Unique Christmas Card Ideas

Well, I got you here with my nifty title but now I have to tell you the truth:  I'm not so unique in my ideas. It's not for a lack of trying, I'm just not that talented. 

But I'm always willing to give it my best shot, and so is the case when Purple Trail, via Mom Bloggers Club, asked members to blog about their creative holiday card ideas.

I'm definitely not a first prize winner, but I think I've got a few adorable ideas.  Such as:

• An individual picture of each member of the family participating in their favorite activity such as sports, baking, being a couch potato or creating chaos (such as is the case with Princess A!).  Collage them for a unique front cover.
• Hand drawn and colored pictures by the children or the adults if they are talented.  Just as long as it shows you took time and effort - didn't cheat with a computer - then it's all good. (Ok, ok - I know, computer graphic design is just as much work.  I'm just a little old fashioned.)
• Don't do a card at all.  Instead consider doing one of those family newsletter things, where everybody shares their good news (and, if your lucky, the gossip!) about the last 11 1/2 months.
• If you're one of those people who keep mounds of Christmas cards from years past (I'm not that sentimental, but I know plenty who are), create a Collage of Cards from Christmas Past.  If you want to go all Christmas Carol, you could come up with a spiffy poem about this being the Card of Christmas Present and maybe even show a hint for the card from Christmas Future.
• Play Hide 'n Seek with your cards.  You know those kids games where you hunt in the picture for certain objects?  Basing it on that game, you photoshop in your photo the letters spelling "Merry Christmas" at strategic places throughout the photo.  Or maybe photoshop in bows, ornaments, etc.

Hey, I forewarned you about my non-creativity.  But I've given my best shot.  And, if some of them sound weird, well, be forgiving because it wasn't supposed to but I'm not better at explaining that I am creating.

What you really want to do is visit PurpleTrail's vast selection of personalized holiday cards for some really fun card ideas - not just for Christmas but any holiday or occasion imaginable!

I am participating in a giveaway for PurpleTrail.com hosted by Mom Bloggers Club. 
By creating this post, I am eligible for a PurpleTrail gift code.

Read more...

10 of the Best Affordable Christmas Gifts For Dad - Get Started Now!

Yeah, yeah, yeah....I know it's just the 1st of September but this is a project most of us have to get started on early!

Every single year I struggle to find the right gift for my Dad.  And every year I walk away feeling like a failure in the gift-giving department.

You know that feeling, right?  Men are the worst people to shop for, with Fathers at the top of the list; especially those Daddies who have everything they could want.

Maybe this year I can keep your Dad from getting another tie or house slippers and give you a few fresh ideas.  (And feel free to comment and add to the list!)

1. Big Skinny tri-fold wallet (5-7 times thinner than regular leather wallets) for the George Costanza wannabe Dad.
2. Nomad Amber Sports Goggles With Brown Gradient Lens for the sporty Dad. 
3. Mr. Handyman's Toolbox of Gourmet Food & Snack Gift Basket for the handy Dad who loves to snack.
4. A screen-printed apron for the cooking Dad.
5. Craftsman Auto Hammer (very popular last year and sold old quickly) for the constructing, picture-hanging, repairing Dad.
6. Flydanna Bandanna for the doo-rag wearing Dad. 
7. A audio book gift subscription for the commuting Dad.
8. Control A Woman Remote Control for the married or dating Dad with a sense of humor.
   (Psst...there's a Control A Man version too!) 
9. Portable Universal USB Power Supply for the techie Dad on the go.
10. Battery recharger for the remote-control, cordless telephone loving Pops in your life!

Read more...

Find Cards for Every Occasion at Cards Direct (And a Giveaway too!)

It's only July, I know.  But I am a super-planner.  Everything must be done and organized months in advance.

If possible, of course.

When Global Influence offered me the opportunity to participate in the CardsDirect campaign, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get started on my Christmas cards.

And the company description grabbed my attention too!

CardsDirect offers the very best in personalized greeting cards for business or personal use. Over 2,000 card designs are available in categories that include holiday cards, birthday cards, thank you cards, photo cards, baby shower invitations, birth announcements and many more! With free personalization and custom imprinted verse, CardsDirect offers an easy online ordering process and top quality cards with the best selection, customer service and pricing found anywhere.

Not only is there a HUGE variety of holidays cards, birth announcements, and more to pick from - a card for everything you can think of - CardsDirect prices are very reasonable too! 

Oh, and be sure to check out their photo cards!

AND CardsDirect and Global Influence is generous enough to offer one lucky reader of The Mom Trap $25 FREE cards (Up to $50)!

Here's how to enter:
Leave a comment telling me: What style of cards would you pick if you are the winner? (Be sure to include an email address or have one available on your profile in case you win!)

