Hawaii Vacation Gifts by Double Brush-Hawaiian Gifts & Blog

Free New Hawaii State Quarter With Any Double Brush Purchase

Major banks in Hawaii ordered extra new Hawaii state quarters in anticipation for the official launch 2 days ago (November 10). Many banks were also limiting the number of new Hawaii state quarters to one or two rolls per customer as they expected demand to be heavy.

Not many of the new Hawaii state quarters are in circulation yet, although you can find the Hawaii quarter on ebay--of course. The United States Mint estimates it will take a few more weeks before the new highly collectible coins become widely available.

This is the final state coin needed to complete the successful 50 State Quarters Program which started 10 years ago from the US mint.

We stood in line at the Bank of Hawaii branch in Hilo today just to buy roll of the shiny new Hawaii quarters.

We thought it would be a fun customer give-away to give a new Hawaii state quarter with each order from our Double Brush site or Hawaii Vacation Gifts site. Order anything, there is no minimum purchase. We have new Hawaiian lotions, soaps, and shampoo in travel sizes that start at an amazing 1.50 each and also make great Hawaiian party favors, to custom Hawaiian gift baskets where the sky is the limit.

If you are need of a Hawaiian gift or Hawaiian party favors, Hawaiian gift baskets, fresh Hawaiian flowers or leis, 100% pure Kona coffee, Hawaiian macadamia nuts, Hawaiian candies and Hawaiian snacks, and more, please visit us:)

We also just added new wine gift baskets, spa gift baskets, and fresh baked gift baskets from the mainland that can be shipped to Hawaii with NO ADDED Surcharge!

This offer will be good until the end of this year. Just mention "free quarter" in the order's comments section.

Last Hawaii State Quarter Now in Circulation

News Flash!! Free Hawaii State quarter with any purchase from Double Brush!

For the last 10 years, coin collectors have avidly waited for the release of each new state quarter from the United States Mint "50 State Quarters Program". The final Hawaii quarter was officially unveiled in Honolulu today with people standing in line waiting to buy the shiny new coins. The release of this quarter signals the end of the 50 states quarter program.

The Hawaii state quarter has the unique position of being the last coin to complete the 50 state quarters set because each state quarter was released in the order that particular state joined the Union. Our "Aloha State" was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959.

The reverse of Hawaii’s quarter features Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha I stretching his hand toward the eight major Hawaiian Islands. Inscriptions are the state motto   "UA MAU KE EA O KA

‘Ā

INA I KA PONO," ("The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness"), "Hawaii" and "1959."

King Kamehameha I is a revered figure in Hawaiian history. He unified the governance of the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom in the early 1800s and navigated changes in Hawaii, while maintaining the native practices and traditional ways of island life. His "Law of the Splintered Paddle" guaranteed the protection of citizens from harm during war and became a landmark in humanitarian law. He is honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.

The following information was on a full page ad from the United States Mint in the October 2008 issue of This Old House Magazine.  It said to visit www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT. I spent some time on the US Mint site trying to locate the exact page for the silver proof set but could not find it, so you may want to call. If any of our readers find the exact page please share it with everyone via a comment.

The United States Mint is the only mint authorized to make U.S. legal tender coins. For authentic collectible coins you can buy a proof set directly from the United States Mint. You are guaranteed to receive impeccable, pristine coins, never touched by human hands and sealed in a protective case.

You can purchase the 2008 United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set--struck in 90% silver for only $25.95

Trick or Treat-Get Your Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Now!

Trick or Treat? Of course at Double Brush we only give out good treats or tell you where to get good treats. I was watching TV tonight and a commercial came on that said you could get a free cookie by visiting Kashi.com

After visiting the Kashi site and signing up to receive my free chocolate chip cookie in the mail, I thought, for my readers who may have missed the television commercial, I am sure they would love to know where to get a delicious free cookie, I mean really, who wouldn't want a free Oatmeal Dark Chocolate cookie?

Kashi is a health food company that makes great tasting health food without highly refined sugars, artificial additives, or preservatives. I have seen their products at our local health food stores for many years. Kashi produces hot and cold cereal, snack and bars, frozen meals and waffles.

What makes their Oatmeal Dark Chocolate chip cookie healthy and good for you is that they add whole oats which contain fiber, protein and healthy fat. They also add dark chocolate chips which is a tasty way to get your antioxidants.

Allergen Info: Contains wheat, almond, pecan, soy, and milk ingredients. May contain other tree nuts.

