Some of you may recall that I ran a giveaway with www.youcanmakethis.com recently. Well, I just received word that they will be launching a sister site in April – www.YouCanQuiltthis.com If you are a quilting fan, do sign up as there will be projects, tutorials, and patterns brought together by a team of experts and lead designers in the industry.

I don’t normally promote giveaway on my site but all you crafty ladies out there might be interested to know that in conjunction with the launching of the site, they will be having a contest, whereby you could WIN a Marie Osmond Quilter’s Companion sewing machine from Janome! Check it out for yourself.

In these tough times, many families are cutting corners and holiday trips are taking a back seat even more so during this Spring break. Like any other parents, I’m sure you’re looking for ideas to keep your kids occupied at home and out of trouble.

While computers and internet are a great resource, most parents are naturally cautious about letting their kids loose on the Internet. In actual fact, if you knew where to look, there is a lot of FREE and GOOD content available online. Let me just share a few here with you:
 

1. LEGO – Ideal for the Lego fan, your child can watch Lego comics and movies, play games and construct their own Web page to show off their creativity
2. Nick – Your child can pledge to save the world, play games, check out the latest news on SpongeBob or create a virtual life on Nicktropolis.
3. Pbskids – With games themed around Sesame Street, Clifford, Curious George, Arthur, Barney and other kid classics, your kids will have fun “interacting” with their favorite characters.
4. Cartoon Network Games – With more than 200 games featuring favorite cartoon characters, your kids can hunt monsters with Scooby-Doo, play Ninja Survival or follow the Path of a Jedi.
5. Funbrain – Part of the Family Education Network, the site provides educational activities for parents and teachers, as well as interactive games to help your kids with math and reading.
6. Funschool – This site, provided by Kaboose, is designed for elementary-age kids and offers free educational games as well as printable activities, coloring sheets and craft projects that will help your kids learn while having fun.
7. Hot Wheels Games – For car fans, Hot Wheels has dozens of vehicle-related games that let kids drive through mazes, race friends and solve puzzles.
8. Fortune Girls – beta website where tweens can try their hand at being fashion and business divas.

One of my favourite site to look for personalized gifts for kids is Frecklebox. My kids own a personalized placemat, colouring book as well as personalized story book from Frecklebox. If I had more money, I would definitely have bought a whole lot more.

Frecklebox has recently launched their new sticker collection, which is of course, personalized too. You simply tell them the name of the child and in an instant, the artwork is customized. The sticker selection offers 12 playful themes. Each theme features four designs and each order delivers one dozen stickers for just $3.95. Additional sheets of 12 are just $2.00 more. Frecklebox stickers make for adorable party favors and great gifts for any occasion.

Special for readers here: You can get 15% off your entire order by using promo code “STICKERS” at checkout. Hurry, this offer expires Friday, March 27.

AND WIN $5,000!!!

Here’s the scoop:

JustDoOne.org, the online community for sustainable living, today issued a global call for personal green solutions.  The Just Do One organization is collecting the best ideas for more sustainable living, summarized in three-minute YouTube-style videos, and sharing them free with the interested community worldwide.  The best video entry, as judged by the JustDoOne.org community and an expert panel, wins a $5,000 cash prize.

It’s pretty easy to participate. Do you teach and encourage your children to do things to save the environment such as recycle, turn off the lights when not being used, use canvas bags rather than plastic bags, use eco-friendly cleaning products, etc.?  If so, than pick your video camera or video phone and take a 3-minute video of your family/a family doing their part to save our environment. You can check out some videos which had been submitted for the contest by following this link – http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=justdoonecontest. The deadline to register is April 1, 2009

More information on the of the contest as well as the rules can be found here. Well, if you’ve always dreamt of being a member of Justice League, out to save the world, here’s your chance to make your dream come true.

Congratulations to

 Valerie M

for winning the $50 bundle giveaway from You Can Make This

Please email me your shipping address by using the Contact Form here. If the prize remains unclaimed by 6th March 2009, I will be doing a second draw.

Thank you to everyone who participated.