I LOVE this shop! When I fist saw these online, I thought they were really cute but was a bit overwhelmed. Having to pick the face, hair color, and style of each person on my picture seemed like a lot of pressure - there were so many options and I didn't want to mess things up.
In the end it was as simple as saying "Grandma Lofley - G5 Head - Brown Hair." It was easy to do, but I spent a looong time doing it. I really wanted everyone to look right.
We got our finished picture within days. And the highest praise I can give is to say that when my husband opened the package he looked at it intently for a few seconds. Then he said, "I like that. I really like that."
Considering the picture is crafty, girly, and cute all at the same time, that's saying a lot.
I love the finished product. The characters are adorable and really reflect the personality and style of the person they were modeled after.
I like that the drawing is done on muslin. It adds that extra interest and makes the picture perfect to hang. We haven't bought a frame yet, so it's hanging on our door on a hanger, but it will go up soon.
Store Feature - Handbound Books by Cathy Durso - http://cathydurso.etsy.com
Handbound journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks, and custom made boxes and portfolios
About - My handbound books are all put together completely by my own hands. I design the look and feel of each book individually, deciding what materials will work together to make a beautiful, unique item, then cut, stitch, and glue the materials together by hand.
I took a bookbinding class as an undergraduate and was instantly hooked! I love the process and working through each step to create beautiful, unique books. Since that first class, I have continued to explore bookbinding techniques and grow in my craft. My own ideas and the custom orders I get through my Etsy shop are always giving me new creative challenges, which is very exciting and rewarding!
Everyone has a use for journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks, whether they like to write, draw, doodle, jot, or list. It's nice to be able to put your thoughts and ideas down in a one-of-a-kind, well-crafted, handmade book.
Support Handmade - Check out her shop and while there get 15% off with code
LOVEBOOKSHave your etsy/home business shop featured here in our Close2Home Friday Weekly Feature!
This post is written by the Etsy Shop Owner as part of my Close to Home Feature. I received nothing for this post. 
Just got an email saying I get a $21 check from Ebates. I love getting extra money back for shopping online!
December 5-11 only, use coupon code DRAGON7 to receive a free Dragon Knight umbrella with their order over $20 (make sure & add the Dragon Knight umbrella to your cart first) at Kidorable.com. Or stay tuned to win one here soon!
Remember the Pokemon movie I told you about? I just found out that "as an added event bonus, everyone attending the screening will receive a special, limited edition FREE* Pokemon gift pack at the movie theatre. This Limited Edition Pokemon gift bag is only available at theatres, to people who have bought tickets to see Pokemon The Movie - White Victini and Zekrom, *while supplies last."
So check it out in select theatres this weekend.
Kidorable.com is offering Free Shipping via UPS Ground on all orders placed November 27 through Sunday, December 4. Just use coupon code GRATEFUL2 at checkout to get free shipping on any order, big or small.
PLUS, Kidorable is partnering with the Children’s Cancer Research Fund to help you support a great cause. They will donate 100% of the proceeds from their Butterfly umbrellas on www.kidorable.com from Thanksgiving through Christmas (No coupon necessary)
When I first started doing my All Things Baby Event, I was contacted by ViaCord about doing a post on Cord Blood Banking. Since I know nothing about the subject, I thought a guest post on the subject would be more helpful and informative to you all.
If interested in learning more about ViaCord or the importance of Cord Blood Banking after reading their story, check out the ViaCord website! They have kindly offered all of my readers a $250 off coupon code to help you get started- BLG_250_ODT
Below is a Guest blog post from parent Amy Murphy about her daughter, Katie, and cord blood banking.
When our daughter Katie was born, my husband and I thought she was perfectly healthy. It wasn’t until she was six months old that we started noticing she wasn’t developing like she should have been for her age, including sitting up on her own. She was soon diagnosed with hypotonia, a rare condition more commonly referred to as “Floppy Baby” syndrome that causes weak muscles and hindered her ability to crawl, walk, talk, and control fine motor skills.