* Limit one per household. Offer valid until October 15, 2008 or while supplies last. Available to U.S. residents only. Must be 18 or older to receive sample. Limit one sample per family, household, address, or email address. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

Access Missing Categories Here

I am sorry to report that Typepad, our blog publisher has been having some issues and five of our most popular blog categories have disappeared from the side bar, but can be accessed here.

Hawaii Sweepstake Contests

Big Island Living

Travel Help

Gift Baskets

Hawaii Activities

You can also use the blogbar to do search terms on our blog, or view our monthly archives. (Both located on the side bar.)

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to resolve this issue soon.

DoubleBrush.com Has a New Home

After blogging last week about Is Google dancing on my Hawaiian gifts website grave?"--which was about my sudden and huge drop in Google's ranking for the search term 'Hawaiian Gifts", I was thankful to receive invaluable advice from fellow bloggers Sheila and Andy at Go Visit Hawaii.

Andy said that because my URL www.doublebrush.com led to http://shopnow.secureonlinecart.com/estore/f/index.php?sid=528f1599df375516eeb7f1a541dd074b&store_id=1198 which is the home page of our secure shopping catalog, Google may be seeing it as a 302 redirect and that Google doesn't like a site being pointed to a "temporary" site.

Now that I knew what the problem most likely was, I had to figure out a way to resolve it. What I did over the weekend was a thing called domain mapping for my typepad blog which you are now reading. Instead of our Hawaii blog's home page being www.doublebrush.typepad.com, it is now simply www.doublebrush.com

I made a stationary Welcome page post so people can click on a link to start shopping, or choose to start reading our blog posts. I am happy with this solution as maybe now more of our customers will read our blog.

If you have any other suggestions to improve our blog site, please let me know.

I want to end with a big mahalo to Sheila and Andy, a sincere thank you for everything.

Is Google Dancing On My Hawaiian Gifts Website Grave?

What is going on? A few days ago Hawaiian Gifts and Flowers by Double Brush was ranked #14 for the Google search term "Hawaiian gifts". Today our Hawaiian gift site is ranked #64. We went from page 2 to page 7 and down 50 listings in the SERPs, or search engine results pages. I don't understand it. I searched on Google for "Google dance June 2008" but nothing really came up. The term Google dance refers to a phenomenon in which the search results returned by Google appear to fluctuate and change. I wanted to see if anyone else was experiencing a drop in their Google SERPs.

Most people look at only the first one or two pages of search engine results (regardless of the search engine being used), so being reduced to page 7 could mean the demise of our Hawaiian gifts site because  the majority of users are doing their searches on Google. Hence the title of my post, "Is Google dancing on my Hawaiian gifts website grave?"

Hawaiian Gifts and Flowers by Double Brush has been online since 1999, and we have experienced these fluctuations many times before but not so dramatically. What happens after Google does their power dance, is it usually takes months to slowly climb up the ladder of search result rankings, and that's after constant tinkering and monitoring of our site.

This time around I am finding it extremely depressing because so many Hawaii gift sites that offer the same made in China Hawaiian souvenirs are ranked ahead of our site. Our site features handmade gifts from Hawaii such as Hawaiian scented soy candles, Hawaiian soaps, and Hawaiian perfumes that we actually make ourselves in our art studio/home on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Over the years we have also added the service of sending and shipping fresh Hawaiian flower bouquets, leis, papayas and pineapples to the mainland. We can also send Kona coffee, macadamia nuts, Hawaiian candies, handmade Hawaiian lotions & bath salts, Hawaiian gift baskets and custom Hawaiian gift baskets.

I am hoping that by doing this blog post laced with the search term "Hawaiian gifts", Google will rank this post highly while I try to dig Double Brush out of the grave.

Double Brush Celebrates Its One Year Blogaversary!

Our company blog Hawaii Vacation Gifts by Double Brush celebrates its one year blogaversary today!! I find it hard to believe that I have been blogging for a whole year. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, I can honestly say that blogging has changed my life!

Blogging has enabled me to share information I find useful or interesting, or strange, and I also get to write about things that I like and care about. However, the most precious outcome of blogging for me has been the friendships that I have formed with other bloggers--especially Sheila at Go Visit Hawaii and Evelyn at Homespun Honolulu. They both have been supportive, caring, and the most genuinely nice people I know.

