Hill's® Science Diet® Ideal Balance™ Dog Food

 

I received a bag of Hill's Science Diet food to test with our dog Finnegan from BzzAgent.  Our dog seems to really enjoy this food. He also has severe allergies that affect his skin. So far this food has been helping with the allergies. 

This site is very helpful with questions regarding pets food and what choices you should make when choosing a pet food.  Pet MD 

I received a bag of pet food from Hill's Science Diet through BzzAgent. I was not paid for my feelings regarding the food.

 

Christmas Wreath

Last year I saw lots of tutorials for homemade Christmas Wreaths. Many of them were the balls on the coat hanger style. Then I stumbed across Rachel Berry's Pottery Barn inspired wreath at Made with Love and Glue.  I really liked how hers had the Christmas balls on the greanery wreath.  I ran out right away and bought the supplies, which have then sat for a year.  I decided to finally put the wreath together.

The supplies I used are:


Wreath - bought at Walmart for $2
Christmas balls - bought at The Dollar Store. I bought 5 packages, two large red balls, one large gold, and one each of the small red and gold balls. I ended up using one package of the large red balls, one package of the large gold balls, 12 small gold balls and about half the package of the small red balls.


I also bought ribbon to hang the wreath. I don't remember where I purchased this.


I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm thinking I'll hang it on the door between our kitchen and garage.  Once I hang it up I will share another picture.

Tiny Prints Talent Search Contest

Tiny Prints is having another contest, a talent search contest! You can find more information regarding this contest here.  


You can enter for a chance to win $1000 and a $500 Tiny Prints gift certificate.  


Tiny Prints is looking for the cutest photo in the following categories:

• Cutest Baby (From ages of 0-24 months)
• Cutest Kid (From ages of 25 months - 10 years old)
• Cutest Family
• Cutest Couple
• Cutest Pet & Owner

The deadline to enter is November 21, 2011. Once the contest is over, it will be open to voting. You can enter on Tiny Prints Facebook page or their website. The official rules can be viewed here.

I hope that you submit a cute picture to their contest, I know I just need to find the right one.

Christmas Cards & Tiny Prints

It's that time of year again to start thinking of Christmas cards.  This year I have been lucky enough to try out some cards from Tiny Prints. I have picked out some holiday cards like Halloween and Thanksgiving as well as birthday and anniversary cards. These cards are very well made and turn out beautiful. One of my favorite features of the site is that Tiny Prints will add my return address and the address of who I'm sending the card to prior to sending it to me.


I have been over on the Tiny Prints website viewing their Christmas Cards. They have such a beautiful collection with many of cards to choose from. This year I think my favorite cards are the circle Ornament Cards. This is something so new and different than any other card I have ever sent. What a special way for our friends and family to display the cards as well.


I think this one is so cute!

Or maybe this one...

This year Tiny Prints is giving bloggers 50 free cards to review on their blog. If you are interested in this program,  you can sign up here!  If you decide to sign up for this wonderful program, let me know as I will receive 24 free address labels. 

Have fun shopping around Tiny Prints, they have so any beautiful choices. I know for myself, the decision is not going to be an easy one!

Burt's Bees Sensitive Skin

I belong to the online site Bzz Agent. This wonderful site lets you sign up to test different products. I was lucky enough to be chosen to try out the Burt's Bees Sensitive Skin products. I was given a full size cleanser and lotion to try.  These products are great. I have sensitive skin and usually am very nervous to try different products in fear that my face will break out.  I will definitely be using these in the future.

Pipe Cleaner Pumpkin

I love that Addison is into crafts. She is always asking to "do crafts". She has her own craft bucket that we keep supplies in.  One of my friends gave her a ton of pipe cleaners last fall and we still have a lot left. 

I searched online to find a cute pipe cleaner craft. I found one for Christmas ornaments and suggested it. She told me "mom, Christmas ornaments are not for fall." I guess she told me.  I ended up finding this cute pumpkin craft on another blog called My Little Gems. You can find the directions here, we made it exactly the same way. My Little Gems Pumpkin  We didn't have any brown pipe cleaners so we used black instead. 


We both love how it turned out.  Now I want to get out my fall decor.

Linking to: craftaholics anonymous

Dance Ribbon Ring

My daughter, who is 4.5, has been really into crafts lately.  She loves to draw, color, paint, do small art projects, etc.  After daycare she decided she wanted to make something tonight.  I pulled up Pinterest and showed her my kids craft board and told her to scroll through it to find something she would like to make.


