Yes, I know, I know, nothing beats the hand-written note and greeting card to show someone that you – really – care about them. In our electronic age, affixing a stamp to an envelope and popping it in the mailbox is the ultimate demonstration of love. But, let’s get real. I don’t always have the perfect card on hand, or the person’s address, or… And neither do you. So, sometimes, there has been room for wishes-via-email. I adopted ecards some years ago and then abandoned them. I couldn’t cope with all the “free” ecard sites that were either really spammy [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

My daughter lost her tooth yesterday. Thea came home from school and was excited to show us all.  After “the showing” Thea proudly took her tooth and put it under her pillow. For the rest of the day we had to hear about “the Tooth Fairy coming tonight”.
I wrote an article just before Christmas which featured the I Caught Santa website and knew that they had different characters at the Catch a Character website, specifically the Tooth Fairy for this very occasion. So, last night I tiptoed into Thea’s room and took a picture of [...]

I looooooooooooove this video. If you remember (you should, it was one of last decades most viral videos), OK Go is the band that made the Treadmill video.

The “Machine” in this video was invented and created by 20 (yes 20!) engineers. The construction of the Machine – using 10,ooo sq. ft. of space over two floors – must have been a daunting though thrilling task. I don’t even want to guess how many trials they had to go through to make this work. And how many pianos, TVs, mannequins and other items had to be smashed to get to that [...]

There’s a wave of nostalgia going around and being shared all over the internet. Among others there is the “My Mom, the Style Icon” blog (I wrote about it here), where you can submit way-back-when photos of your mom in stylish retro garb. And we’ve seen the endearing now & then pictures of best buddies in high school yearbooks. Now Ze Frank is giving everyone a platform to submit their before and after photos: the Young Me, Now Me website.
I can’t believe the effort some people went through to replicate the scene.

I can’t remember how I came across this blog, but I was completely charmed and immediately submitted a photo of my mom (that’s her in the straw hat).

The “My Mom, the Style Icon” blog is written by Piper Weiss, an editor and writer featured in the likes of the New York Daily News, VH1 and bestweekever.tv. She came up with this the idea of creating the mom-as-style-icon website as she came across some amazing old pictures of her mom in the 60’s: “She was dressed in the most incredible frocks and she had a real attitude. I instantly realized I’d [...]

I’m not a scotch drinker – and perhaps, neither are you – but I am an admirer of creative, brilliantly executed advertising. So, I thought I’d share this remarkable advertisement for Johnnie Walker Scotch Whiskey.
It stars Robert Carlyle who delivers an incredible six minutes monologue in a single take, while interacting with various props lined up along his (must be) mile-long walk as he recounts the history of the Johnnie Walker brand.
“The Man Who Walked Around The World” is truly a masterful production that demonstrates some agencies still know how to make a brilliant commercial with impeccable craftsmanship and storytelling [...]

By Shari Bonnin, Contributing Editor
You know how most of your friends and family just don’t get you and your internet “thing” and have no idea how involved you are or how big it’s gotten? Kirsten Wright and moi, Shari Bonnin have designed a t-shirt (in hot pink or turquoise) with the catchphrase “I’m a pretty big deal on the internet™”.
You know you’re a pretty big deal when your blog, Facebook fan page and your Twitter account have so many followers you’ve stopped counting. When you’ve had so many Etsy sales you can’t believe it’s just you at your kitchen table. [...]

Sooooo perfect! Couldn’t have said it better. Really, I couldn’t have.

Here’s the behind-the-scene process on how JibJab’s team got this done. Phew! No little process but totally worth it for our entertaining pleasure!
Only good cheer to you in 2010!

Because, chances are, you still have an overflow of unconsumed candy canes in your house:

I love her outfit, earrings especially. And, if you were ever curious about the “history” of the candy cane, you can find out all about it here and on Wikipedia, of course.
Happy Boxing Day to all fellow Canadians!

This music video revved up my morning.  Indulge in a quick break and watch this great montage video by Japanese band Sour for their “Hibi no Neiro” song. Assembled from webcam footage provided by their fans throughout the world.  Brilliant or what?

Must be the season… Another giveaway. On the heel’s of Audrey’s story about fun websites that help create some Christmas magic, Steven, the principal at ICaughtSanta.com offered up some hard to resist “I caught Santa” photos for our readers. EIGHT of them. I know that we are real close to Christmas, but the “catching Santa in the act” photo process is almost instant, so you still have time to enter…and get your picture. Three little steps. Well, four:

You just need to set up the area of your house where you will want Santa to appear
Take a photo
Upload it
Pick a Santa. [...]

WE HAVE A WINNER! CONGRATULATIONS Kelly!
You have won the the beautiful Twelve Days of Christmas Heirloom Gift Boxes. Enjoy your new tradition!
The winner was selected at random using the Random Integer Generator. This giveaway CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED but do subscribe via RSS or email to get updates on new giveaways as they get posted. Thank you all for playing!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
You saw our story about the Twelve Days Heirloom Gift Boxes yesterday? Well, it so happens that Jonathon, TwelveDays co- creator saw the article and liked it so much that he offered to provide us with this giveaway. Wonderful! So [...]