Browsing over my past posts for the year, I came up with my favorite top 5 blog posts--as of today;)

1. How Double Brush Saved Hundreds of Trees
Saving our Hawaiian rainforest and not supporting clear cutting is something that I care deeply about.

2. What's the Big Deal with Interracial Marriage and Dating?
Using our families as an example, I show what true multiculturalism love means.

3. Wild Pigs on the Big Island Hawaii
We live in a rural area of the Big Island and wild pigs are a part of the environment here.

4. Maile Lei--The Most Rare and Special Hawaiian Lei
This is my favorite leis because of its intoxicating scent. The next goal is to plant some on our property.

5. The Rainiest City in the US is Hilo Hawaii
People find it hard to believe the east side of the Big Island gets 100-200 inches of rainfall annually.

Mahalo to all of my readers, subscribers, and commenters. Thank you for your continued support, I am pretty sure I would stop blogging if no one read my blog.

Please share with myself and everyone else reading, "What is your favorite Double Brush blog post?"

The following favorite blog posts were added via our reader's comments.

Would you mind Madame Pele for a neighbor in Hawaii?

Spectacular Lunar Eclipse Seen from the Big Island

Hawaiian Papaya Recipes and Papaya Information

Get the Dirt on Ordering and Sending Flowers Online

Mother's Day is a only few weeks away (May 11, 2008), and I thought this would be the perfect time to post this important piece of consumer information.

Buying flowers online is convenient and easy, but buyer beware. Consumers are falling victim to misleading florist advertising and marketing practices every day. From substitutions of lesser quality and amount of flowers, to downright fraud, how do you know who you are dealing with and what can you do to protect yourself?

To find out about all the nitty gritty dirt on buying flowers online from ordering to delivery, visit Florist Detective. This is the only site you will ever need to read first before you plan on ordering flowers online. I spent a long time at their site with my mouth hanging open or shaking my head. These are the subjects that are covered at Florist Detective.

Free Delivery Ruse
Fake Locations
Give Us A Break
Find Real Florists
Where to Complain
Report Flower Deception to the FTC
Not Your Local Florist
Florist Price Comparisons
Be Wary of the Yellow Pages
Florists and the Media
How Flower Wire Services Work
Quality Assurance?
ProFlowers.com vs Florists
FTD vs Florists
FTD and Kay's Florist
1800Flowers.com vs Florists
Skimmer Report
Anatomy of a Flower Fraud
Letters From Consumers
All American Scam
Order Gathering
Valentine's Day
Local Search for Florists

If you ever want or need to buy tropical Hawaiian flowers such as Anthuriums, Orchids, Bird of Paradise, Protea, and Heliconia, please give us a try. We also offer beautiful orchid flower leis that are great for any occasion.

All of our flowers are locally grown on the Big Island of Hawaii where we are located, and come direct from several small flower farms. The fresh flowers are then washed, graded, and expertly packed into special shipping boxes for overnight or 2 day delivery to the mainland, by our friend's local flower shop in Hilo called Nahilihili, located one block from the Hilo airport. This location is also wonderful because your flowers get on a Federal Express plane right away.

We thank you in advance for your support of small businesses and flower growers on the Big Island of Hawaii.

What has Double Brush been up to?

Aloha to my dear readers!

I apologize for not posting more in the past 2 months but was very busy with making lots of candles and switching to a new web host for our site DoubleBrush.com because my web host that I had since we started in 1999 completely shut down operations on March 31. They used proprietary software and couldn't work with all of the new Web 2.0 features that were becoming more common place and expected. They also had no export feature so it was a long manual process to redo our site.

Please take a look at our new site when you have some time and tell me what you think of it. There are still many things that need to be added such as the drop down menu on some catalog pages, but the shopping cart works and most of our items are posted. We also now have great features such as free shipping and a search our site bar.

I think it looks a bit sterile but will work on designing a better logo. We also have partnered with several mainland companies to offer more all occasion gift baskets. I will be posting those in the next week in time for Mother's Day.

Things have settled down a bit and I will begin posting regularly to our blog.

Our Hawaii blog will also be taking a little bit of a change in direction. I won't be blogging about Hawaii travel and activities as much, if any, but will still write about living in Hawaii, especially living on the Big Island where we are located. I will be concentrating more on everything related to Hawaiian gifts and gift baskets which is actually quite a lot. I hope I don't lose any of my 40 regular readers, but if I do, I understand, but please stick with us a while and see what we are up to. I will try my best not to make it boring.

