Category Archives: Gifts

3 Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Outdoorsy Teenage Boys

December 7, 20132013 Holiday Gift Guide, GiftsAXE, Sam's ClubAlicia

You know the old saying.. nothing smells quite like the great outdoors. I agree 100% with that! Sometimes the great outdoors doesn’t smell so good though. It will knock you to your feet. When my son spends hours outside high up in trees or building a campfire or making something, that outdoor aroma is undeniable the second he walks in the door. His routine when he walks in the back door from being outside for hours includes taking off his shoes then going straight for a shower. He’s not allowed to sit on any furniture, take his stinky clothes off anywhere but in his room or the laundry area, or even grab something to eat. It’s straight to the shower.

When it comes to body and hair wash for my teenage son, it may have taken me until he was 12 years old or so, to realize that he could no longer get by with just baby wash. He and my daughter couldn’t share anymore. 🙁 Baby wash just doesn’t provide the lather and scent that he needs as a teenage boy. AXE’s Phoenix shower gel gets him clean and more importantly, to me, he *smells* clean after showering. My son insists on keeping his hair long and his hair gets oily. Long and oily is not an attractive combination so I bought him AXE Intense Deep Clean Shampoo for oily hair, and despite the fact that he’s not thrilled about having to use two different products (oh no!) in the shower, using a shampoo for oily hair makes a huge difference and he likes the scent of AXE’s products so that’s a plus.

AXE shampoo

On days when he has something important to do like a band concert or a ceremony at Boy Scouts, he uses AXE Clean Cut Look Pomade in his hair. Although this post is sponsored by AXE and Sam’s Club, the AXE items I’ve mentioned here are items that my son has used for months. Call it a great match!

Here are three great stocking stuffer ideas for the teen boy in your life

AXE® Products – There’s no harm in giving your teenager the gift of smelling and looking clean this Christmas!
Energizer Pro 7 LED Industrial Headlamp – Hopefully your son won’t get lost in the backyard or woods behind your house again with this headlamp!
HotHands Hand Warmers 10 Pair Value Pack – These are great inside gloves!

Don’t know what to get your guys this holiday season? AXE® Products at Sam’s Club make the ultimate stocking stuffer! They come in three packs so you can split them up between each man in your life –saving you time and money while keeping them happy and smelling good!

Which boy or man in your life will be getting AXE® in their stocking this holiday season?

Gift Guide: 5 Gifts For The Work From Home Parent

November 27, 20132013 Holiday Gift Guide, Giftsgift guide, Home Office GiftsAlicia

It takes a special kind of person to be a work from home parent. You’re stuck in an office in your home where you’d probably rather be catching up on your favorite tv show, making sure the kids are doing their homework, ‘helping’ your spouse cook dinner, or smelling the roses in the garden. No.. you’re stuck in your home office which hopefully has a door and is an area that the kids are not allowed to enter. If I’ve learned one thing in the 13 years I’ve been working from home it is to set boundaries for who and when someone is allowed to step into my office. If you’re not here to help me sort through paperwork, write a story, or call clients, do not spend more than 30 seconds in my office. Or you will get sucked in! 😉

The items featured in my ‘Work from home parent gift guide’ are things that I being a work from home parent, find useful and fun! I especially love the cork planters (#5). One cork planter can add a touch of green to your office while the other holds pens. My second favorite thing on this list is the rolling foot massager. I just love this because my feet get tingly when I’ve been sitting for a long time. The rolling massage plus heat makes for a relaxing, spa experience right from your home office!

1 – iTunes Gift Card
Every work from home parent needs a plethora of music choices at their disposal. Sometimes we need music that gives us energy and sometimes we need music that calms us down.

2 – Rolling Foot Massager with Infrared Heat – $139

3 – HP Smartphone and Tablet Wireless Inkjet Printer w/ Your Choice of Tablet + Bonus 8GB USB Flash Drive Value Bundle – $122

4 – Big Head Memo Pad – $25

5 – Cork Planters – $50

Gift Guide: 5 Unique and Useful Gifts For Teen Girls

November 26, 20132013 Holiday Gift Guide, Giftsholiday gift guide, Teen Girl GiftsAlicia

My daughter is not a teenager but from what I remember, teen girls, want fun and unique gifts for Christmas and other holidays for that matter. A subscription to Highlights magazine and new clothes for her favorite doll (from when she was 7) aren’t going to cut it now that she’s 13 or older, right?