Luckily, before Katie was born, we made the decision to bank her umbilical cord blood with the family cord blood bank ViaCord because of my family’s history with leukemia. Even though the decision to bank was an easy one for us, we could not have anticipated needing to use it. After some research, we learned about a study at Duke Medical Center using stem cells from cord blood to treat kids’ cerebral palsy. Katie met the requirements for the study and in January 2010 she received a stem cell transplant from her own cord blood to repair and replace damaged cells in her body.
She is now five-years-old and since her stem cell transplant, we’ve seen so many improvements. She is much more motivated to walk, and has increased leg strength, muscle tone, and focus. She’s also recently outgrown her need for glasses (which she originally wore for balance and seeing objects up-close). Her story has gained local and national attention as an inspiration for those dealing not only with hypotonia, but any affliction that inhibits someone from leading a regular lifestyle.
While her progress to date has not been easy, she is making big gains both physically and cognitively since her cord blood transfusion. I feel confident that Katie’s cord blood stem cell transplant, along with her regular therapies, will continue to help her develop to the point where she can enjoy a healthy and active childhood. I document her progress on my own blog, Katie's Progress, as a testament to how far along she has come and invite you to visit!
Just wanted to let you all know about an exciting offer from ArtsCow.com - 10 Free Photo Books!~
Encapsulate those special moments over the Summer break on a set of personalized photo books from ArtsCow. With the Summer nearing its end for another year, there is plenty to smile about as we are offering each user 10 free photo book credits. You are just a few clicks away to claiming SEVEN 8"x8" (20p) and THREE 9"x7" (20p) photo book credits.
To get your free credits, simply copy and paste the code and validate your account.
Coupon Code : TENFREEBKS
Expiry Date: 08 / 29 / 2011
Effective Period: 30 days
Get 20% off your entire order at when you purchase any of the Kidorable Hanger Sets. From July 25 through August 8, just use coupon code CLEAN33 at checkout on www.kidorable.com.
And on another note Kidorable has a fun facebook contest going on right now.
"Show us how you Kidorable this Summer! On the beach, by the pool, at the zoo, inside or out on a rainy day? You can win a full Kidorable ensemble of your choice.
It's easy-just email a picture of a child you love sporting a Kidorable product to [email protected]. Whoever gets the most votes wins.
We will receive entries until Monday, August 15. Then voting will continue through August 22 at 2pm when we'll announce the winner."
Last Weekend I finally convinced my husband that it was time to change up our nursery. Ever since I found out that we were having a little boy I've been excited to do it. It was time to say goodbye to the white and pink ballerina theme, and hello to a little boy's room.
Here is the room stripped of everything girly.
As you can see, it's really white and really boring.
My husband really didn't want to do anything with it. He said that a boy wouldn't care what his room looked like so we could just leave it like that. But to make me happy he agreed to paint it anyway.
After the paint dried and the crib was put back together, the next step was infusing the animal theme into the room.
We did this with the
Jeep Breakout Smart Stick peel and stick mural from
Murals Your Way.
My girls absolutely love our mural. The animals are adorable and it really does look like the jeep is breaking through our wall!
On top of that, our Mural is huge! It measures 4'x6' and is actually the smallest size available from the site.
With the mural being so large, I thought it was going to be really hard to put up. That wasn't the case at all. Installation was super easy and we were done after four simple steps
- Measure and mark your guidelines
- Peel off backing as you go, starting at the top left corner.
- Stick to the wall, and smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles.
- Trim excess material (if necessary.)
I'll admit that my husband and I are both perfectionists and the first step took a little bit of time. But after we had it lined up correctly, installation was a breeze.
When we put a vinyl alphabet in my daughters room we had to hang up each letter separately, and put pressure on the letters to make sure they adhered correctly. The Smart Stick Mural was so much easier to hang! It really was just peel and stick.
