BLOGMANIA SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Joe's Toy Box {GIVEAWAY}

We're just a week away from BLOGMANIA, a two-day event where hundreds of blogs will be offering great giveaways, totaling more than $30,000!  AFOMFT will be hosting two giveaways during BLOGMANIA.  The first is called MARVELOUS FOR MOM and will include more than $500 worth of products that any mother will love.  From jewelry and clothing to beauty products and stationery, you'll want every single item in this great gift pack.  You'll learn more about each piece of the package over the next few days.

The second giveaway is currently valued at $550 and the theme is THE WHOLE KID CABOODLE.  This fabulous prize is chock full of goodies for little ones - custom bedding, clothes, note cards and much much more.  And what's a kid's giveaway without toys?  Well, here's one of the coolest ones around!

I am so excited to have Joe's Toy Box as a BLOGMANIA sponsor!  This family run Etsy shop was started when little Joe asked his father a simple question - "Daddy, can you make me a castle?"  That got his parents thinking, and before Joe knew it, he had a castle of his very own.

Armed with some crayons and a whole lot of creativity, Joe set out to make his castle a home.

And after seeing how much joy this fun fort brought to kids:

 
Joy's Toy Box was born!  In addition to the original royal dwelling, they also make a Country Barn Playhouse.

And my personal favorite, the Whimsical Cottage.

How cute is that lopsided chimney???

Each playhouse is made by hand and can provide hours of imaginative play for your little ones.  And guess what?  The lucky winner of THE WHOLE KID CABOODLE prize is going to score their very own King's Castle Playhouse!  You won't want to miss what else we have in store so mark your calendars now.

You'll be able to enter to win THE WHOLE KID CABOODLE prize package, including the Playhouse from Joe's Toy Box, on September 15th & 16th here on AFOMFT.  To make it simple to enter all of the BLOGMANIA giveaways, there will only be one means of entry on those days but you can earn extra entries over the next week.  Here's how:

You can do any of the following once and earn one entry for each that you complete.

• Visit Joe's Toy Box and make the store a favorite

You can also earn bonus entries daily by:

• Tweeting this: Joe's Toy Box is giving away a King's Castle Playhouse during #Blogmania2010 at @AFOMFT! September 15th & 16th - Don't miss out! #PPRO
• Clicking here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs - .  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to note one entry for each one.
• Post about the AFOMFT BLOGMANIA giveaways on your blog or Facebook.  You must include a link to AFOMFT in your post and include a link to your post in your comment.

To record your bonus entries, leave a comment for each one on this post and they will be included when I draw the BLOGMANIA giveaway winners.  Want to earn more bonus entries?  Be sure to visit our other BLOGMANIA Sponsor Spotlight Posts for additional chances.


For more information on BLOGMANIA including more sponsors and the other blogs participating, visit the Blogmania Central Website, "like" Blogmania on Facebook and follow @Blogmania2010 on Twitter.  And stay tuned - we'll be featuring more of our wonderful sponsors on AFOMFT this week!

Images: Joe's Toy Box

AND THE WINNER IS....

Congratulations ROBYNK!  You've won this amazing Weston Jr. coat from Alpha Industries! Your little guy is going to look so cute in it.

Please e-mail me at afomft@gmail.com by end of day Wednesday, September 8th to claim your prize. If I do not hear from you by then, a new winner will be chosen.  A huge thank you to Alpha Industries for this wonderful giveaway!

An example of Chinese Innovation

After (or before?) the Apple Peel that turns an iPod Touch into a 3G iPhones, here comes another Chinese innovation -- the most professional subtitle for a movie, any movie indeed.

"Das Leben der Anderen” (Lives of the Others) is a great great movie. The Chinese DVD is most likely pirated. But there are a few "translation groups" (字幕组）working more for interests than money. Some did this because of their pure disgust of the low quality of the existing subtitles provided by pirated DVDs (like the one that taught some Hong Kong writer wrong English). And there is competition even in the piracy industry.

