Do you want a Free Basket this year?

As a store owner I wanted to offer Easter Baskets this year. However, I was conflicted with the idea of expensive baskets when so many get abandoned all the time at thrift and second hand stores. These perfectly good, like-new baskets still have a lot of life left in them and are looking for a new home! So my idea is to offer these for free with a purchase of $20 or more now until the weekend before Easter. Let's make a pact together to reduce waste and reuse these baskets :) You will also be providing a safe and imaginative toy from Lilly Bean or making up some creations of your own!

About the baskets: All of the baskets given away during this promotion are cleaned and in excellent condition. There are various types and sizes of baskets. I will do my best to match the basket to the order. For example if you order a large set, you will get a large enough basket to accommodate the order. If you would like more than 1 basket, you will need to make them as separate orders (this is important because I will have to ship the baskets in separate boxes). I'm sorry, but you cannot choose the exact basket.

Stipulations: The $20 purchase can be anything except for e-books. You can buy e-books in the same order, but $20 of you order has to be in physical product.

How to get the basket: Simply use the coupon code: FREEBASKET during checkout!

Idea: Make your own play money out of shrink film!

This isn't the first time my kids have done this fun project, but it always manages to keep them busy for hours and the finished product gets played with too!

You remember Shrinky Dinks right? I can remember coloring My Little Ponies and having my mom pop them in the oven. It was all great fun :) Well, you can still buy plain shrink film and make hundreds of your own creations! One of my favorites is play coins. Here is a quick tutorial on how we make them:

1: Trace around a cup onto shrink film (we used about a 3" in diameter cup).



2: Let the kids go crazy designing their own money inside of the circles! We have found that permanent markers (like Sharpies) and colored pencils work best. Washable markers will...wash off of your project!


3: Cut out the circles.


4: Bake as directed on the package. (It takes about 4 minutes)

5: Taaa Daaa! Play money!

Thinking Spring!

Well, as my pact to myself, I've decided to blog at least once a week. This week I'm going to let you know about a few things that are in progress!

Plans for Easter: I'm going to launch a couple of new products for Easter this year. They will be available as a kit, e-book and as finished products. Curious?....okay I'll share a couple: bags of jelly beans, candy bars, bunny cookies and at least one other product. I will finalize my decisions and finish the details by the end of next week! So please check out our facebook page or this blog during the next week.

Reclaimed Basket Campaign: I have thought about offering Easter baskets here at Lilly Bean, but so many baskets get donated to thrift and second hand stores that I hate to add to the mass consumption and waste that goes along with that. That's why I've decided to do something a bit different. Starting next week you can get a reclaimed basket for FREE if you make a purchase of $20 or more! All you have to do is check the Free Reclaimed Basket box during the checkout process. Help us re-home these like-new baskets and save a little money in the process! There will be more information coming this week about the exact details before we launch this campaign!

A Very Fuzzy E-book: Yes! We will be releasing an e-book that includes all 3 of our Fuzzy Foods sets. This big e-book will be released very soon so please check back this week!

Also, don't forget to use coupon code: WELCOME to take $5 off of your order :)

Fun Things to do with Play Food!

If you are a fan of Lilly Bean, you probably already know how fun play food is! I thought that I would post 5 ways that I have fun with my kids while playing with play food:

1. Color Sorting - This is great for toddlers! Grab a few baskets and bowls and sort all of your play food into color categories.

2. Food Groups - Hmmm...does the tomato go in the fruit or veggie pile?

3. Restaurant- Try spicing it up a bit by helping your child make their own menu. Cut out pictures in magazines or draw them. Then take turns being the waitress and the customer! Hint: you can secretly get a manners lesson in here ;)

4. Shopping - If you don't have a cash register, make a money box out of an old shoe box. You don't need fancy fake money. Have your child design their own psuedo-legal tender. Maybe print out some pictures to use on those dollar bills.

5. Food toss - Ok...we wouldn't recommend this with wooden or plastic food, but Lilly Bean play food is great for tossing. Set up a laundry basket and have at it!

More fun play time ideas to come!

Announcing our new Newsletter!

Want the inside scoop here at Lilly Bean? Well, you should sign up for our brand new newsletter! We will be sending one newsletter each month via email full of fun information like tips and tricks, coupon codes, free tutorials, the latest news from Lilly Bean and fun play time activities for your family! As always, your information is safe at Lilly Bean. We do not share information with third parties and we will NOT load up your email inbox with tons of advertisements. So sign up today! You will find the sign up located on our home page in the lower left hand corner. Our first newsletter will go out March 1st. Thanks so much for supporting Lilly Bean!

Grand Opening of our new website!

Wheeew! It's been a while since I've updated our blog! We have been working hard over here, getting ready for the launch of our new website! We hope you will come on over and check it out :) We have a lot of new features including newsletters, new coupon codes, order tracking, and gift certificates! Enjoy the new organization of our user friendly shopping experience. It's easy to find exactly what you are looking for! Should we make it a little sweeter? How about 2 different coupon codes for you to try out! Coupon code: WELCOME will give you $5 off of your order of $10 or more. Coupon code: WELCOME10 will give you 10% off of your order. Pick whichever one works best for you. Thank you for being a Lilly Bean customer and let us know what you think of the new changes!

Christmas Count-down and deadlines :)

Here at Lilly Bean we are working like crazy to get out orders in time for Christmas! Here are a couple of things to ensure that your order gets to you in time :)
Our wool felt food is now called our "Artist Originals Wool Felt Food". What does this mean? Now all of the wool felt food is created by the artist (Hilary Karnatz). This means limited availability and a little extra time for your order to be completed, especially during this busy time of year. It also means the highest of quality and artistic detail goes into each and every piece!
The deadline for ordering our Artist Originals is Saturday Dec. 11th. If you live in the USA we promise that your order will reach you in time if you order by Dec 11th! After Dec. 11th all wool felt food will be considered backordered.

Our Fabulous new Fuzzy Foods are made in a small sewing company right here in the USA. Since we carry these in stock and ready to go, the deadline for shipping these items is Dec. 18th. Each piece is inspected for the highest of quality and standards.

Kits and fabric can be ordered up until the 18th as well.

To encourage you to order early, here is a coupon code for 10% off: HOLIDAYDEAL

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!