If you are like me . . . someone who enjoys taking photos and someone who swears by giving personalized gifts, then you should really take a look at PhotoWorks, which is brought to us by American Greetings. One of the hottest trends in gift-giving is photo books because they are now becoming so much easier to make and are far more affordable than just one year ago. PhotoWorks just introduced their new line of Studio Books. My husband's and my 10th anniversary is coming up this fall and I think a photo book would be the perfect way to commemorate the 15 years we've spent together.

PhotoWorks offers photo gifts for the entire family . . . from personalized board books for your little ones to photo jewelry to photo cutting boards for your favorite chef and everything in between. I have to tell you it was tough to choose which items I wanted to select for this article. I ended up choosing something that was fun and then something that was practical.

The first item I chose was a Photo Jigsaw Puzzle. I chose this item because it can be enjoyed and cherished by my family for many years to come. I also liked the idea that a puzzle would bring us together for some family time. That is why I think a photo puzzle would be a great gift if you are looking for one special gift to give to a whole family. This glossy 252-piece puzzle sells for $24.95, measures 10-1/2" x 13-1/2", and comes in a storage tin that has the photo printed on the lid. Even if someday the puzzle pieces become too worn or get lost, I will still cherish this tin.

The puzzle the photo was printed on was not made for younger children. Our six year old had a tough time with it because some of the pieces would fit into each other even if they were not meant to go together. Also, the edge pieces and a small handful from the center were all still physically connected and had to be pulled apart. Still, in the end the finished puzzle looked great and my husband, our 6yr old, and myself were able to spend quality time together.

The second product I selected was from PhotoWorks' large selection of photo mugs. I started off designing a mug for my husband, but then decided that I wanted one for myself as well. So I turned two of the white 15oz Photo Mugs into a pair of his and her mugs.

These mugs were $15.95 each and offered five different layouts, some of which included personalized text. I opted for a simple 4-photo design. On each mug, I selected a photo of each of our 3 children to use. Then on my husband's mug, the fourth photo was of myself, while on my mug, it was one of my husband. You can see the designs from three different views below . . .

Both mugs turned out great! The only complaint I had was that the two smaller photos on my husband's mug had a strong red tone, especially the one on top. I find this happens frequently at most photo services when there is something that is red or reddish brown in the photo and I'm not sure how to avoid it since my original photos looked fine. Another thing is that I cannot find the answer to whether these mugs are dishwasher safe or not. There is nothing mentioned in the product description and the bottoms of the mugs are not marked. I think we will have to hand wash these just to be on the safe side.

Aside from the previously mentioned issue with the red tones, my husband and I are extremely pleased with how our his and her mugs turned out. I think a pair of mugs would be a practical and affordable gift for a couple of any age. It definitely makes me smile to look at the photos of the most important people in my life while enjoying a cup of hot cocoa (sorry I'm not a coffee-drinker).

To view the entire selection of photo gifts offered by PhotoWorks, visit PhotoWorks.com . If you are looking for something special to include in a child's Easter basket this year, I found some great ideas, such as photo playing cards, photo bookmarks, photo mousepads, and several themed photo books suitable for children. Through 3/18/10, you can receive Free Shipping on all orders over $15 when you use Code: SPRINGSALE at checkout.

Thank you to PhotoWorks for sending us samples of their photo products free of charge to base this review upon and for providing our winner with a coupon for $50 off their order.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive $50 to use towards their PhotoWorks order plus free shipping.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Take a look at the vast assortment of photo gifts and photo books offered on PhotoWorks.com . Then leave a comment telling me what you would use your $50 towards if you won this contest. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND PhotoWorks.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

In January of 2010, I hosted a blogging contest for JustJen.com . I am currently hosting a similar contest, but the prize for this contest is even better! In addition to the random drawing winner's choice of a $100 GC from either Walmart or Amazon.com, this blogger will also receive a custom hoodie from Just Jen. This hoodie can be personalized with your name, your blog's name, or something else.

With Easter coming up, you might be looking for the perfect items to put together a special Easter basket. I always include at least one educational book or toy in my children's baskets. This 1 to 10 numbers board book titled My First Counting Book is a handmade creation by Tina O'Flynn, the mom behind the Etsy shop Soulful Creations.

What I thought about this counting board book:

1) There is a charm about this book that you cannot find in a conventional book purchased from a bookstore. It is made well, but is clearly handmade with love rather than machine-made.

2) Both our twins could not wait to get their hands on this book as soon as they saw it. Every full-color page contained engaging images, many of which the twins recognized.

3) I like that the legibility of the numbers and the clarity of the quantity of objects to be counted were not compromised by the creative layouts.

4) The ring used to bind this book's pages together was decorated with gross grain ribbon. This is a very cute touch . . . one of the things that gives this book character. I would have preferred that there were two rings down the left side of the book instead of just one. At times, the twins had difficulty keeping the pages from slipping and sliding in their hands. This was a little distracting when I was trying to get them to pay attention to the numbers and the counting.

