FeeFiFoto Blog

Independence Day Is Just The Beginning: Bizarre July Holidays

Make personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for July. 

The kids and I design calendars for our family on our web site, FeeFiFoto, and in addition to the usual birthdays and anniversaries, we choose one day each month for a fictitious holiday just to see if anyone is paying attention. January 16 was Talk Like Pirates Day, February 24 was Walk Backwards Day, March 1 was Talk Really Fast Day, August 17 was Snowball Fight Day, and November 2 was Kiss Your Mom Day. We also acknowledged some legitimate holidays and anniversaries, like the Ides of March (March 15), Beethoven's Birthday (December 16) and the anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride (April 18). It was fun and silly.

Don't forget: as of today, June 30, there are 177-odd days left until Christmas.  Why not begin designing holiday calendars now?

1
Canada Day
Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
Build A Scarecrow Day
Second Half of the Year Day

Duh

2
Visitation Of The Virgin Mary Day
I Forgot Day
Thurgood* Marshall, b. 1908

Really?  I Forgot Day?  Seriously?

3
Stay Out Of The Sun Day
Compliment Your Mirror Day
Disobedience Day
George M. Cohan, b. 1878

 

4
National Country Music Day
Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day
Rube Goldberg, b. 1883

You'll need that napkin to wipe the melting ice cream off your face and hands.

5
Workaholics Day
P.T. Barnum, b. 1810

6
National Fried Chicken Day
John Paul Jones, b. 1747

Fried chicken goes well with ice cream.

7
National Strawberry Sundae Day
Chocolate Day

Every day is Chocolate Day, isn't it?

8
Video Games Day

9
National Sugar Cookie Day
Nicola Tesla, b. 1856

Sugar cookies go well with ice cream.  And chocolate.

10
Clerihew Day
Don't Step on a Bee Day

11
National Cheer Up The Lonely Day
E.B. White, b. 1899

12
International Town Criers Day
National Pecan Pie Day

Pecan pie goes well with ice cream.

13
Gruntled Workers Day
Fool's Paradise Day

14
National Nude Day

 
15
Blame Respect Canada Day
National Tapioca Pudding Day
Rembrandt Van Rijn, b. 1606

16
International Juggling Day

17
National Peach Ice Cream Day
Art Linkletter*, b. 1912

18
National Ice Cream Day
National Caviar Day
Red Skelton, b. 1913

19
Flitch Day
National Raspberry Cake Day

20
Ugly Truck Contest Day
Mood Day
National Lollipop Day

21
National Tug-Of-War Tournament Day
Isaac Stern, b. 1920

22
Ratcatcher's Day
Hammock Day
Alexander Calder, b. 1898

23
National Vanilla Ice Cream Day
Hot Dog Day
Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, b. 1918

24
Amelia Earhart Day

I've always wondered who'd be brave enough to use an Amelia Earhart postage stamp.  Wouldn't you worry that your letter would be lost?

25
Threading The Needle Day

26
All Or Nothing Day
Vivian Vance, b. 1912

27
Take Your Pants For A Walk Day (graphic from the BBC)
Walk on Stilts Day

28
National Milk Chocolate Day
Beatrix Potter, b. 1866

29
Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day
Chili Dog Day

30
National Cheesecake Day
Emily Bronte, b. 1818

Cheesecake goes well with ice cream.

31
Parent's Day

*Spellcheck offered Thursday, and Newsletter

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Do Mayflowers Bring?

Making personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for April.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established.  For a long time our designs and features were relatively unchanged, but we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page.  We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Think about how smart and well-informed you'll be appear when you casually flaunt your knowledge of such esoteric dates as National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, or Jayne Mansfield's birthday.

Here's a list of essential April dates.

1
One Cent Day
International Fun At Work Day
Sergei Rachmaninoff, b. 1873

Children's Book Day
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
Buddy Ebsen, b. 1908

Perfect: pack up some PBJs and read some books to children

3
Tweed Day
Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day
Washington Irving, b. 1783

4
Tell-A-Lie Day

5
Deep Dish Pizza Day
Go For Broke Day
Booker T. Washington, b. 1856

6
Sorry Charlie Day
Butch Cassidy, b. 1866

7
No Housework Day
Billie Holliday, b. 1915

8
Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
All Is Ours Day
Sonja Henie, b. 1912
Betty Ford, b. 1918

9
Cherish an Antique Day
Winston Churchill Day
Name Yourself Day 

10 
National Siblings Day
Golfers Day 

11 
International "Louie Louie" Day
Eight-Track Tape Day 

12 
Look Up At The Sky Day

Tiny Tim, b. 1912

13 
Blame Somebody Else Day
Thomas Jefferson, b. 1743

Go ahead -- blame Jefferson if you must.

