 |
| clever creations logo |
Sometimes I get things to test out and review that don't fit into my blog, The Chocolate Cult, and when that happens I take advantage of this shared blog to let you all know what I think about a product(s) I was sent. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and I've been sent 6 decorations for Christmas though some of these as you will see could work for more generic winter holidays. I received three nutcrackers -- a Santa Skiing Nutcracker, a Chubby Traditional King Nutcracker, and a Snow Queen Nutcracker, and three pickle ornaments. I'll tell you about each of these in this review. I got these 6 items via the Tryazon program from Clever Creations to test and write about it on various social media. No other form of compensation was received in exchange for my honest opinions.
 |
| Clever Creations Trio of Christmas Pickles |
Let's start with the
Christmas Pickles
. My husband and I got one from his parents soon after we moved into our house because we had room for a full sized tree there. That ornament was a tradition his father's family followed so we started using it during our annual holiday party but in a different way. We send everyone who wants to play downstairs with one of us, then the other of us puts the pickle ornament on the tree. Those who are playing then all come up stairs and the first one to find the pickle gets a prize. I think this year, we could give the first three people to find it a pickle ornament of their own. The pickles themselves are fine, much brighter green than the heirloom ornament my in-laws gave us. The company claims it is shatterproof but I couldn't find a description of what is is made out of and I didn't want to throw one on the floor to test out the claim. I can say that they are lighter weight than the other pickle ornament that we have which is made from glass. The big negative is the silver strings that came with these, there were six strings in all and three of them were frayed at one end. I tried to tie them off but the material was slippery and my knots didn't stay. I recommend an old-fashioned metal hook like we use with our glass pickle.
 |
| Chubby Traditional Nutcracker King |
I'm going to look at the nutcrackers in increasing size so we'll start with the
Chubby Styles Traditional King Nutcracker
. This little guy is cute! His mouth opens and closely well though honestly I doubt he is strong enough to crack nuts. Wood is great but I prefer metal for a functional nutcracker. He measures 6.25" x 3.25" x 2.75" and he comes in a small box that I labeled so I can use it to store him. He reminds me of the traditional nutcracker design from the ballet though he has a drum which I do not normally associate with the king figure. No, the drum and the arms/hands do not move.
 |
| Snow Queen Nutcracker |
The next two are in theory the same height but the hats make all the difference. The
Traditional Snow Queen Nutcracker
is the first female nutcracker I have seen for Christmas. She measures 14" x 3.33" x 3.66" and stands on a very glittery base. She came with broken pieces of styrofoam in her box and that was a bit annoying to keep discovery everyone as I unpacked and repacked her up. She reminds me of our stuffed Celestial Santas who is in blue and silver. He's packed away right now because it is too early to decorate for Christmas but I'll think about putting them next to each other when I do decorate after Thanksgiving. Her hair is very curly and it was entwined in the front. Oddly she is a nutcracker but the open is on her chest promoting my hubby to revert to a 12-year old boy and exclaim "She had nutcracking boobs!". The lever is under her cape so aside from the wood worry as strong enough to crack open nuts, it is more effort to access that movable part. The wand can be turned a bit but everything else is static about her. When I looked closely at her head I noticed that the crown is above the plaited hair line so it looks less elegant up close than at a distance.
 |
| Santa Skiing Nutcracker |
The final nutcracker is just fun looking. The
Skiing Santa Nutcracker
is also 14 inches tall but his hat is an extra 4 inches to the figure and that matters depending on where you might want to place him. His other measurements are 3.25" x 5" so he takes up more horizontal space on a shelf. The hat has a wire in it so you can bent it to pose it. Up straight like you see in the photo or bending down to one side, or frontward, or backwards even. Other than the hat no other part is movable. Nothing is removable either so you don't' have to worry about losing parts of it. His mouth opens using an easy access lever in the back but again I wouldn't use him to crack actually nuts.
The Clever Creations nutcrackers are going to join our Christmas decorations assuming I can find space for them in our existing boxes. If I can't I guess they might replace older decorations or be given as prizes at our party. Honestly we don't put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. These are our Thanksgiving decorations. And no, we don't need more of these, companies, but chocolate for the other blog would be very welcomed!
Do you have any Clever Creations nutcrackers? Does you family have a pickle deocration?
. My husband and I got one from his parents soon after we moved into our house because we had room for a full sized tree there. That ornament was a tradition his father's family followed so we started using it during our annual holiday party but in a different way. We send everyone who wants to play downstairs with one of us, then the other of us puts the pickle ornament on the tree. Those who are playing then all come up stairs and the first one to find the pickle gets a prize. I think this year, we could give the first three people to find it a pickle ornament of their own. The pickles themselves are fine, much brighter green than the heirloom ornament my in-laws gave us. The company claims it is shatterproof but I couldn't find a description of what is is made out of and I didn't want to throw one on the floor to test out the claim. I can say that they are lighter weight than the other pickle ornament that we have which is made from glass. The big negative is the silver strings that came with these, there were six strings in all and three of them were frayed at one end. I tried to tie them off but the material was slippery and my knots didn't stay. I recommend an old-fashioned metal hook like we use with our glass pickle.
. This little guy is cute! His mouth opens and closely well though honestly I doubt he is strong enough to crack nuts. Wood is great but I prefer metal for a functional nutcracker. He measures 6.25" x 3.25" x 2.75" and he comes in a small box that I labeled so I can use it to store him. He reminds me of the traditional nutcracker design from the ballet though he has a drum which I do not normally associate with the king figure. No, the drum and the arms/hands do not move.
is the first female nutcracker I have seen for Christmas. She measures 14" x 3.33" x 3.66" and stands on a very glittery base. She came with broken pieces of styrofoam in her box and that was a bit annoying to keep discovery everyone as I unpacked and repacked her up. She reminds me of our stuffed Celestial Santas who is in blue and silver. He's packed away right now because it is too early to decorate for Christmas but I'll think about putting them next to each other when I do decorate after Thanksgiving. Her hair is very curly and it was entwined in the front. Oddly she is a nutcracker but the open is on her chest promoting my hubby to revert to a 12-year old boy and exclaim "She had nutcracking boobs!". The lever is under her cape so aside from the wood worry as strong enough to crack open nuts, it is more effort to access that movable part. The wand can be turned a bit but everything else is static about her. When I looked closely at her head I noticed that the crown is above the plaited hair line so it looks less elegant up close than at a distance.
is also 14 inches tall but his hat is an extra 4 inches to the figure and that matters depending on where you might want to place him. His other measurements are 3.25" x 5" so he takes up more horizontal space on a shelf. The hat has a wire in it so you can bent it to pose it. Up straight like you see in the photo or bending down to one side, or frontward, or backwards even. Other than the hat no other part is movable. Nothing is removable either so you don't' have to worry about losing parts of it. His mouth opens using an easy access lever in the back but again I wouldn't use him to crack actually nuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment