We've written about Frederik Meijer Gardens many times on grkids.com because it is a fabulous place to take your family any time of the year.  From the butterflies in spring, to the concerts and children's garden in the summer, to the Christmas trees in December, there is always something to do and look at for all ages.

We are pleased that Captured In Clay is giving away a Family Membership to Meijer Gardens for a grkids.com user!

Captured In Clay is the company started by Deana Brownlow in 2002.  Her goal is to help you capture the memories of your children while they are small by preserving hand and foot impressions in unique clay tiles.  Her website has a multitude of samples and options for you to peruse.  And, as always, you can schedule an appointment with her by calling 616.949.9781 or emailing here.

To enter to win the Meijer Gardens Membership from Captured in Clay, you will need to visit Captured In Clay's facebook page (click here.)  Once there, click that you "like" the page, and leave a message on Captured in Clay's Wall that you like the page and what your favorite product is.

If you want a second chance at entering the contest, "suggest the page to friends" and leave a comment on Captured In Clay's wall telling us how many friends you suggested the page to.

Good luck!

You have until June 21 to enter this contest.

There is no need to leave a comment on the grkids.com blog for this contest

We had chocolate cake one nice late-autumn afternoon for no good reason.  Friends were visiting that day and there were lots of kids running around playing and making merry.  One child must have slathered up in frosting, because the next day I noticed a perfect chocolate hand print on the outside of my patio door.  At the time I was too busy to clean it, but I remember thinking, get that off of there before the weather turns.  Well, I'm sure you know what happened...I forgot about it and before long, snow was swirling and I had a frozen chocolate hand print on my patio door.  I stared at that thing until spring, when the weather thawed out enough and I could scrub the chocolate frosting off.  That's an example of a hand print I wanted erased!  But aren't there times when you think, man, these kids are growing so fast and you just want to hold onto any memory of them?

Fortunately we live in the same town as Deana Brownlow, a mother with a passion to help others capture their memories in clay.  She has a wide range of products, but most of them revolve around the impressions your little ones makes in clay.  Color, embellishment, size, and other options are then decided to make your tile uniquely yours.

Captured In Clay offers several ways to get impression made:

1. schedule a private appointment
   
2. host a home party for you and your friends or
   
3. participate at retail location tile event.

Tiles are available in a range of size and pricing options. Basically the size dictates the price. She doesn't charge more for certain glaze colors or layout options or stamps.

Captured in Clay has been taking impressions since 2002 and was the first in the Grand Rapid area. She perfected the process of creating great impressions with amazing detail! She uses soft non-toxic clay that is formulated especially for tiny little fingers and toes that’s not messy. Each tile is personalized by selecting from fun choices of color, fonts, sizes, stamps and hanging options. (Tiles take approximately 3 ½ weeks to create). It’s easy – you bring the kids and she does the work. 


Here's a little more background on Deana and her company, Captured in Clay:
Captured In Clay is the brainchild of Deana Brownlow who started Captured In Clay to be able to offer other parents a unique way to create lasting impressions of their kids and foot prints. Taking the concept of the plaster of paris kits one step further, Deana experimented with different clay bodies and glazes until she got the desired combination. Since that time, Deana has taken over 8000 impressions of newborns, infants, toddlers, older children, adults and pets. Captured In Clay continues to expand upon that initial product by offering and adding new dimensions to create that one-of-a-kind tile that customers will love today and cherish forever. Time and time again, customers share their positive experience and continue to come back as their families grow.

“One of my favorite things about this job is to be able to watch as a family grows and to be a small part of that. I love seeing customer’s coming back each time a child is born or when they refer a friend or family member. It’s been a blessing to create a product that I know will be cherished for a lifetime.” - Deana

Captured In Clay
Deana Brownlow
2492 Candlewick Ct., SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616-949-9781 ofc

Website: www.kidtiles.com

Contact Deana to schedule your tile session.  Think ahead to Mother's Day and get your appointment on the books now.