December 21st was my 23rd birthday. My husband is in Iraq and I had to work that day. Not exactly the best birthday plans. I arrived at work at about 3 PM and started my usual daily routine of paperwork, counting down the safe and preparing the facility for …

As sure as fate, we are all repeatedly asking ourselves how to make somebody a present, how to choose the right gift and how to balance our budget with expectations of recipient. For me, desperate attempts to resolve this kind of problems fast and furiously are finally just a …

I have bought personalized Christmas Tree Ornaments from Things Remembered on line. Both for myself and for gifts and they were sinply exquissit. They are on their way to becoming family heirlooms. Things Remembered also has an extensive line of personalized jewelry for both men and …

I recently purchased a Frondini Collection boxed gift set for a male friend of mine. Frondini has a great name in gemstone jewellery, watches and trinkets, and this boxed set is a great gift for most men.
This particular boxed gift set contains a mans watch and a liquor flask. …

This figurine is one of my favorite pieces from Crystal World. I have around ten of them. What sets them apart from Swarovski crystal figurines is that many of Swarovski’s pieces are made entirely of clear crystal. Crystal World creates their figurines by combining clear and colored crystal. That …

Animal toys are a huge favourite with most children of my acquaintance, and this cute hamster toy certainly lives up to that. She is designed to fit in with the fairly extensive Zhu Zhu Pet World, but I see no reason why she should not be bought as a …

I was, during my last visit to Bangkok, Thailand, walking around in the Central World Plaza building, floor to floor, looking for some nice gifts and souveniers for my sister and her family back home. Ofcourse, the Central World Plaza building was a huge building, and with the recent …

With ten weeks to go until my baby comes all of my friends are busy planning my baby shower. This is how they’re trying to keep my mind off of the labor up ahead. They accomplish this by telling me to put together my gift registry. …

Let us say that you have many people to buy gifts for, and do not have a lot of money to do it. You have carefully bought at only the best prices and now, it is time to make this gift appear as wonderful as it possibly can! I …

The way I ended up getting this piece is an interesting story. I was in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Philadelphia, PA, because I had done a charcoal drawing for the president of the museum. It was a drawing of Norman Rockwell himself, and I went there to see …

I would have called this piece something like “Mini Butterfly” or “Baby Butterfly” instead of “Spring Butterfly.” This is a small figurine (one and a quarter inches tall), and there is something very sweet and innocent looking about this piece. This looks like a butterfly that is not fully …

I had the pleasure of meeting this glass artist, Marilyn Kimble Holt, at a local expo several years ago. She had many of her beautiful art glass figurines and paperweights on display and for sale. So I was lucky that I had the chance to purchase a few of …

I don’t have any other crystal bird figurines from Crystal World, so I am glad that I had the opportunity to purchase this one. And what’s more, it is a bluebird, so that really makes it something special. Every once in a while, I do see crystal and glass …

This is a piece that got my attention several years ago when it first came out. Unfortunately, it sold out at most of the stores in my area. But I did locate one store that still had it in stock, so I purchased it. Now Swarovski is having an …

My mother is an avid coffee drinker. It does not matter what time of the day it is, day and night, she is always walking around with her Betty Boop coffee mug sipping a freshly made cup of her favorite drink. Although I know drinking too much …

I love eating all types of chocolates but my all time favorite have always been After Eight chocolates. These chocolates are generally thins mints enrobed in dark chocolates and were gifted to me by my parents on my birthday. Mint has always been my preferred flavor and these chocolates …

This was a limited-edition piece that was what I like to call a “spin-off” of Missy Mo, which is the cow figurine in Swarovski’s Lovlot collection. The Lovlots are a series of sweet little animal caricatures that include mice, dogs, ducks, and the list of animals goes on and …

It’s nice that Swarovski gives names to some of their little crystal animal figurines. I believe this was a limited-edition figurine, so I purchased it as soon as I had the chance. I am an animal lover, and I have enjoyed collecting Swarovski animal figurines for about ten years …

I remember when we used to have irises growing near the front porch of my house when I was a kid. But those were yellow irises, and this one is a purplish blue color. Crystal World does a nice job of making their flower figurines look realistic. I have …

Last time I visited Bali, my driver suggested me to buy my souvenirs need on Krisna. For I didn’t know much about souvenir shops in Bali, I gave my agreement and I ended up shopping in Krisna.
Compared to any other souvenir shops I ever visited all around the Asia, …

Sanrio has many cute items that I am sure many girls and teenagers love to have and collect. Sanrio have quite a lot of characters mostly created for cute stuffs and cartoons in Japan (its country of origin). Most of us would know Hello Kitty of course, and I …

The art and jewelry gallery where I bought this has a special case that is marked “Under $100.” The case only contains perfume bottles, not jewelry or anything else. I think this peach perfume bottle was in that case for a while before I finally decided to buy it. …

Within the last few days Starbucks as announced that they will be closing a lot of stores which are close to me and this made me want to shop at the store but since I was low on funds I was not able to go there when I wanted. …

I found the Fright Fest set at Meijer for less than $20 yet I continued to avoid the set for the longest time because I didn’t know if I would ever actually sit down and watch everything in the set. It includes six discs with two movies on each …

My daughter received the Littel People Kingdom Castle for Christmas this year and loved it so much she was playing with it before we even had a chance to get it assembled.
I can see why she likes it so much. Coming complete with a King, King and Dragon, the …

