Friday, December 21, 2012

Torani Holiday Cheers

Have you tried adding Torani flavors to hot chocolate? If you haven't, you need to. I was able to test two flavors of Torani, Peppermint and Vanilla Bean.  These were a delightful addition to hot chocolate on a cold day. 

My favorite was the peppermint, but my six year old loved the vanilla bean the best. I have a cocoa latte machine that I just used water and regular hot chocolate mix. I then added two tablespoons of the flavoring to each mug and topped with whipped cream.

I would definitely recommend these flavorings for added fun this winter in your hot drinks. 

This was a sponsored post from SheSpeaks & Torani.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Deposit Slip

I was able to read and review the book The Deposit Slip by Todd Johnson.  This book is about an attorney that takes on a case for a farmers daughter who found a deposit slip for over 10 million dollars in her fathers safe deposit box.

I really enjoyed this book. For one, it was set in Minnesota, and I live in Minnesota. Secondly, the book was very suspenseful. I enjoyed all of the twists and turns in the book. It kept me on my toes and surprised me a few times. 





This book is available in paper and electronically on Amazon. I would recommend this book if you like a good suspense novel.

I did receive a copy of the book from The Bethany House to review.

 

Monday, November 19, 2012

Treat Two Day Free Card Campaign 2012


Have you heard of Treat?  It's Shutterfly's new greeting card brand that has one of a kind greeting cards.

These cards are great for holidays, birthdays, thank yous, and every occasion in between. The site is user friendly and very easy to make personalized cards. 

For the next two days, Treat has made your holiday checklist shorter. You can create and send a personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE!  Whether you want to say thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer. Treat lets you create a card that is sure to impress.

Monday 11/19 and Tuesday 11/20 you can visit Treat to make one free card.  Just use the code TREATBLOGR to get your card for free!



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veterans Day

In support of all of the troops that support our Great Nation, Shutterfly is offering a great program today to send thanks.

You can head on over to the Shutterfly Facebook page to create a free card to send thanks to a hero. 

There are four cards you can choose from. Shutterfly will print and mail the card at no cost to you.

I encourage you to take the time to send a card of thanks!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of copy of Crystal Paine's downloadable book 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life.



I have been reading the Money Saving Mom website for over a year now and have learned so much. Crystal is verify disciplined in her family life as well as her blogging life.

This book was very interesting and is broken out into 21 different chapters. Each chapter helps you become more disciplined in different areas of your life. What I like the most about the book is it breaks it out into small steps. You aren't trying to make huge differences all at once. 


If you would like to purchase a copy of the book for yourself you can purchase it here for a limited time for 99 cents until Thursday, October 25, after that it is just $4.99.  This is a downloadable book, you can read it on your computer, Sony Reader, Nook, and Kindle. 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Summer Side Walk Chalk Fun

At the end of summer, Addison made homemade chalk out of a Crayola kit that we had picked up at the store. It was a lot of fun.  I had seen some cute ideas on Pinterest, where you drew a design on the ground and had your child lay down to pose with them. We decided to draw a Princess Crown and Sword. 

Addison had a lot of fun making the chalk and posing for the pictures. 



After she posed, she wanted to draw a princess. I think she did a great job! I wrote Princess and she wrote her name. 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Shutterfly Cards

It's that time of year again to think about Christmas cards. This year I think I have the perfect picture of Addison to use. 

I love using Shutterfly for Christmas cards. I always love the designs and it is so easy to put together a beautiful card. 

Shutterfly has many different designs to choose from. I always have such a hard time narrowing it down. Here are a few of my favorites this year. I'm really liking the bright colors this year for the cards. 





If you'd like to see the beautiful cards, you can look for yourself on Shutterfly,  Christmas Cards You can also view all of Shutterfly's Special Offers here

If you would like to try out Shutterfly's cards for yourself, you can enter the contest below. Shutterfly has generously offered to give one of my readers a promo card for $50 off your total purchase, not including shipping, and not combined with other promos. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Check out the great cards at Shutterfly, and good luck on the contest!

this is a sponsored post from Shutterfly. They  provided me with a $100 promo code. All of my opinions are my own. 



Sunday, October 7, 2012

Door Painting

I've had paint to paint my door leading from the kitchen into the garage for over a year. This weekend, I finally decided to get it over with and paint it.

I can't believe I waited this long! It was so easy and took less than a couple of hours total. That included all of the drying time.

This was the before, just a plain white door.  I used TSP and washed the door really good. Then I used one coat of KILZ white primer. I finished with two coats of Sherwin Willams Believable Buff, which is the same color as the wall.


I love how it turned out!



