My March Favorites + A New Purchase That’s Arriving Today

Happy Weekend! Hope you are having a great one! I didn’t want to let April get totally gone without sharing my favorites from last month.

Sooo, ya know how Legos can be a bit pricey…when I was shopping for something fun for my grandsons for spring/Easter, I came across this adorable Lego bunny set and was surprised by how reasonably it was priced. This set actually makes into three different animals. I ordered a set for each of my grandsons and they loved it! When I visited them a few weeks back, I asked if they had tried making any of the other animals. They said they made them all and eagerly ran to get them to show them to me. I loved seeing how excited they were–they seriously love Legos! If you’re looking for a fun spring Lego set, definitely recommend this one available here: 3-in-1 Bunny, Cockatoo Parrot and Seal Lego. Is it wrong that I want to order one for myself?! Ha!

 

 

I have been cleaning like crazy, especially out on the porch, so I have to highlight my favorite cleaner for the seriously tough dirt. This Super Cleaner is great for cleaning almost anything–including fabric, carpet, wood trim, plastic, vinyl, metal…etc… It’s the one thing that helped me get denim stains off the leather car seats on my previous car. Love it! You’ll find it available here: Super Cleaner.

 

Super Cleaner for Leather Seats Upholstery and Carpet, Works for Denim Transfer

 

Still loving these liners I purchased for my air fryer last month. I’ve used them every time I’ve cooked in my Ninja Air Fryer and they have continued to work great. If you hate scrubbing out an air fryer, you’ll find liners for every size air fryer here: Air Fryer liners.  The ones I purchased for my Ninja, dual-compartment air fryer are available here: Liners for Ninja Air Fyer.

Air Fryer Parchment Liners

 

Had to mention this DeLonghi Coffee Maker after hearing my son’s rave reviews. He absolutely sings its praises! If you’re looking for a great coffee maker, check out the reviews for this one here: DeLonghi Coffee Maker.

Pull Out Tray for the De'Longhi True Brew Coffee Maker

 

Another awesome gadget that my daughter-in-law purchased last month is this pull-out tray designed especially for appliances. They use it under their coffee maker to pull it out from underneath their cabinets before using it.

De'Longhi True Brew Coffee Maker on Pullout Tray

 

I got to see it in action during my recent visit to Ohio and loved how well it worked, so when I got back home, I ordered one for my heavy KitchenAid mixer. It works great and will make pulling it out to use so much easier in the future! If you have a heavy kitchen appliance that’s hard to pull out when you want to use it–or something that heats up like a toaster or coffee maker and you don’t want the heat/steam damaging your cabinets or under-cabinet lighting, you’ll find this handy appliance tray here: Tray For Moving Out Kitchen Appliances.

Pull-out Appliance Tray Stand, Great for KitchenAid Mixer

 

When I shared the appliance tray in another post, I had several people ask me about the measuring scoops inside the large canisters on my countertop. They are by Nuscup and were purchased many, many years ago from the Sierra Trading Post. I couldn’t find the exact same ones online now, but I did find some that look very similar here: Measuring Scoops. They work great for rough measuring, but I would probably still use a traditional measuring cup if you are making something that requires very precise measurements of the ingredients.

Measuring Scoop

 

You may remember a few weeks back when I shared this crazy, fun Magic Puzzle Company puzzle named, The Happy Isles.

 

That puzzle was a lot of fun and definitely not your everyday puzzle. It even had flat-edged end pieces going up the center of the puzzle! What?!

The Magic Puzzle Company, strange puzzle with flat edge interior pieces

 

Once the puzzle is completed, following the instructions, sections of the puzzle end up being moved around to create a big hole in the middle of the puzzle. That hole gets filled with additional pieces that are in a separate envelope…and that solves the mystery! I don’t want to show you the solution and ruin it for you, but I will say, this is a truly delightful, fun, magical puzzle to complete! I enjoyed this one so much, I purchased a second one last month.

The Happy Isles puzzle, Ready for Solving the Mystery, Magic Puzzle Company

 

This time I worked a puzzle called, The Gnomes’ Homes. Here’s how it looked once completed and before I shifted sections around as the directions instruct.

 

After completing the puzzle, I opened this envelope next.

 

Inside the envelope, I found another envelope. 🙂

 

I shifted two sections of the puzzle around as the directions instructed. NOTE: This puzzle is best done on a large, flat table, but tempting the fates as usual, I did it on my puzzle board. That definitely adds an element of complexity to moving the sections, but I love doing puzzles on this board so much, I don’t mind the hassle.

 

Here’s how the puzzle looked after I moved all the sections as instructed. I can’t show you the answer/solution to the mystery that gets revealed when the final pieces from the envelope are assembled inside the hole, but it’s awesome! lol In another couple of years, I’m going to pass these puzzles down to my grandsons because I know they will love them as much as I do! If you love doing puzzles and want something that’s a bit different, you’ll find these mystery puzzles all available here: Mystery Puzzles. The two I’ve done so far are available here: The Happy Isles AND The Gnomes’ Homes.

