Two-weeks ago we issued our Second Annual Holiday Gift Guide which included the perfect gift ideas for moms, dads, tweens, toddlers, baby, family and more. A lot of you wrote and told us how useful the guide was in helping you think outside the box with gifts and provide you with some ideas. That made us so happy and we would like to suggest five more cool gift ideas just in case you find yourself scrambling for those last minute gifts!

My fellow blogger Rory from Mama Contemporanea and I hand-picked the gifts you see featured in our Holiday Gift guide. Unfortunately at the time the guide was sent to be published there were still a few items we had not had a chance to test out and therefore recommend. Nevertheless, these gifts are worth a mention and a post of their own because I’m that positive your kids, family and you, will truly enjoy them.

1) Disney Princess Storytime Belle
My 3 year old Briani loves anything Dinsey and this adorable Princess Belle doll is no different. She sings, smiles and laughs along with Briani. I love watching her interact with her doll as she reads her books and hangs out with her just like a regular best friend. If you have a little princess in your home, I highly recommend getting her this for Christmas. She will love it!

Available at Target

2) Epson Artisan 810 all-in-one printer

We do a lot of printing here at the Ruiz home and this  printer gets all the jobs done right. From photos to documents and labels…your results will always be satisfactory. It powers through Ultra Hi-Definition 4″ x 6″ photos in as fast as 10 seconds!  The convenient Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking allows me to  print, scan and access memory card slots from any room in the house.

Available at Epson.com

3) Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX10 16.2 MP Waterproof Digital Still Camera

I used this camera all through out my Papiblogger Road Trip. Needless to say,  I was devestated when I discovered I had misplaced it. I thought about just forgetting about it, but I couldn’t resist purchasing it again, so that’s exactly what I did last month– that’s how much I am in love with this camera. This camera takes awesome pictures,  is super easy to use,  it’s so small that it practically fits anywhere and plus, it is waterproof!

Available at store.sony.com

4) NERF VORTEX NITRON Blaster

The VORTEX NITRON disc blaster has a  cutting-edge acceleration trigger propels a full-auto storm of discs toward targets at extreme range for an all-out assault. My son Jonathan and I really enjoy having target-shooting competitions in our backyard. This blaster has so much power and it really makes you feel in control. It is a blast to play with.

Best of all this weekend (Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 )  Target is offering savings of up to 40 percent on electronics, toys, home items, apparel and accessories. And if you spend $75 or more in stores, you  will receive a $10 Target GiftCard. This is perfect for checking-off those last gifts off of your list while saving a little money for the New Year!

Available at Target

5) Mophie Juice Pack Air Case and Rechargeable Battery

For those of you who know me, you know that I am almost ALWAYS talking on my phone..and when I’m not home, you’ll see me on my iphone. That’s why making sure my phone is always charged is extremely important. This juice pack never lets me down. I can rest-assured that I will never miss an important call from a client or family member knowing my battery will always be juiced up. I found mine at amazon.com but I’m sure you can find it at national retail/electronic stores as well.

Are you scrambling for those last-minute gifts or perhaps you’ve run out of steam and need a little bit of holiday inspiration?  Then come join my fellow bloggers and me at our second Holiday Gift Guide twitter party! Those who partied with us last week know how much fun we had exploring the Holiday Gift Guide and we’d love to see you again. Next week we’ll talk Holiday Traditions and gift giving. It’s going to be great and as always, we’ll be giving out fabulous prizes, like the really cool Samsung Conquer™ 4G, two $100 gift cards from Target and some of the gifts that were featured in our very own guide.

So grab your computer, a mug of egg nog and join us next Wednesday, December 14th at 9pm EST for a very merry Holiday Traditions and Gift Giving Twitter party! Don’t forget to RSVP below.

Twitter Party Details:

When: December 14th at 9pm

Hosts: @papiblogger  @mcontemporanea

Co-Hosts: @naturalmentmama @cuponeandolive @mamaxxi

Hashtag: #SprintConnects

Prizes:

Samsung Conquer Sprint

Monster Wheel 4×4 Silverado from Radioshack ($69.99)

Fisher Price Kid Tough See Yourself Camera ($50)

Fisher-Price Playtime Bouncer – Animal Krackers  ($55)

A Season’s Worth of Pretty- Clinique ($32.50)

Clinique Skin Supplies Gift Set For Men ($36.50)

A Bobbi Brown “Bobbi’s Party” Eau de Parfum ($60)

(2) $100 Target Gift Cards

You must RSVP below in order to be eligible. Winners chosen by www.random.org

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you may have noticed that over the years I’ve written several teeth-brushing and oral hygiene stories. Oral health is a subject I have always been passionate about and as a result have been pretty adamant with my children about maintaining a daily brushing routine via “tricks” and funny stories.  One of my “hall of fame” tricks is the British Teeth Trick that you can read about here.  In this story I mention how a documentary on British teeth was gross enough to scare my children into bushing their teeth several times a day. But ironically after spending all of this time picking on the Brits,  this recent national survey (led by the Hispanic Dental Association and sponsored by Crest and Oral-B)  found that 67% of U.S. Hispanics rate their overall oral health as “excellent”or “good”…yet two-thirds experienced at least one oral health issue in the past year! So it’s not just the Brits that could use a few oral hygiene tips, it’s us Latinos as well.

When compared to the general population, many Hispanics in the U.S. are facing barriers to achieving better oral health.  I’m not surprised because the study shows what I suspect, Hispanics have less access to affordable oral health care (45% lack dental insurance) and feel that having more Hispanic and Spanish-speaking dentists and dental hygienists in their communities would help them in achieving better oral health. ( For more information about the survey, click here http://bit.ly/rASt1A )

I found one of the most surprising statistics to be that 50% of Hispanics agree, either strongly or somewhat, that dental visits are not really necessary as long as you take good care of your mouth, including your teeth and gums, compared to 21% of the general population. Basically half of us Latinos feel it isn’t really important to visit a dentist. How does your family feel about  the dentist? Do you encourage your children to visit dentists or do you make dentists visits the least of your priorities? I personally make it a priority in my household. I would love to hear your thoughts!

For more information about the survey, and to see other surprising survey results, please visit www.crestcomplete.com/study

I am glad that in addition to my “British Teeth” trick, my “Make them Cry” trick, I now have hard facts to educate my children and family members about the importance of a healthy mouth.

Disclosure: I wrote this post while participating in a compensated campaign with Procter & Gamble and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.