Get Your Avocado Gear!

This post brought to you by Avocados from Mexico. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Avocados are one of my favorite foods. I've shared recipes on here using them in soup, baked goods, my favorite guacamole, and I probably eat Avocado bread 3 times a week! I toast a bagel, then spread a ripe avocado on it. Sprinkle sea salt and sometimes a slice of tomato and that is it! It is my favorite lunch. And the fact that they have so many health benefits is a natural bonus.

Chalkboard Table

 

We have a chalkboard coffee table! An ACCIDENTAL chalkboard coffee table, that is. The other night Ruby found some chalk and instead of using it at the art easel that we bought for this purpose, she made her way into the living room and before we could stop her, she was coloring all over the coffee table with and giggling like crazy.

Hundreds of Project Ideas at Your Finger Tips!

I'm excited to announce that I FINALLY finished making photo index categories for Gluesticks! Now instead of going through the labels in the side column to find projects (and I'm awful at remembering to label my posts) you can just look above in the header! Yay!

 

Perfect Fried Chicken

 

I recently had a MAJOR break through! I know, it's chicken. Who gets this excited about chicken? Well, if you've made fried chicken and had it fail or anything fried only to have it fail, you will understand my excitement for this accomplishment.

Ribbon Box Giveaway! {From The Original Scrap Box}

**CLOSED**

Congrats to the winner, Kimberly Adair!

I have a fun giveaway to share with you today! The ScrapBox creates the most amazing organizational pieces for your Scrapbooking, Crafting, and Sewing needs. I have one of their CraftBoxes in my home office and it is truly the crowning jewel of the room. Not only do they create amazing furniture pieces for your room, but they also created organizational accessories like this ribbon box. Are you like me with a box full of ribbon and no way to keep it organized? You are? Well this giveaway was put together with you in mind then!

 

 

Ribbon is beautiful, but so hard to keep organized. The Ribbon Box is the ultimate solution to untangling your ribbon.

You can store and access 27 spools of ribbon in a single 13 x 13 case. It fits neatly on the shelves of the WorkBox and CraftBox, or as a stand alone item.

It is easy to assemble. Simply pull and cut the ribbon that you need and thread it through the eyelet holes on the front end.

The Ribbon Box offers the best value for your dollar on the market today, and can accommodate ribbon spools to 7" in diameter and ribbon 2" wide.

Painting Laminate Furniture

 

 

Today I'd like to share how I re-purposed  two pieces of furniture for my office space. Two cheapy laminate stands that were going to be kicked to the curb. Literally. I figured I had nothing to lose, and so I decided to do something with them.

 

This was my first time painting furniture or finishing furniture of any kind. I was a bit hesitant since I wasn't sure if the paint would stick on top of laminate, but I found a wonderful step by step tutorial to help me along the way and  in the end I was able to save money by giving these stands a new life.

 

 

Here is what my sewing machine storage stand looked like before. It was a wooden file cabinet, but the bottom drawer was broken. The hardware for the file folders was un-repairable so I took it out and got rid of the drawer front.

How to Make a Topiary {Without Styrofoam}

Today we are doing a quick flash back to my favorite Valentine's Day project that has held out through the years. A simple Valentine's Day Topiary made WITHOUT a styrofoam ball. And the technique could be used for any holiday. Inexpensive, easy, and good for the environment ;)

 

 

I had a lot of fun putting this topiary together.  I found these cute liners at IKEA last year and forgot about them...until today!

I know that everyone usually uses styrofoam balls, but I didn't have any. So I balled up some newspaper and secured it with packing tape. Perfect...and free!

White Cloud & Children's Miracle Network Teaming Up to Continue the Giving Season

This post brought to you by White Cloud. All opinions are 100% mine.

The Holiday Season may be over, but the spirit of giving lives on. Participating in programs that give back is so wonderful for children to be apart of. It's always neat to see how excited our children get when they do something for someone else. We participated in a shoe box drive with Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan's Purse) and had a great time picking out items to put inside our boxes to donate to children in 3rd world countries. Our kids really got into the spirit of giving.

White Cloud has teamed up with Children's Miracle Network to provide miracles for children receiving treatment in its 168 US hospitals. I love that instead of just donating proceeds or product as a charitable contribution they involved the children in this endeavor! These sweet children have put their imaginations and creativity to work to design a special edition of White Cloud facial tissue boxes.

