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Archive for November 2010

2010 Holiday Gift Guide {and Giveaways!}

By Nicole · Comments (212)

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Update: Here are the winners (you can read how I conducted the selection below*)!

$50 Snapfish Credit – #157 – Angel
Tony Hawk SHRED – #125 – Angela
BuckyBalls – #71 – Sheridan
Just a Cap Full – #104 – Kelly
BuckyBalls – #21 – Charline
BuckyBalls – #193 – Trisha
Martha Stewart Punches – #109 – Juliette
Scentsy Plug In Warmer – #171 – Jenn
$100 Nick Walls Credit – #99 – Pauline
JumpStart Math Blaster – #53 – Heather
$25 Beaucoup Favors Credit – #205 – Pamela

You know what today is don’t you? Its Cyber Monday, when you can get many of the same deals online that you can on Black Friday. And after my experience, I think I prefer this method any day.

Anyhoo, holiday gift guides are all the rage in the blogosphere and I’m happy to add my own again this year. I’ve got some great products to share with you, including some amazing giveaways! Just look for the “This is a Giveaway!” button in the categories below. More details on how to enter are at the end of this post.

So without further ado, I offer “The Pixel Boutique 2010 Holiday Gift Guide {and Giveaways!}. You’ll find deals, my favorite picks, and giveaways for most everyone on your holiday list.

For Him

BlueAnt – S4 True Handsfree

BlueAnt’s S4 is the first true hands-free voice controlled Bluetooth car speakerphone. With the BlueAnt S4 drivers no longer need to touch their mobile phone or car speakerphone while driving. The S4 allows users to make and receive calls and access information using only their voice. Have you seen the movies featuring the S4 and Q2 on YouTube? Check out Gotta Run and The Situation…(this one’s my fave). A perfect gift for the man in your life.

Bucky Balls

This is one of those things where you think…why didn’t I think of that!? What a simple yet entertaining concept. Check out the video below to get a real idea of what Bucky Balls are all about. These would make great stocking stuffers, but they are not for young children. There will be 3 winners for Bucky Balls but anyone can enter PIXELBOUTIQUE for a 15% discount!

For Her

Just a Cap Full – Custom Photo Bottle Cap Necklaces

This is my little side project where I can get my hands dirty and have some fun creating unique jewelry. I take recycled bottle caps and insert a photo or image of your choice and dress it up with some glittery goodness. You can check out the process and all the details in my Etsy shop. And this is a giveaway! You can enter to win one free necklace for you or someone on your Christmas list. PLUS…take 20% off using the code HOLIDAY from now until Dec. 5.

Scentsy – Flameless Scented Candles

Have you discovered Scentsy? I did just a few months ago and I loooove them. And I’ll be giving a few as Christmas gifts this year. Ms. Amy Bellgardt, creator of Mom Made That and Mom Spark Media is also a Scentsy consultant (in all her spare time…) and has generously offered the above “Lei” Plug In Warmer and “Clarity” Scent pack to one lucky winner. Plus, Amy had offered all The Pixel Boutique readers a buy any 2, get 1 free deal! Simply email Amy after checkout and she will take care of you. Wow…thanks Amy!

For Kiddos

Tony Hawk: SHRED by Activision

When my kids saw the Tony Hawk SHRED on T.V. they were quick to let me know just how much they would love to see it under the tree this year. The motion-sensing board creates an exhilarating skate and snowboarding experience for young pros. SHRED is rated E (Everyone ages six and older) and is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and Nintendo Wii. Check out shredgame.com for tricks, videos and music. One lucky will win a SHRED Bundle (board and game) for the Wii platform! See below for more details on entering.

JumpStart – Math Blaster for Nintendo DS

Learning is fun with JumpStart! The ultimate intergalactic adventure has arrived on Nintendo DS™ with Math Blaster in the Prime Adventure. While racing through the galaxy on a mission to defeat the Hive army, kids are learning valuable math skills. In multiplayer mode, they can battle head-to-head with up to three friends at the same time. One reader will win a Math Blaster for Nintendo DS! (Be sure to check out all JumpStart has to offer online!)

Nick Walls by HP

New from HP comes Nick Walls, an ingenious way to make your walls your very own work of art. Choose from your favorite Nickelodeon theme (like Dora the Explorer, iCarly, SpongeBob or Go, Diego, Go!) then create your own unique “wall paper” using characters, objects and backgrounds. Take a look at the amazing do-it-yourself online designer and see how easy it is to create your unique wall art…

One reader will receive $100 to create their own Nick Walls! See details below for entering. And for one day only (today, Cyber Monday…) receive your Nick Walls order at 50% off! Oh my!

