5 Minutes Around the Blogosphere – Week 52

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Kim at What’s That Smell? is hosting a virtual baby shower and you’re all invited. Beginning Oct 1st, you can enter to win the grand prize prize pack which includes amazing products from 60 different sponsors valued at $2,600. There will also be smaller giveaways during the week so make sure you stop by and check it out!

CONTESTS & SWEEPSTAKES

Gap is searching nationwide for America’s freshest young faces to represent babyGap and GapKids with its popular Casting Call Contest. Babies, ages 4 and under and kids, ages five to 10, are eligible to enter the contest for a chance to be featured in Gap’s 2009 babyGap or GapKids campaign which will be featured in store windows of babyGap and GapKids from coast-to-coast. From now until October 22, anyone can upload a photo of their baby and/or child to gap.com.castingcall. Gap’s judges will narrow down the field to 20 finalists — 10 babies (5 girls and 5 boys) for babyGap and 10 kids (5 girls and 5 boys) for GapKids. Then it will be up to America to vote on the four winners (one boy and one girl in each category) which will be announced in January.

The Company Store & Dog.com is hosting the Spa Dog Sweeps where your pooch an Adirondack Pet Bed and many other awesome prizes. To enter, just submit your favorite photo of your dog before Oct 31st.

Did you know that October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month? We all know about the more common physical abuse symptoms but financial control is also a common tactic used by abusers to keep victims from leaving dangerous relationships. To find out more information about the subject, stop by Allstate’s Click to Empower where every click will earn $1 towards the Education and Job Training Fund. While there, you can also enter to win an Onna Ehrlich designer purse donated by domestic violence spokesperson Ana Ortiz, star of hit series “Ugly Betty.”

Looking for a new handbag? Handbag Planet is holding a massive giveaway where 24 handbags will be given away within a 24 hour period. It’s being held on Oct 15th but you can start signing-up now.

Peta is helping to make school lunches a little easier by hosting a giveaway where the winner will receive Vegan Lunch Box: 130 Amazing, Animal-Free Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love! Deadline to enter is Sept 30th.

BLOG GIVEAWAYS

For Everyone

• Close to Home – School Prints pack from PhotoWorks (Sept 29th/US)
• All Because Two People Fell in LOVE – $50 G/C from tiny*prints (Sept. 30th)
• Chefdruck Reviews – $50 to Tiny Prints (Sept 30th)
• An Island Review – Texas Instruments TI-Nspire Graphing Calculator (Oct 3rd/US)
• Momma In Flip Flops2 – $10 Gift Certicate to Target (Oct 3rd/Any)
• East Coast Life – 40 pieces of BAK2u anti-theft software (Oct 6th/Any)
• Oh My Baby – Personalized & Photo Confetti from Pink Poodle Boutique (Oct 10th)
• Family Review Network – Texas Instruments TI-Nspire Graphing Calculator (Oct 11st/US)

Just for Women

• Mommy’s Idea – A custom circular pendant from Nola Meadows (Sept 29th/US, Can)
• Just a mom’s take on things… – $15 gift certificate to The Taffy Box (Sept 30th/US)
• Red Sox Mommy – PlanetMom Tee of winner’s choice (Oct 2nd/US)
• Red Sox Mommy – hip-T in winner’s choice of color (Oct 3rd/US, Can)
• A Wrestling Addicted Mommy’s Blog – Soothing Gel Eye Mask (Oct 6th/US)

Just for Kids

• All Because Two People Fell in LOVE – Precious Moments Books and Web Codes (Midnight on Sept. 28st)
• Livin’ With Me – Girls Clothing from Your Little Sweet Pea (Sept 29th/US)
• simple – Kids Graphic Tee from eight3one (Sept 29th)
• Fiddledeedee – Early Learning Products from Mead (Sept 29th)
• Red Sox Mommy – Precious Girls Club book (Sept 30th/US)
• Muses Reviews – Two Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVDs (Oct 2nd/US)
• Notes from my Nest – Applique Skirt from Bella Blu Boutique (Oct 3rd/US)
• Just a mom’s take on things… – Two sets (5 cards in each set) of Kids Lunch Box Cards (Oct 4th/US)
• Chefdruck Musings – iCarly Season 1 DVD (Oct 4th)
• An Island Life – $100 to Halloween Party Store (Oct 5th)
• An Island Review – iCarly Season 1 DVD (Oct 5th/Any)
• A Frog in My Soup – Ultimate Back To School Combo Pack from Mabel’s Labels (Oct 7th/US, Can)
• An Ordinary Life – High School Musical 2 DVD (Oct 10th)
• An Ordinary Life – Easy Bake Oven (Oct 15th)
• An Ordinary Life – Rose Petal Cottage (Oct 17th)

