I'm a Playtex Mommyville Featured Expert!

Yesterday you probably saw me post a brief announcement about the new Playtex Mommyville Mommy Review Group that I am a part of, in the Diaper Genie Elite & Portable Review & Giveaway. While, today's it's official! Make sure to stop by the Playtex Mommyville site to check me out. Here is a link to my 'featured expert' profile page: http://www.playtexmommyville.ca/Mommyville/Featured_Experts/Ilissa_Kolly.aspx.

 If you have a bit of time, take a look around the site. There are tons of great articles and areas of interest for parents. My favourite parts of the site are the 'RECIPES FOR BREASTFEEDING MOMS' and the 'RECIPES FOR BABIES' sections, where you'll find lots of handy recipe that are perfect for the whole family.

Halloween Photo Contest!

One of my previous review and giveaway sponsors, Le Petit Bébé is holding a Halloween Photo Contest on their Facebook page!  To enter, just visit Boutique Le Petit Bébé on Facebook and post a picture of your little one all dressed up before November 15, 2011 at 8:00pm. 

Good Luck!

The Aviva Community Fund Contest

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aviva Community Fund. All opinions are 100% mine.
Do you have an idea that would help to achieve a positive change in your community? With the Aviva Community Fund Contest, that idea could become a reality!

Aviva Canada Inc., a provider of various types of insurance products in Canada, is proud to announce that they will be offering the $1,000,000 Community Fund competition for it's 3rd year!  The Aviva Community Fund competition started in 2009 and has already provided at least $1.5M in funding to 19 community groups and charities across Canada.

Aviva Canada Inc., will be accepting ideas until November 30, 2011 and YOU will have a chance to vote on the ideas that you would like to see come to life!  The winners will be announced on January 25, 2012.

Steps to enter to win:
1.) Visit AvivaCommunityFund.org to submit your idea on how to create a positive change in your community.
2.) Encourage co-workers, friends, family, and other stakeholders that support your idea to vote for it!  This is an extremely important step since the ideas with the most votes will share the $1,000,000 fund.
3.) Make friends with a local insurance broker who believes in the idea you have for your community. Having an insurance broker who supports your idea can increase your chances of winning.
4.) Continue to promote your idea by doing things like using social media (twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.) to share your idea and encourage people to vote, bringing your story to your local newspapers, or sharing photos and videos that support your idea!

What community types of community initiatives have been supported in the past?  In 2010, a couple of the winning ideas included:
-a hockey team for youth with intellectual/developmental disabilities (Ottawa)
-school playgrounds (British Columbia, New Brunswick, & Ontario)
There were a total of 11 award recipients in 2010.

This year, the Aviva Community Fund is more accessible than ever with their new Facebook page.  All the ideas that are submitted will be available for viewing and voting on the Aviva Community Fund Facebook page.  Plus, for each new 'like' on the Aviva Community Fund Facebook page, Aviva will dontate $1 to 'Free The Children', a program supporting at-risk youth programs across Canada.

So, what are you waiting for?  Now is the perfect time to submit, promote and vote for ideas!  Plus, don't forget to Follow @avivacf and like Aviva Community Fund on Facebook.

Celebrating Milestones and a contest!

Although our baby is still in utero, I feel like we have been able to experience a number of milestones so far. Among the most exciting would have to be the kicks, nudges, and hiccups that my husband and I have been able to see and feel.  Also, the little baby yawn and the tiny smile that we recently had the chance to see at a 3D ultrasound were amazing!  Each of these experiences are exciting because we know that they are just the building blocks to many more milestones that will be met in the coming months and years.


Here is a glimpse of our baby smiling at the 33 week & 6 day (according to our midwife's estimated due date for us of August 11, 2011) 3D ultrasound that we went to this week:

Some of the milestones I'm looking forward to experiencing in the first few months include watching the amazing reflexes that babies come into the world knowing innately, seeing our baby laugh for the first time, and seeing our baby interact with the people and things around it.

Which of your child's milestones did you enjoy experiencing the most?  What milestones are you looking forward to helping your children reach this summer?

As you've learned through my posts, Fisher-Price has many toys that help your children meet their next milestones.  Next time you visit the FisherPricePlay.ca website, be sure to check out their 'find the right toy' feature. This is a great tool if you are looking for the perfect birthday gift or are curious what type of toys are available for your child at their age & stage. The tool even allows you to screen for toys using gender.

