When it comes to gift giving, a gift that is personalized  helps to make great memories. Personal Creations does a great job of offering this type of product for every occasion. If you are looking for a personalized gift for Mother’s Day, this is a website you need to check out.

I had the pleasure of choosing a few items to review from Personal Creations. While there a lot of gift ideas, The Baby Shoes Key Ring caught my eye. My nephew’s Mom is a good friend of mine. This year will be her first Mother’s Day and I want it to be special.

These little shoes are just too adorable. They are the color of my nephew’s birthstone. The part I really love about the Baby Shoes Keychain is the engraving on the bottom. Being able to add my nephew’s name and birth date is priceless. This is one of those gifts that can make you tear up. It is simply beautiful.

I have a lot of picture frames, to the point where I am all smiles when I get one as a gift. My next choice was a Rotating Photo Frame.

The frame is a white wood that is distressed. This type of frame is out of character for me because I usually get dark wood frames. Sometimes you have to try something different. I am so glad I did because  I’m really feeling this frame. The Rotating Photo Frame stands out, even my husband noticed it. I decided to have the words “Family Is Everything” engraved. I feel like no matter what happens, the love and support from your family is everything.

My final choice was a Plastic To Go Cup. Kayla has one and I have wanted one of my own for a while. That seems so strange to say but I rarely get anything for myself. I am trying to better with that.

You can choose if you want a name or initials added. I had my name put on the cup in orange. I have already had a few really cold liquids like lemonade in the cup. I like the fact that the cup is insulated so my hand did not freeze. I also like the idea of a reusable straw, less waste is always good.

You can grab a Baby Shoes Key Chain for $9.99, a rotating photo frame for $24.99 or a Plastic To Go Cup for $14.99 at Personal Creations.

The above product was provided to me for free to do a review. My opinions are 100% my own

I love shopping at Red Envelope. I was introduced to the website back in 2009. I was pretty happy when I was recently given the opportunity pick a few items from Red Envelope to review. This is much harder than you think. There are a lot of  Mother’s Day gift ideas to choose from. I decided to pick something that I would want for a gift. After a lot of back and forth I finally made a decision. I chose two items, the first one is:

a Mother of Pearl Purse Mirror

It came in a nice velvet bag. I had my initials engraved on it. I had a hard time getting a good picture with my camera. You can definitely see the engraving in person. I never had a “nice” mirror, my girls have pretty much claimed every mirror I have had.

I like this mirror because it stands out and there is no mistaking who it belongs too. Made of nickel and mother of pearl, I think it so pretty.

My second choice was:

A Photo Collage Tote

A bag that can have a photo on it is something  I have been checking out for years. It just so happens that Red Envelope carries one. There are three different colors to choose from: red, tan and black. I like black so that is the one I picked. When the tote arrived it was much bigger that I thought it would be. It is pretty sturdy, I added quite a few library books as a test. It held up well and the handles don’t bother me. Sometimes I have issues with handles and they hurt my shoulders. This one did not.  There are three frames in front where you can add pictures.  I like this type of tote because the pictures are not permanent and I can change them with my mood. Now I just have to find the perfect three pictures!

You can buy personalized Mother’s Day gifts like these from Red Envelope. The Mother of Pearl Purse mirror is $39.99 and the Photo Collage Tote is on sale for $29.99. Regular price for the tote is $79.99 so this is a good deal.

 The above product was provided to me for free to do a review. My opinions are 100% my own.

On more than one occasion I have talked about how I feel about flowers. While flowers are nice to look at, I am not too fond of receiving them as a gift. They are just not “my thing”. Well recently I was given the opportunity to review an item from ProFlowers and I had no idea what to choose.

That is until I had a chance to really browse the ProFlowers website.  ProFlowers offer more than just flowers. I found jewelry and Mother’s Day sweets too. I am talking about gourmet dipped berries, cake pops, cookies, brownies and chocolate covered snacks. ProFlowers is a great place to check out  if you are looking for Mother’s Day gifts other than flowers.

