What gift cards topped your shopping list in June? Surprisingly, almost the exact same ones, in the same order as last month – but with a little twist.

Home improvement giants continued to top the list, with Home Depot and Lowe’s ranked at #1 and #2. The secret is out – builders, subcontractors and professional handymen can increase their margins by buying discounted gift cards from Plastic Jungle. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s cards are currently offered at 7% off, immediately shaving costs and adding profit to the bottom line.

And it’s not just skilled experts that enjoyed savings. With June graduations and the Father’s Day holiday, Home Depot and Lowe’s gift cards made terrific gifts for the home improvement hobbyist.

Walmart and Target again ranked #3 and #4 respectively. As one-stop shopping centers, Junglers saved on nearly everything under the sun, including house wares, toys, clothing, electronics, and even groceries. With 3% discounted gift cards stacked on top of Walmart and Target’s already uber-competitive low prices, these cards get swiped up fast, so sign up for a notification alert to get first access.

Best Buy again ranked #5. A great source for computers, video games, televisions, digital cameras, mp3 players, mobile phones & appliances, Best Buy gift cards likely made for some great Father’s Day and Graduation gifts as well.

The next three spots were filled by clothing department stores: Macys (#6), Kohl’s (#7) and JC Penney (#8). Perhaps our Junglers were freshening up their summer wardrobe with new shorts, tanks, sundresses, swimsuits and sandals. All three merchants have darling summer clothing collections on sale now, as they make room for their fall and back-to-school collections.

The Apple Store held spot #9. Our family celebrated the end of school and good report cards with a new iPhone for my daughter, a new iTouch for my son and a new Nano for mama (I deserved a little treat for helping with all the homework and packing lunches all year long, right?!) Apple Store gift cards are quite popular, so be sure to plan ahead and sign up for an email alert when they become available.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Barnes & Noble. (Cabela’s filled this spot in May.) A popular go-to, slam-dunk teacher’s gift is always a Barnes & Noble gift card. Was your child’s teacher the lucky recipient of one of these end-of-the-school-year gifts?

Special Honorary Mention goes out to iTunes, who ranked #6 in quantity (vs. revenue), with a whopping 6,125 cards sold in June. That’s a lot of TV, video, movie, app and music downloads!

These Top 10 gift cards are just the tip of the iceberg (or should we say tip of the palm tree?) Plastic Jungle has  nearly 400 brands, with discounted gift cards offered up to 35% off. Click here to see what hot cards we’ve got up for sale now!

The PJ 10

What were we buying in March? Well, there weren’t any spectaular retail “events” that drove us to specialty stores, so as expected the top three gift card sellers were big box chains offering groceries and fishing supplies and everything in-between. Spring was a bit late late this year, so clearly we were driven to hot, caffeinated coffee, putting Starbucks into our Top 10 Gift Cards in March. And iTunes, with the diversity of media on offer these days, from music to books to TV and movies, proves it’s a great gift card to give and get.

Honorable mentions from March? JC Penney, Pottery Barn, Cabela’s, Barnes & Noble, and Nordstrom.

Salivating over the potential savings at a favorite store? If you’re ready to ditch your unused gift card and trade up to one of the favorites, you can safely and securely SELL or EXCHANGE your gift card on Plastic Jungle, with many different payout and trade options, including an Amazon.com Gift Card, Facebook credits and Paypal account funding.

Top 10 Gift Cards in March, 2011

10 SEARS

Purchase discount Sears Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 9% OFF.

9 KOHL’S

Purchase discount Kohl’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 14% OFF.

8 STARBUCKS

Purchase discount Starbucks Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they come into stock. Set an Alert Now.

7 MACY’S

Purchase discount Macy’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they come into stock. Set an Alert Now.

6 BEST BUY

Purchase discount Best Buy Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 5% OFF.

5 LOWE’S

Purchase discount Lowe’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

4 iTUNES

Purchase discount iTunes Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

3 TARGET

Purchase discount Target Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 5% OFF.