I got this Baylis and Harding bath bombs set in a rose and marshmallow scent as a Christmas gift to me from one of my in laws while I was in New Zealand and I wasn’t at that time really so keen about using bath bombs but since it …

I have made a little collection of Swarovski mini flower figurines. That is what I like to call them, because each one is a single flower occupying a pot, and they are petite and cute. What I like about their small size is that I can group several of …

I was looking for a gift to give my 3-year-old goddaughter at the toy store. One toy that caught my eye was Disney’s Baby Princess Doll Collection. The collection consisted of baby versions of Disney princesses. There were five in the set—Ariel, Belle, Aurora, Snow White …

I’ve been shopping a lot, lately, for children’s toys and those items that are not exactly toy level, but, more teaching level.
At Target, in Eureka, CA, I came upon a wonderful item that many of my friends have, actually, gone out to buy for their Christmas gifts, as well. …

I have a soft spot for all things mid-century, so when I spotted Kitschy Canapés: Finger Foods for the Swinger Set, I just had to have it! When you purchase the Kitschy Canapé’s gift set, you receive a 64 page recipe book, 6 retro inspired plastic fruit …

This is a great winter/fall scent and has a very welcoming aura, when lighting this up. The scent is exaclty what it states it is, with a hint of something spicey. The scent covers up the whole room in the matter of minutes. Soon after a short period of …

My daughter is very fond of splash pools and she has been gifted an intex 2 feet wide inflatable splash pool by her friend.
The intex 2 feet splash pool has got two tubes on the rim that can be inflated easily with the mouth, blowing air inside. I inflated …

For our eldest sons third birthday we bought him some moon sand and the accessories that went with it. We had seen this advertised loads on television in the previous months and thought that Kurt would love it and that it should be clean and tidy to keep …

I just love the idea of being able to personalize my things. I think personalized stores are brilliant, but if you need to really be creative, making your own personalized stuffs is better than paying someone else to do it for you. The latest product I got is a …

The Visa company offers a wide range of gift cards for customers to buy at your local CVS or grocery store that can be loaded with cash in your choice of $25,$50, $100, or a custom amount higher then $150 and I can tell you this is useful for …

Swarovski simply called this piece “A Flower,” but I think it is retired. I don’t know why they didn’t give it a distinct flower name, like they did with their other flower figurines that they created around the same time that they created this one. Swarovski released a series …

This paperweight is signed “RMJ” underneath, but unfortunately, I don’t know who that is. I don’t know whether those letters are someone’s initials or whether it’s the name of the glass company. I wish I knew, because this has always been one of my favorite paperweights. I bought it …

I love flowers and plants , but I have a brown thumb when it comes to taking care of them. I always forget to water them everyday and they never last long with me. A friend of mine bought me the Aqua Globe set for my birthday along with …

Last fall when I first saw the commercials for these toys, I thought that they were ridiculous, and they even were not that cute. My two daughters were not even interested in them, so I decided I would not join the crazy hunt in finding them around the …

I often find that the quality of assorted boxed chocolates is all over the place, and doesn’t necessarily correlate to the price. In fact, if it’s up to me I prefer not to buy assortments at all. I’d rather pick out only what I like at a specialty shop. …

I have been using Harney and Sons teas since 1996 when I had a small bakery. They have a very large collection from green to black and everything you can imagine in between. I have tasted many but my personal favorite are the greens. They have at …

What a good candle this is for getting rid of icky, stale odors. This comes in its own little can, which means you can seal it up in between uses and take it wherever you like. It survived a whole house move that way!
I appreciate how cleanly …

Happy Holidays I always say with a gift that is part homemade and partly bought materials. I have found that you can go creative and use Dollar Stores to really make your gift special. Last year I went to the Dollar General and picked up some cute …

Now, this is the gift for the person who has it all, and, also, for the person who spends a lot of time in bed, lounging, or ill. This is the beautiful, practical Winsome Wood Bed Desk, Cherry finish! I discovered it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond store, …

I saw this paperweight in a gift shop in Chesapeake City, MD, when I was visiting relatives. I was in the process of buying a couple of other items in the shop, and my eyes kept resting on this paperweight. I couldn’t leave the shop without buying it, knowing …

I have a really wonderful friend who loves to send out surprises to brighten up the days of her friends. Oftentimes, she sends treats from Cheryl & Co.
This company specializes in a variety of cakes, brownies, and cookies. They’ve come up with some inventive ones, that’s for …

Christmas magazines are always fun to obtain. The projects are usually quick, and fun. Not always easy, but useful.
30 Knits to Give and Get, Fast and Easy Projects Knitspiration for the Holidays. Interweave Knits newest Christmas issue.
It was enjoyable reading up on cashmere and silk. I own both, …

The opotimum reward card can be signed up for right online at the optimum website and is given if you subscribe to cable television , telephone and computer. If you have all 3 you are then eleigible to apply for the optimum reward card to which you have …

I graduated high school in 2007, and upon receiving my diploma and turning the tassel of my graduation cap, I received an inspirational book called “School’s Out Life’s On”. This book is distributed from Gift Books from Hallmark and was a very valuable and inspiring gift for the completion …

This domino set from Chad Valley is, I think, one of the absolute bargains to be currently available from Argos, seeing as it cost me just three pounds in their sale, but I consider that it looks a good deal more expensive than that, and is of remarkably good …