Smart Solutions for Busy Moms!
It can be hard to pick out the perfect gifts during the holidays. Seriously – whether you’re staring down the crazy-full aisles of toys in the store, or trying to find your way through the overwhelming selection on huge online stores, there are so many choices it can make your head spin. Which is why I’m here to share another of my fave holiday toy picks with you guys.
What does the holiday season mean to you? For me – and probably most of you – it’s all about friends and family, and celebrating. We love to entertain, and nothing makes me happier than having all of my favorite people together in one place – filling the house with good food, lots of laughter, and creating great memories. I get so excited to shop for presents to make the kid’s faces light up on Christmas morning. I love to make handmade gifts and cards, I have tons of fun decorating the house, and it’s a great excuse to bake too many treats. But on top of all of that joy and celebration – there can also be a big layer of stress. Whether it’s due to tight budgets, overly-busy schedules, or family conflict – it’s so important to slow down, savor the moment, and appreciate the joy of the season. And I’ve got a great way to help you do just that… Let me introduce you to #MyChateau…
What is My Chateau? It’s a place where it’s all about you. And Chateau Ste. Michelle wants to help you take daily breaks to shake off the holiday stress and find a way to enjoy more of the season. Every day leading up to Christmas, you can visit their online virtual Advent calendar to get a fun daily tip – just a small bite-sized action, perfect to fit into any woman’s busy schedule. Want to see my favorite tip so far? [Read more…]
I admit it. I’m one of those moms who totally get into the spirit of Christmas. We decorate like crazy – We have more decorations on the outside of the house than anyone in the whole neighborhood, and more decor inside the house than anyone I know. And I totally love traditions that remind me of all the magic the holiday held for me as a little girl – writing letters to Santa, filling stockings on Christmas eve, watching sappy old holiday movies as a family. And one new tradition we started last year that is definitely a keeper is to bring some Elf Magic to our lives during the month of December.
Elf Magic is the original – the first Elf tradition to be introduced and sold as a complete set. And what I like best is that unlike some of other elf traditions out there, that use other elf figures – Elf Magic really focuses on your child bonding with their Elf. In some other traditions the story is that the elf loses their magic if your child touches him, or that the elf is watching to report bad behavior to Santa. I love the way they put it…
Elf Magic captures Christmas spirit you can hold in your hand and feel in your heart. [Read more…]
‘Tis the season for… Stress? Well, for some people, there’s more stress than sparkles during the holidays. Which I hate find a sad thing, since Christmas is my very-most-amazingly-super-duper favorite time of the year. Even with the craziness, it fills me with serious happiness. And now that I have a little one to share it with me – and at 3 years-old this year, she’s really big enough to appreciate it all – it’s even better. But, since I know not everyone is able to easily manage the stress of the holiday rush, I’m super excited to be sharing tips and tricks to help – during an amazing Twitter party happening on December 4, at 1p ET / 12p CT / 10a PT. Keep reading to learn more, RSVP, and be eligible to win some awesome prizes!
Have you heard of Erin Condren? If so – you already totally know why I love her products. If not, I have a treat for you today! ErinCondren.com is a lifestyle brand – she customizes and stylizes everything from life planners, acrylic trays, holiday cards, iphone cases, and more! You can add names, photos, and more – and everything is so bright and modern and cheerful. Just browsing around her site makes me feel happy :) And, right now if you sign up to get her newsletters, you’ll get a $10 OFF coupon for your first purchase! I’m not sure how long that’ll last, so jump on it, pronto. {And keep reading – at the end of the post I have an awesome Black Friday coupon code to save BIG on all of this good stuff.}
Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things…. Please tell me someone else is a fan of Sound of Music too? I’m not just old? If you don’t, well, please take a minute to educate and entertain yourself – My Favorite Things, Sound of Music. I’ve sang this song since I was a little girl, and love singing it to my own little girl now :) So, of course when I heard that some of my absolute best-est bloggy girlfriends wanted to get together and give away our own favorite things – I jumped in right away! We all went shopping and picked out some of our fave stuff, created prize packages, and are giving them away to you guys just in time for the holidays! You’ll see them all in the big gift collage below, then you can scroll down to see more about my prize up close and personal, enter to win my prize – then there are links to make it easy peasy to hop around and enter EVERYONE’S prizes too! Awesome, right?
It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas, every where you go… Seriously, have you seen the holiday displays at Target and Safeway and other retail places already? It seems so early, but really – there’s only about 6 weeks until the big day. And with the hustle and bustle and overall busy-ness of the holiday season, Christmas will be here before you know it. And, I like to get all of my holiday gift shopping done early, so I can enjoy the December days {mostly} stress-free. So today I’m going to share a few ideas I’m lovin’, that might help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping too….
I love personalized gifts. I use photos to make cool wall art, I’m addicted to creating little custom photo magnets out of Instagram photos {tutorial coming soon!}. I have a photo mug of Abby’s smiling face on my desk to hold pens and highlighters, and gave one to grandma and grandpa last year too. This year, I’m excited to get some of these cute iPhone cases for my girlfriends and siblings. They’re perfect for those friends who already have everything – it’s useful, it’s personal, and every day they’ll be reminded of how cool you are for giving it to them :)
And what goes better with a personalized gift than a personalized card, right? Treat.com has a huge selection of cards that you can personalize – from adding photos, changing color schemes, and creating your own text inside and out. Don’t have a family picture to use? No problem – use one of the collage options, then add photos of each of you into the boxes. Haven’t taken a family photo yet? Get tips from my fave pro photographer on how to take better photos for the holidays. Don’t want to use a photo? Choose one of their beautiful pre-made designs, and personalize it with your family name, or a message for the recipient. Easy peasy!
Another super cool option that I’ll be using this year are the digital cards. Almost every card that Treat offers can also be sent digitally – the video above shows you an example of how it works. This is perfect for me – I have a lot of friends around the country, like my fave bloggy buddies and business partners – that I don’t have addresses for. But I DO have their email addresses. So this is an inexpensive way to quickly send some holiday cheer their way.
And, just for fun, because I totally love you guys – I’ve got a giveaway! One lucky winner will get their choice of favorite photo mug from Treat, personalized with their own pics and text, plus a set of personalized stationery too! This is a great little “treat” for yourself, or you can personalize a set to give as a gift. Either way – I know you’ll love what you get. I’ve never been disappointed with my purchases with them. Use the easy peasy Rafflecopter form below to enter, and be sure to take a minute afterwards to check out the BIG list of other prizes I’m giving away this month, all listed over in my sidebar. Have fun, and good luck!
"The phrase "working mother" is redundant." I'm Meagan - a Momma, a Blogger, a Freelance Writer, and a total Social Media Junkie. I love sparkles and … [Read More...]
