Idea Queen Tips & News

This is one of those websites you can get lost on. Meaning once you get there, it’s hard to close the window. I could spend hours browsing eBay, and easily spend a small fortune. I mean there are some really good deals for awesome products on eBay!

I’ve managed to do a nice chunk of my Christmas shopping on eBay, including my son’s largest gift. I always said I refused to buy a game console of any kind, but my oldest begged me and we made a deal related to homework. He’s coming through on his deal it, so I gave in. But still I wasn’t sure how I was going to afford a game system - even a GameCube that’s cheaper than some of the newer consoles out right now. So I turned to eBay.

Granted it’s used, but I made sure I read the auctions carefully. I made sure the auctions stated they were in good working order with no problems what so ever. I also took care to read the feedback on the sellers. One or two negatives out of several hundred happy customers I can understand. After all, you can’t please all people all of the time. I still was very careful to read the negative - it’s not hard to judge if it’s truly a negative, or if the buyer was just having a bad day (or didn’t read the auction very well).

What I finally won I was quite proud of. Slightly used with 5 games for just over $60 (including shipping). Really you can’t beat that! I also managed to pick up another game for less than I could have even used in a store. Plus my son wasn’t the only one I shopped for - my daughter is getting 2 brand new computer games for $13 (shipping included).

So really it’s worth checking out eBay, especially if you are on a tight budget like we are. Spending several hundred on Christmas just isn’t an option when you are barely getting by, which makes eBay an awesome choice to find perfect gifts.

If you are in need of something different this Christmas, why not send an ecard? It will take a whole lot less time than writing all those cards out by hand, and a whole lot less in postage too.

Just because you send them via email doesn’t mean they can’t be personalized. Most places that offer ecards allow you to enter personalization in the card. So you get the best of both worlds - personalization AND cost effective!

A great place to grab unique interactive Christmas cards is Blue Mountain. You don’t have to worry about spyware or other computer problems. Plus they have an excellent selection of eCards for every occasion. Check them out at the link below!

Christmas is sneaking up on us fast, and it’s about time we start thinking of Christmas gifts. We’ve given a few ideas already for homemade Christmas gift ideas, but we’ve yet to mention gift baskets. The great thing about gift baskets is you can fill them with whatever you want, and make them completely personal.

On Idea Queen there is a page set up specifically for homemade Christmas gift basket ideas. You’ll find suggestions for what to include, as well as a few specific basket ideas. One of them is listed below.

Homemade Christmas Gift Basket

Fill a decorative Christmas box or tin with:
assorted home-baked cookies
assorted chocolates
Christmas ornaments (better if you made them yourself)
pre-recorded Christmas music
tuck in some candy canes or foil wrapped chocolate Santas for a finishing touch

Enjoy!

It’s about that time of year - time to start thinking of who is getting what gift, and how we plan to afford it all. Early last year we put a page for inexpensive Christmas gift ideas. Today it was revised a bit and a few more suggestions added.

This year we plan to make quite a bit of the Christmas gifts, but I also plan to do a little shopping online too. Trips to the mall? Forget it! It’s no longer “fun” in my opinion.

So anyway, if you need some ideas for inexpensive Christmas gifts to make or buy, you might want to make a stop at Idea Queen. Be sure to send in your own ideas if you have them!

With Christmas right around the corner, we decided it was about time to add to our Kids Gift Ideas page. Just added is an entire page dedicated to classic board games and where to find them.

While it seems like a rather short list, it’s actually the best places to buy board games online. The top three that had the absolute best selection of classic games as well as new board games. We also threw in a link to another store that has a lot of classic toys and dolls you might like. Worth checking out!

Another Thanksgiving craft was added to Idea Queen today, and it sure is a cute one! This one comes directly from one of our visitors, so we hope you will enjoy.

Construction Paper Turkey
Traci Fuentes
Beady Queen Designs
www.BeadyQueen.com

Need:
~1 white paper
~1 brown paper
~different colored paper for feathers
~black crayon

1. Cut one circle out of brown paper for the turkey’s body.
2. Cut a smaller circle out of brown paper for the turkey’s head.
3. Cut out feathers using different colors of paper.
4. Glue the shapes onto the white paper to make a turkey.
5. Add details (like eyes, beak and feet) with crayons.
6. On the back you could write a story.

Remember to submit your crafts if you’d like to share.

A few new Thanksgiving dinner ideas have been added to Idea Queen - be sure to check them out! A visitor submitted a few side dish ideas (one for green beans, one for broccoli) and a yummy desert idea.

Remember to submit your ideas if you have any - we are always on the look out for new and unique content to add to the site. The more ideas rolled together, the more we all benefit.

Americans are getting serious about buying toys not made in China. We thought it was bad when there was lead paint in our toys, but now a recent recall is actually seriously harming our children. It all comes down to the big companies wanting to save money to put in their own pockets, and skipping USA standards on what’s safe in the process.

Christmas shopping season is now here. Instead of seeing half your child’s Christmas toys on the recall list, let’s buy American this year. Not only will you be buying SAFE toys, but also putting food on the table for all those American employees.

This is a topic that has really hit home with me, what with Whirlpool buying out Maytag and putting several hundred employees in my hometown out of work. My own father being one of them, who put in nearly 20 years at Maytag’s original plant. Their reason for closing the plant the small town was so proud of, was so they could save money by making washers and dryers in another country. It’s sad, it makes us all sick, and it’s time to put a stop to it all.

Without further rambling, here is our list of places to buy toys NOT made in China:

Zebulon USA
A nice resource of finding toys and other items not made in China. All products they sell are made in the USA ONLY.

Amazon.com
Yup, Amazon DOES have toys made in the USA. The link above will take you to ONLY toys marked “Made in USA”. I’m sure you could probably find more if you searched long enough, but a list of 200 should keep you busy for a little while.

OompaToys
This one doesn’t have all American made toys, but they do have a handy guide that tells you what is made where. See the “Where our toys are made” guide for all the codes, and shop accordingly.

Monkey Bean Toys
Again, not all come from the US. However, the toys are “hand picked” and come from US, Germany, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Thailand, and England. None made in China, which is most important to us.

This search is not over - we’ll be looking for more places to shop and hopefully be posting more soon!

Here it is the first of November already! Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a few weeks off? Just in case you are looking for some ideas for dinner, crafts, or even gifts we put a new section up on Idea Queen a few weeks ago on the sly. You can find a whole section on nothing but Thanksgiving ideas.

As always, if you have anything to add please drop us a line! The list of ideas isn’t really enough, but at least the basis are covered. Also, if you have additional ideas for each page, be sure you submit them. There is an easy contact form listed at the end of each page.

Enjoy!

Still haven’t gotten your Halloween costumes yet? AH! What are you waiting for? Halloween is just a little over a week away! Just in case you need some help finding places to shop, here’s our top picks:

CostumeHub.com
A great selection of costumes for both kids and adults.

BuyCostumes.com
Shop all year around and find deals and specials.

Nick Shop
For the favorite character costumes. Remember those are on sale right now!

ExtremeHalloween.com
1,000 of costumes for the entire family. Includes costumes for both kids and adults.

Halloween Only
Costumes and other Halloween items currently on sale.

This quick list should be enough to at least give you some great ideas. If you have other Halloween costume websites, please be sure to share them!