Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Christmas is just days away.  Hopefully, you have your gifts under wraps (literally!).  If not, I have been sharing gift ideas each Friday this month on the blog.  Today, I am highlighting just a few of my favorite ideas for stocking stuffers.  Gift one to the special someone on your list, or maybe just yourself.  

SpaRitual Nail Polish - Love, love, love the colors and names.  

Lush bath bombs - Truly, I would say "thank you" for anything anyone gave me from this store, but the bath bombs are wonderful

iTunes gift cards - Who isn't app crazy these days?  Give a gift card and your recipient can go on an app binge.

Justin peanut butter cups - These are better than Reeses - and vegan.  Who doesn't love a little chocolate and peanut butter action?

Target Knee High Socks - My 7 year-old daughter has been rocking this look with boots and I just love it.  Target has lots of great prints and colors at low prices.

Wine stoppers - I am seeing so many cute styles of these for the holidays.  It's practical, but can be fun too.

Rainbow Loom charms - The rainbow loom crazy just got more fun with these charms.  Perfect for the little girl on your list.

For more gift ideas this season, check out my Stuff I Love and Wish List boards on Pinterest.

Subscription Boxes To Gift This Season

The season of gifting continues and today, I am featuring a few of my favorite subscription gifts.  I really love subscription gifts because they keep the giving going!  Your recipient is delighted month after month, and you get to know that you are bringing them a little "happy" each time they open their monthly gift.  Below are a few subscriptions that I think are pretty cool.

Conscious Box - These boxes are all about natural, healthy products that are good for you and the environment.  If you like the products you receive, you can purchase more of them on the site.

Vegan Cuts - This is one of my favorite vegan shopping sites.  Think Living Social or Groupon for vegans.  They offer a beauty box and a snack box subscription.  I would love to receive either!

Art in a Box - You give them three adjectives to describe your art taste, tell them what media you like and the months for delivery, and you receive an original work of art to keep each month of your subscription.  How cool is that?!

BirchBox - For an affordable $10/month, you can sign up for either a women's or men's box where you get beauty and lifestyle samples from high-end brands.

The Bouqs Co. - This company sends bouquets to your recipient for how many months you tell them.  You can select the type and size of your bouquet to send.

Subscriptionboxes.com is a great resource to browse, search and sort through all the boxes out there.  Definitely check them out if you are looking for a box to gift or purchase.

And of course, don't forget about magazine subscriptions.  Many of the magazines I receive are from gifts.  Amazon.com has great deals on subscriptions.  

Do you have a subscription gift that you love?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

My Favorite Personalized Products To Gift This Season

I have a weakness for personalized products, and during the holidays, I can't think of a better way to tell someone you "get them" and think they are special.  Whether the gift features the recipient's monogram or includes a shared photo, taking the extra time to have something personalized makes the gift just a bit sweeter.  These are a few of my favorites this year.

Erin Condren Acrylic Trays - Let's be honest.  You can't go wrong with anything on Erin's site, but these trays are at the top of my list this season.  Include a bottle of champagne or Prosecco and you've got a gift to make anyone want to celebrate.

Enamel Purse Mirror - I recently discovered these great compact mirrors from Red Envelope.  They are elegant and beautiful, the perfect gift for some of my gal pals.

Origami Owl initial lockets - The charms in these lockets allow you to match up to your recipient's interests easily.  The beautiful chain and locket designs ensure the gift will be a statement piece that your recipient will love to wear.

Shutterfly Photo Books - I make two of these every year of our family's summer vacations and give them to our parents as mementos of the trip.  For our parents who have everything, photos of the family are the best gift I could give.

Photo canvases - These are always hits with the grandparents, especially when they feature a new photo of their grandkids!







Do you have a personalized gift that you love to give?  I would love to hear about it.  Please share in the comments section below.

Meet Erin Condren

I have been a long time fan of Erin Condren's personalized products.  From my stationery, business cards, desktop calendar, and life planner, to my living room acrylic tray and FUNctional Family system, I am a heavy user of all things EC!  I am lucky to live in the same city as Erin, and have had the opportunity to meet her in the flesh.  The vibrance, style, and joy reflected in her designs is truly a reflection of the woman herself.  Erin is an example of someone living the "good" life as I see it.  I was thrilled that she agreed to let me interview her for VeegMama.   

VM: For those who are new to Erin Condren, tell us about your company and the products

you offer.

EC: EC products are colorful, fun, and PERSONALIZED!  We offer loads of designs to choose from--some of these products include life planners, notebooks, address books, wedding planners, stickers, stationary.... the list goes on!

