My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure review

Shout! Factory/ Hasbro

The My Little Pony gals are back in an all new animated tale: My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure. My daughters (ages 2 and 3.5 years old) were very excited for this DVD to be released. They enjoy playing with the toys, though they've never seen a My Little Pony cartoon or anything else prior to Twinkle Wish Adventure. I, however, vaguely remember the 1980s TV series and remember enjoying it as a little girl. So I've enjoyed seeing them play with the toys and also looked forward to watching the DVD with them.

My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure follows Pinkie Pie and all her pony friends as they wait for the Winter Wishes festival where the Wishing Star grants each pony one special wish. But when the Wishing Star is stolen by a lonely dragon, they go on a journey to find it.

The story is pretty routine for a kids movie but my girls were really into watching it. They sat still, not to miss a moment. They both told me they like it because they like the ponies. In fact they got out some of their ponies to play along with the movie. But this isn't one they ask to see again. We got a sneak peak copy of it, so we've had it for over a week now and I've yet to have them ask to play it again. But when I got it out today to watch, they were happy with the idea.

Myself, I found it pretty boring and disliked the high pitched voices of the ponies. I also am not fond of the message the closing song sends to the little girls watching: "Dreams do come true if you wish for them." This isn't the message I want my girls to go for. Wishing for something doesn't get you anything in real life. I'm all for dreaming big and I do like movies that push for that. But I'd prefer a message that dreams come true if you work hard to achieve your goals, even at this young age.

The DVD also includes a new animated short “Elefun and Friends,” the “Waiting for the Winter Wishes Festival” prequel (which you can watch HERE), six sing-along songs, downloadable coloring sheets, cut-out pony ornaments and four other activities.

All in all, if your girls (or boys, though the target of this movie is clearly little girls) are really into the My Little Pony toys, then I'd recommend renting this DVD first to gauge their interest in it and see how you like it as well. This isn't one I'd rush out to buy.

Regardless of whether or not your little ones enjoy the movie, the My Little Pony toys are hard to beat for little girls. I found a coupon for $5 off $20 or more of a My Little Pony purchase HERE.

Minui's HandySitt portable high chair

Tired of a big bulky high chair taking up space in your dining room?

Then check out the Danish children's furniture maker minui's HandySitt portable high chair.

This little baby folds flat and can be stored in a closet or you can just leave it anchored to a chair at your table, like I do.

The HandySitt can be used for babies 6 month old all the way through 5 year olds who still need a little boost up to the table.

The seat is simple. It has sliding sidebars that adjust in length based on the chair back height. Those hook on the back of the chair. You anchor the seat with one strap around the bottom of the table chair. The seat part then folds down.

Maybe the best part: the seat strap that holds your tot in stays put on the seat. No having to buckle your little one up every time you sit down to eat. (You can get the optional 5 point harness if you'd rather though.) I love that feature, as does my two year old. She feels like a big girl in this chair and she acts like one too. She asks to sit in her chair now instead of crying when its time to have to buckle up in her old high chair.

Another bonus: it looks cool, sleek and eco-friendly. It comes in trendy, gender neutral colors: red, silver, or black on natural wood or metal. Minui's website says about its eco-construction: "Made with steel and FSC-certified birch, it uses only the materials it needs. All paint and varnish finishes are formaldehyde free, and the plastic guard contains no Phthalates. In other words, it can be safely licked clean by your toddler."

If you want to take it to a restaurant or grandma's house for the holidays, just fold the seat part flat and you're good to go. The HandySitt is lightweight so its easy to take wherever. But do note it doesn't fit on every table chair. Read about chair requirements to hold it HERE.

All in all, this is by far our favorite high chair for toddlers. I can't wait to try it with my younger baby to see how practical it is for him at the six months old stage of eating. I'll report back on how that goes in a few months.

Fancy little princess costumes

Little princesses are among the most popular costumes for Halloween and every other day of the year... and why not! Little girls like to dress up in pretty gowns and wear crowns on their heads. It's innate. Even before my daughters had ever seen a Disney princess movie or any other princess cartoon or book, they knew that they liked princesses. They'd spot them at the store and were immediately drawn to them. That said, here's a look at some of the best princess costumes we've tried out and put to the princess test for Halloween and "dress-up" days...

