Back to school with HP and Snapfish (giveaway ends 10/12/12)

My kids have only been back to school for a few weeks now. I think we’re FINALLY getting into a routine, although I am having a hard time with getting up at 5:30 AM with my daughter. He bus comes around 6:35 in the morning. Blah! Whose idea was it to start high school so early? Ugh!

Last month I was asked if I wanted to participate in SnapFish’s Schools in Session campaign. Since I love SnapFish I was more then happy to participate. SnapFish, along with HP Creates, are two of my favorite “go-to” resources for fun, creative ideas and gifts.

I didn’t realize that SnapFish and HP Creates offers some fun items that are ideal for school. I found several ideas that I love on the HP Creates Pinterest board called School is in Session. I found so many great ideas on that board. I enjoyed the ideas so much that I created my own HP Create & SnapFish Board where I can pin my favorite ideas. You should check it out when you have a moment.

Some of my favorite ideas that I pinned include a personalized notebook where you can upload your child’s photo and have it appear on the notebook’s cover with a cool 3D effect to it. Kids love to have personalized products. Imagine how much fun it would be for your child to have a personalized photo notebook to use at school and when doing homework.

I loved the idea so much that I went to SnapFish and created one for myself using my kids photo.

I wish you could see the 3D effect in the photo.

Another cool idea that I pinned are photo bookmarks. Reading books is almost always a requirement for school. I love the idea of creating a personalized photo bookmark for your child. I’m sure their friends will be envious and want to know where they can get their own personalized bookmark too.

I created a photo bookmark that matched the notebook I also created from SnapFish. It also has that cool 3D effect.

I couldn’t get any good photos of the notebook or bookmark. They have that 3D effect to them and just didn’t photograph well. Trust me, they are cool!

I am not a big fan of items personalized with a child’s name for others to see, such as t-shirts or backpacks with their name embellished on it. While it is important to have your child’s name on their backpack in case they lose it, you should do it in a subtle way, such as inside where no one can see it unless they are looking for it. Another idea would be a photo ID tag. That way your child’s image can be used to identify their backpack.

I created a couple of tags at SnapFish. I fact I used them on my luggage that I took out to California last week. The ones I created had two different images on them. When you change your view of the photo it changes. It’s actually a really neat effect.

I don’t have a photo of the ones that I created but they looked similar to the ones on my Pinterest HP Create & SnapFish board (mine have a different design).

I’m sure I’ll be adding more to my HP Create & SnapFish board so be sure to keep checking back to see what other fun goodies I pin there.

There are a few back to school supplies that we have that I honestly wouldn’t think we needed, but I’m sure glad we have them. One of my favorite (and most used) items is my dry erase corkboard. Let me tell you, this has been a VERY helpful. It’s been helping not only my kids keep on track of when they have tests and projects due, but it also helps me keep track of things like parent/teacher conferences, school photos, appointments and other school related events.

If you don’t already have a dry erase and/or corkboard I would strongly recommend getting one. It will really help you to keep on top of things. I keep mine next to my desk. I work from home and I’m at my desk all day long so having that “visual” is very helpful.

Another thing that has come in handy is a waterproof outdoor blanket. We live in New York and this time of year it can be chilly in the evening. This blanket has come in handy when we’ve attended football games. It keeps our laps warm. Plus we’ve also used it to sit on to keep our tushies (butts) warm on a cold, metal bleacher.

Helping your children stay organized is not always easy to do. Sometimes it’s best to start off with something easy and work your way up to more complex organization. A simple thing you can do it get a bedside caddy. A bedside caddy would be a great place for kids to hold a reading book, flashlight (for late night reading), paper and pencils (for doodling) and anything else you think your child should have handy.

I wish I could find ours! My son wanted it and my daughter wanted it so I had to make them take turns. For the life of me I don’t know where it is now. I don’t know what they did with it. Obviously it’s not on the side of one of their beds. Grrr!!! Their room is a mess too. Chances are it’s under one of the beds. It’s hard for it to serve it’s purpose (keep items handy on the side of your bed) when it’s UNDER the bed.

This is what ours looks like. Now to find out what happened to it.

When it comes to back to school supplies, or school supplies that are needed all year long, sometimes you need to think “outside of the box”. There is more to school then just paper, pencils and crayons.

Check out this nifty widget too!

If you are looking for fun ideas be sure to check out HP Creates and SnapFish on Pinterest.

I have a great giveaway for a lucky reader. The winner will receive the following items:

• Large dry erase cork board with magnetic labels and thumb tacks
• Bedside caddy
• Waterproof outdoor blanket
• $50 Snapfish gift card

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on October 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-amil and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

To enter please visit my HP Creates & Snapfish Board (click here) and then come back here and comment on which one of the items I pinned you like the most. Please be specific. If you are not on Pinterest please comment on which one of the products featured in this post you like the most.

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement or the additional entries won’t qualify.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kimberly

*I received the above mentioned products for free for my participating. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way. 

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