collage blankets Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips

Making Family Memories Through Travel

Paula — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 13:33:12 +0000

“The days are long, but the years are short,” That quote by Gretchen Rubin haunts me as a parent. You have no idea how relevant that is until you become a parent and you are staring at a sick infant or a pile of laundry through zombie Mom eyes one moment, followed by the realization that your baby is now graduating from high school but a beat later. Time defies all logic when you are a parent. This is a little piece of why I travel with my family. Making family memories is something that’s especially important these days. I remember a time when I thought my kids would never grow up. It seemed like I’d have those years forever. Now, my oldest is getting ready to graduate from high school, and my youngest is hot on her heels. Where before, time seemed to sometimes pass by so slowly, it’s now traveling at warp speed. Every day, it seems like the kids are older and more independent, and I know the time is coming when they’ll spread their wings and fly from the nest. That’s why it’s so important to me to use travel as a tool to make family memories that last even after they’re grown and flown. Making Family Memories Now Although making lifelong memories has always been high on my list, there was a time when I first started my business when that fell down the ladder a bit. It never really felt like I had all the time in the world, but it did feel like I needed to work all the time and money was tight when kids were small. So I pushed my business forward hard. But time doesn’t stand still. Milestones happen whether you are watching for them or not. There came a point where we had more than enough toys and decided that making family memories through travel was high priority. Now. Not later. Now is all we’re really promised, and it’s important to make the most of that time. That’s why family travel is so important to me. It’s the perfect way to forge lifelong memories that unite the family no matter where we all end up. Recent Memories This past fall, my family took an RV camping trip through several Northern Ontario Parks. We’d always wanted to do it but we’d never been able to find the right scheduling to make it happen. Finally, my husband and I just decided that we would make it happen. A few weeks of planning and shuffling schedules around had us in the RV and on our way to some of the most beautiful country in all of this province. In September, we picked up an RV and took our first ever trip through five of Ontario’s Parks in five days!! Of all our recent adventures, this one ranks the highest across the board for all of us. We had days filled with laughter and campfires and so many adventures. It was one of the best trips we’ve had, and I know it will remain in our hearts forever. Prior to that amazing family experience I had a one on one mother daughter trip with my youngest girl, sporty spice, through Philadelphia. That trip was our time together and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. When Payton was younger I took her with me on a Puerto Vallarta mother daughter trip. Mother daughter travel has become extremely important to me as a Mom. It’s something I wish I had been able to do more with my own Mom, so I build experiences with both of my girls. Philadelphia was charming and fun and we explored museums and the zoo and the Eastern State Penitentiary too. Together, we learned new things, sampled new foods and shared a lot of laughs. Making Family Memories Last with Collage.com Although we’ll always have the memory of this trip in our hearts and minds, I wanted to commemorate one of our best family getaways yet with something special. I went to Collage.com and had a framed poster print made of the three best photos from our RV trip. All three were shots of our family together, which makes me happy to see on the gallery wall in the basement of our home. Oh The Places… I picked a saying to go on the print – “Oh The Places You’ll Go” – because travel with the girls feels so full of potential and yet so urgent. This will remind us of all the amazing adventures we’ve had and the ones we’ll have in the future. I also had an absolutely gigantic personalized puzzle made for Ainsley, my youngest. She’s 14 now, and for as long as she’s had manual dexterity, she’s loved puzzles. They also help her focus and calm down, which is great. I know she’ll love this massive, 1,000+ puzzle featuring 4 big photos of us on our summer trip to Philadelphia together. It was just the two of us, and it was a magical time for us both. Making Family Memories Last with a Giveaway! I know how much we all love giveaways, and because I love Collage.com so much, I’m offering a great giveaway here for my readers. This one is epic! But even if you don’t win, you should head over to collage.com to start making family memories last in a fun, unique way! We received product for consideration here. My opinion is all my own. Entry-Form

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All Your Favourite Memories Close to the Heart