Toys R Us has a fantastic Disney Cinderella costume made by Disguise Inc. This dress has gorgeous embellishments complete with a glittery castle, fireworks and stars on the dress fabric plus a Cinderella cameo sewn to the bodice - something I thought was okay but my daughters thought was really neat. The dress is quite poofy like all good princess ball gowns should be and made with durable fabric that will stand up to Trick-or-Treating and then some! The dress comes with a silky ribbon headband and necklace to complete the look. This dress needs to be spot cleaned only to get out any royal messes, so don't eat dinner in it for ultimate use after Halloween. The costume is part of their Children Affected By AIDS Foundation collection, in which Toys R Us contributes to the charity.

PrincessTimeToys.com has the most practical yet still pretty princess costumes we've come across by Little Adventures- they're washable! We tried out the Belle Winter Dress-Up Gown, petticoat slip, gloves and red flower headband. It is really soft and made with good quality, comfortable fabric. And did I mention it's washable - so enjoy that spaghetti dinner on Halloween because you can full clean this costume and use it over and over again. This one is a good choice for a chilly evening too because it has three-quarter length sleeves. To maximize its princess-ness, you might want to add on their petticoat slip for some princess-y poofiness because the dress by itself lies pretty flat. Read about the mom behind PrincessTimeToys HERE.

The Disney Store and Disneystore.com have a fun and fanciful Sleeping Beauty aka Princess Aurora costume. This dress is in princess pink satin, crushed velvet and tulle with gold glittery embellishments, including a castle and star theme all around the bottom of the dress and an Aurora cameo near the neckline. It is soft and comfy but needs to be spot cleaned. This dress has long sleeves, really nice feature on a chilly Halloween night but your princess won't overheat in it because its not bulky by any means. Colder climates will need tights on underneath for sure. Because this one goes down to the ground you may be able to even get away with a pair of long johns under there for added warmth. Either way, this is a pretty dress for a pretty princess.

A dress with an impressively cool feature is the Crystal Princess Twinkle light-up gown from Spirit Halloween made by Rubies. This dress has tiny fiber optics woven into the fabric, so when you turn it on with the little controller sewn into the waistband - it twinkles. These are NOT super bright lights by any means - it just looks like twinkling stars and will catch the eye of all the other little trick or treaters and be met with lots of oohs and ahhs. But if you're going to a party indoors with full lighting, this dress looks super glittery and it is sort of hard to tell that it is as cool as it is in darker conditions. A bonus for wee princesses, this dress is a little shorter than other princess dresses, at least on my two year old, which means no tripping over a long costume while trying to keep up with the bigger kids at the party or on the street.

From Tinker Bell to seasonal fairies - a look at some cool fairy costumes

Tinker Bell is one of the most famous fairies
(and an easy to find costume)

Fairies rank right up there with princesses as favorite costumes for little girls, on Halloween and dress up play any other day of the year.

Tinker Bell is among the most popular fairies around, so you can find a Tink costume almost anywhere these days. We have two that my girls really enjoy. One by Creative Designs International. The other is the Tinker Bell Role Play Light Up Dress.

You can also make any costume into a fairy by adding wings. For instance: add wings to your princess costume and you're a fairy princess; add wings to a pumpkin costume and you've got a pumpkin fairy; add wings to some pjs and you're the tooth fairy; dress up in a winter outfit with a cozy hat and poof - a winter fairy; and so forth. It's one of the easiest costumes to play around with and use your imagination with, as a good fairy would.

An easy fairy is a winter fairy!
Just add wings to a warm outfit

One place to find cool specialty fairy gear is the online boutique Fairy Finery. Their costumes and accessories are hand made by moms in the USA. And they've got quite a magical collection.

Fairy Finery flower dress & hairband (not wings)

Among their cutest - and multi-purposeful- the fairy flower tulle dress. My two year old has been sporting this costume around all week. It has a velvety soft bodice and the skirt is light, airy and poofy and it is filled with flower petals. She loves twirling around in it. Add the handmade flower ribbon headband and some wings and you've got a sweet little flower fairy or spring fairy.

Sisters can have fun dressing as seasonal fairies with a costume like this. Add a long cape and get it in blue for winter fairy. Opt for the green for summer fairy or magenta with leaves in her hair for a fall fairy. The dresses are well made so they can also be used as flower girl dresses or fancy party dresses too. Another fun one would be to add a birthday crown and be a birthday fairy on your little girl's special day!

Fairy Flower Tulle Dresses from FairyFinery.com