14 
Be Kind to Lawyers Day
Moment of Laughter Day
National Pecan Day 

15 
Rubber Eraser Day
Leonardo Da Vinci, b. 1452
Henry James, b. 1843

16 
National Stress Awareness Day
Wear your Pajamas to Work Day
National Eggs Benedict Day
Wilbur Wright, b. 1867
Charlie Chaplin, b. 1889

Yeah, it might be a little stressful to be caught at work in your PJs.

17 
Blah Blah Blah Day
National Cheeseball Day 

18 
International Jugglers Day
Paul Revere's Ride, 1775

19 
Garlic Day
Jayne Mansfield, b. 1933

20 
Look Alike Day 

21 
Kindergarten Day 
Charlotte Bronte, b. 1816

22 
National Jelly Bean Day
Earth Day
Vladimir Lenin, b. 1870

Lenin liked jelly beans, didn't he? No, wait -- that was Ronald Reagan.

23 
Talk Like Shakespeare Day
Read Me Day
World Laboratory Animal Day
William Shakespeare, b. 1564

24 
National Pigs In A Blanket Day 

25 
National Zucchini Bread Day
Ella Fitzgerald, b. 1918

26 
Richter Scale Day
National Pretzel Day 

27 
Tell A Story Day 

28 
Great Poetry Reading Day
Kiss-Your-Mate Day 

29 
National Shrimp Scampi Day
Duke Ellington, b. 1899

30 
National Honesty Day

See also: Strange Holidays

Be honest: did you know that April 30th was National Honesty Day before I told you?

Visit FeeFiFoto to create personalized photo calendars with all kinds of unusual holidays.

March, March, March!

Making personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of memorable dates; here are some for March

FeeFiFoto was one of the first web sites to offer a service for customers to upload photographs, design, create and edit their own customized calendars.  This was a vast improvement over relying on Kinko's to:

• scan your photos
• crop your photos
• add your captions
• create your calendars
• call you for pickup
• miss some knuckleheaded mistake requiring them to rerun the entire project
• repeat until you finally gave up because you were tired of driving to Kinko's

Creating your own photo calendars online is so easy that you could make a different design for each recipient, leaving out the birthdays of yucky in-laws on calendars for all other relatives. 

You want your personalized calendar to be such an entertaining memento that the reader not only will keep it but will refer to it over and over just for its entertainment value?  We're making that part easy too.

Did you know March 20 is Festival Of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day?  How could you not make this special event a centerpiece of your annual gift calendar?

See below for other interesting March dates:

March

1

National Pig Day
Peanut Butter Lover's Day
Harry Caray, b. 1914

2

Old Stuff Day
Dr. Seuss, b. 1904

3

I Want You To Be Happy Day
Peach Blossom Day
National Anthem Day
Alexander Graham Bell, b. 1847

4

Holy Experiment Day
Knute Rockne, b. 1888
Antonio Vivaldi, b. 1678

5

Multiple Personalities Day

Shouldn't multiple personalities be entitled to more than one day?

6

National Frozen Food Day
Lou Costello, b. 1906

7

National Crown Roast Of Pork Day
Maurice Ravel, b. 1875

Defrost your crown roast on the 6th; see above

8

Be Nasty Day

9

Panic Day
Amerigo Vespucci, b. 1454

10

Festival Of Life In The Cracks Day

11

Johnny Appleseed Day
Worship Of Tools Day
Ralph Abernathy, b. 1926

12

Alfred Hitchcock Day

13

Jewel Day

14

Pi Day

Can you guess why?

Albert Einstein, b. 1879

Big hint...

National Potato Chip Day

Has nothing to do with the two previous dates

See also National Tortilla Chip Day

15

Ides Of March
Everything You Think Is Wrong Day
Buzzards Day

This one makes complete sense:

• On the Ides of March Julius Caesar thought he was safe. 
• He was wrong. 
• Consequently, he was consumed by buzzards.

16

Everything You Do Is Right Day
James Madison, b. 1751
Henny Youngman, b. 1906

My mother sat next to Henny Youngman at the Carnegie Deli once.  True story.

17

Submarine Day
Nat "King" Cole, b. 1919

18

Supreme Sacrifice Day

19

Wyatt Earp, b. 1848
Poultry Day

In honor of Poultry Day we all do the Chicken Dance

20

Proposal Day
Festival Of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
Fred "Mr." Rogers, b. 1928

21

Fragrance Day
Johann Sebastian Bach, b. 1685

22

National Goof-off Day

23

National Organize Your Home Office Day
National Chip And Dip Day

24

National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
Harry Houdini, b. 1874

Here's a hint: don't feed chocolate covered raisins to the dog.  Just a hunch, but I suspect you'll be cleaning up after her for a couple of days.

