This giveaway is now over. The winner is Marilyn Wons. Congrats!

For the fourth year in a row, Macy’s is partnering with The Make-A-Wish Foundation® and collecting letters to Santa. For every letter received, Macy’s will donate $1 to The Make-A-Wish Foundation®, up to $1 million. I have a cousin that has actually used The Make-A-Wish Foundation, so this is charity that we stand behind. Inspired by The New York Sun’s famous “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial from 1897, Macy’s stores across the country feature letter-writing Believe Stations and Santa Mail letterboxes for believers of all ages to write their letters to Santa.  As a special treat in stores this year, believers of all ages can take their photos with the characters from the animated holiday classic, “Yes, Virginia.” Visit any Macy’s Believe Station to pose for holiday photos with Virginia and her friends – and don’t miss Macy’s celebrated Santalands to pose with Santa himself!

Using new augmented reality technology, customers with IOS and select Android smartphones can download the “Macy’s Believe-o-Magic” application that allows them to unlock the magic to see and interact with Virginia, Ollie and their friends. You can step in the frame and take a photo, which can also be uploaded into a holiday card template to share via e-mail or Facebook. You can also preview the magic at home by downloading the application and printing out the marker. When you point the “Macy’s Believe-o-Magic” camera at the marker, you’ll see an animated Virginia ice skating right in your home!

To help you get in the holiday spirit, I have arranged for one lucky reader of mine to win a a Macy’s Spode Snow Globe. All you have to do is leave me a comment below sharing your favorite Santa memory (whether Santa surprised and delighted your kids or made your dreams come true as a child)!

This giveaway will end on December 16th at 12:01 am and is for US residents. Good luck!

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With the holidays upon us, this is a time of year that can be joyous for some and heartbreaking for others. Last year, my cousin’s wife died right after Christmas, so I know this year will be a tough one for him. Some people just don’t like the holiday. Others, well they have to work. With all different people like this in your life, it can be tough keeping everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays.

First, remembering others circumstances at this time of year is very important. Like I said above, remember everyone’s circumstances. You may be celebrating. Others, well, they may be grieving. Do what is comfortable for everyone and that will keep everyone’s spirits bright because they won’t feel uncomfortable. Finding toys like KRE-O Transformers sets can be a conversation starter for adults and kids alike. The third Transformers movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was a smash this past summer and the KRE-O collection is inspired by the Generation 1 Transformers. Kids and adults have something alike that they can talk about (or argue about if they want to get into which generation is the best).

Next, get toys without batteries. There is nothing worse than being at a Christmas gathering when all you hear is a bunch of toys screaming at you. Instead, KRE-O Transformers sets are a great gift for the holidays. They allow your kids to use their imagination to assemble and dissemble them. Plus, it allows them to role play with them which also requires creativity on your kids part. I love watching my kids when they are making up the story as they go. The stories they come up with are sometimes better than anything else out there. Plus, it allows for the adults to keep their sanity.

Another way to keeping everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays is donate your time and your money and maybe even some toys. Not everyone is as fortunate as we are, and this is the perfect time of year to remember that. There are twelve KRE-O Transformers sets available, from Basic sets for beginner builders to deluxe sets for the pros. The sets range in price from $7.99-$59.99 and each set allows kids to construct one of two models: a Transformers character in robot or vehicle mode offering two different builds in one! Most also come with a unique, collectible KREON figure that add another level of play to the sets. This is a great gift to donate to your local Toys for Tots. This keeps your spirits and the lucky kid who is getting it spirits up too!

How do you keep everyone’s spirits bright during the holidays? Do you donate your time, your talent, or your treasure to those you love and care for?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards.

For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) , up to $125,000.

Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! Download the SWAGG app and then visit the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes site to enter to win a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival. Entry deadline is January 3, 2011, 11:59pm, PST.

I’ll be honest — I can’t think of any really awesome gifts I’ve done. I mean, I’ve got the year that I made Bill’s mom cry with an awesome craft sale find of mine (she still puts it up). I’ve got the year that Kari (my sister) and I had our pictures done in secret for our mom and dad. Or the year my sister and I bought each other the same thing. Or taking my kids to Disney. But nothing compares to the baby shower I just went to a couple of weeks ago. It was for my cousin’s wife. Her mom is an expert sewer and seriously can make anything you want.

When Megan got to the gift her mom gave her, she first opened the card. Her mom told her she had to read it. Megan asked, “Out loud?” We all laughed of course, and she said yes. The room got quiet, and we all listened.

When Megan was 5, her mom was pregnant with her little brother. She had went to the fabric store with her mom. She was getting fabric to make a quilt. She had asked her mother if she could pick out some fabric for when she had a baby. Her mom let her and bought it with the fabric she had picked out for her brother.

Fast forward to now, over 20 years later. We all sat there with anticipation. Her mom had taken the fabric that 5 year old Megan picked out and made a quilt for her new baby. Seriously, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place. Luckily, the fabric wasn’t pink (they are having a boy)! Tell me that is not the coolest story ever.

Now, I’ve never given a gift that awesome, but I love that I get to share that story with you all! What’s the best gift you’ve given?

p>Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.

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This giveaway is now over. The winner is D Johnson. Congrats!

Hanes recently launched an online Design and Buy program that allows visitors to design their own T-shirts adorned with messages of hope, love and support. Additionally, Hanes will donate 10 percent of the proceeds from all custom T-shirts through the Design and Buy program to Komen for the Cure.   Additionally, for the second year, Hanes will offer its “Pink Collection” of panties, bras, socks, and tees designed to create awareness for the cause. As part of the collection, Hanes spokesperson and film star Melina Kanakaredes has designed three T-shirts meant to inspire and encourage others to join her in the fight against breast cancer.

As many of your know, breast cancer is a cause that is near and dear to my heart.  I’ve had two aunts and one cousin with the disease.  I’m all for money getting donated to such a great cause.  I’m also a fan of Hanes, and I’m glad to see that they are donating some of the proceeds to Komen For The Cure.  So I have arranged for one of my lucky readers to get one of their own Pink Tee’s.  Here’s what you need to do:

Head over to Hanes Design and Buy and tell me what you’d put on your T-shirt!  (Yes, it’s that easy!)

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. I’ve made it super easy by adding a tweet button up by the title of this post!  You can do this daily — just leave  me a comment letting me know.

2. Stumble this post and add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

3. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

4. Comment on another post on this blog. Let me know which one, so I can give you credit.  The more posts you comment on, the more entries you get.

5.  Add this contest of contest linkies (and let me know which ones please).  Each Contest Linky gets you another entry.

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries:

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

3. Add my badge to your sidebar:

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4.  Subscribe via Kindle

This contest will end on October 21st at 11:59 pm CST! Good Luck!

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Sometimes companies really do get it right, and Macy’s certainly has this year.  They have teamed up with Santa and the Make-A-Wish Foundation this Christmas.  At all Macy’s stores, there will be a special mailbox for your kids to drop off their letters to Santa.  For every letter collected, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish Foundation up to $1 million dollars.  My cousin was given a wish from the Make-A-Wish, so I truly do understand what a difference this charity can make in someones life.  This is such a good cause that I hope you all write letters this year, so such a good charity can benefit!

Copyright © 2011 My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact mythoughtsideasandramblings.com @ gmail.com so we can take legal action immediately.