CollageIt Pro Review and Giveaway

     Continuing on from where we left off earlier about personalized gifts...

     During the holidays, my mind also heads straight to photo gifts.  I wonder what I can add a photo to this year that will make just the perfect and personal gift.  Earlier today at the store, my daughter and I came across some clear plastic ornaments for cheap and thought maybe we would do something like this for Christmas this year.  We may very well still do that, but a much easier personal photo gift option has just presented itself.
     Collages.

     Why not?  They sell collage frames like crazy around the holidays, but why buy a more expensive collage frame when you could just make the collage and put it in a regular frame?  It's a great way to cut down spending and family will love it.

     I was directed to the CollageIt Pro collage making software this week and I've been toying around with it a little bit.  It is an absolutely free program that you can download online with the option at anytime to upgrade for $19.90.  It lets you choose how many pictures you want, what color border they get (if any), the thickness of the border and if you want  shadow.  It allows you to add which picture you want in which spot and what color you want the background, with gradient options available.
     If you choose to upgrade, you can choose custom paper sizes, upload straight to social media websites or save without the CollageIt Pro watermark and also to crop photos to fit better in the given spaces.  You can also create over-sized collages with an upgrade.

     What I liked working with best were the collage settings.  I liked adding and taking away photos, making them closer and further apart, more and less tilted.  It gave me several options for the same settings, all I had to do was just tap on the slider without making it budge at all and a new layout option appeared for me.
     CollageIt Pro is certainly a good idea when thinking about last minute or budget friendly gifts this holiday season.  Heck, it's a good idea even if those things aren't a concern to you!  It is a great program for professional photographers and amateur alike any time of year.

      But since it is almost Thanksgiving, my personal favorite holiday (though VERY closely tied with Christmas), we are going to have ourselves a giveaway.  The wonderful people at CollageIt Pro have asked us to find 20 people that would like to try an UPDRADED version of the software WITH lifetime support!  How awesome is that?  Just in time to get cracking on those holiday gifts we were talking about.  So here is how it's gonna go, you know the drill... just fill in the Rafflecopter (I've dded a few extra entry options for more chances) and cross your fingers :)
     Contest ends on Black Friday, so don't waste time!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Mungi Bands Review

     The girls seem to always be trading their toys for the day in exchange for favors or just for fun.  I am always hearing "go get me my notebook and marker in the living room and you can have my white horse for the day," or something similar.  So when I saw Mungi Bands, I knew the girls would love them.
     They are the newest social networking tool for kids to connect and interact with each other.  They are made of silicone and each package contains three coordinating designs meant to express a child's mood or interests.

     We were sent three packages in the mail.  We got the 70's set, 50's Pink set, and the Mustache set.  The packages were super easy to open and I didn't have to fight to get the bands out.  In fact, I could have played with them to my heart's content and then repackaged them easily without anyone ever knowing ;)

      I was pleasantly surprised to find that the magnet closure was stronger than I thought, these will definitely stay together, but it was also not overly strong, making it easy for kids to use.   The size was good.  One band creates an earring, nose ring or a jumbo finger ring.   Two bands are big enough to create a bracelet or possibly an anklet (two worked as an anklet for all of the girls aged 2-8.  Three bands can be used to create a choker style necklace.

     The Oldest was very creative with her uses of the Mungi Bands.  Punky used hers on the brass rivets on my trunk to make letters and form words.  Streaker was content to use them as earrings and Baby Bee liked to use them as just bracelets.

     Mungi Bands are another parent-invented product inspired by the creator's three daughters.  Chad Anger bought many packages of shaped bracelets for his girls only to realize that you couldn't see what they were without taking the bracelets off and setting them on a surface.  He wanted a way for his girls to express themselves without having to take them off and he still wanted them to be a trading piece and also be collectible.  He wanted something that would express what the girls were feeling or into and so Mungi Bands were made.

     Mungi bands would make a great stocking stuffer for girls and boys, with options like sports, music and phrases among others.  They come in a variety of colors and two sizes.  We got small and it was just right for the girls.  They sell for $6.99 and are available in several stores on the East Coast and also online at Mungibands.com.



Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Winner Announced!

