Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Kodak Gallery Review

Photobucket

Two things I love about the holidays are the food and family. I also love to take pictures of my loved ones, especially my adorable son, Noah. I wanted to share with you a promotion on the Kodak Gallery website where you can take your pictures and put them in books. No bulky albums and pictures falling out after it stops sticking. My Grandma liked to write on the backs of her pictures, so pictures were taken out of albums over and over again to see who is in the picture or when it was taken. Her albums were in poor shape by the time everyone looked through them so many times. They even have something called SmartFit Technology that helps you create the best photo book possible. It makes it easier to arrange your photos in order, and add extra touches that make your photos just pop.

You can also make a recipe book on the Kodak Gallery Website of all your favorite Thanksgiving or Holiday foods. I know when I look at cookbooks, I love looking at the delicious photos of the food. Also if you are giving this as a gift, it will help the recipient with presentation and if it is a dip with assembly. I think that this is an easy and affordable gift. I remember when I was in first grade, my class made cookbooks for our moms for Mother’s day. My mom still has the cookbook my class made her, granted none of the recipes are actually makeable, it was more for the cute factor. It would have been nicer if it was made from Kodak Gallery and not just stapled printed pages.

I think it would be a smart gift for grandmothers to give their daughters and granddaughters with their special recipes. You can order as many copies as you want so, you can sit down once and mark off many people off your list at once. Every Grandma, Grandmother, Nana, Gram, Grammy and G-ma whatever you call yours has their own recipes. Then those books can be passed through the years to their children someday.

For more information please visit Kodak Gallery

They also have free shipping on orders of $30 or more by using the coupon code SHIP30

I received a gift card from Kodak to check out the website and create my own book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Monday, November 22, 2010

How to Alter a Tin





Thanks to Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape for sponsoring my writing about crafts. Add your comment below to be entered for a chance to win free sample rolls to help with your upcoming holiday needs.

I really enjoy doing crafts. I have found that double sided tape works really well when you are taping pictures on scrapbooking pages. As someone who has broken every tape runner she has owned, I think that double sided tape works really well. You don’t have the extra bulk of using normal tape in a loop. In my opinion unless you are using something to purposely make the picture pop out it should be flat.
I wanted to share a quick and easy craft with you. I thought I would show you an easy way to alter a tin. Maybe it is an old holiday cookie tin or popcorn tin or a coffee tin, almost any tin will work. I bought some little tins that I keep some of my crafting supplies in.

Photobucket

You need:
2 pieces of Patterned Paper (same print)
Double sided tape
Any sized tin
Scissors
Ruler

First take your paper and wrap it around the tin. Make a mark on your patterned paper on the white side at where the groove at the top. This is so you can put the lid on your tin. Take a ruler and make a line horizontal and cut across. You might need another piece of paper to cover the rest of your tin depending on the size. Remember to keep the lip of the tin exposed because it will not matter once the lid is on.

Carefully put double sided tape on the paper and line it up around the tin. I find that it works better if you stick the paper in the metal rim at the bottom. It not only looks cleaner but it helps it stay. If you need to cover more of the tin, just cut out a strip of paper to fit the area and tape. It can be the back of the tin.

Trace the top of the tin’s lid and cut it out. You will also need a thin strip of paper to go around the bottom of the lid. Tape the paper to the lid.
You can decorate any way you would like.

Please learn more about Scotch(R) Double Sided Tape and other Scotch(R) Products, and join the conversation on the Scotch(R) Brand Facebook Page
and via Twitter.

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

I have a giveaway for you.

Ten (10) Winners will each win a roll of Scotch Double Sided Tape.

Main Entry: Tell me what you think of my craft idea

This giveaway will end Friday November 26th at 11:59 pm ET
This giveaway is open to US Residents ONLY

Saturday, November 20, 2010

If It Sounds Too Good to be True.....

I am watching Cops today. Yes, I love watching Cops, it was the same one I have seen a million times. If I was in a dark room and that “lady” would speak I would know her voice without seeing her face. She is the one that says Excuse my beauty. Well, I notice a commercial for a website called Bid Rodeo. I was like ok I will check it out. I put in the code for the 10 free bids and started bidding. It was such a waste of time and such a scam if you think about it. You have to pay for your bids. You can bid for free on Ebay. Everything goes up by a penny. Not only that but they extend the end time each time someone bids. Let’s crunch some numbers shall we?

Each bid raises the price by a penny, that undoubtedly sounds like a really good deal seeing as you can bid on ipads, ipods, and Amazon Gift cards to name a few. Well, me being the skeptic I am, was thinking where is the catch? I thought it might be extremely high shipping, no it seemed about normal. I thought what the hey I’ll use my 10 free bids just to see. After the clock just kept winding down and adding more time. I started imagining those people that were counting down the clock as if the space shuttle was about to take off, to win their prize. Of course someone out bid them by a penny and the vicious cycle went on and on.

Out of curiosity, I wondered what the prices of the bids are. Some of the items included what the company calls bid packs. So, then I scoffed at the ridiculousness of this website. You can get 800 bids all for the low price of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ( which is equal to 8 dollars of bids) Now here comes the math.

I will use an ipod for example since that is what I used my bids on:
Let’s say you and another person each bid each bid 800 times for the iPod. You are the only two bidding and it ends at 16 dollars even. You also have to pay the bid price plus shipping. You might think Yay! I just got an iPod for 16 dollars plus shipping in reality, you paid 516 dollars plus shipping for the iPod. The company made $1000 of the iPod through the bids. You could buy an iPod and an iPad for $516 I am assuming. I don’t own an iAnything. Let's also remember that even if you bid you are NOT guaranteed to win anything. After you bid 800 times you might end up empty handed, with nothing to show for your $500.

Two pieces of advice:
If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is. My second piece of advice is If it doesn’t make sense than it’s not true.

I am sure Bid Rodeo will in fact bilk innocent people out of their money with promises of cheap goods. These are just MY OPINIONS, you can decide for yourself. I just felt like I needed to warn my readers.