Memories — Page 5

{Father’s Day} Crafts, Coupon Codes, Ideas, and More!

I’m quite a bit behind schedule today.

My baby girl wearing her daddy's hat, looks just like him here.

Baby’s surgery:

My baby girl had surgery yesterday. It was a minor procedure; she had a blocked tear duct that needed to be opened, but it required general anesthesia which scared the heck outta me. But it went great {I’m going to share a bit about it in a post later} and she’s home and looking good. But today is catch-up day!

While going through my {totally overflowing!!} email inbox, I saw tons of great Father’s Day ideas, so I’m going to share a round up here of some favorites!

Father’s Day Ideas:

HolidaysCentral: Tons of great ideas here for every holiday! Enter to win their Father’s Day Giveaway, and check out some of their super fun Dad’s Day Craft Ideas too!
Pure Wow: Shares some ideas for “Indoor Dads”, since many gifts are targeted towards outdoor activities, “But what about the man who prefers air conditioning and hardwood floors to summer breezes and dusty trails?” Funny. Click Here to check it out; first enter your email to get their updates, then hit skip to pass the details, and then click the big Pure Wow logo pic up top, and you’ll be able to see these super cool ideas in a tab called Home Boys in the bottom left. Super fun stuff, this is one of my favorite weekly emails :)
Parenting: Sweet article with 5 ways to make Father’s Day special. Read here. My daughters dad has two older daughters, so this isn’t HIS first Father’s Day, but it’s the first one for me and baby to celebrate with him, so I loved reading these ideas!
Vistaprint: Get 6 FREE photo products. You can upload your photos from Picasa, Flickr or Facebook, use them to create cool personalized stuff like a mouse pad, t-shirt, calendar and more, get them all FREE + shipping, and give dad some really cool and unique presents. I use this all the time, the quality is great, and everyone loves these as gifts. Get started here . One of my favorites are their mini-photo books!
Open Sky: This is a cool site I’ve told you about before. Pick a few favorite celebrities and designers to follow. They will send you a weekly pick from that category that you will probably love. So far, I’ve had some amazing ideas sent to me! And the sign up only takes a second. Todays idea is from Alicia Silverstone: “sonic ties” that are hand-woven from recycled audio cassette tapes and and fabric. Each one is an individual work of art and believe it or not–they actually play music! For those of you that still have cassette players–if you run a tape head over the fabric, you’ll hear a sound collage. So cool. Check out Open Sky Click Here, sign up for categories, and pick who to follow! Easy peasy.
Dinner Out: Pick up some gift certificates at Restaurant.com and save up to 80% off. I do this a few times a year, and stock up on a bunch of certificates for places that we’ll be visiting in the next few months. This is such an amazing value, so check it out and see what they have in your town. Click Here, search by area, then pick all of the certificates your family can use to save! Think of any other holidays coming up so you can go out for all of them without spending a ton.
Zazzle: So so so many fun and personalized gifts for any dad in your life! I have gotten some of the coolest and funniest gifts I’ve given from Zazzle! Check out this one I’m getting for my brother- Click Here, and use code SHIP4FATHERS on any order over $50 today only to get FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING!
Tiny Prints: Get a FREE Father’s Day card, tons to choose from. Click here, Tiny Prints and use code FREEFD at check out!
Paper Snaps: Another FREE Father’s Day card option, from a super cool company I’d never heard of before! Click Here and follow the directions. Looks really awesome!
PrizeNote: Kind of off topic, but it’s so cool I had to include it :) Do the super cool sign up at PrizeNote here, and you’re automatically entered to win their daily prizes! Then, do a quick sign up for the dad in your life too. Then, if HE wins, YOU win too! It’s a SUPER cool site, and maybe you can win dad a freeebie!
Chili’s: If dad is a big fan of Chili’s, take him to dinner on Father’s Day using the Buy One Get One FREE coupon here.
JibJab: The. Funnest. Site. Ever. The kids are ALWAYS asking me to show them our JibJab videos!! If you’ve never used this site, oh my heck friend, go check it out! You can buy credits, but we’ve used this forever and just mostly use the FREE options. Super fun, check out the Father’s Day JibJab options available now.
Burt’s Bees: One of my favorite brands. Check out the Mens Grab Bag deal right now, add a few other goodies for you too, use code FATHER11 at check out, and get a specialized Dopp Kit just for dad for FREE with $40 purchase!
Celebrations.com: Check out their fun idea for Father’s Day here! So so many ideas and cool stuff, you’ll LOVE it!

