Working with Brands | Using your Social Media Influence

For the past year, I have been dipping my toes into the 'sponsored post' waters. There are several different sites dedicated to connecting bloggers with brands, but I am particularly fond of Influenster.com because you don't have to be a blogger to participate in the campaigns and you don't really even have to put any effort into it if you really don't feel like it.

I am an overachiever when it comes to Influenster, so I try to complete all of the 'task' they give you. It's all simple stuff, like leaving a review (good or bad) and instagraming a product photo. Just another way for brands to get their name or new product out there and create a little social media buzz. You only get paid in products (which is kinda great, in my opinion).

The photo about is from my latest Influenster package. This one has got to be my favorite to date! Seriously, who doesn't want TWO free tubs of Breyers Gelato?!

From the top left (clockwise):

1. Avon Anew Reversalist Wrinkle smoother: I don't have many wrinkles (yet), but I do like how this cream has made my skin feel. Smooth and silky. Has it reduced wrinkles? Eh. I don't know. I'm not really a makeup person & I honestly don't study my face enough to really know whether this has made a difference.
2. Breyers Gelato: Does this really need a review? I don't think I've ever met a bad gelato. My favorite was the triple chocolate gelato. Delicious!
3. Shell Fuel Rewards Card: This was a welcomed surprise. I have been a long time member of a different rewards program for a competing gas station. Not that I want another card to add to my wallet, but I was hoping the more convenient gas stations would jump in the reward card game.
4. Ivory Soap: Bar soap does not get a lot of use in our house, but I am super eager to try some fun experiments with this soap bar. I'm thinking microwaving our little bar of soap will be the first step and then maybe making soap crayons.
5. Neosporin Neo To Go: Any parent knows that this is an incredibly useful addition to the diaper bag during skinned knee season. We have already gotten lots of use out of it. It sprays neosporin and dries almost immediately, so there is no greasiness afterwards. My 3 year old can even spray it on her boo-boo all by herself. 
6. Puffs to Go: No diaper bag is complete without a pack of tissues. I really didn't know the value of always having tissues on hand until I had kids. The summer cold season and the winter cold season and the spring allergies and the fall runny nose weather… point is, a little nose always needs a tissue!

I got all of these product for FREE! You can sign up with or without a blog and wait to get your own free products to try.

let them be little | FREE PRINTABLE

Download HERE

My littlest little girl is about to turn one. It's been said a million times before, but I honestly cannot imagine how we lived without her light in our lives. While I love how much she's growing and showing me what a big girl she is, I just want time to stop for a moment and let my little girls be little.

Football FREEBIE | iPhone Wallpaper

Hey y'all! Will you be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday? Not sure if I'll actually be watching the game, but I will be enjoying the company of new friends and neighbors at a Super Bowl party. That counts, right?
Since my team (Carolina Panthers) didn't quite make the cut, I'm cheering for both teams. Yes, I hear you real football fans cringing. Admittedly, I am a horrible football fan. I don't really enjoy watching it, I haven't taken the time to learn even the basics of the game (maybe I should reread a couple of Sarah's recent posts on Venus Trapped in Mars), and I only show a slight interest when the Panthers are playing.
BUT I do love watching other people get so emotional and passionate over the game. I lived in Alabama for a short time, so I know a thing or two about football and passionate fans. I also love how creative fans get with incorporating team colors into outfits and other everyday design.
So here are a couple of team color backgrounds for your iPhone to help spread a little team love. Enjoy! I really hope your team wins.

Seattle Seahawks: iPhone4 iPhone5                    Denver Broncos: iPhone4 iPhone5
Happy Super Bowl Weekend!

Just a little bit of Spring

Craving the spring, I'm trying to throw good vibes into the universe and a little color on your screen. Enjoy your Saturday and let's all hope for warmer weather soon!

