Ever since we started our site we are doing everything possible to promote our site without breaking the bank. At the same time we are trying to give as much as we can back to our customers in forms of rewards program, special discounts, monthly promotions, coupons, free shipping, deal of the day...

Recently I stumbled on Shopalize, platform that allows us to reward you for promoting our site and products to your friends on social sites or e-mails. It will pop up on your purchase confirmation page, asking you to share your purchase. This is win-win situation, we get leads and hopefully new customers, you and your friend get special discount coupons for subsequent purchases.

-Share you purchase with the friends and get 5% discount coupon for next 5 purchases.

If you friends purchase from us, they will receive 5% discount coupon for the next 3 purchases.

-If you just share products that you like with your friends, you will receive 5% in Shopalize points. Your friends will receive 3% discount coupon for subsequent purchases from our site.

On top of that all purchases qualify for our reward points. Once you collect 250 points, you can redeem them for cash, which is equivalent of $10.00.

Since yesterday Shopalize is live on our website.

Happy shopping!!!

What is happening with wedding favours?

Bride or wedding couple giving small gifts to their wedding guests is century’s long tradition in many cultures.

In most of the cases for the guests it is not as important what is the gift as much as the gesture. However, in the recent years brides are going for the cheaper and cheaper gifts, often dollar stores quality gifts.

I was once in the store waiting for my turn. A couple was looking for the wedding favours that they didn’t want to pay more than $10.00, including wrapping. Wrapping was supposed to be $5.00 without any extras that they wanted. Merchant response was that unfortunately he has nothing in their price range, and that maybe they can go to dollar store for the gifts and bring them in for wrapping.

In my opinion, regardless how understanding the guests can be and how little they can care about the $ sign on the gift, giving a gift that is screaming “cheap” into their faces, can be insulting.

New trend among the brides is to donate money to their charity in lieu of the wedding favours.

I wander how did that start? Is it that they found that donations to charity instead of sending flowers to the funeral is a great idea and that they can use it for their wedding? Is it that they simply misunderstood news that some wealthy couple donated all of their wedding gifts to the charity? Prince William and Kate Middleton asked their wedding guests to donate to charity rather than buy them traditional gifts, but they still gave their guest wedding favours. Or did the charities themselves (which never have enough of money regardless how much they get) started this trend as a new way of fund raising, all they had to say is that the couple will save money on the favours and their donation is for the good cause, and there we go. 

If the couple ask their guests to donate to their charity because they don’t need any gifts or money, and hand you a tiny “thank you for your donation” scroll as the wedding favour is one thing, but when bride has gift registry for the bridal shower and preferably monetary gifts for the wedding (which is hundreds of dollars this days for a couple attending a wedding), and hand you that little scroll as the wedding favour, makes you think what are the weddings all about this days?

Many will probably argue that wedding favours end up in the garbage anyway, and charity donations are for a good cause. You are right and at the same time wrong.

I have a favour received some 20 years ago, letter opener, simple, elegant and good quality, guess what? I am still using it, and yes, some favour went to the garbage, like a dollar store quality table clock which didn’t work the first day.

Charity donations in lieu of wedding favours to me is just a cheap, easy way out. No need to run around to find the favour, going back to pick them up and so on, and spending probably $10.00-$15.00 per invitee. With donations you can do all from your computer or over the phone, donate $50.00, print little scrolls yourself and you are done without much sweat. Good cause? The way some charities work that money will go into the advertising, traveling, salaries and very little if any for the research or whatever the charity is about.

P.S. This post are my thoughts without any intentions to offend anybody, and I apologize to those that feel offended.

Capiz shells,how to care for your capiz

Capiz shell, which is used for decorative purposes, is the outer shell of the marine mollusk, Placuna placenta, found in the shallow coastal waters of the Philippines. The almost-flat concave shells of the capiz can grow to over 150 mm (5.9 in) in diameter reaching maturity between 70 to 100 mm (2.8 to 3.9 in). Capiz shell is a flat, semi-transparent shell with a pearlescent appearance.

Our capiz products have a resin coating for the protection and easier maintenance of the products.
Even so, don’t use your capiz plates or bowls for the soft foods as it may stain the resin.
Never put your capiz pieces into the dishwasher or soak it in the water for cleaning.
For cleaning of the capiz, our manufacturer is recommending to simply wipe pieces with damp soft cloth and then wipe dry.

Being that charger plates and placemats may need some more serious cleaning then just wiping, I tested one piece. 
1. I ran warm water over the charger plate, washed it with dish soap on sponge, rinsed it and wiped dry-NO DAMAGE
2. I wiped one charger plate with Clorox whip, rinsed it, dry it-NO DAMAGE

Before you make an attempt to wash your capiz, try it first on the spot that is not visible. Work fast and use only soft cloths or sponges, so that you do not scratch the surface. Use a common sense.

If you have capiz pieces that do not have resin coating, don’t wash them.
http://www.treasuredgiftsandwedding.com/category-s/1953.htm
http://www.treasuredgiftsandwedding.com/Capiz-decor-s/1955.htm