The Day That is a company out of the United Kingdom that has just launched here in North America. They offer a very unique gifting opportunity – their photographers rise at dawn each day and capture an image of the dawn skies over the Chesapeakes, and the image is crafted into a work of authenticated art; mounted framed and hand-inscribed as a permanent reminder of a memorable day. A birth, christening, wedding…the list of possibilities is endless.

Being that we’re opinionated “parents” specifically, I am loving this as a baby gift. Their images go back to 2005 so it would also make an awesome birthday gift for the child who has everything (and who is five or under). The mat is inscribed with a personal message from the photographer saying whatever you like. “Juliette’s first day ~ May 1, 2010″

The images are beautiful and the gift captures all the emotions and significance of a truly special day. Being a practical mama, I was especially impressed with the beautiful, archival quality frame and the packaging/shipping. It arrived in just a few days, and was packed so securely that it would have taken a bomb to damage it.

Win it!The Day That is giving a T.O.P. reader one of their wonderful & unique framed images. To enter, simply comment on this post before noon mst on April 21, 2010.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Blankets make great gifts for all ages, from newborns to grandparents, but there’s a definite quality discrepancy out there. If you or your child has ever been the recipient of a high end blanket that didn’t come from a big box store, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, you should. There’s nothing like it.

Fill in the Blankie (by Sonya Bebeblankee) blankets are uber-personalized blankets that are perfect for giving as baby, christening, birthday or just because gifts. Fill in the Blankie blankets are the kind you keep forever; not the kind that goes in your garage sale bin.

Fill In The Blankie recently sent a blanket for a school-aged child we know who’s in and out of the hospital right now. The “As Good As It Gets” blanket consists of two panels of 400 thread count Italian Frette sheeting (Frette produces some of the finest linens in the world) sewn together and wrapped with a 2″ wide satin binding. The result is one of the softest, most understated, yet elegant blankets I’ve ever seen. The 32×32 size ($123) would be perfect for a baby but is a little small to cover this child in her hospital bed. The 36×54 ($165) would have been better for this situation, but for a newborn or toddler gift the mid-size is just peachy.

The Fill In The Blankie company was launched in 2004 and is unique in many ways. While many shops, online and brick & mortar, offer personalization, it’s usually just a monogram or 20ish characters and takes at least a few weeks to reach the recipient. Fill In The Blankie blankets offer up to 200 characters per blankie and a 3-7 day turn-around. The FITB website is also brutally honest about what you’re getting when you choose a blanket with ratings on a scale of 1-10 for the cuddle factor and the quality of material and construction and lists the blanket weight (light, medium, heavy) and size. There are no shocks when you work with a company like Fill in the Blankie – except the shocked look on the recipient’s face when they realize the amount of thought you put in to finding the perfect gift.

Order your Fill in the Blankie here – select your favourite style, choose a blanket color and click on “personalize & check out.” They’ll run you anywhere from $39 – $123 for baby/toddler sizes and every penny will be well spent. Prices include complete ultra-personalization.

Win it! Email theopinionatedparent at gmail dot come with FITB in the subject line and your fave blankie in the body before noon mst on March 26, 2010 for a chance to win it!

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

For my daughter’s birthday invitations this year, we went a bit of a different route than usual. Rather than spend hours custom designing a card in photoshop, she and I created a caricature of her using PosePrints and we were both thrilled with the results. For just two bucks a card and fifteen fun minutes of your time, you too can have some awesome & unique personalized stationery.

PosePrints is comprised of a mother-daughter team. Denise (mother & business guru) and Jen (daughter and creative genius) have worked together to create this unique business. There’s a large selection of products, designs & poses available on the site now, but if you don’t see what you want Jen can do custom art work as well.

PosePrints offer everything from invitations for any occasion to baby stationery to magnets, notepads and even personalized recipe cards. (Ooh, I want some!)

Victoria Dixon, of the Orkney Islands, North Scotland is an incredibly talented artist who was able to put her talents to good use with the creation of her work-from-home business Enhance Me. She provides restoration and enhancement services for your photographs.

TOP contributor Michelle reviewed Enhance Me in 2007 and now we’ve brought her back with her new Valentine’s Gallery. Brew a love potion, take a ride in the love boat or become the cutest little Cupid – Victoria can turn your child in to pretty much anything. The image you see above is my two favourite people. The original image I sent her was not so great – kids just out of the bath in their jammies with wet hair…nothing I’d have edited for printing, that’s for sure, but they had great smiles. Victoria said she’d work with it, and you can see what she came up with. Magical.

Victoria’s talent impresses even the Photoshop savvy of us, because it’s not easy to digitally cut out individual curls of hair. At least, it’s not for me. She can take your child of any age and plunk them seamlessly into any setting. Princess castle, Spiderman, the North Pole, the Wild West…the possibilities are endless.

Enhance Me art makes a great grandparent gift and an awesome personalized children’s gift that doesn’t collect dust for any occasion.

Save 10% on your order with the code OPBG10.
This code is the newest addition to our TOP Shops, where you can find exclusive and permanent discount codes just for TOP readers from some of the great companies we’ve featured.

