Celebrate the New Year with Benihana and enter the Benihana New Year’s Memories Contest for a chance to win one of ten $100 Benihana gift cards! Just post your photos and videos of your friends and family welcoming 2010 at Benihana.

Simply click on the link below or post your photos and videos on our facebook page between December 31st, 2009 and January 7th, 2010. We’ll select and announce the winners on January 8th.

If New Year’s doesn’t work out for you visit Benihana between January 4, 2009 – January 31, 2009 for a Filet Mignon dinner for two for just $39.

Good luck and remember, Benihana also offers a fabulous birthday freebie to adults and kids so be sure to sign up for these.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Want to provide your lil’ ones with proof that Santa visited your house? Check out ICaughtSanta.com. This site is dedicated to providing parents with proof that lovable characters like Santa, the Easter Bunny and even the Tooth Fairy are popping in to provide goodies.

For just $9.99 you can use one of your own photos to create a picture of Santa visiting your home, but don’t wait too long..they are expecting quite a rush of orders on Christmas Eve so if this appeals to you order yours today.

Get your PROOF! Click here to create a custom photo of Santa in YOUR home.

Happy Holidays!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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On Thursday, December 24th, the 13 locations of UltraStar Cinemas, are inviting all military and their families to see a movie of their choice for FREE! This includes their newest addition of D-BOX motion-enhanced seats.

Doors open after 6p.m., are subject to availability and valid military ID is required.

Happy Holidays!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Help children and the Earth by recycling those used greeting cards! St. Jude’s Ranch is accepting used all-occasion greeting cards (birthdays, holidays, etc) for their Recycled Card Program.

This is a limited time offer so take advantage of it now. Cards will be accepted by St. Jude’s Ranch from now until February 28, 2010. Mail your card donations to:

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Recycled Card Program

100 St. Jude’s Street – Boulder City, NV 89005

877-977-SJRC (7572)

Cards that are donated are then used to create new cards which are sold through St. Jude’s Ranch website.

The children participate in making the new cards by removing the front and attaching a new back. The result is a beautiful new card made by the children and volunteers. The benefits are two-fold: customers receive “green” holiday cards for use and the children receive payment for their work and learn the benefits and importance of “going green”.

Happy Holidays!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Ever wondered what it must be like to celebrate birthdays around the holidays? Often times these birthdays are just blended in with everything else during this busy season. I wondered about it, so I recently started a discussion on Twitter Moms, “How do you celebrate birthdays that come up during the holidays?“. There were quite a few responses from moms willing to share their opinions and traditions. One of these really grabbed my attention. Dawn Sandomeno from Paryblueprints Blog has started a very unique and creative family tradition – the Happy Birthday Tree. I just fell in love with this idea!

Dawn took a few minutes out of her busy schedule just the other day to to answer a few questions that I’d like to share here:

This is such a unique tradition, how did it come about?

Truly out of necessity. I really felt that my son Jake’s birthday was never quite as special as those for our other sons. Everyone was spent (emotionally, physically and financially) after the Holidays and it just seemed that his birthday was “another thing”. One year we were having family over for his birthday party and I was decorating for the celebration. I looked at our Christmas Tree, wishing I had taken it down earlier, when it hit me that it could become a his own Brithday Tree! I stuck balloons and Birthday wishes on it. This year I think I will add streamers too. He loved it, it made him feel special and it turned Christmas decor into a fun Birthday Decoration!

Why do you feel it is important to separate holidays and birthdays?

Because they are two separate life celebrations and each deserves their own tribute. There are ways to combine them, like the Birthday Tree, that don’t lessen the importance of the Birthday. I think it cheats the Birthday boy or girl if you try to pass off a Holiday celebration as a Birthday Party. We each only get one, right?

Dawn also made one final comment, “Making celebrations special, doesn’t require lots of time or money. The simple things seem to touch people most.”

I couldn’t agree with her more!

Dawn should know too, she is a party and lifestyle expert and a partner in Party Bluprints Inc. Dawn and her business partner, Elizabeth Mascali, are co-founders of the first-ever website to provide online electronic party plans – Partybluprints.com.