25

Pecan Day
Waffle Day

26

Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
Spinach Festival Day

27

National "Joe" Day

28

Something On A Stick Day

29

Festival Of Smoke and Mirrors Day

30

I Am In Control Day
Vincent Van Gogh, b. 1853

Definitely wasn't in control

31

Bunsen Burner Day
National Clams On The Half Shell Day

What do you do in observance of Pi Day?

See also: February Strange Holidays

Visit FeeFiFoto to create personalized photo calendars with all kinds of unusual holidays.

Spring Fame Contest 2010: You'll Be As Famous As Sadie The Scottie Dog

A Contest Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

It's time once again for the FeeFiFoto Fame Contest.

You've seen contests to win candy bars. You've seen contests to win mismatched socks. You've seen contests to win cookies and treats. Now for something completely different:

Enter this contest to win FAME.  And a gift certificate.

You'll be as famous as Sadie the Scottie, and who knows -- you might even appear on The Today Show.

The winner of this contest will have one favorite photograph incorporated into a landing page on FeeFiFoto. Just visit FeeFiFoto, cruise around as long as you like, then come back here and leave me a comment about which item you'd like to see with your photo on the home page of my website.  Plus, the winner of this contest will receive a $10 gift certificate for a personalized photo gift item from FeeFiFoto.

I'll draw one name at random on February 28^th. Once the winner has emailed the photo to me, I'll put it on a graphic on the FeeFiFoto home page.

You can feature family, pets, kids' artwork or artistic shots -- your choice. A black and white photo of your house on a porcelain plate would be lovely. Once your photo is up on the site, far-flung friends and family can tune in and shout to each other: "Honey! Come quickly!  Little John/ Paul/ George/ Ringo is in an advertisement! Well lock me in an ice cream store and throw away the key!"

 

Last year's winner was JC from Castleruins, who chose to have her photo displayed on a Wooden Cherry Colored Box with Tile Inset. The image is printed permanently on a ceramic tile, which is inset into the box's lid. Great as a wedding gift or Mother's Day present.

See your favorite faces featured on beautiful jewelry boxes from FeeFiFoto. Want something funkier?  Choose to have your photo displayed on a wooden puzzle.

Any. Where. You. Choose. Visit FeeFiFoto and tell me what you where you want to see your picture. It's all about YOU.

A few simple guidelines:

• Please furnish your email address so I can get in touch with you as soon as you win; this way, your photo can be up on the site within a couple of days
• The photo submitted to me by the winner must be G-rated
• Your entry must state which item from FeeFiFoto you'd like to display your photo
• The prize for this contest is three months of FAME -- other than the $10 gift certificate, no tangible prize will be awarded
• Blog about this contest (and give me a heads up) and I'll give you an extra entry
• Tweet about this contest and I'll give you another entry

Good luck everybody!

Read more about the FeeFiFoto Fame Contest.

Wow - Is It International Polar Bear Day Already? Peculiar February Holidays

Making personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for February.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established about five years ago.  For a long time our designs and features were relatively unchanged, but last year we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page.  We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events. 

Last year the kids and I designed calendars for our family, and in addition to the usual birthdays and anniversaries, we chose one day each month for a fictitious holiday just to see if anyone was paying attention.  January 16 was Talk Like Pirates Day, February 24 was Walk Backwards Day, March 1 was Talk Really Fast Day, August 17 was Snowball Fight Day, and November 2 was Kiss Your Mom Day.  We also acknowledged some legitimate holidays and anniversaries, like the Ides of March (March 15), Beethoven's Birthday (December 16) and the anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride (April 18).  It was fun and silly.

I can't imagine that the majority of customers who buy personalized photo calendars from FeeFiFoto have my family's twisted warped exotic highly developed sense of humor, but on the outside chance that at least someone out there appreciates a good absurdist* joke, I've compiled a list of some really weird, but apparently true, national and international holidays.

February

1

Serpent Day
Clark Gable, b. 1901

2

Purification Day
James Joyce, b. 1882

3

Carrot Cake Day
Cordova Ice Worm Day

I don't even want to know about this one

4

Rosa Parks, b. 1913
Thank A Mailman Day
Create A Vacuum Day

I've heard Dysons are really good

5

National Weatherman's Day
Disaster Day

Could these two be related?

6

Lame Duck Day
Aaron Burr, b. 1756
Babe Ruth, b. 1895

7

Charles Dickens Day 

8

Kite Flying Day

Shouldn't this be in April?

9

Toothache Day

Think I'll pass on this one

10

Umbrella Day 

11

White Tee-Shirt Day
Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
Thomas Edison, b. 1847

12

National Plum Pudding Day 

13

Get A Different Name Day
Dream Your Sweet Day
Read To Your Child Day 

14

Ferris Wheel Day
National Heart to Heart Day 

15

National Gum Drop Day

But please, don't drop your gum on the sidewalk

16

Do A Grouch A Favor Day

But only if he asks nicely

17

Champion Crab Races Day

18

Pluto Day 
National Battery Day

Umm -- is there a National Assault Day?