She decided she wanted to make a Dance Ribbon Ring. The tutorial I used is found here Dance Ribbon Ring I have a ton of ribbon, so I knew we would have that on hand.  The directions said to use a wooden curtain ring for the ring portion. I didn't have this on hand, so we went in search for something to use.  I found a small white frame in with my cross stitching supplies. I unscrewed the hanger and was left with a small white ring.  


Addison picked out four different ribbons that she liked. She decided on two pink, a white and a silver.  I measured out the ribbon into 4 foot lengths and she used scissors to cut the ribbon. Then I knotted the ribbon onto the frame.


I remember when I was little, back in the 80's, having something just like this only bigger. I think I received it as a birthday gift. 


She was very happy with how it turned out and I think it's very cute. She is now asking for a "dance party" so she can dance with her friends and use the dance ribbon ring.

Monogram Wall Hanging

I had ordered a letter "Y" from a vinyl company in hopes to put it on a small white plate to hang on the wall. I'm not sure what happened, I ordered it to be 4 inches high and it came in huge!  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. 

Then I remembered that I had this old frame from the 70's sitting around and thought it might work. This is what I started with.

The frame was a horrible gold color and it is plastic. It is 11x14 in size.

The "Y" vinyl.

Fabric that I purchased at Joann Fabrics

Spray paint that I purchased at Wallmart.

I first primed the frame with a white primer. Then I sprayed the frame black. It's a black satin by Krylon. It took 4-5 coats of black to get an even coat on the frame.

Addison was having fun with the frame after I painted it. 

This is the final version.  I LOVE how it turned out.  Now I just need to figure out where I want to hang it. My husband said it will probably just lay around because I won't be able to decide where to put it.  I'll have to prove him wrong.

Linking up with:  House of Hepworths and The Shabby Nest and I Heart Organizing and
The Idea Room

Cardboard Bunny Family

Tonight we decided to do a Easter craft.  I found these on Tip Junkie the other day and thought they would be fun to make. 

We used cardboard tubes for the bodies.  I followed the directions on the Tip Junkie site as to how big to cut everything.  I didn't have any pompom's, so we used pink pony beads.  We also added cotton ball tails to the back.  We didn't finish ours off with any bows, or clothes.  It took us about an hour to make what we did, so we stopped at that.

I think they turned out super cute and Addison had a lot of fun making them.



You can find the directions to make these on the Tip Junkie webiste here.

Recycle bank

I have joined a site called Recycle Bank. This site is very interesting. It has a lot of information about recycling and ways to be more "green".  You can pledge different actions and accumulate points.  Then you can trade in your points for different items. So far I have received a couple of coupons for Coke Products for Buy 1 get 1 for Free.

If you are interested in joining you can use my referral site and each person that signs up I earn 10 points.  If you would like to join you can click here Recycle Bank.

Right now they have a special promotion going on called Green Your Home Challenge. You tour different rooms and take quizes and pleges to earn points. Right now the kitchen and living room are available and you can earn up to 90 points just by touring the rooms.

Irish Creme Brownies

I made these brownies for a potluck at work and they were delicious. I came home with an empty pan, which is always good.

I found the recipe when I got an email from Betty Crocker.  You can find the recipe here Irish Creme Brownies.   I tried to post a picture from their site, but am able to and I forgot to take one of my own.

I used chocolate mint Baileys Irish Creme and it turned out really good. I will definitely be making these again.

Valentines Candy

A couple of years ago I received some candy making supplies for Christmas. I've had a lot of fun with making different kinds of chocolate.  The other night Addison and I decided to make some for her to give to my dad and stepmom (Papa and Gamma). 

I love how they turned out and they make such a fun gift!

Banana Muffins and a Crepe Fail

Tonight I tried two new recipes. I received an email today from Eat Better America with a recipe for Chocolate Crepes with Bananas. It looked so good, so I decided we would have it as a special dinner.  It looked really good, but it did not taste good. I will definitely not be making these again.

Then I tried a new recipe I found on allrecipes.com  It's Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, but I left out the chocolate chips, they turned out really good.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c sugar (I used 1/2 c white and 1/4 c brown)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1/2 c vegetable oil (I used 1/4 c oil and 1/4 applesauce)
1/2 c plain yogurt (I used 1/4 c fat free sour cream and 1/4 c skim milk)
1 t vanilla
1 c mashed ripe bananas (I used 2.5 bananas)
3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the banas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I baked these in mini muffin tins and sprinkled a little sugar on the top before baking them.