2 HOME DEPOT

Purchase discount Home Depot Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

1 WALMART

Purchase discount Walmart Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they become available. Set an Alert Now.

What’s your favorite gift card of the moment? Something to get ready for spring — sporting goods or travel? Let us know in the comments below.

A Collection of Travel Blog Highlights, Airfare Sale Sites, and Insider Travel Tips that Will Get You Traveling Faster and Smarter.

Spring break travel, honeymoon travel, summer travel. There’s always time to get a good tip, score a fresh deal, or take down an insider restaurant recommendation.

Hip Travel

For the hyper-conscious urban millennial, travel tends to wax experiential, and the magazine ReadyMade is on the trend. You probably have no idea what I’m referring to. Regardless, any demographic can appreciate ReadyMade’s travel-related blog posts, from destination listings (hotels in Berlin, details on art traveling to you, Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, Kansas City), to an actual worthwhile travel project. Check out the instructions for how to create a Multipurpose Picnic Blanket for about $26. Srsly! Right?!

For the ReadyMade crowd, I see a discounted Michael’s Gift Card getting you a deal on fabrics for your picnic blankets.

Travel Savings To-Go (without the Kayak windows)

Families love and share the website TravelZoo.com, but it’s a hot bargain-price aggregation site for just about anybody. Check out their Top 20 Deals, which at time of writing advertises a $60 nationwide airfare sale and a 4-star Scottsdale resort for $99 per night. Yowza.

Find a bargain link on TravelZoo for American Airlines, and use a discounted American Airlines Gift Card for purchase to sweeten the deal.

High-End Travel Guides

Perhaps you’re done with dusty road trips and bourgeois mid-scale hotels and it’s time to indulge in the niceties that a lot of cash can afford you. Whether it’s a one-time honeymoon or a once-in-a-lifetime getaway or even better, the way you’ve always meant to travel, find camaraderie and like-minded recommendations in Luxe City Guides, which cover the high-end luxury dining and accommodations. Book your room via Luxe Hotels & Villas online, which is an exclusive collection of elite hotels, villas, boutiques, and B&B’s around the world. Afraid it’s out of your budget? Check out the “More Dash Than Cash” page.

Pay $1,000 a night, but save on the Prada sunglasses you’ve got your eye on with a discounted Sunglass Hut Gift Card  >>>

Ready to Go, See, and Do

Have you heard about a destination, read about it, researched it, and still have questions that can only be answered by someone who’s just been there? Off-the-beaten path Lonely Planet travel guides maintain an online, ready-to-assemble army of travelers on their Thorn Tree who can answer travelers questions ranging from “Can I drink the water, really?” to “Must travel despite government warning. Any tips?”

Lonely Planeteers might not admit they love a chain restaurant, but between you and me, Cracker Barrel is a secret favorite. What you save on a discounted Cracker Barrel Gift Card you can use for gas on your LP Deep South road trip.

But Where Should We Go?

Need to do some quick research to plan a family vacation, or a weekend getaway, or a romantic night? Time to visit Uptake.com, where you can plan travel by genre, not destination.

Get a discounted Borders Gift Card, discounted Barnes & Noble Gift Card, or trade in a gift card on Plastic Jungle to get an Amazon.com Gift Card and purchase a travel guide to complete your destination research.

It Can and Will Be Done: Travel with Children

When they’re only eating chicken nuggets made in the shape of dinosaurs and no other variety will do, any regular mom resorts to thinking a vacation only offers more hassles than downtime. Check out the award-winning site WeJustGotBack.com, where advice abounds on avoiding having to choose your battles on the road. Start with their handy, printable Packing Lists, and read on from there and your anxiety will be soothed.

Moms and Dads: before you go, get discounted Loews Cineplex Gift Cards for rainy days at the beach, Cold Stone Creamery Gift Cards, Jamba Juice Gift Cards, and Starbucks Gift Cards and maybe you can send the older ones off with the younger ones and get some rest!