Win it! Victoria is giving away one custom enhancement to a T.O.P. reader. To enter, visit her site and comment with your fave(s). Due to technical issues, we’ve extended this contest to close at noon mst on FEB 24, 2010.

Not me, that’s for sure. And I even have a few shops of my own, so that’s rather sad.

My favourite new items are their customized ornaments. Yes, I do realize it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, but that means you’re finally getting around to editing your Christmas photos, right? And now you’re ready to order (or win!) your special ornament to hang on the tree next year, right?

I thought so!

Actually, there’s Hannukah and even many ornaments that are generic enough to hang all year. You can also choose a full-bleed style with only a photo.

What I love about it is it’s simplicity. Choose your ornament, upload your photo, edit your text, click to order. That’s it. And being CafePress, you know it’s going to be delivered quickly and for very little money.

For fifteen bucks, this is a great ornament for your hard earned coin.

Win it! CafePress is giving one T.O.P. reader an ornament of their very own free-like-a-bird. To enter, check them out and choose yours. Comment below to enter. Due to technical issues, we’ve extended this contest to close at noon mst on FEB 24, 2010.

Ah, summer. Finally a chance to read a few books that aren’t professional or parenting in nature. Maybe. One can dream, anyway.

There’s no better gift for children than the gift of literacy, and books always make an awesome present for any occasion. It’s a gift that offers a slower pace and encourages the joy of imagination, and a book with a personal dedication will make it even more meaningful. Inscribe-it.com combines the timeless wonder of reading with the extra touch of a personalized written note and the addition of a favorite photo or image.

The selection of books is impressive. We chose a book with three Oz stories in it and had it personalized from our family to our school library so that it could be shared with many children over many years.

(I teach there, so my husband is very interested to see how many mustaches and other body decorations we’ve been defaced with in a few years!)

There are classics like The Wizard of Oz, Huckleberry Finn, and Black Beauty as well as a huge variety of new and old beauties for everyone from a baby to a centenarian who can still see to read. With an inscription that is uniquely theirs to treasure, any recipient is sure to love such a thoughtful gift.

GIVEAWAY MAY BE COMING – WATCH THIS SPACE!

There are baby blankets and then there are baby blankets. If you or your child has ever been the recipient of a high end one that didn’t come from a big box store, you know what I’m talking about.

Fill in the Blankie (by Sonya Bebeblankee) blankets are ultra personalized blankets that are perfect for giving as baby, christening, birthday or just because gifts. Fill in the Blankie blankets aren’t about to end up at the thrift store or shoved in a bin in the garage but are more likely to become treasured family heirlooms.

We gave my daughter a FITB for her recent first birthday and were thrilled with the results. The blanket is gorgeous & well constructed, the embroidery is great quality and, most importantly, she loves it. It’s a very usable blanket that she sleeps with every night and drags around to random places during the day and it’s machine washable.

The FITB company was launched in 2004 and is unique in many ways. While many shops, online and brick & mortar, offer personalization, it’s usually just a monogram or 20ish characters and takes at least a few weeks to reach the recipient. FITB blankets offer up to 200 characters per blankie and a 3-7 day turn-around. The FITB website is also brutally honest about what you’re getting when you choose a blanket with ratings on a scale of 1-10 for the cuddle factor and the quality of material and construction and lists the blanket weight (light, medium, heavy) and size. There are no surprises when you work with a company like Fill in the Blankie – except the surprised look on the recipient’s face indicating that you gave the perfect gift.

Order your Fill in the Blankie here – select your favourite style, choose a blanket color and click on “personalize & check out.” They’ll run you anywhere from $39 – $109 and every penny will be well spent. Prices include all personalization.

Save 10% at Fill in the Blankie with the code omom

You’ll find this code in the TOP Shops (linked under our header) where we feature exclusive discount codes for TOP recommended online stores.

Bitten by the shopping bug? Hit the TOP Shops first so you never pay full price!

Win it! (U.S. readers only – so sorry…) To enter, leave a comment on this post listing the blanket style and colours you’d choose if you win before noon mst on January 26, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED (Congrats Tuesday! It’s so rare we have a winner with a blog that I simply had to take an extra moment to link to her!)

I have the creativity gene when it comes to organizing, scrapbooking and cooking, and maybe even a few other things, but give me a needle and thread and I’ll all but run in the other direction. Thank goodness for companies like The Sweet Line – gotta love shared creativity! The Sweet Line owner, Victoria, hand embroiders custom work on organic cotton onesies, dresses, tees, totes and more. You choose the colour, word(s), image(s) and your sweet items arrive on your doorstep 7-10 days later. I’d say it doesn’t get much better than that, but actually…it does – The Sweet Line offers free shipping on all packages!

Because my kids get enough stuff with having grandparents, aunties and friends always doting on them, I am digging my organic cotton tote hand-embroidered with “The Opinionated Parent.” Carrying it makes shopping slightly less painful, and it even gains me points at my local organic grocery store to use toward free goodies, because I am saving them a plastic bag. However, those of you who are a little less selfish than I are sure to enjoy the adorable personalized clothing. The long sleeved dress is stunning.

Win it! One randomly selected T.O.P. reader will win their own “The Opinionated Parent” hand embroidered organic tote. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 mst on October 6, 2008.

Additional entries available. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED