When it comes to phones, the smarter the better.

It’s amazing how even five years ago, the capabilities of your phone were mainly to call or text message people – and now you can make reservations and check in at restaurants, find new songs and make playlists, get step-by-step GPS directions and use a plethora of apps for games and the like. Ultimate organization of your life, in the palm of your hand.

And speaking of smart phones, we have an exciting giveaway running right now. Get a free Android smart phone from CafePress.

Choose from 18 different sharp-looking models that work with Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, add in a simple two-year contract and data feature, and you’re done. Compare at $99 for most on other carrier sites, and you’re saving a nice chunk of change from that piggy bank for a brand new smart phone. Here are some comparative prices on other sites:

To snatch yours up before our offer ends, just visit our free smart phone page and choose your favorite phone model before it sells out.

Then the gloating to your friends and family on how you got a free Android smart phone can commence.

The Presidential Elections spawn a political revitalization of new opinions and platforms, partisan clashes, letdowns and triumphs over the course of months leading up to the most important political day: November 6, 2012 – voting day. The day we as U.S. citizens not only rally our support behind a candidate with our words, but with the action of voting. And for next year’s election, we’re already seeing some interesting metrics unfold within CafePress political sales of merchandise.

Back in 2008 as the race between Barack Obama and John McCain heated up, we took notice of the political designs by our community of users and sales from those designs. It was interesting to see how sales percentages of political-tagged products were on point with each candidate’s popularity in the polls – and we could try to predict who would win the 2008 Presidential Election. Hence, the origin of the CafePress Election Meter™ was born, and was correct in forecasting the inauguration of current incumbent, President Barack Obama, as well as showing CafePress as a Cultural Barometer® of trends in the election cycle.

Fast-forward to today – November 8, 2011. We’re 363 days away from the 2012 Election, and proud to introduce the 2012 CafePress Election Meter for your one-stop shop on politics updates and self-expression through merchandise. To celebrate, you’ll find a special $10 t-shirt available for each candidate, and you’ll also see some unique graphics and charts of trends based on sales percentages of political-tagged merchandise that will update each week on our election meter:

Overall candidate sales – 2011.  This graphic represents total 2011 political-tagged merchandise sales percentages to date for all candidates. This includes all GOP candidates plus incumbent Barack Obama. Ron Paul leads with 41% of the total, followed by Herman Cain with 21% and Obama with 14%. Interestingly enough, this is the first time since 2008 that another candidate (and in this case, two) took the #1 slot away from Obama. Does this mean Obama’s popularity is starting to weaken?

Pro-Obama VS. Anti-Obama. What’s more interesting than comparing Obama to himself? For those who support Obama, and those against him, this infographic conveys the sentiments of those who design and purchase Obama merchandise on CafePress. From sales percentages of Obama-tagged merchandise, 77% is anti, and 23% pro to date in 2011.

Weekly Results. On a weekly basis, you’ll be able to see which candidate saw the largest increase in sales from the previous week. This graphic can communicate what we’re seeing in terms of candidate popularity. Currently, the buzz is around Herman Cain, who dominates 50% of the total sales percentages of political-tagged products for last week; Ron Paul follows Cain with 24%.

Take a look at our elections meter every week to stay up to date on the current trends on the election cycle. Support your candidate of choice, and let’s see where these predictions will go on November 6, 2012!

We ran a fun Sweepstakes for two weeks on our Facebook page that ended on Monday.  We were giving away FREE Flip Mino HD Cameras – 6 to be exact – to each winner. One Flip Mino to keep, and 5 to give away to friends and family. We have our winners! And after thousands of entries, the drumroll…

Congratulations to Susan Macdonald and Ashley Alward who were our lucky winners of 6 Flip Mino HD cameras each.

If you weren’t one of our winners, don’t fret just yet – because you should stay on the lookout for more exciting sweepstakes and contests like these on our Facebook page very soon – not to mention very special, exclusive offers we’ll be posting as well. To stay up to date on all the fun and games to come, Like us on Facebook and stay tuned for more!

Life is about capturing memories. The good times and experiences you make with family and friends. And photos and videos definitely come to the rescue in the capturing memories department.

With that in mind, CafePress is hosting a fun sweepstakes on our Facebook page – Like us on Facebook and submit an entry form, and you’re automatically in the running to win 6 Flip Mino HD cameras.* Yes, you read that right – SIX.

While that number may seem a bit excessive, we like to think of it as paying it forward – you’re helping spread the love far and wide to your friends and family, prompting them to snap those pictures and videos so you can all look back on them in 20 years and laugh at how ridiculous everyone looked from their hairstyles to their fashion. Just kidding.

But really, check out the CafePress Facebook fan page for all of the details and information on how to enter. It’s super easy, and you could be one of two lucky winners to get 6 Flip cameras. So enter, share with your friends (making sure they’ll give you one of the Flips if they win), and keep watch for more sweepstakes on our Facebook page in the future. We hope it’ll make you flip. Bad joke, but good sweepstakes.

* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open only to persons, who as of Entry, have “Liked” CafePress’ page and filled and submitted the entry form, and who are 18 years of age or older, and legal residents of, and physically located within, the 50 U.S. or DC. Sweepstakes starts at 12:00AM PST on September 19, 2011 and ends at 12:59PM PST on October 3, 2011. Click here for Official Rules.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

Well, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Again. The rock being the Talking Dog pajamas you really really want to get mom for her birthday, and the hard place being that you don’t know if you can order them.

And this is where CafePress swoops in, with the help of your family and friends.

