Wanna Win $250?

Teaser Alert!

I'm excited to share something with you...

Next week I get to be one of the hosts of ToyTuesday!

Huh?
12 bloggers are giving away $250 gift cards each day leading up to the big shopping discount Tuesday Dec. 8th...

ToyTuesday!

You can enter every day, starting NOW!
Check the blogs listed on the ToyTuesday.com website to see where to enter each day...

Or Tweet me and I'll let you know where to enter each day!

Find out who's up for the big give TODAY over at ToyTuesday.com... hurry each giveaway is only up for 1 day!

BillMeLater is the amazing company behind the Giveaways...

Crayola: New Products, TONS Of Glow Fun!

REVIEW: New Crayola Products!

Crayola Glow Board
Price: $17-20
Size: 12" by 8" and 3" deep. When the product is opened and set up it looks like a small easel & easily fits on table top, or can sit in child's lap.

Aha Factor: Took us a few minutes to understand how this baby works. But WOW! I promise once you realize that there are TWO coloring surfaces, and when you color a 'changing' image, then turn on the alternating lights... It Looks Like Your Image Is Moving!!!

I don't think I can do this product justice. I'm serious. I think I'm more in love with this light/glow board/easel thing than my kids! We keep imagining new ways to use it! My 8yrold begged to take it to church for Pete's sake! Crayola provides additional drawings and ideas on their website for download... and we'll get to that but so far.. we are having too much fun drawing our own 'moving pictures'....

Examples so far: A rocket taking off, a little kid swinging back and forth, and even a watering bucket that looks like the water is coming out on the flowers (leave it to my 8yrold budding artist to come up with this... but honestly my 5yrold draws some cool stuff)!

Thumbs Down Thoughts: The markers are kind of flimsy. (One of ours broke outright.) It says right in the instructions these will dry out faster than regular markers. And it says you can replace them but I'm not seeing them sold separately anywhere? I found them for sale directly on the Crayola Store site for $5.99 plus S&H.

YGWYPF: (yougetwhatyoupayfor) I think this is a great price overall. Perfect for a gift, and suits really any age kid from 3 and up? I saw this advertised at Micheals for $25 but elsewhere for under $20. Replacing the markers could get expensive though so that's a bit of a downer. But the fun and learning and creativity make up for it.

Crayola Glow Station
Price: $20-25
Size: Box is about 14" by 14" and 3" deep. When the product is opened and unrolled it lays very flat but is more than 2 feet tall! Plus it can hang on the wall. (We are LOVING that!)

Aha Factor: My kids recognized the product immediately!
5yrold: "I've seen this on TV! Can we open it RIGHT NOW!!!" They were especially excited when they realized you can use ANY light source not just the glow wand it comes with. They ran and gathered up every flashlight in the house! They soon learned by experiment that larger flashlights deliver too much light and the whole board lights up!

My kids love this just as much as the glow board. I'm super impressed with the 'science' of the thing. They are experimenting with it in a completely dark room (yes the bathroom) and in a less dark room. What happens when they flip the light on? How long do the images last in a dark room VS a lighter room?

Examples so far: We took the whole thing to a group playdate at my church one night, and it was a total hit. They did a good job of taking turns. Using the stencils and cut outs to create pictures and writing 'scores' after kids were putting on dances and such! The other day I found they had hung it on the wall in preparation for a 'play' they had made up. When I walked down the stairs it said:

How cool is that?

Thumbs Down Thoughts: I'm having a hard time coming up with anything we don't like about it? You have to change the batteries?? So far we haven't had to though. The light wand can be fitted with a prism-like tip and the light bounces around all zainy brainy.. or without it the tip is fine and better for writing. I was on the Crayola Site and they had all these examples of games to play using the Glow Station. We are all over THAT!!

YGWYPF: (yougetwhatyoupayfor) I think this is fabulously priced. $20 for hours of fun and no additional cost? I call that a winner. And worth every penny.

GIVEAWAY and #GNO!

MomItForward.com is hosting a Girls Night Out via Twitter (#GNO) This Tuesday night! Join me I'll be on the panel!


@Crayola will be there to offer up more Holiday creative gift ideas! Don't miss it.... and... YUP. Giveaways included! Wow, TONS of Crayola products and even a Kindle!

Products provided by Crayola, as part of the MomItForward #GNO campaign.

GoodNCrazy JumpStart.com Giveaway! CLOSED

See winners announced below!

Time to Jump into A Giveaway!

Watching my kids play around with JumpStart.com has basically made me jealous! I am totally loving seeing what they see. And now YOU can too! JumpStart has generously offered my readers 2 chances to win a 6 Month subscription AND an age appropriate CD game as well. Together these are worth nearly $70!

In addition to the online interactive 3D Jumpstart.com, we received a Kindergarten CD-rom game called 'The Legend of Grizzly McGuffin'. Each of these types of games comes with 2 levels that work immediately, but you get to unlock 10 extra levels when you have an online membership with Jumpstart.com.

I think I would have to say that my little boy spends most of his time using this game. He gets frustrated when the online game says 'loading...'! My 8yrold plays the online version more (her patience level is higher huh?) And does the 11yrold use any of this? She'll tell you no!

