**I received a 3 month subscription to Pleygo as a US Family Guide blogger.  No other compensation has been received**

UPDATE:  as far as I could tell, this product no  longer exists

Anyone that has a LEGO fan knows that LEGOs can be a great toy for mechanical reasoning, creativity, fine motor coordination, and problem solving (sorry it’s the COTA part of me coming out).  But you probably also know those little bricks can come with a big price tag.  I know my 9 yr old son had a few sets on his list last Christmas that he wanted and I don’t think any of them were under $50 and most were around $80.  My son can get one of those sets and have it put together in a day or two, no kidding.

Pleygo is a LEGO rental system that works something like netflix.  You pay a monthly subscription with 3 different options available.  Set up an account and choose 10 sets that you want in your subscription category.  Then they start sending the set out.  My son got his first set within a few days of setting everything up.

The sets come with the building instructions, all the parts, a small bag of extra parts (just in case) and a postage paid label to send it back when you’re ready.  The first kit he received to try was the “Comanche Camp” in the Fan subscription category.

My son had this put together in about 20 minutes.  His little brother was interested in watching him.  They were able to play with the little set afterward too.

When you get the set you can keep it as long as you like and return it when you’re ready.  One worry I had before signing up, because I know eventually it would happen, is that if they lost a part we’d end up buying the whole set.  Well that’s just not true.  It says right on their homepage, “No charge for lost pieces”.  I guess they kind of expect that.  I mean I would.  I find LEGOs in my house that there just shouldn’t be LEGOs.

Another nice thing is that if you get a set that your child really likes, you can actually buy it.  Just go to your account and click “buy set”, pay for it and it’s yours, you don’t have to send it back, and they send the next available set in the list to continue with your subscription.

My son really likes this service.  After we sent the first set back he was asking “When do you think my next set will be here?” He came home from school today and asked “Did my Pleygo set come in today?” and I was happy to tell him it did.  They send you an email when they received the kit you sent back and when they ship out the next set.  It only took about 4 days between sending the other set and receiving the next set.

Here he is happily putting together the Cole’s Earth Driller set.  They recommend putting the pieces in a tray while you put it together to avoid losing pieces which is a great idea.  He already said “Mom I think I’m going to keep this set a little longer than the last one” and he can.  Kids love getting things in the mail too.  The set comes to the house with his name on it.  This would be a great idea for a holiday gift or birthday gift for the LEGO lover.

You can find Pleygo on these social media sites:

Twitter: @Pleygo1
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pleygo
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pleygo/

**I received a gc to FPGirl.com as part of the US Family Guide blogger program.  No other compensation has been received**

UPDATE:  The fp site no longer exists

When I was a young girl I used to love to draw. One of my favorite things to draw was outfits.  At one point in my life I wanted to be a fashion designer.  Even as now I envision shirts I’d like to have, a dress look I wish I could find, etc.

FPGirl.com let’s a creative girl select articles of clothing choosing the color and designs she wants.  Granted it’s not completely free form but I would have loved something like this when I was a girl.  Now that I have my own little girl I love looking at the styles and things available for her.  She’s only 6 months old, she doesn’t care what she wears at this point but it’s so much fun to dress her up.

I had the chance to review the FPGirl.com site and create an article of clothing.  I wanted to find something cute, practical, but still girly.  The smallest the size went down to was a size 4 in girls but I figured I could make it and put it away for her. Then when she’s old enough I’ll let her create her own piece.

You can choose to create shirts, dresses, hoodies, and even accessories like jewelry and backpacks.  There are different styles of each in each category.

I ended up choosing a light weight long sleeve hooded tshirt with a pocket in the front.  I chose the color HollyHock.  There are so many different designs to add depending on your little girl’s personality.  Everything from sports emblems, to skull and cross bones, and more.  You can put thing on the sleeves or only one sleeve, the left chest or right,   I chose a rainbow colored crown for the front and put her initial on the left chest.

I was so excited to get her shirt and see that it actually turned out even better than I expected.

I love it, I love the color, I love the style, I love how the accents turned out.  I think it’s awesome! Getting your daughter, granddaughter, niece, etc a FPGirl.com gift card for the holidays would be awesome.  You can get they’ll get what they want and it will fit.  You’ll also give them the gift of creativity and individuality.  You can have it sent through snail mail or as an e-certificate.

You can find FPGirl on the following social media sites:

Twitter: @FashionPlaytes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fashionplaytes
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/fashionplaytes/

And hey, for us moms they have a survey site called FPMom. Take surveys, earn reward points to trade in for things like gc to FPgirl.com, Amazon gc, and more!  It’s free, sign up here: http://fpmom.fashionplaytes.com?ref=2-1218023