I’m a big fan of the shop Treehouse Kid & Craft (and they also carry my book!). It’s such a cool site stocked with lots of things I would happily give to my children. I put together a list of favorite things from the shop, and some are things that I have given to our girls in the past. I love toys that encourage a lot of imagination and things they can create with. We also really appreciate practical gifts like the Klean Kanteen. I still have one more present to purchase, and then I think I’m done. If you still need some ideas, maybe this list will help you out! Are you done with Christmas shopping or are you a last minute shopper?

1) wooden geometrics house. 2) colorburst toy. 3) klean kanteen. 4) mini piano. 5) unicorn costume. 6) lapin & me doll. 7) natural toy car. 8) brave pennant. 9) unicorn pencil holder. 10) tegu blocks … our fave!!! 11) balance bike. 12) playon crayon.

I’m patterning with Treehouse Kid & Craft to giveaway this set of Tegu blocks on instagram. I think these blocks are the toys that get played with the most in our house. They turn them into villages, Star Wars characters, airplanes, cars, and the list goes on. They got it for Christmas last year, and they love it so much, they asked for more pieces this year. I will share more details soon on instagram (@cakiesblog). Don’t forget to follow along there, so you won’t miss out!

With Valentine’s just a week away, I’m hosting this sweet giveaway with Duff from Jean Jean Vintage. One of Duff’s favorite things to give friends is jewelry. Duff loves to gift everyday easy-to-wear stuff for her mom and friends (pin for a purse or a scarf, a classic everyday ring, a locket for holding pictures, etc.). So in honor of spreading some love around, if you win, you can send someone dear to you something shiny and something sweet!

This special package consists of chocolate (um, yes please!) and the vintage locket pictured above (it’s sterling and 12k gold fill). It’s a sweet way to way to let someone know you love them. The locket comes with a silver chain and the picture rings are intact, so it will be ready for a small photo. If you want a chance to win this to send to someone you love, just 1) follow Jean Jean Vintage on instagram, and 2) leave a comment on this instagram post telling me who you want to send the gift to! Once we have our winner, we will contact you, package it up, and send it for you! Contest ends this Wednesday at 8am PST.

If you still need other Valentine’s Day ideas for a mom or friend, this locket is perfect for the occasion or this darling tulip pin.

I’ve been a fan of Jean Jean Vintage for a long time, and check the shop almost daily (thanks to all the peeks she shares on Instagram) to see what goodies are up for sale. I’ll  make little inquiries about certain pieces that come in here and there, and I’m always bummed out when they sell before Ben has a chance to snatch it up to surprise me (hint, hint, Ben). You know my love for vintage clothing and furniture, but I rarely talk about my love for vintage jewelry in this space. I tell you, it’s a dangerous thing to love, but so fun. I love looking at pieces and wondering about its history. Antique jewelry is like art to me.

Duff is the wonderful lady behind the shop, and Jean is her middle name. When she was a little girl, her dad called her “Jean Jean” sometimes. Her father passed away ten years ago, and when it came to thinking up a name for her shop, Jean Jean seemed most fitting. Duff had an itching to start a small business, and with her BA in Archeology, coupled with her love for rocks, fossils, and antiquities, naturally, this led to her to sell antique jewelry. Initially, she started off selling costume jewelry, and now also sells fine jewelry too. If you’ve checked out her shop before, you know how exquisite her pieces are. This one has been a favorite of mine for a long time!

I asked Duff what were some pieces that get her really excited and she said… “I love Victorian moonstone rings, lockets with name and date engravings, and simple Art Deco 22K gold bands. I also have a thing for 1930s Czech glass necklaces. But engraved signet seals are really my current jam, both to sell and to collect for myself. I’m having one set for myself right now. Merry Christmas to me!”

I looked into the history of my etsy purchases, and my first purchase from Jean Jean Vintage was four years ago when I got the triangle shaped locket. A couple years later, when Glow was added to the family, I got the black one from her too (it’s one of the necklaces I wear most often). I’ve been wanting to get a vintage monogrammed locket, and have had my eye on this (or this) one. Also, I  wouldn’t be opposed if Santa left this diamond ring in my stocking (it would be great for stacking with my current rings!).