VM: Your company motto (and logo) is "Enjoy!"  I love it!  What's the story behind it?

EC: It is my goal to give each and every customer the ultimate EC experience from start to

finish. I want them to truly “enjoy” each and every step- from customizing their order to

receiving their happy package on their doorstep! What I unanimously hear from my

customers, from my friends, from people who have been buying since 2004, is ‘Oh my gosh,

this made me so happy.’ I always love Christmas Eve thinking ‘Wow, tomorrow morning so

many people are opening up packages that are just going bring joy and happiness.’ There is

no greater joy, and I say that to my team sometimes when we’re exhausted, or if there is

someone nasty on FB that maybe was disappointed. The power of social media is such a

blessing and a curse. It does hurt us all if we do let somebody down. But then I think how

many thousands of people have said ‘Wow, you have no idea how happy this made me.’ So I

think that no doubt, the best thing we do is just make people happy.

VM: You clearly live in full color, and are someone who is living her joy.  What suggestions do you have for doing just that in one's everyday life?  Can you share one of your "secrets to success?"

EC: I do my best to live FULLY in the moment. This means when I am in the office, I maximize my time by setting goals for each day and making daily lists. If I can accomplish my work goals, I can “put the phone down” when I get home and fully engage in my family life. I’m not saying I don’t check emails from time to time during a little league baseball game, but watching my 11 year old twins grow up overnight, I just don’t want to miss a beat with them right now. Having a business partner really helps so that we can take turns on vacation days and have uninterrupted family time that I live for.

VM: How do you balance being a mom and having your own business?

EC: Coffee, a very supportive husband, and many late nights! It really comes down to maximizing my time-- many of my products are built around time management to hopefully help other moms with their hectic schedules!  There is no “luck” in a successful business. It is endless hours with a business that never sleeps. It really doesn’t get any easier as you grow, it’s just that the challenges change and new obstacles appear. I work just as hard now as i did when I was getting it off the ground from my home. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE WHAT I DO, but it is very difficult to make that jump from having an “idea” as an entrepreneur to becoming a successful business person. If you are going to make that jump, be ready to make many sacrifices to maintain a balanced work/family life. (Still trying to figure out that “perfect balance!”)

VM: If someone is new to your company, which product(s) would you suggest they try out first?  Also, what are your best sellers that we should all have?

EC: The life planner is our best seller! Strange to think that I've become known as a "calendar company" when I started with Holiday Cards & Stickers. I love to see that in this day of high tech apps & technology at our fingers tips, hundreds of thousands of people still prefer using "old fashioned" Life Planners to schedule their busy days…and find they are more productive and successful as a result!

VM: What trends do you see in personalized products these days?

EC: Customers are in need of products that offer a variety of ways to cater to their individual lifestyle and schedule. This means offering them customization options beyond the outside aesthetics to enable them to get the most out their product.

VM: Your FUNctional Family system debuted earlier this year (love mine!).  Can you give us a hint at any other new products to come?

EC: Honestly, I feel like this “party” is just getting started! We launch my custom built new website platform in 2013 and the sky’s the limit! We have plans to release a phone APP, a “home” collection of wallpaper and fabrics, and an even MORE customizable Life Planner among so many other things!

VM: I am on a quest to live the "good" life in all aspects of the word.  What does the "good" life represent/mean to you?

EC: To me, the “good life” means cherishing every moment with my family and friends and making the most of the time I have with them. I am so blessed to have a loving, supportive husband and my twins!

VM: Can you share your favorite quote?

EC: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams…live the life you have imagined!” –Henry David Thoreau

Thank you, Erin.  To view Erin's products, click here and read more about her below.

Erin Condren is a true Southern Californian- born and raised!  After graduating from UCLA, Condren moved out to the beach and has never left- now residing in the South Bay with her husband and two children.

After years in the apparel business, designing and manufacturing for major US brands, Condren began designing her own clothing line. That same year she was surprised with a TWIN pregnancy, complete with months of bed rest and complications that thankfully ended with the delivery of a boy and a girl just one month premature.

Erin found transitioning from working 12-hour days in a sewing factory to becoming a “stay-at-home” mother of two quite challenging: a lot of the same chaos, but with hours of “downtime” when the kids would nap and go to bed for the night.  She also knew it took two incomes for her family to live life at the beach, so she was determined to find a new career with the option to work from home.

As a busy mother, Erin began utilizing her creativity making note cards and gift labels for friends, birthday gifts, new babies and hostess gifts…recipients loved them!  A friend encouraged Erin to sell her designs for the first time at a “home shopping party” in 2004, and the grass roots-viral marketing plan was a huge success!

