There are a million uses for baby oil. Some use it for removing eye makeup.  It’s also great for removing those pesky stickers on glass frames. My favorite use for baby oil is to apply on my legs and arms immediately after getting out of the shower. I have done this for years and years thanks to a tip from a friend.  I think it makes my skin so soft and consequently I don’t have to use as much lotion. I think it’s a big reason I’ve never had dry skin in the winter. Well that and using a humidifier at night, but that’s for another post. I use the generic brand of baby oil. Wal-Mart sells a 20 oz. size of its store brand, Equate, for about $2.50. I use Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, because to me that would be adding some additional ingredients to make it softer. You know how my brain works. Johnson & Johnson and Equate have a baby oil gel also, but both containers are very difficult to get product out.

I recently tried Vaseline’s baby oil gel and its ease of use is a lot better. I keep this by the tub to use after a bath just because it’s in a smaller container that I can keep with all my other bath products. Since it’s a gel, it is naturally a little thicker. It’s great to put on the bottom of your feet with socks before bedtime. Oh look, another use.

If you have a great tip for baby oil, please share with me in the comment section.

Remember scrapbooking? I remember years ago making a scrapbook for my son’s senior year of high school.  All year I collected photographs of him at all of his senior events, sporting events, etc.  I purchased cute background paper, stickers, equipment, and every time I knew he would be out of the house for a few hours I would drag out all my stuff and work on the scrapbook.  I gave it to him at graduation and he loved it. After it was all said and done (don’t tell my husband) I probably spent about $800!!!!

Several years ago I worked in a law firm and met this wonderful family who had lost their son in a construction accident.  I decided to make them photo books with the numerous photos they had given me of their son.  I found shutterfly, and I was completely in awe with how easy it was to upload the photos, design the book, and even pick out cute background paper! All for less than $50!!!

I was hooked.  A dear friend of mine had a baby and I did a photo book for her documenting her first year, and then second, then third. I think it was more fun for me than the recipient.  I love making them.  The picture below is an example of how they look.  It comes out as a bound book.  You can write your own captions or stories with each photo.  You can make the entire front (and back) of the book a photo, and you can decide on each page whether or not you want it to contain one photo, or two, or more! You control the layout, the background, everything!

Shutterfly has sales often.  Right now is 30% off photo books, and free shipping on orders over $30.  Subscribe to their site to receive all special offers via email.

Have you ever needed someone’s address when you aren’t near your address book? Are you one of those people who call over and over again for someone’s address? Well, I have a quick solution for you. I use two sources online to get addresses so that I don’t bug someone to ask for their address. The first one is whitepages.com. You can plug in someone’s name and get his or her address. OR you can do a reverse search by address or phone number if you want to be a super sleuth. The second source (which I know works for Texas, not sure about how other states are set up) is to go to the county central appraisal district for the resident’s county seat.  If you know your county do an online search for “_______ county central appraisal district”. Most of the counties are set up as county name, followed by CAD (central appraisal district), and then .org. From there you can enter the person’s name and you will find their address. Example: dallascad.org.

Recently my sister wanted a gift idea for a friend who was staying at someone’s vacation home.  I immediately thought of worldmarket.com.  If you go to their website, they have lots of ready made gift baskets to choose from.  This is one store I like to visit in person. I know! It’s a shocker because I am an on-line gal.

World Market has lots of gourmet sodas, exotic teas, and artisan coffees to choose from. And for a little more kick, they have micro-brewed beers which are sold individually. They have six packs you can fill with different beers from various countries.  Now listen, is there a better guy gift than an assortment of beers? I think not!  They even have individual tiny champagne bottles!

In the food department, there are lots of soup mixes, dip mixes, scone mixes and pastas in different shapes.  They have an array of sweets from different countries. There are jams, and crackers, and sauces. They also have dishes, glasses, cups, and utensils.

In the spa department there are soaps, lotions, scrubs and salts.  They also have towels and assorted accessories.  Even bath toys!

Speaking of bath toys, they have children’s toys.  They have furniture.  They have rugs.  So pick up something for yourself while you are there.

So if you need a gift they’ve got a variety of departments to choose from to put together a cute gift basket.

And remember to visit World Market at Christmastime.  (Actually you need to remember about the end of October before they are all sold out).  They have a ton of stocking stuffers and ornaments.

World Market is a great place to find items you will not find in any other store.  Great assortment of international products.  Remember they do have on-line ordering if you don’t have a store near you.