Let us know how these work for you. And, if you’ve got a travel tip you’re willing to share, let us know in your comment!

And to Poetry Month, your response might be: Who Cares?!

It may very well be that poetry is past its prime. A professional poet is a hard thing to come by, and I’m fairly certain that most people couldn’t name a living poet when asked to. (It’s OK. See below for a quick list!)

What it comes down to is art: the art of our ever-changing language as a means of expression. It’s shocking to come across a poem written hundreds of years ago, and then hear lyrics written by a rapper last week, and have both “poems” ring true to you, though the language is vastly different. (Looking for “Spoken Word” poetry? Search it on iTunes, where you’ll also find audio recordings of works of poetry.)

Here we encourage your exploration into poetry, which, with a little insight, makes for brain-enlivening, fun, “quick-time” reading outside of a classroom. What’s great is that now you can listen to poetry on your MP3 or iPod, download it to your Kindle or Nook, or browse online or in a bookstore* for a juicy poetical payoff. No analysis required.

Poetry for Kids

You might think the hundreds of picture books published each year qualify as poetry for children, but really, they’re mostly just rhymed stories. Today’s teaching helps kids understand the succinct nature of poetry and language, and how their limited vocabularies are still quite effectual and expressive.

One source, Poetry for Children, a blog run by Sylvia Vardell, will give you all kinds of kids’ poetry ideas and authors, and surely something will suit your kid’s individual style. Check out “Poetry TagTime”, available for 99¢ as an ebook at Amazon.com.

Jack Prelutsky, children's book author

Jack Prelutsky, current US Children’s Poet Laureate, has a do-it-yourself poetry workshop available via Scholastic.com which can result with kids publishing their work on the web. If you’re not familiar already with Jack P.’s work, find his books at Barnes & Noble, or bn.com, or Amazon.com.

For older kids, especially the self-starter tween, young adult, and teens, Figment.com is an amazing site for reading “what everyone else is doing”, as well as an outlet to share works and receive feedback (or not!).

Poets Laureate

American Poets Laureate are determined by a consortium at the Library of Congress, and are meant to be writers whose work reflects the sentiments of their time or generation. The poets chosen tend to hold cache on the East Coast collegiate circuit; despite its diversity, the poets are worthwhile reading.

Current US Poet Laureate, W. S. Merwin’s poetry has garnered national awards. His poems reflect a mid-20^th Century angst, and question war, just as we do now. Check out his tome Migration: Selected Poems 1951-2001.

Past laureates include Robert Lowell, William Carlos Williams, Billy Collins and Kay Ryan, who recently used her stature to get community college students published in a project called “Poetry for the Mind’s Joy”. Read the successful Mind’s Joy poetry on the Library of Congress website.

Modern Poetry and the New Haiku

Wonder which authors are on today’s watch list for the publishing world? Industry journal Publishers Weekly put out a list of authors in an article “Poetry Profiled 2011” in their nod to National Poetry Month. Included in this list is a poetry guide by David Orr, Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry.

There are hundreds of poetry anthologies to find on Amazon, Borders, Indiebound.org, or at Barnes & Noble, often classified by subject: Love, Nature, Classics, Sonnets, Regional, etc. Try unusual search terms and see what you find: type in “Dog Poetry” and the first selection in query results is a fun collection written by writer’s dogs.

A new, digital phenomenon is Twitter Poetry. The emergence of poems written in 140 characters (or less) was noted recently in the Establishment’s paper-of-record, The New York Times. Look up T Poet on Twitter (@TwitterPoetry) or try the blog site TwiHaiku, where you can read Twitter examples filed by subject (love, nature, the universe), or upload your own works.

