Posts Tagged: "family"

Custom Birthday Plate | Fun Tradition

- - Birthday, Kids

We all want to feel special on our birthday. Sometimes it’s the little things that make us feel EXTRA special.

custom-personalized-birthday-plate-gift

Like getting to use a personalized birthday plate while every else uses paper plates.

Kids will especially love this tradition. All year long, they will anticipate getting to eat a big slice of cake on their custom birthday plate.

Think of the fond childhood memories this fun tradition will create!

This perfect birthday gift can be used year after year to celebrate someone’s special day.

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Houseguest Welcome Basket

I remember being someone’s houseguest and getting a late night snack attack. I’m dying for something to eat but I’m too embarrassed to look through their kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. Not good.

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You may have been in a similar situation yourself.

Although someone tells you, “Make yourself at home!” you still feel hesitant to rummage through their food cabinets.

There’s a way to stop the embarrassment of hungry houseguests.

Provide visitors to your home with a Houseguest Welcome Basket containing drinks, snacks and treats!

Even if you tell your houseguests to help themselves to anything in your kitchen, they’ll still appreciate receiving a basket of goodies specifically for them. If you know their favorite snacks and drinks, try to to include them in the gift basket.

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Paint Your Own Pottery Experience

When I visit my sister’s family, I always like to give my three nieces the gift of a new experience.

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Now that my oldest niece is 16 and I have a four-year old son, I needed to come up with an experience that teenagers AND young children would enjoy. That’s a little tough, but I came up with the perfect idea! Adults will enjoy it too!

I took everyone to a paint your own pottery studio where each of us picked out an unfinished ceramic pottery to paint.

The studio had a TON of choices and to inspire customers it displayed examples of what the final painted products could look like.

Ceramic Pottery

I picked out a Christmas sweater platter, and my son picked out a dinosaur. My sister picked out a Christmas mug, while her 16-year old niece picked out a jar. My 13-year old niece picked out a turtle shaped container, and my nine-year old niece picked out a Hello Kitty figurine. See! Something for everyone!

The pottery studio provided all of the painting supplies, glazing and firing. All we needed to do was unleash our creativity!

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Celebrate Valentine’s Day Family Style

- - Kids, Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is usually reserved for couples, but I have another idea. Start a tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day family style.

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Living Room Floor Family Picnic

Have a picnic for all the Valentines in your family on your living room floor. Kids love this!

Keep it simple and move the furniture, lay out a blanket, and use Valentine’s Day paper plates with red plastic utensils. Depending upon the age of the children, I would use cups with lids and straws to prevent any spills.

If you want to be more elaborate, add a red and white picnic table cloth, eating trays, red pillows to sit on, sprinkle rose petals around the room, beautiful flowers, decorative lights, etc.

Make it a family affair and have the kids help with the set-up and decorating. Continue Reading

Pie Face Showdown Game | Whipped Cream Fun For All Ages

If it involves whipped cream, you know it’s going to be a fun time! I have a game that will entertain people age 2 to 102.

Are you ready to create some hysterical memories with your family and friends?

The Pie Face Showdown Game gives everyone the chance to throw whipped cream in someone’s face!

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How you play Pie Face Showdown:

Two people compete by pushing the red button on their side as fast as they can to move the throwing arm loaded with whipped cream towards their opponent. When the loaded arm reaches either end, it pops up throwing the whipped cream SPLAT into the loser’s face.

My son and I played Pie Face Showdown with my sister’s family, and did we laugh and laugh! The players and everyone watching are giddy and excited to see who gets creamed. As you can see, we also ended up with hilarious photos of whipped cream splattered faces.

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T-Shirt of the Month Subscription

If your son, dad, brother, boyfriend or husband practically lives in t-shirts, this gift is perfect!

t-shirt-month-subscription-gift-for-himHe’ll receive a new t-shirt with a cool design directly in the mail each month. It just appears. No shopping necessary by him or you, and he’ll love getting to open a new gift each month!

