Baby and Beyond Giveaway Hop

If you are a company or brand who would like to take part in the event as a Grand Prize sponsor please email me at: klcmaher@moreismerrier.com

or Trista at:

 teanderson05@andersonsangels.com

or Mimi at:

wovenbywords@gmail.com

Andersons Angels, Woven by Words, and The More The Merrier are hosting the “Baby and Beyond Giveaway Hop” from August 12th at 12:01 am EST thru August 26th at 11:59 pm EST! If you’re a blogger, be sure to add your BLOG NAME to the linky below and invite your blog friends to be sign-ups too! The Baby and Beyond Giveaway Hop is FREE, and there will be NO prize minimum.  If you don’t have a prize, you can self-sponsor with a gift card, because everyone loves to win giftcards!

Baby & Beyond –  What It Means

What says baby and beyond to you? You aren’t limited to infants! Reach out to companies who fit any baby age theme or have child type products, and get them to work with you! Some ideas could be: car seats, bedding, books, toys, health products, and more!

We Have Very Simple Guidelines:

• Each blogger is responsible for securing their own prize and running a giveaway.
• You can have more than 1 winner, but please make sure each prize group is a minimum of $15 worth of prizes.
• You must add the linky for the hop to your giveaway. We will be hopping through everyone’s posts to make sure everything is done completely. We’ll contact you to make sure you remember to get your post up, or if something isn’t right. We want everyone to succeed! Not posting required information will result in you being removed from the event. (I personally will, at the very least, post a tweet from every giveaway!)
• Once your giveaway is live, please email the direct link to your post so that it can be added to the linky. Remember, if your post isn’t up, on time and correctly, it’s affecting the next person in the hop.
• We would love it if you would share the sign up post, as well as put the button on your sidebar! It will help everyone in the long run. The more we get to sign up, the more traffic, the more we can do in the future! More, more, more. And more is good, right?) Put social media to work for you (and everyone participating). It’s how I got so many followers, and how I add them constantly!

DEADLINE:

SignUps close on August 6, 2016. Details will be emailed by August 10th or you can grab it in our Facebook Group anytime! If you have any questions about the event, we’re available to help!

Hashtag: #babynbeyond

Have a question you don’t want to ask in the group? Email us at Mimi: wovenbywords@gmail.com, Trista: teanderson05@andersonsangels.com, or Kay: klcmaher@moreismerrier.com.

For The Love Of Coffee

A coffee maker is a coffee maker is a coffee maker, right? No, not in the slightest, especially if you ask my husband who used to be a Regional Coordinator for coffee at Whole Foods. You have to have the right coffee, the right grind, and the right maker! I didn't realize this until I met Fred.

Then it turns out my dad has a thing about the latest and greatest in coffee makers! Not kidding. I mean, I knew the guy like his daily pot of coffee, and that if there was a new electronic gadget out he had to be one of the first users, but coffee makers? Who knew that would be a talking piece? I found out when we moved from MN. Go figure.

So, a couple weeks ago, they came to visit us at our new home. They hadn't been here yet, and I figured it was time to pull out the Ninja Coffee Bar I'd gotten for review. I knew he and Fred would both appreciate trying it out. My dad more so for the experimentation of a new shiny toy, and Fred for the technicalities of how coffee is brewed. I think we made 2 pots of coffee and 3 single cups in the span of a half an hour.

Once I had my Bar to myself, I tried a couple of specialty drinks. I'm so ready for the warm weather, I knew I wanted to make a couple cold beverages. The first one I made was the one I spied when I opened the recipe book the first time. It was the Sweet Sofiaccino...named after Sofia Vergara who is promoting the Ninja Coffee Bar.

I was thrilled with how easy the recipe was to follow, and the ingredients are ones you'd typically have on hand! I'm not sure about you, but I always feel a bit intimidated when it comes to making drink recipes. And let me just say about the recipes, as a side note, they have food recipes as well!

When you make one of the Ninja Coffee Bar recipes, it tells you which cup to use as well as which brew to choose. I felt like with the Sweet Sofiaccino, I could've sipped on it until the cows came home it was that delicious!