     Congrats goes out to Chavonne Harvey, winner of the softcover personalized children's book by Champion Me Books!  Enjoy!

Please don't forget that we are currently offering three other giveaways:
Stove in a Can - Perfect holiday gift for the survivalist or camping enthusiast in your life, ends 11/14
The I Like Book - Take time to appreciate those around you as well as yourself, ends 11/16
My Own Story - 2 free stories to help children through life changes (5 winners), ends 11/20

More coming soon.  Great way to prepare for the holiday season!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways Free Blogger Opp!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways Free Blogger Opp!

Welcome to the “12 Days of Christmas Giveaways 2012”!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways 2012 is hosted by A Spicy Boy, A Cat, and My Fat Ass. This is the third year that this event is running, and with each passing year it just gets bigger and bigger! This is a fun holiday event that can be joined in by many bloggers in a couple different ways. Create a post promoting this event and get a free Facebook or Twitter link!

How the event works...

It runs from December 1st to the 20th. All reviews/giveaways get listed between the 1st to the 12th, so there's fun giveaways every day being launched. The greater value items and gift certificates get listed closer to the end of the 12 days, with each day getting better. Sounds like fun doesn't it? A nice spin off of the famous 12 Day's of Christmas book.


The MAIN Giveaway event will happen on A Spicy Boy, A Cat, and My Fat Ass, and contains over 30 total giveaways. If you wish to join in and host your own giveaway (only one is needed) for the event, you’re gladly welcome to join in. If you do so, you will get a free Facebook and Twitter link under my Rafflecopter for every giveaway. You will also be added to a Linky that will get posted on every giveaway, even other bloggers joining in this portion. (An announcement blog post for the event is still required for this option.)

For those of you who don’t wish to find your own sponsors for a giveaway... don’t worry, you can join in still...

Free Option –
To be eligible for this option you need to create a blog post announcing sign-ups for 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways 2012, and submit your link (in the document below). When filling out the sign-up form, let me know you posted and shared the link to your post. This option will get you your first link free. If you choose the free option you can still purchase other options.

Other Options –

• $5.00 – for Facebook and Twitter Link (For those that don’t want to post an announcement post, or people without a website/blog). 
• $2.00 – for Each additional Link (up to 3.) 
• Host pages are $10.00 (Pages that Twitter, Facebook, etc. will be placed on.) 
• Co Host spots are $25.00: Co Host spot includes link back to your blog, 5 links and a host page. 
• All bloggers that pay for their links will be moved up on the Rafflecopter!

Payments should be sent via PayPal to kimmie_1980@hotmail.com

There is a Facebook setup group to help keep everyone updated and connected on what’s going on. Feel free to request access: https://www.facebook.com/groups/452968988086618/

There will be a limit of 100 bloggers, so make sure to act fast! You can find the sign up form here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHZ1SkVZeHcyVGJOcHNad3lTYTQyckE6MQ#gid=0

My Own Story Review and Giveaway

     With Christmas coming, my mind once again wanders to personalized gifts.  I don't know why I associate Christmas with personalization.  Maybe it is because it is the one time a year when gifts are thrown at the girls so fast that I often have NO IDEA whose is whose.  Maybe it is because Christmas is that time of year when so many people get gifts that it is nice sometimes to put that personal touch on things.  I don't know what exactly it is, but I always look for personalized gifts around Christmas time.
     This year in my search, I came across a few sites for personalized children's stories.  Each offered something different.  One of them, My Own Story, offered lots of stories to help children through tough and sometimes scary situations as well as traditional or fun times too.

     The illustrations are what drew me into these books.  The black and white drawings with just a hint of red and blue, it's very striking and I love it's uniqueness.
     I thought I would try out all the stories that fit into our family, including the Christmas story (illustrated above), the Mommy's having a baby story and the trying new foods stories.   Those were just a few of them.  Each had blank spaces to fill in so that I could create the book around my family and my children.  I was able to make the main character excited to have gingerbread cookies and to visit with Auntie Cricket on Christmas.  She was also able to share her Christmas Eve tradition of visiting Grandpa Jim to share gifts.  The book made the story really speak to her.

