You know that new fad where people buy toasters that burn an extra bit of the toast to make an image (see this Yankees logo toaster to see what I mean).
Well, the Grain Foods Foundation has put up a very, very cool Web site called The Bread Art Project. In it, you can use all kinds of artistic tools to design your own piece of bread and have it become part of their “art gallery”, complete with beautiful virtual frame!
Created in 2009 to help increase awareness of the growing hunger problem in America, last year the Bread Art Project raised more than $50,000 for Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that help children get the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives.
For each piece of “bread art” you create, the Grain Foods Foundation will donate $1 to Share Our Strength. Browse around the galleries and you’ll see the fun creations of artists who came before you, as well as read important facts about hunger.
The first day of summer is next Tuesday, and Father’s Day is this coming Sunday. And you know what that means. Picnic season is here!
There’s one thing unfortunate about picnics, and that’s that the styrofoam plates and cups we use once and never use again end up clogging up landfills. The very things that make them so sturdy also make them resistant to biodegrading.
That’s why this picnic basket set from the Santa Monica Art Museum is so neat. It comes in a biodegradable box shaped like a briefcase on one side and a shirt-and-tie on the other side. Inside are 4 Compostable trays, 4 Compostable large bowls, 4 Compostable small bowls, 4 Compostable utensil sets, 4 Compostable cold cups, 8 Recycled napkins, and 1 Compostable trash bag.
The items are sturdy, and yet when you’re all done with them, you can compost them and in no time they’ll return to the soil. Aside from doing your part to save the environment, proceeds of sales will go to help the Art Museum.
The Gap may have sold out of the $29 blue summer dress that Michele Obama wore that made the news (although the matching skirt and vest are still available), but as long as you’re thinking of the Gap, here are some other choices from The Gap that are on sale–and help out some causes which are near and dear to the First Lady’s heart (trust me, she’d much rather you buy these than that blue dress!)
A few Thanksgivings ago, I highlighted the FEED Bag, a burlap shopping bag that you could reuse to help the environment and which also helped children in developing areas. Now, the Gap has three very stylish bags (much more stylish than the old burlap bags) on sale. $5 of the purchase price of these bags go to help improve school food and nutrition information, two causes which Ms. Obama has been very vocal about.
67 years ago six days ago was D-Day, when 175,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to free Europe and the world of the nightmare that was Nazi Germany. As we sit comfortably in our world today, one can only wonder. What would the world have looked like if those young soldiers had not had the courage to do what they did?
Today, we are losing World War II veterans to time. Honor Flight Network is a fantastic organization which aims to fulfill the dreams of our veterans and help our senior heroes travel absolutely free to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.
Disclosure: We participate in the eBay Partner Network (EPN) meaning we may earn a commission when users click on links to eBay and make purchases.
Doubtless you’ve heard in the news and talk shows about the new Oreo that’s coming out. They’ve taken our beloved Oreo of two cookies and vanilla cream and added another cookie with chocolate cream. I’d always thought the Double Stuff would be the final evolution in the Oreo, but those clever people in Nabisco have done it again.
Threadless is a super-cool company founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Jake Nickell. It has a fan base of nearly one million users, among which are designers, artists and general consumers from around the world who submit and vote on designs in ongoing competitions. Selected designs are produced and available for sale, and the designers receive $2,000 plus a $500 gift certificate. If you’re tired of mass-produced T-Shirts with plan, boring designs, you’ll find some of the best designs available anywhere at Threadless.
From June 6, 2011 to June 9, 2011, Threadless is holding the “Vote for Kids Challenge”. If you join Threadless and vote on 100 designs within those days, Threadless will donate $1 to UNICEF, up to a total of $10,000.
In addition, there are some impressive entries for a UNICEF T-Shirt based on the theme of “childhood”. Starting July 4, Threadless will donate 25% of the sale of each tee sold in the United States to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in support of UNICEF’s efforts to end the preventable deaths of children.
Disclosure: We participate in the eBay Partner Network (EPN) meaning we may earn a commission when users click on links to eBay and make purchases.
Hurry! You only have hours left to bid on bags signed by celebrities in the The Celebrity Baggage Auction, a clever set of eBay auctions being sponsored by JetBlue where 100% of the proceeds will help dosomething.org, a charity set up to encourage youth around the country to do something for a good cause. There are 28 bags up for auction, all ending on Monday, June 6.
There’s an impressive number of celebrities who have agree to lend their names and their signatures to the cause, from actors and actresses to singers. Country music fans will be happy to know that three of the top five auctions are currently country music stars (a handbag and photo from Sara Evans, a guitar from Taylor Swift, and a duffel bag an CD from Martina McBride).
JetBlue is also urging people to visit its Facebook page, where they can get a chance to win a celebrity bag. They will donating $1 to DoSomething.org for every entry received.
Disclosure: We participate in the eBay Partner Network (EPN) meaning we may earn a commission when users click on links to eBay and make purchases.
Remember the pretzel hat that Princess Beatrice (Andrew and Fergie’s daughter) wore that was all the rage at the royal wedding?