I finally was able to make decision on what I wanted to review. I went for the Mrs. Fields Bites Basket.  It is a great gift to share with the kids.

The basket comes with

• 24 Assorted Nibblers® Bite Sized Cookies
• 18 Brownie Bites
• 12 Mini Muffins

The flavors included were white chunk and Macadamia nuts, semi sweet without nuts,  triple chocolate, butterscotch blondie, milk chocolate without nuts, chocolate chip, blueberry and toffee fudge. A little bit of everything, perfect for me.

What I liked about the Mrs. Fields Bites Basket was it presented the opportunity for me to try different flavors. I was able to taste Macadamia nuts and a butterscotch blondie for the first time. They tasted pretty good. My family enjoyed these tasty sweets with me. I think I fell in love with the butterscotch blondie, it was delicious!

You can buy the Mrs. Fields Bites Basket at ProFlowers for $39.99

 The above product was provided to me for free to do a review. My opinions are 100% my own.

Sometimes no matter how much I try to plan ahead when it comes to Easter baskets, my husband and I always end up running around looking for stuff to add to them. We don’t buy those prepackaged ones , we make them up ourselves.  I like to fill the baskets up with items that each child would enjoy. In my opinion it makes the baskets a little more special.  Every year I make up one for all the kids, even Jazz (who will be 18 Monday, Yikes!!)

source: berries.com

With Easter quickly approaching, I was given the opportunity to check out an Easter basket from Red Envelope. Now honestly I never thought about giving someone a basket with fruit and treats inside. I didn’t even know Red Envelope offered this type of product, but I like the idea of it.

This would make a great hostess gift for an Easter dinner you might be invited to. Or just a gift to someone you care about. I definitely would not mind someone giving me one, lol.

There were a variety of baskets to choose from, and I finally decided on the Cherry Moon Farms Favorite. Included in the basket were:

• 3 Navel oranges
• 3 Fuji apples
• 3 Cornice pears
• 1 pack of jelly beans
• 1 pack of roasted pistachios
• 1 pack of  butter toffee pecans

I enjoyed my experience with Berries.com. The hardest part was picking out which basket to try out. Besides that everything went smoothly from ordering to delivery.

Product sample was provided for review. As always the opinions given are 100% my own.

You can not have too many options when it comes to shopping for the holidays in my opinion. I enjoy giving gifts that fit a person’s personality and is unique. This is the main reason I don’t do all of my shopping at one store. Red Envelope has their site ready to make shopping for Christmas gifts easier. I have shopped there before and don’t mind browsing the site, looking through all the nice products (adding to my own wishlist). It is nice seeing some gifts featured for the holidays. There are gifts for all categories including new parents,  jewelry, clothes and food.

Personalized gifts are always special and there are a lot of items to choose from:

Personalized Cutting Board

Family Tree Wall Art

Hi Hat and Mitten Set

After looking around Red Envelope for a while I found a personalized business card holder that would be perfect for my Father in law. He likes gifts that are practical and I wasn’t sure what to get him this year for Christmas.

 This leather business card holder is nice and simple. There are three colors to choose from : red, black and grey. The price starts at $29.95. I decided to go with getting my father-in- law’s initials added for $6.95. This business card holder has a push button feature I really like. I tried it out and it pops open easily.

My shopping experience with Red Envelope went through smoothly. My purchase arrived on the date it was supposed to. This is very important because I want gifts to arrive in a timely manner. Red Envelope has a nice sale section too. I found this legend of three keys accessory gift set that I just had to get. I could not pass it up. The regular price was $59.95 and it was marked down to $19.99!

The products for this review were provided for free from the company or its PR agency. Opinions are 100% my own as always.

Every year I can not wait to see what Walmart has on sale for Black Friday. I was sent the press release in my email and I wanted to share what deals you can expect.

