Posted by Meaghan Barry on November 12, 2013

At my book club the other evening, I was discussing how baby N received so many personalized gifts with his name on it. I really cherish these customized gifts because they are unique keepsakes. It’s such a fun trend and there are so many different, creative options out there.

I also love that you can have these items made with any name. The spelling of my name is somewhat unique and it was very hard to find personalized items with the spelling of my name growing up. These days, any child can easily have personalized items with their name made on it!

With the holiday season quickly approaching, Bright Star Kids asked me to pull together a list of some of my favorite personalized gifts that I have seen lately.

Personalized clothing- Bright Star Kids offers so many adorable personalized baby & kid clothes. I love that you can order any of their customized designs and have it printed on a onesie, t-shirt, or bib (and it is 100% organic cotton.) I am totally swooning over this Christmas Truck design…it’s so sweet! I also love the big and little brother t-shirt designs. One of my only complaints about having boys is the lack of cute boy clothing out there…Bright Star Kids may be changing my mind on that one! I think T and N may be getting a few of these fun clothing items under our Christmas tree this year.
Custom labels for kids- I ordered some of these for T as his nursery school teachers recommend that all kids label their coats, shoes, mittens, hats, cups, etc. so they don’t get mixed up. I love that they don’t come off in the washing machine or dishwasher. Bright Star kid also offers their own line of name labels. These would make a great stocking stuffer for all your favorite preschoolers.
Baby & toddler books- I recently ordered this baby book for N and this toddler memory book for T. I love the customized front covers of these books. It’s so much more personable that just some generic baby book from a store. The inside pages are really nice as well.
Customized name burp clothes- We go through a lot of burp clothes in our household and one of my favorites is a personalized one from Moonbeam Baby. It’s basically a monogrammed diaper cloth embellished with some decorative fabric. Who knew spitting up could be so cute?
Name Puzzle Step Stool- Another gift that Baby N received was a personalized name puzzle step stool. Right now only T uses it, but it’s such a cute gift idea. Plus, T has already learned how to spell N’s name since he has put the puzzle together so many times. T uses it to brush his teeth, wash his hands, and whenever he needs a little boost to get to counter height.

If you are looking for more personalized gift ideas for kids this holiday season, be sure to also check out my Pinterest board on the topic! What are some of your favorite personalized gifts to give kids?

Be different this Christmas & get the kids a super cute gift personalized especially for them! Save 15% when you use the code “GIFT” in the shopping cart. Min spend $30. Expires December 15, 2013.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bright Star Kids. The opinions and text are all mine.

Posted by Meaghan Barry on June 11, 2013

June is such a busy month with the end of the school year, graduation parties, bridal & baby showers, and weddings. I’m always racking my brain for creative gifts that would be appreciated and I came up with a coffee and caramel-themed gift basket. While T doesn’t start school until September, I think this would make a great teacher gift for his future teachers next year (God bless their hearts already…they are going to have their hands full!)

I recently gave my little sister a “working girl” graduation present since she will be starting a real office job this summer. I filled a clear acrylic tray with items that I have always found helpful to have at my work desk. I brainstormed with K about our favorite cubicle essentials- we came up an iced coffee mug, Starbucks Via iced coffee packets, tissues, antibacterial hand gel, cleaning wipes, lip balm, Altoids, and a Charlie Ticket (which is used to pay for busses and subways in Boston.) The tray I used to hold all the stuff wasn’t necessarily for work- I figured it would be fun to use as a serving tray while entertaining or organize small household items, such as make-up or stationery.

I was recently asked by International Delight to come up with a craft project using an International Delight creamer bottle. Since a creamer bottle snowman isn’t very seasonal for this time of year (seriously, Google it- there are a lot of creamer bottle snowmen out there,) I decided to come up with a coffee and caramel-themed gift to give to teachers for the end of the school year. I picked the caramel part of the theme because my favorite International Delight creamer is the Caramel Macchiato flavor.

coffee and caramel‐themed gift tray

I included the following in my themed gift tray:

A bottle of International Delight Caramel Macchiato creamer
A large bag of Starbucks coffee beans
Copco iced coffee cup (I love this cup so much…I just bought a second one since I use my first one so much. I usually fill it with water or decaf iced tea since I’m still pregnant, but I plan on filling them with large quantities of iced coffee in a few weeks once this baby is born!)
Starbucks Via iced coffee packets
Fleur de Sel caramels from Trader Joe’s (regular caramels would work as well, but these are extra special!)
Caramel Layerer Brownies while I was pulling this gift tray together.)
A special thank you note

If this is above your gift budget, it could easily be simplified to just an iced coffee cup filled with iced coffee packets, caramels, and an ice-cold bottle of I.D. Caramel Macchiato Creamer.