Stay in the spirit of giving and take a moment to vote for your favorite design! There are many darling ones to choose from. This one stood out to me and was so sweet and sincere. So I decided to vote and hope to see this one or one of the other many sweet designs in a store soon!

 

Let's keep the spirit of giving alive all year long, not just at Christmas. How do you and your family give back? Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear about it! To keep up with the contest Like White Cloud on Facebook and Follow White Cloud on Twitter

So go check out the Voting App and Find a store near you! to purchase one of the special edition boxes.

White Cloud has collected all of the children's designs and narrowed them down to the top 10 for you to choose from. These 10 designs will be uploaded to the White Cloud Facebook page and you can vote for your favorite. Three winning designs will be chosen and printed on special edition White Cloud Facial Tissue boxes to be exclusively sold in Walmart stores starting in May. 

No nonsense Options for Every Wardrobe

This post brought to you by No nonsense. All opinions are 100% mine.

When it comes to my fashion sense, I am pretty casual with the exception of Sundays and date nights with the Mr. It is kind of essential in my line of work (mommy to 4 kiddos). I've tried dressing up in a nice "Hand wash only" sweater only to be covered in snot a few minutes later after a sweet hug from my 15 month old. So jeans and a cute knit top is pretty much what I wear on a daily basis. Lately I've been into leggings and a longer tunic top (With PLENTY of coverage) and some cute flat boots. Comfortable and practical.  But I still like to add a little style in small touches here and there. Earrings, a scarf over my top, etc. I hope it doesn't sound vain, but it just makes me feel better! The same goes with make up. Just a bit of eye make up is all I wear, but I feel so much more productive and ready for the day when I have it on.

The same goes with what I wear when I dress up. A basic pencil skirt and cute top is what I oftentimes wear to church or other dressy functions, but I I love finding cute tights with fun patterns and designs on them to dress up the outfit. They are a fun accessory and can extend my wardrobe by having a few fun styles on hand. When I go out on a hot date, a nice sweater, boots and skinny jeans would be my choice.

 

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No nonsense tights and leggings makes it affordable and practical to add fun touches to my wardrobe. They can be found not only in mass retail stores, but in food and drug stores as well. I wasn't aware until recently that they made leggings and not just tights!

Adding Style to Maternity Shirts {For AFTER Baby!}

 

I had a couple of cute maternity tops in my closet that I wasn't sure what to do with. We don't have plans on expanding our family, but I didn't just want to get rid of them. So I figured I would try my hand at shirring....again. The last time I tried shirring was almost 2 years ago and I vowed I would never do it again.

 

 

All of the blogs said it was so easy and addicting. I went out and bought (what I thought was) the elastic thread and attempted to shir a dress for Kaylee only to have it turn out disastrous. So after that every time I'd see "It's so fun and easy..." I'd say to myself, "They are LYING!" Yep, I was annoyed with shirring. But then I found out that I WAS WRONG and had bought the wrong type of elastic thread....and then I humbled myself.

Over 14 Amazing Soup and Roll Recipes for the Winter Months

 

 

Soup season is upon us so I thought I would share some of our favorite soup and roll {and bread} recipes. Perfect for winter, perfect to warm you up. Complete comfort food. Feel free to pin whatever you like! Some pictures take you 2 recipes. A double feature for you! Just click the title beneath each photo to go to the recipe.

Working Miracles With Your Pet!

This post brought to you by Comfort Zone® products. All opinions are 100% mine.

I remember being so excited to watch my grandma and grandpa's dog, Coby, for a weekend when I was 9 years old or so. At the time we didn't have any dogs of our own so this would be fun practice! Wrong. He was so stressed out being in our home and missed my grandparents so much. He wasn't the normal dog that we loved to be around when we were in their home. He would stay by the door, whine, wouldn't eat, and did his business on the carpet. NOT cool. It is a huge transition for dogs to be away from their normal environment. And it doesn't have to just be during vacations and traveling away from its home. When company comes to YOUR home and your dog's environment changes, it can trigger bad behavior and stress.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

 

I love anything lemon. Lemon flavored, lemon scented, the color of lemons. Divine! So when I found this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Scones on Be Book Bound, I couldn't wait to try them!

 

The lemon glaze is amazing and I will have to remember that for other recipes. These are so airy and you could make them with just the lemon or just the blueberries and they would be amazing too, but putting them together is such a great combination.

 

Enjoy these for a weekend breakfast, you won't be sorry.