Simply Charm Ng Photo Bracelets
Family Treasure: Photo Bracelet
It all started a few years ago when I was at an event and noticed a woman’s bracelet. It was full of tiny pictures of her family.
She called it her family treasure.
I asked where she’d gotten it, but it had been a present, so she had no idea where I could get one like it.
That started me on my hunt for a photo bracelet!
I spent a long time trolling the Internet, looking across Canada first, and finally found the solution!
Melody Ng lives in California and spends her time making Simply Charm Ng photo bracelets, and now photo watches.
If you visit her Facebook page, you can see examples of her incredible work.
Every time I wear my bracelet, I swear I get another order for Melody! They are so unique and such a family treasure that everyone wants one.
I started by ordering one for myself.
Then my best friend ordered one.
Then my friend ordered one for her mom’s 75th birthday with all the children and grandchildren
Once my sister stopped reproducing, we ordered one for my mom with her kids and grandchildren
I know someone else who is ordering one for a family member with their pets on it!
This is the perfect gift for any woman in your life!
How to Order
The first step is to go online and pick the charm you like.
Measure your wrist size (I measured a bracelet that fits me well)
Pick photos. These pictures need to be high resolution. Picture need to be relatively close up. Remember these are small rectangles around your wrist, so you want to be able to see them!
Depending on the size of your wrist, you will need 8 pictures.
Melody is fantastic at telling you if your pictures will work or not.
Decide on Colour. You will need to choose between colour, sepia and black/white.
I’ve always picked black/white.
Email your pictures to Melody. She will crop and change the colour and send you a photo layout before she makes them.
That’s it! It’s so easy!
When your bracelet arrives in the mail, it will take your breath away!
Watches
Now, Simply Charm Ng is making photo bracelet watches!
There is a limited stock on hand with a few different design watch faces and shapes to choose from. These work like the bracelets – choose your photos and your charms and Simply Charm Ng will do the rest!
Cost
Standard prices: Custom Photo Bracelets are $60USD no matter the size or the charms.
Watches are $69USD no matter the charm selection or size.
Standard Shipping First Class is $9.00USD & International Priority Shipping is $23.00USD used more during the holidays since it’s a busier season. These are all US prices.
Currently Standard International First Class shipping is about 6-7 days.
Christmas Orders
All orders for Christmas need to be in by December 1st.
Priority shipping will be a must at this time to guarantee on time delivery.
What others Say
From my bestie who ordered one:
Melody’s bracelets are simply stunning! The time she takes to make each piece unique means they are little works of art! I wear mine a lot when I travel, as I want to keep my kids close to me. I am often stopped by people who notice the bracelet and ask about it. They are always impressed with the unique nature of the piece and the quality of craftsmanship. I treasure mine!
My friend ordered one for her mom:
My mother LOVED the charm photo bracelet we gave her in honour of her 70th Birthday. It featured generations of women in our family and we added her favorite colour stone. She said she gets asked all the time and there are many oooh’s and ahh’s!
My mom who owns a bracelet
I am not one to carry pictures of my family but this is such a neat way to display them. I wear it all the time. A treasure indeed.
I got a early birthday gift ..needless to say, I love it. If you want to see a picture of one of our granddaughters, I show you my beautiful bracelet.
By sharing this Facebook image, you will receive $10 off your order!
Spicy Pumpkin Cake
Spicy Pumpkin Cake
Daniel loves to bake! He has so since he was about 18 months old. Now he can pretty much do it on his own.
His brother is another story. He just liked to lick all the ingredients off the counter!
The other day in Daniel’s grade 4 class, they were learning about reading recipes. He liked the look of it, so he copied it over and brought it home.
So, of course we had to try it!
Spicy Pumpkin Cake
1 ¼ C oil
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 large can of pumpkin pie mix
3 C flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp each of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg
½ C raisins (chocolate chips would work, too)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix ingredients in a mix master and blend until the batter is no longer lumpy.
Pour the batter into 2 large bread pans, 5 small ones, a 9×13 rectangular baking dish or a Bundt pan.
Bake for 45 – 60 minutes
Or 1 hour 15 in an Bundt pan.
Yummy for the harvest season – or any time of year!
13 Hiking Activities for Kids
Ways to keep kids from complaining while hiking
Do your kids complain a lot while hiking? Ours do. Constantly.
Although the hike might be the same distance as walking to their friend’s house, the complaining is incessant. We still make them go, though!
However, we have tried to come up with a few activities to occupy them to keep the complaining quotient down.
1. Don’t call it a hike. The word hike sends out connotations of long, boring, hot and not fun. Call it an adventure, an expedition, an exploration, or say you’re going to check something out!
2. Sing. Remember those crazy camp songs you used to sing that go on forever? Try one of those to make the time pass.
99 bottles of “beer” on the wall
The Ants go marching 2 by 2
Down by the Bay
Quartermaster store
Google them if you don’t know them. They can be a lot of fun!
3. Play I Spy. Make a mental list of a couple of items such as a pinecone, a squirrel and a funny-shaped tree. Whoever finds something on the list can replace it with an object of their choosing.
4. Find the colours. Before heading out on your “expedition” head to a paint store and pick up some colour swatches.
Give each child a swatch to carry. When they see something that colour, younger children can check it off, while older children can write the name of that object in the colour block.
5. Colour Search and Find. Using your great artistic skills, draw a picture. My skills are limited to a snail, flower or a rainbow.
Divide the picture into blocks.
When the child finds one of the items, colour in that part of the picture.
6. 5 senses. Use your 5 senses on the walk. When you return (or as you go along) fill in the chart about things you touched, smelled, heard, saw and even tasted!