I bought my husband a t-shirt of the month subscription from www.OklahomaShirtCompany.com because they focus specifically on Oklahoma themed designs and they use soft, quality t-shirts. You can see the past designs from each month on their website, and they all look so fun and fresh!

Lots of Choices

Many sports teams have started t-shirt subscription clubs. You can even find dive bar t-shirt of the month clubs. Not your thing? What about geek and gamer t-shirts?

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Share Memories Year Round With Custom Photo Calendar

We all know that time flies, especially the older you get. So it’s important to preserve happy memories with photographs. Even better, share them with loved ones so they can enjoy them year round!

custom-photo-calendar-thoughtful-giftAs a birthday gift for our mother, my siblings and I collaborated to give her a custom photo calendar.

We all provided pictures so the calendar would contain photos of ALL of her children and grandchildren. We also included group family photos from when we were together during the holidays.

Many websites make it easy peasy to design a personalized photo calendar with your own photos and text. Just pick a template, drag and drop photos, and you’re done! I created mine using Shutterfly.com.

Since you can choose the starting month of your photo calendar, you can give this gift at any time of the year. They make excellent gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and family exchanges.

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7 Gifts to Give Children at Christmas

- - Birthday, Christmas, Kids

Have you ever heard of toy hangover? Kids may not recognize it, but parents sure will.

7-gifts-give-children-christmas-presentsToy hangover occurs the day after Christmas or a birthday when kids are walking around dazed and confused after consuming too many toys in a short period of time.

Instead of dazed and confused, parents feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Where is all this stuff going to go?

I came across a toy hangover cure I’m going to start this year. It’s an easy solution to how to shop for children at Christmas (or birthdays) so you end up with quality instead of quantity.

You are limited to seven gifts for each child. Don’t freak out on me. Having a limit is a good thing.

By having a a set limit, it forces you to think very carefully and thoughtfully about what those seven gifts will be.

These seven gifts are from the parent(s)/Santa. If you feel like you’re being Scrooge-ish, just remember your kids will receive additional gifts from family and friends.

There is a more important reason than preventing toy hangovers as to why I want to decrease the amount of Christmas gifts my kids receive. I don’t want the primary focus of Christmas to be gifts. Yes, gift giving is a fun holiday tradition but it’s not the reason for the season.

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Balance Bike Helps Kids Learn to Ride Faster

- - Kids

Fear of falling. Scraped knees. Learning how to ride a bicycle isn’t easy.

balance-bike-kids-toddlers-giftA new type of bicycle gaining popularity in the United States makes it easier for toddlers to learn how to ride a bicycle faster.

Say hello to balance bikes!

Benefits of Balance Bikes

Balance bikes don’t have pedals. Instead, toddlers are seated so their feet can easily touch the ground which allows them to learn how to balance without the fear of tipping over and falling. Also, since balance bikes are two to three times lighter than regular bicycles, children are less likely to get hurt if they do fall over.

Kids propel themselves forward by walking or running, and they brake using their feet. Really simple.

The best part – balance bikes allow children to skip the frustration of training wheels! Once children have mastered a balance bike, they can quickly move on to traditional pedal bicycles.

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Indoor Snowball Fights Any Time of Year

No longer does it have to be winter for everyone to enjoy a free-for-all snowball fight. Because someone invented indoor snowballs!

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Indoor Snowballs actually feel and squish like real snowballs even though they’re soft and dry!

Kids, adults, the whole family will enjoy getting into an indoor snowball fight. Minus the cold, wet mess of course. No one ever liked that part anyway.

Here are ways to use indoor snowballs to add a ton of unexpected fun and laughter to any occasion. You might even get a little workout from all that throwing!

Gift for All Ages

Everyone from toddlers, kids, teenagers and adults will get a kick out of indoor snowballs! They make a fantastic gift for all ages at any time of year. Oooh, think how perfect these would be for a Frozen themed party!

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