I know some of you are addicted to taking photos.  You run around with your camera taking pictures of everything and anything.

We too have a lot of photos, but we print very few of them, keeping them mainly on our hard drives and DVDs.

While we don't print 4x6 or 5x7 copies of those pictures, I do love showing them off around my home in other ways.  On gift items like mugs and calendars.

I tried out the new redesigned Photoworks site, where I tried my hand at making and ordering a couple of items with my own photos.

Click to read more ...

Klutz books has generously sponsored a couple of giveaways on my site, including the latest Draw Star Wars The Clone Wars book, which many of you were hoping to win!

But if you weren't one of the lucky winners, Klutz.com has a BIG HOLIDAY SALE – 25% off your entire order (no minimum!)
The coupon code is HOLIDAY25 and expires on 12/16

It's a onetime use per email address and cannot be combined with other offers
Valid only at Klutz.com

So if you are looking for some additional holiday gifts you may want to check it out!

I received no compensation for posting about this sale.

When it comes to a holiday gift list, there is always somebody that you have to buy for that has everything, right?

So what is it that you get them?  Get them a gift that is personal to them, something from Things Remembered would fit the bill, and there are so many items available!
Things Remembered sent me a personalized gift, so I chose a  Push USB Drive for my Hubby.  This is a great gift for anyone, guys and gals alike.  Professionals, Students even Grandparents for storing all those holiday photos that will be taken this season.  I chose to put a unique saying on the keychain, as you can see below, since my Hubby is always giving me grief for using his flash drives for my data.

This 1 GB USB external hard drive is a compact size for easy storage and portability.  It is easy to carry since it has the added key ring.  There's no software installation required  and it's compatible with most computers and operating systems. You can also choose to have the back engraved as well, and it is available in silver, black (like I received), gunmetal, or you can even get a pen version.  The drives start at $25.00.

I know my Hubby is going to appreciate this gift! It is personal to him and is much classier than a standard flash drive.  And it's something he will be able to carry with him whenever he needs it. To give you an idea of the size it is about 4" long and about 1/2" thick.  It really is a nice gift, especially if there is someone in the business or professional field you need to purchase something for.

You can choose any quote (well any quote that fits!) that you want, Christmas 2009, a Company Name, or something personal like I chose.  This is one that is shown on their website.

That's what makes this a perfect gift, the chance to personalize it the way you want!

Things Remembered has other gift ideas that would be sure to fit others on your list too.  There is the

      *Sterling Birthstone Tree Necklaces with Free Keepsake Box
– Delicately-crafted necklace lets her keep those she loves close to herheart. Choose birthstones to symbolize her children or other familymembers and engrave the sterling silver pendant with her name or afavorite quote about family. She'll wear this heirloom often and keepit forever!

    * Leather Money Clip with Card Holder – the ultimate two-in-one accessory. A magnetic closure on the frontkeeps your cash safe and sound while three slots on the back give yourcredit and debit cards a home. Made with soft genuine leather, all thisgift needs is your personalized message!

* Make-A-Wish Angel Ornament - Exclusive, one-of-a-kind gift that she would have qualities thatlast-like crystal touches and elaborate detailing. And don'tforget-this is a gift that gives back. For every purchase of ourexclusive Make-A-Wish® collection, $2 of every purchase price will goto the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
  
Things Remembered has gifts for more than just this holiday season.  Personalized items make great gifts for Weddings and Anniversaries too.  I wished we would have had something like these USB Push Drives to give to our attendants at our wedding!  For more gift ideas visit www.thingsremembered.com.

I was provided with a USB Push Drive from Things Remembered at no cost to myself for the purpose of this post.

Tropical Traditions soaps are made with Organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil as their base, and the scented varieties use only high-quality organic essential oils. Ingredients: saponified organic virgin coconut oil. Scented varieties: organic essential oils of tea tree and lavender.

I don't think it matters how old the kids get, there is something magical about building your own teddy bear.

