Alternative Holiday Photo Ideas from Picnik **GIVEAWAY**

Going green this holiday season? Still like to print and send greeting cards? Either way, Picnik has you covered this holiday season.

Picnik has a lot of fun new ways to alter your photos and make them more festive for the holidays. You can add lights, snow, ornaments, a dradle, different types of hats, candy canes, a red nose that even Rudolf would be jealous of and so much more!

Then when you are done, you can send your creation via Facebook, Twitter or virtually any photo sharing site or you have the option of printing your creation and sending it out the old fashioned way using snail mail.

They even have templates for gift tags, place cards, collages and greeting cards.

Another really cool feature you can use as a blogger, is update your blog banner using Picnik. I was playing around with it last night using my Detroit Mommies banner. I added a present, stocking, Santa hat, reindeer ears and a menorah. It turned out to be really cute and very festive.

Prize

One lucky winner will receive a 3 month Premium Picnik account.

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do the following thing. Make sure to leave a comment after completing the required form or entry:

Enter your email address:

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1. Tweet about this contest. Multiple tweets count. Leave a comment after each tweet with link to tweet.
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The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winner will be selected randomly through http://random.org. The Digital Mommy writers and contributors are ineligible to participate. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older. One entry per person. Contest ends 12/10/09 at 11:59:59 p.m. EST.

Disclosure: Picnik gave me an extension of the Premium account I already had. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and mine alone and are not influenced in any way by anyone.

Momdots Genius Idea

I just got finished reading a post from a blogger about how she receives death threats and will now be charging for readers to view content about her family and personal life. I'm just not buying it. If it was true to the extent that is described, all pictures and other family info would be removed and cease to exist.

I just want to say..."Please people, open your eyes. She's just trying to get more links and advertisements to her blog."

"For now, in an effort to protect my family from being killed, or threatened to be killed, over freedom of speech, my family posts and videos will be private from this point on."

It's a freakin' genius idea, if it works!

"General readers will still have access to a good majority of free content, but if you are an avid reader/commenter and would like a FREE upgrade to Member Status or you advertise momdot on your blog (like in a banner), please check this page to find out if you qualify to view our private posts. We want you to continue reading and will work with you if you have been a part of us."

So, if you don't want to put her banner in your sidebar, but you want to read all about her personal life complete with pictures and video, then you'll need to pay... $5.99 for 30 days.

Either way, she wins and I'm so proud of this blogger for thinking up such a clever scheme.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving...from "The Sexy Pilgrim"

How to Make a Baby

If you are not familiar with the baby making process, then this video will be very helpful in explaining the process of making a baby.

How to Make a Baby from Cassidy Curtis on Vimeo.

Good right!?

You Know You Are a Sister When

A hug feels like a million words without a single syllable being spoken. You can catch the glance of a familiar face across the room and instantly connect like you’ve never been apart. You can squee together, giggle together, cry together and then physically ROTFL like you’ve known each other your whole life.

My lifeline this past year has been online. We moved from California to Michigan and my best friends have been 70×70 avatars and 140 character conversations via Twitter. I’ve followed friends on their journeys in life on their blogs and quite infrequently had phone conversations with my “friends”. To have your soul communication to fellow human beings online to some, could seem unhealthy, but to me has meant the world.

Through my online relationships and because I attended BlogHer ‘09 I now have “real life” friends that are more real to me now after being able to give them an actual hug and tell them how much I truly admire and cherish their involvement in my life. Actually seeing some of my online friends brought tears to my eyes and pulled at my heart strings because I had looked forward to this conference like looking forward to your wedding day…it was finally happening…the day had finally arrived.

I can’t wait to be able to connect with my fellow bloggers again and unfortunately that probably won’t be until next year if I can save up enough to attend BlogHer ‘10 or another conference like TypeA Mom or Blissdom. Until then I will cultivate my online friendships making sure I stay in touch as best as I can and remember that one day we will meet again.

Say It to My Face!

I came across a really cool site that I had to share with you called, Say It to My Face and I’m totally addicted!

It’s a genius idea really! What it is is a site where one person asks a question via video and then others can respond to the video question or to a response to the video question.

I found it a couple of days ago and was racking my brain for a good question to ask and then one finally came to me… “Why do you blog?”

So, if you are a blogger and you have the capabilities and means to do a video response, then go over to Say It to My Face and respond to my question!

This "Mommy Blogger" is Craving a Trip to Vegas

My last trip to Las Vegas was in 2003 when my hubby and I exchanged vows at the Monte Carlo.

Since then, we haven't been back and I'm not sure if it's because now that we have a family we are gearing our vacations toward family style vacations or if it's because I'm still bitter about hitting 7's on a machine and not putting in the max bid. That really made me mad.