Find Dawn on twitter as well: DawnSandomeno

Thoughts, ideas or suggestions about this topic? Leave a comment!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Happy December 1st! Here’s hoping this holiday season is filled with many wonderful blessings such as time with family and friends, lots of laughter and safe roads when traveling!

And let’s not forget all the December birthday babies out there!

Happy Birthday to you all!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Tori Tait (Thoughtfully Simple)  is returning to share her how-to’s when it comes to cutting costs involved in celebrating a great birthday so close to a major holiday. This is no small feat, but Tori is giving us some great tips that will help you save on celebratory expenses. Tori has published some fabulous DIY party-planning tips at Thoughtfully Simple and is my go-to person when it comes to choosing party themes!

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I truly believe that birthdays are a very special occasion, one that should be celebrated in a big way. However, with a birthday that falls near a holiday, this can become expensive to do. The challenge for many parents becomes affording to give your little one a fabulous birthday along with providing a memorable holiday (in my case Christmas). Here are a few tricks I have learned over the years to help accomplish cutting the celebratory costs:

1. Plan ahead, way ahead. I keep a lookout year round for both birthday and Christmas gifts. This eases the financial stress of buying “double” when the end of the year rolls around. I also plan how we will be celebrating birthdays that year. Will there be a big party? A trip? A small dinner? Planning ahead will allow you to budget for the big day and also start picking up any items you may need well ahead of time.
2. Make a tradition out of birthday decorations. Rather than purchasing new decorations every year, make or invest in thoughtful personalized birthday decorations that can be brought out year after year. How about a birthday banner with your child’s name? Or fabric bunting that reads “Happy Birthday?” Not only will you save money on decorating, you will also be creating wonderful birthday traditions that will last years to come.
3. Look for birthday savings. If you want to go on a birthday trip or take the family out to eat, be sure to look for ways to save. There are places to go (like FreeBirthdayTreats.com) that will give you access to several venues, shops, and restaurants that offer discounted or even free birthday deals.
4. Have realistic expectations. You might want to throw your child an over the top birthday party and pull off a magical Christmas, but financially that can be a strain for so many. Remember to keep your expectations realistic. You do not have to spend a fortune in order to make your child’s birthday memorable and fun. Simply doing things he/she like to do and being together on their special day will be cherished.

As long as you make it about the birthday child, and not the surrounding holiday, you will have given them the best gift.

Check back after December 5th because Tori will be sharing the conclusion of this wonderful series by letting us know the outcome of her girls’ birthday party!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Ever wonder what it would like to have a child whose birthday fell close to or even on a holiday? Are you a parent who struggles with keeping your child’s birthday special even in holiday season?

Well, Tori Tait (Founder & Editor and Chief of Thoughtfully Simple) is sharing tips on how to accomplish this big task. She has great advice, gained from the experience of having not one but two children born just days before Christmas.

Thank you Tori for sharing your insight and experiences!

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Birthdays are a very special occasion, one that should be celebrated in a big way. After all, you only get one day a year that is completely and utterly devoted to you. And for children, this is a big deal! However, what happens if your birthday falls in holiday season, during a holiday week, or even on a holiday? For parents, the tasks of planning and celebrating their child’s birthday close to a holiday can be tricky (and costly).

I should know because I have firsthand experience at managing this balancing act- birthdays and Christmas to be exact. My daughters are six year apart who just happened to be born December 22nd and December 23rd. I know right, what are the odds? Not only do we have the challenge of keeping Christmas separate from their birthdays, we have the hard work of keeping one child’s birthday separate from the others.