Considering what I was into when I was a teenager, I sought out 5 fun and unique gifts that I think your teenage daughter might enjoy getting for Christmas! I wish I thought of keeping the ticket stubs from the concerts I went to as a teenager. Four concerts I went to when I was a teenager were Sinead O’Connor, Cocteau Twins, Sarah McLachlan, and The Prodigy. How I wish I had those stubs and photos from the concerts. Or not.. actually. What concerts did you go to as a teen?

Moving on.. teenage girls spend a lot of time on their iPhones listening to music, texting, and playing games (all at the same time). What cooler way to listen to music than through crocheted headphones? How cute are these (#2)? I could have used a white board magnet board like #4 below, but in all reality, I probably wouldn’t have used it because I was under the impression that I could remember things. Right.

Here is a list of 5 gifts that I think would be a lot of fun and useful for a teenage girl.

1 – Animal Socks – $27
Take a walk on the wild side with graphic sets of colorful socks nipping at your ankles to keep you warm. Sold in a set of three.

2 – Crocheted Headphones – $38
Warm up to new music with these charming, nubby headphones. Handmade by artist Traci Medeiros-Bagan, its sweet design recalls vintage crochet with a modern twist: beneath its yarn are high-tech headphones ready to plug into your on-the-go playlist.

3 – Ticket Stub Diary – $12
Your daughter will never forget those front row seats at her first concert or her first movie with her friends. With this Ticket Stub Diary your daughter can preserve your precious memories from concerts, museums, movies, and more. This book comes with clear sleeves that fit a variety of ticket sizes, plus space in the margin to write down your memories from the event.

4 – Cloud Magnet Board – $25
Bid farewell to scattered post-it notes and forgotten trains of thought. Daily to-do lists, invitations, and treasured photos will be front-and-center on this magnetic message board, fashioned from cold rolled steel and cut in the shape of a whimsical cloud. Write your last-minute ideas right on the board (marker rubs right away so you can start fresh when you please) and watch your genius takes shape. All it took was a little organization! Made in China.

5 – Blue Bird Clutch – $32
This light-hearted clutch will bring a fresh flight of fancy to your look. Handcrafted by artisans in Nepal, it’s felted from 100% natural sheep’s wool. The zippered closure and handy strap make this bag a perfect little nest for your necessities when you’re on the wing.

I LOVE the Personalized Christmas Card I Created On Cardstore.com!

November 20, 2013Gifts, Holidaycards, Cardstore.com, christmas, HolidayAlicia

What’s on your to-do list today? Here is mine ->

If you’re wondering what my to-do list writing strategy is, I don’t have one. 🙂

As you can see at the bottom of my to-do list, I want to take photos of the kids for Christmas cards. I was left inspired and motivated after creating a customized Christmas card on Cardstore.com yesterday.

In 2011 and 2013 I mailed Christmas cards to family. Great job, I think to myself – better than the other 12 years since I’ve had kids when I didn’t mail Christmas cards out.. but they weren’t the cards I wanted or visioned. I visioned a Christmas card with a gorgeous photo of the kids ON the front of the card with an inspiring holiday message of love and well wishes for our friends and family overlaying or above or below the message. Instead I sent out standard stock holiday cards with a photos of the kids inside it. Boring.

I am so grateful that I have Cardstore.com to turn to this year. Cardstore.com allows users to choose from hundreds of gorgeous holiday card designs and customize the card with a photograph and text of their choice.

The great thing about creating a customized card where you embed a photograph ON it through a website like Cardstore.com is that their designs make any photograph look good. Yes, that awkward photograph of your three kids, one with a clump of flyaway hair, one with cross-eyes, and one who isn’t smiling at all, will look good ON a Christmas card.

