Category: Gifting Guides Page 5 of 12

A Nixplay Frame is always a delight to receive! Here are some perfect occasions to give one to your loved ones.

5 Simple Yet Brilliant Gift Ideas Any Mom Would Love To Get For Mother’s Day

On May 6, 2018

In Gifting Guides, Holidays, Special Moments

Mother’s Day—the day we get to celebrate the original Wonder Woman in our own universe—is coming up in a week. If you already have a gift lined up, good for you! If not, this is your cue to start scrambling for the perfect present. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be meaningful. These five Mother’s Day gift ideas are easy to pull off—add a bouquet of her favorite blooms and a handmade card to make her feel like the queen she really is:

Offer to do her chores.

No one—not even Mom—truly enjoys doing housework, especially on Mother’s day, a day when she’s supposed to be treated like royalty. Take the weight off her shoulders for a day by offering to do the cleaning in her stead: It’s a simple, priceless gesture that’ll truly make her day.

Make it better: Mothers need a break, too. Create “chore vouchers” that Mom can cash in so another family member can do a chore for her. Better yet, ditch the vouchers altogether and voluntarily take on a chore she usually does, like shopping for groceries or doing the laundry, for the rest of the year.

Let her spend uninterrupted quality time with the family.

Moms are some of the busiest people in the world: They’ve got children to chase, food to prepare, homes to clean, pets to take care of, and spouses to love. It’s not easy juggling all these in addition to her career and hobbies, so giving her the chance to bond with her family without worrying about her other obligations would be great. Remember to take lots of pictures!

Make it better: If the kids live away from home, it shouldn’t be a problem. A Nixplay frame can help bridge the distance: help Mom set it up so she can have her precious memories at her fingertips. Take advantage of Nixplay’s Mother’s Day offer to get 20 percent off on all Nixplay Wi-Fi Cloud Frames and 15 percent off on all NIX Digital Frames until May 13. Buy your own frame here.

Get the kids to clean up after themselves

A mother’s unconditional love for her children gives her the willpower to make sacrifices for them. She’d willingly forego vacations and shopping trips, just to be able to secure her kid’s future. The least the little ones can do is to help her out by minimizing the mess they create at home.

Make it better: Make tidying up more fun for the kids by making a game out of it! You can time them doing a specific task like organizing their toys, and you can give them small prizes if they beat their best time. Or you can sneakily get the tots to help during laundry day by making them race against each other to gather dirty clothes in a certain color. Do it regularly, and you’ll soon be surprised at how eager they’ll be to clean up.

A gift card for her favorite spa or salon.

If there’s one day in the calendar when Mom deserves to be spoiled, it’s Mother’s Day. Treat her to a massage at her favorite spa, or accompany her to the salon for a haircut and a mani-pedi date.

Make it better: Mom deserves to feel her best the whole year round. You can take her to Sephora or Ulta and have her pick out a product she’d really use and love. That way, she’ll remember you every time she uses it.

Treat her to a delicious home-cooked meal.

Give Mom a break from cooking, even if it’s just for one day! Get the whole family to help out in the kitchen: the younger kids can help prepare the food and set the table, the older kids can cook, and dad can do the groceries. Don’t forget to wash the dishes after!

Make it better: Why stop at Mother’s day? Set aside time every weekend to prepare a meal in Mom’s stead. Aside from being a great way to hone the little ones’ culinary skills, it’ll also give Mom some much-needed “Me” time.

What will you be giving Mom on Mother’s day? Share it with us below.

Join our contest for a chance to win a Nixplay Iris for your mom!

Mars Salazar

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

A Valentine’s Day Guide 2018

By Beatrice Bisais

On February 5, 2018

In Gifting Guides, Special Moments

Google any Valentine’s guide and you are probably faced by a barrage of information of what gifts to buy, often the article that you are reading might be sponsored by a big-name retailer like Macy’s or Wall Mart etc. or a big-name consumer brand trying for that extra push before a big sales day. This is one of the independent guides out there, not bribed off and giving you the most accurate outlook for that romantic occasion.

Hand Made Makes the Day

As a grumpy (getting old) man, your dear author would like to emphasize the often known but ignored horrors of the fact that most stores make Valentine’s, and nearly every other festive occasion a massive cash cow. Why do you think Jack Ma set up Single’s Day on Alibaba?

