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Holiday Gift Ideas From Your SmartPhone Photos

Liz Gumbinner — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:00:51 +0000

The following post is part of genConnect’s 2012 Gift Guide, which features recommendations by some of your favorite experts. Happy gifting!!! Click here for the complete guide.

More and more, so many of us are relying on our phones for photos, especially of our families. And now with plenty of options for great photo editing and filters, they don’t look half bad!

Here are a few ways to get those favorite snapshots off your phone, and onto a gift that friends and family will love:

1. Mosaic Photo Books
This simple iOS app lets you select up to 20 photos from your phone, and create a very nice physical photo book in minutes. From start to finish, you’ll have it in about 4 days and the result is terrific. Pretty great for family. And pretty great from procrastinators. Ahem. [App free; photo books flat rate $20 + shipping at Mosaic ]

2. Printed Canvas Art
The canvas art from CanvasPop turns out just lovely, and we’re picky about such things! If your resolution is decent, you can even print out a favorite Instagram photo whether it’s your kids, your dog, a favorite vacation shot, or your best friend’s wedding. And they guarantee you’ll be happy with the result, which is a nice reassurance. [$39.99 for 12x12" canvas on sale at CanvasPop]

3. Photo Chocolates!
So maybe you don’t actually want to nibble on those cute baby feet, but the photo chocolates from Cocoagraph would be one cool way to do it. Take your best Christmas tree, snowman, or any other photo and turn it into little bit of 72% Belgian dark heaven (my fave). There’s also 40% Belgian Milk Chocolate or a high-end Biafra White Chocolate, should you prefer. There’s even an organic, GMO-free cacao. This is one gift that won’t be around long, but it sure will be remembered. [$14 and up + shipping at Cocoagraph]

Liz Gumbinner is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the popular shopping and trend blogs, Cool Mom Picks and Cool Mom Tech.

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Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer Is ‘Going to Learn Like the Rest of Us’ (VIDEO)

Liz Gumbinner — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:30:20 +0000

Marissa Mayer is adding another title to her repertoire: mother. The recently-appointed CEO of Yahoo welcomed her first child, a baby boy, on September 30, 2012. After announcing her pregnancy in July, Mayer became the subject of constant media attention as people believed she would be a testament to whether or not women could really have it all.

At 37 years old, Mayer is not only extraordinarily young to be in such a role, but she was also the first pregnant woman to be appointed CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Watch Liz Gumbinner, editor of CoolMomPicks.com, offer some motherly advice to Mayer:

Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player

Liz Gumbinner

“I don’t know how much advice she needs,” Gumbinner said. “She’s a super powerful, amazing CEO. And she’s going to learn like the rest of us how to do it and how to manage it and fortunately, she’s in a position where she can set the rules a little bit. Not all women have that opportunity.”

But “don’t be afraid to lean on your village,” Gumbinner added. “It’s OK to ask for help. Enlist the people around you.”

WATCH: Facebook VP Carolyn Everson on Motherhood & Career

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer

Mayer wasted no time at Yahoo as she worked to change the company for the better. One of Mayer’s announced changes at how Yahoo does business is to speed up the shipping speed to be on par with the pace of rival companies like Google. If a new product can’t be shipped in six months, and if it doesn’t have a realistic shot of reaching 100 million users or generate $100 million toward the company’s top line, then Yahoo won’t bother with it, according to Business Insider. Mayer stressed that Yahoo is a company that excels at personalization in activities like email to content to advertising, and one of her big goals is to grow users and usage, as well as advertisers and talent. Mayer also reportedly has promised to give full – and part-time U.S. employees a new Apple, Nokia, Samsung or HTC smartphone.

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Your #1 Must-Do Beauty Tip (VIDEO)

Liz Gumbinner — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:50:00 +0000

If you could have one big style tip from a pro, what would it be? Well, for Liz Gumbinner, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of CoolMomPicks.com and author of Mom-101, eyebrows are something that should always look stylish. Watch Gumbinner talk about the difference between looking awesome and not:

Liz Gumbinner

WATCH: Tory Burch With Vanity Fair – What Inspires Her

Her big style tip? No matter how much money you have or where you live, take care of your eyebrows.

“If your eyebrows look good and you put powder on them and they look clean, you don’t even have to wear other makeup,” Gumbinner says. “It completely frames your face and makes you look polished.”

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