Thursday, August 29, 2013

MilSpouse Spotlight: South Hill Designs by Melissa K [100th Post!]

A friend of mine, Melissa, sells custom lockets that you can personalize with cute little charms. You can choose from tons of different charms to piece together inside the locket.

This is what Melissa has to say about these charm necklaces:

"I bought one and just loved it. The one for me tells my story about my daughter and becoming a mom. Then I made one for my mom for being an awesome grandma! But there are so many stories to tell. Love, weddings, sports, cancer survivor, autism, and so much more! You can change the charms out at any time you change your mood! So personal! And awesome gifts!"

You can get really creative with these lockets! There are even charms available for Navy, Marines, Air Force and Army. (Didn't see one for Coast Guard yet though).

Visit Melissa's Facebook and website for deals and updates!

What would you create if you bought one?

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

DoGoodBuyUs: The Marketplace for Social Goods [Company Spotlight]

DoGoodBuyUs is an online marketplace that sells products that support special causes. With each purchase made, 50% or more of the proceeds go to a cause that fights:

Hunger
Poverty
Disease
Environmental Degradation

DoGoodBuyUs has been featured in Mashable, Fast Company, Forbes, Trend Hunter and Addicting Info.

Here are a few summer products that you can find on DoGoodBuyUs:

When you buy Headbands of HOPE, A headband is given to a girl with cancer and $1 is given to St. Baldrick's Foundation.

When you buy a Hidden Baby Handbag, a portion of the sale is donated to nonprofit partners helping babies-in-need.

When you buy SoapBox Soaps, 50% of every purchase is used to fight sanitation problems around the world.

Find DoGoodBuyUs on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclaimer: This is not sponsored. I am not being compensated for this post.

Woolzies Dryer Balls Review

Woolzies Dryer Balls are 100% Pure New Zealand Wool that you add to the dryer to:

✓ Reduce static
✓ Reduce drying time
✓ Naturally soften clothing
✓ Help eliminate wrinkles

They help save energy by reducing the drying time by 25%! In the long run, you end up saving money by using Woolzies.

How to Use Woolzies

Just toss them into the dryer with your clothes. Simple as that! The friction caused by the tumbling softens the fibers of your clothing.

I used them to dry several cloth diaper prefolds and liked the result after they were completely dry. The prefolds were fluffier than before using Woolzies.

Woolzies Dryer Balls do not contain any chemicals so it won't destroy the quality of your clothes or reduce towel absorbency like most liquid and fabric softener sheets do. You can safely use them when drying baby clothing.

Eco Friendly

I love that Woolzies Dryer Balls are environmentally friendly. They are also:

100% safe for people allergic to wool
All-natural
Made of 100% Pure Wool
Hypoallergenic

You can find Woolzies on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

MilSpouse Spotlight: Marshmellow Kisses + a Giveaway! {3 Winners}

As part of my 1 year blog birthday which was last week, I decided to host a special giveaway. I teamed up with Jessica, the owner of Marshmellow Kisses, who also happens to be a Navy wife! She makes the most adorable, creative wipes cases and bottle cap bows. Why have a boring wipes container when you can have one that really stands out? :)

About Marshmellow Kisses

Jessica Steinacker is a military wife of a United States Sailor. Upon the birth of her first son she decided she wanted to decorate her wipes case for her son. Then a friend wanted one and Marshmellow Kisses was born!

✷ Design your own wipe case.

✷ Any style, colors and fabric.

✷ Can be made with matching sets.

You can follow Marshmellow Kisses on Facebook and take a look at her other creations.

Free shipping is currently available!

Giveaway

Co-Host:

Pollyanna from Sew Fatty

Prizes

Customized Wipes Case Set with Name
Customized Travel Wipe Case
Boutique Bottle Cap Bow

There will be three (3) randomly chosen winners. Open to US only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I am not receiving any compensation.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Military Monday: Livin' Easy

Do you live on base/post/fort or away from the military world?
What factors did you consider when deciding where you would live?
Was one more affordable than the other?
Did it help/hinder your family situation?
What things would be helpful for others to know before they potentially move to your area?

NAS North Island [via]

We currently live off base in military housing (15 minutes from base). My husband decided it would be best to search for housing off-base because we'd have BAH left over. Having extra money definitely helps our family situation. We love that all the utilities are included and don't have to worry about extra bills.

Some things that would be helpful for others to know before they potentially move would be:

Research the area
Get a tour of the housing before deciding it's the place for you
Check housing amenities (ie: air conditioning, washer/dryer)

When we resided in WA, the military housing we lived in did not have A/C and it was super hot during the summer! My son was an infant and got a bad heat rash from it.

Having air conditioning was one of the important factors of choosing where we live now. Sometimes you have to sacrifice space or certain amenities. I live in a small townhouse, but am thankful that we have A/C. :)

Easy Canvas Prints [Review & Giveaway]

Disclaimer: I was provided a canvas in return for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions are my own.

Photo to Canvas

This is my first photograph turned into a canvas! I was given the opportunity to try out Easy Canvas Prints and was excited to see how one of my pictures would look as a canvas. I have to give credit to one of my friends, Kari, who took the photo at a local rose garden. :)

The canvas is an 8x10 and is made of durable cotton-based material. You can choose to design the sides of the canvas to show a continuation of your image, a mirror of your image or just a solid color. I opted to have the sides a solid color because I thought it was best for my photo and I loved how it turned out. I made it to match the blue on our shirts.

Designing Your Canvas

The upload process is very easy. You can choose a picture from your computer, Facebook and even Instagram. I personally would choose to upload a picture from my computer to make sure the quality is sufficient.