Each year our local Girl Scout council takes a trip to the Mall of America with girls ranging from 6th to 12th grade (and their Moms!).  We live in a pretty small city, and don't have a lot of the stores and shops that bigger cities do.

One of the things the girls are all eager to do is make a visit to Build-A-Bear Workshop in the M.O.A..  They will line up and wait, just to make their teddies, monkeys, kitties, etc., as a memory of their weekend at the mall and to add to their collection.
The great thing about Build-A-Bear is that you can order online too, so if you don't have a Workshop near you, the classic and new models are still available to you, as well as all the fun accessories to deck your stuffed ones out!

This season Build-A-Bear Workshop has a group of bears that will delight the youngest to the oldest Star Wars fan!  The group is all here; Darth Vader Dimples Teddy (who is not nearly as scary masqueraded as a teddy!), Anakin Skywalker Read Teddy, Clone Captain Pawsome Panda and Jedi Knight Champ-A Champion Fur Kids.  These lightsaber wielding bears start at $37.00 and would be a keepsake for years to come.

We received the Darth Vader Dimples Teddy, and he comes housed in the classic Build-A-Bear Workshop house.  As is the case with all the Build-A-Bear stuffies, he is well constructed and is a quality toy.  While we didn't get a chance to make him ourselves, Build-A-Bear online,has so many offerings, choosing a unique and special gift for your recipient, shows just as much love as if you or they made it at a Workshop.  This toy will be cuddled a lot, and proudly displayed for a long time.

Already have a bear and just want to purchase some accessories?  All of the Star Wars outfits can be bought for an existing teddy for $15.00 each.  I personally think it would be cool to have an Anakin outfit for Dimples as well, so we could act out the before and after scene with the Darth Vader outfit, how fun would that be?!

Until December 16th, Build-A-Bear.com is offering Free Shipping on a purchase of $35 or more using the code 94590 at checkout.

If Star Wars isn't your thing, you may want to check out their Christmas selection of stuffies, ranging from puppies as elves to Frosty the Snowman.

Visit Santa's Build-A-Bear Workshop online to join the fun!

I received a complimentary Darth Vader Dimples Teddy from Build-A-Bear Workshop for the purpose of this post.

John, a tax attorney, through some IRS troubles of his own, trades in numbers to take on the duties of criminal lawyer for his neighbor.

From School Library Journal

In this long-awaited but ponderous sequel to The Gold Coast (1990), it is ten years later, and John Sutter has returned for the funeral of a woman who isn't dead yet. He's also looking to restart his life and possibly hook up with his ex-wife, Susan, who'd had an affair with a local Mafia don she later killed. Confounding the problem is the don's son, who has taken over the family business and wants vengeance against both John and Susan. While there are interesting characters, and Sutter's first-person observations are clever, it takes forever for the action to get going. Even an exciting climax doesn't help. DeMille has developed a reputation for fast-paced action thrillers, and this is neither. His name will guarantee a level of success, and those patrons who enjoyed reading about the lives of the rich and decadent in The Gold Coast will enjoy this sequel.

Open to US and Canadian residents, ages 18+, ends December 12, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Email must be in comment or available in profile. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received a complimentary ebook copy of The Gold Coast to review from Hachette Book Group for the purpose of this post.

Living away from both of our families, I tend to send a lot of Christmas cards out.  Addressing the envelopes is not my favorite part ☺.  

I have fairly large handwriting and trying to get the return address to look nice in the left hand corner is a chore.  I know, I know I could use the abundance of free labels I get from all of the charities that solicit donations from me, but generally I don't like the pictures on those.  I could make my own I suppose, but I'm too lazy.

I have always wanted a self inking stamp for my return address, and recently got one from Overnight Prints.  This has to be the handiest way to get your return address on multiple pieces of mail quickly.
 This is what it looks like (I took out our address from the image).   The green border is from their design system so you can be sure that what you want on your stamp is shown.

It stamps up great, each time I use it.

I will note that the label was put on it the wrong way (I have to have the label facing away from me in order to have the stamp come out right, which may be the way they are made, but that seems counter intuitive to me), and the hyphen between my zip code and the 4 number extension didn't get placed on the stamp.  So it looks like this 12345 6789 instead of like this 12345-6789.  

Overnight Prints sells all kinds of products for your business and home.  Business Cards, Postcard Printing, Magnets, Self Inking Stamps, and so much more.  The prices are very reasonable too.

To enter visit Overnight Prints and click on the Advanced Designer and leave a comment telling me which icon you would use on your stamp.

For extra entries (the above must be done first to be eligible for extra entries)

The cost of shipping the self inking stamp to you is not included in this giveaway, you will have to pay for the shipping expenses on your own.  Open to US residents, ages 18+, ends December 11, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Email must be in comment or available in profile. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received a complimentary self inking stamp for the purpose of this post.

I love to eat.  And I can eat. A lot.  This 4'9" less than 100lb body, can eat her Hubby's 6 foot frame, plate for plate.  Actually I could probably beat him and eat one more!

Of course the love of food comes at a price, and on a 4'9" person it doesn't take much to make those extra pounds noticeable.

7 years ago, I realized I was heading down an unhealthy slope and began the Weight Watchers program.  I lost 30lbs and have kept it off.

It isn't always easy but companies like Vitalicious sure do help!

Vitalicious makes all natural, high fiber products.  They are very low in fat (most of them are fat free), and they are chocked full of vitamins too.

A quick, nutritious (you'd get 100% of many essential vitamins), and yes tasty breakfast, is two Vitatops.  At 100 calories a piece and a whopping amount of fiber, you'll stay full until lunch and for only 3 WW points!

From their website:

Vitalicious® Inc. is the market leader of innovative "vitaland delicious" baked goods that promote a healthy lifestyle, withoutsacrificing taste. First to market with 100-calorie servings, Vitalicious® is leading the way to a holistic approach tomaximize satisfaction with minimum calories, with products that are lowfat and high in fiber and nutrients.Vitalicious® has created a unique triangle ofneed-satisfaction (All-Natural ingredients + Nutraceuticals + WeightManagement), the only baked-goods company in this niche. Founded in1999, Vitalicious® creates and sells a variety of unique, healthy, value-added baked goods under theVitaMuffin™, VitaTop™, VitaBrownie™, VitaCake™, and VitaMuffin Mix™ trademarks.Vitalicious® products are now sold at stores nationwide and at www.vitalicious.com (www.vitalicious.ca for Canadian Residents). Here at Vitalicious® our mission is simple: to make healthy and delicious baked goods that are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals.

Vitalicious products contain no preservatives, so assuming you aren't going to eat them all at once, you do need to freeze them or they will spoil.

Vitalicious is a healthy food that you don't notice a flat taste in.  I personally found the bran VitaTops with fruit the tastiest of all the samples I tried.  The fruit pieces are really big ☺.  All of the varieties I received were moist even after being in the freezer.

It works really well to take them straight from the freezer to microwave too, if you don't have time to thaw them regularly.

I did like the fruit/bran VitaTops best, but to indulge the sweet tooth you cannot go wrong with the chocolate varieties or the brownies (no joke, they sell healthy brownies!).  

You can buy Vitalicious products in some grocery stores, to see if a store in your area carries them visit their store locator.   Otherwise you can purchase them online. 

I was sent complimentary samples of Vitalicious products at no cost to myself for the purpose of this post. 

I am fortunate to not have any food allergies in my family.

For those families that don't eat gluten as part of their diets, Michael Season's is a good way to snack.  The gluten-free and wheat-free snacks come in chips, crisps, puffs and curls.  All natural ingredients are used to make their products.
I got to try four varieties of Michael Season's Baked Single-Serve 100 Calorie snacks.  My favorite was the Cheddar Cheese Curls.  They had a great "mac and cheese" type flavor to them, and the same crunch as the full fat kinds.  The Cheese Puffs were similar in flavor, so may suit those who don't want as much crunch when they're snacking.

I was somewhat surprised when eating the Multigrain Chips, I was expecting more of a crispier texture, when actually they are more like eating a "puffcorn".

The Barbeque Potato Chips had a nice crispness to them, without the oily nature of non-baked potato chips.

1. Subscribe to my feed.
2. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this "@threedifferent is giving away Michael Season's snacks find it at http://bit.ly/5kAmAX"
3. Get 2 extra entries if you blog about this giveaway and link back to my blog.

This giveaway will end on December 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and open to U.S. Residents ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and Privacy/Rules declaration and agree to them.

I received complimentary calendars from Andrews McMeel prior to writing this post.

When I clean I generally use microfiber towels. I have ones about the size of a hand towel (but square) and use them for virtually every cleaning task in my home.

Ultimate Cloth is made from MiraFiber™ Technology, which has open spaces between fibers that act as millions of tiny 'scoops' that pull dust, dirt, oil & other contaminants into the cloth and hold them until washed away with mild soap or detergent. (Can also be bleached for disinfection.)

There is vey little besides water I can use on my countertops in my kitchen, since the granite is not sealed. I can use a mild dish soap, but typically use only water to clean them. The deal is, even with my current microfiber cloths, I have to buff them dry, otherwise I will get waterspots.

Ultimate Cloth really did leave clean, streak free countertops in my kitchen, using only the cloth and water. I didn't have to dry the counters after cleaning them.

I like the fact that it is reusable. Just toss in the washer (if washing with a load, make sure the other items in the machine are lint free), and air dry.

The other cleaning chore that this cloth is awesome for is mirrors. I don't know about your home, but in mine, I often wonder what my Hubby and daughter do in the bathroom, when they brush their teeth. I can not in my wildest imagination even dream of how they get toothpaste where they do on the mirror. It's like they shimmy up as close as they can, and open as wide as possible and then brush, all the while splattering the mirror as they clean their teeth.

Amazingly enough, with just water, Ulitmate Cloth, wins the mirror war. Wow. I just wet it, made sure it was wrung out well, and then cleaned the mirrors. There was no streaking at all, and I didn't need to go over any of it. It was so quick, which in my books is fantastic.

Ultimate Cloth is available to purchase online starting at $6.00 a cloth. But the more you buy the more you save, and I'm pretty sure if you decide to purchase these, you'll want more than one.

Ultimate Cloth America has sponsored a giveaway for one of my readers to win one cloth.

To enter visit http://www.ultimateclothamerica.com/ and tell me what you would use your Ultimate Cloth for.

For extra entries (the above must be done first to be eligible for extra entries) you can:
* Become a Fan of Ultimate Cloth America on Facebook
* Subscribe to Three Different Directions
* Follow me on Blogger
* Become a fan of Three Different Directions on Facebook
* Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this contest: RT @threedifferent New Review & Giveaway: The Ultimate Cloth at http://bit.ly/4ELiKK (this can be done daily)
* Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway post and let me know which post you commented on. (2 entries, does not apply to previous comments made)

This giveaway will end on December 8, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and open to U.S. Residents ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and Privacy/Rules declarations and agree to them.

I received a complimentary Ultimate Cloth prior to writing this post.

 4. Eating Lofthouse cookies.  These are so yummy, and really I can't help but eat almost a whole package by myself.  Since that's the case I only get them at Christmas so that they are a real treat!  

5.  Playing Games.  While we tend to play more video games than board games as a family.  The holiday season tends to bring us back to our roots, and we like to gather around the table and play board and card games more at this time of the year.  There is something about gathering around the table with a Monopoly board (ah yea, of course our family plays the Star Wars version!) or Uno Cards, some hot chocolate and popcorn that makes memories!