Murals can come in various panels depending on the size and style you order, and each panel has to be hung separately. The Smart Stick style of Mural can be repositioned over 100 times, which makes lining up the panels a breeze. Even though we could have rehung the mural over and over again, I was very grateful that we got it lined up perfectly on the first try.
SmartyRents is offering my followers a SmartyRents promo code worth 1 FREE month of the 1 Game at a Time package or $9.99 towards the package of their choice. This offer is for new customers only. If you don't remember what SmartyRents is, you can check out my original post here. Promo Code: xmas
Expires: 2/28/11
Growing Tree Toys - every 100th order placed on their site will be FREE! And this weekend, enter code MBBTVL at checkout to receive 15% off your order
Kidorable - Free Freight via UPS Ground on all orders your readers place November 28 through Sunday, December 5. Hop on over to http://www.kidorable.com/ and use coupon code GRATEFUL2 at checkout to get free shipping on any order, big or small.
Charm Factory - place any order at charmfactory.com and receive a free I Love to Shop charm. In the Special Instructions box during checkout, just type "I LOVE TO SHOP," and it will automatically add the charm to your package.
Book Deals at Usborne Books -
All of this stuff is free…no credit card required. Get a
Free copy of the “Worst Case Scenario Handbook” with Slime… here.
Register for Dominick and get a dozen free eggs... here
Free Sample of Crest Pro Health Gum Protection... here.
Free Sample of John Frieda Root Awakening Serum... here.
Free Axe Dry Phoenix deoderant ... here.
My toddler is fearless. She climbs, falls, bumps, and scrapes every part of her body, and it doesn't affect her. She just gets up and does it again. My preschooler however, is much more sensitive and cries over every owie. And of course, every owie requires a kiss and a bandaid. Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Bandaids frequently find themselves somewhere on my daughter's body.
Something relatively new and different to the Band-Aid market are Band Angels - adhesive bandages with 1 of 3 bible verses printed directly on them.
Band Angels were developed for a very personal purpose.
"Our four year old granddaughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, says Tim. And she had to be stuck with a needle four times a day. One weekend she was staying with us, I was watching Tami put a Dora the Explorer bandage on her and it occured to me - why are we putting something so trivial on something so serious? We had been praying with her for healing and I thought, what if we put a bandage on her that has a healing scripture on it? It would be a simple way to help teach her about God and the Bible. We then began to brainstorm about how to do it."And Band Angels were born! My daughters have never had a life threatening illness, but I hate to see them hurt. Anything I can do to help them feel better I am going to do. My daughter loves the pictures of the angels, and she always wants me to read the bible verses to her. I like that they are very supple and I love the packaging. My daughter likes to pick which style we put on her owies, and the clear outter cover makes it much easier to find the right one.They are definitely a product worth checking out. And right now if you sign up for your email newsletter, you can receive 3 sample bandages free! Check out their facebook page or click here for more details.Disclosure - I received a box of Band Angels for review purposes. It in no way affected my opinion of the product.
Today Only - Just click and print!
Just sign into your Leafrog Account or create a new one!
Choose between a Tag Jr. Board book or a Tag Storybook.
Offer includes free Tag™ Junior ABC book or free Tag™ Ozzie and Mack book only.
Offer valid through 3/1/11 or while supplies last. Limit one per household.
My family and I love going to the movies, but its not always easy finding (little) kid appropriate movies to attend. A great company called Kidtoons is dedicated to bringing family friendly movies to a theater near you.
This months movie is Barbie Fashion Fairy Tale, which my daughter has been dying to see. And as a special deal this month, Mattell is offering moviegoers a BOGO free movie ticket coupon, so we can do just that.
The offer is good for everyone so print your coupon and then check out Kidtoons.com to find a location near you!
And make sure to check back next month for October's movie, Spookley!
Connect with kidtoons on facebook and twitter to learn more,
I saw this on the Vistaprint Website! Sale ends 9/8. Click here for more details.
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Nice bags. This looks much sturdier than the plastic equivalents that you can buy at any walmart or target.
This is really nice! I love the design.