19

National Chocolate Mint Day

You got my attention with this one

20

Hoodie Hoo Day

Woo hoo -- it's Hoodie Hoo Day!

21

Card Reading Day 

22

Be Humble Day

The rest of the year, be as conceited as you like

23

W.E.B. Dubois, b. 1868
Banana Bread Day
International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day

Miss Puppy likes this one

24

National Tortilla Chip Day 

25

Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)

26

 

William Frawley, b. 1887
Buffalo Bill Cody, b. 1846
National Pistachio Day

I like pistachios better than pistols

27
Marian Anderson, b. 1897
International Polar Bear Day

I like polar bears

28

Public Sleeping Day

I like sleeping

29

National Surf and Turf Day

Do you commemorate Beethoven's Birthday?  And what is an "Ides" anyway?

Visit FeeFiFoto to design really personalized calendars with your own photos and dates.

*SpellCheck tried for Kurdistan

Peculiar January Dates: Want Some?

Make personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for January.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established. For the 2007 Christmas season we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page. We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Last year the kids and I designed calendars for our family, and in addition to the usual birthdays and anniversaries, we chose one day each month for a fictitious holiday just to see if anyone was paying attention. January 16 was Talk Like Pirates Day, February 24 was Walk Backwards Day, March 1 was Talk Really Fast Day, August 17 was Snowball Fight Day, and November 2 was Kiss Your Mom Day. We also acknowledged some legitimate holidays and anniversaries, like the Ides of March (March 15), Beethoven's Birthday (December 16) and the anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride (April 18). It was fun and silly.

Here are some silly, and real (supposedly) holidays you can add to photo calendars.

January

1
First Foot Day
Z Day
Paul Revere, b. 1735
Betsy Ross, b. 1752

2
Run Up The Flagpole and See If Anyone Salutes Day

3
Festival of Sleep Day
J.R.R. Tolkien, b. 1892

4
Trivia Day
Humiliation Day
Louis Braille, b. 1809

5
National Bird Day
George Reeves, b. 1914

6
Bean Day
Cuddle Up Day
Joan of Arc, b. 1412

7
Old Rock Day
Millard Fillmore, b. 1800
Charles Addams, b. 1912

8
Bubble Bath Day
Butterfly McQueen, b. 1911
Soupy Sales, b. 1926
Elvis Presley, b. 1935

9
Play God Day
Richard Nixon, b. 1913
Bob Denver, b. 1935

10
Peculiar People Day
Grigori Rasputin, b. 1869
Ray Bolger, b. 1904

Yay!  We have our own day!

11
Step in a Puddle and Splash your Friends Day
Alexander Hamilton, b. 1755

12
National Pharmacist Day

13
Make Your Dream Come True Day
Blame Someone Else Day
International Skeptics Day

14
Dress Up Your Pet Day
Benedict Arnold, b. 1741

15
National Hat Day
Aristotle Onassis, b. 1906
Martin Luther King, b. 1929

16
National Nothing Day
Ethel Merman, b. 1908

Image from here

17
Ditch New Year's Resolutions Day
Benjamin Franklin, b. 1706
Anne Bronte, b. 1820
Al Capone, b. 1899
Eartha Kitt, b. 1927
Shari Lewis, b. 1934

18
Winnie The Pooh Day
Thesaurus Day
Oliver Hardy, b. 1892

19
Popcorn Day
Robert E. Lee, b. 1807
Edgar Allan Poe, b.1809
Janis Joplin, b. 1943

20
Buttercrunch Day
Penguin Awareness Day

21
Squirrel Appreciation Day
National Hugging Day
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, b. 1824

Personally I appreciate penguins more

22
National Answer Your Cat's Question Day
National Blonde Brownie Day

23
National Handwriting Day
National Pie Day
John Hancock, b. 1737

...but not Pi Day

24
Beer Appreciation Day
Compliment Day

25
Opposite Day
Robert Burns, b. 1759
Virginia Woolf, b. 1882

26
Spouse's Day
Paul Newman, b. 1925

27
Punch the Clock Day
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, b. 1756
Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), b. 1832
Donna Reed, b. 1921

28
Rattlesnake Roundup
Fun At Work Day
Jackson Pollack, b. 1912

29
National Corn Chip
National Puzzle Day

Want a personalized photo puzzles?

30
National Escape
National Inane Answering Machine Message Day
Franklin D. Roosevelt, b. 1882

31
Backward Day

As opposed to Opposite Day, see above

Oh, and the last Monday of January is National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

Will There Be Anything Left To Put In It After Paying For It?

Extravagant handbags

Really Burberry?  Seriously Neiman Marcus?  Do I really need a handbag trimmed with barbed wire?  For $1695, and no, that's not $16.95 but $1695.00.