Paula — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 13:16:10 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words then these gorgeous personalized photo blankets are priceless. And they should be. Here are 95 pictures of our travels, her plays, one graduation, two martial arts gradings, birthdays and so many celebrations. The moments of a childhood. When I found out about these personalized photo blankets from Collage.com I decided I wanted to make one for my oldest daughter. It was pretty simple to make, uploading pictures to a collage template on the web site. The hardest part was finding the right photos to add. When the final personalized gift arrived here this week I was excited to see how it turned out and maybe a bit hopeful. I hoped it showed exactly what I wanted to. In fact I have rarely been this invested in a gift. See, it won’t be that much longer before she leaves for college or university. It’s almost her last year of high school. And while I hope for her to do a Victory Lap, even if she does take an extra year to take more courses and travel it’s still a short two years to go before she spreads her wings. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that makes me emotional. As happy as I am to see her growing and finding her passion, I will miss both of my girls when they move out. So how to bridge that gap and the time from now until then? These gorgeous blankets are an easy way for someone to bring a touch of home with them wherever they go. Wrap yourself up in the warm embrace of home with a plush photo blanket with loved ones printed on it. Gift one to someone you love. That’s why I got one for my daughter from Collage. Their personalized photo blankets make it easy for loved ones to carry their family and their memories with them anywhere. Personalized Photo Blankets Hold a Special Place for Me At this point in parenthood, photo blankets like this hold an extra special place in my heart. I got one for my oldest daughter thinking of a couple of different things. My sweet older girl has anxiety. She struggles with it sometimes and being cocooned up with a blanket is calming and soothing. She’s also 17, which means two things – she loves sleep like many teenagers and she’s just about ready to head off to college or university. I have no idea where she’ll go, but even the closest college is still not our home. I’m so proud of the woman my daughter is becoming, but I’m also just a touch heartsick when I think about her venturing off into the world without me. Both of my girls are also my friends, my travel companions and my favourite people in the world. It’s bittersweet growing children. They are the only things we grow that are forever walking away from us. A little bit each day and then all of a sudden. I want my daughter to know we are here for her always even when we are separated by time, college or university. That’s where the blanket comes in. Personalized photo blankets like this one are keepsakes and this can travel with her wherever she goes. So I’ll feel like I’m with her, too. No matter what, we’ll always be together, and I think that makes both of us feel better. Personalized Photo Blankets for Everyone I ordered my daughter a photo blanket filled with shots of the trips our family has taken together, as well as images of positive inspirational quotes. And there are a few shots of her performing in several of the plays she’s been in since starting theatre. There are also a few snippets of Grandma and pets that we can no longer see or touch. I feel like it’s the perfect way to keep us in her heart and keep her motivated and positive no matter what life throws at her. They’re so sweet and easy to make, I plan on ordering something similar for my younger daughter, as well. I can honestly say when I opened this package of the completed blanket I almost started to cry. To me it’s perfect. Just like her. When I gave her this present this week she was surprised and we sat for a bit and reminisced about all the photos. Cousins, trips, skiing together, seeing her plays. Memories that are happy and super sentimental. The plush fleece blanket at 60 by 80 is super soft and large enough to curl up underneath and be completely covered. Before I reminded her to get back to doing her homework she told me: “Mom, this blanket is happiness to me.” So, I think it hit the mark precisely as intended. With Collage, you can order personalized photo blankets to gift someone you love. Fill your collage with photos or mix it up with a few inspirational quotes as I did. These are the perfect gift for family and friends to keep loved ones, special events, and special places in their hearts. These will melt someone’s heart this year. So back to what I was saying at the start of this post. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, my beautiful new gift to my daughter with 95 photos is 95,000 words and it is EVERYTHING this week. Like the idea of making your own? Enter for a chance to win one to gift to someone you love. Follow the directions below. I was provided with product for consideration here. My opinion is all my own. Entry-Form

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