Here at The Lakeside Collection® we have baskets and boxes if you are cleaning out your closet. We have household storage organizers and laundry organizers to help you arrange and organize your room or house.   These Sets Of 5 Colorful Plastic Organizers are great for home or office.  Each set of durable plastic organizers features 5 different fun colors that make it easy to color code the contents and find items easily.  Each style has a chrome metal plate on front for easy labeling.  The Document, Organizer and CD boxes come with lids.

No tools needed to install our spring-loaded 5-Pc. Drawer Divider Set. These easy-to-use pieces expand to fit your drawers and get rid of clutter.

The Wallboard With 22 Storage Hooks easily stores your hand tools and accessories when you don’t need them.  It is the perfect storage system for your garage, closet, home office, kitchen, craft room or workroom.

The Holidays are now over and it is time to put all away for the following year.  Doesn’t it seem to all go so quick and sure enough the next holiday will sneak up quickly and it will be time to bring it all out again.  I have found it is essential to put back the decorations in a well organized manner.  This way when it is time to decorat again it makes it much easier and easier to find what you are looking for, also a big time saver.  Lakeside has a great deal on Holiday Decoration Organizers starting at only $5.95!

Making crafts together with your kids or grandkids is a great activity. Instead of letting them sit in front of the TV you can take the time to make craft hobby projects with then. Thankfully we have a great selection of craft tools that help you with this. We have a 15 scissor stand with 15 different types of scissors that will help you cut paper when making your crafts. You can’t get scissors without some sort of paper and we offer seasons scrapbook paper sets in different holiday themes, like Christmas or Halloween. Each set includes 24 sheets and 3 sets of stickers that match the scrapbook theme. Christmas or Halloween not your thing? We also have Autumn Leaves Branded scrapbooking kits as well starting at $4.95.

“When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year.”
-   Carol L. Riser, Autumn

To me Fall is the best season.  I love the sweater weather and the Ladies’ Fit and Flare Sweater for only $17.95 has wide and narrow cables for eye-catching style with cozy warmth.  Keep the collar open or button the sweater all the way to the top and fold over the collar to create a turtleneck. Coordinate your sweater and head out the door in sophisticated style with this 3-Pc. Herringbone Accessory Set for only $12.95 that includes a tote bag, wallet and scarf.   Matching 3-piece set easily takes you from the office to a night out in classy, coordinated style.  Get out enjoy the season change in style.

As the weather gets cooler, keep yourself warmer through all the great baking and cooking essentials here at Lakeside.  Keep it simple with this 50-Pc. Value Bakeware Set, it is high-quality kitchen equipment that you won’t have to clean!  A value-priced way to prepare for your holiday cooking!  If just cooking for yourself and guest, the 5-Pc. Toaster Oven Pan Set is perfect.  The nonstick metal pans fit in most toaster ovens and can be used in conventional ovens, too.  Prepare delicious home cooked meals with the 10-Pc. Rachael Ray Cookware.  Our invaluable cookware features nonstick interior, aluminum, stainless steel, silicone and clear lids for easy view.  Pots are dishwasher safe and comes in cool orange and blue colors.  Our set of 2 Insulated Cookie Sheets features triple-layer construction for perfect treats every time.  Create festive pull-a-part cakes with our Take-A-Part Cake Pans.  These pans are easy to use-simply bake the cupcakes, pop them out and decorate.  The nonstick silicone surface ensures quick release and even baking.

Happy Eating!

Are you ready for Football season? It’s finally among us. Last week the first games started. We have a great selection of officially licensed NFL products that are high quality and great for gifts. For the worker or for any household project you might check out the NFL Tool belts, made out of heavy duty material to withstand the  construction site. It does include a holder for a full sized framing hammer and comes in the most popular 12 teams in the NFL.

For your kids you might look at the NFL Helmet coin bank. Encourage your younger ones to save money (which is finally starting to become popular once again).  Unlike some coin banks, these have no calculators on them, which helps your child learn how to count money faster. At only $7.95 each, these make great birthday giveaways or a prize for getting an “A” on the report card.