The thought of haiku might bring to mind Japan. Traditional haiku is a more carefully studied art form with centuries of history. To quench your 5-7-5 syllable haiku thirst, pick up a translated collection by Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Issa, or Yosa Buson, or compare all three in a Haiku collection with an introduction to all three authors by the illustrious Robert Hass.

Want to read more?  Add some of these great poet’s works to your ipod or MP3 player by purchasing discounted gift cards from Plastic Jungle to make the downloads more affordable.  Or head over to your local bookstore and peruse the shelves for your favorite authors.

Get discounted Barnes & Noble Gift Cards >>>

Trade in or exchange a gift card with unused balance for an Amazon.com Gift Card >>>
Get Discounted Borders Gift Cards >>>
Get Discounted iTunes Gift Cards >>>

Get Discounted Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Gift Cards (you have to read somewhere!) >>>

Remember that most poems are copyrighted material, so think twice before you publicly publish any works that are not your own.

Enjoy the look inward, as you explore our language as it lives, changes, and even to explore its dead, fallen branches (to wax poetic!) to see how you may grow in your humanity.

Give us your favorite poems and poets. Leave a comment to let us know how you think of poetry in your daily life.

The Academy Awards are this weekend! The Official Red Carpet coverage starts on ABC channels at 7 pm on the East Coast/4 pm on the West Coast, then the Academy Awards show starts at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. For more information go to Oscar.com.

Here’s info to tune into the myriad pre-shows that dish on designers, celebrities, and movie stars:

• E! Online has red carpet coverage beginning at 6 pm EST/3 pm PST.
• The MTV Movies blog will have live online streaming from 6 pm to 8 pm EST.
• CNN’s Showbiz Tonight will have “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Camille Grammer as a fashion and celebrity commentator; their live coverage is at 7 pm EST, then wrap-up coverage is at 11 pm EST on HLN.
• For the real down-low and what they were wearing, E!’s Fashion Police, with Red Carpet veteran quick-wit Joan Rivers will likely air on Monday… can’t find a specific airdate, but look for it on E!

Here’s a quick link to the complete list of Academy Awards Nominees for your Oscar Pool. If you could cast your vote for the Oscars – how would you go? I pick The Social Network for the Best Picture win. Why? Because it’s the only Oscar-nominated movie to pass my litmus test: my brother saw it!

Get Discounts on Movie Tickets, Concessions, and DVD & Blu-Ray Discs

Getting to see the Oscar-nominated movies might get expensive. Discounted gift cards to theaters, media retailers, and restaurants take the sting out of what could be a pricey proposition. Here are some gift card ideas from Plastic Jungle based on what’s on sale right now (at time of writing) on the site.

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• Straight-up, purchase discounted gift cards to theaters or movie chains. Right now, cinema gift cards and theater gift cards on sale include:
• AMC Theatres Gift Cards |  Cinema De Lux Gift Cards |  Landmark Theatres Gift Cards |  Loew’s Theaters Gift Cards |  Regal Cinema Gift Cards (also good at United Artists Theatres and Edwards Cinemas )
• Choose Fandango Gift Cards for flexibility as to which theater or movie chain you can use them at, and Fandango Gift Cards are sold as eCODEs too so you can potentially use them the same day you buy them. Recipients must have Internet access to redeem Fandango Bucks; to see if you can use them locally, enter your zip code on the Fandango home page.
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• For movies that have left the theaters (or those foreign ones that may have never played near you but critics tell you not to miss), go for a media store gift card. Right now, Plastic Jungle has FYE Gift Cards (and eCODES) |  Hollywood Video Gift Cards |  Barnes & Noble Gift Cards |  Best Buy Gift Cards | Border’s Gift Cards (at a 14% discount, but use it fast!) | iTunes Gift Cards. Consider even Walmart Gift Cards and Target Gift Cards, where you can buy an inexpensive DVD player and watch movies on your lunch breaks!
• Get an Amazon.com Gift Card when you trade in one of your unused gift cards in exchange, here on Plastic Jungle!
• 
• Post-Movie Discussion: In “The King’s Speech”, didn’t Geoffery Rush just break your heart when the King berated him for having no credentials? How bizarre, on a scale of 1-10, did Natalie Portman seem to you in “The Black Swan”? Was Jesse Eisenberg’s character in “The Social Network” a mean guy, or just another motivated capitalist winning at any cost? The cup of coffee after the movie might be just as important as the movie itself. Get discounts on Starbuck’s Gift Cards | Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Gift Cards | Applebee’s Gift Cards | Cold Stone Creamery Gift Cards | The Cheesecake Factory Gift Cards.
  

