Crafts

Friday Flair Link Party // Night Stand Edition

0 · May 10, 2013 · 36 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // Soooooo, this week started off a little odd. Hales a.k.a. Lil'Whip was in a minor car accident… She's fine… but dealing with whip lash, which I'm learning is no fun. We've been busy going from doctor appointment, to doctor appointment. Poor girl. In the mean time I've been working on some fun painting projects to share and I've continued working on my backyard makeover. I can't wait to have that finished up… it's going to be so fun. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen all the goodies that I've been working on, little snippets here and there.

Today's inspiration photo comes to us from the Spoonflower Blog one of their staff members Caitlin who blogs at Salty Oat transformed a tired old nightstant into something fun and whimsical…

img source // night stand makeover from spoonflower

Isn't it fun?! I love the contrast of the aqua and black with the fun rain drops… it's just stunning. I'm getting ready to paint a few pieces and this has definatley helped me to start thinking outside the box.

I have a lot going on the blog this week. You don't want to miss the Better Life Bags Mother's Day giveaway and you can also enter to win a $100 Visa Giftcard from Edy's / Dreyer's Outshine Bars as well. Make sure, if you haven't already, head over and enter those fun giveaways!

Let's get the link party started!!

Hannah’s Summer Adventures with Quaker® Perfect Portions

1 · May 9, 2013 ·

Quaker® Perfect Portions // This is Hannah.

Hannah has almost finished the 6th grade.

Hannah has come to the age where a little independence is quite fun.

You know that time… you almost have your first year of middle school under your belt. You’re feeling pretty cool. The idea of spending the summer at the pool with your little brother and sister makes your skin crawl.

Hannah is definitely at that point in life.

She has big plans for the summer.

Hannah loves to read, and we lucked out when moving here to Lincoln, we live right down the street from a library.

Hannah plans on taking her red bike and making several trips to the library this summer. Not to mention all kinds of adventures with her friends all over exploring our new neighborhood. We not only have a library, but we have parks, a pool, ice cream shops and all must be explored for sure on her red bike.

With all this peddling around our neighborhood, Hannah is going to have to fuel-up for all that exploring. Luckily she takes after her Dad, the oatmeal lover. Her Dad wishes that oatmeal was the ONLY food group. They are a lot alike those two…

Now remember… Hannah is almost twelve… She likes to make her own decisions. That’s what almost twelve is all about.

Hannah was so excited when I introduced her to Quaker® Perfect Portions.

Remember… She’s almost twelve (she likes to remind me of that quite a bit.) She’s not a “kid” anymore.

My stars, she’s almost a third of the way through middle school… She’s almost ready to vote and get her own apartment, right?

She’s at that age where one packet of oatmeal is not quite enough to get her through until lunch, but two packets is just a little too much. That’s why Quaker® Perfect Portions is PERFECT for Hannah.

She gets to decide how much she wants, and it still has the ease of just adding hot water like the typical instant oatmeal. Quaker® Perfect Portions Oatmeal has no sugar added… That way, Hannah can have total control as to how sweet she wants her oatmeal. Let’s be honest… She likes it a little sweeter than her Dad, who is the health nut. Her Dad also likes HUGE portions of oatmeal…

Now, the two of them can sit down to perfectly portioned, perfectly sweetened bowls of oatmeal each day before they begin their adventures.

Every day is an adventure around here and with Quaker® Perfect Portions I know that Hannah, her Dad and the rest of the family are getting the fuel they need for their epic adventures.

What about you? Share how you make everyday an adventure and see other storieson Everyday Health.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Snack Brighter with Outshine Fruit Bars

30 · May 8, 2013 · 210 Comments

I don't know about you, but I am getting so excited about the weather warming up. With warmer temperatures come some of my favorite things… Flowers start to bloom, the days become longer, grass becomes green again, waking up to song birds in the morning, spring rain showers and the sun on my face. Farmer's markets start to open and fresh spring and summer fruit comes into season – by far one of my favorite parts of the spring and summer. You just feel like you are snacking brighter when you have a good juicy strawberry as a treat. Also, when the temperatures rise we all start to crave cooler treats. It doesn't matter how old I get, I still enjoy sharing a popsicle with my kiddos. More than anything these days, when selecting my cool treat, I gravitate towards fruit bars that are packed full of real fruit just like Edy's Outshine frozen fruit bars…