Appreciate the photoshop work for the Chinese translation of Karl Marx Bookstore. For more please see Chinasmack. I had watched some Russian version (probably "Wanted") with written languages on the movies turned from (replacing) English into Russian (again from Chinese DVD), but I thought those were from the official version, and not done as well as this.

Toasting Marshmallows: An Original Poem

I love September! The days are still warm. The nights are cooler. There's less humidity. Crickets serenade us loudly at night. It's a wonderful time of the year to camp out...or to have a barbecue.

That's why I selected a poem I wrote about toasting marshmallows to post for this holiday weekend.

********************

Toasting Marshmallows

I pierce

two candied clouds…

a pair of whipped sugar pillows

with a wooden stick,

toast them over the campfire

till they’re warm and brown

and their insides ooze

sticky white lava

when I bite in.

********************

• Coming next Friday--my review of Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night, written by Joyce Sidman and Illustrated by Rick Allen.
• At Blue Rose Girls, I have a poem by Kalli Dakos titled A Teacher's Lament.
• Susan Taylor Brown has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

Handmade With Heart {GIVEAWAY}

There's nothing I love more than finding a unique gift for someone.  Etsy has certainly made that task a lot easier but there are so many things for sale there that trying to narrow them down to what you're looking for can be a bit of a challenge.  So when it comes to handmade presents, I've got a new go-to site - Ashley Petite.  This adorable online boutique carries so many cute products that you may never have to shop for gifts anywhere else again!

Need something for a shower or new baby?  Why not pair their 100% cotton chenille-backed bibs:

With a cuddly coordinating blanket:

And a diaper clutch so pretty that changing dirty bottoms won't seem like such a chore!

Or go for a basket of super snuggly goodies like this hand-knit sweater:

A soft coordinating hat:

And a matching little lamb:

For a little girl's birthday, this gingham crayon apron:

Or sweet apple purse would be just perfect!

Even the practical items at Ashley Petite are still adorable.  Need a seatbelt pillow?  Might as well get a cute one!

Want to keep you kid's binkie from going missing?  You can do it with style.

As a mom whose daughter get carsick, the colorful car seat covers are a must have.

And the stroller seat cushions will help pimp your babies' ride!

I can personally vouch for the amazing quality of the products at Ashley Petite.  They generously sent me two of their Initial Hair Clip Holders to review, one for Gabrielle and one for Alaina.  I knew they looked nice from the picture on the site:

But when they arrived, they were even more darling than I expected! 

See those bows on the package?  They're hair clips!  Such a great way to wrap them.

Each initial is hand-painted so the designs will vary but the details are amazing and every holder is one-of-a-kind.

And I love how they look hanging on the wall! 

No more searching in a drawer for hair clips anymore, thanks to Ashley Petite, and now you don't have to search for somewhere to buy handmade goods made with love, either!

Ashley Petite is giving away one Initial Hair Clip Holder to a lucky AFOMFT reader! To enter, visit Ashley Petite and tell which other item from the store you love (this is mandatory).  For additional entries:

• Subscribe to AFOMFT or let us know you are a subscriber
• "Like" AFOMFT on Facebook -- http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN
• Ask your friends to "like" AFOMFT on Facebook by sending them this link - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN - and post a comment here with the names of each one who does.  You'll earn one entry per new friend who "likes" our page and names will be cross-checked. 
• "Like" Ashley Petite on Facebook.
• Follow the Ashley Petite Blog. 
• Follow @ashleypetite & AFOMFT on Twitter (@AFOMFT or click the birdie icon on the sidebar) and tweet this post by clicking the graphic above or this giveaway:  #Win an adorable handpainted Initial Hair Clip Holder from @ashleypetite & @AFOMFT - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFT
• Click here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs and post a comment here that you did - .  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to post one comment for each one.
• Grab our button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
• Blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway with a link to this post (worth 2 entries so please post two comments) and make sure your comments include a link to your status or blog post.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry (two if you've blogged about the giveaway) and make sure to include a link to your tweet, blog post, etc. All entries must be posted on AFOMFT as a direct comment to this post.  Comments on Facebook will not count as entries.  This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends September 9th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and announced on AFOMFT on September 10th. If the winner doesn't contact AFOMFT within 48 hours, a new drawing will be held so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Please note that Ashley Petite sent me two Initial Hair Clip Holders for the purpose of this review.  The opinions I've shared of this product are my own and yours may differ.

