Scentsy Review & Giveaway

Alright, it's official, I'm a Scentsy addict, and am proud to say I have my mother using it now too! I do have to share an amusing Scentsy story real quick:

I sent my mother home with a square of each 3 of my Scentsy bricks so she could try a few different ones until she finds her favorites. The next day she texts me and says "I need another French Kiss, your dad tried to eat mine". I giggled and thought she was joking. She then informed me that he thought it was candy and literally tried to eat it!!! He must have been half asleep, or that small square smelled so delicious he had to taste it. I don't know, but I'm going to just say it really did smell that awesome. 

Now, on to my review.... and a giveaway for you amazing readers!

Let me say, I apologize for having 2 reviews now for the same product, and apologize to both Scentsy consultants who have provided me with review items (which I am soooo gracious for). I misunderstood and thought I would be reviewing two very different items from each consultant, but it turns out they were both a plug-in. However, they were different styles and I got different scent bars so I will do my best to personalize and make this review different from the last. 

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Lower Your Alexa!

Here is a blog hop to help us all lower our Alexa rating. Awesome idea isn't it? Real Mom Reviews is the host, so follow the button to learn exactly what it is!

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Blog Bash 2011 *Update*

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June is getting closer and closer. I am joining 150 other wonderful blogs in a HUGE blog hop giveaway event that will run for three days toward the end of June, hosted by Family Approve! I am super excited about this and an looking for some great sponsors to offer my readers the chance at winning 4 great prize packs. Each prize pack has to equal no less than $100 total. I am planning to find lots of great sponsors to put together each package to total that amount.

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Purex Complete with Zout Review & Giveaway

I absolutely have to say first that I am SOOOO glad I became a Purex Insider, because I have found my new favorite laundry products. I am not just saying this because I get to try their products, I am saying this because I have tried so many different laundry detergents, fabric softeners, and stain removers. I honestly typically buy what I have a coupon for, or whats on sale. I'm sure most of you do the same thing. Well, I'm here to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I have found an amazing detergent that I promise you will love, that costs LESS than any leading brand you're probably using right now.

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Book Review: The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari

Oh yes, another children's book arrived on our doorstep a few weeks ago from Blogging For Books, and as usual, Cameron was super excited for me to read this one to him!

"The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari", by Donita Paul, and Evangeline Denmark, is a heroic story of two young friends, set out to accomplish camping through the night outdoors despite their fears.

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Back from vacation, and a few updates!

It's so good to be back home, but surprisingly I didn't miss my computer as much as I thought I would. It was nice to get away and not be able to jump online (although I had access to emails and FB and such from my Droid). Im happy to be back to Blogger though!

Our trip went well and I was SO happy to see my family. We surprised both sides of the family with big family get togethers which never happen. The last time we were all together was 9 years ago on my moms side, and 5 years ago on my dads side, which was for my fathers funeral. I will upload and post photos this weekend to share. I tell ya, my son was terrible the whole time. He missed home and showed it in the worst ways. I wanted to pull my hair out.

Now on to a few blog things to mention:

 

- My FaceBook 500 fan giveaway is less than 40 people away from opening the giveaway, and of course I am still looking for and accepting sponsors for any items! Shoot me an email and a photo of your item if you want to participate. I will be adding myself to many FB giveaways in the near future when I get some items made up to donate.
- I am going to be slowing down on reviews soon to focus on some Spring cleaning, and projects around our house (staining my kitchen cabinets, landscaping, painting a few rooms, ect). Of course I will keep my readers in the loop of those projects!
- Blog Bash 2011 is quickly approaching (in June) and I am in need of sponsors for my packages. You can visit here for all the info on being a sponsor!

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For Every Home Review

Before stumbling across consultant Kim Hopkins, I had never heard of For Every Home. So I began browsing her site and found some really awesome soy candles and other fabulous items for every day use! She was kind enough to send me a few items to try, and she is a potential Blog Bash 2011 sponsor (keep your eyes peeled).

What is For Every Home?

For Every Home is a division of For Every Body, a family owned company started by a mother of 9, and her daughters in their kitchen. They manufacture everything in Utah and offer soy and natural product, in attempt to do their part on keeping an eco-friendly home. They use highly scented wax, with lead free wicks and dress up their product to add to the celebrations and memories in your home. Does it get any more family friendly than that?

