Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Don't Pee in the Pool!

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Friday, June 21, 2013

7 Quick Takes


1. I've been a teeny bit MIA lately. (I'm sure you noticed, right?  Because you just love my blog and wait on pins and needles for every post, right? *wink*)  There's been lots happening in my household, and much of it has been very good!

2.  Does anyone else out there have an Epson printer?  Do you love it or hate it?  Mine has been driving me crazy . . . so much so that I'm putting together an entire blog post to rant about it.  I even bought the thing brand-spanking-new.  (Which says a lot, because I am all about the thrift store, yard sale, or other awesome find.)

3.  Man, I seriously hate when Catherine naps these days.  Five minutes during the day bumps bedtime back an hour.  No joke.  Guess what a two hour car nap does?

4.  Good grief, for so much happiness in my life right now the past two Quick Takes sure were cranky, weren't they?

5.
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6.  I am super excited to announce that I will be working with Happy Mango Beads!  Be on the lookout for future projects using some of their awesome products and you won't want to miss this truly fun giveaway!



7.  This week my hubby and I celebrated our Seventh Wedding Anniversary!  Here's a nice picture with my Grandma and Grandpa . . . rest in peace, Grandpa!



For more Quick Takes visit Conversion Diary.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

White Cloud Toilet Paper (Yes, I blog about just about everything!)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of White Cloud for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Yes, this post is all about toilet paper.  This toilet paper, in fact.


I'm fairly certain you've heard of White Cloud Toilet Paper before, but have you seen their new Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue?


The brand new White Cloud Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue is made using an innovative manufacturing method, which is called “TAD.” In case you're wondering, TAD stands for “Through Air Dried”. This basically means that White Cloud uses a fancy machine to blow air through single-ply sheets, giving you and me an awesome two-ply product.


Now, you might be worried that this fancy technology will up the cost of your toilet paper, making it an unreasonably expensive luxury, but that's not the case!  White Cloud Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue is a premium product without a premium price tag; it's a luxury for everyone.  White Cloud products are exclusively available at Walmart.  Find White Cloud products near you.

If you want to save even more money, the White Cloud Facebook page will have a coupon for this new product starting on June 10!  Go print your $1.00 off coupon!


I received a package of Luxuriously Soft Bath Tissue so that I could share my honest opinions with you, so be sure to watch the video to see what I thought! (Yes, my toddler loved the novelty of the UPS man delivering toilet tissue to the front door.)

Don't forget to  Like White Cloud on Facebook and Follow White Cloud on Twitter to always be in the loop!

Visit Sponsor's Site

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Moms vs Dads

No original source.  I got it from here
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PS: Like just about every blogger I know, comments make my day!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Gorgeous Pink Flower


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Thank you so much for visiting.  I love comments just as much as the next blogger.


Teaching Time for Toddlers: Our Basic Pool Bag


It's swimming pool season again!  Catherine (almost three) and I love the pool.  Of course, her pool preference is the one that barely reaches my knees in the "deep end" and mine is the 50 meter pool with lap lanes and a diving board.  Like last year, we are trying to take full advantage of our membership.  I swim laps in the early morning and then return to the pool in the late morning or early afternoon with Catherine.

As any parent knows, children bring a certain amount of extra baggage with them.  Additionally, we're constantly bombarded with the message that we need This, and That, and This Other Awesome Thing, and This Thing that You Can't Live Without, because we somehow fail as parents if we don't have everything.

But what do we really need?

Well, today I am just going to talk about Pool Bag Basics (because I can't really talk about anything else--I'm generally one of those people who'd rather pack an extra suitcase than forget something).

Of course, some days I bring a lot of "extras" but most days I try to be pretty minimal about what we take with us, I'm the one that has to lug it around after all.  Keeping an eye on an active toddler is busy enough, without worrying about tons of stuff.

Our Basic Pool Bag contains the following:
  • Two Towels 
  • Sunscreen
  • Hats
  • Sunglasses
  • Four dollars of "emergency money"
  • Goggles
  • Measuring cups
  • Inflatable ring
  • Travel sized bottles of shampoo and body wash
  • Drinking water (or water bottles)
  • Driver's licence and insurance cards
All of the above items fit very easily and neatly into my tote bag.  I can carry it with ease without ever feeling overloaded.   This bag works for us most of the time.  

"Extras" Include (but are not limited to):
  • Cooler with lunch and extra drinks
  • Kick-board
  • Additional toys
  • Umbrella for shade
  • "Street clothes"
  • Rashguards 
  • Magazines
  • Extra pair of goggles (I don't like to share my awesome pink bungee cord ones)
We wear flip flops and cover-ups and very rarely actually change into our "street clothes" at the pool.  I've found it easier to just change at home.  Of course, this does mean that I've run last minute errands sporting a "damp" look . . .

The pool has a lot of communal toys, so I'm not depriving Catherine by only allowing a few toys.  Besides, I think that she could spend hours doing various pouring activities with the measuring cups.


How about you?  Do you spend a lot of time at the pool in the summer?  Do you have a Basic Pool Bag?  What is on your list of must haves?


Link up any toddler related post that you'd like to share!  


Thank you so much for visiting!


Sunday, June 2, 2013

Super Easy and Cute Fabric Headbands


I've been itching to make fabric headbands for a while.  I scoured the internet (O.K., mostly Pinterest) and found this pattern by Jessica.  I loved it at first sight! 

The pattern is super easy, even if you only have minimal sewing skills you should be able to do this project!  It also is a great use of all of those super cute "fat quarters" or other random scraps of pretty fabric lying around.  I used a variety of patterned fabrics and made each one reversible and unique.



As always, I did tweak the pattern a teeny bit.  The first headband (pictured below) that I made I thought was too wide for my head, so I played around with mild width adjustments for all of the subsequent headbands.  


I also followed the link Jessica provided to Mrs. Pea's blog for the child sized headbands.  (I hope I got the name right, my Google Translator only seemed to do a so-so job translating the German.)  I had a bit of trouble with the sizing of this pattern.  My daughter, Catherine, has always had a rather large head.  I added over an inch to the top part and had to add almost three inches of elastic to get this pattern to work for her.  I do like the width of the re-sized headband, but will be playing around to get the pattern just right.   

  
In closing, a Mother & Daughter shot, sporting matching headbands.  


PS: Can you help me reach my goal of reaching 5,000 Facebook fans this summer?  Thank you!!!


I love to share my projects around the blogosphere, but especially at these and these:
My Merry Messy Life, Fine Craft Guild, Project Stash Link Pary, Fine Craft Guild Linky Party, Keep Calm and Link Up