Rant aside, the way that you can get around this and actually buy things that are handmade. It will have more of a resonance for your other half, as it will show that you went that extra step and made something unique and specifically catered to them. One of the best ways to hit a 10/10 in this category is to make your own handmade card. It’s unique and thoughtful, but doesn’t go overboard and is your safest bet of not making a mess out of it. You can even go so far as to think deeper into how your other half may receive it, even involving your children or pet. We’re here to provide you with the best unique ideas out there for this special occasion that go above and beyond the call of passion.

Make and present that card in a handmade, special way.

A Digital Picture Frame Goes All the Way

Digital picture frames might seem like an everyday gift and for many dear readers, one that they have given at one point or another. But before discarding this idea into the bin, I have a solution, for even the skeptics to explore. And before you think this is a cheap marketing ploy, hear me out. Buy a digital picture frame from the likes of Nixplay, but with a difference. Do not just give your lover a brand-new frame wrapped in a box uninstalled. You should take it out, do the initial installation, get yourself an account and put up 5 to 10 photos that he or she would care about. Once this is done, turn it off, pack it into the box, wrap it and give it to them. This way they will have a nice romantic surprise and know that you went above and beyond in thinking about them.

We recommend the Nixplay Iris or the NIX LUX digital picture frames, trumping the day, any day. Click here to check out the romantic selection that you can order in the US.

A perfect way to record your love on a Nixplay digital photo frame.

Be a Traditionalist

Whilst the subtitle to this may sound like a political categorization heard by the current live soap drama that is Capitol Hill, it actually means ‘why shake it up?’ Sometimes it’s the most traditional gifts that can make the day. There’s nothing more so than a chocolate and teddy bear. However, if you have enough time, do a customization, make the chocolates as something relatable to your other half. There are some things that make the difference between a meaningful gift and a last-minute rush to cobble something together. Click here for ideas and details on how to order from the US.

Go beyond the call of duty, get your loved ones customized chocolates.

Customized Scent or a Tea Blend

Whilst we could talk about taking a look at what Chanel and Jo Malone have to offer, we’re not. Scents are important, and I’m not talking about just the ladies. Instead of buying the boring pre-fabricated, known perfume, why not make your own. If the world of perfumery isn’t your thing, you can also play around with scents for things such as customized tea.

Stop being boring; get your love a customized scent or bring them to make one themselves.

Be the Next Shakespeare in Love

If creative writing is your thing, brilliant. If it isn’t, even better. What is there not to love about a profound love poem or scrapbook to really exude the romance of the day. Blurb.com is a cool site to do that. You don’t even need to be a good writer, it’s easy to use and should give you some ideas that make the blood boil. If you’d prefer another outlet for that passion, why not sing your own love song?

Be creative on this special day.

Send Out an Unusual Bouquet

We all know that half the world is probably going to show up with roses of some sort. Red and pink, often generic and commercial. To be ahead of the love trend, send out something extraordinary in place of the usual. You could send out other types of flowers, a bouquet of candy, or even a natural tree like a bonsai. Make sure it’s sweet and tactile, this does not give you a pass to dig up the first tree you see. Why not some origami instead?

Roses are so everyday, why not chose a different flower or even candy.

Explore and Get Away

Rather than the same old, same old, which usually consists of a fancy restaurant and a movie, consider more of an adventure. Go enjoy the outdoors, the US has plenty of National Parks with a variety or climates for you to consider, or go to a State that you’ve not visited in the past. Heck, this grumpy old man even suggests you go full throttle, buy the first cheap ticket you find for a long weekend internationally and explore uninhibited with your other half.

Think outside the box, and perhaps, outside the US.

Invest in the Longer Term

Valentine’s is also a great day to invest in the longer term, whether you’re asking someone on a date or requesting a hand in marriage to planning that romantic summer getaway. Both girls and guys love it when their other half is invested in the relationship, thinking longer term and being proactive with it. Believe me, it’ll serve you with an extremely happy and blessed future.

Proposing to your other half is a huge decision to make, why not on the holiday of love?

Movie & Dinner: More Traditionalism?

Look folks, I only had one category for the traditional tips. Yes, this is always an option and you could find millions of dinging and movie guides out there. However, even that can have a more unique and take. You become the producer and make your own movie. Whether you want to do things throughout the day, record them, and then play them back at the end for you to crack a laugh, tear or corny smile or just pre-record things before the day, and edit it into a DVD or digital movie clip online, it is bound to be unique and get you extra kisses.

