IPhone Cases from Society 6

I’m in the market for a new IPhone case since the one I bought in Japan busted… well, “Japan” at Epcot Center in Disney World (that is extremely dorky I know, but as a mom, it’s pretty much the only “foreign” locale I go these days). The best selection has to be at Society6 with hundreds of cases to choose from. The site itself is pretty cool — sourcing designs from artists all over the world to grace their cases, as well as canvases, t-shirts, hoodies and more. Check out some of the designs above. It’s going to be tough to pick just one!

Vintage Camera / Scales / The Invincible Summer / Boardwalk / Audrey Hepburn / Home

Product Review: Name Your Tune Personalized CD

Here’s a product I absolutely love and couldn’t wait to tell you about – the Name Your Tune personalized CD. Last year, I took to Twitter to ask about a unique and fun gift for my friend’s 2-year old daughter because as a three boy mom, I just didn’t know what little girls would love. I received several responses telling me to check out the Name Your Tune CDs and honestly, on first glance, wasn’t so sure this was the type of gift I was looking for.

But, I went to the website and started listening to the sample tracks and they sounded really fun, and after chatting with a girl that works there over Twitter that day, even managed to score a CD for my three boys as well. I wasn’t sure how it would go over with them, since my oldest two are 5 and 7 and well beyond the nursery rhyme years, but when it came I put it on and they literally didn’t stop playing it for months. All three of my boys, including the 1-year old, LOVE this CD and they constantly put it on and get excited when their name comes on in each song. The baby has figured out how to turn the stereo on by himself so several times a day I will all of a sudden hear a very loud version of “Little Quinn Has a Farm” echoing through the house.

This CD makes an awesome gift, I ordered lots of them for friends’ kids for Christmas and have given them out for birthdays as well and every single time I always hear back how much the kids go crazy for this. I did a little digging at Christmas time when I placed my last order and found that the code FACEBOOK will get you $5 off and it appears this is still active. It took a couple of weeks from order date until delivery for me so if you’re buying these as a gift, plan ahead but trust me, they’re totally worth it. You can order a CD with multiple names on it too, so if you’re ordering for a whole family, you only need to buy one.

Etsy Friday Finds: Ampersand Design Studio

Welcome to our first “Etsy Friday Finds” post! Renee and I are Etsy obsessed, and so we’ve decided to post about an Etsy shop that we love every Friday — perfect reading and subsequent shopping for those end-of-week slack-off sessions! If you have any Etsy faves, please be sure to send us a comment and we’ll take a look!

Shop: Ampersand Design Studio

Specializes in: Colorful prints and posters using bold colors and modern typography

Feedback: 100% Positive

Ships from: Kansas City

I picked this shop because it’s totally up my alley in terms of design aesthetic: bold, colorful, modern, with a touch of whimsy. How cute is that ABC Animal Print? They have a personalized version as well. Ampersand Design Shop also has a great blog that I follow, full of cool design, fashion and home tips for the real person (by ‘real’ I mean super cool stuff, without being pretentious or stuffy). The founders, Carrie Kiefer and Morgan Georgie, seem like girls I would be, or want to be, friends with. Check it out!

All photos copyright Ampersand Design Shop

 

Last minute gifts for kids from yoyo.com

Like you, I’m in the midst of crazy holiday hoopla, but probably unlike you, this mom just realized that both my kids are 2 days away from being completely out of diapers. Yes, I could go to the drugstore, but in all honestly, I turn to online shopping for just about everything these days, and diapers is no exception. Diapers.com is my go-to place for all things baby (I love, love, love that site!) They usually ship next day — second day guaranteed, and it’s free over $49. In the past year, they have launched three other sites linked to your diapers.com shopping cart: soap.com, wag.com and yoyo.com. I hopped over to yoyo and was able to get some last minute stocking stuffers for my boys as well. All delivered before Christmas — for free! It’s a great site for the ‘whoops! Johnny’s birthday party is on Saturday!’ weeks as well. Have fun!

The Best Gift I Ever Gave

Last year, in the early Fall, our 11-year-old lab passed away somewhat unexpectedly just a few weeks after we brought the baby home from the hospital. It was really tough on everyone, especially my oldest son and our other lab, and I knew we needed to do something to cheer them both up. My husband and I decided to get a puppy, and to have Santa leave her under the tree on Christmas morning.

Logistically, it was a total nightmare. Puppies don’t settle into new homes so easily and from about 10pm on Christmas Eve until 6am Christmas morning, she whined and barked. Luckily, boys sleep  really soundly, unlike the newborn who kept waking up every few hours and my mom who was kind enough to volunteer to sleep (or stay awake) downstairs with the puppy all night. The boys woke up bright and early and came out to find this under our tree:

She didn’t replace our last dog, and she ate a lot of shoes and socks and toys and spatulas and pajamas and toilet paper rolls, but she’s pretty awesome and definitely the best thing ever left under our tree.

What was the best gift you ever gave or got from someone?