For Festive Greetings

Snapfish

You knew I had to include Snapfish in my Holiday Gift Guide and Giveaway… . This year Snapfish has stepped up their game by offering new holiday greeting cards from new designers (like me!). The selection is amazing, but here are a few of the latest designs available in my shop…

Here’s your chance to get your cards done with a little help from Snapfish. One winner will receive a $50 credit to Snapfish!

For the Hostess

Beau-Coup Favors

Have some parties to attend this holiday season? I know I do. Its always nice to show up with a little somethin’ somethin’ for the hardworking hostess. Take a look at these cute place card holders…aren’t they precious? Any hostess would be tickled pink to receive those. You can find plenty more fun gifts and favors at Beau-Coup Favors. They specialize in wedding and baby shower favors. One winner will receive a $25 credit to spend however they wish!

The Reluctant Entertainer

Earlier this year I won a copy of Sandy Coughlin’s book, The Reluctant Entertainer from a giveaway on Pensieve Robin. I totally love this book because it shares simple tips and ideas and even recipes for the every day woman…and that’s me. Sandy demystifies the art of entertaining and guides you to becoming a more relaxed and confident entertainer.

For the Crafter

Martha Stewart Crafts – Punch All Over The Page

If you’re a paper crafter or scrapbooker, you know that Martha Stewart has some quality products out there for crafters. Well here’s one of her newest products…so new that you can’t even get them in the stores yet! (due out in December). The Punch All Over The Page frees you from the restraints of most paper punches because its a completely new concept using a magnetic die cut and base. And guess what…I’ve got my hands on 3 punches for one lucky winner! Included is the Pinking Circle, Classic Butterfly and Studded Heart.

The Scrap Rack

I’m an avid scrapbooker and used to have a blog dedicated to the art of scrapbooking (before I realized I wasn’t superwoman who could do it all and more…). One of my favorite products I discovered while blogging about scrapbooking was The Scrap Rack. Its more than just an organization product, its an organization system, which I still use today. Take a look at the website and watch some videos on how the Scrap Rack works…and you might just be convinced like I was.

How to Enter The Giveaways!

Here’s the skinny… Winners will be chosen randomly. Be sure to enter before midnight, Monday December 13.

Here’s a quick rundown of available giveaways:

Bucky Balls – Magnet Ball Game (3 winners)
Custom Photo Bottle Cap Necklace
Scentsy – Plug In Warmer and Scent
Tony Hawk SHRED Wii Bundle
Jumpstart – Math Buster DS Game
HP – Nick Walls $100 credit
Snapfish $50 credit
Beaucoup Favors – $25 credit
Martha Stewart Punch All Over The Page Punches

It’s easy to enter, but please make sure to follow these few directions.

Leave a comment below indicating the giveaway(s) you want to be entered for. If its just one, please indication which giveaway that is. If its for multiple giveaways, list them in order of preference. If your comment is randomly drawn, you will receive the item you indicate unless it has already been randomly drawn.
Be sure to include in your comment who the item is for…your kids? your hubby? your self? Comments simply saying “Pick me” or “Tony Hawk SHRED” will automatically discarded if randomly selected.
Be sure the item you are entering for is actually a giveaway (and has a “This is a Giveaway” button next to it!)
You can enter for as many giveaways as you want, up to once a day.
For extra entries you can mention this giveaway up to once a day on Twitter of Facebook. Sample tweet/update…
“Need some holiday gift ideas (and the chance to win some great giveaways? Check out the Holiday Gift Guide & Giveaways! http://is.gd/hXTR1″ (please leave a comment re: your tweet)
For another entry, subscribe to this blog. (please leave a comment re: your new subscription)
For yet another entry, post this button onto your blog’s sidebar! (simple copy and paste the link code below…please leave a comment with the link to your blog)

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. And most of all, have a happy holiday season!

This post includes affiliate links.

*How I selected winners: Using Random.org, I generated a random number, selected the commenter’s first or subsequent choice of giveaway items. If I came to a comment that indicated a tweet or Facebook mention, etc., I found the original commenter’s entry and gave them their choice of giveaway item. If I came to a comment that listed giveaway items that were already taken, I chose a new comment.)

Comments (212)

If I had it to Do Over Again: My Black Friday 2010 Experience

By Nicole · Comments (4)

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Its been a little over 12 hours since waking up at the crack of 2 a.m., throwing on my beanie and gloves and quietly tiptoeing out of the house. I was going to do it. For the first time I was going to be one of the crazies on Black Friday.

