Targeted Shopping

Friday Toy Sales

Check out the excellent toy sale that takes place every Friday at our favorite online mega store, amazon. The savings you’ll make are incredible and most items include FREE shipping! I love free shipping. Click below to check out the sale!

Friday Toy Sale

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Perfect Table Linens for the Holidays

The beauty of this table cloth is that it goes well with the holiday season because it’s red and has holly on the pattern, but it also can be used all year long. It’s not like it has Santa Claus on it so you will get your money’s worth by being able to use it for other special occasions during the year. Get it now and click below.

Lenox Holly Damask 60-by-104-Inch Tablecloth

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It’s Cyber Monday!

Yes, like Black Friday where people go out into the harsh physical conditions of marathon shopping, pitted against panicked and angry shoppers creating stampedes and injuries, Cyber Monday involves mega amounts of bargains. BUT. There shouldn’t be injuries or stampedes or fights or tug-of-wars. You do not have to deal with people. How beautiful is that, people? VERY.

Cyber Monday is a day where you can shop online, free of shoppers angst and at the same time receive some of the best prices on all kinds of items. Many online stores will also offer free shipping on Cyber Monday. There are deals to be had, so get shopping! Online, that is.

Don’t know where to start?

Click here to find the best bargains online

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Scrapbooking

What is Scrapbooking and Where Did it Come From?
Here’s a little history from wikipedia - In ancient Greece, hypomnemata were a form of notebook for recording one’s own copies of what one had heard, read, or thought that might be worth remembering. There is little evidence in the archaeological and historical record that this sort of method was undertaken anywhere else before. That one had to make one’s own hand-written copies of what someone else had written reflected the expense of hiring a scribe to do so.

With the advent of affordable paper, precursors to modern scrapbooks became available to a wider array of people. Beginning in the 15th century, commonplace books, popular in England, emerged as a way to compile information that included recipes, quotes, letters, poems and more. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator’s particular interests. Friendship albums became popular in the 16th century. These albums were used much like modern day yearbooks, where friends or patrons would enter their names, titles and short texts or illustrations at the request of the album’s owner. These albums were often created as souvenirs of European tours and would contain local memorabilia including coats of arms or works of art commissioned by local artisans. Starting in 1570, it became fashionable to incorporate colored plates depicting popular scenes such as Venetian costumes or Carnival scenes. These provided affordable options as compared to original works and, as such, these plates were not sold to commemorate or document a specific event but specifically as embellishments for albums. In 1775, James Granger published a history of England with several blank pages at the end of the book. The pages were designed to allow the book’s owner to personalize the book with his own memorabilia. The practice of leaving pages to personalize at the end of books became known as Grangerizing. Additionally, friendship albums and school yearbooks afforded girls in the 18th and 19th centuries an outlet through which to share their literary skills, and allowed girls an opportunity to document their own personalized historical record previously not readily available to them.

The advent of modern photography began with the first permanent photograph created by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. Photography became available to an ever-widening population with the invention of George Eastman’s paper photographs in the late 1880s and the mass production of the Kodak Brownie, a camera designed to be simple (and inexpensive) enough for a child, in 1900. This allowed the average person to begin to incorporate photographs into their scrapbooks.

Old scrapbooks tended to have photos mounted with photomount corners and perhaps notations of who was in a photo or where and when it was taken. They often included bits of memorabilia like newspaper clippings, letters, etc. With the availability of printed material it is likely that the content of scrapbooks shifted away from one’s own hand-writing or drawings or those of one’s family members toward commercially available printed mat ephemera, memorabilia collections and journaling. Modern scrapbooking has evolved into creating attractive displays of photos, text, journaling and memorabilia.

Modern Day Scrapbooking

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Do it yourself - DIY - Home made, baby / babies, family, fun, gifts, hobbies, kids, parents, practical, relaxing, scrapbooking, spare time | No Comments »

Gift Ideas: The Best Books of 2008

From amazon:

“Out of the thousands of new releases that came into our cubicles this year, we’ve chosen our 100 favorites, from an elegant pop-up alphabet and a deliciously dishy guide to fragance to an enthralling biography of an iconic leader and an encyclopedic history of a sport and the world that plays it. Here they are, so click below.”

Best Books of 2008

Posted in books, essential reading, family, fun, funny, gifts, good value, health, hobbies, kids, parents, people, practical, safe products, spare time, stories | No Comments »

4 Day Baby Stuff Sale at Amazon

The Amazon Baby Store is offering 4-day Super Sales every Friday through Monday starting November 7. Each weekend the Amazon Baby Store will feature substantial discounts on name-brand baby gifts from Boppy, Lamaze, Baby Einstein, Sassy, Graco and more while supplies last.

Check out the Amazon Baby Store!

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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

With the impending U.S. presidential elections right around the corner, I thought I’d feature The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream written by presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

It’s funny how most of the world wants Obama to win, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that American wants him to win. It seems the educated, rational and hopeful people of the world who would vote for Obama if they could, are far from sharing the same sentiments as middle America.

If people had a sense of reason, and could just put their partisan role aside, the obvious person who will turn the U.S. around (from its horrible and colossal downward spiral), would be Obama.

He would not only be good for America, but he’d make the world a better place.

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

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New Skis

Winter season is upon and and that means one thing (for some of you): skiing! This year ski in style
with these absolutely fabulous skis from Volkl Tigershark 12 Foot Power Switch Alpine Skis w/ Motion iPT 14.0 TS Binding.

These skis feature the world’s first on-board power adjustment system. Want to lay it all on the line on the groomers? Turn the Power Switch to the on position. A carbon fiber rod compresses internal springs toward the front of the ski, which gives the Tigershark more power. Leave the switch off for cruising or the occasional tree run. Extended Double Grip construction lends this ski amazing edge hold, while the Tigershark’s iPT 14.0 TS Binding allows for a smooth, natural flex and precise transmission from skier input to the snow. Two layers of titanium make this all-mountain Volkl ski appropriate for advanced all-mountain skiers who Mach down the groom and enjoy the occasional off-piste foray.

Order yours now

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Do you have a Halloween Costume?

I don’t need to remind you that we’re already getting into the middle of OCTOBER. But I DO need to say that it means one thing: you have to figure out what you and your kids (if you have kids) are going to dress up as for Halloween. No. Don’t wait ’til the last minute then end up going as something stupid and silly and totally not thought through thoroughly. DON’T end up throwing a sheet over your head. That is so embarrassing. Don’t put it off. Hey and remember a costume for your pet if it can handle it.

Get Costumes EARLY

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Infant Car Seats on Sale until September 30

The Amazon Baby Store is offering a special promotion during September. The special sale - 10% off regular price on all Britax car seats sold by Amazon.com starting Monday, September 15 through September 21, 2008 while supplies last. Whether your customer is purchasing for a newborn, infant, or older toddler, Britax car seats are made to be comfortable from day one and adjust to stay that way while baby grows.

Check it out here

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