3D Drawing Pad

I have a daughter that would go nuts for this!!!

The Escapade Direct website explains it this way: This 3D Drawing Pad has a stereographic background that you can write or draw on using a regular pencil. When you put on the 3D glasses... watch out! Your drawing will appear to float above the page! Who knew 3D could be so easy and fun!

You get 50 sheets and one set of glasses for $8.25. A perfect gift!! I love it! Click here for more information!

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to nayz! Random.org selected YOUR lucky number! I hope that you find many slow cooking recipes to add to your family's list of faves!!

Send me your mailing address... alisonsannouncements @ yahoo dot com

Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who entered...

Bad Tattoo

I found this joke in the March 2009 edition of the Reader's Digest. It made me laugh outloud.

The thing you need to focus on in your 20s is not getting a bad tattoo. You don't want to be 40 and going "No, dude, it was different back then - everyone loved SpongeBob."

Submitted by Tom Papa in Time Out New York

National Tortilla Chip Day

These are my two favorite brands of tortilla chips... and since today, February 24, is National Tortilla Chip Day, our family will be having chips and salsa with dinner tonight!!

I buy On the Border tortilla chips at Sam's Club. And I buy Nana's Chips at Safeway. Nana's Chips are so awesome when you take the extra thirty seconds, or so, and warm them in the microwave. Yummy!

Our favorite salsa is Carol's. Sorry... Carol is Kaleigh's club soccer coach... you won't be able to find her extremely delicious, perfectly blended, magnificently spicy salsa anywhere! And you'll rarely find it in our refrigerator either. When we get an order from her, we usually eat it the same day. One time, I hid a container of her salsa in a cottage cheese container so we could have some the second day! I am sooooooooo sneaky!

Journaling Labels

At Scrapbook.com you can find these fun journaling labels. I like the idea of using them on artwork that my kids create, or even on photos. I would also use them in my physical journal, for a title or a special quote I wanted to emphasize.

How would you use journaling labels?

Balancing Board

I have wanted to get a balancing beam for my kids for years! It was one of my favorite recess activities when I was in elementary school.

I love this one, called the River Balancing Board, because it is able to be built and rebuilt, even by little kids! It is easy to store and then just as easy to get back out. It can be used inside, or outside.

Six River pieces, plus River Stop for $81.

Click here for more information. The store, called Escapade Direct, is full of some fun activities for kids!

Free, Fun Bookplates from Good Housekeeping

Click here for a free download for these fun bookplates. Pick up some labels (3 1/2 x 2 1/8") and print away. How fun... how easy! And what a great teacher gift! Be sure to print some for your own personal library!

I love Good Housekeeping magazine.

Enjoy!

Current Giveaway - Slow Cooking Pocket Cookbook

This is a fun series of cookbooks that have great, yet simple, recipes. The cookbooks are small (about 6.5 x 5") with great metal spiral binding. The pages are wipeable and each recipe has a full-color photo. I love cookbooks that have pictures for every single recipe!

Leave a comment to this post by midnight, Wednesday, February 25 to enter to win a copy of the Slow Cooking Pocket Cookbook. I'll post the winner on the 26th.

Good luck!

Hug Salt and Pepper Shakers

The Hug Salt and Pepper Shakers from ochelly.com are identical in shape... they differ only in their colors and the number of holes in their faces.

When I was little I always thought that I wanted a salt and pepper shaker collection. You know... some people collect stamps, Troll Dolls, etc... I wanted to collect salt and pepper shakers. It never stuck.

Anyway, if I were to start a collection as a grown-up, this would be my first purchase! I love them. I love that they are whimsical, unique and hugging.

Peter Cincotti

You've probably never heard of him...

but you should check him out...

Peter Cincotti

What an incredible voice!! His genre is more jazz than pop... but his newest album, "East of Angel Town" is considered pop! And this guy writes his own stuff. Man.

Amazon.com is a great place to buy this...

and isn't he cute????

Restoration Hardware - Luxury Plush Throw

I have two words for these throw blankets from Restoration Hardware...

BEST.EVER.

I am not kidding. I received the ivory throw as a gift for Christmas. It took my husband about 48 hours to adopt the throw as his own. Thankfully, his birthday is in early January, and I was able to plan a trip to Restoration Hardware to get him his very own. I bought him the chocolate throw.

We love our throws!! They are the perfect size to snuggle under while watching tv... and when we are lucky enough to get a Sunday afternoon nap... P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

I do have one complaint...

our local Restoration Hardware is across town, not somewhere I go regularly. I need to get two more... for my teenagers and I've yet to plan a trip to get them. Maybe this weekend.

And I know... I could order them online. But it is too dang fun to shop at Restoration Hardware in person.

I Found Your Camera

IFoundYourCamera... ok... if you have ever lost your camera, this is a blog you MUST check out!

IFoundYourCamera is a continuous project dedicated to reuniting lost cameras and orphan photos with their original owners.

What a great idea! And according to the owners of the blog, it is working! Cameras, memory cards, orphan photos are all being reunited with very grateful owners!

I love this!!!

WallCandy Art - DISCOUNT AVAILABLE!!!

Allison from WallCandy Arts left a comment on the post about the cool chalkboard vinyl that I wrote on Wednesday.

In case you don't read comments to previous blogs, let me share it with you here...

Thanks so much for mentioning WallCandy Arts on your blog. We'd like to offer your readers a special discount on our wall stickers, please use the code blogsupport20 to get 20% off any purchase on www.wallcandyarts.com. Peel, Stick, Decorate!!

Warm regards,

Allison

wallcandyarts.com

Thank you Allison for the great offer! What a fun surprise!!

WallCandy Art

It is clear to me that vinyl decals for the home decoration is a fad that is going to be around for awhile... thanks to creative people and companies like WallCandy Art. They've taken the traditional wall art and made it a chalkboard. You still get the convenience of the vinyl... easy to put up, easy to take down and a pretty cheap decorative tool. But in addition, you get the fun of the decal being a chalkboard!!! I love this idea and think the possibilities are endless.

My teenagers are consistently having to memorize things... I'm always making posters for them. If I had a chalkboard in their rooms, maybe even in the bathroom, I could write what they are needing to memorize. Then, I could even erase part of the quote to help them master the memorization... oh the ideas!!!

Fun stuff!

The Winner is...

I hope JANE is ready for a fun project!!! She is the winner of the Close to My Home calendar!!

Enjoy!!!!

Love the Cardinals!!

What a game!!! Tragic... but oh so exciting too! We really got our money's worth with this game. Nevermind that it was free... I'm just trying to make a point.
It really was an exciting game and up until the very end, it was hard to predict how it was going to end.

I heard a reporter this morning report that ESPN had been doing a bunch of interviews with Arizona fans after the game. The two phrases that they were hearing over and over... PROUD OF THE CARDINALS and GREAT GAME!

I agree. It was a great game. We, the Cardinals, went in as the most unlikely of underdogs... and we put on a great show!!!