PHOTO SHOOT EXTRAVAGANZA Giveaway 1/1/11 to 1/11/11

Please stop by and enter the Sunshine to Starshine 600 Fan Photo Shoot Extravaganza from Jan 1st at midnight to Jan 11th at 12Noon est. (this can be found at http://s2sphotoextravaganza.blogspot.com/ if the link is not working)

Here's the deal, Fill out the form up to 3 times for chances to win. I would take a few minutes to look at the photographers offered, because if you go to their web page you gen an extra entry. Unfortunately most of the photographers are on the East Coast, however there are plenty scattered across the USA. 

 You can enter on behalf of yourself, a family member, or a complete stranger. So if you don't live in one of the mentioned areas, you can offer the opportunity for someone else to win. There is also the chance to "Ship the photographer anywhere" where if you pay travel expenses the photographer will come to you!

Comment on this post if you like, but if you have a question email me at sunshinetostarshine@yahoo.com. Giveaway will be open from Jan 1 at midnight EST until Jan 11 at Noon EST.If you are a blog fan or facebook fan there will be an opportunity during this time to earn an extra entry in this giveaway, so follow this blog for that!

Merry Christmas from Mama Sunshine, Baby Starshine and Daddy Jupiter

My Apologies for my Great Absence this Month

As many of you know, I have been having computer issues since the week before Thanksgiving and I had to do the 12 days of giveaways PRESENTS! event from those computers of friends and family, the library, and the likes. With a 1 year old, that is very difficult. I am still without computer full time, borrowing laptops from friends here and there and going to the library about once a week. This has made email communication, comment interaction and blogging very difficult for me. I owe a big apology to JC Penney, Jenn Kuhn Scentsy, and Zagora Naturals because in the mess of it all, their reviews never got posted the following day, only their giveaways. For that reason I need to make it up somehow to them and to anyone who has lost faith in this blog.


I would also like to apologize that I have not updated you lately on the status of the Photo Shoot Extravaganza that we are holding for reaching 600 fans on our facebook page.

PRESENTS! 12 Days of Giveaways WINNER list

Day 1 CrazyDog
Linda Kish

Day 2 Abby’s Lane
Mama Chocolate

Day 3 Raynedrops
Jessica Conkey

Day 4 Ecomom
Shannon Foster

Day 5 Funky Glass
Katherine Snyder

Day 6 Heidi Crochet
Alyssa Bingaman

Day 7 Family Talk
Nina Bogard

Day 8 NachoMamaTees
Cassie

Day 9 Community Coffee
Brooke Fouts

Day 10 Mudpuppy
Boys: Becky Beitzel
Girls: Rebecca

Day 11 Applied Labels
Angela Polenz

Day 12 FINALE!
JCPenney: Rozanna S
Zagora: Jessica Robbins
Scentsy Jenn Kuhn: Heather Young


Please contact me within 48 hours at sunshinetostarshine@yahoo.com with PRESENTS winner in the subject to claim your prize.

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 12.. GRAND FINALE!

Due to computer issues this week, all of the reviews for this post will be posted Weds Dec 8. The giveaways will still begin Tues Dec 7 and proceed until Friday Dec 10 at approximately Noon EST. Winners will be announced all at once with Thrifty Nifty Mommy during Friday Evening for the PRESENTS! event.

JC Penney
GIVEAWAY ITEM: JCPenney $25 Gift Card
REVIEW:  Local Waterford, CT JCPenney Store 

Here is some information about the company taken from their facebook page

We have the sought-after trends you can't live without, as well as stylish basics to make every day extraordinary. You’ll always find affordable, high quality styles for everyone and every home.

Style You Want  We're stepping up our style to give you trendsetting looks straight off the runway. Plus our brands have never been better. You'll find Nicole by Nicole Miller®, Bisou Bisou®, Allen B.®, I Heart Ronson, Cindy Crawford Style, JOE Joseph Abboud® and so much more.  The Quality You Expect  Fabulous styles for your family and home are only the beginning. We offer quality you can depend on all year round.  The Price You Love  From affordable home styles to amazing fashion deals, our everyday low prices keep you saving season after season.

JCPenney on Facebook
JCPenney.com

Zagora Naturals by Nina
GIVEAWAY ITEM: Zagora Naturals Shower Steamy Fizzers, Christmas tree shaped, eucalyptus and mint scent

 REVIEW: Zagora Naturals Lip Balm and Rosewood Henna Bath Salts

Intro to Zagora from their website:

You deserve to be pampered and Zagora Naturals is the perfect destination for relaxation. Enjoy our soothing products to calm and rejuvenate your body.

