Fun Christmas Activity for Kids

November 15, 2019November 19, 20194 Comments

Good morning! How has everyone’s week been? I am so happy that today is Friday. Not because it’s been a really long week, but it’s the weekend and I have a lot of fun stuff planned. So I cannot wait for Friday to be over!

Welcome to the 5th annual 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event, hosted by Shirley of Intelligent Domestications and Erlene of My Pinterventures Between Nov. 11th and December 6th there will be hundreds of new ideas shared by over 55 Co-host bloggers!

Go here to see our kick-off collection of Holiday ideas as well as all of this years talented participating DIY and Foodie Blogs. Download this years November and December calendars with all of the topics and dates so you can make plans to watch for ideas!

We are hosting a BIG GIVEAWAY from our Sponsors this year! Be sure to scroll all the way down for more information and to enter to win!

We are continuing on the 12 days of Christmas with a fun Kids Activity! Or, a fun day for kids, whichever you prefer. We decided to go with an afternoon of fun for the kids and Oriental Trading Company has helped us tremendously with this! They were gracious enough to give us some of the supplies needed to complete our fun afternoon!

My inspiration was a fun little girl Paris party. We wanted to have some Eiffel Towers and lots of pink! Of course this is my kind of party! We wanted white, Eiffel Towers, pink, silver, gold, snacks, and a fun activity. Thankfully, Oriental Trading was able to help us out with some of these things.

So we started our afternoon by setting the table. We had a beautiful faux fur table runner (I’ll just say that mom and I have really enjoyed petting it, it’s SOOO SOFT) and we used it as a faux snow for our centerpiece. We had some white houses that we used to decorate last year and some Eiffel Towers that I have as decoration around my apartment. And of course to make it Christmassy we added some cute sisal trees. Honestly, how cute is it?

Since this is a kids party, we knew we had to have some fun activities. We found these coloring page placemats on Oriental’s website and knew that these would be perfect for our party. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any kids who were there while setting up for our party, so mom and I got to color the placemats. And Munchy helped!

Since every good party needs some snacks, we thought the coolest thing would to have a cupcake decorating station. So we have some cupcakes that we decorated with pink and green sprinkles from Oriental Trading. Who knew you could buy a whole pound of sprinkles from Oriental Trading? We also got these cute cupcake carriers from Oriental Trading. There are so many different designs of cupcake carriers so you can pick your favorites. Of course, I picked the pink chevron design! The carriers fit two cupcakes or a lot of cookies if you wanted.

The other fun activity we picked out for kids was making an ornament. We found all of the items needed on Oriental Trading’s website. We found these cute open face clear ornaments and I knew what I wanted. I found fake snow, cute deer ornaments, and some tiny sisal trees. Now, some of the deer were too big for the ornaments but the little fawns were perfect size. So with a little hot glue, we were able to glue the deer and the trees into the ornaments before pouring the fake snow in the bottom. How cute are they! And even though the ornaments may require a little adult supervision but they would be cute gifts to take home.

And that’s it! This is totally my kind of party. How fun would this be for kids, or adults? We had so much fun making everything for this party and we can’t wait to actually have a party with our nieces! So thank you to Oriental Trading for helping us set up our Kid’s Activity Party. And thank you for stopping by! See you on Monday!

Don’t forget to check out the other kids activities in the inlinkz party! And enter the giveaway below!

MEET OUR SPONSORS who have generously donated fabulous prizes for the Big Christmas Giveaway!

DecoArt winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!

Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar winner will receive a Keurig Coffee Maker valued at $100!

Oriental Trading winner will receive an OrientalTrading.com gift card valued at $200!

Cabot Cheese winner will receive a gift basket of Cabot products valued at $75!

Burlap Fabric winner will receive a prize pack of products valued at $50!

Zulay Kitchens winner will receive one Milk Frother and a Lemon Squeezer valued at $21

It’s Home To You winner will receive one wooden Santa sign valued at $65

Giveaway begins Nov. 8, 2019 and ends Dec. 6, 2019. Winners will be notified by December 13, 2019. Sponsors will ship each prize to the winner. There will be a total of seven winners, one for each prize. Drawing is by random selection using the Rafflecopter widget.

Must be 18 to win. Open to U.S. residents only.

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Some New Decor for Me and You! (Giveaway)

July 17, 2019July 15, 201910 Comments

Good morning! It’s Wednesday and we don’t normally post anything on Wednesday’s but today is a special day. Not only is it the middle of the week (meaning there’s only 2 more days until Friday), but we have an awesome sponsored post from Canvas Factory!!!