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Scentsy Plug-In Review

I've heard about Scentsy for years and had been telling myself tobuy one, but never did. When we moved in our house in October it had a smell.... not unpleasant, but like new paint and new carpet. I've been trying to get rid of that smell ever since, by using lots of air freshener, and a few candles. No such luck! So, when a friend of the family offered to send me a plug-in and Scentsy bar to try, I jumped all over it. I couldn't wait to plug it in and give it a try! She sent me a Black Groovy Plug-In warmer, and a My Wish bar (I told her to surprise me because I had NO idea what scent to choose).

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Lots of Winners!

I had many giveaways end this week, and many more ending in about 8 days. So go enter if you haven't already! There are lots of great things to be won!

Vedette Shapewear Winners:

Erica said... 6

Now following Vadette on twitter.
Username: ECopeland585

February 16, 2011 3:03 PM

@nola727 said... 54

Blogged this giveaway

http://thebigolblogpage.blogspot.com/2011/02/suburban-housewife-vedette-shapewear.html

nolagirl727 at yahoo dot com 

MANDY83 said... 95

blogged 6

http://cuttingcornersinboston.blogspot.com/2011/02/suburban-housewife-vedette-shapewear.html

pokergrl8 at gmail.com

Gourmet Gift Basket Winner:

~dab said...

button'd http://simplydab.blogspot.com/

March 9, 2011 7:25 PM

PSGive.org Token Winner:

Ceira said... 9

I am following you via GFC

ceira2004 at yahoo.com

ceira

March 7, 2011 10:55 PM

Cherchies Specialty Foods Winners:

Ceira said... 20

subscribed to your emails

ceira

ceira2004 at yahoo.com

2

March 7, 2011 11:47 PM

Erica said... 8

voted for you on picket fence
e.copeland585@gmail.com

March 1, 2011 9:18 AM

SkinMD Shielding Lotion Winner:

Ceira said... 8

i am subscribed to your email
ceira
ceira2004 at yahoo.com
2

March 8, 2011 12:02 AM

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Giani Granite: My Transformation Review

 
When my husband and I bought our first home in early October last year, we had so many ideas in our mind for doing a facelift on this 1980's home. All it needed were small, and fairly simple cosmetic things. Except my kitchen. I HATED my kitchen. The cabinet color is ugly, it had blue counter tops, the hardware on the cabinets was hideous, and the sink was an old white, ruined piece of junk. This project was what I've been looking forward to the most. Sooooo when I won the Giani Granite kit from Snack Bar Reviews, I was ecstatic. Actually, that's an understatement to be honest. I had never won anything, much less something I REALLY wanted. I've been telling everyone about Giani, and so many people have been dying to see how it turned out. So, I'm going to share my experience and photos, and a few tips for you all. I will be doing this in my bathroom because I believe I have enough left to do that small area. Anywho, here we go....

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*Hiatus*, and a few blog hops too!

From tomorrow morning until Sunday 3/20, I will be out of town. My kids and I are going with my mother, 12 hours away, to southeast Texas to visit my family that I haven't seen in about 3 years. I am really excited about it. Unfortunately, hubby can't go because he has a new job training for 6 weeks in Atlanta, starting Monday. I won't have access to my computer while I'm away, and am leaving it here to truly enjoy my vacation, also because I just won't have internet anyway. I will be able to check my email and stuff like that from my phone, but that's about it. So please bare with me!

And before I leave, I'm going to do a few blog hops since I haven't found time to do them in several weeks!

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Socks4Life Review & Giveaway

Who doesn't need socks? I can't think of a single person who doesn't need a variety of socks, whether it be kids socks, women's athletic socks, men's ankle socks, or adorable knee high socks! Socks4Life has a HUGE selection of any sock you could possibly imagine, including the most recent trends.

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Purex Complete Crystals Review & Giveaway

Us stay at home moms (and working moms too) are typically drowning in a pool of laundry on a weekly basis. If you're anything like me, this is your least favorite chore. Its not that I mind the washing, because that's the easy part.... it's the folding that I despise. Agreed? As long as I've been doing laundry, I've always use the same old dryer fabric softener sheets because I just didn't want to use liquid fabric softener since I'd heard from many people that it sometimes left residue on your clothes. No thanks! I'll pass on that.

And then, I became a Purex Insider and was sent their brand new Complete Crystals Softener in the Spring Waters scent, which smelled amazing! I could not wait to give it a whirl (literally). All you do is put a small amount straight into the machine with your clothes! Easy enough huh? I LOVED how amazingly fresh my clothes were days after putting them away. Often, they quickly start smelling like my dresser drawer, but not anymore!

