Every year I look for some kind of craft that the girls can make to give to the family as Christmas gifts. We have made picture frames, home made stockings, thumb print planters… this year I wanted to be a little more “advanced” without going overboard. I asked my friend Christy to save me some of her nephews baby food jars… I just knew I could find something cool to make with them.
Home Made Holiday Snow Globes
December 5, 2012 By 4 Comments
Record a Memory Our Family Christmas
October 31, 2011 By 6 Comments
In the last few years I have really learned the importance of saving memories and recording them for my girls. After I lost three grandparents in three consecutive years, I realized I didn’t take enough pictures, didn’t write enough down, should have recorded their voices … all the things I didn’t know I would miss as much as I do. Recipes, funny moments, time together, and traditions have been lost or forgotten, and it saddens me to think my girls will never know some of the things I did when I was their age.
Now that Mike and I are beginning our own family with our own traditions, I am excited to find the Record a Memory series from Publications International, Ltd. Each book from the series allows places to write, add pictures, and even incorporates the element of sound with a recordable audio device built right in. I remember my grandfather had a tiny little voice recorder that he carried for years with a recording of me laughing… he would have loved to have one of these books with my daughters’ laughter.
“Record a Memory books are a perfect addition to the family bookcase because you can save so much more than just pictures… Record a Memory is like a family time capsule with audio that will be just as treasured six months from now as it will be when the kids are fully grown.” ~ Mike Sieczkowski, EVP of Product Development
I received the Our Family Christmas Memories for Review, and I am already taking pictures to fill this book! Every page has prompts and suggestions for what to include – like favorite recipes and pictures of the Christmas Tree. I can’t wait to show you the finished result!
Publications International, Ltd is also helping families stay close across the mile by donating Record a Story books to deploying troops at the USO and United Through Reading Locations. Military families who are about to deploy will have the chance to arrange for a shared story time with their children, even after they have left for their tours of duty. Publications International Ltd has donated thousands of books which will be sent along with a DVD of the parents recording the story to the children for the Holidays.
You can check out the Record a Memory series online at www.Record-a-Story.com.
What are you favorite Holiday Memories?
Which Poofin Would You Pick?
October 24, 2011 By 5 Comments
Finding a Christmas Gift to “surprise” my Tween daughter is next to impossible. Gone are the days of picking up something from Target, wrapping it up pretty and putting “Love, Santa” on the tag. Plus I always want to get her something unique, something that she can tell her friends about that 3/4 of them will not have received as well. That is why when I discovered Poofin, I knew I had found the perfect gift from Santa.
A Poofin is like a soft treasure chest, filled with all of your favorite things. Shaped like the Star that you are, in your choice of red, pink or blue, you can fill your super soft cuddly Poofin with “charms” of all of your favorite things. The more charms you collect, the softer your Poofin becomes!
Poofin is a new developmental toy meant to inspire self-esteem in children by inviting them to create a unique charm collection kept inside a hollow, plush toy star. Children pick charms featuring images of things they like – pizza, baseball, butterflies, anything they want! The charms can even be customized to feature personal images of your choosing. The result is a huggable buddy that helps kids tell the world all about themselves!
My favorite part about the Poofin – besides how soft it is – is that you can create your own charms by uploading images right from your computer into the Poofin Factory. Last month we lost one of her little beloved pets - Sugar the Gerbil - so I am uploading a picture of her to give the Tween something she will have to forever remember her little pet. I am also making charms with our recent trips, extended family we do not get to see often, and some of her other favorite things. Since the custom charms are only $3.50, it is easy to get caught up making several!
I also love that she can take her Poofin with her wherever she goes – sleepovers, camp, road trips, and even just to her Dads on the weekends.
Poofin was created by two very “opposite” Moms – one tall, one short; one with all girls, one with all boys – who embrace their “yin and yang” type friendship and have created a toy to highlight such differences.
“We think our differences make our partnership strong. Differences are also what make families, schools, and communities strong. Poofin, in turn, reflects the belief that by embracing one another’s differences, the world really can become a more peaceful place.” ~Ann and Julia, Creators
You can find a retailer near you, or order directly online at the Poofin Store. Orders normally take 7-10 days to arrive, but faster delivery is available.
I am very excited to find Poofins and to start her collection of Poofin Charms. I’m thinking *I* might need one too…
Which Poofin would you pick?
100 Days To Christmas eBook
September 7, 2011 By 7 Comments
The Holidays are my absolute favorite time of year. I LOVE filling my home with tons of decorations, shopping, baking all sorts of sweets, blaring holiday music through the sound system, shopping, mailing hundreds of Christmas cards to my Divas, sitting with the iPad in front of the fire for hours on end, shopping, having as many house parties with the family as Mike will allow, and SHOPPING!! I have to admit though, as much as I love it, it never fails that I will get overwhelmed, I will forget something, I will burn something (that is a given) and I will have days where I can not wait for it to all be over.
A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me about 100DaysToChristmas.com. They were giving a “sneak peek” of their new 2011 100 Days to Christmas eBook by Jennifer Tankersley (owner of ListPlanIt.com) for us to check out! I immediately emailed in, and was chosen to receive the eBook. Let me tell you – if I had known it was this good, I would have been happy to pay for it!
The 100 Days to Christmas eBook is a daily task manager, list maker, organization tool for busy people during the Holiday season. Starting on September 16th – 100 days to Christmas – the eBook is a step by step time table that helps you get it ALL done.
As someone who has built a career in writing eBooks, I can tell you that this is one of the best ones I have ever seen. The layout is great, and it keeps you engaged with pictures, quotes, and different fonts – not just page after page of words. Every single day is full of links to different resources to help you stay organized. With dozens of links for planning pages that you can download free from ListPlanIt.com, you can truly organize a complete handbook for all things Holiday and keep it all in one place. Jennifer has thought of everything – from budgeting for Christmas gifts to organizing the Menu to scheduling Christmas Cards – it even includes everything for Halloween and Thanksgiving too!
My favorite part about the 100 Days to Christmas eBook is that it is really not an eBook – or not JUST an eBook… I went through and printed the eBook, along with the dozens of planning pages, hole punched them all and put them in a binder. I turned it literally into a complete manual for my next four months! I have added in my own schedules and lists for blogging and working and VOILA! I feel completely prepared, organized and excited about the upcoming Holiday Season.
You can get your own copy of the 100 Days To Christmas eBook for a ridiculously low price of $4.99 - seriously Jennifer, it is worth way more than that girl, we gotta work on your pricing!! – for your Kindle, Nook, or as a pdf like I did to print and put into a binder. OR get it free when you join ListPlanIt.com, and get a full year of all of Jennifer’s awesome printable lists and planning pages – check out the details here.
Disclosure: I was given a code to receive a free download of the 100 Days of Christmas eBook and was not compensated in any other way for this post. All of the thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