  Mark Zuckerberg meets Jesse Eisenberg on Saturday Night Live

View the Video: Samberg, Zuckerberg and Eisenberg on SNL 2/19/11

Enjoy the movie fun this weekend! Let us know how your Oscar Picks came out, and who you thought didn’t win, but deserved it.

One of the hottest gifts this past holiday season was the “e-reader” device. Or is it “eReader”? Or “ereader” maybe. e-Readers translate digital e-books (or eBooks?) so you don’t have to carry around all those paper things.

In any case, pundits (including news outlet MSNBC.com) are estimating that the electronic book devices will be even more popular in 2011 and beyond. Barnes & Noble is a leader in the pack of multitudes with their premier e-reader, the Nook and the NookColor (rated an “Editor’s Choice” by CNET). There are over 2 million digital books available for the Nook or NookColor.

Barnes & Noble Gift Cards are good for books, textbooks, dvds, video games, magazines and tons of gifts!

I’ve got about five or six B&N gift cards with random balance amounts scattered around the house. I’m going to gather up all those gift cards and see what get for them collectively at www.bn.com. Perhaps if not the reader, a few e-books, a magazine or e-magazine subscription, the entire Twilight series set in hardcover, the darn college-level Webster’s Dictionary I’ve been meaning to have around for the kids to expand their horizons with… but what the kids want is new DVDs, video games and graphic novels.

Well, I’ll also check the huge bn.com sale going on right now too, with 50% off “thousands” of titles they say.

Then I’m going to buy a discount gift card from Plastic Jungle in the amount I need for a NookColor. If I buy today, I can save 9%! I’m getting a discount on an item that doesn’t go on sale!

Check the Balance on Your Barnes & Noble Gift Cards and eGift Cards

PHONE: 1-800-295-3029

ONLINE: Check the balance of your Barnes & Noble gift card or Barnes & Noble egift card

IN-STORE: Check the store locator for a retail location near you, or you can also go to Barnes & Noble College bookstores

B&N Gift Card Customer Service: If you’re curious about your Barnes & Noble Gift Card, eGift Card, or Gift Certificate, check out their Gift Card Terms & Conditions page.

Selling Gift Cards
Once you’ve acquired your balance, you can easily and securely sell your Barnes & Noble Gift Card to Plastic Jungle, and save yourself the hassle of carrying around unused money. At Plastic Jungle, you can cash in your Barnes & Noble Gift Card and have the funds deposited directly in your PayPal account. The next step is to send in your physical card using our free pre-paid postage and after processing, you should receive a check in a matter of days.

Exchanging Gift Cards
You can also exchange the gift card for an Amazon.com Gift Card. If you play games on Facebook, you can use Plastic Jungle’s gift card exchange application on Facebook to turn your gift card into Facebook Credits (you should be logged into Facebook to access the app).

To know how much your Barnes & Noble Gift Card is worth in exchange on Plastic Jungle, at the top of the main page, click “Sell Gift Cards”. Look up Barnes & Noble, enter the gift card balance you’ve just acquired, and you’ll see instantly what your gift card balance is worth in cash or trade.

Check other Plastic Jungle blog posts for the same “Check Your Gift Card Balance” information for other stores, including Sears, Land’s End, Macy’s, Best Buy, Lowe’s, and more.