Turns out Princess Beatrice auctioned the hat off on eBay last week.
The final total was £81,100.01, or about $131,000 in US dollars. As much derision and scorn as the hat generated, one thing is for sure: no other hat on any other head that day would have gone for as much!
Kudos to Princess Beatrice for having a sense of humor about the whole thing, and for turning the publicity into good. All of the money raised from this auction will go to support The Little Bee Initiative, which helps UNICEF UK and Children in Crisis.
If you missed out on the dress, it’s not too late! There are still auctions out there that support The Little Bee Initiative. Granted, the only item available right now is a Margaret Thatcher Nutcracker, which is almost as ridiculous as the hat!
The good folks at Gift Card Granny have compiled a list of 133 (and counting) places that offer a discount to military personnel on Memorial Day (Monday, May 29).
If you have someone in the military in your life, first of all, don’t forget to thank them for all they do to keep our country free and secure. And then, share this list with them!
Here are the top 10 discounts:
1. Papa Murphy’s – Save 50% on one pizza with your Military ID.
2. Red Robin – Save 25% to 50% on your meal purchase with a valid Military ID.
3. Johnny Rockets – Save 50% when you wear your uniform.
4. Timberland Outlets – Get a 20% discount with an active duty Military ID.
5. Sears Portrait Studio – Save 20% if you show your Military ID at checkout.
6. Southwest Airlines – Receive one-way tickets as low as $51 for military personnel and their family members. You must call Southwest Airline’s customer service hotline to receive the discount.
7. Clarion Hotel Universal – Military discounts are available for $59 or $69 per night with a free breakfast buffet. This offer is subject to availability.
8. Dollywood Theme Park – Receive a 30% discount during times of war for all active, disabled, retired, or reserve military personnel. The discount applies to all immediate family members.
9. Hidden Valley Ski Area – Enjoy a $5 lift ticket and $5 rental with a valid Military ID. Your dependants also can receive up to 50% off on their visit.
Congratulations to John Rich for winning the 2011 Celebrity Apprentice this past Sunday. I’ve been watching the Celebrity version of this show since the beginning. Both Marlee Matlin and John Rich did a phenomenal job in the final task of marketing 7-Up Retro. As impressive as Matlin has been all season, Rich just showed strength of leadership throughout the series that was unmatched.
On a side note, I think every country music fan would have shut off the show in disgust had he lost, with the memory of Trace Adkins losing to the awful Piers Morgan in 2008. So it was a good decision by Trump for that reason as well. Almost as good as his decision not to announce he was running for president (between that and the world not ending, it’s been a pretty good week for the world :P).
I was actually excited to hear about the product the two contestants were asked to promote. 7-Up Retro (while probably not going to be nearly as popular as Brett Michael’s Troparocka last year), is a product I’m really looking forward to trying. Growing up in the 70’s, I remember drinking 7-Up and how crisp and refreshing it was. I also remember in my high school and college years when 7-Up turned nasty. I realized later that this is when they changed their formula from using cane sugar to corn syrup. I’m really looking forward to trying it again. Hopefully it’ll be as clean and crisp as I remember it as a kid.
More importantly, of course, is that the specially designed cans that’s in stores around the country will bring awareness to the two charities: Marlee Matlin’s charity The Starkey Hearing Foundation and John Rich’s charity St. Jude Children’s Research Hospitals. Both of these charities change the lives of thousands of children around the country and around the world.
While the figure of over $1 million dollars that Matlin and Rich raised for their respective charities sounds impressive, one important thing to note (as with most causes on this site) is that these represent only a tiny, tiny piece of the money they need to run every day. I think one mistake a lot of people make is thinking, “oh, since they raised a million dollars, they don’t need any more”. Nothing could be further from the truth. More important than the money this show raises is the awareness it brings to some very important causes, which rely on your donations to keep them going.
Here’s one more way you can help. During the finale, John Rich, Marlee Matlin, and the incredible New York School for the Deaf performed For the Kids (available for download on iTunes).
In addition, it seems that the men’s team forged some pretty deep friendships on the show. Celebrities Meat Loaf, John Rich, Lil John, and Mark McGrath have released a new single under their Celebrity Apprentice name “Backbone”. It’s called Stand In the Storm (Radio Edit) and also available for download at iTunes.
Last but not least, here are the final commercials from the show. Here’s John Rich’s Commercial, featuring Dee Snyder’s return as Twisted Sister.
And Marlee Matlin’s commercial, featuring the return of Meat Loaf and a boy-is-his-voice-still-amazing Geoffrey Holder.
Overall, it was an entertaining season of The Celebrity Apprentice, although ratings are definitely going down. It’ll be interesting to see what the producers of the show do the next go-around to keep the franchise going (my guess is, more outrageous characters and more outrageousness by Donald Trump, both of which could either help them or backfire horrifically). In any case, the show has been great to bring back some long lost celebrities, to help other celebrities cross over into the mainstream, and most importantly, to bring awareness to dozens of charities that otherwise few would have noticed.
You know that new fad where people buy toasters that burn an extra bit of the toast to make an image (see this Yankees logo toaster
