Holidays | ParentSphere

CafePress: Personalize Your Christmas

December 17, 2009 By: Amy Category: Babies, His and Hers, Kids, Products

If you’re scrambling for last minute gifts and maybe you can’t (or don’t want to) get out of the house to hit the stores, I think you should consider checking out the new and improved CafePress.

I am pleasantly surprised at the CafePress site revamp. It’s clean and much more pleasing to the eye. I don’t mind clicking around and checking out all of the fun designs and unique gift ideas. In my opinion, it’s a lot less generic than it used to be. They’ve definitely caught up with the times.

Here’s an excellent last-minute gift idea for you. Go to CafePress and create a customized ornament. I just created two ornaments (with a promo code that was graciously offered to me by CafePress) for someone very special in my life. I can’t wait until she opens them! I have a feeling there will be smiles and happy tears when she lays her eyes on them. I am really looking forward to checking them out, too. I don’t doubt the quality will be great, as I have seen other products from CafePress in the past.

Real quick, I’m just going to say that whatever it is that you want to customize, they’ve got it. Apparel, ornaments, Sigg bottles, stationery, etc. I’m happy that I’ve been reacquainted with this online store and I’m pleased to direct you their way.

Don’t pass up CafePress this holiday season. You may be surprised at what unique gifts you can come up with and the person you’re giving the gift to could quite possibly say that you’ve given them the “best gift ever”.

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Tags: arts and crafts, gift guide, holidays, stationery

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Christmas Crafty – Part Two

December 07, 2009 By: Amy Category: Activities, Blog, Family Fun, Hers

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were working on another project. We’ve finally finished it!

I was recently on a mission to find picture frame ornaments but not just any picture frame ornaments. I wanted simple, small wooden frames that we could decorate. I went to several stores and couldn’t find what I was looking for. I told Eric about it and he came up with this ingenious idea – make them ourselves out of popsicle sticks.

Well, duh.

I just so happen to have had some small sticks leftover from a project we did a couple of years ago. So, I had our four year old color some of the popsicle sticks. We then glued them together, making a small square (about 2″ x 2″). She decorated the colored sticks with some holiday stickers and I tied a string (actually, some holiday ribbon) around the frames to hang on the tree. This is what our homemade frames look like:

Collage27 Christmas Crafty Part Two

Very cute. Very four-year-old-looking. I love them to pieces.

See the two furry things in the frames? Those are our two fabulous kitties, Indie and Ollie. We recently lost both of them (just over a month apart). So, this was a very important project for me. It’s going to be a different Christmas without them around. I’m thrilled that we completed our project and our furbabies now have a place on our Christmas tree.

We encourage you to make some homemade ornaments this year. When you pull them out of the Christmas bin next year, you’ll have a lovely memory to look back on.

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Tags: arts and crafts, holidays, preschooler

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How the Grinch Stole…my iPhone?

December 02, 2009 By: Amy Category: Activities, Family Fun, His and Hers, Kids, Products

I purchased my iPhone this past July and truthfully, it’s one of the best purchases I have made in a while. I love everything about this phone. I switched from a BlackBerry Curve and it was an excellent decision, in my opinion.

My iPhone keeps me company while I’m feeding the baby or swaying her to sleep. It also provides entertainment to my four year old when she’s restless. Half of the apps I have are for me and half are for her. Not to mention I have at least three movies loaded and some episodes of Blues Clues.

Now that I’ve professed my geeky love for my phone, I’ve got to tell you about a couple of new apps that were just released. They are here just in time for the holiday and they are HOT.

If you don’t know who the Grinch is, or the adorable people from Who-ville, then I guess you’ve been living under a rock. Two new notable iPhone apps are all about the Grinch and we can’t get enough.

The first one that I fully abuse every day is the Dr Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition ($2.99 at the iTunes app store (app store > photography > Dr. Seuss camera – The Grinch Edition)). Here are some of the holidayriffic photos I’ve taken since downloading the app:

Collage25 How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

They are scaled down in size here but the originals are easily greeting card size. I have been showing them off to friends and family and I have about a thousand more where these came from. It’s too fun and we all get a good laugh.