Share YOUR ideas!

I’ll be sharing new Father’s Day ideas every day, so if you have a great one, please share in the comments so I can include yours in anther post!

If you are a crafter or have a business, share a link to a great deal or product for dad. If you are a blogger with a fun dads day idea, share a link to your post!

If you’re a reader that just has a cool tradition or neat idea, I’d love to hear them!

Dad’s Rock.

Posted by Meagan Paullin on June 9, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping, Fun Stuff, Contests, Deals and Coupon Codes, Freebies | No Comments

Daily Bit of Sunshine…

“Always kiss your children goodnight – even if they’re already asleep.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I love this quote, and thought it was really sweet.

When I was pregnant, I bought a print to hang over baby’s crib that says “Always Kiss Me Goodnight” because I thought that really summed up what type of parent I wanted to be….

I want to make sure she knows that I love her, and take the time each day to show it.
I never want to get “too busy” to make moments just for her.
I loved ending my day with a kiss for baby girl, and that feeling of love and gratitude I get from being her mommy.

Do you have a favorite quote that makes you think of your child? Share it in the comments…

Posted by Meagan Paullin on June 5, 2011 Filed Under: Mommy Thoughts | No Comments

Canvas People FREE Offer: Scam or Legit?

Canvas People: A Scam or Legit?

A lot of you have been asking me about Canvas People lately, and if the FREE Canvas offer is really legit.

Love ’em!

Well, you can see in the picture above that yep, it’s legit! That is the canvas print that I ordered at the holidays. I upgraded to the larger 11×14 size, so I used the $50 off promotion instead of the freebie, and I am SO in love with it. I plan on getting a couple more smaller ones with the free offer too, if it will let me.

The quality is about a million times better than I expected from a free offer. I would absolutely be willing to pay the full price for this, it is gorgeous, and just as good as the canvas art that I have gotten from my local photographer.

I know, sounds too good to be true! But it is :)

If you are interested in checking it out for yourself, and getting one of these beautiful canvas prints too, go here:

The site is really easy to use and understand, and it doesn’t take too long to create your print. One tip, make sure you choose a photo with a bit of background. The picture is going to wrap around the sides of the canvas a little bit, so you’ll lose a tiny bit of the main part of the photo. {You’ll understand once you upload your photo and start playing around with it!}

Share your art!

I know you’ll love your print! Plus, these would make an AMAZING gift for anyone. I get SO many compliments from people that come to visit, and have referred tons of friends who have gotten these and loved them too. Check it out today, and share a pic on my facebook page of your print so I can see it too :)

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 31, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | 1 Comment

Shutterfly Freebies and Deals!

Get some great deals from Shutterfly this weekend!

Address Labels: Use code ANRJ-B64D-SFH4-F21WM0 to get FREE Address Labels with any purchase.
Free Cards: Get 5 free 5×7 Greeting Cards, or 5×7 or 5×5 Stationery Cards with code DADCARD.
FREE Shipping: Spend $30 bucks or more and use code SHIP30 to get FREE Shipping, until June 9th.
Deals: They have tons of deals up to 50% off on gifts for Father’s Day too! Check it all out on the Shutterfly site today!

And, a few more photo deals:

Free Canvas Print: We have one of these, and it seriously is amazing. I upgraded to a bigger size, so I didn’t use the free option, I took the $50 off credit {you can choose when you get there} and now have an amazing art quality canvas print of my baby girls face. Plus, the site is super easy to use. Canvas Print.
Snapily: This is such a fun idea, and they really are pretty awesome as gifts. Snapily allows you to take 2 of your favorite photos, and animate them. 2 images rotate in the space of one photo. Get an instant Free $3 credit with this referral- Click Here.
Vistaprint: If you haven’t ordered from them yet, do it! I’ve done a couple posts you might have seen, sharing pics of some of the great stuff we’ve gotten from them. Easy to use site, products are great quality, and you can get SO many photo products for free. Free Photo Gifts.