I guess if I'm willing and able to spend nearly $1700 on a handbag I can spring for a few extra bucks here and there on cashmere sweater reweaving, leather coat reconditioning, and silk blouse patching, huh?

For gifts that are just as memorable and way less dangerous, visit FeeFiFoto and put favorite photos on microfiber totes, handbags or diaper bags.

Sweet Ride

Really, Neiman Marcus?  Do you really think I need a $25,000 cupcake that rolls along at a cool 7 MPH?

No thanks.  I already have the coolest Cupcake in town.

It's Beethoven's birthday!

Order Personalized Photo Calendars from FeeFiFoto and put your favorite cupcake's photo on every page.

December Already? Add Strange Dates To Personalized Calendars Just To See If Anyone's Paying Attention

Make personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for December.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established. For the 2007 Christmas season we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page. We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Last year the kids and I designed calendars for our family, and in addition to the usual birthdays and anniversaries, we chose one day each month for a fictitious holiday just to see if anyone was paying attention. January 16 was Talk Like Pirates Day, February 24 was Walk Backwards Day, March 1 was Talk Really Fast Day, August 17 was Snowball Fight Day, and November 2 was Kiss Your Mom Day. We also acknowledged some legitimate holidays and anniversaries, like the Ides of March (March 15), Beethoven's Birthday (December 16) and the anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride (April 18). It was fun and silly.

Here are some silly, and real (supposedly) holidays you can add to photo calendars.

December

1
Eat a Read Apple Day
National Pie Day
Mary Martin, b. 1913

I thought Pi Day was in March.

2
National Fritters Day
Charles Ringling, b. 1863
Georges Seurat, b. 1859

3
National Roof Over Your Head Day

4
Wear Brown Shoes Day
Francisco Franco, b. 1892

It's my understanding that Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

5
National Sacher Torte Day
George Armstrong Custer, b. 1839

6
Gazpacho Day
National Mitten Tree Day
Ira Gerswhin, b. 1896
Agnes Moorehead, b. 1906

7
Cotton Candy Day
Harry Chapin, b. 1942

8
Take It In The Ear Day
Mary Queen of Scots, b. 1542

9
National Pastry Day
Margaret Hamilton, b. 1902

We seem to have a witch theme in December...

10
Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales

11
National Noodle Ring Day
Fiorello LaGuardia, b. 1882

A bit odd of his parents to name him after an airport, don't you agree?

12
National Ding-A-Ling Day

13
Ice Cream Day
Violins Day

14
National Bouillabaisse Day
Nostradamus, b. 1503

Kind of witchy, no?

15
National Lemon Cupcake Day

16
National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Ludwig van Beethoven, b. 1770

17
National Maple Syrup Day
Underdog Day

18
National Roast Suckling Pig Day

19
Oatmeal Muffin Day

20
Games Day
Harvey Firestone, b. 1868

21
Look at the Bright Side Day
National Flashlight Day
Hamburger Day
Frank Zappa, b. 1940

22
National Date-Nut Bread Day
Connie Mack, b. 1862

23
Roots Day

24
National Egg Nog Day
Ava Gardner, b. 1922

25
National Pumpkin Pie Day
Sir Isaac Newton, b. 1642
Conrad Hilton, b. 1887
Cab Calloway, b. 1907

26
National Whiners Day

27
National Fruitcake Day
Louis Pasteur, b. 1822

28
Card Playing Day
National Chocolate Day

29
Pepper Pot Day
Charles Goodyear, b. 1800

I prefer Michelins

30
National Bicarbonate of Soda Day
Festival of Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
Rudyard Kipling, b. 1865

31
Unlucky Day
Henri Matisse, b. 1869

Saving The Date, Creatively: Imaginative Save The Date Notices

Prospecting for Save the Date reminders to send to Robespierre's out of town friends six months before his Bar Mitzvah.  See Part I here.

We'd need only about a dozen or maybe 17 or, who knows, 20? save the date notices, just for guests we hope will travel to Robey's Bar Mitzvah; everyone else will already be in town.  In a rare moment of clarity I recognized that we weren't limited to a plain reminder card; I could send something more imaginative at cost from FeeFiFoto.  

First I thought I'd create personalized calendars with photos of Robey on each month and the date of his Bar Mitzvah highlighted.  But then I realized that, while calendars are a great gift for aunts, uncles, and grandparents, his friends might not be as impressed with 12 months of Robey as they would be with Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, so the calendars might just languish in desk drawers.  Plus, how many photos of a boy in a cap from his favorite baseball team can you include in a calendar before you have to resort to the Puffy Chicken costume?

 

So much for calendars.

Next I considered greeting cards, which are easy and very inexpensive to produce and mail.