What are your favorite family holiday activities?
Watch Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure Dec. 6 on NickelodeonFavorite Holiday Activities with Kids

Are you looking for a way to cut calories?  Silk Hearth Health SoyMilk is a great way to cut your calorie intake and at the same time help to make your heart healthy too!

Silk Soymilk can be substituted for milk in many of the recipes you're planning on making this holiday season, and no one will be the wiser either ☺.

You can download a coupon here for 55¢ off a half gallon of any Silk product.  To read more about Silk Heart Health you can go to this post on my blog where I wrote about it last month.

Silk SoyMilk is giving 5 of my readers a coupon for a FREE 1/2 gallon of any Silk product and a pedometer.

To enter the giveaway visit Silk SoyMilk's recipe landing page and tell me one recipe you'd like to make.

For extra entries (the above must be done first to be eligible for extra entries):

1. Blog about this giveaway and link back to Three Different Directions.  (2 extra entries)
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway (this can be done daily).
3. Subscribe to my blog.
4. Follow my blog publicly.

Open to US residents, ages 18+, ends December 6, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Email must be in comment or available in profile. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received no compensation for posting this information or giveaway.

Back in February when I was still getting my feet wet doing reviews, I had the wonderful privilege to review and host a giveaway of some jam from The Jam Lady (also known as Pat) from T P Kitchen.

The organic blackberry jam that I got to try was so tasty, I mean you could really taste the berries, probably because you could see the berries, so you knew they were in there lol!  The berries in the jams are all organic and the jams are all home made one batch at a time.  You know that a lot of care goes into the making of these products, which in turn is reflected in their taste.

There is so much you can do with T P Kitchen jams besides the obvious breakfast toast spread.  Use them as ice cream toppings, pair some of the flavors up with cheese and crackers, english muffins, how about blueberry jam on blueberry scones?  I'm sure when you see the abundance of flavors Pat offers up in her online store, you could think of a bunch of other pairings too.
This time around The Jam Lady is sponsoring a gift basket with 5 different Oregon Berry Jams.  Each jar is about 1 1/2 oz each.  The flavors include Blackberry, Huckleberry, Cranberry, Blueberry and Marionberry.

The blackberries and huckleberries are picked from the coastal hills of southern Oregon, and the blueberries come from a local organic grower.  Those little berries can pack a bunch of sweetness in them, sometimes Pat has to make the batches of her blueberry jam as no sugar ones because of that!

How about some homemade cranberry jam for the holidays.  You know they grow cranberries sweeter out west, that's because they don't have to harvest them as soon.  Again, here is where the quality of T P Kitchen jams show, only fresh cranberries are used, never frozen.

And in case you were wondering what exactly a marionberry is...its a cross between a blackberry and an Owalla berry (and if you don't know what an Owalla berry is...that's what wikipedia is for!).  It doesn't have as intense a flavor as a blackberry, and the marionberry jam is a favorite choice of many who purchase T P Kitchen jams.

This basket is a fabulous way to taste a variety of the many flavors T P Kitchen has to offer.  Jams are a great gift to give at the holidays as thank yous, hospitality gifts, for foodies, for those who like handmade items, and there are always people who prefer consumable gifts to knick knacks, who knows you might start someone on a Jam Lady addiction!

One winner will receive the Oregon Berry Jam gift basket thanks to The Jam Lady.

To enter this giveaway visit T P Kitchen and choose another product, besides those mentioned in this post, that you would like to try. 

Extra Entries: Leave a separate comment for each additional entry. (the above must be done to be eligible for extra entries)

1. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. (This can be done daily)
2. Become a follower of Three Different Directions on Blogger.
3. Subscribe to Three Different Directions RSS Feed
4. Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post (leave your post link)
5. Grab my button and put it on your blog (leave the link to where it can be found)

Open to US residents, ages 18+, ends December 5, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Email must be in comment or available in profile. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received no compensation for hosting or promoting this giveaway.