Dinner? I would recommend that you cook, but without a single Michelin star and a few dry steaks to my name, I’m pretty sure that I’m not the most qualified. However, there are those that are from the likes of Stephanie Audet to Rick Mace; there’ll be sure to get your motivated with some top ideas that even Cupid couldn’t think of.

A funkier and healthier approach to Valentine’s dinner.

Make it into a Story

Remember, in our increasingly hectic lives, it’s important to take a step back and remember what matters most. Take in and even record the day and those special moments. Make sure it’s not done because you think it should be or anything else of the likes, when it comes to the heart, it shows and makes a difference. Crucially, make sure that if you do, to save those moments. With Comscore finding that the average adult in the US spends at least 2 hours 51 minutes on their phone every day, people take photos, save them on some forgotten folder that eventually becomes deleted or buried with the other selfies and random bits that may have been taken around that period.

Save and record those moments. For those taking photos on their phones, make sure you save these photos on a cloud or somewhere safe that won’t be accidentally swiped or deleted at some-point in the future. You’d be surprised by the amounts of times that people wave their arms in anger, annoyance and/or panic because they’ve lost the photo or accidentally pressed the delete/ bin button.

Unique and personalized makes a lot of difference, bringing star-crossed lovers together.

The best way to swerve around this, is again a Nixplay digital frame. If you buy one of the latest models, they’ve got a WiFi cloud capability, where you save your photos into an album to allow for safe keeping. This can also be a neat tool to do a bit of a summary when it comes to your day. That film and movie idea can be made even easier if you would like to just do a snapshot of the day with still photographs, together with video clips of no longer than 15 seconds, particularly for NIX LUX users. Other ways also include making sure all the photos on your phone is saved with the Google Cloud (which is usually the case for Android users with a synced Google account) or the aptly named iCloud for iOS users. Some people assume that this is the automatic go-to action of their phones, but then realize that it may not be the case with large frowns on their faces. The added dramatization was inserted so that you actually do check!

If you try at least one or a combination of the above, you can become the hero of the day and superman in the eyes of your girl or guy. Remember, despite a dread that many face, claiming that Valentine’s Day is a hazard to the bank account, is a bad mentality to look at it. You can send presents and spend time with each-other without blowing half your year’s savings. It’ll be a happier and more meaningful time if it’s done by your own craftsmanship.

Now time for my own corny wrap-up: “roses are red, violets are blue, come one, come all and buy a frame or two.”

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

Why is Nixplay the Perfect Gift this Christmas to Connect your Family?

By Beatrice Bisais

On December 17, 2017

In Gifting Guides

Christmas is a time of family gatherings, where people can appreciate, rejoice, gift. We’re sure that you can think of lists of verbs to describe all the precious memories of years past. Many of you would even have photo albums with smiling family members watching with joy as her grandchildren unwrap their Christmas goodies with sheer elation on their faces.
Yet, the chronicled memories of yesteryear may not be recorded for much longer as photo albums are increasingly becoming confined to the history books as your family members, particularly younger generations take Christmas selfies, send them on Snapchat or to a few friends through messaging and social media platforms only to be disappear or get deleted before the arrival of the new year.

Despite such changes, some are finding opportunities in this new, connected world. Fred and Beva, a couple, that had recently retired in Minnesota wanted to buy a product that they could show off their love for photography, opting for a WiFi digital frame, the Nixplay Edge, designed and developed by Nixplay.

They joyfully discovered that the product they bought was much more than a simple digital frame to display pictures, but a tool that built precious memories as they noted: “We have relatives across the country and wanted to be able to easily share our family memories. When our family visited and saw our frame in action they all were impressed and fascinated with them. Nixplay offered the best technology, sharing capabilities and ease of use. They have been a perfect gift to share all the family fun and memories.”

For the couple, that have been together for over four decades and recently relocated from Pennsylvania, this connection was something that money couldn’t buy. Having family scattered across the U.S., with their 95-year old grandmother living in Florida, a sister in South Carolina and two children that also live in Minnesota. They were determined to maintain the precious connections with their loved ones and saw Nixplay’s digital picture frame offerings as the best tool for the job.
“When our family visited and saw our frame in action they all were impressed and fascinated with them,” they said. “Nixplay offered the best technology, sharing capabilities and ease of use.”