Sunday, September 23, 2012

Terra Cotta Pot Jack O Lanterns

Addison wanted to craft today, so I let her look through my Halloween Board on Pinterest. If you'd like to follow me, you can by clicking here.

We decided to make these cute terra cotta pot Jack-O-Lanterns after finding a few in my craft supplies.  I got the idea here. I changed things up though and used different supplies to put them together.

Addison painted the pots with orange acrylic paint.  I then painted the faces on with black acrylic paint. We used a sparkly green pipe cleaner for the stem,  I added some glue and bent the bottom so it would stay through the whole in the pots. Then we cut out green felt into leaf shapes and glued them on the top as well.

These were a fun and quick craft, and we added them to our Halloween decor.




Thursday, September 13, 2012

Combat Source Kill Max Ant Bait

I was lucky enough to be able to test out Combat's Source Kill Max Ant Bait products.  I was amazed at how well these worked.

Every summer I start to find the little tiny ants in my kitchen.  I could scrub the counters and floor every day and I'll still see a few.  I received a box with Combat Source Kill Max Ant Gel and Combat Source Kill Ant Bait.

The Ant Bait look like little ant houses.  The ants carry the bait back to where they live to destroy the entire colony.  I put a few of these out around my kitchen. I saw a few ants around them, but they really weren't going into the bait.

The Ant Gel was amazing!  This is a gel that you squirt near ant trails.  I put a little line of it next to my kitchen sink.  I walked away for a few minutes and when I looked again there were probably 30 ants on the gel.  I had no idea there were that many around.  I ended up just using a paper towel and wiping up the gel with the ants and throwing it away.

I would definitely use these products again, especially the Ant Gel.

Now for the lucky news for anyone that reads this blog.  If you would like to try out the Combat Ant Gel just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner.  I will be closing this drawing on September 20 so I have enough time to choose a winner and notify Combat where to send the prize! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Combat is also having a Bug-Free Backyard Bash Sweepstakes.  One lucky winner will win $1000 to hold their very own Bug Free Backyard Bash.  The winner will also receive an assortment of Combat brand products to ensure ants don't spoil their bash!  You can enter the sweepstakes here. This sweepstakes ends September 14, so hurry and get your entry in.  

Combat provided a free sample of their Ant Bait and Gel for this post.  My participating is voluntary and my opinions, as always are my own. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Cards for HospItalized Kids

This past weekend Addison and I spent the day at my friend Sam's house with her two boys. She had found information online about making cards for kids that are sick in the hospital. Both of us thought it was a great idea to have the kids make cards. Not only was it a fun craft project, but it also tought them to think of others. 

The kids all had fun making cards, Addison really got into it.  Here are the cards they made.


We found the information on how to make the cards, suggested sayings, and where to send the finished cards on the Cards for Hospitalized Kids Website.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Shutterfly’s Long Live Summer Photo Contest

I bet you are taking a lot of fun pictures this summer, between the beach, parks, and vacations. I know I am! I love taking lots of pictures so when my daughter is older she can look back on all of the fun activities that we have done.


Shutterfly has a new contest this summer called Long Live Summer Photo Contest. This is a contest that is on Facebook. It started Monday July 9th and runs for 5 weeks. 


You can have a chance to win a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot so you'll remember your vacation forever!


This contest is so easy, you just need to update your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week.  You can also get gifts from Shutterfly just for entering!  You can enter at any point during the 5 week sweepstakes period.


I already have an idea of the pictures I'm going to post. I have a favorite from the Fourth of July parade for the Americana week and a great picture from an indoor waterpark we went to for the Water Fun week. 


This contest is so easy to enter, just click here to bring you to the Shutterfly Facebook Page.  Good Luck and I hope someone I know wins some awesome prizes!


Below are the details of the Photo Themes and the Prizes!


PHOTO THEMES
•       Week 1(7/9): Americana
•       Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors
•       Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun
•       Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities
•       Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations

PRIZES
•       Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!
•       Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)
•       Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.
•       Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot


Dry Idea

I was able to participate in the Purex promotion for Dry Idea. I received a full size Dry Idea Advanced Idea deodorant in Powder Fresh to try out. 


This was a roll on deodorant, and it was the first time I have ever tried one.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it went on and how well it worked. Since it is summer time, I've been wearing sleeveless shirts a lot as well and this never left white marks on any of my shirts.


The scent was very fresh and not too strong, which I really enjoyed. I usually purchase a Powder Fresh scent in another brand, and I was happy with how this one smelled, both while putting it on and throughout the day. 


Dry Idea is also holding a sweepstakes with $1000 in prizes, with the grand prize of $500 and 10 $50 second place winners. You can enter the sweepstakes here.


Good Luck and I hope that someone I know will win one of the prizes!