The first time…and most likely the last.

Let me tell you my experience…

On Thanksgiving, after stuffing my face beyond all reason, I scoured the Black Friday ads and narrowed my plan of attack down to three stores…Kohl’s Target, and Walmart. I had a specific list of items I wanted from each store and I even went as far as to map out my route as best I could for each store.

Well. What’s the saying…”the best laid plans”? Let me just sum up the experience for each store…

Kohl’s:

Kohl’s opened at 3 a.m. (across the country, I think). They had over 400 early bird specials which really were some pretty good deals. I arrived at 2:30 a.m. and the line wrapped around the building on both sides. All at once, the doors flew open and people rushed in, scattering to their destinations. The problem was, there were so many people you couldn’t even move in the aisle, let alone find the things you wanted. Once I found the first thing I was going for, I realized the checkout line was wrapped around the store isles, overlapping in the back. It would have taken another hour at least to checkout. With only one item in my hands, the need to use the little girl’s room badly, and a tight schedule to keep, I did what any savvy shopper would do. I bailed (after visiting the little girl’s room).

What they did right:

There seemed to be a lot off associates on hand to greet people, help answer questions and man the registered.

What they could have done better:

There needed to be roped off lines to keep people from cutting in right as the doors open.
They should have only let 100 people (or so) in at a time. Their stores are too small to let everyone in at once. It was literally wall to wall people. I cant imagine what the fire marshal would have said if he happened to be Black Friday shopping.
Make the shopping bags and cars more accessible at the entrance. They were, naturally, all gone by the time I got in.
There should have been extra registers and associates doing a “pre checkout” ticket or something as people are waiting in line.
Have a store map available online prior to the sale (if there was one, I never found it).

Target:

Target was my next stop. Being held up at Kohl’s (just trying to leave…) I was late getting there. The line this time wrapped all the way around the back of the store into the loading dock. I thought for sure it was going to be a repeat of the Kohl’s fiasco. And it was a little nutty inside, but I was able to get about half the things on my list and met the nicest lady in the looong checkout line. It ended up being a great thing because we held each others place in line as we went off to other areas to find more loot. Yet again, no carts, so it was whatever you could carry.

What they did right:

The lines were clearly marked with ropes. If you cut, it would have been obvious.
There were security guards and even police officers on hand inside and out.
They too let everyone in all at once, but being a larger store it could accommodate more people and it wasn’t as bad.
All checkout lanes were opened and the wait was tolerable. There was an associate at the beginning of the checkout line directing people to the next available cashier.
Though I didn’t actually get any of the specific door buster items, it looked like they had plenty of things in stock.

What they could have done better:

Again, not enough carts (although having one was a double edged sword…maneuvering a cart in a packed store is as fun as getting your teeth cleaned).
They could have had some ropes set up for the checkout line. In my Target, there was a lot of confusion as to what was a line and what was just a wall of people in a traffic jam. One lady stood in a line for 20 minutes only to realize it wasn’t a checkout line.

Walmart:

Oh Walmart. I would have avoided you all together, honestly, if it wasn’t for one major purchase. First of all, the parking lot was a zoo, but that’s just the nature of my local store. I ended up not getting what I went for because of a misleading ad. This was the first year (so I was told by an associate) that Walmart opened at midnight but only had their Black Friday deals start at 5 a.m. Confusing? I know.

So I showed up shortly after 5 a.m. when my “non door buster but still a great deal” item was supposed to go on sale (per the ad) only to be told that it had sold out shortly after midnight. My bad? No. Walmart’s poor communication and advertising. Oh well. I probably wouldn’t have made it anyway, but still…the whole sales schedule seemed very confusing.

What they did right:

There were a lot of people directing traffic (human and vehicle).

What they could have done better:

Like I said earlier, the sales flyer were misleading and confusing.
Again, wall to wall people, not enough carts, etc. and so on.

I guess I’m just not willing to battle for a parking space, stand in lines for hours and purchase only that which I can carry because all the carts are gone…that’s if I can find it…just to save a buck. If I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn’t. Ok, that’s probably not true because I’m a sucker for a sale. But I would:

Make a detailed, succint list
Probably limit it to two stores instead of three
Plan to arrive at least an hour before the store opens
Take my little old lady fold-up rolling cart in case I cant get my hands on a cart
Go with a friend! (I can definitely see the benefit of using the buddy system)

So tell me, what was your Black Friday experience?