Speaking of milestones...Fisher-Price is hosting a contest to help you celebrate the milestones in your little one's life! Introducing the Celebrating Milestones Contest! To enter, all you have to do is register at FisherPricePlay.ca By entering, you'll have a chance to win a "Celebrating Milestones" prize pack full of Fisher-Price® toys valued at $200 for your children and a $200 spa gift card for a day of much deserved pampering!

Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Nescafé Dolce Gusto - Contest Announcement

I wrote about the Nescafé Dolce Gusto Machine awhile back (you can read my post about the Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine here: http://www.everythingupclose.com/2010/05/win-nescafe-dolce-gusto-machine.html).  I'd like to remind everyone that Nescafé and Divine.ca have partnered to offer a great contest to Canadians...and it ends soon!

I'm also writing this post to let all of my readers know that I was lucky enough to receive one of these machines for review and I will be posting my review within the next few days.  With the review of the Nescafé Dolce Gusto machine, I will also be announcing an upcoming event that I'll be hosting on Everything Up Close this summer.  So, keep you eyes on EUC for the review and the event announcement.

Now, more about the contest...
Until tomorrow night (June 24th at 11:59:59pm EST), you can enter to win 1 of 10 Nescafé Dolce Gusto prize packages.  Each prize package is valued at $179.99 and contains the following: "(1) one Nescafé Dolce Gusto coffee machine, one (1) welcome kit featuring a variety of coffee capsules + a pin code for additional free box of capsules."

To make sure you don't miss out on this great prize, head on over to the Nescafé Dolce Gusto contest page right now!

Good Luck!

Win a year of FREE household services from Maple Leaf Prime™!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of henderson bas. All opinions are 100% mine.

Maple Leaf Prime™ is celebrating the 'Year of the Mom' with a great giveaway!  I'm not a Mom yet and I'm even tempted to enter; I admit household chores are not my forté.  Mom or not, this contest is great for everyone!

With this special contest, Maple Leaf Prime™ wants to recognize Moms across Canada and all the hard work they do each and every day!  To do this, they are offering a contest with the grand prize being one (1) whole year of FREE household services (how great would that be?).  Plus, you can instantly win 1 of 500 instant win prizes (packages of Maple Leaf Prime™ chicken). 

How to enter: Enter PINs found in specially marked packages of Maple Leaf Prime™ chicken on the contest page!  This simple step could mean you spending less time on household chores and more time relaxing and spending time with family, if chosen as the grand prize winner of the Maple Leaf Prime™ Year of the Mom contest!

So, if you are a Mom, or anyone who does regular household work for that matter, I encourage you to enter the Year of the Mom contest today!  Good Luck!

The Maple Leaf Prime™ Year of the Mom contest is open to Canadian residents only.

Win a NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Nestle Nescafe Dolce Gusto. All opinions are 100% mine.

I wasn't much of a coffee drinker until I received a single serve coffee maker.  I absolutely love my single serve coffee maker, which makes the new NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine look absolutely tempting!

The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine has the following features:

1.) It provides you the opportunity to enjoy a fresh "coffee house-like" brewed coffee in the comforts of your own home.  The KRUPS technology found in this product ensure that you have the high pressure required to make a cup of coffee at the same quality that they do in coffee houses.  To ensure perfection each time, the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine uses an innovative capsule coffee system.  These capsules are made easy-to-use and allow you to make your favorite beverage in only a few seconds!

2.) The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine is sure to suit everyone's personal taste!  This machine offers a large variety of hot and cold coffee house quality beverages.  These features make the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine perfect for entertaining during any season.

3.) Finally, the style of this machine is definitely something that will put you in awe.  The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine has a unique style that is modern and looks like a sculpture - a piece of art!  This machine is sure to be a topic of discussion because of it's interesting style and useful functions.  The NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto machine is a piece that you could be proud to display on your kitchen countertop!

In Canada, you can purchase either the KRUPS ($179.99) or the T-Fal version ($159.99) of the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto. 
- The KRUPS model is sold at a number of specialty kitchen stores across Canada, as well as The Bay, Home Outfitters, London Drugs, and Sears.
- The T-Fal model can be purchased at Walmart stores Canada-wide.
- Capsules for the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto are available at many local grocery stores, as well as online.





CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
Now that you've heard about this neat new coffee maker, why don't you enter to win 1 of 10 NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto gift packages, courtesy of Divine.ca?  Just head over here to win a NESCAFE Dolce Gusto machine.  This contest started on April 26th, 2010 and it runs through June 20th, 2010.  This contest is open to CANADIAN residents only.  So, what are you waiting for?  Go enter now! :)

*Disclosure* I did NOT have the opportunity to review this product first hand.  The information contained in this post is purely objective.

Royale Reno-cation Contest Blog Tour (with Giveaway)

Have you been wanting to tackle some home renovations but just don't have the time, the money, or you don't know where to start?  Royale is offering to help you out with the $25,000 Royale Renocation Contest!

The prizes in this contest include,

- "A Grand prize of $13,000 to spend on a home renovation in any way the winner chooses plus an 11-day, $7,000 Royal Caribbean cruise for two on the Jewel of the Seas."

- $5,000 in prizes will go to the contest's secondary winners.  These prizes will be given away "in the form of 15 weekly prize packs from the Royale Luxury Bath Collection that include a personal heated towel rack, new luxurious towels, and premium Royale robes."

I was chosen to participate in the Mom Central Blog Tour to help spread the word on this exciting contest and later on you will discover how you can win something from me too!  First, I'm going to tell you a bit about my renovation plans and what I'd do if I won the grand prize.

My list of priorities includes:
-a second full bath in our basment
-drywalling and painting in our rec room
-new carpet in both our main floor bedrooms
-new carpet in our basement (recroom and 3rd bedroom)
-a new front door (does this count as a renovation?) :D
-a new fence
Edit
I just remembered another two items on my reno-cation wishlist:
-new kitchen appliances (specifically a range and a new refrigerator)
-a new countertop

Now, I think my list is pushing $13,000 in renovations but a girl can dream, right?  Some of the items on the list are ones that we've been planning to do for awhile now.  Others are bonuses that we'd like to do but aren't necessarily a priority.  We are hoping to buy a new home in the next year or so, so if we won this contest, it would be a huge financial help for us; we really need to spruce up our home before we put it on the market.

Do you want to win the Reno-cation contest too?  I encourage you to go enter now.  You can enter the Royale Ren-cation Contest HERE.

THE GIVEAWAY

As I mentioned above, you will have a chance to win something from me in this giveaway as well.  Thanks to Mom Central, I will be giving away two (2) gift cards!

The Prizes:

-One winner will receive a $50 Cara Restaurant gift card, accepted at Swiss Chalet, Montana’s, Milestones, Kelsey’s and Harvey’s

-One winner will receive a $50 Home Hardware gift card

To enter, tell me what renovations you'd like to do if you won the Royale Reno-cation grand prize. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway and it can be done 1x per week until the end of the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

- Entering one other giveaway on Everything Up Close, then leaving me a comment hear indicating the name of the other giveaway you entered.
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.
- Adding my 'Wonderful Wedding Wishes' event button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page, @MC_Canada and/or #Royalerenocation on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.
- Visit my etsy shop and tell me the name of or leave me a link to your favorite item.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, April 27th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to CANADA ONLY!

Good Luck!

**Disclaimer** As a thank you for posting information about this contest and for hosting this giveaway on my blog, I will be receiving my choice of $50 Cara Restaurant giftcard or $50 Home Hardware giftcard.  This compensation did not alter the information which is discussed in this article in anyway.  I did not receive any other type of compensation for this article/giveaway.

WIN a $20,000 Kitchen Makeover

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dr. Oetker. All opinions are 100% mine.

Enter to win with the Dr. Oetker Kitchen Makeover Contest.  Dr. Oetker is giving Canadians the chance to win a $20,000 kitchen makeover in the Make it Like Mama Giveaway.  To enter the giveaway, you'll need to get a PIN number from specially marked packages of Casa di Mama Pizza.  Don't have a PIN yet?  Go to Save.ca and order yourself a coupon for $0.75 off any Casa di Mama Pizza.  Then, pick up your Casa di Mama Pizza at your local super market (coupons from Save.ca usually arrive within a week so you should have no problem purchasing your pizza in time).  Want to enter more than once?  You have until January 4, 2010 to enter as many PIN numbers as possible.

Plus, eight secondary place winners will receive one Whirlpool appliance (either a fridge/freezer, freestanding electric range, dishwasher or microwave).

Finally, there are also tons of instant prizes available to be won!  2,000 entrants will instantly win a FREE Casa di Mama Pizza or a Pizza Cutter.

No purchase entry option
Would you like to enter without having to purchase a Casa di Mama Pizza?  Dr. Oetker is giving you that option as well!  Become a Savory Moments Member on the Dr. Oetker website to obtain your free PIN number to enter the contest.