My Christmas wish list is pretty much filled with antique jewelry pieces. I blame Ben, since he gifted me a victorian turquoise ring a couple years ago, I have been even more obsessed since. If you need help finding something to put on your wish list, I say Jean Jean Vintage is a good place to start. With coupon code CAKIES15, you could get 15% off the Jean Jean Vintage shop through the weekend, so find your favorites, email it to whoever your Santa is and give them the coupon code too. That’s totally what I do to Ben all the time. HA! If you want to keep up with Duff’s new listings, you can follow her Instagram here (@jeanjeanvintage).

row one: edwardian locket, bloodstone ring. row two: pearl midi ring, victorian moonstone necklace. row three: victorian coral ring, mixed cut engagement ring.

Have you heard of Hello Shiso? I love their super adorable hair goods! Obviously, since I started blogging to go along with my shop full of hair clips, I would have a soft spot for another mom who does the same. Mimi Tsang brings out the fun in accessorizing and along with her own lines of accessories, she has some other totally quirky hair things by other brands too (Soul would love this cat headband!). I totally love the modern feel the site has and the fun styling that’s going on, and those fruit hair clips totally hit a sweet spot for us!  True would totally be about bead bow headband, Brave would love the tulip clips (because it’s red like Spider-Man), and Glow just loves animals so the kitty clips would be her fave. Which one would be your fave?

Don’t forget if you want to make one some rosy posy felt clips, I have instructions for them right here.

Ralph’s contacted me to ask if I knew about their rewards program. I said, “Um… have you been snooping on my credit card?” Ralph’s is our corner grocery store, and their fuel is consistently priced lower than the other 2 on the same corner, so we go with it. Thus, I agreed to be part of their fuel savings campaign along with Holly from Kids Activities Blog, Ashley from The Shine Project, and Summer from The Girls With Glasses Show. Here we are sharing about their fuel program, tips to rack up more points, and the best way to cash out and save more money when filling up.

Here’s a funny story… we’ve been using Ralph’s Fuel for about 6 years now, and you have to input your number to get your rewards, right? Well, when we first moved, we didn’t have a Ralph’s card, and I hate filling out those things to get one, so I would just input my parents’ phone number. I had been doing that up until about a year ago when Ben said, “I thought for sure we would have more points for all we spend” I said, “We? Don’t you just put my mom and dad’s number in?” He said, “No! I signed us up to get our own points.” That was a total ding-bat moment. From then on, I made sure to input our own phone number, so that we would get to reap the rewards ourselves.

It was fun getting to spend the day in Phoenix and getting to know the other ladies (and I got caught up on most my email while waiting for my flight home). They are all so sweet and it’s fun to talk nerdy blogging stuff with others who like that kind of stuff too. I did get jealous though because I learned in other states, you can max out your fuel rewards savings up to $1.00, whereas in Calfornia, you can only max out at 20 cents. Bummer for us, but great for everyone else if you’re in the other states. So if you happen to shop at Ralph’s (or Fry’s and Kroger’s in other states), don’t forget to input the right phone number (duh!) and take advantage of the fuel rewards.

This post is sponsored by Ralph’s. As always, all opinions are my own. I was excited to be able to do something like this to show the girls the result. Just liked I shared in yesterday’s post about True being shy, I used this to show them that even mommy can feel nervous and shy (boy was I feeling nervous and shy!), but I can still meet new people and even be in front of the camera. They were in awe watching it, and after they said, “They let you play like that at the grocery store?!”  

Swapdom has added a home decor section for swapping, and I’ve listed a couple things in there too (see items up for swap here). They started with fashion, then added baby and kids’ gear, and now you can do home goods. I’ve requested a few items, and I’m waiting and hoping for a swap to come through.  If you’re not familiar with Swapdom, it’s a marketplace where you can find items you like, list items you want to move along, and the people over at Swapdom do all the work to arrange a multi-person swap, where everyone wins. All you pay is shipping and a small $1-$2 fee.

With the release of the new home goods section, the Swapdom Team created a 4-week event Tidy Challenge, which started on May 12th. This is to introduce Swapdom’s Home swapping category and encourage swappers to get excited about spring cleaning. Each week’s Team Tidy Challenge will focus on a part of the house to tackle, and of course, upload that stuff to Swapdom. One random person who uploads an item to each week’s featured category will win free shipping on their next swap. It’s a chance to organize your space, clear out the clutter, and reward yourself for work by swapping for great stuff you’ll actually use! You can get more info about the challenge here and sign up for Swapdom here.

Do you have some home goods you want to start swapping?