Indulge in any of the following products:

• Whipped Shea Souffle
• Intense Eye Cream
• Exfoliating Salt Scrub
• Vegan Lip Balm
• Organic Shea Butter Baby Booty Balm
• Rosewood Henna Bath Salts
• Lavender Bath Salts

Treat yourself, your friends or family. Zagora Naturals gift certificates are available!

 

Nina's ETSY Store

Nina's EBAY Store
Nina's Amazon Store

Nina's Zagora Naturals Facebook

Scentsy with Jenn Kuhn

GIVEAWAY ITEM: One Scentsy Plug-In Warmer with a scent sample pack.

REVIEW: Boho Chic Scentsy Warmer with Sugar Cookie, Citrus Sun Tea, and Skinny Dippin' samples

 

Here's a little info about Scentsy from Jenn: 

I am an independent consultant for Scentsy.  Our "main" products are electric wax warmers.  Great alternative to traditional candles.  No wicks No flames !  Very safe to use around pets and children.  The wax never gets much hotter then your own body temp - so it will not burn you.  There are three sizes to correspond with the size of your room.  Plug-in's are great for bathrooms, kitchens, foyers and hallways, as well as small bedrooms.  Mid and Full Size warmers are good for the larger rooms.  They come in many different decorative styles to fit anyone's taste.  There is even a Holiday Line of warmers and scents.  The scents have a great throw and there is a great variety - over 80 in all.  They are much better then other retail wax melters.  We also have other items such as travel scent tins, car candles (Scent Circles), Room Sprays, Hand Foam, and even stuffed animals with scented insert packs for your little ones - or for yourself - I won't judge !

Scentsy is only sold through consultants either through their online website/catalog, email, or at a Party or Demo.  Selling Scentsy has been a great way for me to come out of my shell and make new friends - all while earning some extra cash.  I have some great women on my team as well.  I am always looking for new members to join my team.  Scentsy really is a great company and has been doing quite well despite the ever changing economy.

Hosting Scentsy Parties is also a ton of fun.  There are a few options too.  You can have the traditional in home demonstration, a basket party, or even a "pool" party.  I am pretty sure everyone knows what an in-home demo party is as most of us have been to one.  The basket party is a great option for those who do not have the time and/or desire to have everyone come to their home.  I will provide you with a cute utility purse filled with scent samples, catalogs, and demo products.  You take this bag with you for a week or two where ever life takes you. Then return it to me with any orders you get from your friends/family.  It is a great option especially for out of town friends who want to earn free Scentsy and it earns the same rewards as an in home party.   There is a rewards "scale" that ranges from 10% to 15% of sales in free product AND the option to purchase 1-4 half priced items.

A pool party is even more fun with a different reward type system.  It is like a raffle. I will give you a sheet with 52 spaces on it.  Each space cost $3.  The person who hosts the pool party for me gets 2 FREE spots and a gift of my choosing (and they are usually pretty good gifts too !)  What the host then does is sell the raffle spaces to his/her family and friends.  Once all of the spots are sold/filled I will use a random number generator to choose a winner.  The winner gets $150 in free Scentsy products !  So much fun.

Extra entries: You must select other and type these into the space provided to get any extra entries.

-Sign up to receive my newsletter  http://jennkuhn.scentsy.us  and click "get my newsletter" on the left side of the screen

-Comment on FB Page - Jenn Kuhn Scentsy Independent Consultant - about what your favorite Holiday "smell" is and what it reminds you of.

Jenn Kuhn - Scentsy Independent Consultant on Facebook
Jenn Kuhn's Online Scentsy Store

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 11- Applied Labels

Applied Labels review & giveaway

One day during the second week of November, I opened my door to a pile of packages from various people. My mail man had left them in the entryway while I was out because it was pouring rain and windy, they would not have stood a chance on my porch. Among these was a long, skinny box from Applied Labels LLC.

I did not really know what to expect from them because I was not positive on the size of these labels or what they were made out of. The website says they are washable, but for some reason I still imagined them being made out of some type of paper. I opened the package and found a zippered plastic bag containing my daughter’s personalized labels, the shoe shields, the clothing backers, and instructions on storage and use. I was also happy to see that if I had any trouble applying the labels, there was some how to videos on youtube from the company.

I am extremely excited about testing these out because while I stay at home now, I have been to a few job interviews this past week and there is a good chance that my daughter would be attending daycare very soon. In the meantime I am testing them out at the church’s nursery with her sippy cups, shoes and a few changes of clothes.

I have now tested this product for 3 weeks and I am so extremely happy with them that I plan to get some for my neice and when my friends have kids they will be getting them too! They have stayed stuck and tear free, great condition, completely legible, and I love them. Also, they dont irritate my lil one if she goes sockless.