There are many size options available and you can choose a custom size if you don't see it on the list. Easy Canvas Prints also has frames for you to choose from to make your canvas stand out more.

The canvas has a saw-tooth hanger installed for quick and easy hanging.

I gave this canvas to my mom as a gift because I knew she would appreciate it and she doesn't have anything like it in her home. She's really happy with it!

Giveaway

Easy Canvas Prints has offered to give away an 8x10 canvas print!

All entrants will also receive a 60% off coupon.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Canvas Prints Recommends:

Banner Maker

Custom T-Shirts

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Ultimate Military Family Giveaway & Getaway [Ends 9/6]

If you're a military family expecting a baby or have a newborn, you should check out this great opportunity! You can enter the giveaway yourself or even nominate another deserving military family.

PlushLittleBaby.com is featuring the Ultimate Military Family Giveaway & Getaway contest from August 9th - September 6th, to honor the services of military families.

TWO (2) lucky families, who have spouses serving abroad in the U.S. military, will be chosen to win baby products they desperately need.

To enter, you can either:

Submit a video (up to 5 minutes long) OR
Send a one-page written description (500 words or less) with a photo to contest@plushlittlebaby.com with subject line "Military Contest".

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I am not receiving any compensation.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

OWL Always Love You - Flatten Me Book Review + Giveaway

Disclosure: I received a free book from Flattenme in return for a review. All honest opinions are my own.

Flattenme specializes in personalized products for children. These include books, t-shirts, wall art, cards and even water bottles!

I was very happy to have gotten the opportunity to personalize a book, OWL Always Love You, with my son's name. I've been reading to him since infancy and know that he enjoys when you read to him.

OWL Always Love You is a beautiful, glossy, hard-cover book written by Robyn Spizman and illustrated by Erica Leighton. I love how big the pages are to show off the eye-catching pictures and vibrant colors. The words are large which makes for easy reading.

I also love how the illustrations are blended with real-life scenery!

How sweet is that?

This book would make an adorable gift!

OWL Always Love You will definitely be a keepsake.

You can find Flattenme on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Back to School Special

Get 15% off any order which includes an ABC book, a t-shirt, or a water bottle by using code Back2School_15.

The promo code is valid until September 15, 2013.

Giveaway

One (1) winner will receive a gift code redeemable at Flattenme.

This is worth $39.95 which is the price of a picture-personalized keepsake hardcover book but can be applied towards any item at Flattenme. Winner will only need to pay $3.99 for the shipping. Gift code is valid between now and September 30, 2013 for a one time use by the winner.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, August 12, 2013

Child Alert Center + Giveaway [Ends 8/19]

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Just last week there was an AMBER Alert for two missing children here in southern CA. You've probably heard about it especially if you were getting the alerts on your phone.

Hearing about children going missing is heartbreaking. The fear of having your own child go missing is one of the worst situations you can think of. The scary thing is that it can happen to any parent.

About Child Alert Center

Child Alert Center is an online service used to help find a child if they were to go missing. They were founded in 2005 by technology and child-safety professionals who understand there is a better way to help recover missing children. Their main goal is to expedite the recovery process.

How Does It Work?

Child Alert Center helps you create an electronic poster, notify your friends through email, text and social media, and contact your local authorities based on where the child went missing.

In minutes, Child Alert Center provides critical information to local law enforcement agencies. Child Alert Center immediately creates and sends the text link alert of the mini-missing child poster to your Buddy list and their mobile network with a minimum 20 mile radius. They can send up to 20,000 text links per minute of the mini-poster to their mobile network. They provide the missing child’s poster to news media, social media and national child-protective organizations. They disperse the missing child’s photo and description fast, so searchers can find a missing child as soon as possible.

Did You Know?

→ The average time for law enforcement to distribute information on a missing child is 7 hours.

→ Child Alert Center can distribute your missing child’s information in 7 minutes.

→ Over 2,100 children are reported missing per day

Although the thought of your child being abducted is difficult to think about, it is always better to be prepared for emergency situations. That is why I believe Child Alert Center is a great resource for parents and I recommend registering your kids. It can help save your child's life! You never know.

Membership

Child Alert Center is an affordable $15/year. They also offer special discounts to all military service families and to all law enforcement agencies!

A 20% discount off of the standard annual membership fee of $15 per child is being offered by using discount code MYCHILD2.

Giveaway

Five (5) winners will receive a free annual membership!

Open to US residents only.

Entry -Form

Military Monday #4: PCS Adventures

This Military Monday topic is: PCS Adventures!

Did you explore the Grand Canyon on your way to Cali? Or vaca in the Big Apple before moving to Europe? Maybe a road trip with various tourist stops along the way?

Did you drive? Fly? Ride a train or bus?

How much time did you take to PCS? Was your spouse/significant other able to be there with you or did you PCS on your own? Maybe help from family? Were you hauling all of your belongings or did the military move them for you?

When we moved from Washington state to California we drove straight through without making any stops (besides bathroom and getting gas). We decided to move our own belongings so we packed it all up in a truck and went on our way!

It took almost 21 hours which honestly didn't seem that bad at all. Unless you're stuck sitting in the uncomfortable middle seat with your legs cramped! That was the only part I didn't like. Z slept most of the time because he loves car rides so we had no problems at all with a fussy baby.

After we got to California, my husband decided we were never doing that again and will have the Navy move us instead. Haha.

He was so little! ❤

Friday, August 9, 2013

15 Guava Smoothie Recipes

I don't know about you but I have an obsession with anything guava. It's one of my favorite tropical fruits! I've gathered a few guava smoothie recipes for you (and me) to enjoy!