“This is your life, mother”

 A great idea for this mother’s day is a scrapbook depicting your mother’s life up until this point. It’s like a chronological tour of her life ’til now. The hardest part of this book will be finding all the pictures and keepsakes you will need, but you still have about 2 weeks to gather everything you need from aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and close friends.

Here is a list of basic items to get you started (these can be personalized according to your mom’s taste):

• a scrapbooking kit (any craft/hobby store should have one)
• Mother’s day embellishments, stickers, rub-ons
• Memory and Date embellishments, stickers, embossing
• Personal pictures (from her childhood to current) school photos, high school prom, graduation, wedding, following baby’s birth, vacation pictures
• Mom’s favorite and best recipes
• Mom’s accomplishments
• Poem for first page that describes what your mother means to you
• Her ambitions from when she was young (“I want to grow up to be”) and then what she became
• Past cards from husband and kids (mother’s day, birthday cards, valentine’s, etc.)
• Personal notes to mom from family members, friends and you
• What your mom means to you page

The book should start from the earliest information you can gather to today. The setup of the pages will be left up to you, I use a similar setup as pictured above. The page arrangement in the book will depend greatly on how much and what information you have on each item in her life. This is a great site to get ideas on different layouts for your pages. This will be such a special from-the-heart gift, it is sure to be treasured and showed off over the years. Another cool thing to do, is every mother’s day from this point on, you could incorporate more parts of the book; displaying such items from the previous as vacations, special moments (births), valentine’s and Christmas. Once your book is complete, wrap it in your favorite Mother’s day paper and wait for the tears .

—-image belongs to www.cluttercontrolfreak.com

Bypass the humdrum bridal shower gifts of blenders and nightgowns and give a getaway for two. Now wait, don’t roll your eyes and ask if I think your last name is Trump. I’m talking about a virtual getaway. There are times a married couple would love to go off for a weekend, but can’t because of various reasons. That’s where your gift comes in.

A beach themed gift basket would be a great gift for any new or established couple so file this away for anniversaries as well. And for people with kids – it can be nearly impossible to getaway when you have munchkins. This is an easy craft for everyone, even the most non-crafty gifter.

• Buy a beachy themed container to hold all of your items. This could be a great tin pail, brightly colored bucket or a cute lined picnic basket, etc.
• Line the container with a colorful piece of fabric or a beach towel.
• Throw in some crinkle shredded paper or tissue paper.
• Pile in tropical candles, a bottle of gourmet lemonade (or wine), cheese, crackers, massage oil, wine glasses, an “ocean sounds” CD or a beach scene DVD, a small souvenir bottle of sand, a couple of seashells and anything else that screams fun in the sun.
• Be sure to secure items in the basket so they don’t jostle around while you transport them. A little tape goes a long way. And if tape or glue will ruin an item, try securing items with pieces of twine to add to the rustic look or use small gauge wire for an invisible look. Whatever you do, don’t make the items hard to get out. Nothing ruins an evening like fighting with packaging!

The majority of these items you can find at your local discount stores or if you really want to get fancy go to your local home decor stores or online.

photo credit: The Best Caribbean Beaches/Waves: Virtual Vacations

This post has been mentioned on MSN MoneyBlog – Smart Spending.

photo courtesy of Party Boutique

Gel candles can be a beautiful and surprisingly easy gift to make. The good thing about making your own gel candles is that you can personalize it as much as you want. The more personalized a gift is, the more meaning it has to the receiver. I like to always add a great fragranced essential oil, it’s always good to see and smell a candle. It is quite simple to make gel candles just make sure all your items are non-flammable, wish someone would have told me that my first time making one. These are the needed items:

• candle gel
• stainless steel pot
• zinc wicks
• thermometer
• Liquid candle dye
• essential oil (specially for gel candles)
• Embeds (things you want in the candle)
• glass container
• glue

*easiest way is to buy a candle making kit

Now you’re ready to make your candle. First things first, place hot glue in the center bottom of the glass container. Cut the gel in small pieces so that it can melt evenly. Place cut gel into steel pot on medium heat. Now this is a critical part, make sure the temperature is 200 degrees (use your thermometer). Maintain this temperature until the gel is completely melted. It will have the appearance of syrup. Now add your dye, start with a little and add until it is your desired color. If you are adding embeds, remember to keep the candle mostly transparent.

Almost finished! After you have your desired color, add in your essential oil. Use 1 tablespoon per two cups of gel. Get the glass container with wick in it and heat in microwave until about 150-160 degrees. This will make the gel pour in smoothly eliminating any bubbles. But before you pour in the gel, if you want embeds add them now. Dip the embeds into the hot gel (be careful not to burn yourself!) and arrange them in the container. Now, just slowly pour in your gel. Pull up the wick, let cool, and Voila’…you’re done. You now have a beautiful hand crafted gift.

Oh boy, you’re that parent. The one who bought a book for the birthday party. The other parents look at you in sympathy, wondering how you could have made such a rookie mistake. They all dutifully bought Princess Sparkle Head or Kung Fu Superhero or the latest and greatest educational toy.