Walmart’s Black Friday events will be held at the following times*

•  10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) – Top Toys, Home and Apparel
•  Midnight on Black Friday (Nov. 25) – Electronics! Electronics! Electronics
•  8 a.m. Nov. 25 through the weekend – Gifts for the entire family; electronics and more

Thanksgiving Day at Walmart.com: All-day long on Thanksgiving, shoppers can get great online-only specials and save with free “Fast, Faster, Fastest” shipping options. Examples of a few of the incredible online savings include:

• 46” HDTVs for under $400
• Electric Ride-Ons for children, priced under $40
• Choice of four select Blu-ray™ discs for only $20

10 p.m. Savings on Toys, Home and Apparel: For the first time, Walmart will be kicking off its in-store specials at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Savings available in store, while supplies last, include:

•  Xbox360 4GB with Kinect Console – $199.96 plus a $50 Walmart gift card
•  Select DVDs – starting at $1.96
•  6V or 12V Ride-Ons (e.g., Jeep Wrangler, X Games ATV or Barbie Jeep) – $99 each
•  Barbie, Disney Princess or Bratz branded Fashion Dolls – $5 each
•  8ft Inflatable Santa or Snowman – $20
•  Paula Deen^®  20-Piece Cookware Set – $86.44
•  Black & Decker Blender, Coffeemaker or Electric Griddle – $9.44 each
•  Men’s Wrangler, Ladies Rider or Junior LEI Jeans – $9.97 each
•  Kids Character Sleepwear Sets – $4.47
•  Rival Mini Chopper or 2-Slice Waffle Maker – $2.84 each

Midnight Electronics Event: Starting at midnight, shoppers will have access to great savings on a wide assortment of top brand name flat-screen TVs, digital cameras, Blu-Ray players and printers. Examples include:

•  Emerson^®  32″ LCD TV (31.5″ diagonal screen size) – $188
• LG Blu-ray™ Player – $49
•  Sansui 19″ TV (18.5″ diagonal screen size) – $98
• HP^® DJ-1051 All-in-One Printer – $19
•  8GB iPod Touch – $195

Incredible Specials throughout the Weekend**: Shoppers can continue to check off their holiday shopping list with great specials starting at 8 a.m. on Black Friday. Examples include:

• Vizio^®  42″ 3D LED Wi-Fi HDTV (42.0″ diagonal screen size 1080p) – $598
• Goodyear Tires starting at $59
• Buy any smartphone*** with a contract and get a $100 Walmart gift card

Having a map makes a difference. Walmart is also helping shoppers plan their in-store shopping strategy by making available store-specific maps on Facebook. To access the map, shoppers simply need to find their favorite store by clicking on the “My Local Walmart” application on Walmart’s Facebook page.

Along with its full plate of Thanksgiving weekend specials Walmart promises to match the price of any local competitor’s printed ad for an identical product, including matching competitor’s deals for the day after Thanksgiving.

I always carry the ads from other stores with me. The fewer stores I have to try to make it to the better. My plan is to break up the shopping between my husband, Jazz and myself. We should be able to to get a lot of shopping done that way.My eye is on the Xbox 360, with the $50 gift card I could buy a game to go with it. We have all wanted to try the Kinect.

The girls were sent a few Braced-Lets to try out. When Kayla saw all the color combinations she was full of smiles. She is all about accessories when it comes to her personal style. Kayla had starting putting ideas immediately.  The set that really caught her eye were the Halloween Braced-Lets.

The alternating colors looked great together. It is the perfect way to get in the Halloween spirit without putting on a costume. Kayla and Nannah have been taking turns wearing the set. They both like the fact you can wear one alone or wear them all together.  The Halloween Tri Pack is a limited edition, so they will not be available long.

Braced-Lets are so unique. They are made of elastic rubber bands accented with metal brackets. At first glance the girls thought that the Braced-Lets would not stretch. It turns out they are very strong!

