Tag: shopping

DIY Holiday Card Picture Ideas

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Ideas for Annual Family Christmas Card Picture

So every year I try to be super creative and take pictures – especially of my kids – in different areas each year.

Fall Beach Portrait

I haven’t used a professional photographer since my kids were babies. I prefer saving money by capturing the shots myself with my iPhone 11- which has an excellent camera. Taking unique portraits has become a hobby of mine! It has become a great creative outlet and a perfect excuse to make the kids dress up.

Since last year was 2020 – the great unpleasant year that left us with no social events – and only nature to work with. This happened to be one of my favorite Christmas Cards yet! ♥️ We took the kids the first weekend of October to the Jersey Shore with a few props – dressed in red. We made sure to angle the camera so the sun was behind us so we weren’t squinting. We had such a great time. When we were done, my fish-kids took a dive into the ocean, which was so warm – good thing I had extra clothes! **I had so many great pics – I just had to make it double sided!!

Vacation Pics

In the past I have used attractive vacation pics that were taken from throughout the year. Especially if there is some gorgeous scenery behind you.

Zoo Shots

Every year – (except 2020) a favorite zoo not too far from our home, does a beautiful Christmas light show and one year I decided to get some great shots in there.

Holiday Events

When I don’t have to rush, I utilize some of the holiday farm events in my town that look so beautiful when decorated for Christmas.

2021 Family Portrait Arboretum Idea

Finding it hard to top last year’s amazing beach picture I decided to try out a beautiful arboretum located in Morris County, NJ. What’s even better not only was the beach free but so are most arboretums!! We threw on our red Christmas sweaters and my tripod into my trunk and headed out. Below are some of the shots I captured. *I always prefer Shutterfly designs to plug my pictures in for our yearly Christmas Card.* I prefer to order my Christmas Cards through Shutterfly by shopping through Rakuten! Who doesn’t want money back from Christmas Shopping. Every February I usually get close to or around $100 back!!! CLICK HERE TO SHOP THROUGH RAKUTEN AND EARN MONEY BACK BY SIMPLE SHOPPING.

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Tips

  • Purchase Christmas Clothes on Sale and the end of the season every year – just make sure a size or 2 bigger for the kids
  • Depending on how much time you have plan your pictures accordingly – if you have time & aren’t in a rush that gives you more time to capture more photos at several holiday events
  • Try to make a fun day out of it… don’ stress everyone out – laugh and have a great time!

LEGO Harry Potter Diagon Alley

Posted in LEGO Sets, Lego Store3 Comments

LEGO Provides Creative Outlet: Therapy & Inspired Creativity During Pandemic

LEGO Harry Potter Diagon Alley brings my older son Mikey’s LEGO Collection to 743 sets, with 1,676 Minifigures. This delicately detailed set comes with 5,544 pieces, with 21 bags and 4 books of building fun. Mikey spent between 7-10 hours building this set during Christmas week when he received it as a Christmas gift. Mikey found the windows in this particular set to be most interesting. Needless to say it was his favorite gift! Lego Harry Potter Diagon Alley has become one of this LEGO Expert, Builder, and Creator’s all time favorite sets…for NOW. Mikey likes to keep track of all his LEGO Sets and Minifigures in a website called Brickset.com .

Mikey’s Completed Lego Harry Potter Diagon Alley

LEGO has always been a source of therapy for Mikey and a creative outlet. LEGO is so very inspirational…. I have always loved Mikey’s interest and love for LEGO. LEGO building teaches children how to follow directions as well as it is inspiring. It is fantastic for fine motor skills. When we aren’t out hiking and I want my kids off of screens, video games & electronics LEGO is what I turn to. Get off the screens and get creative!

I purchased this set along with many others through Rakuten. Sometimes I purchase Legos through the Rakuten site either from the LEGO Store (which offers a lot of neat promotions), Walmart, Target or Kohls depending on pricing. I enjoy online shopping through a site called Rakuten where I get cash back quarterly just by shopping through them. The LEGO Store – www.lego.com usually provides some good cash back deals through Rakuten.

Simply copy and paste this link into your browser:

https://www.rakuten.com/r/VBRAGA?eeid=28187

Next: create an account. Once you have created an account you click on what store you would like to shop from and that is all you need to do.

My January 2021 Cash Back Balance!

I should be expecting my next Rakuten check to come in February. After all the online Christmas shopping, I have earned $101.00 cash back! I am so excited. Some of the stores I enjoy shopping through Rakuten are: Macy’s, Chewy, Walmart, Target, LEGO, Sephora, Ulta, BAM Books A Million, Kohls, Old Navy, BJ’s and more!

When we visit Disney World one of our must-do stops while there is the LEGO Store in Disney Springs! You never know what Lego statues and decorations you find surrounding you. The LEGO Store in Disney Springs accepts Disney Gift Cards – so you can save money if you are a member of BJ’s or Costco which sells Disney Gift Cards at discounted pricing and use them for your LEGO Store purchases in Disney Springs. Am I the only one who still calls it “Downtown Disney”?!

We are excitedly awaiting the opening of Legoland NY! The new theme park that was supposed to open last year but was delayed to the world pandemic of COVID-19 is located closely in Goshen, NY. Just 40 minutes from our North Jersey home. After a year of being inside, we are really looking forward to hitting this park daily.

We are really hoping to check out the Harry Potter section of Universal Studios in Florida this year!

Coming up for Mikey’s 13th Birthday this March, Mikey is asking for LEGO Ninajago City Gardens which is a 5,685 piece set. We are super excited to see how this set comes out and just how long it takes Mikey to build!

Mikey has also spent some time designing and building his own LEGO house.

What are you doing to safely pass the time during COVID-19?

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