The happy couple added that they were pleasantly surprised with the frame’s capabilities, particularly after the negative experiences that they had with digital frames from other brands.

Essentially, Nixplay has allowed them to find an ecosystem to meaningfully connect in the digital age: “Sadly, we often atomize knowledge into pieces that don’t have a home in a larger conceptual framework. When this happens, we surrender meaning to guardians of knowledge and it loses its personal value.”

The immense personal value that the Nixplay Edge frames gave Fred and Beva was highlighted by the joy that it brought to their grandmother: “It’s absolutely the best family gift. It’s the next best thing to being there for distant relatives. Grandmother has her frame on her end table and spends hours watching her great grandchildren. Now she feels that she doesn’t miss any special times and feels more connected than ever.”

It was a magical moment for them to witness how the connected ecosystem that the Nixplay Edge frames offer allows them to share all these special moments in real-time such as birthdays, holidays and fun events. The unrivalled ease of use that the technology offers is one significant element that Fred lauds when talking about the digital frame: “My wife is the administrator for all the frames and she posts new pictures after all events. We preloaded the frames with playlists and then mailed them as gifts. The only thing the family had to do was connect the frame to their internet and they were set to go. There are always new pictures added at least weekly.”

The cheer was spread, in a true Christmas-like spirit through Nixplay’s innovation in technology has allowed them not only to pursue their passion in photography, but allows them to chronicle, organize and keep record of this. Fred and Beva praise the fact that they can easily sort their photos in playlists, segregate photos by categories and customize playlists for different family members. The product solidifies itself as a true leader in the field by its mobile app where photos can be uploaded, allowing Fred and Beva’s loved ones to add photos real-time.

Christmas is a time of giving, sharing and creating family moments. Nixplay has not only created a digital frame, but a priceless tool that adds value by being an emblem of love, togetherness and happiness; making it the best investment in this season of giving.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

Grandmother Jennifer Shows us how Gifting a Nixplay can Connect Family in Different Countries

By Beatrice Bisais

On December 8, 2017

In Customer Testimonials, Gifting Guides

Have you ever seen memorabilia with “Best Grandma in the World on it?” We have, and we immediately associate it with Jennifer Van den Hoek. Jennifer is an Australian, living in The Netherlands- an expat far away from home. Her story begins about twenty years ago, when she moved with her husband and four children.

Imagine moving miles away from home in the late 90’s, “ Communication was a little difficult and certainly very expensive.” For anyone who remembers, this is when the dial up connection had started picking up ( who can forget that sound!) Internet and long distance phone calls were expensive, “ The fax machine became our friend,” it was the only way to get news around instantly, especially for expats. Through the years, two of Jennifer’s children embraced the expat life and stayed back in the Netherlands while two moved back to Australia. Fast forward to 2016, where there’s no excuse not to keep in touch. Social media, email and mobile phones make it near impossible to stay away from family. 20 years later, Jennifer has just gotten news that she is becoming a grandmother soon!

The only problem- her pregnant daughter Jessica resides in Australia, while 2 of the other siblings live in Amsterdam.To add to the distance factor that expats face, pregnant Jessica lives far away from all her relatives- her closest relative is 2 hours away. The closest relatives being the baby’s aunt great grandmothers. Jennifer had a task: to connect her new grandson to the great grandparents.

She found that the best way to connect the great grandmothers to their new great grand baby was through pictures, so they could see his growth. But sending pictures through messages on the phone wouldn’t cut it for the great grand mothers. Images needed to be seen on a physical, big device, like a digital photo frame. That’s when she hit gold, she found the Nixplay Seed through thewirecutter.com. Her criteria for choosing the Nixplay frame was the number and quality of reviews. As a test, she decided to ask for the Nixplay frame as a birthday gift for herself. She loved it, she says,” I truly love my frame and each and every morning as I enter the living room, it lights up with (mostly) photos of the smiling face of Sebastian my grandson and photos of the latest and greatest adventures of my 2 daughters in Australia!”

Seeing how well the frame connected Jennifer to her family, her son in law decided to buy one for his mother too. The family grew from one Nixplay frame, to five! A whole expat family of Nixplay! “We feel so connected through these photos and other members of the family don’t seem so far away when they can see what is going on, on the other side of the world. The brothers often ask if there are any new photos lately.”