Photo credit: source unknown

Comments (4)

Its the Little Things…

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

the view out my back door
the phone calls throughout the day just to say “Love you…”
little kisses
responses on help forums from smarter people than me
Well written WordPress theme
Netflix streaming

And the not so little things…

Three healthy, growing (very fast) children
A loving, faithful husband
Freedom
Modern healthcare
The ability to be my own boss
people who read my blog
and abundant blessings

…that I am so thankful for today.

What about you?

Comments (0)

The New and Improved Way to Add a Horizontal Navigation Bar in Blogger

By Nicole · Comments (6)

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

I got a lot of feedback on my post last year about adding a horizontal navigation bar to your Blogger blog. Before a few months ago, this was no simple task for the average blogger who had little or no HTML knowledge. You had to manually change your template and use a text gadget to create pseudo pages and a corresponding navbar.

Well now that’s all changed…for the better. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do it:

I mentioned in the video above about custom designs and the Template Designer. If you have a custom design that you paid a designer to create before the Template Designer was rolled out, you may want to consult your designer before using the Template Designer. Any changes you implement will override your current design, and may not produce favorable results. If you want to create a navigation bar without using the Template Designer, simply create your pages, then follow the directions on my previous tutorial.

Happy blogging…any questions?

Comments (6)

The Ups and Downs Called LIFE

By Nicole · Comments (5)

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Want a dose of self-exposure? Well here you go.

In the span of a couple of weeks, our family has experienced several ups and downs.

A DOWN – The jaw dropping piece of mail announcing that our property tax was going to quadruple from last year. It wasn’t all a shock, since we just moved into our house and the land was the only thing assessed last year. But quadrupling? Reeeeeeeally?

For some strange reason, I suddenly felt like an adult, in a whole new and different way.

An UP – Hubby and I had the overwhelming privilege of baptizing our 9 year old, the youngest of our three, this past Sunday. We strongly believe in letting our kids initiate this decision. They were never christened or baptized as babies because we want them to come to the decision on their own, when they’re ready.

Our church does baptisms differently than any other church I’ve attended. They let mentors or parents who are Christ followers do the baptizing. Its was an extremely humbling and meaningful moment.

A DOWN – In a backlash decision, the Chief of Police in our town decided that Hubby’s entire unit was to be cut (he still has a job, just an up-in-the-air, very different one). This is a bad move in my (and so many other’s) opinion. The units they are cutting are the proactive, community building units that businesses and schools love to have present. With the “proactive” element missing, that just leaves the less desirable “reactive” policing.

I know our Chief feels his hands are tied, and it feels like the gross mismanagement of funds is being repaid on the backs of the blue collar, under-appreciated men and women who put their lives on the line every. single. day. Oh, how I could go on and on and ON about this subject. But I won’t. And I’ll try to continue to focus on how blessed my family is. I know we have it so good when so many others face far worse.

It just stinks to be at the mercy of politics. Really stinks.

An UP – Aforementioned hubby and I celebrated 18 years of marriage this weekend.

Just typing that makes me feel old. Still feels like we’re dating. And I guess that’s a good thing…given the ups and downs called life. Its not always a bed of roses, is it? I thank my lucky stars I have someone like him to walk through this life on earth with.

Comments (5)

Blogger Video Tutorial Series: How to Use Blogger’s Template Designer – Part III

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Finally, we come to the end of the Blogger Template Designer tutorial! If you missed the last two videos, you can find them here:

Blogger Video Tutorial Series: How to Use Blogger’s Template Designer – Part I

Blogger Video Tutorial Series: How to Use Blogger’s Template Designer – Part II

In the video below I mention a good resource for learning some basic CSS tags…W3Schools. Check it out!

Comments (0)

New Look!

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Friday, November 5th, 2010

It was time to spiffy up the place a bit. I wanted to add more features to my site, give a little bit more structure to my categories, and try out a new theme all at once. Besides, I was getting concerned that my readers were getting whip lash from posting about e-commerce services one day, and 10 things to do indoors with your kids the next. This way, I can be a little bit ADD without hurting you. Now, we’re both happy.

I chose to use the new spiffy little child theme called Prose from Studiopress. I was testing it out to see what it was all about, and now? I loooves it. Its super customizable while being very user friendly at the same time. I’ll definitely be recommending it to my clients looking for similar features in a blog theme.

So enjoy. Hope you like the new digs…there are more fun changes to come. And don’t fall over from shock, but I’ll be posting twice today…got to finish up the Blogger Template Designer tutorial!

I know…I’m just crazy like that today!