As a Mom, or even just being a clumsy human being, I’m always looking for misplaced items and keeping track of what things belong to who.  Who’s sippy cup is that?  Who’s notebook is that?  Is that pencil mine, or yours?  Thankfully, The Family Review Network provided an opportunity to review a label company, Stuck On You, to help make life a little bit easier.

I chose to get labels with Savannah’s name and picked a girly theme to match her girly personality.  We ended up with butterflies, dragonflies, and other cute bugs.  First thing I stuck it on? Sippy cups, that’s the number one item our family has the chance of loosing when we go out.  And, it’s also helps to keep kid’s germs more to them selves at church and play dates.  Even though Savannah can’t read yet, she can identify her special sticker with bugs on it and know it is her’s. Next stop will be to place them in her shoes.

What I love about these labels?  They can go on anything!  These aren’t your typical paper stickers that fall apart when wet, these are made of vinyl so they are made for every day rough wear–even in the dishwasher and microwave!  I also love that there are so many choices in the style, to fit not just the personality of the person, but choices in what you need a label for.  Everything from generic-for-anything-labels, to shoes labels, pencil labels, to clothing and school subjects, they’ve got it all covered.  But not just in sticker form, but also as iron on clothing transfers, bag tags, and security wrist bands (love that idea!).  So many choices for every need, even just for fun things like wall art, party invitations, calling cards, notepads, and charts. Phew. Like I said, they have so many options. Though these labels can’t be another pair of eyes to find a matching shoe, they can help shoes stay together and make it back home with us after a play date.  I can’t say enough good things about this product!

And now…you can win a set of their holiday labels!  Just in time for the holidays to label all those gifts for family and friends.  The pack will include 20 assorted designs of their Christmas Gift Labels. Want to win it? All you have to do is visit Stuck On You and come back here to leave a comment telling me which label would you most like to use? Are you constantly loosing clothes, pens, or -gulp- expensive things like ipods?  What would you label?

Comments will only be open until this Sunday at midnight (November 23rd) so that you can get your labels in time for the holidays.  Winners will be chosen randomly and be announced Monday. Want more chances to win?  Tell others about the giveaway by posting it on your blog and commenting with the link directly to your post. Good luck!

Guess what?  I have three $15 gift cards for lucky winners to do some online shopping to personalize their electronic look.  I chose my cell phone to redesign, but there are many other options from lap tops to game consoles.

Interested? All you have to do is browse around Unique Skins and tell me what device you would most like to redesign. You get extra points if you share a link back to this giveaway. Comments will close on Tuesday September 16th at midnight and three winners will be picked randomly on Wednesday September 17th.

I do want to make some suggestions though to optimize the quality of the skin you design.  A few things I learned:

1) Don’t use thin text or designs (like part of the swirl on my cell phone above), it gets printed pixely.  Make sure fonts or graphics are big and thick for it to look the best.

2) Use high quality photos. The best looking part of my design were those flowers above. Pictures really do make the best design and how much more personal can you get than with your own photos? Show them off!

3) Keep it simple. Too much “stuff” on it looks cluttered.

Good luck! Enjoy browsing the website and dreaming of your options

When The Family Review Network offered me the opportunity to review a product from Unique Skins, I was pretty excited. See, I’ve never been one to ‘deck out’ my cell phone but this gave me an easy and cool way to finally do it! My phone was getting kind of old and ratty looking anyway, so it came at the perfect time.

What is Unique Skins, you ask? Well, it’s skins that are unique. Just kidding (but not really). It’s a website that you get to design a vinyl sticker to place on top of an electronic device you already own. From cell phones, to lap tops, to Xbox 360’s they have many options you might be looking for. It’s a cheap and easy way to personalize your products with even your own photos. Have a cute kid? Stick him or her on your phone for the ultimate mommy bragging! Sounds like a great idea, right? It is. I decided to use my favorite tulip photo I took last Mother’s Day, along with some other graphics that expresses who I am.

The first step was to find my phone in their lists of products, which was super easy to do since they have it divided up into many categories and brands. Then, the fun of designing began! Over all, the design program on their website was easy to use. There were a ton of “help bubbles” that directed you to the various features you can use, or hide them if you don’t need them. They also have a great FAQ and tutorial section for the non-technology inclined. It was very quick and easy to upload pictures, however I do suggest that if you have a HUGE picture or graphic you want to use, resize it first in an outside program for it to upload correctly.