Anyway, our stay at the Monte Carlo was excellent. We had one of those package deals that included a ceremony, a gift certificate toward dinner, a gift basket of champagne, snacks and keepsake champagne glasses, flowers for the ceremony, a hotel room for our stay, a video of the ceremony and music during the event. My parents upgraded our room to a suite and it was huge! I had my hair and nails done in the hotel salon. All the wedding details were taken care of right there in the Venetian, the "big day" was seamless.

The night we arrived in Las Vegas we had dinner at the Aladdin buffet and it was amazing! Actually, most of the Las Vegas buffets are pretty darn good. There was more food than anyone really needs to eat and we waddled out of the restaurant after filling our plates numerous times with soft shell crab legs.

Not sure when we will get the opportunity to take a trip back to Las Vegas since we do have 3 small children, but reminiscing helps and when we do get a chance to go back, alone, it will be well worth it!

This is a TravelingMom dedicated post.

Calling Me a Mommy Blogger Won't Hurt My Feelings

What is a Mommy Blogger?

The question has caused quite a stir in the blogging world and I'm here to offer my "opinion" on the term.

A Mommy Blogger is a Mom who blogs, if you want a simple term, but in reality she is so much more than just a Mom who blogs. She is a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, an expert, an entrepreneur, a go-getter, a grandmother and the list goes on.

Just as I would say a Daddy Blogger is a Dad who blogs and a person without child/children is a Blogger. Actually, we are ALL bloggers, we just blog in different ways...make sense?

Plain and simple, but I believe the term Mommy Blogger to be very general and should be followed with a descriptive term like, Mommy Blogger: review blogger or Mommy Blogger: food blogger or Mommy Blogger: photography blogger or Mommy Blogger: parenting blogger, on Mommy Blogger: vlogger, Mommy Blogger: creative writer, ect. One needs to define what type of Blogger: Mommy Blogger one is because we are all different types of bloggers, which makes us unique.

I consider one on my blogs, Giftfully Simple, to be a review blog, so when I tell people that I am a Mommy Blogger, I continue to describe myself as a Review Blogger because I do reviews and giveaways. But, I do have two other blogs besides that one that are totally different, so a description is necessary when describing what I do.

The term Mommy Blogger is a very general term, but it does encompass a vas majority of the blogoshere because a large amount of bloggers are in fact moms.

I bet if you were at a blog conference like BlogHer or Type A Mom and you had all the bloggers attending the conference in one room and you asked all of the bloggers to move to the left side of the room if you are a mother who blogs, more than half of the room of bloggers would move to the left side of the room.

For Moms to be offended by the term Mommy Blogger, to me, makes them look bad. Are you embarrassed to be called Mommy?

Mama Spohr, best known as "Maddie's Mom" writes a blog called "The Spohrs Are Multiplying". She made this comment on Twitter during the Type A Mom conference in Ashville and it brought tears to my eyes because Mama Spohr lost Maddie at the young age of 17 months and the tragedy brought the blogging community together because moms unite and help hold each other up in a time of tragedy...that's what we do.




So I ask you, "What is YOUR opinion in the term being used to describe Moms who blog?"

"Would you like to be called a Mommy Blogger or do you have another title that you think is more fitting?"

EA Launches Need For Speed Nitro

EA launches a family friendly racing game, Need for Speed Nitro on November 3, just in time for the holidays.


Game Description:
Need for Speed Nitro will have players of all skill levels hooked from the moment they get into the action, while arcade racing fans will be exhilarated by the deep and challenging gameplay. Gamers can build up their boost as they drift and drag behind their opponents and use it strategically to change the course of the race, but watch out for the cops! Offering a fresh and unique visual style, the game features a variety of licensed cars which can be fully customized to let the game reflect the player’s taste and personality.

My initial thoughts:
Great graphics, really cool cars and I know for sure my husband would love this for Christmas! He has played Need for Speed on Playstation 3, completing the entire game. it's definitely one his favorite games of all times.

Do you Whrrl?

Whrrling is one of the hot new ways brands are engaging consumers.

What is Whrrl?
Whrrl is a place where you can share photos and text to tell a story as it is happening. You can either upload pictures straight from your iphone or blackberry or upload pictures from your digital camera. Then you can share your story on Facebook, Twitter, on your blog or via email.

Also, there are privacy settings, so you can share your story with everyone or with your friends. It's up to you!

Why you should whrrl:
Whrrling is one more way you can promote a brand you are working with. So, now not only can you write a blog post and make a video, you can also whrrl a story as another form of promoting a brand. Hey, the more the merrier and the happier the brand! Also, whrrling helps promote you, the blogger. It shows others what brands you are working with, what activities you are a part of and more of what you are capable of doing.

For example:

I worked with Zhu Zhu pets here...

Powered by Whrrl

Walmart and Colgate here:

Powered by Whrrl

and, I can carve a mean pumpkin:

Powered by Whrrl

Do you use whrrl? If so, leave me a comment and we can be whrrl friends!