Free iPhone Wallpaper

DIY Greeting Cards for Kids

We live in a fantastic neighborhood. The kind of neighborhood where everyone really does know your name and people look out for your house when you're out of town. I hope to live here forever and a day. 
All of our neighbors welcomed us with kind words and treated our little family as though we had lived here for years. I wanted to extend the kindness we felt to the newest members of our neighborhood. A sweet family with 2 adorable little girls. 
Because kids were moving in and I had a 2 year old to entertain, I decided to let Ellington make her own little welcome cards for our new neighbor friends.

This idea has endless possibilities. Simply choose a word or phrase and let your little one color away. By the way, the markers we used came from the Kiwi Crate that Ellington got for Christmas.

The only tedious part was cutting out the painter's tape. I just cut small strips of painter's tape and stuck them to a blank greeting card to create the word 'Welcome'. 

After Ellington announced that her coloring was complete, We peeled off the tape and were left with a colorful + FREE + personal + homemade 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' card for our new neighbors.

Towards the end of our little art project, Winsley woke up from her nap and wanted to join in on the fun. Of course, older sister Ellington couldn't resist "helping" Winsley color the envelopes to go with the cards.

If you need to create a quick note or greeting card or just want to waste a little time with your kiddos, this is a wonderful little project. Considering the cold weather headed our way, I'm considering preparing some thank you cards for Ellington and Winsley to color or maybe even DIY Valentines.
Tons of ideas! Now I just have to get everything prepared in case we're stuck inside all day because of the rain + cold weather.
Do you have a go-to craft for rainy days? Or maybe some kid friendly neighbor gifts? I'd love some more suggestions to add to my craft closet.

Think Outside the Box | Friday Freebie

Computer | iPhone 4 | iPhone 5

Just stopping by to offer up a little FREE wallpaper for your digital spaces. "Think Outside the Box" Just click on the links below the graphic to get yours + have a fantastic Friday!

Crazy Like A Banana

Y'all, I want to introduce you to somebody incredible! She's my momma.

My girls call her Mommo and love her to pieces. I know, I know. Everybody thinks their mom is incredible and they're usually right. Moms in general are incredible. Not that Dads aren't also great, it's just that Moms tend to do things that far too often go unnoticed. After a while, you just kind of expect your mom to be there and do what she does.
Mommo is always there. Always. She is always the first to comment or 'like' one of my blog posts on Facebook. She was one of my first big Etsy orders and she would buy up a million tshirts if she thought it would help me succeed in my new job. And although I could fill up 10,000 post with ways my mom is an incredible mother + daughter + sister + grandmother, I'm not here to tell you that.
You see, she finally decided to do something a little crazy for herself. Right about now, she's on her way up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Say WHAT?! Yes, you read that right. My mom, grandmother of 2 (4 if you count dog children), is hiking up the side of one of the highest and most famous mountains in the world. I get chills just thinking about it. 
I shouldn't be surprised by her adventurous attitude. She's always been a pretty incredible lady. 
Say a little prayer for this incredible woman and I'll try to talk her into guest posting about her African adventure when she gets back.
Oh, the title of this post? It's just a little something that Tanzanians say to answer the question "How are you?" Very fitting for Mommo. Here's a little freebie if you are loving this Swahili phrase too.

Download Images: Computer Screen | iPhone 

Fresh Face Friday

In an effort to get unstuck, I'm shaking up my make up routine. I'm not one that makes a fuss over makeup, especially since having kids. Honestly, I usually stick to make up that I've used since high school. No, I don't have 10+ year old makeup - I just use the same brand / type of foundation that I've used for years whether it still works for me or not.
That's why I was thrilled to receive Rimmel London's Stay Matte foundation for review. I have never tried any of their products + I am eager to find a foundation that actually works for my skin and lifestyle, so this was a fun surprise.

I am not going to pretend to be a beauty blogger here. My review is pretty straight forward. I loved the coverage and it was really comfortable to wear 12+ hours… let me tell you a little secret- sometimes I am so tired at night that I don't wash my makeup off before going to bed. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. 

There may have been a few days where I knew I wasn't going to see anybody all day, so I left on yesterday's makeup. Don't we all have those days though?