Now, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but before if I had wanted a specialty coffee I would've had to drive almost a half an hour into town to get one. Truly, that's just never an option for me. I work from home, and I'm not going to drive that far to get a specialty coffee. So, I've always just ended up having coffee with creamer at home. At least until now. Now I can make pretty much anything under the sun that's coffee related. I don't have to drive anywhere, and I save money. That last piece is what I love the most!

The second drink I made was the Coffee, Cookies, and Cream Frappe. My favorite warm weather drink is the frappe. Making them at home now for myself...glorious!!! I'm SO thankful one of our friends got us a blender for our wedding because it's totally coming in handy.

This treat I could've sucked down all at once and not come up for air if I could've. The cookies ground up, the ice cream...you really can't go wrong!

With the Ninja Coffee Bar, you get a  Hot & Cold Insulated Tumbler and....AND a frother! There must be angels singing somewhere! That's the tumbler above. I had too much whipped cream on top with cookies to add the lid. Not a bad problem to have if I do say so myself!

I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch drinking iced coffees through the summer, and enjoying my days. I definitely want to try some of the food recipes they have.

Be sure to follow Ninja Coffee Bar to see all of their delicious recipes: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. Big shout out to NinjaKitchen for making my like much more delicious! Check out my most recently tried recipe, the Iced Caramel Macchiato!

What is your favorite specialty coffee?

Doing Groupon Coupons

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it, but June, and especially July, are months filled with either holidays or birthdays! My boys' birthdays are in June and there's Father's Day. Then July...whoa Nelly, July has 6 birthdays and one holiday! That's why Groupon Coupons will have to be my go-to for discounts! So, let me share with you this sponsored post! And let me just say, all the opinions are mine.

Copyright: smeagorl / 123RF Stock Photo

Have you ever used or even heard of Groupon Coupons? They have offers and coupons to almost 10,000 stores! Score, because for real, if you can't find something you want or need in that many stores...you may want to analyze what you're looking for. =)

My boys are pretty much taken care of for their birthdays, but one gift for my oldest son! He wants a Harry Potter quote on a Fathead! That's definitely something we'll be getting him. Then there's Father's Day. Got two men in my life who will be needing gifts. My dad and I can bond over tools by getting him something from Zoro Tools! He's the one who showed me a flier for a local hardware store that was going to be opening last fall. It was so cute.

Next comes birthday month. The one store I know I can always count on for anyone in my family for any holiday is Kohls. They've literally got something for everyone. Now I just have to work on all of them getting me lists of what they want. The sooner I can jump on their gifts, the better!

Thinking about all the people I need to get gifts for some of these companies are at the top of my list for shopping with Groupon Coupons:

Puma
aerie
World of Watches
Rue 21
Coldwater Creek

Do you have any birthdays coming up where you could use some of these deals?

DIY Flower "Pot" Stand

I really like salads. A LOT! I don't typically make them at home because mine tend to be on the boring side. Chick-fil-A on the other hand makes salads that are to die for. After Mother's Day they offered a challenge to make something with the salad containers. I'm not known for any DIY projects on my site, but I figured I'd give it a go. See what happens.

The first thing that came to my mind was stacked flower pots. Now, since these salad trays are small and flat, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Usually when you see them, they're nice and tall. This one would be short and a little wide.

Fred and I went shopping at the hardware store last weekend, and he was so funny. I had grabbed some muted spray paint colors, and he said I should get some bright ones. I may have groaned and made a face. With the cruddy weather we've had for three weeks, I needed some brightness, so I agreed to change my colors.

I started off in the backyard with my trays upside down and gave each bottom piece a coat of blue. I also got a bright green to paint the glass light cover which will be a bird feeder. While that was drying, I cut out the center piece of the lid with the logo on it. As soon as I finished that, I went back and gave the trays & light a second coat.

We found one of our old yard stakes, and I used that to make the stand the containers would sit on. Now, let me just say, this started off as a DIY fail at this point because I tried it initially with just a bamboo rod. First, there wasn't enough space between the containers. So I went and bought some spacers, painted them, and tried to use them to create height. Nope. The containers just fell over. Then I tried to rearrange the flowers so the containers could sit more on each other, and that was basically just like stacking plates. GAH! Dang DIY experience.

I had a lightbulb moment yesterday, and realized what I needed to do. Instead of them stacking, I made it so it was a stand instead. I ran BACK to the hardware store. Thank goodness it's like 45 seconds away from our house! I bought some 'L' brackets. I added some flat pieces of particle board that were leftover from a different project. Holy cow, thank goodness that worked or I might've been crying out in the rain!