After a year of mentoring her at-home business, Al Marco of Marco Fine Arts became business partners with ErinCondren.com in 2007, and together their companies collaborate in a state of the art printing facility in El Segundo, CA. Erin’s business has evolved from the initial shopping party to a flourishing internet retail business, along with licensed collections and partnerships with Target, Shutterfly, and TinyPrints.  Her business provides customers with personalized note cards, gift labels, baby and moving announcements, holiday cards, calendars, and so much more!

Features on “The Ellen Show”, “Rachael Ray” and countless magazines and celebrity endorsements, Erin and her team continue to create “happy packages” that ship all around the world each day!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I love the "gifting" part of the holiday season.  For me, it truly feels better to give than receive.  I have so much fun thinking about gifts that will delight my family and friends, planning them out in my holiday gift planner and then purchasing and wrapping them with love and thought.  One of my favorite gifts to give are those that keep on giving.  At the top of that list are charities: giving back and giving all in one.  In today's world of consumption overload, I believe charitable sponsorships and donations are a great way to capture and share the true meaning of the holidays with loved ones.  Below are several of my favorite charities to gift.  Whether you are looking to help kids, animals, the environment, or just make the world a better place, I've got you covered.


For kids:
Save the Children - For as little as $10 a month, you can sponsor a child anywhere in the world, including the U.S.  Their programming, disaster aid, and educational support literally saves children's lives every day.


Make a Wish Foundation - Is there anything better than making a child's dream come true?  This organization does just that for children with life-threatening medical conditions.



For animals:
Farm Sanctuary - Save the animals!  Farm Sanctuary is the nation's largest and most effective farm animal and rescue protection organization.  This amazing organization rescues thousands of animals and cares for them at their sanctuaries in Watkins Glen, New York; Northern California (Orland); and the Los Angeles area (Acton).  A contribution of $20 or more gives you a Farm Sanctuary Membership for one year, their quarterly newsletter, discounted Bed & Breakfast rates, and year-round visits to their shelters.

PETA - PETA is the largest animal rights advocacy organization in the world.  Memberships include many benefits, including a subscription to their magazine full of news and recipes.


For the environment:
Heal The Bay - This organization works to keep California's coastal waters and watersheds healthy, safe and clean.  They offer membership donations, as well as Aquadoptions (sea animal adoptions) starting at $25.  

Surfrider Foundation - This non-profit has been protecting oceans, waves, and beaches since 1984.  They are the group that came to our aid when my Girl Scout troop was looking to ban plastic bags in their city's local businesses.  Gift memberships start at $25 and include a subscription to their bi-monthly online publication, a t-shirt, and more.


To Make The World A Better Place:
Kiva - Through a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva allows lenders to donate as little as $25 in microloans to let individuals create opportunity in their world - buy farming and seed supplies to help a Honduran man tend his crops; buy fabric for a Bolivian woman to make clothes; or buy a sewing machine for an Iraqi woman.  Lenders receive progress updates via email throughout the life of the loan.  When the money gets paid back, it becomes available as Kiva Credit, where the lender can use it to fund another loan, donate it to Kiva or withdraw it to spend on something else.


Charity Water - Give someone access to a reliable source of clean water by contributing to the construction of a new well in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America or the Caribbean.  This non-profit's mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to everyone on the planet.  Recipients receive updates and photos about the well they are contributing towards with their donation.



For more resources on where to give, check out Charity Navigator, the U.S.'s largest and most used evaluator of charities.  Do you have a favorite charity that you like to gift?  Please tell me in the comments section below.

Meet Kitchen Kid Founder and Culinary Coach, Samantha Barnes!

I was first introduced to Kitchen Kid two summers ago, when my budding chef and daughter attended a cooking camp with them.  She loved it so much that we signed her up again last year.  I am excited to have founder, Samantha Barnes, featured on the blog today to talk about her newest culinary adventure,  Raddish.  

VM: Tell us about Raddish.  What is it and who is it for?

SB: Raddish is a monthly subscription box that makes cooking with kids easy, enriching, and fun!  Raddish delivers illustrated recipe guides, culinary adventures, and family fun right to your door.  The box is perfect for families who are looking to connect in a meaningful way - in the kitchen preparing meals, and at the table enjoying them.

VM: How did you come up with the idea for Raddish? 

SB: I founded Kitchen Kid, LA's premier mobile cooking school for kids, seven years ago, and since then my mission has been to bring families together around food, through birthday parties, summer camp, and enrichment classes.  We've wanted to spread our mission to families outside of Los Angeles, and Raddish takes our proven techniques, engaging lessons, and delightful recipes, and packages them up for families across the nation. 