Next on the holiday list is Grinchmas ($1.99 at the app store (app store > games > Grinchmas)). You can be nice or you can be naughty in this one. Throw snowballs or presents at the Who’s houses, depending on your mood. Don’t worry, we’re pretty sure no Who’s were injured while playing the game.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the light-hearted Grinchmas app:

GrinchmasSS How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

These two apps are available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Soon I’ll post a list of the other apps we enjoy…hopefully, if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, they will keep your kids entertained on the long trips to visit family and friends for the holidays. I know they will work like a charm for me!

IMG 0543 200x300 How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

Thanks to Oceanhouse Media for providing me with promo codes for these two apps. They would have been well worth it to purchase!

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Tags: holidays, iPhone apps, technology, toys and games

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Staples “Gift it For Free” Sweepstakes

December 03, 2008 By: Amy Category: Contests

So, we think this is a pretty cool thing that Staples has going on. In a nutshell, 10,000 Staples customers will have their purchases (up to $5,000) PAID FOR by Staples.

The rules are pretty cut and dry.

Make a purchase (or multiple purchases) at a Staples retail store or Staples online between November 16, 2008 and December 24, 2008 (by 11:59 PM EST).

Go to www.giftitforfree.com and enter the special code from your Staples receipt or from your online confirmation code.

If you are a Staples Rewards Member, you don’t even have to take the extra step to enter – as you are entered once automatically for each time you use your Rewards card within the promotion period.

You can enter as many times as you’d like, as long as you have a valid code to enter. For example, if you shop one day, you enter the code from that receipt. If you happen to forget something and have to go back, you can center the code from that receipt too. Boom. There you go. TWO entries.

I personally can think of MANY things that could be purchased at Staples for myself or for gifts. These are some products that I like or recommend:

The TomTom One 130 Portable GPS – I’m HOT for a GPS right now!

A Staples Loft Leather Executive Chair – because I work from home and could really use a nice office chair

Omnitech 8.5″ Digital Picture Frame – because my digital picture frame is not working. : (

The Epson Artisan 800 injet All-in-One – Oh, that’s right. I have one. what’s that? Oh yes! We’re giving one away HERE. Silly me.

Apple 16GB iPod Nano – I want. I want. I want. I want!

Canon EOS Rebel XSi Digital SLR Camera – Oh, how I would love to have a brand new Rebel!

Ok, so I’m getting a little carried away. Honestly though, If I knew I could be one of ten THOUSAND people that would receive my purchases for FREE, I wouldn’t feel so bad dropping all of this cash on myself. I’m sitting here, talking myself into things…hmmm.

Anyway, just wanted to give you all a “heads up” about this sweet sweepstakes. Here are some links, so you can gather up all of the information you need before you head out to a Staples near you or click over and shop online. If you enter, GOOD LUCK! Not that you need it. TEN THOUSAND WINNERS up to $5,000 bucks each?! Hello?!

Staples Gift it for Free website

Official Rules – because this isn’t a ParentSphere sweepstakes, it’s Staples.

Gift it For Free FAQs

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Tags: deals, holidays

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Giving thanks, for the little things

November 25, 2008 By: Amy Category: Blog, Hers

Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that I have looked forward to.

As a child, I recall waking up to the delectable smells of a turkey in the oven, stuffing in the crock pot and my mom’s homemade apple and pumpkin pies. I still think that Thanksgiving Day at my house, where I grew up in PA was the best. I miss waking up to those scrumptious smells and coming down the stairs to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on t.v. The sound of my brothers cheering on their favorite football teams and my nieces and nephews running around the house. When the evening rolled around, some would be napping and some would be heading out to the kitchen for leftovers.

I have lived away from home for almost 12 years now and have experienced many other Thanksgiving celebrations. Eric and I have hosted Thanksgiving at our house (I could never do as good a job as my mom preparing this feast). We also dined out one particular Thanksgiving. Not in “A Christmas Story” style – there were no “Fa ra ra ra ra’s” or anything like that.

No matter where I spend my Thanksgiving holiday, I will always remember why it’s such a special day. It’s a day that families come together, near and far. Doesn’t matter if I can make a mean turkey gravy like my mom can or not. What matters is that I’m spending it with people that I care about and I am thankful for that.

Our goal, as parents, is to make sure that our kids are cared for and taught to be thankful for the little things. We want them to grow up with a sense of family and with the importance of spending time together.

I can only hope that one day our kids will wake up on Thanksgiving morning, just like I did, to the same delicious smells coming from the kitchen. I’m getting hungry right now just thinking about it.