     Above is an illustration from the book about trying new foods.  I notice going into Preschool to pick up Streaker that she rarely tries a new food.  She did try potato soup, which made me happy, but would not try squash or asparagus, etc.  I do hope that the book about new foods helps her to see that it all is just food and no bad taste will physically harm her.  She has nothing to be worried about when trying a new veggie.
     The books are great for kids because they engage them.  The child sees that their relatives and experiences are right there on the page and it helps them stay interested and captivated.  It is their own story, so it is easier to remember, which makes reading fun and easy.
     My Own story was founded by a mom of three after searching to no avail for personalized books to teach her own children.  They are written with help from teachers, doctors, and other experts that make the books as realistic and accurate as possible. 

     After checking out a good many books from the site, the only two things I would improve upon in this series is that there seemed to be no dark skin option (though I am sure it will be coming soon).  Also some small details in the book were not accurate to our family and I did not see those details until after ordering and getting the chance to see the rest of the book.  Such details for example are that the child ran downstairs to see Santa's gifts in the morning.  However, we live in a single story home and so my child does not have a downstairs.  Also that I sometimes pack special treats in their lunchboxes, when my children receive school lunch and do not use a lunch box. 
     Still, these small skewed details do not take from the books the fact that they are most definitely far more personal and relatable to the child than some random Christmas story snagged off a shelf somewhere.  They offer personal details and memories that no store bought book ever could and small glitches in the storyline are not enough to tear me from that fact.

     I think My Own Story is a great resource for parents trying to explain divorce, hospitalization, or military absence as well as also helping them recognize all of Mommy or Daddy's wonderful attributes or the joy in their first day of school.  My girls really enjoyed helping fill in the blanks of their own stories and will love reading them when we print and laminate them to be read for years to come.
     Wanna snag a few books of your own?  My Own Story is giving away 2 free books each to 5 winners.  It's super easy, just use the Rafflecopter below and good luck!
     I love the books and I love the purpose behind them.  I can not wait to see what other stories and options come in the future.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Tenzi Review

     For the first time in our family's history, the kids have kept our family games together and in their boxes for many weeks at a time.  It is a miracle, an honest to goodness miracle.  So in honor of such a miracle, I went searching for a new family game.  It had to be something that 4 or 5 players could play (we usually humor Baby Bee with her own playing piece) and something fun.

     While searching, I came across Tenzi.  At first, I thought it sounded like some ethnic game from another country and was intrigued.  Then I realized that the name comes from 'Ten' and 'Frenzy'.  The whole goal of the game is to see who can get their ten dice to all be the same number before anyone else.  I was thrilled that it was a game so easy to understand because my kids are still very young.

     When Tenzi came in the mail, it came in a tube (I love mailing tubes!)  My kids had to earn the game, they did so by cleaning the kitchen so we could play.  They were more than happy to accommodate for the chance to open a new family game, especially a dice game.  And so we opened it and read the basic rules and were playing in less than a minute.  The girls LOVED it!  After about ten rounds of regular Tenzi, we tried the alternate game rules that came for spicing it up.  We did Splitzi and Tenzi Tower and even Splitzi Tower.  We did  Mega Tenzi and Target Tenzi too.  We didn't dare try Stealzi because we have problems with sibling rivalry, but with adults I think it would be super fun.

     For The Streaker, we did offer an optional handicap because her hands were small.  We decided that six matching dice were sufficient and Tenzi is so flexible that you can do pretty much anything you want and still have tons of fun.

     Here is The Streaker concentrating hard and making sure to make her line nice and straight (another reason we gave her an optional handicap).  And above is The Big One celebrating her victory.  I'm definitely glad that we have Tenzi.  I actually worried that it wouldn't be exciting enough to keep their attention, but it's been a week since we have started playing it and they ask every day to take it out and play some more.
     Tenzi is definitely a great addition to our growing family games collection.  What games do you recommend?

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Levenger Product Review

     iPads seem to be all the rage this year.  I see them everywhere, from soccer practice, to hospital waiting rooms, to the church kids' club!  I watch in envy as they show off family pictures and video features.  I wonder how it is that something so thin and small can have such amazing pictures.  My daughter, who is all of eight years old tells me she wants one for Christmas *faint*  I told her I would see what I could do to get one as long as the whole family can share.

     But I won't even consider one unless it has a good protective case to go with it.  Luckily, I was pointed in the right direction.  By chance, an e-mail suggested I check out Levenger.com.  So I went and took a look.  The very instant the iPad case page loaded, my eyes were fixed on a beautiful sleeve, and reading further in the description only made me love it more.

     First of all, it is just lovely.  It's got a very green and Earth-friendly feel to it.  It has the adorable button closure an homey quilted aspect.  But it's what's behind the sleeve that really makes it awesome.
     These sleeves are made by women in Haiti, through the Haiti PeaceQuilts organization.  The PeaceQuilt group has been helping women in Haiti quilt their way to rebuilding themselves.  They have accepted fabric scrap donations from women all through the United States and they quilt various products with those scraps such as these awesome sleeves to sell and earn money to help Haiti beat poverty.

     Not only that, but with every PeaceQuilts iPad sleeve bought, Levenger will donate to Libraries Without Borders, a non-profit organization helping to create and restore libraries in Haiti.  What an great thing to be a part of!  I just love when companies step up and make a difference, and Levenger is doing just that.

     Of course, if it more suits your fancy, there are also more subtle, manly options on their site as well :)  How do you keep your portable electronics protected?

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

The I Like Book Giveaway

     The I Like Book is such a great idea, a book for us to share with each other what it is that we like about our spouse or our child or even ourselves.  This would make a great gift for Christmas or anytime for someone in your life that you truly appreciate.

     I Like Books is graciously offering one of my readers a chance to win one of these awesome books for themselves.  Winner chooses between the I Like Books for Women, Kids, or Couples.  Don't delay, contest ends in two weeks!

      Just use the easy peasy Rafflecopter below to be entered to win!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1800Lighting Product Review

     We've lived here a few years now and the house has definitely been lived in.  We haven't gotten to the point yet where we have made each room the way we want it, and some trim remains undone.  But that will all come in time.  However, there is one thing I do want fixed and have been wanting it fixed for a while, and that is our ceiling light covers.  Most are new and beautiful, but a few have not been changed since we moved in (and trust me, that is NOT good).  There are 3 in all, like the dining room because we just never use that room, and the bathroom for who knows what reason... then there is The Big One's room.  A few years ago for her birthday, we decided to completely redo her room.  I painted relentlessly and somehow managed to keep it secret and it came out awesome, but there was that one eye sore up on the ceiling that never was done up, it's really bumming me out.  See what I mean?

     To be rid of those three lights would really just make my year.  So I started looking around on the interwebs to see what I could find for lighting options and one site really stood out.  I kept seeing it over and over in my searches.  It's 1800lighting.com, also known as Capitol Lighting, and it has TONS of lighting options.  Honestly, one of the main things I look for when shopping is pricing because quite frankly, with almost five kids, I HAVE to.  I was pleased to see that although lighting options ran into the thousands for the really elegant chandeliers and such, they also had more economically priced and family-friendly options as low as $5 and even under!  I am so excited to find a store with such cheap options, I didn't think I could find cute lighting in my budget.

     This happens to be the one I am hanging in my daughter's room:

     She's gonna love it!  That particular light is $57.90, and free shipping because it's over $49.  She's getting it for Christmas and yes, I realize it is unconventional.  But she will be THRILLED to open it, trust me.  It has a weathered brick finish, which I don't think I have ever heard of before, so it will be kind of unique.  There were lots of other ceiling lights that were in my price range that I loved as well, like this one and this one.  It was hard to choose with so many different kinds of lights.  There are ceiling fans, flush mounts, semi-flush mounts, recessed lighting, track lighting, and chandeliers just for the inside.  that wasn't even all the inside categories!  Some of the outside lighting looked tempting too, but I figured I had better stick to what I know, which is that indoor lighting is best for indoors :)  But there sure were a lot of outdoor kinds to choose from.

     I'm definitely looking back into Capitol Lighting for when we redo the dining room.  I want a cute pendant style over the table.  I think I've already picked the one I want, along with a couple accent pieces.  Where is your favorite place to shop for lighting?

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.