I will also still be doing our popular Hawaii Sweepstakes Sunday feature.

A hui hou, or until we meet again,
Cheryl

Take a Ride on the Hawaii Blog Train

Once again Evelyn over at Homespun Honolulu has done it again! Hop on board her latest Hawaii blog carnival with a Menehune train ride.

The virtual train tracks start at the leeward coast of Oahu, chugs on over to the island of Maui, and then like a good reporter, goes to where the other stories about Hawaii are.

Say goodbye to the old year, and ring in the new year Hawaiian Style.

Haoli Makahiki Hou! (Happy New Year!)

New Feature on our Hawaii Blog--Comment Feed

When I started my Hawaii blog with Typepad a few months ago, I requested that they offer a "follow the comments" feature so my readers could follow the conversation on different posts.

I am happy to say that Typepad finally developed this feature and I added it last night! Now after every post at the beginning of the comments section, you will see a little orange RSS icon and link with the following text next to it: You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

It works if you are subscribed by RSS feed or email.

I enjoy reading other people's comments on blog posts' that I am interested in, and now my readers can also have that convenience for Hawaii Vacation Gifts blog posts' they are interested in.

Go on a Hawaiian Safari Blog Carnival

Once again Evelyn at Homespun Honolulu has put together a great blog Carnival of Aloha, her third Hawaii blog carnival that she has hosted. It is quite a bit of work to host a blog carnival and she does it so well. Mahalo Evelyn!

This one is called,"The Carnival of Aloha Takes a Magical Hawaiian Safari."

A blog carnival is a fun way to discover new blogs that fit in with the carnival theme; in this case anything to do with and about Hawaii.

My entry was about the famous 2 1/2 ton "Naha" stone moved by King Kamehameha.

Hope you will join us on a Hawaiian cyber safari!

Please Blog About the Environment on "Blog Action Day"

Did you know that October 15, 2007 has been declared "Blog Action Day"? Blog Action Day is the date when bloggers everywhere will unite by publishing a post about the environment on their blogs. Your post can be about anything to do with the environment.

The premise of this event is:

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day? One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

Our aim is to get people thinking, discussing, questioning and talking about the environment, from every angle, niche, viewpoint and personality.

I think it is a great idea and will be participating. I hope that you will too. Also please spread the word!

You can read more about it at Blog Action Day!

Hawaii Blog Carnival of Aloha at Homespun Honolulu

Evelyn from Homespun Honolulu--one of my favorite blogs--has done it again! Her second Hawaii blog carnival of Aloha is even bigger than her first! There are 18 bloggers from Kauai to the Big Island and beyond sharing about the things, places, and events that make Hawaii so special to so many people.

I haven't had the time to check everyone else out yet, so why don't we do it together? Meet you at the Carnival of Aloha, Chapter 2: The Ohana's Together!

Take a Ride on the Blog Carnival of Aloha Plane

Take a ride on a virtual B737 Aloha Airlines plane decorated with Hawaiian marine life paintings by the artist Wyland. This is the method of transportation for the Blog Carnival of Aloha hosted at Homespun Honolulu.

All of the blogs on the carnival relate to Hawaii in some way. Mahalo to Evelyn who hosted her first Hawaii blog carnival.

Want to be More Green but Need Help?

For those of us looking for more tips and ways to be green and save our environment, check out the Green Guide recently acquired by the National Geographic. The Green Guide is a comprehensive website for consumers packed with tips on how to live a healthier life while treading lightly on Earth's resources.

The Green Guide features a Green Home Makeover with a step by step plan for each room in your whole house. The articles are informative and also point out greener name brand environmentally friendly products, and what to watch out for in conventional products and appliances. You can also find comprehensive product reports that cover the environmental, personal health and social problems and solutions of each product listed.

From safe plastics for storing food to insulating your house with soy, there are numerous helpful articles to help you live better, and help our planet at the same time.

I confess that I spent hours at this site, and I bet that you will too!

Hawaii Blog Carnival Fun

Have some fun in the sunny blogosphere by visiting the 1st Best Hawaii Vacation Blog Carnival Hot Picks. Pua was kind enough to include us in their first ever Hawaii Blog carnival.

What is a blog carnival? (Up until a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of a blog carnival!) A blog carnival usually starts with a theme, and then has a collection of posts from different blogs that relate to the theme. A blog carnival is hosted on one blog and links to all of the other blog posts. This is a great way to find out about different blogs in the theme or category you are interested in.

