Have you realized how much I love personalized gifts? I really love the kind I can make myself because it makes an uncreative person such as myself seem so creative!

Did you know that you can design your own Kleenex box for $4.99 at http://www.mykleenextissue.com?  Well, that’s what I’m here for, to make sure you know about these things!

I have done these boxes for my friends with small children and, as you would expect, it is a well received gift.  I made one for my sister and her children got such a kick out of the fact that their pictures were on a Kleenex box! I even did one for my wanderlust friend of one of their many worldly trips!

What a great gift this would be to take to someone in a nursing home with some old photos? It’s so easy now to scan your own photos and upload them to put on the box. You get to pick the background and colors of the Kleenex box. It arrives about a week to ten days after you place the order. The site offers a great instructional page on exactly how to make the box although really, if I can do it, you can do it!

My brother recently told me how much he loves shopping at diapers.com. Full disclosure, he has children in diapers, I do not, and so I have no personal experience with this site.

According to Bubba, diapers.com will match any price you find for the same product elsewhere if you call customer service. He found baby monitors he wanted to add to his order but they were higher on diapers.com than another site. When he called they immediately matched the price and added to the order. He loves great customer service. Who doesn’t?

Diapers.com is partnered with soap.com, so you can order from both sites to add to your order to qualify for free shipping. (Very similar to the drugstore.com/beauty.com arrangement). The site offers not only diapers, but also formula, bedding, toys, clothing, and gift ideas. If you have young children, or grandchildren, please check out this site and let me know what you think! I love comments!

How many of you currently have a fire extinguisher in your house? How many of you have multiple fire extinguishers in your house? I hope all of you do, but if not please make sure to purchase several for your house ASAP.  I know three people who have had fires in their homes lately and luckily all got out of the house safely.  However, I also worked for a personal injury law firm and have seen many times where people do not get out so safely.  I have a fire extinguisher in my garage, kitchen, master bedroom, guest bedroom, and in a central location of the house.  If God forbid a fire broke out anywhere in my house I could quickly access a fire extinguisher.  Studies show that most people, if they have a fire extinguisher at all, keep it in the kitchen. That is of little use to you if you have a fire break out in a room farthest away from the kitchen.  Not all fires start in the kitchen.

My son recently purchased a home and I got him fire extinguishers for Christmas.  I was at his house over the weekend and guess what I found still in the boxes in his garage? I got them out and placed them all over his house, and of course nagged him a little too!

So do me a huge favor and get multiple fire extinguishers for your house.  You can find them at most home improvement stores, or order online.  Kidde is a great brand and the one I have in my home.

http://amzn.to/hbNuYa

If you live in a two-story house, you need to get an escape ladder.  Amazon sells one for less than $35 (also Kidde brand).

http://amzn.to/gkK3nF

While you are at it check your smoke detector batteries.  And get a carbon monoxide detector if you don’t already have one.  You can add all these life saving safety features for less than $100.  Take care of yourself and your family.

Zappos.com started out on-line over ten years ago strictly selling shoes.  They have grown by leaps and bounds since then and are now owned by amazon.com. The greatest marketing tool they use is to offer free shipping for both sales and for returns. That removes any qualms you may have about buying a pair of shoes over the internet, without the benefit of trying them on. Once I had to return some shoes I purchased from zappos because there was a big black mark on them that wouldn’t come off.  When I called customer service, the agent was arranging to put another pair of shoes in the mail to me as I was returning the damaged pair.  I received the new pair the very next day! Great customer service.

Zappos has now grown to sell so much more than shoes, but with the same marketing strategy.  It sells clothing for men, women, and children, purses, watches, sunglasses, housewares, etc., which are all name brand products.