VM: Will there be vegan and vegetarian options in the service?  Are the recipes adaptable, if not, for those who want to subscribe and don't eat meat?

SB: We do plan to create uniquely themed boxes for vegans, vegetarians, and those with other dietary restrictions.  Until then, our recipes are definitely adaptable, and there will always be multiple vegetarian recipes in each box.  In fact, the first box, "The Family Table" does not use any meat.  

VM: For those interested in getting their kids more involved in the kitchen, what 3 things do you suggest parents do to get started?

SB: 

a.) Start tonight.  The kids don't have to make a full complicated meal with you; just get them involved doing something.  Give kids small tasks like washing veggies, measuring dry ingredients, or tearing lettuce.  

b.)  Go to the grocery store together and enlist your kids' help finding the ingredients. 

c) Cook something special for someone else. Food is a beautiful gift, and kids feel the love and generosity that comes out of gifting something homemade. 

VM: Can you share a favorite recipe?

Enjoy this tasty vegetarian recipe for Ratatouille, that we developed for the Master Chef Junior Collection!

Ratatouille

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large eggplant, diced into ½ inch cubes
3-4 small zucchini, diced into ½ inch rounds
1 red pepper, sliced
2-3 diced tomatoes, with juices
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chopped basil leaves
Grated cheese, optional

Steps:

1.    In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil until just shimmering and add the onion and garlic.  Cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

2.    Add the eggplant and cook about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the zucchini and red pepper, and continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

3.    Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, oregano, and thyme. Continue to cook the mixture until it thickens and all vegetables are tender, about 6 more minutes. 

4.    Add salt, pepper, and basil leaves to taste.  

5.    Serve hot or at room temperature with grated cheese. 

VM: What are your top 3 tools you recommend keeping in the kitchen when cooking with kids?

SB: 

a) Kids love zesting lemons.  With careful parent supervision, a microplane is really fun.  

b) A scale and a map.  At Raddish, we think the kitchen is the tastiest place to learn, and love making real life connections as we cook.  A kitchen scale and world map really help make this happen! 

c) Craft scissors.  Kids as young as 3 can cut everything from basil to bacon with kids' craft scissors! 

VM: What 3 ingredients are your favorites to cook with?

SB: Right now I'm into butternut squash, ricotta, French lentils, and polenta. 

VM: I am on a quest to live the "good" life in all aspects of the word.  What does the "good" life represent/mean to you?
SB: I achieve the "good life" when I find the balance necessary to be a successful working mom.  It's hard to juggle owning and operating Kitchen Kid, starting Raddish, and spending quality time with my kids.  In my family, the "good life" is enjoying breakfast or dinner together as a family at our table. 

VM: Do you have a favorite quote you can share?
SB: "One cannot think well, love well, or sleep well if one has not dined well." (Virginia Woolf) 

Thank you, Samantha!  You can read more about Samantha below and order a subscription to Raddish here.

Samantha Barnes is committed to changing the way kids and families eat. As a middle school teacher, Samantha realized many of her students were young foodies, yet they lacked kitchen experience and made unhealthy lunch choices. Samantha launched Kitchen Kid, LLC in 2006 with the hope of empowering young people to jump into the kitchen and get cooking! 

Since then, Samantha has grown Kitchen Kid to be the premier mobile culinary school for kids and families in the Los Angeles area. Offerings include in-home lessons and birthday parties, after-school enrichment classes in 30 schools, and deliciously fun summer camps. 

Her new product, Raddish, is a monthly subscription box that connects families in the kitchen and at the table.  Through illustrated recipe guides, culinary activities, and family fun, it makes it easy and enriching for parents and kids to cook together! 

Samantha and Kitchen Kid have been featured in Daily Candy, the Los Angeles Times, Sunset Magazine, and on NPR. Recently she served as a consultant on the new Fox hit show, MasterChef Junior, and her summer camps received the 2013 Red Tricycle Totally Awesome Award for Best Camp in Los Angeles.

Samantha was destined for a career in food and teaching: her first word was “olive,” and she has taught kids in the classroom, on stage, and on the ski slopes. She has vivid memories of making meatloaf and gingersnap cookies alongside her mom.

Samantha knows all about multi-tasking: she juggles running a business while being the mom of a 3 ½ year old daughter and a 1 1/2 year old son. She believes the kitchen and the table are some of the best places to connect with her kids in a meaningful way. She cooks with her daughter regularly, and her family eats dinner together nightly. She loves entertaining friends – when the kids run around the yard barefoot, and everyone enjoys good food, good company, and lots of laughter.

Samantha is passionate about teaching kids to cook, and encouraging families to eat together.