Christmas Gift Guide - All Things Personalized!

I consider myself to be a fairly organized individual.

I enjoy getting things done ahead of schedule.

Preparing for family vacations, weekend trips, or birthday parties weeks in advance.

But sadly, when it comes to Christmas shopping, I’m a bit of a procrastinator.

I don’t mean to be, it’s just that with all of the catalogs and emails and promotional discounts… I get a bit overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. So I don’t.

Then I panic… because it’s a couple weeks before Christmas and I haven’t purchased a single thing.

Not this year.

I have already bought a few well-thought out gifts for friends and family members. And fortunately, for the boys, we’re getting them bunk beds, so that was an easy (albeit expensive) item to knock off the list.

So I figured if this pretty well organized person has trouble getting her gift-giving act together during this season, maybe there are others out there who would appreciate a little help as well.

I’ve created a little list of some of my favorite items I’ve purchased – either for myself – or for loved ones – this year; along with some additional gifts I’d love if Santa decided to put them under the tree for me (hint, hint, Santa). ;)

And it will come to no surprise, that most of my favorite items can be personalized. I just think adding a name or a monogram to something shows that you really put some thought into it. So, without further adieu...

For Posh Sake Oversized Coffee Mug $16

(Photo courtesy of For Posh Sake)

I have one that is monogrammed in hot pink, but this snowflake mug is so adorable, I may need to get one for the Winter months!

What I love about these mugs is that they're a little larger than your average coffee mug, but they're lightweight and easy to carry around. You get to pick from a large variety of fonts, monogram styles and colors. And all for $16! Such a good deal.

Another favorite item from this shop is the "Bev2Go Adult Sippy Cup" $14.

(Photo courtesy of For Posh Sake)

I ordered one of these for a neighbor who recently turned Sweet 16 and got an adorable Prius for her birthday. I figured she would need something cute to carry her lattes, iced tea, or water while cruising around town. 

These fit perfectly in most car cup holders, or how cute would they be for adult driveway happy hours? Non-breakable and totally cute with tons of personalization options to choose from.

Right now, For Posh Sake is offering my sweet blog readers a 10% discount. Just enter the code "HOLIDAY 10" at checkout and you'll enjoy an added little savings.

Next up is another online boutique that sells some adorable jewelry and clothing items for great prices!

Mindy Mae's Market  carries a wide variety of items that are all equally adorable, but what I love about them is that unlike buying something from Loft or Target, you're not going to see these items on three other people when walking through the grocery store. The fact that it's an online boutique allows you to have a somewhat unique item that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

I own this super-comfy lace-trim tank, which is currently on sale for only $17!

But perhaps you're in the market for some warmer clothing right now? Well, this shop has a ton of gorgeous sweaters including this one called the Cozy Grandpa Sweater $37:

Or this double-hooded sweatshirt $50

They also carry tons of sparkly jewelry, which I know is very popular right now. But they also carry some more simple items like this 3-chain Sparkling Disc Wishbone Necklace $21:

And I personally own these tassel bracelets $17 and love layering them with other gold bracelets:

If you haven't noticed by now, I love buying from smaller retailers who offer a little something different than you'll find at the mall.

Of course, one of the more popular places to find small retailers is through Etsy. This online marketplace boasts thousands of small retailers all in one convenient place.

Some of my favorites this year are:

• Milk and Honey Luxuries where you can find beautiful hand-stamped eating and serving utensils, coffee mugs, cutting boards, and much more. I purchased this spoon ($20)for my morning coffee and I smile every time I use it:

• The Dotted Poppy is one of my favorite places to buy jewelry gift items. She creates such beautiful handmade earrings, and so many of them are less than $20! These are just a couple of my favorites:

The Taryn $17

The Katia $18

The Becca Necklace $21

There are so many great items on this site, it's almost impossible to pull a few of my favorites. I'm sure you could find great gift ideas for any female on your list in this shop.

• Good Sport Design makes fabric covered monogrammed buttons, clips and bows for really good prices. Here are a few of my favs:

For the preppy school girl:

Monogrammed Shoe Clips $18

For the precious preschooler:

Monogrammed hair bows $9

For the Beach Lover:

Monogrammed Flip Flops $14

So many cute items to choose from!

• Lovey Dovey Creations took my love for all things personlized to a whole nutha level!! They carry just about anything and everything that you could want to put your name on. I own one of these melamine platters and I love using it to take to parties because no one ever mistakes it for their own, and I always get it back if I accidentally forget it!

For the Sports Family

Personalized Melamine Platters $28

(Of course I would choose Gators over Auburn, but you get the point). ;)

So, so many other beautiful designs for these platters including these:

{For the Boat Lover}

{Cute Trellis Pattern}

And a million other things (you really have to visit the shop) including license plates, journals, notecards, cosmetic bags, and so much more!

I thought these two items would be great gift ideas for a favorite babysitter, or Sunday School teacher:

Personlized Key Rings $16

Personalized Notepad $16

I sure hope I've sparked some gift ideas in your head by now! I am toying with the idea of doing a "Men's Gift Guide" as well, but not sure many people really need help in that area. Leave me a comment if that's something you'd be interested in. 

Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and enjoy a smooth, stress-free, shopping experience this Christmas season! Love to you all.

Friday Favorites

I just got back from the mall. And I'm in a great, holiday-induced mood.

Why?

Because it's Friday. That's the key.

If you can get to the mall on a weekday, during the morning hours, it's SO much better than going on a weekend or an evening.