Connect with Braced-Lets on Facebook and Twitter

I was provided with the above item from the company or its PR agency for review purposes.  Opinions are 100% my own as always.

My kids are way past the infant stage where they still need baby items. I have quite a few baby nephews and cousins, I spend more time in the baby section than you think. I like to stay on top of new products because I seem to always know someone that is expecting or just had a baby. Plus I like to be prepared when I babysit!

The Simply Right Baby care  line includes:

•  Simply Right™ – Premium Diapers in size 3, 4 and 5
•  Simply Right – Premium wipes (810 count)
•  Simply Right – Infant Formula (Complete, Gentle or Sensitivity)

I was provided with the above items from the company or its PR agency for review purposes. Opinions are 100% my own as always.

Right after fishing, one of my husband’s favorite things to do is work on cars. He loves to track down the problem and fix it himself. That is one of the things I love about him, he is very handy and can fix anything! Not only does he likes to fix cars, but he likes to put cars together.  Lucky for us he always finds a good deal on cars people want to get rid of, he sees the potential. Right now he has a 1970 Camero he is rebuilding. Don’t laugh, but for some reason I keep calling it a Camry. My husband hates that!

Between working on the Camero and fixing my truck, he is always buying car parts. One of his favorite places to go is Advance Auto Parts, there are so many locations where we live it makes sense.  For the last year or so my husband has been ordering his parts from them online. But he doesn’t get them shipped. You can place an order online, use a promo code to save money, and go to the store and pick them up. Easy as that! It saves a lot of time too, no need to drive to different stores to see if they have it in stock and then spend more time trying to locate the part.

My husband was really surprised how many of his friends, family and co-workers did not know that could be saving money by going online. Of course he gave me the suggestion that I should post about it because a lot of people are missing out!

So make sure you check them out next time you are buying car parts! It is definitely 1StopMom approved!

My kids like to make their lunch to take to school most of the time. The only exception is when mock chicken legs, breakfast foods, or pizza is on the menu.  Of course they don’t like to carry brown bag anymore, they like something different. They no longer like the lunch boxes that have cute cartoon character. TJ and Kayla want something that says “big kids”. I actually found something that they both like that is not “babyish”  and different from what most of the kids are carrying.

Last month Bobble lunch boxes hit the shelves in Target. The two lunchboxes are both designed byKarim Rashid: one is a soft-cooler packmade with insulated lining that will keep food chilled and has interior pocketsto hold a mini-bobble (13 oz) and food in place. The other is inspired by a bento box, so it is partitioned out to hold the lunch items and a mini-bobble.

I like the idea of the of the Bobble lunch box that keeps everything seperated. It would be easier for kids to make their own lunches without having to worry about baggies and containers. An added plus is the money parents will save not buying baggies or snack sized packs of food. Oh and I can’t forget how much you will save using a Bobble instead of box juices.

We were sent a blue and pink Bobble lunch bag to review.

Kayla and Nannah liked the Bobble Lunch Bag. It comes with a Bobble water bottle that has a filter inside. My kids already like this type of water bottles. They carry them in school and refill them right in school. Nannah says the water tastes much better this way. Kayla actually drinks a lot more water using her water bottle. The Bobble lunch bag has an easy to wipe off exterior and folds flat when empty. It fits in backpack with no problem. Of course TJ wants a black one, but every time I go to Target they are out of stock. I might just have to order one online.

I think the Bobble Lunch Bag can be used for more than just to take lunch to school. Kayla carries hers when we go to Six Flags. She adds pieces of fruit or veggies and whatever else she feels like eating. It can also be used for road trips, trips to the Zoo and when kids visit their relatives. There is a variety of colors so everyone can have their own.

Connect with Bobble on Facebook and Twitter. You can buy your own Bobble Lunch Box at Target for $12.99

Product was provided for review. Opinions are 100% mine as always.