Was my son ever happily surprised at the end of The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. I was too, as I was not aware that it was equipped with its own sound mechanism. I bought it for 75 cents at a second hand store because we have the beloved The Very Hungry Caterpillar by the same author. Eric Carle’s books make perfect gifts for children and with Christmas coming, we can all use great ideas. If you get the paperback edition, you could roll it up to fit into a stocking. The board book is $15.63 at amazon.com, where you can find tons of other Carle titles as well.

Most children, especially pre-school and kindergarten kids, love to help bake holiday treats. What could be better than a personalized Reindeer Apron for that little baker? On sale for $14.99, with charges of $6.50 for personalization, it’s the little things that delight children at PotteryBarnKids.com.

Put together a basket for your child filled with baking supplies, the apron, baking tools like bowls and spoons, and you’ve got a great (albeit early) gift scratched off your list. Include a note promising that you will help her bake a plate of cookies and pour some milk to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve and spread a little magic this holiday season.

Every year I try to find a new and different advent calendar for the holiday season. This year I stumbled upon one based on one of my son’s favorite holiday stories, “Olive, the Other Reindeer.” Although I ordered it late (it was after December 1) from Walmart.com, it still arrived within a few days and we’ve had fun with it on a daily basis ever since. Each day, my son can punch out a figure under a numbered window and place it into the pop-up village. He’s had a great time rearranging the figures each day and can’t wait until the next day to see what that day’s surprise will be. Best of all, I was able to get it on sale for just $6.50 (because of that price, I opted to pay extra for 2-day shipping so we would receive the calendar sooner and be able to use it during more of the holiday season!) With that extra shipping charge, my total was still only $12, a small price to pay for the many days of enjoyment this calendar is providing my family.

I always like to see wholesome toys that children can both enjoy and learn from. The Little People: A Little People Christmas is a full Nativity scene. It comes with animals, Joseph, Mary, Jesus in the manger, wise men, and the stable with an angel on top. Re-enacting the Christmas story with this play set, and teaching your children about the birth of Jesus, couldn’t be any easier. It makes a great decoration, because with so many decorations being off limits, children can really take joy in touching it. $24.99 at ToysRUs.com.

Is it that time of year already? Yes, I’m hearing Christmas talk here and there among my friends and seeing ads already online. I spotted the Ruffled Christmas Stockings on Etsy and thought, how perfect for your little girl or even your grown college girl (so cute in a college dorm or apartment)! I’d like one for myself, to be honest, since we have a very masculine household, with trucks and trains and workout gear littering the closets. Very eco friendly and $21 from Etsy seller rikrak. If this isn’t your thing, rikrak offers tons of other fun felt stockings as well.

My (nearly 4 years old) son really likes reading the book “Trashy Town” by Andrea Zimmerman. He loves that he can interact (I read the line “Is the trash truck full yet?” and he reads, as I taught him, “N-O. No!”) with the book rather than just listening the whole time. He seems to have taken to the main character, Mr. Gilly, and likes the easily interpreted pictures. He even likes the ending, in which Mr. Gilly is the last thing to be cleaned up, in the tub. We borrowed it from the library but it’s available at Amazon.com for $12.23.

Kids love craft projects, and what could be more fun than making your own sock monkey? Etsy seller Sillysockmonkeys offers a kit that allows you to do just that. Original Rockford red heel socks, stuffing, eyes, nose, and much more, plus all instructions, are included. You and your child can have fun putting together your own sock monkey with just scissors and a sewing machine. Great gift idea as well. Check it out at Sillysockmonkeys.com, where the kit sells for $13.50. Not the creative type? You can buy a pre-made sock monkey at the same shop for $40 if you prefer.

The Mr Happy Skull Teether is adorable and spooky and just in time for Halloween.  It has just the right curves and points for a teething baby (like mine) and is festive to boot. Only $13 from seller EcoAyris.

Second up are the Fleece Fingerless Gloves for kids; they’re adorned with  vampires (though there are skulls and monsters available too) and great for keeping hands warm on nippy Halloween night. They’re $14.95 from seller BoysenberryLane and I’d have trouble resisting wearing them all fall.

Next up, for the youngest in the household, the set of Two Blue Regent Skull Burp Cloths for $10 really caught my eye. The pattern is intricate and attractive but oh-so-spooky as well. They are useful as burp cloths or change pads; the decision is yours. Matching bibs and blankets are sold as well by MyWoobyandMe.

Cute as can be and a great gift idea for your favorite infant trick-or-treater (who isn’t quite ready for candy), the Bony Baby Hat is a Halloween hat you’ll love. The creator made it with the comfort of babies foremost in her mind. For $28, this hat can adorn your baby’s head and get oohs and aahs from all passersby.

