Hey, so I ordered that personalized kids CD  for our grandson’s birthday (last post), and I’m pretty darn excited to see him when he hears it.   Hope he’s as excited about his own personalized kids birthday song as he gets when he listens to his daddy’s old birthday tape.

Of course it may not be the most exciting thing he gets for his birthday.  Face it…. kids are kids.   When it comes to birthday gifts or christmas gifts for the little ones…it’s all about the toys!   They’re always yearning for and dreaming of the  latest and hottest toys on the market.  I mean…why not!   I’m a grandma who still loves toys, so I can understand their enthusiasm over receiving lots and lots of new toys.

Despite that, sometimes it’s nice to be just a little bit different and give a unique personalized gift.  Since I do almost all of my gift shopping online , I’m constantly amazed at some of the extremely creative and crafty websites I come across.  Lots of very talented people are now online selling their crafty wares from the comfort of their homes.  They’re unique…they’re different…but sometimes they’re a little pricey….as they should be.  After all, that stay at home mom (or dad), is putting a lot of time into creating that one of a kind craft!

personalized step stools are a great project for crafters I’m personally not the craftiest person on the block…nor do I even run a close second. The other day I came across this website, Belle Plaine, where a stay at home mom went into great detail explaining how she creates personalized step stools. She has lots of step by step pictures with detailed explanations under the pictures as to exactly how she went about creating a personalized child step stool for her daughter ” Braedyn”.

Stools for kids are almost a necessity for busy working moms and dads. They give our little independent loved ones a way to reach the sink to brush their teeth without our assistance, wash their hands when we’re busy, and step up to sit on the “big size potty” when mommy or daddy aren’t available to lift them on.

And since kids love to embrace their own identity and egos, they love to see their name on things…so these make perfect personalized kids gifts for those who would like to save a little money on some home essentials.

You can get the the step-by-step to making these name stools at Belle Plaine – “Creating Memories One Tantrum At A Time” (I’ve never met Belle, but ya gotta love that quote…comes from the heart of a real mom).

If you’re like me and don’t have the skill level to create your own personalized stools, or the time for those types of projects , here’s a resource to purchase ready made personalized step stools shipped right to your front door.  They may not have the “mom”  touch that Belle’s kids stools have, but these childrens stools with your child’s name handpainted right on them make great gifts.  They also let your child know you’re really proud of them and the independence they’ve achieved.

Kidkraft Personalized Step Stools For Kids

They come in lots of colors…any name you like…and they also have storage right in the step tool for all kinds of goodies (I’m sure your children will use their imaginations as to what they can figure out to store in there…just make sure to check it frequently when the remote control is missing).

Most people consider “that time of the year” to be Christmas.  For me, “that time of the year” is right now.  Between our kids and our grandson we have 3 birthdays in a two and 1/2 week period…and I’m always stressing out over kid’s birthday gifts.  All of my good ideas get used up at Christmastime, so by the time February comes around the “good gift  think tank”  is dry.

When the “kids” were little it was so much easier.  You just lose touch with what they may need or want when they’re not living at home any longer.  Clothes are out because they have their own styles and tastes, video games are pretty much a thing of the past for both of them, and I hate being one of those moms who’s always buying things for the house and especially the kitchen.

These days  the best I can come up with is money or gift cards.  Boring!!!  I’m just at a total loss……..

But, for the little guy (the grandson)  the shopaholic in me really comes out!   Thank god I have a husband and credit card limits to shut me off!!

One of the things I really wanted to get for him this year was  personalized kids birthday CD.    When our son was 3 we got him a personalized birthday tape which we have played every year since on his birthday….the past few years over the phone but it’s just one of those things that we probably won’t stop doing until the good old tape player gives up on us (yes…it really really is  a tape because cd players and cd’s weren’t the rage back then).

Our daughter thought we were playing favorites because she didn’t have her own personalized birthday tape, so when she was about 6 or 7 we just had to had to get one for her.  Unfortunately hers just wasn’t quite as catchy of a tune as our son’s, and “lame” as she called it …so mission was still not really accomplished.

Our grandson loves to stick in and play those old birthday tapes every time he comes over, so I promised him that I was going to get him one of his own with his name on it.  He just thinks it’s so cool that his daddy and aunt’s names are on that music, and he remembers every word of their songs and directs and guides us all through the singing of the songs.  Ya gotta love that age…so innocent!

Oh…and 23 years later we still call our son and play the good old Captain Zoom birthday tape for him over the phone.  He thinks we’re pretty weird…and I can just see him rolling his eyes and probably holding the phone away from his ear…but until the tape player gives out on us or the “Captain Zoom” tape dies…we’ll continue to annoy him every February 27th!!!

I didn’t want to get a “lame” birthday cd for Colton (like we did all those years ago when we “messed up” with our daughter), so I spent a snowy cold Sunday yesterday trying to find just the right personalized kids cd for our grandson.  Thought I’d share all of my research for those who may be looking for the same thing.

Here are the sites that I found which had the best prices…best songs…and largest selection of names.  Our grandson’s name is Colton..and I promise you I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find one with that name (thought it was an unusual name at the time…but guess not!)…but these sites had names galore!!!

My Music CD

A Special Gift

Captain Zoom

(this is the one that started it all with our son …can’t believe that Captain Zoom still  exists almost 23 years later….It’s a goody!!)