But you know how when Barney or the Wiggles are on and even though it's like scratching a chalkboard, you tend to stop a second and watch the stuff on the screen? And then you can't seem to look away? This is a little like that for her... not the scratching chalkboard part.. OH, forget the analogy! She 'helps' her little brother and then gets pulled in, sometimes I catch her playing and TK has walked off!

~~~~
I want to make this clear. This giveaway is more than just a giveaway. It is round two of this GoodNCrazy Jumpstart campaign!

It's a chance to hang with the marketing team of JumpStart.com. In fact you will get the chance to run your own review and host a giveaway (if you choose!) If you win my contest I will do my best to help you get the word out about your site and your review/giveaway. And you have two more chances after mine to win with Angie at Seven Clown Circus starting on Friday! There were two winners already over at StopDropandBlog!

So here are the details:

There will be two winners, decided by random drawing from comments on this post.

What each will win~~

• 1 6 Month Subscription to Jumpstart.com
• 1 CD-rom game for either {Kindergarten, First Grade or Second Grade}

Qualifications~~

Winner agrees to post a review on their own blog (I'll help you start one if you don't have one I promise!) And has the option to host a giveaway as well, after email contact with the Jumpstart.com marketing team.

Rules and all the blah blah blah~~

{Mandatory}
Please become a fan of Jumpstart via Facebook. Come back here and leave me a comment about a discussion you either read about, started or added a comment to. (Leave the url of the discussion in the comment here.) If you aren't on Facebook.. give it a shot! Still not working? Then leave a comment somewhere on the Jumpstart blog and that will count!

Extra Entries~~

1. Follow @Jumpstart_erin on twitter. (Leave a comment here when you've done that.)
2. Tweet This Sentence:
   

   Jumping Into JumpStart: A Giveaway! http://budurl.com/99py

   
   (Leave a comment here when you've done that WITH your username as well.)
   
3. Check out the JumpStart Blog and tell me something about one of the articles on the home page. (Leave a comment here about the blog.)
4. Follow my blog! (Tell me in the comments.)
   

That's four extra chances to win! I'm serious about helping create a blog if needed! Good luck, and as always please leave me a way to find you!

Contest will end Thursday April 23rd (that's tomorrow) @9PM Pacific.

MoziEsme of MoziEsme.blogspot.com has won one of the prize packages.

AND

Joy of All Because Two People Fell In Love won the 2nd package!

Congrats!

Other JumpStart Posts in the campaign.

Not One But Two...More Good Than Crazy

First Up:~~~

LapTops For FlatTops

I have two siblings who joined the Air Force, and a brother-in-law in the Army. I live in a country where others fight wars and conflicts that keep my family safe. My husband unknowingly got on the train on September 11th and entered NYC that fateful day. (Read his story, and my story.)

I am grateful for the men and women serving in the armed forces. What better way to celebrate Good Friday, than to celebrate the GOOD these people do for all of us?

Imagine one of those serving was your Husband or your Wife. And how grateful you would be for email to communicate! (photo by Army.mil)

Now imagine you don't have a computer and communicating with your spouse overseas is hard?

If you or someone you know has a
family member in the military and could
use a new laptop to communicate:

Here's an Essay Contest for military families to win a laptop for their family and a webcam for their serving spouse! (Get it? Laptops for Flatops...!?) It is sponsored by AllAmericanDirect.com. And they are giving away a laptop and a webcam to two deserving families each month for the rest of the year!

Please read all the contest rules (the essay can only be 400 words):

Submissions must come from a family who has an immediate family member (husband, wife, mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter) who is serving in the US Military in a location not in the continental United States.

Please email the contest link to any military families you know! Thanks!

Photo by dvidshub

And Second:~~~

A Chocolate Spa Getaway Weekend

Did I get your attention? I know! CHOCOLATE. check! SPA. double check! I'm in. And by in, I mean I am entering this contest baby... YOU should too!

How?

Write a 300 word essay. You just have to explain why your best girlfriend deserves this Chocolate Spa Vacation to Hershey, PA. (Staying in the fabulous Hotel Hershey of course!) This could be about your close friend who just got divorced, your single girlfriend who could use a pick-me-up, or your married confidant who needs a getaway!

If your essay is judged the best entry by contest standards, BOTH you AND your girlfriend will win Airfare, Hotel Stay...

and...

Over $400 (four hundred) worth of Spa Treatments, including a Swedish Massage, a Facial, a Chocolate Wrap and Lunch in the Oasis- a lite lunch of salads, soups and wraps at the spa in your robe and sandals.

There's more... but honestly after I read about the Spa Treatments I couldn't see straight anymore...! This contest is sponsored by:

And they are all offering additional prizes...
Seriously. Go check out this contest! Deadline is April 17th!

BuildABear Gift Card Winner!

Winner Winner Green Froggy Dinner?

A BuildABear Froggy?

Okay gift card anyway..!

Katie From Good Life {eats}
—awesome blog name huh?
Is the winner of my first Blogavershury Giveaway!