Recently, my family had an opportunity to try the Outshine Fruit Bars and we were transported straight to summer even though the temperatures were still in the 30's here in Lincoln. I've tried several kinds of fruit bars through the years and I LOVED these. No matter what flavor you select, and there are many, you will have no doubt that you are enjoying fresh fruit. My daughter Emily even said, "check out this huge chunk of strawberry, it's sooooo good!" We tried four different flavors…

I can truly say, I loved them all. Each one of them tasted like fresh picked fruit and basically that's pretty much what they are. They are a much better for you option when it comes to sweet treats. The Strawberry Outshine bar has 70 calories and 0 grams of fat. How can you pass up that fresh picked goodness?

These yummy fruit bars help my family and I SNACK BRIGHTER!! Visit the Outshine Facebook Page to see all of the amazing flavors!

How do you snack brighter? What's your favorite Outshine flavor? Leave a comment and one of YOU, my favorite friends will win a $100 Visa gift card from the folks at BlogHer and Edy's!

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/8/13 – 6/12/13.

Be sure to visit the OUTSHINE brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Better Life Bags Giveaway

32 · May 7, 2013 · 1,180 Comments

Better Life Bags Giveaway // So, funny story… a few weeks ago on Instagram, I discovered a bag and I fell in LOVE! Then I went to Kansas and met Ashley from Little Miss Momma and she had one of the amazing bags and I fell even deeper in love…

The bag was just so lovely, we all were joking about how we were going to sneak it home. Then when I arrived home, it was one of the first things I checked out… It was the Brynnda from Better Life Bags and then I fell into an even deeper LOVE! When I found out what Better Life Bags was all about, I knew I needed one and I needed to share them with all of you. They have such an amazing product and a wonderful mission.

Rebecca the owner of Better Life Bags started her company totally on a fluke. After searching for a diaper bag that was her style, she decided that the only way to accomplish that would be to make her own. She did just that, and posted a picture on Facebook. All of her friends went crazy over the bag and people started ordering them left and right. A handmade business was born!

Rebecca knew that if she was going to create a business like this, she wanted to give back in some way. Her family had moved to a economical challenged area in Detroit and she decided that she wanted to help women who were having issues making a living, women who really didn't have any marketable skills and who couldn't really provide for their families. She trained them, rented out equipment and paid each of them a fair wage and now they all have better lives. That is how Better Life Bags was created. I admire women who create not only a handmade business, but a handmade business with a cause. I LOVE how she has taken an idea and turned it into a mission. Here's a little video about her mission…

I was so excited when I finally received my very own Better Life Bag! And I thought, wouldn't this be a perfect giveaway for Mother's Day. The day when we honor all women. I chatted with Rebecca and she agreed, so this week to celebrate Mother's Day Rebecca and I are giving away one Better Life Bag to one of you!

The bags are truly stunning, they are expertly made with quality materials…

When you order from the site you have a choice, you can purchase some of their ready to ship bags, or you can design your very own bag. You select your fabrics from a wonderful selection of amazing fabrics. Then you select your leather and what type of hardware you want. It's so much fun!! I love the style I selected, the Brynnda. It is just the perfect size for me! I can carry all kinds of goodies…

I have my iPad, an umbrella, my wallet all kinds of goodies for my little guy and I could fit even more if needed. It's just perfect. It also has two outer pockets that are so convenient for things like my phone and such. Are you ready to enter to win one of your very own? All you need to do is follow the steps in the Rafflecopter box below. This giveaway is for anyone with a shipping address within the United States and the winner will be announced on Mother's Day here on WhipperBerry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

15 Friday Flair Features

0 · May 6, 2013 · 6 Comments

Friday Flair Features // Well, now that Monday is almost half over… guh, running behind today. It's time for Friday Flair Features! You're going to love what caught my eye this last week during Friday Flair. I'm positing little snippets, so make sure you head over and check out their full posts, they're amazing!!