Last of all, guaranteed to get second and third glances, the Skeleton Bones dress PVC is for mom. A cute, sexy, innovative design that begs to be worn year after year, you’ll be the talk of the town most certainly for $220 by seller melissae.

I’ve been looking into different photo editing sites and downloads and so far, I really like Picnik.com. Not only can I edit my photos so that their appearance improves, but I can make collages and scrapbooks as well. I can add all kinds of quirky effects to my photos, like borders, color changes (Sepia, Black & White, Infrared Film), and text. I’m having a ball altering my photos and here and there, I’m managing to improve on them as well. If you take as many pictures of your children as I do, you will love this site, and the best thing is that a lot of it is free (but subscribing doesn’t appear to be expensive) and you don’t have to download anything. All the changes you make to your photos are done online and you get the choice of saving them to your computer. Thumbs up to the creators of Picnik!

Lately, I’ve been enjoying decorating with wall decals. Not only do my sons love them, but I think they’re lovely and, most importantly, easily interchangeable (not permanent!) They’re unexpected when placed as the sly fox depicted is—in a low-to-the-ground spot, peeking at you mischievously. They’re fun for kids to find and look at (just ask my one-year-old about the animal decals in his room—he’s delighted by them) and this one is sophisticated enough to go in a room that has been decorated with fun in mind but also careful detail. Only $7 from Etsy seller greywolfgraphics, I think it’s just the right whimsical touch for our playroom.

My sons, age 1 and nearly 4, enjoy playing with the Fisher-Price Little People: Racin’ Ramps Garage. My one-year-old loves pushing the elevator up and down and watching the cars race down the ramp and my 4-year-old likes to park his cars all over the garage. As a child, I love Little People and I’m glad to see the tradition carried on in my boys. To see them playing together (it’s actually big enough for 4 children to use all at once, as we discovered at our littlest son’s birthday party on the weekend) with a toy they can both enjoy safely is heart warming.

The toy is recommended for ages 2-4 and comes with a tow truck, a car, and some people to drive the vehicles. There’s a gas pump and an air hose but other than that, it’s up to your children to decide where the Little People world and their imagination will take them. You can get it for $39.99 at toysrus.com.

When we’re stuck for supper ideas, my husband and I turn to KraftFoods.com. There are recipes for every occasion and it couldn’t be easier to find recipes that work for you. Simply find the “Make It Now” box on the left hand side of the home page and type in the ingredients you have at hand and the site will hunt down every recipe with those items in them. We’ve put together some really great meals just by searching through the recipes offered on the site. The best part? There are pictures to go with nearly every recipe and they pop up when you scroll over the recipe title, which comes in handy when you’re in a hurry, as you don’t have to click on every single title to see what the meal actually looks like. I’m grateful to the folks at Kraft for their fab ideas and I think you will be too!

My baby has been eating freeze-dried yogurt lately, and it made me think about the Astronaut Ice Cream I used to get on trips to museums as a child. I don’t recall ever having noticed this anywhere that I have taken my own children, but once I started thinking about it, I decided it would make a perfect stocking stuffer or other small treat/gift. So, I searched it out online and, voila! I discovered that you can purchase several different flavors, all for $2.50 or less each at  funkyfoodshop.com. I always remember having neapolitan as a child, but now you can try chocolate chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, or even an ice cream sandwich. This is sure to create a lot of fun memories even if, as I recall, it doesn’t really taste that good!

If yours is a very Halloween oriented family, you’ll love Etsy shop horrordecor. I was especially taken by the Blood Spattered Lamp. That is attention to detail at its finest. If there’s any holiday in which you can decorate until it’s over the top, it’s Halloween. Feel free to go nuts with the blood, drool, and fright! At $15, this lampshade is a good start to the haunted house of your dreams…or nightmares.

Just for fun, I like the idea of using the Friendly Frankenstein Mini Treat Bag in my child’s lunchbox on Halloween. It’s 5” wide and 6” tall so big enough to put a pretty great treat into. I’d probably put a bag of chips or a rice krispie treat or something about that size inside to surprise my son with. Made by Etsy seller makingcents, it’s $6 and very nicely made with an adorable appliqué sewn on a drawstring pouch that can be used over and over.

If  Frank’s not your spook of choice or you want a Halloween treat bag collection, you can get an owl, a cat, a pumpkin, or a leaf (for use all of the fall season.)  You could even  have an Easter-esque treat hunt by filling a bunch of these with treats and hanging them on doorknobs all over the house (inside the closet, outside on the front door, on the kitchen cabinet knobs) for the kids to find. The best thing of all? They can be used year after year, time after time.