5) The page that received the most attention was the train-themed number 6 page. Both twins happened to recognize some of the train cars they own. Other pages that made them smile quite a bit were the ones containing Elmo, an 8-scoop ice cream cone, and the page featuring ten cakes.

I think this book would make a great gift for any child age 2 and up who no longer puts objects in his or her mouth. Although the book's pages are smooth, they most likely would not hold up well if they became very wet.

You can find My First Counting Book at Soulful Creations on Etsy. Check out this shop for handmade note cards and more items especially designed with children in mind.

Thank you to Soulful Creations for sending us a sample book free of charge to base this review upon.

This spring, 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires will be launching a new educational series called "Play to Learn Diner", which is based on the concept of children learning through pretend play. I will be incorporating lessons about math, reading, and writing while playing restaurant with my 6yr old son.

I would like to extend a big thank you to Discount School Supply, who in the past has supported my Kindergartner-in-Training series and my Creating With Colors series, for once again coming through for me and my readers.

They have generously donated an Angeles 30" Square Baseline Table plus 4 chairs in red so we could have an appropriate setting for our new educational "Play to Learn Diner" series.

Look for my review of this table and chair set coming soon.

Last week, we had the rare pleasure of eating out at a restaurant. Everyone enjoyed great food, we were waiting for dessert, and we were all generally in a good mood.

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Normally, when I think of gourmet food items, I think of gift baskets full of ready-to-eat goodies. The furthest I've ventured with "cooking" using gourmet food items is using dipping oils for bread or maybe different types of salsa for cooking chicken. You know me . . . all about easy recipes.

I have to say when I was asked to try out some of the Two Sisters Gourmet recipes through Partylite, I was a little hesitant. Then I took a look at the vast variety of easy recipes that only required a small handful of ingredients each and decided these recipes were right up my alley. Below are the five recipes my family tried. (Click on each title to view the printable recipe.)

Pepperoni Pasta Salad - This recipe was so easy to make and it is versatile. It uses the Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette, which is delicious. You can choose which fresh veggies you would like to include to customize this pasta salad to your family's taste. Our children are extremely picky eaters and this pasta dish is one of the few things they are excited to have placed in front of them. I also think this dish is something easy and attractive to bring to the next party you attend.

Crispy Italian Herb Chicken Tenders - These chicken tenders were delicious and the recipe only calls for three ingredients! This recipe uses the Italian Herb Cheese Mix. We had purchased more chicken than the recipe called for, so we just added a little bit of Italian bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese to increase the quantity of the mix. These chicken tenders were another big hit with my family.

Garlic Parmesan Pasta - This is another super easy 3-ingredient recipe and it uses the Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette. I really liked the dish the way it was, but my husband said he would have used more than a 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette. Also, we used more cheese than the recipe called for because my family is in love with Parmesan.

Garlic Parmesan Breaded Chicken - Since my family liked the chicken tenders so much, we thought we would try another Two Sisters Gourmet breaded chicken recipe. This one uses the Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette and the Outrageously Garlic Seasoning Blend. This recipe was not bad, but we much preferred the chicken tenders recipe. It just seemed like the two flavors of the vinaigrette and the seasoning blend did not work well together.

Breathtaking Deep Chocolate Brownie Mix - We did not use a recipe for this product. I was going to try to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake, but realized I did not have the right muffin tin. This mix only yields enough brownie mix to fill an 8" or 9" square pan. I didn't have a square pan, so I used a round cake pan instead. We threw in some butterscotch chips to make our brownies a little different, but I don't think it needed it. This brownie mix calls for butter instead of oil and has chocolate bits already in the mix. The brownies came out great, although I would love to have made a larger quantity in a 13" x 9" pan.

To see all of the Two Sisters Gourmet recipes, visit the TSG Recipe Box on the Partylite website. You can purchase these and other Two Sisters Gourmet products through your Partylite consultant. Visit the Two Sisters Gourmet Quick Dishing blog and Two Sisters Gourmet on Twitter to find more ways to use these products.

Thank you to Partylite for sending us sample Two Sisters Gourmet products free of charge to base this review upon and for providing additional products for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive one Two Sisters Gourmet Breathtaking Deep Chocolate Brownie Mix, a bottle of Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette, a box of Italian Herb Cheese Mix, and Outrageously Garlic Seasoning.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Take a look at the easy recipes available for each product in the Two Sisters Gourmet Recipe Box. Then leave a comment telling me the name of a recipe you would like to try. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND TwoSistersGourmet.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry EACH, follow Partylite Gifts on Twitter and/or fan Partylite Gifts on Facebook. Remember to leave a separate comment for each (with the link to your Tweet or your Facebook profile) if you complete both.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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11) Add my Blogoversary Celebration tag to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!