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Cuddles & Love Review & Giveaway

Cuddles & Love is an Etsy shop that I came across, owned by a stay at home mother of 3 in Atlanta. She makes extremely affordable and adorable reusable eco-friendly bags, burp clothes, bibs, applique shirts, tag blankies, and even has a separate jewelry shop called Thoughtful Expression! Here is a sneak peek at some of her jewelry too:

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Scare Me Nots Review and Giveaway

Being the mother of a dramatic three year old (no clue where he gets that from), and a former preschool teacher, I don't think I could possibly be more familiar with children and their fabulous imaginations. Or better yet, all of their fears. It's different for every child, that's for sure. My son is a bit on the sissy side (sounds mean I know), but the truth is, my husband and my brother find it hilarious to constantly scare him in every way possible: sneaking up on him, making noises, telling him stories, and other various cruel things. It usually makes me angry and I yell at them for it because now he is a child who is always paranoid about noises, and even the UPS guy knocking at the door. Poor guy. I do my best to reassure him that mommy would never let anything or anyone hurt him and that Dada and Uncle Aaron are just being silly.

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Toilet Tree Fogless Shower Mirror Review & Giveaway

For me, I hate getting out of the shower, with eye makeup running down my face, and having a fogged mirror I need to wipe off before I can make sure I don't look like a zombie when I exit the bathroom and scare my children, or my husband! Not to mention, those men who like to shave in the shower (personally my husband shaves at the sink). I remember when I was younger, living with my mom, my brother always had a mirror hung in the shower for his shaving needs. My mom tried many different mirrors that were "guaranteed not to fog".... oddly enough, every one of them did! So you better believe, my brother was the first person I told about the Toilet Tree Fogless Shower Mirror after I tried it in my bathroom and was extremely pleased to find that it did not fog the slightest bit! I fact, this mirror was more clear than my large mirror in my bathroom!

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Blogger Appreciation Day and My Traffic Sources

Join me in thanking your fellow top bloggers who give you the most traffic to your blog!

Here’s how it works:

1. Go into your tracking service (I use Google Analytics) and set the time period for February 1st – February 28th.
2. Find the sites that have referred readers to you and put them in order from most sends to lowest. (I only do blogs and small businesses, not big sites!)
3. Write a post (like this one) listing your top 10 referrers.
4. Grab the Blogger Appreciation Day picture and add it to your site or post. (It is also nice to link back to my site, since I am giving you a link )
5. Link that post up in my LinkyTools below. (Please do not list your current giveaways!! If you want your giveaways linked, send me )
6. Scroll down and you will see a list of links, simply add your direct post link to it.

My Top 10 Blog Referrers:

1. Little Yaya's (25 visits)
2. Design It Chic (9 visits)
3. Happy Go Lucky (8 visits)
4. All About Being Inspired (7 visits)
5. Moms of All Trades (7 visits)
6. Never Growing Old (7 visits)
7. Rachel's Giveaways (7 visits)
8. For The Love of Blogs (6 visits)
9. My Life As a Mom & Wife (5 visits)
10. The Coupon Posse (5 visits)

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SnorgTees Review & Giveaway

My family loves t-shirts. Plain and simple. Who doesn't? They are comfortable and easy to throw on. My husband especially, prides himself on wearing things that are "sarcastic" or "amusing". Fits his personality well. That's why we loved all of the hilarious t-shirts, hoodies, and hats at Snorg Tees.

We sat at the computer for a hour looking through all of their products, and still didn't get through all of them. I giggled continuously at the funny sayings on the shirts and remember several that stuck in my head (because I'm a huge fan of The Hangover).... and I will be getting a few of these for my brother for his birthday. He appreciates humor like this, just as I do.

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Grungy Galz Review (and upcoming sponsor)!

 

I am obsessed with hair accessories of any kind. As sad as I was to see my multi-color hair go a few weeks ago, I was super excited to get it all one color so I could wear more accessories in my hair. When I found Grungy Galz on Etsy I was crazy about their unique and colorful hair clips, headbands, and primitive designs. I contacted them as a sponsorship for the big Blog Bash summer giveaway event and she will be a sponsor for the "mom" package I am putting together (so keep your eyes open for that in June).

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Why aren't you people entering?

