25% Off Promo Code for Blurb Photo Books (Ends 12/17)

This year, I shared gift ideas in my Holiday Gift Guides for grandparents and for teens from Blurb.  One was a custom photo book, another was a Facebook photo book, and the third was a recipe collection cookbook.  I obviously love creating and gifting custom books from Blurb, so I wanted to share this discount code with 3G2S readers to make gift-giving easier on their wallets this year.

Through 12/17, you can save 25% off your Blurb order when you checkout with Promo Code: FINALHOLIDAY.  Remember, if you would like to receive your Blurb Book by Christmas, you must place your order by 12/17!  Visit Blurb.com to get started.

Make eBay.com One of Your Go-To Sites For the Best Prices on Your Holiday Gift List Items

I am an online shopping year-round, but especially during the Holidays.  I live in a highly populated retail area, so I try to make as few trips to stores as possible during the months of November and December.  Even if the stores were not overcrowded, there were not overly long lines, and it were not impossible to find a parking spot, just trying to get to the store from my house would take four times longer than it normally would during other times of the year.  Having lived here for 8 years, I have nearly perfected my system of online Holiday shopping.  The first thing I do is make a list of all my gift recipients and what would be the ideal gift for each person.  Then I start my comparison shopping for the best prices for each item.  I have a small handful of go-to sites when I look for the best deal for most items and one of those sites is eBay.

I have been an eBay shopper for not quite two decades now.  If you take the time to read the product descriptions completely, including shipping fees and return policies, and to check the seller's feedback rating, then you should generally not have any problems with your purchase.  eBay will save you tons of time because it is many sellers competing for your business in one place.  Usually, I go with the the seller with an outstanding feedback rating who has the lowest price for a Buy-It-Now item.  I do not usually have the patience to wait for an auction to end, unless it is a hard-to-find item.  One other thing I want to point out is that there are larger retailers selling on eBay now.  It used to be that only small businesses were found on eBay, but now you can find well-known retailers, such as Newegg.com and Toys"R"Us.

Checkout the eBay items I found for people on my Holiday gift list . . . 

1. For my husband:  ZyXEL PLA4215KIT 500 Mbps Powerline Pass-thru Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (with Free Shipping!)
2. For my 8 year old son:  7th Generation Yellow 16GB Apple iPod Nano (Free Shipping!)
3. For my 5 year old son:  Sakar Cyber Gear SMS Text Messenger (also with Free Shipping!)
4. For my 5 year old daughter:  Hello Kitty Alarm Clock Radio w/Night Light
5. For Mom:  Butterfly Twists Fold Up Ballet Flats
6. For Dad:  D-Link MovieNite Plus Streaming Media Player (Free Shipping again!)
7. For my sister:  Tea Lover's Gift Basket
8. For my brother-in-law:  Xbox 360 Kinect The Hip Hop Dance Experience Video Game
9. For my writer:  Celadon Pottery Vase with Frog from Bali
10. For myself (It's statistically impossibly for me to shop for others without finding something I want for myself.):  14k White Gold Hematite Dangle Earrings (Yes! Free Shipping!!!)

If you are overwhelmed and do not know where to start, visit the eBay Holiday Gift Guide for some great gift ideas.  You can also download the  eBay app for your smartphone or visit mobile.eBay.com, so you can shop while you are out and about.  You can also find more gift ideas by visiting eBay on Facebook and on Pinterest.


I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of eBay. I received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.  All opinions expressed are my own.

12 Great Father's Day Gift Ideas

If you have not found the perfect gift for your favorite Dad yet, then take a look at these twelve items that have impressed my family. There is something here for Dads of all ages and personalities.

To learn more about these items, visit my 2010 Father's Day Gift Guide. To visit a specific retailer's page, simply click on the image of that retailer's product.

These are all items that have been reviewed my a member of my household. No compensation was received for including these items in our Gift Guide.

Mother's Day Gift Guide

If you are still looking for the perfect gift for that special Mom in your life, I have put together a Mother's Day Gift Guide with some unique gift ideas. These are all items I have reviewed in the past few months that have impressed me and are gifts that I would personally love to receive or would be proud to present as a gift to a loved one.

Click on any of the above images to learn more about that gift. Visit my 2010 Mother's Day Gift Guide to read more about all of these products.

I was not compensated for including any of these products in my gift guide.

Easter Basket Gift Guide

If you are still gathering items for your children's Easter Baskets, I have taken the initiative to put together an Easter Gift Guide with items that you may not otherwise think to include in your basket of goodies. These are all items I have reviewed in the past few months that have impressed me and, in my opinion, would be perfect items to help turn a standard Easter basket into a special one.

Click on each image to go directly to the business website or go to my Easter Gift Guide to learn more information about each item.

I was not compensated for including any of these products in my gift guide.

3G2S Year-Round Gift Guide on "A Blog of Goodies"

This Gift Guide has been discontinued as of December 25th, 2010.

My other blog A Blog of Goodies is now the home to my year-round gift guide. This gift guide houses all the products I review on 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires which have managed to impress me.

How this gift guide is organized:

This year round gift guide is divided into a variety of categories, some of which overlap. Each featured product is shown with a product image, a short product description, a link to the product page, and a link to my review of the product (if applicable). As a new calendar year begins, a new page will be created for each category. (For example, 2010 Valentine's Day Gift Guide, 2010 Holiday Gift Guide, etc . . . ). All the current year's pages will have a prominent link on A Blog of Goodies' homepage.

How to have your product included in this gift guide:

1) Have your product reviewed on 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires. If, and only if, I find the product to be impressive, I will include it in the year-round gift guide under the appropriate categories free of charge.

2) If you would like to have your product included in this gift guide without submitting a product for a review, then you may submit your product for consideration. If the product appears to be a quality gift that I personally would consider giving or would be happy to receive, then the product will be included in the gift guide under the appropriate categories for a fee of $25.

PLEASE NOTE: The decisions regarding which products will be included in this gift guide and what categories in which each product will appear is the sole decision of the owner of 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires and A Blog of Goodies.

Please contact me to submit your product(s) or to ask any questions you may have.