Right after the parents of the birthday kid soothingly thank you for thinking of their child’s literary future and before the birthday kid tosses your gift onto the pile with the socks from Grandma and the undies from Auntie Mo, the kid realizes the book is all about them!

Score!

Personalized storybooks with the child’s favorite characters has just put you at the top of the gift heap. MyChildBook.Com offers books with all sorts of subjects, adventures and characters designed around that one special child.

So instead of just reading about the Disney Princesses’ adventures or Nemo’s latest hijinks, they can join in the adventures! How cool is that?

Some of the titles available include: Batman, Marvel Comics characters, Sesame Street, Scooby-Do, Veggie Tales, God Loves Me, Kwanzaa Best and My Adventures in Birthday Land.

For those who are looking to create a bigger impact, create a gift basket with the child’s personalized book and expand on the theme. Include personalized pencils, other stationary and a craft. A few fabric paints and a tote bag or ball cap can provide a really fun activity. This gift idea is especially cool for kids whose names are unusual or have a unique spelling.

Just be sure to order the items ahead of time, adding a moniker can often add days to a gift order.

Image belongs to: mychildbook.com

 I have not seen a more perfect “just because” gift. This is great for the Stay at Home Mom who needs a break or the Full Time Working Mom. The DuWop Eye Gels by Soft Surroundings are sure to be a sought after item, once she receives them. These gel eye patches will help fine lines and eye puffiness. Just what a girl needs ! They come in blue (for puffiness) or lavender (for fine lines). I would want both, you can never be too prepared. Each color comes in a set of 3, pretty good bargain for the price. 

     What’s great about these is that they are self applying. You don’t have to tie anything around your head or try to balance an eye bag across your face. Just keep them refrigerated and anytime you need them, pull them out, apply, and sit back and relax for about 10 minutes. It states you should be able to get 2 or 3 uses out of each set. It’s so nice that they are reusable. Clean, refrigerate and reuse, sweet! The gels are infused with a blend of essential oils to offer you aromatherapy while you relax. It has to feel heavenly having the chilled Igels on your eyes, I definitely will have to get a pair.

Price: $25.95

Image belongs to www.softsurroundings.com

This post was submitted by one of our Guest Contributors: Cindy Magee. You can read her blog at http://mageebaby.blogspot.com  

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Mother’s Day is coming soon – May 11th in fact! It can be tough to figure out what token of affection to bestow upon my two mom’s each year to celebrate and show appreciation for all their love. So last month, when I got a small catalog in the mail from Spring Hill Nurseries I was delighted and relieved! Whew! Flowers to the rescue!

The mailing included several flyers highlighting different varieties of plants as part of the One Cent Sale. Sorry folks, they aren’t giving them away but almost. For example, purchase one Crazy Daisy plant for $6.99 and get one more for just one cent! This particular plant is shipped in a 3” pot so if playing in the dirt isn’t Mom’s thing, then just purchase a pretty container at a local gardening center, plant your flower of choice, and fancy it up with a big bow. Voila – a beautiful lasting gift for Mom at an affordable price!

Gardeners everywhere are starting to salivate. At least, I was when I started flipping through all the different choices available in the One Cent Sale. My top picks are the Crazy Daisy, Sensation Lilacs, Matsukaze Toad Lily, Tenor Tall Phlox or the Golden Marguerite Daisy. I’m daydreaming about planting all of these in my yard… who needs a lawn, or a house for that matter, bring on the flowers!!!

Now the only difficult part is picking out just the right flower for each of my Mom’s. They are both very unique women with distinct taste. For my husband’s Mom I’m thinking the Golden Marguerite Daisy. They are lemon yellow blossoms and look like sun impersonators on tall green sticks. For my Mom, maybe the fluffy looking Crazy Daisy which is sure to put a smile on anyone’s face! I can picture Mom working in her flowerbeds and plucking off one of the blossoms to put behind her ear for décor.

One thing generally all women share in common is a love of receiving flowers. It’s like we are reminded of spring when the buds start to appear, that winter is over and it’s time in life to enjoy the sunshine again. To give your Mom a little bit of sunshine, visit http://springhillnursery.com  and for the One Cent Sale click on http://springhillnursery.com/search.asp?ss=one+cent+sale .

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About our Guest Contributor: Cindy Magee is an artist and a soon to be stay at home mom. Her blog can be viewed at http://mageebaby.blogspot.com  and her artwork can be seen at http://clou.websiteanimal.com

If you are like me, you love to do creative things and give them as gifts. I consider myself artsy and I have made this Beta Plant craft as gifts for many of my friends, who all loved it. It is so simple to do, and inexpensive. The items you are going to need are: 1 beta fish, a clear glass vase, a plastic cup or saucer (can be purchased at most garden stores), small decorative rocks or glass, a plant, beta food (tropical fish food) and 1 gallon of drinking water. The plant you choose can be peace lily, photos, or philodendrons.

     1st thing you do is choose a beta fish, I like to pick out the color of fish I want so I can match it with my plants and rocks. Once you get home with all your supplies, you need to clean the vase and rocks in water. You also need to clean the plant and the roots, you can do this with a water hose outside or in the sink once you have knocked off all excess dirt. After this is done, you will most likely have to split the plant into pieces to ensure a proper fit into the vase. So you could make more with the remaining halves of the plant, if you wanted.

     Now all the cleaning is done, here comes the fun part. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the saucer. You need the hole big enough for the roots to fit through and still allow air into the bottom. Now place the roots through the hole in the saucer and place saucer into the neck of the vase to make sure it fits properly. If needed, for personal preference, you can trim the roots to make them look neater.

     Carefully, remove the saucer with plant so you can finish up. Add about an inch and a half of rocks or glass to the bottom of the vase. Make sure your water is room temperature and add it to the vase, leave about an inch below the neck of the vase to provide air for the fish. Yes, beta’s are air breathers…imagine, that .

     Gently pour the fish into the vase filled with water. I always give him some food now, just to keep him happy and calm from the move. You should only have to feed him once a week. Now, place the saucer with plant back into the neck of the vase. Check to make sure everything looks fine and there is enough room for the beta to swim around with the roots.

     If you are happy with the way it all looks, add some rocks to the saucer to help keep the saucer and plant in place, and to make it look prettier . Leave room for a small straw to poke through lid, to allow for feeding the beta. Now you are all done. Add ribbons or bows around the neck of the vase and you have your gift!

–image belongs to  www.prettypetalsplus.com

How many times have you received gifts that you didn’t really like? I bet there were quite a few…

 Almost three weeks ago I started a discussion on BlogCatalog on this subject. The question I asked was quite simple: what do you do with gifts you don’t like?

Some of the answers I was kind of expecting, some others took me by surprise. Here are a few suggestions that I received (in no order whatsoever):

• - regift ( wait till someone’s birthday comes up and give it to them)
• - “white elephant” gift exchange ( which is a party game played during Christmas season; the participants are supposed to bring one gift that they received but they don’t like and they all leave with another one. An approximate value or type of gift is usually decided ahead: “under $10” or “Christmas ornaments under $15” or something like that)
• - Sell them on Ebay (have you noticed how many gifts are on Ebay after Christmas?!)
• - Church rummage sale
• - Garage sale
• - Neighborhood sale
• - Donate them (as a tax write-off or just for a good cause: Goodwill)
• - potluck clothes swap parties
• - return them to the store (if you have the receipt, that is)
• - just keep them in the closet and try to find a use of them…
• - give them to a Toy drive on National AIDS Day (this was an interesting one!)
• - keep them for sentimental value…

Do you have any other ideas? Leave us a comment!

Note: I would like to say THANK YOU to all those who participated to my discussion on BlogCatalog.

Image by: mmagallan

Navy Golf Pen Set by Things Remembered

 The perfect gift for golf lovers! This golf pen set comes in many colors and combinations of colors: black, green, navy and red, navy and green, navy and cream. They all have beautiful silver accents with a matte finish. Each set contains a ballpoint pen, mechanical pencil and letter opener. On the front of the golf bag there is room for personalization (which is not included in the listing price but available as an option).

More details:

• the pen has black ink
• the pencil has a shiny chrome and matte nickel finish in the shape of a golf club 
• the letter opener has the same chrome and matter nickel finish just like the pencil but in the shape of a golf tee.
• the bag has a zipper, strap and shiny engraving plate

Listing price: $35

Today ON SALE for $29.99

 Even if the golfer in your life is in the office the whole day working, it doesn’t mean that he/she has to stay away from their hobby!

For some crazy reason, men seem to love hot sauce; the hotter the better in most cases. It might just be a man thing, but if the mouth isn’t on fire and they aren’t sweating then it isn’t hot enough. Men are also some of the hardest people to shop for. That is why the Hot Sauce of the Month Club exists. You can buy the man in your life a subscription to the club. Each month you are guaranteed two different sauces. Each bottle is a full size of 5-8 ounces, enough for many different servings.  Your man will be thankful for the opportunity to try each new exciting variety every month. This may be a gift he actually likes and will use! 

Subscription costs depend on the length and there are several options to choose from:

• One month – $19.95
• Three month – $56.85 ($18.95/month)
• Six month – $107.70 ($17.95/month)
• Twelve month – $203.40 (16.95/month)
• The subscription options can also include a seasonal one that is shipped once every three months depending on product.

If your man is not a hot sauce fan, there are other clubs at www.amazingclubs.com that he just might appreciate. Check out the BBQ Sauce, Beer Club, Steak and more. Each shipment is packaged well to ensure it arrives at the recipient’s home undamaged and ready for use. The best part is that shipping is FREE!  Your man will thank you with each shipment for your thoughtfulness and you might actually get him to cook a few great meals for you too! So really, this is a gift that benefits everyone.  This might just be a gift your man actually uses.

-image by: stevekrh19