coffee and caramel‐themed teacher gift

You could also mix the gift theme up a bit if you knew the recipient preferred a certain flavor. Just swap out the Caramel Macchiato creamer and Fleur de Sel caramels for any of these combinations:

French Vanilla International Delight with a packet of vanilla beans and a recipe for your favorite vanilla bean ice cream
Southern Butter Pecan International Delight with a batch of Mini Pecan Pie Bites
Hershey’s S’mores International Delight with graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, and wooden skewers
York Peppermint Patty International Delight with a big bag of Peppermint Patties
Cinnabon International Delight with a Cinnabon gift card

Tie it up with some ribbon matching the school colors. Your gift recipient will be able to kick off their summer and enjoy their caffeine fix with some special treats!

What’s Your ID? International Delight is looking for their most passionate flavor fans. Put your ID on the map to enter to win a Magical Trip, play games and discover more unexpected delight. Share your ID flavor at http://whatsyourid.com.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

sister m signature

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on November 9, 2012

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? I haven’t, but I’m hoping to get that kick-started in the next couple of weeks. To help our 2S2C readers get a head start on shopping, we are teaming up with Shabby Apple to do a very special giveaway! We will be giving away a $75 Shabby Apple gift card to one lucky reader! Even if you don’t win our Shabby Apple giveaway, you still can get 10% off your order using special promotion code 2sisters2cities10off.

Shabby Apple features unique, vintage-inspired clothing and accessories. Are you looking for a special dress for an upcoming holiday party? Shabby Apple specializes in retro, modest dresses. How fun would it be to wear this star-studded dress to a festive holiday occasion?

I also love this retro-looking cider dress. It would be the perfect dress to wear to Thanksgiving dinner:

shabby apple cider dress

Need a fun hostess gift to bring to a friend? I think this blackberry pie apron would be a great gift!
shabby apple blackberry pie apron

There are four ways to win a Shabby Apple $75 gift card in this giveaway. First, visit their website, shabbyapple.com, pick a favorite item, and tell us about it in the comments (this step is mandatory.) For three additional entries, you can:

Like Shabby Apple on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shabby-Apple/56291792791)
Tweet about the giveaway with the hashtag #shabbyapplegiveaway
Post on their blog about the giveaway

Please leave a separate comment for each item, for a total of four possible entries. Good luck!

We have a winner thanks to random.org from the 323 comments before the giveaway time period ended…comment #26! Congratulations Sara- Shabby Apple will be in touch with you shortly regarding your $75 Shabby Apple gift card!

random.org screen shot

The Rules: Contestants must have a USA shipping address to be eligible for entry. No entries will be accepted after Friday, November 16th, 2012 at 5:00 pm, EST. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Four entries max per person. One winner will be chosen at random and will be announced during the week of November 19th, 2012. The chosen winners will then have 30 days to respond by e-mail to claim their prize. Void where prohibited.

sister m signature

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on October 14, 2012

With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s a great time to start thinking about stocking up on hostess gifts and presents to give to your family and friends. One of my favorite gifts that I like to bring as a hostess gift is specialty olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A great place to buy specialty olive oil and vinegar is at O&CO. O&CO. has provided a special promotion code for 2S2C readers to save 16% off your order between now and October 16th: FOODIE16.

Here’s a little information about O&CO.s history and product offerings:

For over 15 years, O&CO. has been cultivating tradition, expertise, and high standards in order to offer their customers the best selections of olive oils and delicacies from across the Mediterranean. While olive oils serve as the foundation, O&CO. also offers an exclusive collection of vinegars, tapenades, spreads, crackers, and sweets as well as an organic skincare range that showcase the flavors and the spirit of the Mediterranean. Founded in 1996, O&CO.s mission is to provide customer with the finest olive oils and Mediterranean food products in stores and online.

Here are a few O&CO. products that would make great gifts (including to yourself!) This aged balsamic vinegar would be perfect for the caprese salad:

Black truffle oil is amazing drizzled over pasta, roasted vegetables, or eggs:

This truffle salt would be the perfect touch to go on top of popcorn:

Don’t forget to use the special coupon code FOODIE16 to get a 16% discount from today to October 16, 2012. To take advantage of this offer, visit O&CO.

Please note: This sponsorship is brought to you by O&CO. who we have partnered with for this promotion.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on March 6, 2012

Even though Easter is still a month away, I like to start hiding away things for my son’s Easter basket as I come across fun ideas in stores or on-line. Since young babies can’t have a basket of candy, here are some alternative Spring and Easter-themed goodies you can include instead for baby’s first Easter basket. I actually started this post a year ago after Easter, but I thought it would be more timely to post it before the holiday occurred this year. Although this was my son’s first Easter basket, many of the items would also be suitable for baby’s second or third Easter as well!