7. Adjective Scavenger Hunt. Make up a chart that lists various adjectives (hard, soft, blue, spikey, fluffy, rough). Kids need to find something that matches each of the adjectives while on the walk.
8. Alphabet hunt. Give each child a piece of paper with a letter on the top of the page. Usually, they like the first letter of their name. See how many things they can find that start with that letter. Or, perhaps find something that starts with every letter of the alphabet.
9. Nature bracelets. Loosely wrap a wide piece of tape around your child’s wrist with the sticky side out. As you walk, collect things to stick to the bracelet. We try to encourage kids NOT to pick anything, but see what’s already on the ground.
10. Paper Plate Hunt. On a paper plate, write the alphabet around the perimeter.
Make a slit in the plate between each letter. When you find something that starts with that letter, simply bend it backwards, out of site. Or, you can do the next level up for older children where they write down what they find what starts with each letter.
11. Bingo. Create a Bingo sheet for each child. I used the same items on each sheet, but put them in different spaces.
On your walk, check off what you find and see who can call Bingo first!
12. Bring guide books. Have kids stop and identify plants or birds.
13. Go all seasons. Take the same walk in many seasons. Record what and how things change during the year.
For more tips about hiking with kids, read a column that I wrote in the Advertiser.
And, if your kids insist on complaining, we started giving coupons for 3 free complaints. Once those cards are used up, there is a mutually agreed upon consequence – could be anything from reduced screen time, a fine of 25cents or extra chores!
But hopefully, with some of these tips, you can have an enjoyable hiking experience with your family!
Halls Harbour Eco Trail
Halls Harbour Eco Trail
We were heading to Halls Harbour anyway for our last feed of lobster for the year and decided to add an extra bit of family fun to our journey. And, it helped us work up an appetite for supper!
The trail begins at the wharf before you get to the lobster pound.
Entrance is in the woods on the right hand side of the road.
Climb the stairs to find the path.
The path quickly ascends the slope by the stream going up the western side of the Halls Harbour Vault.
There are lots of benches for resting.
There are also wire ropes to help you on the steeper parts of the trail.
After entering the trail, you will come to a fork in the trail, indicating the “loop” begins. This is a ½ km loop.
We recommend going to the right and looping around.
As you are huffing and puffing up the hill think about Rachel Cross Parker. I learned about her while researching the Halls Harbour Ghost Walk.
Rachel Cross Park moved to Halls Harbour in 1826 and was one of the first and only women to live in the village as they were building the community. Her husband was constantly at sea, so she worked at a lumber mill with her brothers. This mill was located on the other side of the wharf (beside where the eco trail starts).
Every day after work, Rachel would carry lumber from the mil up that path – by her self – so that her house could be built at the top of the hill.
So, as you are walking the path, imagine Rachel doing this every day – and with lumber!
Not so bad after all, is it?
This loop trail took us about 20 minutes to complete.
Again, the terrain is quite rough and narrow in spots, so it is not suitable for a stroller. Children under 4 may have difficulty.
Directions:
Highway 359 to Halls Harbour. The two trails are indicated by signs once you
reach the village.
Add a little eco-hiking to your next visit to Halls Harbour!
Getting Kids a Bank Account
Bank accounts for Kids
This summer, our kids begged us to get their own bank accounts.
I remember getting my own bank account around 8 years old, so I thought it was a great idea!
Before heading to the nearest bank, we did a lot of research. I also consulted my father who is a retired personal finance professor.
Most of my research involved reading a few key articles on line:
I highly recommend reading these articles before you make your own decisions on what will work best for your family.
Canadian Bank Accounts for Kids
How 7 Banks Fare on Children’s Accounts
Grown Up Accounts for Kids
Things to Consider
1. Overall, the biggest piece of advice that I garnered from these articles is to make sure that the bank account allows for unlimited debit transactions.
This will be especially important when the kids are teenagers and will rely on plastic for everything. Costs per transaction can quickly add up!
2. Check if the parent needs to have an account at the bank before the kids can open one.
3. Consider getting an adult account. This was the main advice in another article I read.
I am not a financial advisor. Please make your own decisions and do your own research before making a decision. I am writing about our family’s choices and experiences.
Our Decision
In the end, we decided to go for Scotiabank.
They have unlimited debit transactions.
The debit card allows youth to gain Scene It points for the movie theatre.
Parents do not have to have an account (although we do).
Getting the Account
The boys were so excited about getting a bank account that they were counting down the days before we could go!
Steps
1. Call first to make an appointment.
We just showed up, and the boys were very disappointed that we couldn’t get an account on the same day, but had to come back a few days later.
Phone to make the appointment, then tell the kids the day they will be getting their accounts! Ask what documents you need to bring with you.
2. Bring documents.
The parent will need ID.
You will need ID for the children. I used their Social Insurance Numbers and their health cards.
You will need an official document that records your mailing address, other than on your license. A bill, bank statement, etc. will work.
Our Experience
When we had our appointment, the Scotiabank employee filled out the paperwork, asking the boys lots of questions about their address, phone numbers, birthdays, etc. They were so proud to sit there and give all the answers!
Once the paperwork was complete, we went to the tellers where the boys each could make their first deposit! This was so exciting for them!
With Scotiabank, children cannot get a bank card until they are 10. Daniel was a bit disappointed, but only has a year to wait!
Having a bank account is a great way for kids to learn about saving, how a bank works, and about responsibility!
It was something easy to do and so important! I encourage you to do the same!
**Please do your own research and make the right decision for your family!**