Though it was easy to use, I did have a lot of technical issues using the program. The first time I tried to go into the designing part it did not fully open and froze. Freezing was a reoccurring issue for me, which was quite frustrating. There is a “save for later” button, but I found that it did not always save it correctly or completely. At least once I had to start all over, despite saving it. I also some times had a problem with resizing, as it would only grow and grow rather than shrinking when I told it. Another small frustration I had was that there are very limited font options.

Finally, after a few hours working on the design, I ordered it. The website says they print and ship within 24-48 hours, but apparently they had issues with mine because I used some digi-scrapbooking supplies that had a transparent background. A week and a half later and the skins finally arrived!

However, after opening my little package, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a higher quality photo than what was printed and it came out somewhat “pixely.” There are also random white spots in my design that I know I did not put in there, probably from the printing process. One piece I did not even put on my phone because you couldn’t read the writing I had put.

But, I can say the application is easy. The skins come on several sticker sheets that you peel off and place on your phone. It does fit exactly as it should for my model of phone, and if I messed up or got a bubble under the skin, it was very easy to correct. And, it still does spruce up my phone, even if it is a tiny bit pixely in places. Also, I can say that it is true that when you take it off, it does not leave any stick residue or harm the device in any way (I took off the inside cover).

Honestly, I’d say that I love the idea of this website and the unique products they offer, but I think both the website and physical results need a bit more work to make it even better. The process turned out more frustrating than a fun purchase for me, but I really do hope this company keeps at it to maximize their potential. It really is a great concept!

See what other Moms are saying about Unique Skins over at The Family Review Network and see their beautiful creatations!

As a young wife, mom, and student, you can image that funds get tight for the O house. Therefore, things such as diapers, textbooks, and food become more important purchases than say, house ware. We survive on the basics and we’re okay with that. So needless to say, I was absolutely floored when BlogHer invited me to spend $500 in gifted money (yes, you read that right) and write a review on JCPenney’s new house ware line, called Linden Street.

From the moment I saw what Linden Street offered, I was even more excited. Everything was exactly our style and what I’ve envisioned for our one day dream home: simple sleek lines, beautiful rich colors, and soft fabrics. After surveying what the line carried, I decided we would redo our bathroom since 1) It needed our own touch to it. 2) It’s something we could take down easily when we move. 3) You can never have enough towels!

We did most of our shopping in store at JCPenney. I quickly fell in love with the unbelievably soft fabrics and how easy they make it to find coordinating colors and accessories. We decide to use Mark’s favorite color: Orange! I chose the Waffle Strip Fabric Shower Curtain in “Foxtial Orange” and Toffee Shower Curtain Rings to compliment it. We bought bath towels both in “Foxtail Orange” and “Soft Cream,” along with matching cream Reversible rugs. To bring the orange over to the other side of the room, we purchased the Toffee hand towel that has a beautiful cream embroidery on it.

We also bought five lamps. Yes, five. You can’t have enough lights, right? We bought two Wood Column Adjustable Table Lamps in stores that we placed in our bedroom, along with the matching floor lamp that we put in our living room. The Birdcage Table Lamps are still being shipped, but eventually they will go in our living room as well.

I only have a few draw backs that I’ve found. Firstly, my shopping experience was a bit frustrating as some things were not in my local store (the furniture for example, or different shower curtain options), or what was in store wasn’t always online to purchase (which is why I cannot link you to every purchase I made).

Secondly, the bath towels, though I love how large and soft they are, do not absorb well. We’ve noticed that we have to keep going over our skin after a shower to feel dry, and yet it never really gets the job done. I’m hoping that once they get washed a few times and the ultra softness goes down, it will be better in the absorbency factor.

Lastly, the bath room rugs that I love tend to slide around. I’m constantly having to readjust them to their places throughout the day. While I understand the cool thing of being reversible, I think having one side a sticky backing would be much more practical (and safer).

But despite those small issues, I cannot tell you what a joy it is to walk into our bathroom now and it look “put together.” My husband even made the comment that it “feels like a hotel,” and that’s really what I love about this line is the sophisticated luxury feel you would find in a nice hotel. But what’s even better? The price. We got everything 40-50% in stores, and I believe many of the items are still discounted online and perhaps in the stores as well. Over all, I’m very satisfied with Linden Street and I’ve learned that even little things like a splash of color from a towel or an extra lamp can make a big difference (and can be so quick and easy!)

To view all the pictures, including the items that could not be linked to JC Penny’s website, head on over to the my Linden Street album.