One of the most popular candy items of all time is the Jelly Belly. In fact Jelly Belly’s go back a long way and made great strides in all of their flavors. Here is a brief history of them courtesy of Wikipedia:

David Klein (born in 1946) created the marketing concept of a new kind of jelly bean to be sold in single flavors in 1976 He approached the family operating Herman Goelitz Candy Company to manufacture it. Fourth generation Goelitz descendent Herman G. Rowland, Sr., and his parents had decided to expand the company’s products more than a decade before. The company was the first American manufacturer to make a gummi bear for the US market. They also made candy corn, mellocremes, gummi worms, giant jelly beans and mini jelly beans, which were the precursor to the famous Jelly Belly jelly bean. Confectioner Marinus van Dam was employed by the company to manage the plant and oversee new product development with Herman Rowland. Marinus van Dam was born in Ooltgensplaat, a township in Oostflakkee, Netherlands, on October 24, 1929. After obtaining a candy manufacturing degree in the Netherlands, he emigrated to the United States and went to work for the Herman Goelitz Candy Company in the 1960s. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business, Marich Confectionery.

Traditional jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored pectin centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. The third and fourth generation of the candy family decided to produce a superior jelly bean to set itself off from traditional jelly beans. The centers for the company’s mini jelly bean were colored and flavored. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. With the new generation of Jelly Belly beans the company used real fruit juices and natural flavors when possible to boost the taste experience further. The finished Jelly Belly beans contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, and were more flavorful than the generic jelly beans sold in stores^.

David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in an ice cream parlor, Fosselman’s, in Alhambra, California in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda.

With that we have two great choices for our Jelly Belly fans, the Christmas and Autumn gift packs. Each gift pack comes with over 39 different flavors sure to put a smile on either yourself or someone whom you choose to give a gift. Each gift pack is a steal for only $13.95, versus paying up to $18 or more for these gifts. These are a popular item and could very well sell out of stock, so be sure to get your orders in before we run out! What are your favorite flavors when using Jelly Bellies?

Employee Appreciation Luncheons were hosted during the week of May 4, 2009.  These annual luncheons are held to show our dedicated employees how much their hard work is appreciated.  This is just one of the many things we do as a company to show our employees that we value their contributions.  Lakeside has a long standing tradition of celebrating our employees through recognition programs, monthly birthday celebrations, and different events throughout the year.

Our Executive and Management teams prepared and served our 1,571 employees in each of our locations.  This tradition is fun for all of our employees because the Executives and Managers enjoy being directly involved in providing the food, and the employees enjoy seeing their managers work hard to host this event for them.  The menu consisted of grilled, marinated steak and chicken, salad and other various sides, veggie burgers, and cupcakes.

Does anyone out there have a summer tradition they look forward to every summer?  For me it is the weekly Friday ice cream truck with all the kids on the street.  You can hear the melodic chimes of the truck a few streets away.  Once it is heard by the kids, it is chaos with all the kids screaming and doing an ice cream dance, ahh to be young again.  The tradition continues with them all sitting on the neighbor’s stairs to eat their ice cream that drips down their face onto their clothes, sticking to the sand and whatever else they have gotten into that day.  Maybe we should make ice cream the 5th food group!

Here at the Lakeside Collection we are celebrating the imminent release of the new Harvest Catalog. In this new catalog you’ll find hundreds of new items and unbeatable prices. Some of the items that I really enjoyed are:

The Quick Lawn Grass seed which is perfect for those areas in your yard that aren’t full of grass that your neighbors don’t seem to have a problem with. You’ll be the envy of  your neighbors with this new quick grass seed and compete for the best looking lawn in your neighborhood.

If you are like me odds are, you love cookies. I simply love them. Thankfully we sell cookie sheets that are insulated and offer a great way to bake fresh homemade cookies. These cookie sheets offer triple layer protection with a combination of heavyweight steel and an aluminum radiant shield you get two sets for only $14.95, which you can compare to other stores that sell these for $14.95 for just 1 cookie sheet!