I don't quite understand why hardly anyone is entering my giveaways. It's typically the same people who come enter (which I am so thankful for their faithful readership). I put a lot of time and effort into getting great products to review and giveaway to you all. It's easy and you do not have to have a blog to enter or to win! I have a list of items I am writing up in the next few weeks and you're going to miss out on some great FREE items. If people don't want to win these items I will consider not offering giveaways anymore. 

I have a family and 2 children to take care of, and I spend hours doing these things on my blog to offer things to my readers. I have several giveaways going on right now that have NO entries or only a handful of them. I post my giveaways on FB, and on giveaway linkys.... and it doesn't seem to be helping. If you have advice for me, please feel free to leave it here in a comment.

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Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion Review & Giveaway

First of all let me say, I LOVE Skin MD Natural. My son has terrible exzema (which luckily isn't bad right now), and my 4 month old daughter has had really dry skin for a few months now. I have tried several lotions on here but nothing really helped quickly or drastically. When I got this lotion to try, I started it right away on her. Within 1 day I could tell a difference. And now, by a week of using it only once a day, I her skin is not longer dry! Now I know exactly what to use on my three year old when his gets bad this summer, as it always does in the heat. The best part is it doesn't take much at all! I have tried so many different soaps, lotions, ointments, and medications over the last several years because he is so sensitive to things. Of course we can't use scented lotions or soaps and have to be really careful about things he comes in contact with sometimes. Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion doesn't have hardly a smell at all and is a thin lotion that doesn't take 10 minutes to rub in, like most lotions I've used. I love that! I will definitely keep this skin care product in my house. My husband is a big lotion user too, so we will all get great use of it!

How is this product different than other lotions?

A shielding lotion does the real work to prevent dry skin in two ways.

 

First, it assists the inner layers of skin to absorb moisture. The humectant (an ingredient that attracts moisture) used in Skin MD Natural is unique to it and has been laboratory tested to be 6 times more effective than any other you will find in common creams.

 

Second, a shielding lotion enhances the power of the top layer of the skin to resist environmental irritants while protecting the inner natural moisture.

 

This can be a big benefit for those who cook, wash dishes and garden because Skin MD Natural helps skin retain its natural moisture and oils in the face of all those irritating soaps and chemicals.

 

The manufacturer's website www.skinmdnatural.com has hundreds of dermatologist and user reviews including many addressing severe dry skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis. People with sensitive skin -- and those of us who like to live as naturally as possible -- will appreciate that Skin MD Natural is hypoallergenic, free of fragrances, parabens and colorants. It is made with more than 90% natural ingredients and 100% food-grade ingredients that are on the FDA's "most safe" list. 

 

BUY IT:

You can purchase online, or you can find a store near you where you can purchase this wonderful lotion (which I highly recommend)

WIN IT:

One of my readers will win their own full sized bottle of Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion! Trust me, you WANT this product! 

MANDATORY ENTRY:

- "Like" Skin MD on FaceBook (leave your FB name)

BONUS ENTRIES:

-Follow Skin MD on Twitter (leave username)

-"Like" me on FaceBook

- Follow me on Twitter

- Follow me via GFC

- Follow me on Networked Blogs (located in right sidebar)

- Subscribe to me via email (3 entries)
- Post my button somewhere on your blog and leave me the link to where I can find it (5 entries)
- Vote for me on Picket Fence (2 entries, can be done daily)
- Tweet 1x daily using the "Tweet" button at bottom of this post (leave the permalink to your tweet each time)
- "Like" this post on FaceBook using the button at the bottom of this post
- Friend me on Facebook

- Enter any of my other giveaways (2 entries for each additional giveaway you enter)

- Purchase something from my Lia Sophia Online Party (5 extra entries)

*I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review. I received one bottle of lotion for review purposes and the opinions stated above are mine alone. This giveaway will run from 3/1-3/11 at 8pm CT. I will choose one winner via Random.org. You will have 48 hours to reply to my email or I will choose another winner. Please make sure you are actually doing the entries. I DO CHECK THEM! Your email address must be in at least one of your comments so I can easily contact the winner*

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MSquaredJ Jewelry Review & Giveaway

Recently, I stumbled upon an Etsy shop called MSquaredJ and the first picture I saw from her handmade jewelry shop was this stunning ring...

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Bunnies & Bows Review

If you around my age (25ish) you may remember wearing night gowns such as this as a young girl...

Or what about pillowcases like this?

 

The folks over at Bunnies & Bows make these adorable whimsical children's/infants pillow cases, tooth pillows, collegiate pillowcases and laundry bags, as well as Greek (college) pillowcases.... all personalized!

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