Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A Giveaway featuring Christy Sloat!

 I am so excited to announce to you awesome folks that the wonderful Christy Sloat has agreed to give away not one, not two, not three, but FOUR prizes! Yes FOUR! How awesome is that?! You could win an ebook copy of her newest novel, The Unraveling of Avery Snow (which I have read and reviewed here), its prequel, The Many Lives of Avery Snow, the novella that pairs with them, Ianni, or an ebook copy of The Brown House. Very cool and very generous! Thanks Christy!

This giveaway will start at midnight on Feb 27, 2013 and end on March 6 at midnight! Exciting stuff!! Check it out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Miss Christy has also asked me to let you know that you are all welcome to join and attend her awesome party celebrating the completion of the Past Lives series, her book blog tour, AND the one year anniversary of her first book launch! Tons of prizes being handed out there too from what I hear!! Very exciting! Check it out and join the fun here! 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Photo Challenge

I love Pinterest, obviously. And I pin TONS of stuff. So I like this idea of the Pinterest challenges because it forces me to act on some of these pins that I may otherwise have just pinned and forgotten about. Much like I would have done with the Photo challenge. The challenges are holding me accountable for my pins LOL!

I like the Photo challenge this past week because I had to stop and think about which picture to take and how I wanted to do it. Rather than post one picture each day, I decided to wait until the end of the week and collage my photos. Here is a description and explanation (if I have one) for each picture :)


Button: Miss I had heard me talking about this photo challenge was determined (for the one day before she forgot about it LOL) to help me. She searched high and low for the perfect opportunity to take a picture of a button. I was changing Baby A when Miss I came running in from the backyard yelling, "Momma!! Momma!! I found a button for you to take a picture of!" So she held it out proudly and I snapped the picture :) Thanks for the help Miss I!! Love ya!

Hands: Baby A's hands are so tiny! I just love them so much! Especially when they grab me to keep me close and holding her. Melts a Momma's heart.

Sunshine: Sunshine through the blinds has always made a cool picture to me.

Sweet: My nectar wine! Yummy! But its not just sweet for its flavor but because my wonderful hubby brought it to me after a long day. Sweet in both flavor and gesture. I love that man!

Dinner: Most people would have taken a picture of what they ate for dinner...well, I would have but I forgot! LOL So I took a picture of my sweethearts eating "dinner".

Challenge: Oh Baby A! How I love you, but you did NOT want to sleep this day. You would only sleep if I was holding you, which made it difficult to get much done. If I put you down, you would SCREAM (as pictured!).

Looking up: No real explanation on this one. Just pointed the camera up and took the picture of my very tall entryway :)

Smile: Sweet Miss I. It took some tickles to get a smile out of her since she was in an ornery mood. And then she would only smile when she was looking down! What a stinker! I finally snapped one when she wasn't aware I was taking pictures and was able to capture a gorgeous grin on a gorgeous girl.


I loved Laina's interpretation on each picture for this week's challenge. She went a different way on a few of these pics and I think they turned out awesome! And of course, I love her "hands" pic...TwiMom for Life! LOL





Have you done a photo challenge? What are some of your favorite photo "subjects"?




Friday, February 22, 2013

A finished project + TGIF Blog Hop

So I have been working on a fun project for my girls' bathroom this past week that I was of course Pinspired by Pinterest to create. I pinned the image below and decided I could re-create this easily on my own.

I absolutely love this Bible verse and want to instill this very idea into my girls' hearts. Beauty is not skin deep, beauty is deep within your soul. So I set out to create this to hang in their bathroom.

First I used Microsoft Word's Word Art to design how I wanted the signs to look and then printed off on your standard printer paper. I tried to choose fonts that could be easily traced but still looked nice.


After I had printed the pages off, I used the side of a pencil to heavily shade the back of the letters. I, then, placed the paper pencil side down on my canvas board in the spot that I deemed "perfect". I used a pen to trace over the font on the front side of the paper (the printed side). I made sure to press kind of hard to make sure the pencil from the back transferred.






The copy method worked great and I had a wonderful outline of all the different fonts and words directly on my canvas! Yay! All that was left was to paint and finish. I chose colors that fit in my girls' bathroom and their personalities. Then painted a coat of Mod Podge over the top to give it that finished shine.



I added ribbons for hanging, but ended up hanging them will sticky tack and I think I'll remove the ribbon. I'm not sure yet though. 