Images: Ashley Petite

Glen Beck Has Nazi Tourrette's Syndrome

Glenn Beck has been all over the news lately. I couldn’t resist posting a video of one of the funniest Back in Black segments that I’ve ever seen on The Daily Show at my blog Political Verses. In the segment, comedian Lewis Black claims that Glenn Beck has Nazi Tourette’s Syndrome. It's a riot!

Here's the link to my post at PV: Lewis Black on Glenn Beck and His Terrible Affliction

Oh 2 Cute! {GIVEAWAY}

I have professed my love of hair accessories over and over again, and now I've found another store to feed my addiction - Bows 2 Cute.  Don't you just love these Initial Button Headbands?

And they're only $5.50 each!  That's what's so great about Bows 2 Cute - the prices are super reasonable so if your little lady loses one of her hair clips (or chews on them as has often been the case in our house), you're not out a ton of cash.  This Baby Snappie Starter Kit?  Just $5.25!

There's even a set for preemies.  I wish I'd known about them when Gabrielle and Alaina were in the NICU!

I love the fabric button ponytail holders (which start at $2 each).

And there's nothing cuter than a rainbow mini-korker (Hello!  Just $3.50)!

They also have a whole bunch of designs for Halloween, from spiders:

To ghosts:

So fun!

Besides hair goodies, Bows 2 Cute also carries sassy baby shoes ($9.75):

Custom embroidered baby bloomers ($12.50):

And Initial Onesie and Hat sets ($19.50):

At less than $20 each, they would all make wonderful gifts. 

Jamie from Bows 2 Cute sent me two items to review and they were absolutely adorable.  The first was a sequined flower crochet headband like this one.

And yes, it's just as cute in person as it is on that sweet little girl.  The second was one of these fabulous Newsboy Kufi caps.

Why don't I have pictures of my girls in them?  Because we're giving them away to a lucky AFOMFT reader!  But believe me when I tell you I'll be ordering two of those hats for Gabrielle and Alaina to wear this fall.  They are that darling!

So if you're looking for stylish accessories for your little lass at prices that won't break the bank, be sure to visit Bows 2 Cute. You won't be disappointed.

Now let's give away that great hat and headband set!  To enter, visit Bows 2 Cute and tell which other item from the store you love (this is mandatory).  For additional entries:

• Subscribe to AFOMFT or let us know you are a subscriber
• "Like" AFOMFT on Facebook -- http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN
• Ask your friends to "like" AFOMFT on Facebook by sending them this link - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN - and post a comment here with the names of each one who does.  You'll earn one entry per new friend who "likes" our page and names will be cross-checked. 
• "Like" Bows 2 Cute on Facebook.
• Visit Bows 2 Cute and sign up for their newsletter.
• Follow @Bows2Cute & AFOMFT on Twitter (@AFOMFT or click the birdie icon on the sidebar) and tweet this post by clicking the graphic above or this giveaway:  #Win an adorable crocheted headband and newsboy cap set for your little girl from @Bows2Cute & @AFOMFT - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFT
• Click here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs and post a comment here that you did - .  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to post one comment for each one.
• Grab our button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
• Blog or post on Facebook about this giveaway with a link to this post (worth 2 entries so please post two comments) and make sure your comments include a link to your status or blog post.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry (two if you've blogged about the giveaway) and make sure to include a link to your tweet, blog post, etc. All entries must be posted on AFOMFT as a direct comment to this post.  Comments on Facebook will not count as entries.  This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends September 8th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and announced on AFOMFT on September 9th. If the winner doesn't contact AFOMFT within 48 hours, a new drawing will be held so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Images: Bows 2 Cute