Cards are nice.  We keep most of the holiday cards we receive every year so Robey and Cupcake can keep track of how their friends and relatives have changed over the years.  But a greeting card just didn't seem to be impressive enough to hold the attention of teenagers, and since we needed only about a dozen we could afford to be a little more avant garde.

Cards -- nope.

What to send?  What is it that 13 year old boys might use for years to come, that might not actually embarrass them, that might be cool enough to compel them to cross state lines in Robespierre's honor?

I considered mouse pads but Robey's friends probably have their own mouse pads and might not find it cool to use their friend's Bar Mitzvah invitation to navigate Facebook*.

A mug, perhaps?  Mugs are nice.  They're portable.  Unless they routinely slurp from the garden hose, most people use cups or mugs for their Ovaltine or YooHoo*.  And the cost wouldn't be prohibitive, since we don't have to send one to every potential guest, but only to those who are likely to have some kind of conflict coming up and need to plan far ahead.  The list couldn't possibly include more than ten people... or a dozen... or, wait a minute, we forgot to add a few friends but no more than 30... and let's not forget the German exchange student and the counselor from Scotland... 

At least it's still less than 50. So far.

Egads -- if all these boys come in, what am I going to do with them?  It's a safe bet that we won't spend the weekend watching You've Got Mail and doing manicures...

*Spell Check tried to pull off saltiness, Valentine, facetious, Yokohama, and boyhood but strangely, not Yahoo.

__________________________________________________________________

In honor of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, what the heck, Cyber Week, through December 5 Order Personalized Photo Ornaments from FeeFiFoto before midnight on December 5 and receive 20% off. Apply coupon code ORNAMENTS09 at checkout.

Offer Expires: December 5, 2009

Remembering Not To Forget: Sending Save The Date Reminders

Ever have two, or three, or infinite opportunities that all arise on the same day?  How do you choose?

Robespierre has blindsided me in the midst of Bar Mitzvah preparation, which diverges from planning a war mainly in degree of spontaneity; planning B'nai Mitzvot (plural of Bar Mitzvah.  You just learned something) must be conducted many months in advance, and requires you to predict weather conditions, which of your child's friends will still be his friends six months from now, your weight, and who might be maneuvering selfishly for a share of your guest list by thoughtlessly planning competing B'nai* Mitzvot on the same weekend.

Through all stages of planning so far, we haven't encountered many conflicts.  One friend is planning a Bar Mitzvah the same day but the guest lists don't overlap too much, except that Click, my sister's husband, seems to think he'll be able to attend both so the other family has offered not to invite him but I suspect he'll try to show up anyway and knowing him, he'll pull it off.  Robey's Bar Mitzvah comes just after the end of the school year so we won't have to work around school nights or homework or exams.  The weather in early June should be pleasant and reliable unless we run into a particularly aggressive tornado season, in which case we'll probably have more important things to worry about than lox and gefilte fish (don't ask -- you wouldn't like it).  We don't have a lot of out of town friends or relatives (Hi Linda!) so I've been planning an extended weekend without devoting much thought to coordinating varied travel schedules.

But.

There's always a BUT, isn't there?

Unbeknownst to me, Robespierre's been cultivating a kudzu-like list of camp friends from out of town who absolutely MUST be invited and will most likely end up staying with us when the weekend rolls around.  To further complicate matters, Robey's Bar Mitzvah date falls less than a week before the start of camp, when parents are finalizing arrangements for a two month stay at a Mediterranean resort packing trunks and duffel bags, fitting in last minute haircuts and orthodontist visits, and self-addressing stationery that will come back two months later crushed but otherwise unsullied. 

Here's the equation in case you've lost your bearings, and I don't blame you because I'm rapidly losing mine and I have all most some of this stuff neatly organized in a binder:

2 3 7 13 17 Out Of Town Camp Friends

notice clever use of prime numbers for no reason except my impulse to prove I know them

+

Event Occurring Between End Of School And Start Of Camp

=

Ruh Roh.  Will ANYONE Attend Robespierre's Bar Mitzvah?

Save The Date notices.  We'll need them. 

Thanks for the tip, Liz.

Save the date.  Hmmm.  Save. The. Date.  What to send that would be smart, memorable and keepable? because I'm all about mementos.

Tell you tomorrow.

Spell Check offered Banzai or hobnail.

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No Need To Watch These

I usually concentrate on the needs of my readers, but occasionally I indulge in a touch of egocentricism.  I'm posting these to create a permanent record of the acting genius of Cupcake The Narrator.

There's no obligation to watch these or leave a comment.  Nobody will pull up stakes, move to North Dakota and become a hermit if you don't visit Cupcake's blog and leave her a compliment.  No sirree bob -- no one's keeping score, no one knows where you live, and no one has a garage full of toilet paper which might accidentally on purpose end up entwined in your trees.  Nope.