Nixplay frames are wifi enabled digital photo frames. You can send images using your mobile, email or social media straight to your frames. The best part about Nixplay is that each member in your family should have one! With the Nixplay app you can create playlists to send to multiple frames. There’s a “friends” option where your friends and family can directly send photos to your frame. “ I also very much enjoy the convenience of the Nixplay app on my phone so I can put photos in files or delete them easily from the frame. I also can easily bring up the photos, on my phone to show others when I am away from home .”

Jennifer has found the perfect gifts from expats and is gifting two frames to her mother and mother in law and she’s excited to hear, “the sounds of delight once my mother and mother-in-law receive their frames and start receiving photos from their children and (many) grandchildren … they will once again feel connected over such great distances.” While we do not sell our frames in Australia, Jennifer is a testament of a great, loyal, expat customer. She bought the frames in Holland and then took them with her to Australia, where she bought an Australian adapter to be able to use the frame there. She is truly a dedicated grandmother, daughter and mother and we are proud to have her as a customer. You too, can bring your family closer by gifting them Nixplay digital photo frames this Christmas.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

Christmas Gifts my Parents might actually Use this Year!

By Beatrice Bisais

On November 30, 2017

In Customer Testimonials, Gifting Guides

Ryan Negri wears a lot of hats; a son, a husband, father (to two lovely dogs) entrepreneur, innovator, philanthropist. Among all this, it’s a wonder how he has time to think about Christmas gifts for parents. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for parents to receive gifts they never use, or even open; What a waste!

Christmas is an important time period for Ryan. Ryan cannot join his parents physically for Christmas, not because he’s unable, but because it’s too cold and it’s basically a 50/50 chance they make it there. To make up for it, the gifts needed to top all the years before and he had to make sure they would actually use it! Ryan is based out of Vegas and his parents live all the way in Northern Wisconsin and as he says, “My family hasn’t used my last three Christmas gifts, this year should be a lot easier.”

In comes Nixplay digital photo frame, a WiFi cloud connected solution Ryan says, “This one provided a way for me to load the photos for the technically unsavvy.” The Nixplay photo frame is an easy to use digital photo frame. You can send images directly from your phone, social media or email to your digital frame. Moreover, it comes in different product lines with distinct features, sizes and colours! It’s a great gift for empty nesters. Ryan bought two Nixplay Iris 8 Inch frames, for both sets of his parents. Nixplay Iris offers a sleek, chic design that is designed to shine from every angle. It fits in perfectly with any home.

For Christmas, Ryan preloaded albums onto his parents frames. The digital photo frame was a great “turn on and set up and leave it alone.” For families like Ryan’s it’s hard to make sure all your memories get shared, especially when they live so far away. Having dogs that grow and change everyday adds to this challenge, because most parents love to see what the most active members of the family are upto. Also, since due to his active lifestyle he’s always out and about seeing, experiencing and taking pictures of new things. With so much done, it’s a waste to leave pictures lying on the phone when they can be displayed and shared on his parents frame. With the Nixplay digital photo frame, Ryan could tell if his parents turned on the frame and were online- this way, he could make sure they’re using their gifts ( and catch them if they weren’t!)

Indeed, both sets of parents used the frame. Another benefit of being part of the Nixplay family is 24×7 customer service. Ryan says,” My mother in law wasn’t pleased with the stand, so the wonderful customer care rep, Klaudine, overnighted her a seperate one to you.”

Now, after buying Nixplay as a gift for his parents. Ryan has realised the connectivity it brings and he’s planning to buy another frame for a family member who is a photographer, so everyone can make sure to see her stunning photographs. The Nixplay Edge is a great product for photographers because it allows SD card functionality along with the WiFi functionality. ( We know how many pictures that continuous shutter can bring in, so with Nixplay Edge just insert the SD card in straight away instead of going through the process of sorting and editing.)

Apart from spending time with his dogs and his beautiful wife Amy, who is an avid photographer- Ryan’s hobbies include golfing, hiking, and traveling. He’s the founder of Laicos, a Technology Startup Studio at Laicos.com. Find him personally on RyanNegri.com and twitter, @RyanNegri.

Family gift pack sale: Mix & match on all Seed and Iris orders with tiered discount: 20% off 2 products; 25% off 3. Discount will automatically be applied at checkout, no other existing discount code can be used in conjunction with this sale.

Campaign period: 4 – 10 December.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.