It is my experience that those with holiday birthdays (or parents of children with holiday birthdays) can have very strong opinions on the subject. I’ll warn you now, I fall into that category. In our family, there are rules that govern what is allowed and what is not allowed when it comes to celebrating their birthdays. For example:

• My daughters were never referred to as “Christmas Babies.” Even despite the fact that with my youngest (born December 23rd) we actually did spend Christmas in the hospital. In no way were they delivered to us via Santa’s red sleigh and they definitely were not simply discovered Christmas morning under the tree. Not. Christmas. Babies.
• There is absolutely no excuse for giving birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. This is simply not acceptable. They make birthday wrapping paper year round and it is important for children to feel their day is special not a mere extension of a holiday that happens to be taking place.
• Speaking of gifts, no combo gifts are allowed either. This is typically the biggest complaint you will hear from a child whose birthday falls near a major holiday. If you would like to purchase a birthday gifts for our little ones, that is so generous of you. However, you have all year to do this- so why not plan ahead and avoid getting them a “combo” gift. It is not the idea of having one present over two that irritates me- it is the simple thought of making their birthday feel…well, like a birthday that is most important.
• Birthdays are birthdays. Even though the last few days before Christmas are typically reserved for baking, last minute wrapping, and activities such as caroling- this is not the case in our home. Each of our girls has their birthday completely devoted to them.

Not only do we take the above items into consideration when it comes to planning and celebrating holiday birthdays, we also look for ways to save on the birthday and holiday expenses.

Want to know how we do save on our celebratory costs? I’ll share those tips with you here too, so check back soon! I’ll show how you keeping birthdays separate from holidays can be done on any budget, really.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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It’s here! The day that ghosts, goblins and creatures of all sorts venture out to collect their free treats!

If you still need some pumpkin carving ideas, check out our previous post, Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns, Stencils & Templates. You’ll be sure to find a pumpkin carving template to help you design just about anything!

Do you like to toast or roast pumpkin seeds? Check out these links for some helpful tips and recipes:

• Rachael Ray: Halloween Central – Several Roast Pumpkin Seed Recipes
• Disney FamilyFun: Toasted Pumpkin Seed Snack
• Allrecipes.com: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• TucsonCitizen.com: Pumpkin seeds: Something different to try
• wikiHow.com: How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds (includes pics and video)
• eHow.com: How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds (video series)

Don’t forget the FREEBIES! Visit our recent post, Halloween Freebies, so you don’t miss out on some free food and treats…for ALL ages!

Just for fun, check out the following links of pets dressed up in costumes for Halloween:

• PawNation.com: Pet Halloween Costumes
• Good Housekeeping: Dog Star Wars Costumes
• The Huffington Post: Costumed Critters: The Funniest Pet Get-Ups Ever

Last, but not least, have a spooktacular and safe Halloween!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Here’s a great way to save your money when it comes to gift shopping this holiday season…layaways! That’s right! This almost extinct service is making a comeback. Of course, the gift buying isn’t limited to just the holidays, it’s a money-saving service to use when shopping for anniversaries, birthdays, graduations and baby showers too.

Granted layaway plans may not be as convenient, having to pay bit by bit until you can take the item home, but they are well worth the savings. Retailers big and small offer a variety of plans, some with service fees and some without.

As always it’s important to read the fine print when signing any contracts and layaways are no exception. Know what to expect before using a retailer’s layaway service. Check out TheDollarStretcher.com’s 10 Questions to Ask About Layaway Plans.

On October 19, 2009, Toys”R”Us announced the roll-out of their ‘Big Gift’ layaway program:

Placing a product on layaway at any Toys”R”Us or Babies”R”Us store requires a deposit of 20% of the total purchase, including all applicable taxes, and a $10 service charge. Payments may be made at the store at any time in the form of cash, check, credit card, debit card or gift card. Merchandise will be made available within 7-10 days of final payment, so items must be paid for in full by December 6 to ensure that the gift is available for pickup before Christmas. A fee will apply to canceled layaway orders**.

Burlington Coat, Sears and Kmart also offer layaway plans, but only Sears and Kmart offer them in stores and online.

Several sites list Marshall’s and TJ Maxx, but neither website provided any information or store policies about layaways.

Not all stores market their layaway plan so if it’s something your interested in, ask. They most they can do is say no.

Happy Shopping!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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