The basket itself is from Pottery Barn Kids. I filled it with books, bunnies, chicks, and a couple pieces of Easter candy for mom and dad! Here are some suggestions for what to include in baby’s first Easter basket:

Books:

–Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book) by Dorothy Kunhardt- my son loves to pat the bunny, play peekaboo with Paul, and put his fingers through “mummy’s ring”…a great interactive classic.
–My First Easter by Tomie dePaolo- We had all of these “first” holiday books for my youngest sister growing up…a cute board book.
–That’s Not My Bunny (Usborne Touchy Feely Board Books) by Fiona Watts- We own the bunny, monkey, dinosaur, and baby version of this series. It’s so adorable!
–Baby Touch & Feel: Farm by DK Publishing- A fun farm animal book.
–Peter Rabbit Naturally Better Classic Gift Set by Beatrix Potter- While this book may be too complex for young babies, but it would be a great gift for your child to have over the years as they grow.
–Baby Touch ‘n Feel Easter Bunny by Roger Priddy
–Where are Baby’s Easter Eggs? A Lift the Flap Book by Karen Katz- same author as Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?
–Spot’s First Easter by Eric Hill
–Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton- This is hand’s down my son’s favorite book!

Stuffed Animals:

–Angel Dear lovie blanket– The bunny, duck, or lamb lovie would both be a great gift for baby’s Easter basket. My son has the monkey and is infatuated with it (we had to buy two in case he ever lost the first one!)
–Angel Deal stick rattle

Toys:

–Hide N Squeak Eggs– I’ve known a few people who have had this toy and their kids really seem to like it!
–Easter stickers

Snacks/Food-Related:

–Peter Rabbit Organics– 4 oz pouches- I just recently noticed these at Target…my son loves pouches!
–HappyBaby Organic Puffs
–Baby’s First Easter bib

Check out our Baby’s Easter Basket Amazon Store for more gift ideas!

What do you like to include in your baby’s Easter basket? What did you get in your basket when you were a kid?

p.s. A note about our Amazon store that I have linked most of these items from….We created this Amazon store to share some of our favorite products that we use. Products found in this store are the same price as the regular Amazon site. You can use your normal Amazon account to buy these items through our store and add other Amazon items to your shopping cart. We get a certain percentage of store sales, which helps us diffuse some of the on-going costs of running our blog. Thank you! :)

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day! I had hoped to make heart cut-out cookies like Sara did at forever and a recipe, but I ran out of time. I did decide at the last-minute to make chocolate-covered strawberries to go on the side of the dessert planned for tonight. This is a very simple recipe, but I have a couple warnings:

1. If you don’t have a double-boiler and are just holding a pot over another pot of boiling water, don’t freak out if the water bubbles out at you and fling a chocolate strawberry all over yourself and the kitchen.

2. If you have already flung a chocolate strawberry all over yourself and kitchen, don’t answer the door for the dry cleaning delivery man. I did not realize I had spilled chocolate all over my shirt. Everywhere. I must have looked like such a hot mess when I answered the door.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Ingredients:
-1 pound strawberries, rinsed and patted dry
-8 oz 70% cacao chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces
-1/2 inch square paraffin
-1 tablespoon butter
-Any other ingredients you want to dip in chocolate (I used bananas and pretzels)

Directions:
Combine the chocolate, paraffin, and butter in the top portion of a double boiler (or a small sauce pan if you don’t have one). Allow the water in the bottom portion of a double boiler (or a larger sauce pan) to boil. Hold the small pan over the boiling water (don’t let it touch the bottom of the larger pan) and continually stir the chocolate mixture until everything is fully melted.

Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the strawberry into the melted chocolate and roll it around until 85% of it is covered with the chocolate. Place the strawberry on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Once the strawberries are done, dip any other ingredients you want in the chocolate. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for an hour or until chocolate has set.

I also made some chocolate-covered pretzels and bananas. When I think of chocolate-covered bananas, I always think of the Bluth family banana stand on Arrested Development:

Tonight’s V’day dinner menu is:
-Whole Foods pre-made crab cakes with homemade tartar sauce
-Moroccan-spiced rack of lamb with pomegranate reduction (from the Bon Appetit Fast Fresh Easy cookbook)
-Couscous with pine nuts and mint
-Baked acorn squash with yogurt and mint
–Molten chocolate cake with chocolate-covered strawberries on the side

Do you have any plans for tonight?

-m

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 13, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! Hope you all have a great day today and do something special with the ones you love. My boyfriend and I have nothing official planned, just going to the gym and then having a homemade dinner together. We exchanged gifts over the weekend. He took me to Staples and let me pick out whatever I wanted from the new Martha Stewart by Avery line. Doesn’t he know me so well? It was such a perfect gift and I am so excited about the items I picked out (more to come about that!)