Applied Labels LLC decided that they want me to do a giveaway along with this review for $25 off their online store.

Head over to Applied Labels LLC on facebook!

Visit the Applied Labels website and see what they have!

How to Win: Comment on this post with what seems coolest about the Applied Labels company. Fill out this form one time for all entries, entries will be open until Dec 9.

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 10- Mudpuppy

I adored these 2 puzzles provided by Mudpuppy. They provided one boyish pirate puzzle and a girly princess puzzle to try out. The age limit recommended it for older kids, but I let my 15 month old help and we had no issues, the peices were sturdy and she loved tossing them around. I adored the creative canisters that held them instead of traditional boxes. The 63 peices was just enough for it to be fun each time we put it together and not boring.

Buy it: Go to http://mudpuppy.com/ to browse their selection and purchase a wide variety of toys and gifts.

Support it: Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/GalisonMudpuppy and Twitter: @GalisonMudpuppy

Win it: Mudpuppy has offered one each of the Boys and Girls puzzles, there are 2 separate entry forms, you may enter both but can only win one.

How to enter: Comment on the post with which other item besides these puzzles you would like to try from Galison/Mudpuppy. Fill out the form of your choice one time for all entries. If you choose to enter both you must fill out each form completely and mark which one would be your preference if you are drawn for both. Entries will be accepted for 3 days and a winner will be announced Dec 10.

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 9- Community Coffee

Press Release from Community Coffee

Community Coffee Company Features “Genuine Taste of New Orleans” for the Holidays

Corporate Gifts Now Available at CommunityCoffee.com

BATON ROUGE, La. – The gift of coffee is the sharing of an experience – particularly when the coffee is premium roasted Community® coffee, the genuine flavor of New Orleans.

Community Coffee Company is offering a variety of gifts that fit every palate and budget.  The 91-year-old company is also offering corporate gifts – perfect for customers, co-workers, employees and other special people in the workplace.  Visit www.CommunityCoffee.com/CorporateGifts for more details.

This year’s Community coffee holiday gifts, complete with festive packaging and a gift card, are as follows:

 

Taste of the Holidays Gift Set - $8.95

Same great coffees featured in the Louisiana Holiday Blends Gift Set only in the 2-oz size; Holiday Jazz®, Bread Pudding, Pecan Praline and Cinnamon Roll. Each bag brews eight, 6-oz. cups of coffee.  This is the perfect gift for teachers, friends and family with whom you want to share a little Louisiana holiday flavor. All of this is in a festive holiday box with gift card.

Private Reserve Holiday Duo - $13.95

Our delicious duo features 12-oz. ground Holiday Jazz® and Bread Pudding coffees from our Private Reserve line which arrive in a festive holiday box with gift card.

Holiday Tumbler - $6.95

This festive premium tumbler is perfect for the holiday spirited coffee lover. The 16-oz. tumbler features a sleek design and swivel lid. It is microwavable. To keep your tumbler looking its best, we recommend hand washing. Please note that this product is NOT spill-proof.

Hand Woven Holiday Gourmet Gift Basket  - $44.95

Surprise a coffee lover this holiday season with this limited edition, hand woven gourmet gift basket. Each basket includes a 12 oz. Private Reserve® House Blend ground coffee, a 34 oz. Chambord French Press, along with a Community® Coffee signature coffee scoop. Everything comes nested in a one-of-a-kind basket made from Hiraca Palm, indigenous to the Colombian region.

  

______________________________________________________________________________

My review item was the Private Reserve Holiday Duo. I was extremely happy with the two flavors "Holiday Jazz" and "Bread Pudding".

I was shocked at how flavorful the Bread Pudding Flavored roast was. I was very pleased with the cinnamon swirl and vanilla flavors. This coffee felt like a liquid version of a favorite comfort food. 

The Holiday Jazz was a strong aroma and taste that is sure to season your taste buds in all the right ways.

I am proud to say that I would have gladly spent the $14.95 to give this as a gift or to keep it for myself.

I am looking forward to a great connection with Community Coffee.

Support it:
http://www.facebook.com/communitycoffeecompany

Buy it:

http://www.communitycoffee.com/

Win it:

Community Coffee is giving one lucky winner the Private Reserve Holiday duo!

How to enter:

Comment on this post what flavor coffee from the website that you would like to try. Then fill this form out one time for all additional entries. Entries will be open from 12/4 at 10:30am EST to 12/7 at 11:59pm.