Congrats Katie! (and thanks so much to everyone who played along!)

I will be publishing a list of all the awesomeness of blogs that you shared with me, to follow and friend and chat it up Carissa Style!

But first.. let's highlight Katie-the-winner's blog!

First, she has her own giveaway going on right now for some tasty looking pasta sauce *oh yum*!

Click here to enter...

And would you like to see her food yumminess?
You do don't you?

She calls this Orange Ricotta Bundt Cake.
And you had me at ORANGE!

Everyone do me a favor and slip on over to Good Life {eats} and congratulate her,
enter her contest and tell her I sent ya!
At least follow her on Twitter!
@GoodLifeEats

A little recap. My one year in the bloggy world.

Sometimes I shared the not so pretty in my life.
(Do you know what Lake Stink is?)

And often I shared what I was in love with.

I started Apricot A Lot, designing custom bags and totes!

I started my not-every-Sunday-posting called Church Chat.
Read them all here.

I moved two states away.

But not before having a GarBage Sale.

Sometimes a Recipe.

Salmon Recipe (maple-y/mustard-y/jalepeno-y yummy-ness)

I started a series of posts about my childhood here's the first one.
(That's the only one I did...it's coming, I promise!)

I was syndicated once, Namiste.
(See the article over at the Title Nine.com Blog)

Oh yeah.. I started a little thing called #GNO over on Twitter? Heard of it?

And that little thing has turned into a full-fledged teenager complete with gangly-ness and zits sometimes (don't ask about the new website that STILL isn't complete!) We call the whole thing 'Mom It Forward' have a look! Hope to see you on Tuesday nights for #GNO, where we do Girl's Night Out, Twitter style...!


Thanks for joining me. I am better because of you.

Giveaway! BuildaBear Gift Card

Well This. Is. It.

My own personal Blogavershury!
I'm one this month.
Yessirree. I blogged my whole year away. And to celebrate...

Build A Bear $25 Gift Card For You.

(If you comment. And follow the rules. And you're nice...and maybe say happy blogavershury)

My daughter a year back wanted a bear from Build A Bear something fierce. And we said sure, but they are kind of expensive... How about you work towards earning half and we'll pay half...


And kind of like that. (I mean not that you are my kid or anything...)

But Today? I have a Build A Bear gift card for you in the amount of $25... now that will buy you an awesome bear (or Frog) and you can find great ones on the site (and they aren't naked or anything) for about that price. But if you are willing to save your pennies like my daughter.. you could have this one in time for dying 'O the river green!

$38 for Irish Dancer Happy Go Lucky...


Or this one for your very own luv bug (I know you have one).

Love Bug Brown Sugar Puppy $24

And does everyone need a Hula Hello Kitty?
I think you do.

Okay for the boring blah blah blah.. 2 rules.

1) when you comment (and I know you will..right!?) you MUST share at least one other person's awesome blog url with me. No you can't put your own url, that would be cheating and cause for kickoutableness.

AND

2) you must click the cute little tweet bird and tweet about this contest... don't have a twitter account? Then post this link on your Facebook page. Don't have a Facebook page? Um.. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Just contact me and I'll hook you up with some social media good, yes it's like heroin and yes I'm the dealer in this scenario.

Yes you must complete both steps to qualify. And let's see.. This contest will end... Friday Feb. 20th at 7PM Pacific Time. Did I forget anything?

Oh yeah.Thanks for a great year!
PS. you should probably leave a way for me to contact you.. don't know how to connect your blogger profile to your email? Here's a TUTORIAL. And I'd love to have your twitter username!

A little headband giveaway...

Over at Dabbled.org, Dot (do you love her name or what?) is hosting a tutorial/crafts/artwork contest... And this isn't a really terrific tute, but it's all I've got. (It's a repost of a tute I posted way back a while ago...). And for fun, I'm throwing in two finished headbands for a giveaway!

First the tute...

I found the cutest little tutorial for easy headbands over at Alteredcloth.com. So I won't take the credit for that part. But she kept mentioning a loop turner? A what? I ignored her. (Cuz I'm smart that way. I'm clueless and loopless, not topless though.)

The 'easy' headbands were taking me FOREVER to make, not because they were hard.... but because the small loop for the elastic was taking so long to TURN.
So I bought a....

After using this thingy ma-jig, the headbands now take 10 seconds. (Okay the loop turning part takes 10 seconds.)

After sewing the tube together wrong sides, slip the doo-hickey in, use the clasp to catch the other end and pull it back inside itself, revealing the right sided tube.

Voila! Lickety Split!

Now to get that dang elastic through...
Slip the turner inside your right side out tube, grab the elastic like so and...

From this...

To this. You'll have to budget 2 seconds for that last part. Hope you have that much time?

And for the giveaway...
Two headbands. A grown up Black and white one for you, and a kid sized red bandana print for a 3-10yrold!
You have until Saturday August 2nd at NOON to comment on this post for entry.
You know what to do!
If you don't have a google account, please leave your email so I can contact you!!
Would you like to see more giveaways...
BloggyGiveaways

Note: contest is closed. But I make these headbands for $2 and 3 a piece! Shipping is $2.
Thanks.