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Mr. Bean Puts The Turkey On

Do you know Mr. Bean? Have you ever worn a turkey on your head?

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Scaramouche, Scaramouche -- Will You Do The Fandango For Christmas

Congratulations. Now this song will be running through your head until at least December 26th. You're entirely welcome.

In honor of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, what the heck, Cyber Week, through December 5 Order Personalized Photo Ornaments from FeeFiFoto before midnight on December 5 and receive 20% off. Apply coupon code ORNAMENTS09 at checkout.

Offer Expires: December 5, 2009

Is This New Or Have I Been Dozing Off Again?

Navigating BlogHer has just gotten easier.

A few weeks ago I emailed BlogHer to ask for an easy way to locate other BlogHer bloggers, since my scattered brain can't seem to cope with a Chinese-menu-sized list of blogs and whenever I explore I end up choosing sites with cool names that haven't been updated since April because apparently they used up all their creativity on cool names and have nothing left to devote to actual writing and then I get frustrated and disgusted and give up and go back to reading Daisy, Bossy, Cupcake and The Blogess. 

Their response was quick and clear: click to the BlogHer advertising page and select from the list of blogs in the column on the left.  So I tried it and found some impressive sites and I was all Lalalalala* and then I noticed... The Search Widget.

I didn't want to startle it by making any sudden moves so I tiptoed carefully and quietly around it and then I uploaded it here and gadzooks! not only does it provide short and constantly rotating lists of BlogHer bloggers, but one day last week it even featured mine!  That means it works!  And it found me!  And I'm popular!  Or something!

Do you have a pet widget?  Why or why not?

*Spellcheck suggested Balalaika, Lallygagged and Phenylalanine as alternatives for this word.  Really, Spellcheck?  Seriously?

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In honor of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, what the heck, Cyber Week, through December 5 Order Personalized Photo Ornaments from FeeFiFoto before midnight on December 5 and receive 20% off. Apply coupon code ORNAMENTS09 at checkout.

Offer Expires: December 5, 2009

Christmas Lights: Why Reinvent The Wheel?

Here's to the spirit of Christmas fellowship and cooperation throughout the neighborhood:

Order Personalized Photo Calendars from FeeFiFoto before midnight on November 15 and receive FREE standard shipping to any single address in the Continental United States.  Apply coupon code CALFREESHIP09 at checkout.

Offer Expires: November 15, 2009

Stay tuned: after this offer expires you can get a discount on Personalized Photo Ornaments!

Holiday Stress? Why, Whatever Do You Mean?

Just one more post about avoiding holiday stress.

It seems that with all the conveniences at our disposal (for example -- the disposall, which makes cleaning the kitchen ever so much easier than having to fish every last bit of carrot peel out of the sink strainer so I don't have to call a plumber in the middle of the night) life wouldn't be as frenetic or demanding as in Laura Ingalls Wilder's time.  For example, if I want a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas I don't have to polish up the rifle and train a long-haired turkey retriever to find a turkey to shoot, shoot the turkey and then defeather it and butcher it and build a fire to cook it and in the meantime grow enough wheat to grind into flour so I can bake bread to stuff the turkey and while I'm at it fend off hungry varmints gathering at the door because they can smell the roasting turkey and would happily tear down our front door to get at it...

Where was I?

Ah.  The stress of the holiday season.

Every year I flounder through bucketsful of advice on how to make the holiday season easier, much of it redundant or embarrassingly obvious or darn near impossible, but some of it based on good sense.  I found some excellent suggestions at Blisstree, the best of which, in my opinion, I've harvested to repeat here.  The list is made up of 23 items. 

Why 23?  I don't know.  Maybe there's some special symbolism to the number 23 (23 dogmas in the doctrine of the Catholic Church?  23 or so Hebrew letters in the Torah?  Caesar was stabbed 23 times?) 

In any case I've picked my favorites, those that don't seem too obvious or great in theory but nearly impossible to execute:

• Lower expectations. Have a realistic view of what is really important. Your kids want your time. They are not going to remember the Martha Stewart decorations – unless you involve them in the making of the decorations.

Hey, I'm the Queen of Lowered Expectations, as well as the Duchess of NO, the Princess of We'll See, and the Countess of I'm Counting to Three Via Halves, Quarters, Eighths and Sixteenths.  This works for me.

• Ask yourself, “If I only had half the time, what would I do?” This will help you prioritize.

I need to ask myself this question every day.  It seems like such a no brainer but I seem to apply it best only when I'm under extreme pressure, like those days when the smoothie has just spilled on table and the floor and the dog is lapping up the smoothie and we have to leave for school five minutes ago; on such a day the dog gets thrown in her pen, smoothie removal is rescheduled, and retrieving the newspaper from the driveway has to wait for later.

• Shop online or from catalogs.