We have a new, unique feature called Split the Cost – which may sound self-explanatory – but it’s a lot more fun than you think! For any product that costs more than $35.00 on our site, you’ll see this little gift icon on the page:

Once you click on it, another page will pop up for you to fill out the details of why having these pajamas are dire to your existence:

Simply reach out to friends or family via e-mail (Gmail and Yahoo) or Facebook, asking them to help contribute. You can invite as many people as you’d like and split the cost evenly between everyone included, or suggest specific amounts. On the bottom of the window, feel free to include the name of the recipient, select an occasion and enter a personal message to everyone sharing the gift. And once everyone you invite contributes, you’ll receive a gift code to redeem for your “purchase!”

This feature is perfect for sharing costs with your siblings for mom and dad’s anniversary, getting your friend an awesome custom iPad case for their birthday, or getting the hubby a funny sweatshirt from the kids “just because.”

With your awesome new pajamas on, you can thank each of your friends who helped you get warm and comfy during the cold nights that will ensue. A sleepover party may be in order. Then everyone will have to get their own PJs.

Sum sum summertime. Fun-filled vacations, grilling and BBQs, and of course, that warm weather that embraces shorts, summer dresses, and the ultimate freedom for your feet…flip flops.

CafePress now offers custom flip-flops for men, women and kids! Don your favorite footwear or design your own custom flip flops. Not only can you give your feet some breathing room from the constriction of tight shoes, but you can also choose or create your favorite design that will give your feet an extra pop of color and pizzazz. Dreaming of a Hawaiian sunset? Channel your inner beach bum with some tropical flip flops. Monet on the mind? Find some cool art flip flops to slip into.

And now for the best part – for TODAY ONLY, we’re offering 20% OFF* our entire collection of our flip-flops: but hurry, because this flash sale only lasts until midnight PST tonight! Use coupon code FLIPTOIT at checkout to walk off with some sweet savings.

So get your foot fetish on…and I’ll dream along with you about that beach in Hawaii. Mmmm, mai tais…

* Save 20% off flip flips from CafePress.com, excluding shipping charges, gift wrap charges and  applicable sales tax.  Excludes bulk orders. Coupon code FLIPTOIT must be entered at check out.  Promotion starts on August 23, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. (PST) and ends on August 23, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. (PST).   All orders must be from the CafePress Marketplace. Offer valid online at CafePress.com only, cannot be combined with any other coupons or promotions and may change, be modified or cancelled at anytime without notice. This promotion cannot be applied to past orders.

With the maddening billionaire NFL team owners reaching an 11th-hour (4^th and long?) agreement with the infuriating Prima Dona multi-millionaire players, it looks like the professional football season is set to kick-off as scheduled. Now that the ink is dry on the lock-out (or lack thereof), designers and buyers are sprinting towards the goal of a grid-iron celebration.

It looks like the American public is in a forgive & forget mood, as we’re seeing a huge up-swing in football-themed merchandise in the CafePress marketplace. Chances are fantasy football gear will be hot on its tail.

Not to be overshadowed by such a fall-and-winter-centric activity as football, the summer season is still sizzling just like your grill. With the mercury soaring across the nation, sun worshippers are temporarily chilling in their air-conditioned homes and offices, making, sharing and buying Summer-themed products. You’ll see them on the streets again soon, sporting fun white t-shirts celebrating El Sol.

CafePress shoppers seem to be in a positively giddy mood these days, as the pastafarian themed products are trending high. And who can blame them, when the Flying Spaghetti Monster is at the center of it all. Our favorite carbohydrate creature is at it again, making a cultural splash on the scene, and this time, he’s got more designs up his…noodly…sleeve. Did he grace your shopping cart with his presence the first time around, or did you decide to become a pastafarian member recently? Featuring fun designs with the combination of pasta, Rastafarian hair-dos and aliens from outer space, the Flying Spaghetti Monster products are sure to earn you a chuckle for more years to come.

Speaking of a laugher, it turns out the dreaded Carmageddon in LA fizzled. With a section of Interstate 405 closed for the weekend, fears of gridlock kept people at home. Hence, traffic was smooth. But that didn’t stop people from designing and buying lots of fun products to celebrate the “non-event.”

When the pressure’s on, girls really know how to bring it.

So as exciting as it is, it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that our US Women’s soccer team stepped up and head-butted that pressure in the face (figuratively, and probably literally too). The team, who’s currently slated to take on Japan in the Women’s World Cup finals this Sunday, garnered a cult following in a series of close-call games throughout the FIFA tournament that lead them to the finals. And on Sunday, the U.S. could be celebrating the newest world futbol champions.

We’re starting the celebrations a little early – we’re super excited they’re in the finals, after all! And to show our pride for our gals stateside, we’ve created a special edition bumper sticker in honor of them – and its only $1. A kick-a$$ deal because of some kick-a$$ females. We like it and hope you do too.

Interestingly enough, this is not the U.S. team’s first time battling for the top spot – the women’s team has previously won two Women’s World Cup titles, both in 1991 and 1999. Maybe they’ll add a third on Sunday and hence be triple as awesome as they were before?

It’s summer, so it won’t be hard to warm-up to this deal – and while you’re at it, check out a ton of other cool soccer t-shirts and gear – we’re pretty sure you’ll score on this deal.

Everybody loves doing this in the bedroom. A lot.

No, not that. The other thing.

Sleeping! And what better way to make your night as restful (and stylish) as you can than with one of our newest custom products: Pajamas.

Available in women’s, men’s and kids styles, our pajamas come in a variety of fun colors. Whether you enjoy the black t-shirt, black flannel pant combo, or a white tee, pink flannel pants mix-up, we highly recommend picking your favorite design and then snuggling under the covers wearing said design for a good night’s sleep. (We heard you might even count a few less sheep with them on, too.) And at $34.50, you’ll have a soft pair of pajamas that also go soft on your wallet.

So go don your custom pj’s, jump on the mattress, and jump on the sleep-train. It’s pulling into your station. (Yawn.)