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 28, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | 1 Comment

{Digitwirl} Back That Thing Up!

Or… How to get “Set-it-and-forget-it Computer Backup!”

Read more about this weeks Twirl:

If you thought the wails of anguish that emanate from a gazelle being attacked by a lion were horrific, that’s nothing compared to the wails of anguish that will escape your lips if your computer dies and takes everything with it.

A lifetime of photos and videos, countless files, a music library that spans the decades. Gone. Caput. The solution to this worst case scenario is simple– Carbonite.

Carbonite is a secure online backup system for your entire computer that, should disaster strike, can restore all your files onto your repaired, or new computer. We checked out a few services like this, but we think Carbonite is the best online backup system, because it has unlimited data storage for a flat rate of $59 per year. That’s right, no matter how many pictures of your daughter’s third birthday, complete with a pony-riding princess you may have Carbonite will store it all safely.

And, Carbonite backups are far from out of sight out of mind, you can access any of your files from your computer or Smartphone any time. So watch this Twirl to see how you can avoid distraught howls in favor of set-it-and-forget-it peace of mind.

So, what do you think?

If, like me, you are totally technically challenged, I bet you’re feeling a big weight lifted off of your shoulders after watching this video! Like a, “Finally an easy way to make sure I don’t lose all of my important stuff if I make a huge mistake one day and totally screw up my computer” type of feeling :) Right?

Back that thing up…

Backing up my information is one of those things that pops into my head from time to time, but since I had no idea where to start, and it seemed like something that would be way to complicated for me to figure out, I tried to ignore the whole thing.

Technology Tragedy.

About 6 months ago, the kids were all playing around in the office, and somehow {none of them will really admit to doing ANYTHING, of course} they completely fried the hard drive in my boyfriends computer. Like, everything gone. All of his photos, his work files, his programs, music, all. of. it. gone. Forever.

That made me realize how easy it can be for something to happen, and how extremely valuable the content on my computer is! What if something happened, and I lost all of my little one’s baby picture files?

Just do it.

So, this has been on my mind for awhile, which means I was SUPER EXCITED to learn about Carbonite in this video today! Just set up an account, and someone ELSE will do the work, and backup everything for me, and keep it all safe? And for only $59 a year?? Easy peasy, and I’m in!!

I’m going to be signing up for this today, and am so glad that Digitwirl shares such awesome products, services, and companies with me in short, easy to understand video presentations. Finally, I can upgrade some of my technology, because with Digitwirl, I “get” it!!

Love it? What more great tips?

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3-minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.

Carley's Byline Pic Check out Digitwirl today!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 26, 2011 Filed Under: Deals and Coupon Codes, Shopping, Fun Stuff | No Comments

$35 for $100 Worth of Product from Picaboo!

Check out this awesome deal today from Groupon!

Get $100 worth of product from Picaboo for only $35!! Read the details here:

Expires Oct 20, 2011
Limit 1 per person. Redeem starting 4/21. Valid toward tax and shipping. Valid for photo books, cards, and calendars. Not valid with other offers. May redeem across multiple orders.

225 of these deals have already been purchased, and you only have today to get in on this great deal! To get it, go to Groupon…

And sign up to buy this deal!! And if you haven’t used Picaboo before, trust me, it is soooo easy. I am a HUGE fan of photo gifts, and I have made many photo books before, with all of the different companies.

This is one of the easiest to use! The quality is amazing, and everyone that I have ever given a photo book to has been so amazed and loved it. They rock. This would be a great deal to use for Mothers Day gifts!

And if you love deal sites, here is another new one to check out…

Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 19, 2011 Filed Under: Deals and Coupon Codes, Shopping | No Comments

Another Kodak Freebie!

Kodak Freebies!

Join Kodak Gallery Today and Get a Free Photo Magnet and Free Photo Sharing, PLUS 50 FREE prints too!

Click Here to get started, and get your FREEBIE! There are so many fun choices to choose from when designing these magnets… The example above was one of my favorites! You could also do one for a birthday, as a thank you, or even make cute Easter magnets as gifts for the grandparents! This is a super easy gift to mail in a card. Check them out and let me know your favorite!