This seems to be a really good time to plug my web site, FeeFiFoto, for easy and meaningful holiday giving.  We can put your photos on almost anything (personalized calendars, photo mugs, tee shirts, personalized microfiber handbags, canvas totes, Christmas ornaments with your favorite photos, keepsake boxes -- you name it.)  Just about anything except for billboards (too big) and tattoos (eww -- too creepy).

• Read... stories to your children. This allows you to sit down, relax and connect.

I still do this sometimes with Cupcake.  She likes me to read Dr. Seuss to her and I try not to indicate how much I love it because then she might not let me do it any more.

• Remember how you felt on December 26 or January 2 last go ’round. What did you say you’d never do again? What did your kids enjoy most? How would you like to feel this year after the holidays? How can you achieve this?

This one seems so obvious but I guess enduring the holiday season is similar to going through labor, in that you seem to forget the worst parts.  Write a note and put it where you'll see it next fall -- if you hated doing it last year, don't even attempt it this year.

• One last de-stresser: the holidays will pass and you’ll survive. You always do.

Sigh.  Really?  You promise?

What are your holiday stress triggers?

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Offer Expires: November 15, 2009

Stay tuned: after this offer expires you can get a discount on Personalized Photo Ornaments!

Time To Shop: Get A Head Start On Holiday Gift Shopping, And Get Free Shipping

FREE Shipping on Calendars Now Through November 15

Order Personalized Photo Calendars from FeeFiFoto before midnight on November 15 and receive FREE standard shipping to any single address in the Continental United States.  Apply coupon code CALFREESHIP09 at checkout.

Offer Expires: November 15, 2009

Stay tuned: after this offer expires you can get a discount on Personalized Photo Ornaments!

What's your Favorite November Holiday? No Fair Choosing Thanksgiving

Order personalized photo calendars from FeeFiFoto as outstanding Christmas gifts, but make your calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates.

November seems to be a month to celebrate scads of creative innovators, including James Naismith, Madame Curie, Margaret Mitchell, Marie Antoinette, Aaron Copland, Georgia O'Keeffe and Voltaire.  See if anyone notices if you add some of these kooky dates to your 2009 personalized photo calendars.

November

1
Plan Your Epitaph Day
National Authors Day
My Birthday!

Hi. Have You Heard The One About How I Run A Web Site?

Returning to the core purpose of this blog, which is promoting FeeFiFoto, although writing about kids, dogs and mishaps is way more funner.

So.  I've been running FeeFiFoto for just about three years.  We can put your favorite photos on all kinds of stuff that makes great gifts for friends, family, teachers.  I personally have a mousepad, mug, photo book and ceramic tile with photos of Cupcake on them; a photo book, travel mug and deck of cards with pictures of Robey, and several handbags with photos of Miss Puppy.

Why am I bringing this up now when I haven't written about FeeFiFoto Personalized Photo Gifts in quite a while?  Well, in case you haven't noticed, the Christmas Hanukkah Chanukah Hah-Noo-Kuh Holiday gift giving season is upon us, like it or not.  And with the economy still lumbering along, this year we're all being much more circumspect about how to spend our money on gift giving.  This year it makes sense to put your money into gifts for friends and family that will have some lasting meaning for them.  What could be better than putting the baby's photo or the dog's or cat's on a personalized photo calendar, or mug, or handbag, or tote bag?

One customer purchased 30 tiles with a photo of her mother on a show horse as favors for her mother's 80th birthday party.  Another customer put her parents' wedding photo on a porcelain plate in honor of their anniversary.  A third customer put a picture of her son on mousepads as Bar Mitzvah party favors.

When FeeFiFoto first started, under the profoundly boring name of Photogiftplace.com before I bought the site and transformed it into the aesthetic and retail powerhouse it now is, their main business consisted of producing personalized photo calendars; eventually they and we branched out into offering all sorts of items to be personalized with photographs.  Nevertheless, even the calendars lent themselves to imaginative gift giving; one customer produced an annual calendar with a year's worth of photos of his niece as she grew up.

It's not always photographs that end up on these personalized gifts, either.  One year we gave teacher appreciation gifts decorated with a graphic pertaining to teamwork.  Last year I designed two tapestries with photo collages of third graders' art work to be sold at our school's fund raising auction; I seem to recall they went for $1.5 million apiece, but I could be a little off here.

For the next three weeks or so, until November 15, whenever that is, you can get free ground shipping (domestic only) on personalized photo calendars from FeeFiFoto.  Just enter coupon code CALFREESHIP09 at checkout.  And keep checking back because once the calendar promotion expires I'm going to be offering a discount on personalized Christmas ornaments.

See also:

Creating a memento of a family vacation

It's always appropriate to say thank you to a teacher

Yes I have Kids, but I'd rather carry a purse with my dog's picture