Name Your Tune CD {Review & Giveaway & Coupon Code}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

Thanks to my mother and her creativity, I have a unique name.

There are pros and cons to all names, I suppose, but I only know the ones for mine. Pros to being named Xenia include never having to wonder if my teacher was calling on me, receiving a load of compliments every time I say it and recognizing when someone is trying to read my name off of a list because of the uncomfortable pause before they speak in fear of mispronouncing it (which they WILL). Cons include the aforementioned mispronouncing of my name constantly, over and over and over, by strangers and friends alike. People just see the X and it all goes downhill from there. (It's pronounced Za-knee-a, by the way, with the stress on the second syllable. Nice to meet you.)

Another con? Never EVER finding personalized items in stores. As a kid I spent far too much time spinning those displays of pencils or mini license plates in hopes that it would be the day that Xenia would be one of the available choices. Alas, it never was and I'm sure probably never will be.

Therefore, for me, things that are personalized are amazing. I will always think that seeing your name printed makes that item immediately special and wonderful. Your name is right on there! The only way to possibly make it better would be to hear your name, right?


If I had received a Name Your Tune CD when I was a child, I would have been blown away in complete and utter amazement. Made-to-order and completely personalized for each child, Name Your Tune is a compilation of 14 well-known songs that have the name of your child seamlessly incorporated throughout the music more than 80 times.

Ordering a CD from Name Your Tune is exceptionally easy. To begin with, they have a list of over 4200 recorded names available to choose from (and a suggestion box to add more in the future), with multiple pronunciations to be sure they have yours just right. In fact...

I ♥ you, Name Your Tune. Thanks for letting all the little Xenias out there share in the joy!

Once you enter in the spelling, both actual and phonetically, you are able to add a special message to the disc itself to complete the personalization. Ordering this for an upcoming birthday? Or as a wonderful Holiday gift? Display your note on the CD to commemorate the occasion for years to come.

When it came time to choose whether to have a CD personalized for Big Sister E or Little Sister B, I wasn't sure what to do. However, as luck would have it, I was fortunate to win a Name Your Tune giveaway going on at Me and Bella and was able to rest easy that neither daughter would grow up feeling slighted. However, one CD also would have worked for both girls, as Name Your Tune will incorporate multiple names on one disc (at no extra cost) by alternating songs between the names. Everyone's happy!

The first time I played Little Sister B her CD was over breakfast. Her response?


Little Sister B loves music, so I'm not sure if she was so happy to hear these songs because they're catchy and upbeat or because she actually recognizes her name in them. Whatever the reason, she gave Name Your Tune a big thumbs up.

Time for the real critic. Also a music-lover, Big Sister E can be discriminating with her taste and will let me know when I need to change the song to something else if she doesn't like it. Once Name Your Tune came on and her name was said right along with the words, she was hooked.

"They're singing 'bout me!"

The Name Your Tune CDs have quickly become treasured items in our house. "Play E--- music! E--- music!" Big Sister E will often say whenever there is a lull and each time her name is sung her smile gets bigger and bigger. Along with bringing joy, I really love the way Name Your Tune is such a fun way to enjoy music, have fun and sneak some educational value in as well (hearing songs about themselves encourages language development in children and the motions are described for Wheels on the Bus or Head and Shoulders... which Little Sister B loves to demonstrate).

If music isn't your thing, Name Your Tune also offers a large array of other customizable items that are sure to delight. Their personalized blankets, lunch boxes and wall art are just a few of the bright, colorful options that would definitely fill any child with wonder when unwrapped.

Still looking for other reasons to order from Name Your Tune? A portion from the sale of each CD is donated to Hear Here, a Toronto-based non-profit organization that provides hearing aids for children. What a great cause! And, just in time for Holiday shopping, enter the coupon code carrier at checkout and receive a $5 discount on your order! Also, thanks to the generosity of Name Your Tune...

One lucky person will win their own Name Your Tune CD! Just in time for the Holidays!

To enter to win your Name Your Tune CD: Visit Name Your Tune, browse the playlist and tell me the song you think would be the favorite of the lucky child in your life. Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted)
1 Extra Entry (per method) - Follow Name Your Tune on Twitter or become a friend of Name Your Tune on Facebook.
1 Extra Entry - Sign up for the Name Your Tune mailing list (lower right on their homepage) to keep up to date with special offers and new products.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway. See the list on the top of my right sidebar - there are some really great ones going on right now and coming up!
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

Personalized CD #giveaway @thxmailcarrier from @NameYourTuneCDs! Their name right in the song makes a great gift! http://bit.ly/1t66BK #Win!

2 Extra Entries per follow method (leave 2 separate comments for each type) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect (see sidebar), subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and Name Your Tune. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on November 13th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open worldwide - if you're reading this, you can enter!

A big thank you to Candace Alper and Eric Alper at Name Your Tune for providing me with a CD for review (and a second one that I won) as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. We will continue to groove to our personalized songs around here for a long time to come. The opinions shared are my own and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.