Baby Essentials

• Jackie’s Thoughts – Bumkins Super Bib (Sept 24th)
• Momma In Flip Flops2 – 3 pairs of baby legs in sky (Sept 29th/US, Can)
• Muses Reviews – $15 gift certificate to The Baby Gardner shop (Oct 3rd/US)
• Close to Home – a Hand Dyed Baby Bodysuit & Cuffed Anklet Socks by Maggie’s Organics, a Nest Sling in Cherry Bomb, and the complete set of Arbonne’s Ensemble Baby Care plus Arbonne Intelligence Rejuvenating Cream (Oct 17th/US)

Home & Garden

• An Island Review – Febreze Fabric Refresher (Sept 29th/US)
• and the rest is history . . . – One sheet of matte address labels with the design of your choice from Bohtique Design (Oct 1st)
• Mommy’s Idea – Quick Shake Container from Tupperware Claire (Oct 1st/US, Can)
• Just Another Mommy Blog – 2 cases of Country Bob’s All-Purpose Sauce (Oct 1st)
• Did You See That? – Case of Dial Complete (Oct 2nd)
• An Island Life – Pillsbury Savoring the Moment Gift Bag (Oct 4th/Any)
• Just a mom’s take on things… – Set of coupons for 2 months worth of Dole Fruit Bowls (Oct 5th/US)
• Sassy Frazz – Chat Mat (Oct 6th/Cont US)

Books, Movies, & Music for Grown-Ups

• An Island Review – Michael Feinstein The Sinatra Project CD (Sept 30th/Any)
• An Island Review – Jackpot! The Best of Bette CD (Oct 2nd/Any)
• An Island Review – The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to eBay Motors (Oct 4th/Any)
• An Island Review – Then She Found Me DVD (Oct 4th/Any)
• Quiverfull Family – Family Unplanning by Craig Houghton (Oct 5th/Any)

COOL WEBSITES

Share Something Sweet is a partnership between chocolate company Ferrero and Share Our Strength, a leading hunger-relief organization. This year, Ferrero has donated $150,000 to Share Our Strength and is giving others a chance to add to that donation. Right now, if you log on to Share Something Sweet and use it to “send something sweet” (that is, a customizable e-card), Ferrero will donate another $1 per e-card sent, up to $10,000. And for every person that joins the Ferrero Facebook page, “Ferrero Lovers Unite,” Ferrero will donate another $1 to Share Our Strength (up to $1,000).

A while ago, I mentioned the Kiss My Astra Contest where one lucky winner will go home with a brand new Saturn Astra. The entries have been narrowed down to the final 20 and now it’s time to vote for your favorite photo. In addition, take the “So You Think You’re a Smart Astra” quiz and you could also win a $500 gift card!

Jumpstart and the Pearson Foundation, Sponsor and Founding Partner of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, are working to provide books to children in low-income communities and are raising awareness about this national issue through Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. On Thursday, October 2, 2008 readers of all ages expect to break the world record for the amount of children reading the same book on the same day with an adult. The Campaign anticipates that more than 400,000 children will be reading on October 2. Stop by to see how you can participate.

In recognition of Child Passenger Safety Week (Sept. 21 – 27), Safe Kids Buckle Up, in partnership with Chevy and GM, scheduled nearly 900 community events in September to educate parents and caregivers on how to keep children safe in and around vehicles. This comes on the heels of the Safe Kids Buckle Up program reaching a very important milestone: one million child passenger safety seats inspected since the beginning of the program. Join Rod Gillum (GM Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Diversity) and experts from Safe Kids will be holding a chat on GMnext.com on Tuesday, September 30, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT. To join the chat, visit http://www.gmnext.com/livechat.aspx and register on the site. The chats are open to everybody so feel free to invite your readers as well.

While Rock the Vote and other young adult initiatives aim to hook young voters, what’s out there for younger kids, tweens and those in their early teens? Although it will be many years until they are able to participate at the polls, it is very important for younger kids to understand not just what is happening with big campaigns like the Presidential election coming up in November, but also the themes and issues behind the election process in general. To address this special group of kids during this important time, Donna Benson, the author of a tweens book series and online book club, The Cupcakes Club, will be releasing her latest election-themed book, Spotlight on the Cupcakes, in October. The book addresses election-themed items by bringing them into a context that this age group can easily understand and identify with.

INTERESTING POSTS

• Project Organic Eating – Tips for Making Organic Food Affordable
• Little Window Shoppe – How to Make Beautiful (and Affordable) Wall Art
• Baby Bump Diaries – Election Issues Affecting Women in 2008
• Ma Vie Folle – Are You There God? It’s me, Sheila

If you would like to have a post on your blog featured in 5 Minutes Around The Blogosphere, please send us an email with the actual link to your post at features5minutesformom at gmail dot com and we’ll see if it can be arranged.

Kailani can be found at An Island Life, An Island Review, Family Review Network & Island Baby Boutique.