Supplies:
3 Pack of Canvas boards from WalMart
Computer
Printer w/ standard paper
Pencil
Pen
Paint- colors of your choice.
Mod Podge
Paint brushes
Ribbon (Optional)



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Book Review: The Unraveling of Avery Snow by Christy Sloat

 (Image from Amazon)

The Unraveling of Avery Snow by Christy Sloat is book 2 in The Past Lives Series and the sequel to The Many Lives of Avery Snow. I am lucky enough to "know" the wonderful author via Facebook and have watched as she has released a total of 3 books and one novella, so far. I was excited to read The Unraveling of Avery Snow so that I could discover what had become of Avery, Dallas, and Landon. As I began the book, I could see the growth in Christy's writing (not that it was ever bad, I could just see that she was only getting better from an already great starting point!)

The story begins pretty much where the last book ended. Avery and Dallas are happy together (mostly) and getting ready to celebrate the opening of Dallas's new restaurant. Landon seems to be on the search for his partner in this life (and is careful not to miss any possibilities, if you know what I mean). While she is committed to Dallas and is happy in her relationship, she is still drawn to Landon and can't help but be jealous of the many women he seems to be sleeping with.

As the story progresses so does Avery's unraveling. Dallas's job becomes more demanding and their relationship suffers because of it. Avery also becomes aware of a new Dark Guide who is out for vengeance which causes stress and unease for the story's heroine. But with all the stress and drama that unfolds, Avery grows closer to Landon and the same seems to hold true for Landon. Poor Avery! She's stuck again between hurting Dallas or hurting Landon, and all of it added up is only hurting her. She realizes that she needs to focus on her and what makes her happy for awhile before she becomes completely unraveled.

As the story reaches its arc, we (the reader and the characters themselves) discover the truth about some characters and how it effects the outcome. What will the Dark Guide do? Will Dallas and Avery stay together? Will Avery choose to be with Landon instead? Will our heroine even make it through the story alive? The answers are in the book of course, so you'll have to read it for yourself to find out. And I definitely recommend that you read it. It's a relatively quick read and one that the reader can immerse themselves in. Its romantic, its dramatic, its an all and all great story that ties up the series with a pretty little bow.

Now, that I've convinced you to read the book (It can be purchased from Amazon for $11.99), I'll let you in on a fun a surprise. Once you read it, you can leave a review on Amazon, then head over to this event on Facebook and leave the link to your review. Once the book has 30 reviews there will be a drawing to win a custom keychain, a signed paperback copy of Christy's book The Brown House, and an awesome jewelry set! What could be better than reading a great book and winning some fun prizes!!



Friday, February 15, 2013

Pink and Purple cookies...Challenge conquered- what's next?

So last week I posted the very first Pinterest challenge. I picked a fun Valentine's Day themed pin that I had seen before. PINK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! How fun, right? Heck yeah it was fun! Miss I said she wanted to do purple cookies, while Miss S wanted to stick with pink- so we doubled the fun and made BOTH! I ended up doing most of the mixing once they had added the ingredients, but that's ok because the cookie dough got EXTREMELY thick was hard for me to stir, so I can't blame them for stepping back from that step of the recipe.



We only cooked about a dozen on the first night...just enough for everyone to have a couple or three each. The General really liked them!!

 I was really pleased with how well this recipe turned out. They were super soft and yummy! We baked another set on Wednesday so that Miss I could take them to school for her Valentine's day party. After that we still had an entire container of purple cookie dough left in the freezer.

That container became the solution to one of my dilemmas that had arisen. Miss I's teacher's birthday was coming up on Feb 16 (tomorrow, but I's last day of school before that was Thursday) so we needed to come up with something as birthday gift in addition to her Valentine of Hershey Kiss Roses. So we printed off a sticker with baking instructions and a note that said "Happy Birthday from I. L." stuck it on the lid and then tied a ribbon around it. Voila! Instant teacher gift!! Score!

So that's how the first challenge went at our house. I know that several people accepted the challenge on The Pinspired Mom Facebook page but there were only a couple people who shared pictures! Thanks to Becky V. and Katie A. for sharing. Here is Becky's pictures :) She made oatmeal chocolate chip! Yum!








Katie's were apparently so yummy that she could barely take a picture before they were all eaten! It must have been the M&Ms she added :)

Great job everyone and I hope more people will start joining and sharing their Pinterest challenge pictures with us! So what is this week's challenge, you ask? It is a week long photo challenge.


