlan aged 12.

This Skylander is called Shadow Slayer, he is an Undead Skylander.

Attack 1 : Shade Slash - Slices opponents with Shadow Claws.

Attack 2: Shadow Rocket - Gathers Darkness inside his body and releases a blow of darkness.

Upgrade Attack: Vampire Slash - Gains health whilst attacking enemies.

Description: Shadow Slayer was originally called Slayer, before being consumed by darkness, once meeting a witch and was cursed forever, however he trained long and hard in the Underworld to eventually meet Master Eon and became one of the Skylanders.

Strength: 50

Defence: 30

Speed: 70

Luck: 80

 

This is Lochlans creation, a much darker skylander than the brightly coloured crab of Kaide and the Fluffy white polar bear of Neva. His favourite characters are Chop Chop, Hex and Ghost Roaster from the first Skylander game, and he has quite a few of the Giants on his list for father Christmas this year...

 

 

Lochlan is the Skylander expert of the family and frequently beats his dad (Lochlan disagrees and says it is EVERY time!)

 

I have played the game once and managed to beat Lochlan, ( I just kept hitting the buttons!) so I shall not be picking up a controller again, guaranteeing a 100% win rate...

 

 

 

#TeamSkylanders Introducing Ice Breaker

The second Skylander created in the Morrison household is from Neva aged 9.

 

 

This Skylander is called Ice Breaker, she is a Water Skylander.

Attack 1 : She charges at her enemies, with her tough head, flips them in the air and pounds them with her sharp claws on their way down.

Attack 2: Shoots Icicles from her wings

Upgrade Attack: The Icicles turn into baby Polar Bears and attack the enemy.

Description: Ice Breaker was meant to be part of a scientific experiment. During this time huge icicles fell into the laboratory and mixed with the chemicals.She was very clever, so she looked around for survivors, but couldn't find any, then she slipped on the chemicals and ice, from her back, wings grew. As time went on she was able to fly, she went in search of people, she was found by Master Eon to become one of the Skylanders.

 

Strength: 90

Defence: 85

Speed: 50

Luck: 30

 

This is what Neva has created, before she even began I knew that she would create an animal based Skylander as she is animal mad.

She has a real love for any animal that is linked with cold, ice and snow, her name means Snow, I wonder if that has anything to do with it!!

 

Neva hard at work drawing Ice Breaker

 

#TeamSkylanders Introducing Snipper

All of our children are Skylander crazy, they all have different ones on their Christmas List, although they have let Lochlan put the game on his list!
My favourite of course is Hex....

This is the first of the family skylanders, by Kaide aged 7.

This Skylander is called Snipper, he is a Water Skylander.

 

Attack 1 : Power Pinch from his huge claws.

Attack 2: He chucks his shells up in the air and then pinches the enemy and he hits the enemies in the head with the shells.

Upgrade Attack: Posion Pinch which is Deadly.

Description: Snipper was caught in a net to be eaten at the restaurant, but he escaped and was trained in the ocean by Master Eon to become one of the Skylanders.

Strength: 70

Defence: 95

Speed: 40

Luck: 20

 

This is Kaide's entry into Create Your Own Skylander, I have to admit that I know very little about Skylanders, although talking to Kaide I have learnt quite a lot tonight!!

All of these are Kaide's own words, hence the "chucking the shells", he was adamant that is what he wanted to say, although I will feel very guilty the next time I eat Crab!! I was a little shocked at his drawing, I thought for a 7 year old, it is fantastic (I am biased of course) he obviously doesn't take after his mother, (I am the one who gets asked to draw something at Nursery, and then the children ask me what it is) thank goodness some relations have artistic flair!

 

 

Look out for Neva and Lochlans entries, who knows what they will produce