Check out this awesome piece of personalized artwork from Sticks and Stones. Visit their site and choose from the library of letters to spell out a word or name and they'll mail you a matted and framed keepsake - a one of a kind gift for sure! (Fun Fact: All the photos were taken by the company's founders and their three young daughters when they started an ongoing project to find letters in nature and architecture.) So cool!
I'm a huge fan of old-fashioned silhouette prints and this custom pendant necklace by Whitney Pippen puts a charming spin on the classic. Just email Craftsbury Kids a profile photo of your child and they'll make you a one-of-a-kind keepsake this Mother's Day!
It's spring and you're no doubt spending as many minutes outside with the kids as possible (at least if you don't suffer from seasonal allergies). So while you're hanging out in the garden, suit up in some good-looking gardening gear and get your hands dirty (after Mother's Day, of course—no maintenance of any sort for you on May 11th)! Enter to win this all-you-could-ever-need garden kit, designed by domestic darling, Katie Brown, produced by The Companion Group. Here's the loot:
To enter to win, just post a comment on this post (click on "comments") by midnight ET on Friday May 9. We'll email the lucky winner on the following Monday. Goody Luck!
Full rules here.
I love this prize for so many reasons...
1. It's jewelry, and who doesn't love a little extra bling on Mother's Day?
2. All of the charms are classic symbols of motherhood and childhood, all designed in a modern, yet vintage style.
3. 25% of the proceeds from the sale of any Charmed by Cocoa Crayon products go to children's charities in the areas of health, wellness, and education.
Cocoa Crayon has generously offered up a $300 gift certificate to the winner—that'll get you a pretty souped up sterling silver charm necklace, or if you prefer the more delicate, then perhaps a single 14K gold charm on a chain is the way to go.
To enter to win, just post a comment on this post (click on "comments") by midnight ET on Friday May 9. We'll email the lucky winner on the following Monday. Goody Luck!
Full rules here.
PS...I gave the Jax charm to my sister for her birthday this year (we were jacks champs as kids), and you would have thought I'd given her a winning lottery ticket. She loved it!
As you are preparing for Mother's Day, you should also keep in mind that the week prior is Teacher Appreciation Week. I'm of the belief that we should celebrate teachers everyday (and Moms too for that matter), but I guess it can't hurt to have an annual reminder.
Skip to My Lou posted this ab fab gift idea that just sends me—use a cheap-o drugstore pill box and fill it with a weeks-worth of punny notes and gifts for the teacher. (I know what you're thinking—that in addition, a few muscle-relaxers would make a teacher feel really appreciated.) She has come up with an adorable list of teacher appreciation sayings that you can download straight from her site, along with some how-to's for the little filler gifts. Then you wrap it up in a cute little package, and it's a full 7 days of appreciation. (The cute poem tag is download-able too.)
2-4-6-8...who do we appreciate? (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)
We are just two weeks away from Mother's Day (13 days to be exact—where did April go?), so it's not a bad idea to start planning the gifts, the breakfast in bed, the truck loads of roses, etc. And here is one more totally unique gift idea for ya...
America at Home is a beautiful book of photographs of American families from all over the country. Published in partnership with Ikea, this book contains over 250 photographs by100 leading photojournalists. The book's intro is written by Matt Groening of Simpsons' fame, and is followed by a series of thought- provoking essays about home by noted writers, including Amy Tan, Dominique Browning, Terry Teachout, Richard Rodriguez, and David Pogue.
But here's the absolute, coolest part...the part that will bring tears to a mother's eyes: for $39.95, you can upload your OWN family photo to customize the cover of the book, putting yourselves among the pictures of this extraordinary photo essay. It really speaks to the point that we all have special yet relatable moments that can resonate with anyone who cherishes their family and their home.
Thanks to PhotoJoJo for the link!
If you are addicted to fortunes, psychics, or horoscopes and you don't find it convenient to carry around a magic 8-ball in your pocketbook, then check out these Daily Fortunes at Rosebud Design Studio. They come in 5 varieties for the different areas of your life: General, Love, Marriage, Money and Babies.
They are all packaged as handy matchbooks and are filled with 24 original fortunes. The baby version dishes out sound bites for new parents, the marriage gives advice to husbands and wives, and so on. Sometimes I think we can all use a little pocket prophecy throughout our days!
You can purchase these here on their Etsy site.
Want to cut back on the amount of toys that never make it out of the toy box, or think it's time to teach your kids about charity? Then check out ECHOage for your child's next birthday bash. Founded by two moms, this site invites your party's guests to make a contribution (between $10 - $30) instead of bringing a present. Half of this is then donated to a charity, while the other half is sent to the host so that they can purchase a single gift for the birthday girl or boy. Your child gets one meaningful present that she really wants, and learns a lesson in giving. Bonus: you don't have to clean up the wrapping paper and ribbons left behind in the aftermath of tearing open gifts!
Do you think your kids would be cool with an ECHOage party? Or is the thrill of the pile of presents half the fun of a birthday party?
Image via
Valentine’s Day is coming soon, which means every store is packed to the rafters with chocolate. Jewelry stores already have Valentine’s sales. But are these traditional gifts taking a backseat to pink tech gadgets? Apple introduced a new pink Ipod nano, offering free engraving and shipping for the big day. If you head to Best Buy, you can get $10 off on a bunch of their red and pink mp3 players and accessories. And just check out all the wacky pink tech stuff geeksugar discovered at the Computer Electronics Show!
Would you be psyched to get a Valentine’s-hued gift this year? Or does the whole pink-gadgets-for-the-ladies irk you? (If they do, you’re not alone.) Or maybe you’re quite happy with a nice dinner from a restaurant that doesn’t have a take-out window. Let us know in the comments!
There are a lot of cute ways to wear your baby close to your heart, but Kathy Lo Rocks' Double-Sided Love Locket caught my eye for a couple of reasons. One, I love lockets (so timeless!) and two, you don't even have to open it to get a peek at your little one's face. Actually, make it three reasons: It's the perfect subtle size (a mere 1 inch in diameter.) Some photo necklaces are so large that I feel like I'm wearing a mural. Don't trust yourself to cut up a picture into a tiny circle? You can upload a photo and the company will do it for you.