I like to bring in treats for my co-workers for holidays so for Valentine’s Day this year I decided to make these very special brownies I had seen on one of the blogs I follow. These brownies are from Gaby’s blog What’s Gaby Cooking and originally called “slutty brownies.” They are layered with chocolate-chip cookies, Oreos and brownies…obviously worthy of their name. Gaby posted them about a month ago and I knew that I would need to make these as soon as possible. I planned on bringing them to work so I renamed them Extreme 3-Layer Brownies for professional purposes (obviously not as fun of a name.)

I cut the brownies into squares and placed each one in a heart-patterned cupcake paper. Then I wrapped each brownie in a plastic bag so they would stay fresh. I had red paper lunch bags I found at Target that I thought would be perfect to give out for Valentine’s Day gift bags. I took each each wrapped brownie and placed them in the red bag, folded over the top of the bag and then attached a tag that says “Happy Valentine’s Day” and gave the recipe for these extremely tasty brownies on the other side of the tag. I tied on the tag with red & white baker’s twine I had bought from Ebay.

Extreme 3-Layer Brownies

*A chocolate chip cookie, Oreo and brownie bar*

Ingredients:
Brownie layer:
10 tbsp. unsalted butter (1 ¼ stick of butter)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Oreo layer:
1 package of Oreo
Cookie Dough layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temp)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
For brownie layer:
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Add in sugar and cocoa powder and whisk into melted butter. Take off heat and mix in salt, vanilla, and eggs. Mix in flour and set brownie batter aside.

For cookie layer:
Cream the butter and sugar together with mixer. Add in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl. In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix in dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan with tin foil and spray with baking spray. Starting with the cookie dough layer, lay down the cookie dough and flatten. Make sure the dough is spread out in an even layer. Next layer Oreos in a single layer. Finally pour brownie batter on top of Oreo layer and spread so batter evenly covered. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean from center. Add an additional 5 minutes on if needed. Allow to cool before cutting.

Source- Adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking I did figure out the Weight Watchers PointsPlus for these. I am not sure if you want to know. It really depends on how many pieces you cut them into. My plan was to just eat one, but my boyfriend and I failed miserably at that so make them at you own risk. Pass them off to your friends and co-workers as soon as possible!!

Happy Valentine’s Day Lovelies!

-K

These post is linked at:

Posted by Meaghan Barry on March 29, 2010

With bridal shower season around the corner, I have started to think about different ways in which I have presented gifts at showers. Since the actual gift itself is usually not a surprise to the recipient, I try to give gifts with a creative spin. By presenting your gift in a fun manner, you can create a conversation piece and make the shower a bit more fun (admit it…it gets boring fast to watch someone open gift after gift for hours upon end). Here are five gift/packaging tips:

1. In most cases, stick to the registry. Unless you have a really great idea for a particular bride, people create registries for a reason. If you end up going off the registry, you are often creating more work for someone as they may not need that particular item. People often think that giving off the registry is too impersonal, but you can make it more creative and personal by packaging it in a nice way. You can also supplement gifts from the registry with some small non-registry gifts (more below).

2. When you are wrapping a gift, you don’t need to necessarily use wrapping paper or the common white wedding gift bag. If you are buying off the registry, the gift likely won’t be a surprise so you don’t need to necessarily conceal it under layers of wrapping. For one shower, I bought a few sets of plates off the registry and tied them together with a piece of thick, white satin ribbon. I had just been to another wedding the previous weekend and had won the floral centerpiece for my table, so I took a few of the roses from the flowers, cut the stems down to size, and tucked them into the ribbon. If you have a large garden, you could also use some floral clippings from your own yard. If you were giving a cooking-related gift, a fresh herb cutting like rosemary would also add a nice touch tucked into the gift packaging.

3. When searching through the registry, try to find a good “basket” and smaller items to fill it with. The basket does not necessarily need to a be a basket per say, just some type of container that could hold other related gifts. For example, for one shower, I bought a colander and filled it with smaller cooking related items. I bought items on the registry like a pasta serving spoon, spatula, and garlic press, as well as a few non-registry items such as a gourmet olive oil, pasta sauce, and pasta. I have also seen a gift combos such as a flatware tray filled with flatware and serving spoons from the registry (tied up with tulle) and a basket filled with rolled-up towels.

4. Scope out a registry early before all the good gifts/gift combinations are taken!

5. Try to stick to a theme. If you are buying wine glasses, add a bottle of wine or wine opener. If you are buying a cooking pan, pair it with a pair of oven mitts. Try to avoid going through the list and picking a random selection of items to get to your price point (a salt shaker, vacuum replacement bags, a bowl, and a pillowcase would make for an awkward gift!)

What are some gifts you have given at showers that you feel presented well?

-m