My favorite bonus to this makeup was that a little dab of the foundation covered my entire face AND there was really no need to add concealer because the foundation covered so well. This just might be my new foundation.

What are you doing to shake up your makeup routine?

This post was brought to you by Rimmel London #StayMatte. All opinions are 100% my own.

Just Another Birthday + A Giveaway

It's my birthday! Woot! Woot! 

I turn the big 3-0 today, but my little ones aren't giving me the day off. I'm enjoying a nice spa day by myself in my head. In reality, I'm trying to keep a toddler from stealing the baby's toys while wearing a mud mask. Don't judge… I'm multitasking + it's Halloween week, so it's perfectly acceptable to walk around in the middle of the day wearing a green mask. Don't worry. I have no plans to actually leave my house today. Maybe I'll go crazy later and let the toddler paint my nails while the baby pulls all my hair out does my hair.
To celebrate 30, I'm having a little giveaway! 3 lucky bloggers will win a new blog design. 
I've been designing for friends and family for a while and I absolutely love it. It seems like the trendy thing to do right now in blogland is to go into the graphic design business, but I have no plans to start charging people money for design services anytime soon. Instead, I'll be having these little giveaways every once in a while. 
So, help me celebrate my 30th by letting me take over you blog design. :) Also, stay tuned - big things are planned for November! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bridal Shower Fun + a Freebie

This past weekend, I helped to celebrate a lovely bride-to-be. The location was perfectly located in Charlotte's artsy neighborhood and the food at Amelie's French Bakery was incredibly delicious + it was so nice to actually enjoy a morning meal without the kiddos around. Who knew that chewing and tasting your food could be so relaxing??

Anywho, I was in charge of setting up the games for the bridal shower. I love a good game, but I am more familiar with toddler games, so I had to dig a little to come up with some fun games for this group. I also had a small challenge of coming up with games that would include the few non-English speakers that we would have in attendance. I came up with the following 3 games:

I apologize for the bad iPhone picture. My eyes are hurting already from looking at it, but it's the only photo I have since my real camera was left at home. Sad face. 

Toilet Paper Dress Game If you've ever been to a bridal shower which included games, then you have most likely played this game. You divide the guests into groups and each group chooses one person to be the 'bride'. Next, each group dresses their bride in their own designer bridal gown using ONLY toilet paper. The bride then picks a winner for best wedding dress design and that group walks away with a prize. The prize I chose was an oven mitt filled with supplies needed to make cupcakes since the shower was kitchen themed.  This game is also a winner when it comes to preparing for the game. The only supplies needed are: 3-4 rolls of Toilet Paper for each group Prizes for the winning group Name that Herb Sticking to the kitchen theme of the bridal shower. I gathered 10 spices from my kitchen (in actuality, I left my spices at home, so I had to borrow some from my mom). Cover the labels of each spice and write a number on each jar. At the shower, pass the spices around and have each person write a guess to each spice or herb down on a piece of paper. The person who has the most correct answers wins a prize.  Supplies needed: 10 Spices or Herbs  Numbered Paper to cover labels of spices Pens + Paper for guests to write their guesses A Prize (s) for the winner Bubble Gum Game Also known as 'How well do you know your Groom?' This is a fun game to play to see how well the bride really knows her groom. Simply email a list of random questions to the groom and ask the bride what she thinks the groom answered during the shower. To make things more interesting, make the bride chew a piece of bubble gum each time she gets an answer wrong. Questions can be anything from 'How does he like his coffee?' to 'If you could be any animal, what would you be?' Supplies needed: Question + Answers from the groom (obtained ahead of time) Bubble Gum
In addition to the games, I had a little printable set up on a side table with recipe cards for guests to fill out with advice on marriage or suggestions for future date nights. I had so much fun making it, that I decided to turn it into a free printable for you girls! Click here for the free download. 

Enjoy! Linking up with Chits & Giggles and Little Bit of Class, Little Bit of Sass for Wedding Wednesday today.