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 8- NachoMamaTee.com

NachoMamaTee.com review and giveaway

Kid sized “One Tough Cookie” shirt- 2T

I was delighted with my experience at NachoMamaTee.com not only was the representative I spoke with kind, but the company was extremely gracious in giving us a tee to try out and a tee to giveaway for my lucky fans. I opted to hang on to this giveaway for the “Sunshine to Starshine and Thrifty Nifty Mommy present PRESENTS!” 12 day holiday giveaway event.

When my package arrived I was exceedingly pleased with the amount of time it took to get here! Not even 3 days!! I opened up the small plastic packaging bag and inside was this tiny little tee for my daughter. It was soooooooooo soft. I cannot stress enough how soft this tee shirt was, it was like a cloud or something. The color was just like it showed online, a vintage looking pink, with faded picture and lettering “One Tough Cookie”.

I ordered a size 2T because I wanted her to be able to wear it as a bed shirt now, and keep it for a while. My daughter typically wears a 12-18m and I was so happy that this shirt fit her nicely, loose enough that she can wear it a while, but not too big either. 

She loved it and so do I.

Does it seem like you just read this review earlier in the week? You almost did. I  got an awesome tee from CrazyDogTshirts.com and it came in the same exact package! I was so excited about how soft and perfectly sized these shirts are that I have a very 

similar review for both.

Buy It: You can buy Nacho Mama Tees at NachoMamaTees.com. They also work side by side with Crazydogtshirts.com and costumesquad.com!

Support It: Please take the time to follow them on facebook through their parent company's page CrazyDogTshirts!

Win It: NachoMamaTees.com has offered up a $15 credit to their site or a mystery tee in the men’s size of your choice. 

How to enter: Fill in this form one time for all entries. Entries accepted 12/03/10 to 12/06/10

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 7- Around The Table Games

Sponsored by Tomoson.com

Around the Table Games has offered me one item to review and giveaway from their line of portable conversation games. The game I received is called "Family Talk" and it is aimed on family conversations, wherever they may be, including in the car, at the dinner table, and anywhere else!

They sent me a pack of over 100 cards with holes in the corner, and a ring to put them all on. Each of them contained a question that would make it easier to get to know another member of the family. I tested it out with my husband, who got annoyed quickly with my inquisitive mood, but when I told him I was reviewing something, he grabbed the cards and starting choosing what to ask me!

I think that it was fun to learn even more about each other, despite being married for over 2 years, I never asked about what a family dinner was like before me. He was happy to learn things about me too! I am going to keep Family Talk handy as we travel to Florida this upcoming year, because we are meeting some extended family for the first time, and with this game's help there won't be any awkward silences.

Around the Table Games has developed many games including:

Family Talk                                   Buddy Talk

Family Talk 2                                Camp Talk

Bilingual Family Talk - English and Spanish

Teen Talk                                 Grandparent Talk

Family Talk & Grandparent Talk Double Deck Tin

Buy it:

http://www.aroundthetablegames.com/products.php

Support it: 

Facebook: Around The Table

Twitter: @aroundthetable

Win it: 

Around the Table has offered one winner any one of their conversational games.

How to enter:

1st: Comment on this post which game you would choose to try.

2nd: Fill out this form for all additional entries possible.

Entries will be accepted 12/2/10 to 12/5/10

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com and the Tomoson weekly featured sponsor Favorite Wigs - Shop Name Brand Wigs at Low Prices! Large Wig Selection of Forever Young Wigs, and other Quality Wigs. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

PRESENTS! 12 days of giveaways: Day 6- Crocheted Item by Heidi [Adventures in Crafting]

I was so eager to review this hat because my daughter didn't have one yet this year. Heidi sent me a Pink Newsboy hat, with a clip on brown flower.

The hat was constructed beautifully, just like the one shown on the "Adventures in Crafting" facebook. The brown flower was on a clip, which made it easily removable, and could also be worn on a headband or on its own. This also made it easy to loose. I have faith that it is somewhere in our home, but unfortunately I didn't get any photos of it!

When Ariana didn't want to sit still, she handed me her dolly, so she got to take a picture with the hat, and then I attempted to use a bowl so it wasn't as floppy.. in round two we got a few more shots.

I stole some photos from the webpage and facebook to give you a taste of how talented Heidi is

Support it: Crafting Adventures with Heidi and Sara

Buy it: http://www.heidishandmade.com/ or contact Heidi by email directly to request information about something personalized at heidimariebear@gmail.com

Win it: One Crocheted item of your choice

How to enter: 1st: Comment on this post with your favorite CROCHETED item and which color you would get  2nd: Fill out this form one time to include all extra entries (comment again when it asks you to) Entries will be accepted 12/1 to 12/4/2010