Want to increase your chances of winning with extra entries? (Leave a comment for each additional entry; i.e. 2 extra entries = 2 comments)

• Become a CardsDirect Facebook Fan (1 extra entry. Already follow? That counts too!)
• Become a Facebook Fan of The Mom Trap at www.facebook.com/themomtrap (1 extra entry. Current followers also receive extra entry.)
• Follow The Mom Trap with Google Friend Connect. (1 extra entry. Current followers included.)
• Follow The Mom Trap on Twitter (1 extra entry. Current followers included.)
• Tweet this giveaway for 5 extra entries, including @kdcantrell in your tweet. (Include the Tweet status URL in your comment.)
• Blog about this giveaway for 5 extra entries. (Be sure to include the URL of your post in your comment)

The Fine Print: Contest ends at 11:59:59 PM Central Time on Wednesday, August 11, 2010. Winner will be chosen by random number generator. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Open to U.S. and territories residents only. Winner will be announced here and notified via email on Thursday, August 12, 1010, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Read more...

What Are You Getting Mom for Mothers Day?

I love my Mom.  I can't think of anyone who has spent the last 30-plus years being there for me when I most needed someone; even though sometimes I wasn't very easy to deal with.

So every year I always want to get a great Mother's Day gift; something that she will really enjoy.

Fortunately, my Mom loves flowers.  She enjoys beautiful arrangements for indoors as well as things to plant outside.

But regular readers here know I also love to save money, so I always look for the best deals on gifts.  Like using a ProFlowers coupon code on a vast selection of beautiful bouquets perfect for Mother's Day.

But sadly enough, I can be a bit of a procrastinator too; especially when it comes to my gift shopping. 

Fortunately, the folks at ProFlowers deal with a lot of people like me so they have a lot of pre-made arrangements that guarantee a Mother's Day delivery - most by noon.

Can you say, "Perfect"?

So now it's off to flower shopping I go.  Then I've got to push my way through the crowds at Hallmark for the perfect card.

Maybe next year will be the year I do this much earlier!

So what you are getting Mom for Mother's Day?

Read more...

What Are You Thankful For Today?

I want to wish all of my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving Day. I hope it is one filled with joy and laughter and the love that encircles us when surrounded by friends and family.

Although Thanksgiving is symbolic of peace between the colonist and Native Americans, autumn celebrations were conducted long before as a ceremony of thankfulness for a successful bounty of crops.

Today I want to to give thanks to God for the many blessings in my life, which include:

• Four beautiful, healthy children that have taught me life lessons I may have never learned without them and known a love like no other.
  
  
• A husband who has been with me through the good times and bad, and taught me definition of true selflessness.
  
  
• For my parents who gave me life and have always shown me unconditional love, even at my worst.
  
  
• For my brother who has tolerated me for 33 years, and my sister-in-law who tolerates him.
  
  
• A for the necessities in life: home, food, clothing, and job.

In this time of economic hardship that spreads around the globe, I feel as though I have been blessed with so much more than I deserve.

What are you thankful for today?

Read more...

Three Movies for Thanksgiving That You Gotta See

You're stuffed with turkey and dressing. The football game is over. Night has fallen on Thansgiving Day.

So what to do now?

Well, if you're not one of those (crazy) people who is turning in early to hit those Black Friday sales the next day, here's a great idea: Family Movie Night Thanksgiving Edition.

Here's three great movies I recommend for this holiday season kick-off day:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Remastered Deluxe Edition)


The New World


Home for the Holidays

Read more...

This Is a Really Cool Way To Make Your Kids Believe In Santa Clause!

Nothing better than "proof" for the lies I tell my children! ;) This idea is so AWESOME!

Read more...

What's Your Thanksgiving Day Traditions?

TwitterMoms and Target want to know the three Thanksgiving traditions you are or plan to pass down to your children.

I never really thought much of our Thanksgiving traditions until entering this contest. I was actually surprised to find that I'm passing down traditions that I wasn't even aware of! :)

Tradition 1: Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I've been doing this since I was a young girl -before the days of cable television in rural areas - and still enjoying it with my four children.

Tradition 2: Dine with extended family at my parents, with my new favorite tradition of FRIED turkey - it's awesome! While the turkey fries, the men do a little target shooting while the women chat.

Tradition 3: Putting up the Christmas tree - although with Princess A on the (destructive) move this year, we may wait until closer to Christmas this year. Any other time, though, I love putting it up on Thanksgiving day to kick off the month (or so) till Christmas.



Want a chance to win 1 of 15 Target $50 gift cards? Just share your 3 favorite traditions that you hope to pass down in your own blog post! Click here for the full set of rules!

Read more...

A Disney Themed Halloween

Read more...

Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas and Contest

I stumbled across a really cool site this morning that I wanted to share: Coolest-Homemade-Costumes.com.

This site offers hundreds of cool costume ideas for any occasion. And they are neatly categorized to make your search easier.

The Best Part: Make your own costume and enter it in the 2009 Homemade Costume Contest for a chance to win $500 Grand Prize! Second and Third Place prizes also given!

I wound up browsing this site for way too long, but walked away with some unique ideas - even for a non-sewing mama like me!

Read more...

God Bless America! Happy 4th of July!

THANK YOU!

To my Father, My Uncles, and the Many Other Men And Women Who, Throughout The Years, Have Fought For Our Freedoms!

You Make Me Proud to Be An American!

Read more...

