Girl's Night Out Tonight

A sudden update, for what it's worth! Tonight is Girl's Night Out in downtown Ellensburg, and many stores, us included, will be open until 9pm and have various specials going in their stores! As for us, we are going to have everything 25% off all day, whether you come in for Girl's Night Out or not! Come on down and do a little early Christmas Shopping...

Round and Round the Mulberry Bush

By popular request, Jack in the Boxes! Our three styles feature a traditional Jester, a "Peek-a-Boo" blue monkey, and the seemingly ubiquitous Sock Monkey. In particular, Peek-a-boo Monkey has velcro on his hands, so he can assume a variety of poses that stay when he pops out.

Also pictured, we've got Rubber Duckies. These little guys come in a wide range of styles, sports, pirates, cowboys, etc, but we've got a traditional "plain" ducky too. And if little duckies don't float your boat, we've got a couple of really big ones, too...

Imported Soaps

Today we've got something new in Bath & Beauty, imported soaps! These fancy soaps come from a number of European nations and Sandy tells me they aren't so easy to come by over here. There are a wide variety of scents, including Olive, Almond, Sandalwood, Pine, and many others. Lilac comes in soap, bath salt, and body mousse, and it's about time, Lilac is one of my favorite smells.

On the right, we have the "Ting Ting Head Tuner." I won't lie, it IS a little scary-looking, but we saw it at the trade show, and I tried it out in a selfless act of heroism--Sandy looked a little on the wary side. After earning the stamp of approval from both of us we decided to bring it in for the store. Once they arrived I brought one home for my girlfriend, and she loves it too. :)

Puppets named Marionette

We've had a few requests for marionette puppets and we've wanted to get some ourselves, and so here they are! These fine fellas are hand-made by Fish River Crafts, a company operating out of Maine. Each is made of wood and leather, and spring to life with surprising ease. The tangle-wary among us will be pleased to know that these are virtually tangle-proof: if the strings get tangled up, they can be removed from the control handle and sorted, and then reattached, it's very easy! Unsurprisingly, my favorite is the T-Rex, lacking forelimbs of substance, he's all legs and easy to control, but they are all charming and attractive. Stands are included with each purchase.

We've also received some old back orders from Hape, and finally have the Pelican and VERY cute Hedgehog from their glove puppet line.

Honey, you're the Tops

Although we've had an assortment of wooden tops for a while, a popular request has been for the pump-driven tin tops, and we're pleased to say we've finally brought some in! The two larger tops have stands at the bottom for easy use, and all three have little holes in the side which produce sound as they spin. It's a really interesting effect, and the large rainbow one actually shifts pitch as it spins due to the layout of the holes. I wonder how it works!

A hit last year at Christmas, we've brought in more of the Life in Miniature series. In particular, we have the mini zen garden, which comes with tiny statues and a little rake for some deep, desk-bound meditation, a new tiny bonsai kit, and our mini sandcastle sculpting kit. Our birthday, casino, and Buddha Garden sets are here as well!

Reel Big Bathtoys

Our popular Alex bathtoys have been restocked, and we've got some new ones, too! Particularly striking are the Dinosaur and Pirate themed sets. These include a set of reusable bath stickers, and a floating "island" made of light foamy material, and don't worry mom and dad, a handy storage bag (with suction cups for the bath wall) is included as well. Additionally, the pirate set includes some cute pirate water squirters, while Dino fans will have to make do with other dinosaur toys (tip: we have a sea-going Elasmosaurus coming soon!) Also pictured is Fishing in the Tub, which I suppose is pretty self-explanatory. No real fish in the tub, though!

Hive, Romp

Taking advantage of a momentary (and I mean momentary--here comes the UPS man now) in lull in unopened boxes to update on a few arrivals, specifically the return of two of my favorites, ROMP and Hive! Older boys are tough to shop for and being an older boy myself (I was talking about 12 year olds but..) I can personally vouch for these as being pretty darn neat. ROMP, the Randomly Oscillating Magnetic Pendulum, is a cool desk accessory that moves around in a seemingly random fashion according to the layout of magnets below it. Just set it up, give it a flick and it'll move about unpredictably for quite a while.

Hive is a great strategy game with a few similarities to chess in that each wooden piece has a different way of moving and strategies associated with it, but the big difference is that the pieces themselves, and the way they move, create the playing area itself, no board is needed. Also, the pieces are bugs. The game is also interesting in that no pieces are ever removed, only added, and the objective is to surround your opponent's queen with your pieces (and your opponent's pieces, if you're lucky!).

The elephants are from Safari toys and we've just barely started on that box...