This contest is open to CANADIANS only.
The last day to enter this contest is January 4, 2010.



Note: You CANNOT enter this contest on my blog. Please visit Dr. Oetker's contest page to enter. Good Luck!




Now, for the fun part of this post: I'm going to tell you what I plan to do if I win the $20,000 kitchen makeover.

The above pictures you see are of my "beautiful" kitchen prior to decorating.  Since these pictures were taken, I have painted the walls a warm taupe colour and we replaced the floor with a lovely laminate that spreads throughout our upstairs.

If I won, I'd love the following:
-all new appliances (they are much needed - the fridge and stove are from when the house was originally built in 1986)
-a sky-light
-new cabinets (with lots of storage)
-a granite countertop
-a double sink
-track lighting
-the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room and dining room to be taken down.  Then I'd like the portion that currently encloses the dishwasher turned into an island with the option for breakfast seating on the opposite side of the island.  This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile, but, because of money and time constraints, we haven't been able to do it.

Now that you've heard my wish list, I'd love to hear yours!  What would you do if you won the $20,000 Dr. Oetker Kitchen Makeover Contest ?

The Children's Place + Leapfrog Promotion!

Do you love The Children's Place?  Maybe you also love Leapfrog products...  If you do, I have great news!  The Children's Place and Leapfrog is teaming up for the holidays with a special Facebook contest!  Now through November 24th, each day will give you another chance to win a Leapfrog prize package worth $70!  To enter the contest, all you have to do is become a friend of The Children's Place on Facebook.  Then, The Children's Place will draw a random winner's name each day. 

Good Luck!

Celebrate the New Year with a Trip to Greece for Two!

Bring in the New Year right with a trip to Greece for Two from Rudolph Foods (*several other prizes available to be won)! There are only a few days left to enter to win this exciting prize!

To promote the December 16th DVD and Blu-ray(tm) Hi-Def release of MammaMia! The Movie(tm) the most infectiously fun offering of the year, and to celebrate friends and their snack time rituals, Rudolph Foods, one of the world's largest suppliers of branded and private-label snack products has launched a Mamma Mia! - Greek Isle Sweepstakes. Unveiling December 1, 2008 and running through January 5, 2009, the winners of the sweepstakes who enter the contest through http://www.rudolphfoods.com/ will be awarded a trip for two to Greece, free Rudolph Foods Cinnamon Churros for a year and DVDs.

Grand Prize: Trip to Greece!

1st Prize: A Year’s Supply of Rudolph’s Cinnamon Churros

2nd Prize: (25) Mamma Mia! The Movie DVD

Don’t miss your chance to have a once in a lifetime opportunity! Enter today! Contest ends January 5, 2009.

Rules

No purchase necessary. Sweepstakes starts at 8:00 a.m. ET on 12/1/08 and ends at 8:00 a.m. on 1/5/09. Sweepstakes open only to legal residents of the contiguous Continental United States, 21 years of age or older at time of entry. See Official Rules for complete details. Odds of winning depend on total number of eligible entries received. All Federal, state & local regulations apply. Void in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, all U.S. territories and possessions and where prohibited.

Announcement: Giveaway on SimpleSalutations.com

I just found out about this great online store that makes trendy and affordable invitations and announcements. I was talking with the owner of the store (a former disney animator) and she told me they are having a contest on their site that runs until November 20th, 2008. One winner will receive a $20 gift card towards anything in their online store. This would be great to put towards some family holiday cards.

To enter the giveaway go to: http://www.simplesalutations.com/giveaway.html

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Announcement: Contest celebrating the new website launch for 'Handbag Planet'

I was contacted by Mark Easterday, the Director of Marketing for Handbag Planet about a special contest they are having to celebrate the launch of their new website! To celebrate, they are giving away 24 handbags in 24 hours starting at noon on October 15th!

You can see the sign-up page here - www.handbagplanet.com.

Upon launch, their bags will be priced between $30-$80.

Announcement: Organic Baby Resource Contest

Organic Baby Resource is having a $350 organic baby contest that is being hosted now through October 31st.

Prizes include: A one-month supply of Plum Organics Baby Food (three winners), an organic baby t-shirt from eco ike, a $50 gift certificate from Wild Dill, a set of Green to Grow bottles from Nubius Organics and an eco-friendly diaper cake by Grow In Style.com.

Click here to enter!