Share Your Ideas to Celebrate the 4th of July

Each week for Aloha Friday, hosted by An Island Life, I try to ask a question that requires a (teensy) bit of thought - one last bit of mental stimulation before we all totally lame out for the weekend.

But in the spirit of it being a vacationing week in our home, I'm going to completely, 100% wimp out on trying to come up with a thought provoking question. ;)

So, here is my question for the week:

What is one thing that you do to celebrate the 4th of July that you think is (a little/completely/most definitely) unique?

My Answer:

Every year me, Brian and the kids, along with my brother and sister-in-law, at my parents house to swim, grill out, and play croquet. At the end of the evening, we all venture into to town to watch the fireworks show put on by the city.

Okay, so we're not even a little unique - but it's fun and maybe I'll get some new ideas for y'all! :)

HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Aloha Friday is brought to you by Kailani at An Island Life.
To find out more, visit her blog at www.island808.com

Read more...

Happy Father's Day! Father's Day Quotes

Happy Father's Day to all the great Daddies out there! Especially my husband and to my own Dad - I love you guys more than you'll ever know!

QUOTES ABOUT FATHERS

"A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." - Enid Bagnold

"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich." - Colonel Potter, M*A*S*H

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong." - Charles Wadworth

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." - Sigmund Freud

"Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected." - Red Buttons

"A father carries pictures where his money used to be." - Unknown

"It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't." - Barbara Kingsolver

Join the Fun of Quotable Sunday!

Read more...

Thank A Soldier Today - Happy Memorial Day 2009!

Read more...

Do You Remember This America? (Quotable Sunday)

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in America; a day to remember those who fought - and some who gave their lives - so that we might live in the greatest nation in the world.

Today America stands at a most important crossroads when it comes to our freedoms and the future of our sacred country.

So for this week's Quotable Sunday I using Presidential quotes that will hopefully help us each to remember the America we were once proud of; the America for which many soldiers shed blood.

"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy

"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves." - Thomas Jefferson

"We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And that makes us special among the nations of the earth." - Ronald W. Reagan

"We need a spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community, the American dream will wither." - William Jefferson Clinton

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt

More Quotable Sunday

Read more...

Somebody Said... (Mother's Day)

Somebody said being a mother is boring .....
somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good"....
somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother....
somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first....
somebody doesn't have two children.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery....
somebody never watched her 'baby' get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten...or on a plane headed for military boot camp.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married....
somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home.....
somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, you don't need to tell her.....
somebody isn't a mother.

Read more...

Great Gift Giveaways For Mom (Tuesday Tribute)

There's only 18 more days until Mother's Day, a time when Moms all across America are remembered for their love and sacrifice.

So for this Tuesday Tribute, I want to say thanks to my own mom for everything she's done for me. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful mother. She has been there for and with me through good and bad times, never doubting for a moment that I would and could make it through anything.

Although there was a time I thought my mom was "uncool" and I swore I couldn't wait to be out from under her rules, she has become one of my dearest and best friends.

I only hope I can give my own daughter all that she has given me.

And I'm sure that I'm not the only daughter who feels that way! So in honor of all Moms on this upcoming day, here are some great giveaways specifically for Moms:

• SlimPerfect Swimwear from Contest Corner. Ends 04/21
  
  
• Savepro $20 Gift Certificate from Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. Ends 04/22
  
  
• Avon Pink Ribbon Collection from Tara's View of the World. Ends 04/22
  
  
• Things Good Mothers Know by Alexandra Stoddard from Muse Reviews. Ends 04/23
  
  
• My Life On Time Personalized Planner from The Girl In Paradise. Ends 04/24
  
  
• Blue Nostalgia $20 Gift Certificate from J. Leigh Designz. Ends 04/24
  
  
• Dasani Cosmetic Case from Mommy Daddy Blog. Ends 04/25
  
  
• Desire Unchained: A Demonica Novel by Larissa Ione from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 04/25
  
  
• N-Fini Shapewear from Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. Ends 04/26
  
  
• "What's For Dinner?" Gift Basket from Contest Corner. Ends 04/29
  
  
• Walmart $25 Gift Card from Penny Pinching Diva. Ends 04/29
  
  
• Starbucks $5 Gift Card from The Professional Family Manager. Ends 04/29
  
  
• The Pretty Peacock Hand Stamped Jewelry from Mom Dot. Ends 04/30
  
  
• Ace Quilting Lavender Eye Pillow from The A-Priori Mommy. Ends 04/30
  
  
• All You 2 Year Subscription from Frugal Plus. Ends 04/30
  
  
• Gwen Stefani's Too Faced Cosmetics from CybeleSays. Ends 04/30
  
  
• Lilac Bijoux Daisy & Ladybug Wallet from Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 05/01
  
  
• BeautiControl Show of Hands and Hand and Nail Cream from Nurse Mommy. Ends 05/10
  
  
• Ageless Fantasy from Now What Baby. Ends 05/14
  
  
• ARCONA Night Worker from Now What Baby. Ends 05/15
  
  
• Skinny Skinny Organic Soap and Body Oils from Green and Chic. Ends 05/16

Read more...