If life is crazy for you on a regular day, then I’ll bet it’s doubly crazy with holiday madness, when schedules are pushed to the limit. Make no mistake: when you’re in a rush, online holiday shopping is efficient, safe and secure shopping, and with an eCODE from Plastic Jungle, you’ll also save money.

Did you know that gift cards are available in an electronic format? An eCODE is an electronic gift card, aka e-gift cards, e-gift codes, or e-certificate: this is the code you enter at a merchant’s online checkout page as a method of payment. It’s not a “promo” or promotion code that gives you a percentage off, or free shipping: an eCODE is actual tender.

So, when you combine the discounted eCODE with a store’s coupon code or promo code, or even a free shipping offer, you can really stack up the holiday savings.

You can buy a discounted electronic gift card, or eCODE, on Plastic Jungle and have the eCODE ready for payment at the specified merchant in a matter of minutes. When you purchase an eCODE, with the Plastic Jungle discount, the eCODE is sent to the email address you registered with. To gift the eCODE, just forward the Plastic Jungle eCODE to your recipient.

Right now on Plastic Jungle, you’ll find iTunes gift cards available as an eCODE*, so you can buy the gift card for less than face value, and use the full face value for online iTunes purchases right away. Barnes & Noble gift cards are available as an eCODE right now too – for online purchases only.

Inside Scoop:  There will be quite a few Zappos gift cards on PlasticJungle.com starting this weekend!

So instead of running from store to store, checking stock and searching for the best deal, smart holiday shoppers are easily finding their holiday deals online. Plastic Jungle definitely wants you to know that with eCODEs, we’re happy to help you with that.

*Remember, gift card and eCODE offerings on Plastic Jungle change all the time. Check back frequently, or sign up for email notifications, for offers from the store of your choice.

Savvy shoppers know planning ahead is a key component to achieve huge savings. To keep more money in your pocket (where it belongs) combine your gift cards savings with in-store promotions, coupons, and sales for an even more impressive discount. These cards move fast, so be sure to set up your gift card notifications to receive an alert when the gift card you want becomes available.

Most purchased gift cards in June 2010 include:

1. Walmart Gift Cards
2. Home Depot Gift Cards
3. Lowe’s Gift Cards
4. Target Gift Cards
5. Best Buy Gift Cards
6. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards
7. Starbucks Gift Cards
8. Pottery Barn Gift Cards
9. Sears Gift Cards
10. Macy’s Gift Cards

View gift cards you loved in January, February, March, April, and May.

Are you meeting your summer budget goals? Share your best savings tip to stay in the green the rest of the summer.

Our savvy customers are gearing up for fun summer activities, so it is no surprise to see clothing, electronics, and department store gift cards top the charts with graduation and wedding season around the corner.

Most purchased gift cards in April 2010 include:

1. Walmart Gift Cards

2. Target Gift Cards

3. Best Buy Gift Cards

4. The Home Depot Gift Cards

5. Safeway Gift Cards

6. Restaurant.com Gift Cards

7. Lowe’s Gift Cards

8. Macy’s Gift Cards

9. Bed Bath & Beyond Gift Cards

10. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards

View gift cards you loved this so far in January, February, and March.

How did you save money in April? What are you planning to do differently in May? Share your best savings tips below in the comments field and help other people get more with less…

With the promise of spring, the release of the iPad, and home improvement projects in the works… it is no surprise to see clothing, electronics, and department store gift cards topping the charts.

Most purchased gift cards in March 2010 include:

1. Walmart Gift Cards

2. Best Buy Gift Cards

3. Home Depot Gift Cards

4. Target Gift Cards

5. Lands’ End, Sears, Kmart Gift Cards

6. Lowe’s Gift Cards

7. Macy’s Gift Cards

8. Restaurant.com Gift Cards

9. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards

10. Pottery Barn Gift Cards

How did you save money in March?  Tell us where you shopped and how you saved, and I will share where it fell on our list…