Please go visit the Hawaii blog carnival and tell us how you liked it!

Our Big Island Hawaii Blog is a "Mover and Shaker"

Our Big Island Hawaii blog is a mover and a shaker -- and I am not talking about the earthquake kind!

My blogging friend Opal of Vegan Momma, chose to highlight our blog in her "Bloggers: Movers and Shakers" post this week. I feel really honored that she finds value in reading our newish blog.

Please visit her blog. She writes on a variety of interesting topics, and if you leave a comment, don't be surprised to receive a personal thank you email from her!

Our Hawaii Blog Celebrates Its 4 Month Blogoversary!

Four months ago I had no idea where blogging would lead me, and if I had the discipline to write something almost everyday. Now four months later, I can tell you where it has taken me.

Blogging has made me pay more attention to my life and what is going on around me. Everything I read, from local newspapers to magazines at the dentist office -- I read with one extra thought in my mind, would this make a good blog post? Would my blog readers be interested in this information?

Same thing goes for watching the local television news, going places, doing things, or having a conversation with someone. I ask myself, is this useful or interesting information to people that read my blog?

Choosing to blog about Hawaii travel, Hawaii activities, living on the Big Island of Hawaii, and unique Hawaiian gifts, I thought would be wide enough of a subject to have lots to write about, but also narrow enough so people would know what to expect. I was also interested in these subjects and thought I could share and learn at the same time.

My Hawaii blog actually started as a way to gain more attention for our websites, Hawaiian Gifts, Candles, and Soap by Double Brush, and Hawaii Vacation Gifts. but it has turned out to be more than just a business blog, it is also a personal blog and blog about what I find interesting about Hawaii and travel.

Honestly, right now I only have a handful of readers, but they are regular readers and have all become my friends. That was a happy and pleasant surprise for me. I have met the nicest, most caring people, and they all blog! You can see who they are under my blog roll called, "My Blog Friends." I would love to add you to that list!

I also would like to thank my friends and customers who have come by to check out what I am up to and have left comments. It is interesting for me to see which posts garner comments and attention.

So far so good but, please leave comments as to how I can improve my blog. What kind of posts are you most interested in reading?

Cheryl

Best Hawaii Blog or Best Hawaiian Blog

Several Hawaii blogs and Hawaiian blogs claim to be the best Hawaii blog or best Hawaiian blog, but I would be perfectly happy just to have a good blog from Hawaii.

In my opinion, a good blog has all original content and is interesting or useful to the reader in some way. A good blog also needs to have frequent posts. I post 5-7 times per week, but I am striving to post daily.

I consider a good blogger to be responsive to her readers. I send a thank you email to first time commenters, and respond to comments that appear on my blog post to keep the conversation going.

Currently I have only a handful of readers, but they read my blog regularly and leave comments. Also many have become my friends, which has been a pleasant added bonus! This makes me keep trying to do better, and most importantly, not to give up.

As I am still fairly new to blogging (it's only been about 3 months), please share comments about what you consider to be a good blog or blogger.

Our Hawaii blog or Hawaiian blog has a New Home

Aloha Everyone!

Hawaii Vacation Gifts is a Hawaii travel blog, Hawaii vacation blog, and a Big Island blog. We live and blog from the east side of the Big Island on Hawaii.

To our readers who followed us from our old blog host wordpress.com, and to people reading our blog for the first time at our new blog host typepad.com, a sincere mahalo, or thank you in Hawaiian. We hope you enjoy our Hawaii blog or Hawaiian blog with all original content posted almost daily.

I liked wordpress because it worked well and was free, but after a month of blogging I realized I wanted to do so much more with my blog. For example there were only a few templates and widgets to choose from at wordpress.com, whereas I could do more customization at typepad.

Please leave me a comment as to how you like our new look, our new header, and soon, our new url will be HawaiiVacationGift.com without the plural -- HawaiiVacationGifts goes to our web site.

New Hawaii Vacation Gifts Blog by Double Brush

Aloha and E Komo Mai! In Hawaiian that means Hello and Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our new Hawaii blog. This is our first time blogging and it is very exciting. We invite you to take the journey with us and welcome your comments. Please let us know what topics you find interesting, or what you think would be a good topic to blog about.

And please visit our sites HawaiiVacationGifts.com and DoubleBrush.com

A Hui Hou or Until we Meet Again