From there, I added potted soil and two little Vincas, and put the container top on. I had to be careful because I added two flowers instead of the one I was initially going to add. Thankfully none of the flowers broke off.

Fred had gotten me a fender washer to glue to the bottom of my lamp shade. That way all I had to do was screw it onto the wooden stake. Because I didn't want the bird seed to be too deep in the glass, I ran once again BACK to the hardware store to find something that would sit at least halfway up it to stop the seed from falling too far down. My thought was to find a piece of flat steel, maybe something from the electrical dept. Didn't find anything to fit there, but it was a good start. Then as I strolled through the plumbing, I realized I'd need to get creative. I grabbed a sink stopper and turned it upside down! Totally worked. Score!

I went home, and dropped it into the lamp shade, and viola, I had a bird feeder. My project was finally done! I have a veeeery long way to go before I do any major projects, but this one was good experience. It certainly had me thinking. Now all I need is for some birds to come for a visit.

What is your favorite DIY project?

Enjoy The Outdoors With TIKI

One of my very favorite things to do on warm nights is sit outside and enjoy the peace and quiet. I like to be able to read, and enjoy the nature sounds that come out at night. I've been a porch sitter since my last home. I'd put the kids to bed, and then sit outside on the adirondack chairs. Just me and the big sky above me.

Flip to the other side of our home, and I have bigger, better ideas for that. We're hoping to have a deck out back by the end of summer. I'd love it before that so we could enjoy it, but when there's no money in the coffers for something like that, you plan until it can happen.

The backyard will need an ambiance that encourages fun and enjoyment, which is why I reached out to TIKI Brand to see if they'd work with me to help make our outdoor experience just right. Thankfully they agreed, and I decided the porch is the first place to start. Obvious choice since that's the only thing completed!

Nearly three weeks ago, it started raining. Monday was the FIRST time in those three weeks that it didn't rain. The last time I experienced that amount of rain was when I was living in Washington. I don't mind the rain, and actually enjoy it, but it has caused more frustration than anything. Trying to enjoy a porch when it's cold and miserable out just isn't possible. Even my garden couldn't go in!

Finally this weekend, there was a small break, and the hubster and I were able to sit outside in the evening enjoying our books. We just bought a little bistro set, and I've been excited to spend some time reading quietly together. We've also found a table & chair set for our "one day" deck! Hopefully we'll be getting that in the next couple of months. Piece by piece I'm telling ya!

When you think of TIKI, you're probably like me. You think of the bamboo kind that stakes into the ground. Makes sense. I actually bought a couple of them when I was at the store about a month ago! What you might not realize is they're so much more than that!

They have a fun variety of torches for the table, stakes, and ones to sit on the floor/ground! And no, they're not all bamboo.

I've already decided how I want to decorate my porch for Memorial Weekend and 4th of July! TIKI has the Americana Bamboo torch which will be awesome with a couple in my garden. Then they have a variety of options with their candles. One is the Americana 3 pk, next is the American Flag bucket, and last is the mini 3 pk and they're red, white, and blue!

For now, I've got the two basic bamboo torches in the garden, and my bistro table set up with the Clean Burn™Tabletop Firepiece. Now, if you're wondering what Clean Burn™ is, let me explain. This is a fuel that is 85% plant based so it burns cleaner. That means less smoke and soot. Let me tell you, being that we have a yellow house with white trim, the last thing I need is to have a smokey look to our porch.

Do you ever see a product, and wonder what it will be like when you're actually using it? Will you truly like it and what it does or looks like? What I really like about the TIKI website is they show you what each piece looks like in regular lighting as well as in the dark!

Even with the cruddy weather, I've spent the last couple of nights out on the porch. Last night I hung out with my hubby, and tonight I participated in a Twitter party. Froze my butt off, but it was so relaxing.

I know with the weather we won't be having any outdoor parties soon, but I'm thankful that I have a porch we can enjoy once the sun comes out and warms us up! Until then, I'm going to keep warm, and enjoy our new patio furniture and TIKI torches!

Be sure to follow TIKI on their social channels: Facebook & Pinterest!

Are you planning any outdoor events this spring or summer?