I wasn't playing Frogger with other shoppers and strollers trying to get across hallways. I didn't have to watch Parker like a hawk in the play area hoping not to loose track of him amongst 40 other snotty, sneezing, coughing little kids. And I felt like yelling, "Well Jimney Christmas! Look at that, would ya?" when I saw that Santa was just sitting up in his perfectly crafted mall-sized Christmas Village all by his lonesome. No kids. No lines. Not one single person. I was quite tempted to just pay the money and let Parker sit in his lap and talk to him till the cows came home, but I didn't. Instead, we just waved from outside the snowy Village fence and said, "We'll see you next week Santa when we come back with big brother!"

Parker was totally happy with that. In fact, judging by how shy he was acting, I'm wondering if we're going to have a total screaming meltdown some crying when I actually do try to get him to sit on Santa's lap. Stay tuned...

Back to my mall experience. It's quite fun to go to the mall right now. All the Christmas decorations are hung. Holiday tunes are blasting over the speakers, every single store is having some kind of incredible "Pre-Black Friday Sale" and with my Peppermint Mocha latte in hand, I was very pleased to knock out several people on my Christmas list in one fell swoop. It was a good day.

In preparation for a fun weekend, I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from the week. Hope you enjoy!

Parker's Thanksgiving Celebration at his preschool. That's his cute teacher, Miss Tina.

Okay, so they're all blurry, but come on...how cute is this? If Payton lays in the playroom, Mocha immediately jumps out of her cage and snuggles up to him. Who knew bunnies could be so sweet and cuddly?

Payton was chosen to do the flag presentation at Cub Scouts this week. He took the position very seriously and did a great job.

Double tickles! Brian's got skills.

I love this photo. That's Brian standing behind Payton & Parker as they jump waves together. It was such a sweet moment, and the setting was so breathtaking. Nothing like watching your boys play in the ocean as the sun sets.

The kids are out of school next week, so I doubt I will have time to post anything to the blog. But, who knows, they may surprise me! If I don't get back here next week, I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday surrounded by friends and/or loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Deals & Steals

Stop what you are doing and immediately go to your nearest Target Dollar Spot. I'm serious.

I made out like a bandit there today and I feel like I'm giving away a secret that should be kept all to my greedy little self. But...I like you guys, so I'm willing to share my good deals when I find em!

I had a few items on my shopping list today that spanned from Contact Solution to bananas, so where else do you go, but Super Target, of course? They draw you in with the idea that you're saving time by being able to buy your groceries and your toilet paper in one place, while really tricking you into spending more money that you would normally spent had you just gone to Publix and bought their generic brand of Contact Solution.

Phew...sorry, I guess I have a little pent up angst there.

Moving on...

So, after hitting the conveniently located Starbucks right when you walk in the door (hey, I had a gift card, so technically it was free), I was headed to the Dollar Spot to find a set of the plastic kids bowls that come 2 to a pack, but only cost $1 (love that!). 

But what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer! I'm not kidding. The Dollar Spot has been totally taken over by Santa's elves. And there are some amazing deals right now!

I got $1 stocking stuffers, $1 advent calendar goodies, $1 teacher gift pails, and other Christmas-themed items for handing out baked goods, etc. when the time arrives. Just look how cute:

Imagine these adorable burlap-wrapped gift pails stuffed with the red filler along with a tiny picture frame ornament (also $1) that will say "Miss Tina, World's Best Teacher" and a little gift card... PRESH!

I would show you said picture frame ornament too, but I may or may not have purchased a few extras for the grandparents to be filled with our most recent pictures that my talented photographer friend, Jen Bravo, took of the boys. I can't wait to see how they will turn out.

Did I mention we're on a really tight budget for Christmas this year due to our house leak & having to replace all the floors in Parker's room (and the irrigation system and install gutters...)? Well, we are. So truly, I cannot tell you how relieved and happy I am to have found $1 items that will fulfill a lot of gifts that need to be purchased.

By the time I was finished with the Dollar Spot I was almost done with my Chesnut Praline Latte and was all hopped up on caffeine. So I raced to the back of the store hoping to locate the kids bowls that I had originally been looking for. Sadly, no bowls. BUT... I did discover all of the Halloween stuff was 90% off! It was very picked over, I'm not gonna lie, but luckily for me, my little guy loves to play dress up. And look at what I found:

The cutest cowboy and Planes costumes!

Originally, these two costumes would have cost me $50. But guess what I paid for them...are you ready? Drum roll please... 

$4.80!

These will make wonderful Christmas gifts and will provide so much dress-up fun in the coming year. (Oh, and that item below the costumes is the Multipurpose Contact Solution that I originally came in for. It did actually make it home with me.)

As if all of my great finds weren't exciting enough, when I checked out, the cashier handed me a bunch of coupons, one of which is for a FREE photobook on Shutterfly. FREE! Can you believe that?

As I said, head to Target immediately.

In other "Steals & Deals" news...yesterday I headed to my favorite consignment shop to bring in some of Parker's Christmas pajamas and outfits from last year. They are very particular about what time of year they will accept seasonal items, so I've been holding on to these for months. I was thrilled to hear that I had a $25 credit on my account. And I was even more happy to find these amazing steals for my constantly-growing-can't-keep-up-with-him, 8-year old. He doesn't fit into any of his jeans or coats from last year. But check out what I found...

A perfect Florida "coat" that will get him through the colder 50-60 degree days we rarely ever eventually experience here in Florida. Guess what I paid for it? $9.00! It's in perfect condition, I couldn't believe it.

They had a huge selection of jeans in his size as well. Again, excellent condition.

Okay so there are some of my best savings ideas for early Christmas shopping. Now it's up to you to take advantage of them. Be creative. Visit your local consignment stores, Dollar Stores and Dollar Spots. You just may be surprised at what you find.

 Best of luck out there my shopping friends! May the discounted force be with you!