 

I’m still very much enjoying this utility table I purchased in April. I love it for holding the large puzzle trays I use for sorting puzzle pieces. It came in handy for holding all my files when I was working on taxes this year. If you could use a table like this for camping or whatever, you’ll find it here: Adjustable Height Craft, Camping Utility Folding Table.

Folding Craft, Camping, Utility Table

 

Not a March purchase but wanted to share this solar-powered, birdbath fountain I ordered a few days ago. It should be arriving today and I can’t wait to get it up and running!

 

My backyard birds love, love, love the heated birdbath that I keep out for them year around. I unplug it in the spring once the temps are no longer dipping below freezing.

 

From my experience, water seems to draw birds to my yard almost more than the bird seed I put out for them. They really appreciate the fresh water during the hot summer months when it’s not raining as much.

 

The bird bath gets a lot of visitors during the winter months when other water sources are frozen over.

 

And it’s not just the birds who love it! 🙂

 

Squirrel Drinking from Birdbath

 

If you could use a deck-mounted birdbath, you’ll find this heated one available here: Heated Birdbath.

 

The solar fountain that I purchased to go inside, and that should be arriving today, is available here: Birdbath Fountain.

 

Have a fabulous weekend! See you on Monday for Metamorphosis Monday!

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



 Never miss a Between Naps on the Porch post! 

*Subscribe to have updates delivered to your Inbox. 



Comments

  1. franki Parde says

    That was a plethora of pleasure!!! Ordering puzzles…our granddaughter & s-i-l do luv a complex competition. franki

  2. Teresa Pasquariello says

    Wow, you keep posting so many good things! I’ve always thought about a winter birdbath, that one sure looks nice and even flip for cleaning. You’ll have to post how much eat birds like the fountain in future. I like that puzzle too, I’m going to put that on my list, but right now I have my kitchen remodel to think of.
    Any recommendations on spice jar sets or kitchen ladder for those high cabinets? Thanks for all your information. Just got those appliance sliders today.

    • I wish I had a suggestion…I just keep my spice jars on a Lazy Susan in a cabinet near my stove. My daughter-in-law and I were talking about the same thing…having a tall rolling ladder to reach the top cabinets, kinda like you see in libraries. 🙂 There’s really not enough room in her kitchen to have that. I think she’s just going to store items there that she rarely uses…maybe things that only get used for holidays or parties, etc…
      I purchased this ladder a few years back and love it for painting and hanging curtains. It’s very sturdy and substantial: https://amzn.to/3mUVIyo

      I also purchased a ladder from Target a couple of years back that is much lighter weight, so easy to move around if you’re using it a lot. This is the one I purchased in Target: https://bit.ly/41LLoHG
      The Target ladder is much lighter weight, it’s also a bit easier to open than the other one.

  3. Susan, great minds think alike!. I recently ordered the bird bath fountain and I love it. We had new landscaping done and our son gave us an old bird bath where we put the fountain. We can sit on our covered deck and enjoy it. One thing I found is the water needs to be refilled often. Not sure if it’s from the birds being thirsty, the wind, or the fountain causing the wind to evaporate it. Let me know what you think when you get yours. Still love it though!

    • My bird bath is pretty deep so that helps. Also, since my backyard is so shady, I change out the water every 2-3 days to keep it clean, so I think it will be okay. Sheri, does your fountain intermittently shoot the water up into the air? This one squirts the water up, then pauses, then does again, then pauses, then does it again, etc… I was thinking it would shoot it up into the air continuously but it may not get enough sunlight in my shady backyard.

    • I just went downstairs and placed the fountain into a large tub filled with water and took it over to a sunny spot near my deck stairs, and it started shooting the water up continuously…so not having enough sunlight is the problem with mine only shooting water up intermittently. I wish I had more sun in my backyard! I may move the birdbath over to the rail near the stairs, but that’s such a weird place to have it on the deck. I love how the fountain works though! Brilliant design!

  4. Cyndi Raines says

    Susan thanks for reposting that bird bath. I purchased one years ago when you first purchased yours and the birds really do love it. Even though I change my water out regularly and scour it, it is showing its age. I love that it is heated in the winter. Thanks for all the shopping helps!

  5. Hi Susan, we have the ‘fountain’ gadget for our water filled pots. We do not use them in birdbaths, as we found them too shallow in our situation. But we LOVE them (good that you got the bumper feature…that will help with water loss). And what is really fun, hummingbirds seem fascinated by them. They hover and fly close to water. The fountain needs minimal maintenance, but I clean the underside from any algae accumulation probably weekly. Not a big deal. Enjoy! It is a wonderful addition, imho.

  6. Always interested in your favorite items but especially interested in the bird bath fountain. We have one & it works very well. However, it doesn’t have the bumper straws to keep it in the center so if it floats to the side (which it inevitably does) & it’s windy the fountain spray doesn’t come straight down. Instead it goes on the ground and empties the bird bath! I’ve fixed it by tying a fishing weight to the bottom of the fountain like a tiny anchor but I like that this manufacturer has thought about this issue !

Leave a Reply to Susan Cancel reply

*