Here is the 1st Christmas card I created on Cardstore.com

It is very easy to create a personalized card on Cardstore.com.

To create a customized holiday card on Cardstore.com simply follow these steps:

Go to cardstore.com
Click on ‘Christmas’ in the top left
Click on photo cards in the drop down menu that appears
Choose to refine your search (select how many photos you’d like on your card, background color, etc)
Click the ‘make your card’ button to the right of the card you’d like to customize
When your card design opens, click on Your Photo Here with the + symbol
Choose how you’d like to upload your photo
(Initial options are: your device, Facebook, Dropbox, Instagram, and Flickr but if you click “see all options” you’ll see these options: Picasa, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, and Evernote!)
Browse your selected choice and click on the photo you’d like to upload
Once you click the photo, you will need to double-click it to add it to your card
Click the pink ‘done’ button
To change the default text on your card design, click directly on the text. A text box will appear allowing you to change the text verbiage, font, color, and size.
Click Save at the top of the page when you are finished customizing your card and follow the steps as prompted.

The process of finding and customizing my Christmas card on Cardstore.com took about 10 minutes.

I had so much fun playing around with designs on Cardstore.com and already have card ideas in mind for other holidays!

I am going to create another custom card on Cardstore.com once I get a good photograph of the kids. Wish me luck! I’ll be searching Google for “how to take holiday photographs of kids” later today. 🙂

Cardstore.com stands out because of its clean, beautiful site and its ease of use and who doesn’t love pretty cards?

Cardstore.com can be a busy parent’s best friend year round! Imagine the cards you can create for:

birthdays
Mother’s Day
Father’s Day
anniversaries
and for your child’s teachers!

Create your own personalized holiday cards at http://po.st/PersonalizeYourCard today! From November 21st – 26th Cardstore is offering 30% off holiday cards!

Here’s a tip from one parent to another:
Don’t worry about having the perfect photo for your Christmas cards!
Your friends and family are going to love your Christmas card no matter what! Enjoy a few minutes on Cardstore.com and you’ll see that even the most imperfect photos make for a great Christmas card!

3 Spooky SIGG Water Bottles For Trick-or-Treating and Beyond!

October 29, 2013Giftshalloween, SIGG, water bottleAlicia

We love SIGG bottles. Between everyday use, sports practices and games, camping trips, road trips, and special occasions like Halloween, we use SIGG bottles almost every day.

We were packing up for our trip to the pumpkin patch today and Madelyn couldn’t leave without her new GLO Monster Sigg bottle!

Did you know that SIGG’s aluminum bottles come in various designs and sizes?

I am a fan of my plain large pink SIGG bottle, my husband has a large black SIGG bottle, and my son has an old SIGG bottle that has ninjas all over it. My daughter has a few favorites of her own. She got the Little Witch SIGG bottle last year and this year she got the GLO Monster bottle. Her newest SIGG bottle is the GLO Monster Lime bottle which she can add her own monsters to the monster world on the bottle. The print, along with the kids bottle cap glow in the dark.
The 0.4-liter SIGG Monster GLO aluminum water bottle has a highly resistant lining, making it almost unbreakable!

The flip top on SIGG’s kids bottle prevents them from leaking and is easy to open for little hands to flip open. I can’t tell you how many times the kids have had water bottles with a twist top leak in my car because the twist top didn’t have a cover. The twist is fabulous but even better when it has a cover.

The GLO Monster Lime SIGG bottle’s flip top even glows!

SIGG offers kids BPA and Phthalate free reusable water bottles making taking water to school, sporting events, and yes.. trick-or-treating, fun and safe! SIGG bottles are ecologically sound, reusable and ultimately easily recycled.

What we love about SIGG kid’s water bottles:

Flip-top – prevents leaking and easy to open
BPA and Phthalate free
Washable
Bright, colorful designs
Some have glow tops!
Regular ice cubes from our dispenser fit the opening
Twist top locks to water/drink does not come out

Madelyn’s Favorite SIGG Water Bottles

SIGG water bottles for kids range from price, starting at $20.99. You’ll find lots of other festive, cute, and spooky water bottles in the kid’s area on the SIGG website.