I've always thought the idea of monthly photo challenges were a fun idea! But I always either forget a day or tend to forget completely towards the end. So I thought, why not try it for a week? I found a fun Photo Challenge for the month of February. But instead of doing the whole month obviously, start on Feb 15 and stop on Feb 22. The daily picture challenges are as follows:

Feb 15- Button
Feb 16- Hands
Feb 17- Sunshine
Feb 18- Sweet
Feb 19- Dinner
Feb 20- Challenge
Feb 21- Looking up
Feb 22- Smile

You can use a camera, phone, instagram, etc. Please don't just Google images, but rather find these items and take the pictures yourself. You can post them to the event or the main wall of the Facebook page. You can post a picture each day or you can wait and collage them and share on Friday, its up to you. I will share some of my favorites on my blog next week. 
Want to accept this week's challenge? Then be sure to join the event on Facebook!



Friday, February 8, 2013

Pinterest Challenge- Pink Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since my Facebook page hit 200 fans, I decided to start posting weekly Pinterest Challenges. Each challenge will last one week and participants are asked to post pictures of their experience and result. I'll choose some of my favorites to feature here on the blog :) After searching through my pin boards and pinterest feed and popular pins, I chose a fun Valentine cookie for the very first challenge. Whats more fun than Pink Chocolate Chip cookies?! I found the idea on Pinterest of course and the pin came from Itsy Bitsy Paper Blog :) If you would like to participate in the very first Pinterest Challenge sponsored by The Pinspired Mom be sure to head to the Facebook event and click attending (and please be sure to click "like" as well!!)

Photo from itsybitsypaperblog

Friday, February 1, 2013

Cashcrate $100 Giveaway!! You know you want this!!

Welcome to the CashCrate $100 Giveaway hosted by Funny Postpartum Lady!
With CashCrate you can start making money right away by completing
offers, taking surveys, and shopping online. Click HERE to get started. 

If you'd like to enter to win the $100 PayPal cash, simply enter the Rafflecopter below.
Giveaway ends February 14th 11:59 p.m.



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DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are that of my own and may differ from yours. The Pinspired Mom is not responsible for prize shipment.

Love is in the air!!!


With the arrival of February, comes the anticipation of Valentine's Day. And I have to say I'm pretty excited about my Valentine plan for the General. I'm not doing anything too terribly expensive or grand, but I am plotting a long term valentine. Starting today I will leave him a little something every day to show him that I am thinking of him and that he'll always "Be Mine". I started with the Hot Tamales hidden in his computer bag.


I got him some fun snacks/candies/cards that have funny/silly/witty notes with them. The notes that go with the snacks and candies are as follows-

Jack Link's Jerky- You drive me wild! 
Junior Mints- We were "mint" t o be together
Sunkist- I love to be "kist" by you
Starburst- You make my heart *burst* with love
RingPop- I'm glad you put a ring on it
Hot Tamales- You're one *Hot Tamale*
Reese's Pieces- I love you to pieces
Coke- I *soda* love you!
Angry Birds candy- Let's be Love Birds
"Ted" DVD (not pictured)- Will you be my "Ted"dy bear?

I'll be giving him the Ted DVD last and be using it as a "date" night for us on the 14th. The rest of it I'll be hiding in random places each night for him to find each morning. My pinspiration for this can be found on my "Valentines" board.
The girls will be giving him a new basketball as well as recreating the pics below for him to put in his office. This is on my pinterest board "Hubby Stuff"

                                                      Original Source

As for the girls' valentines- they'll each be getting new pjs. I'll also be sure to make some surprise treats for them and will surprise them with a root beer float party (pinspired by this valentine pin)

They are going to be handing out candy free valentines at school this year and we looked at a few options that didn't have candy, including bouncy balls, straws, and the one they chose- glow sticks. Tricolor 12" Glow Sticks 4 Pk (Google Affiliate Ad)


While their classmates may be getting candy-free V-day love, their teachers will be treated to 18 long stemmed Hershey Kiss Roses in a vase of candy conversation hearts! Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses, 40 oz Bag, 2 Bags (Google Affiliate Ad)

 I was reminded of these when I saw them floating around Pinterest. My mom and I had actually made them before YEARS ago and for what reason, I can't remember at all. But I still remembered how to make them. I tweaked the "recipe" slightly this time around. Originally we had used red or pink satin to cover the kisses and then tape them up and add the leaves. This time I just found pink and red wrapped kisses and covered them with saran wrap. Much easier and you still get the same effect.

So that's what I know is being given to those beloved by the people in my house. What I'll get? Who knows, but I'm sure I'll love whatever my 4 wonderful Valentines come up with. What will you give YOUR valentine(s) this year? Something handmade, inspired by pinterest, store bought? As long as it's given with love then it's the best valentine in the world!