Tuesday, June 17, 2008

My Fruit Roll-Ups - WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who entered to win the Fruit Roll-Ups. This was a lot of fun...maybe it IS better to give than to receive! I'll be having lots of contests thanks to PBN, so keep your eye on my blog for more.

And now, drum roll please.....

I went to random.org, and asked the magical monkey inside the computer to pick a number between 1 and 15. It popped out 9.

My ninth commenter was Carissa, from Good and Crazy People.

Congrats, Carissa! Enjoy your yummy fruit roll-ups. Let us know what you design you finally settle on.

Friday, June 13, 2008

My Fruit Roll-Ups - GIVEAWAY!

When I was growing up, my mom would send my brother and I off to school with a lovingly packed lunchbox full of food. Kyle always got the same standard fare of a peanut butter sandwich, Capri Sun, Doritos, and some sort of fruit. I wasn't as picky an eater as Kyle, so sometimes my lunch had soup, or celery sticks, or even a lettuce and tomato sandwich. The one thing we both always got was a fruit roll up, and a note from our mom (always written on a napkin!) telling us she loved us and to have a good day.

When I heard about the new personalized Fruit Roll-Ups, those elementary school days immediately sprung back to mind. How great would it have been for my mom to combine our delicious fruit snack with her note of love? The Parent Bloggers Network gave me the opportunity to order my own box of thirty and I immediately went to the My Fruit Roll-Ups website to see what kind of kick-ass designs I could concoct.

The site is very kid-friendly, and I can imagine future-Madeline and I spending lots of time designing the perfect Roll-Ups. You can pick everything from the layout (pattern, checkerboard, two rows, three rows, etc), to the color (and I assume the flavor goes with the color), but the fun part is the design. You can do pictures, words, or a combination of the two. The clip art is pretty varied, and there are four different fonts to choose from.

I decided that since Maddie isn't eating Roll-Ups yet, and Mike doesn't need a bag lunch, that I would make my Roll-Ups birthday party favors for Maddie's first birthday. Yes, her birthday isn't until November, but I am a planner!

At first, I toyed with the idea of putting graphics on my design. There were two really cute ones that I almost went with, but in the end, I decided on the text option.



Depending on the font size and face you choose, there is a finite amount of writing you can put in each square. It took me a few tries until I found the writing style and exact wording that worked for me.


When I was finally done with my design, I was able to preview the final version of the Roll-Up. I was very happy with the way it turned out. It would have been nice to edit the text in every square (if you click on the picture, you'll see that the text repeats across the Roll-Up), but it's a minor complaint.

I found the process extremely easy, and I'm very excited to hand the Roll-Ups out at Maddie's birthday party in November. Want to win a free box? Well, I'm giving one away - and not one that says "Maddie's first birthday party," but a box of your very own design. All you have to do is visit the My Fruit Roll-Ups website, then leave a comment here telling me how you would decorate your Fruit Roll-Ups. You have until June 16 at Midnight to enter. I'll pick a winner at random on Tuesday morning. And, sorry to all my BEAUTIFUL Canadian readers, but only US residents can win.

I can't wait to see what all you pretty people come up with!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

well, hello there

I've been welcomed into the Parents Blog Network, and I soon will be reviewing products designed for darling children like my Maddie. Come back often to see what I think of stuff. You know you want to.