*This blog post is sponsored from Canvas Factory. All opinions expressed in this blog post are our opinions.*

We have worked with Canvas Factory in the past and they have been super awesome to work with! If you want to see the other beautiful canvases that we got from Canvas Factory, click on the photos below and they will take you to those past blog posts.

Canvas Factory is an awesome website with millions upon millions of photos that you can choose from for your home. Not only can you pick from 13 different categories to search through the pictures, but you can add your own if you have a photo that you absolutely love and want to hang in your home. And you don’t have to pick a canvas! You could pick an acrylic or metal print as well. There are so many different options for you to pick from!

Which is why this was so so difficult for me!

Now, I have a beautiful canvas that is hanging on my gallery wall in my living room. It is a very simple picture of a compass (see link above), but it fits with all of my travel themed items. But this time, I didn’t want to add to my living room again. I wanted something different, for a different room in my apartment.

I thought about getting a Disney themed canvas for my future Disney gallery wall. But I don’t know when that’s going to happen so I didn’t want to order something that I couldn’t put up right away. And then I thought about getting a picture of succulents because I have been super into succulents and would love to hang a canvas in my kitchen with my hanging planter. But then I found something better to go above my hanging planter.

And then it hit me. It hit me almost as hard as a rock if someone had thrown it at me. Why couldn’t I put a new canvas in my bedroom?

WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE????

My bedroom is all Paris themed (which, if you’ve seen my past apartment tours you may remember). I have a lot of Paris themed pictures to hang on my wall but recently I found a new space on my wall for a picture. It wasn’t a big space but it was perfect size for a new canvas.

So I hopped over to Canvas Factory and searched ‘Eiffel Tower’ and I got I don’t know how many results. But it was a lot. And I searched through them all until I found the one. The one single photo that I wanted on my wall. So with a few more clicks, I picked out my size and ordered it right to my door.

And this is the result.

How pretty is this canvas? Not only does it feature the Eiffel Tower but it shows the river and the beautiful sunset in the background. I also love that it fits perfectly under my little blingy Paris sign. It’s almost like it was meant to be.

Here’s a couple more photos of the mini gallery wall that I have in my bedroom.

I have this mini gallery wall above some of my small display. It’s not all Paris themed, like the rest of the room, but it all works together. A cute purse, some flowers, a Paris tote, and an old fashion shoe bag that I drew a Banksy picture on. It’s all so cute! Everything works so perfectly together and I couldn’t be happier with the result!

Now! You’ve made it to the end and guess what! There is a chance to win a free canvas from Canvas Factory! The people at Canvas Factory have been nice enough to let one lucky person get a canvas as well! So if you click down below you will be taken to the place to enter the raffle. This will be open for one full week (July 17-July 24) and the winner will be announced in the Top 10ish Round Up on July 26th. Make sure you enter you do each of the options to get the most amount of entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And We Have a Winner!

September 22, 2017September 21, 2017Leave a comment

Hello everyone! It’s Friday and guess what that means. We have our winner of the Canvas Factory Givaway.

And our winner is Jillian Too!

Congrats! Shoot us an email and we will give you the code for the free canvas!

Also, this blog is reposted and I loved how this table turned out. So enjoy!

I have never been one to have a fancy table for a few reasons. 1: I live with other people. 2: I never sit at the table to enjoy the tablescape. But, I have decided that I would actually put a tablescape together.

So TADA!

I used a grey scarf as my table runner to keep the table neutral and use other colors to pop. I added a lot of Paris style items to the middle as a centerpiece. You will be able to see the centerpiece shortly.

Now…I actually used my roommate Lydia’s dishes because I have red and yellow dishes. So I had the large plate, the salad plate, and the bowl because you never know what you will need for a meal. I added the silverware and a glass to finish off the setting. But, to add a pop, I added a small glass bowl with a pink cupcake that my roommate Danielle had made. Yum!

For the centerpiece, I used quite a few different items. The best piece is the old film camera. I don’t have any film for it, but it still works! I am able to zoom, click, and “turn the film” which is fun. I added a pink Eiffel Tower that holds my photos and a mason jar that my mom covered with scrapbooking paper and stickers for my bedroom.

On this side of the centerpiece, I have a mannequin jewelry holder that I bought from Ross and another small mason jar that my mom redid. You can now see the camera from a different point of view.

And to finish off the centerpiece, I have this wonderful bottle of Van Ruiten Chardonnay that hasn’t been opened yet. It is a great addition to the centerpiece and hopefully when I open it, it will be delicious.

So that is my tablescape. I hope I can do more soon, if my roommates allow it…

I Moved to a New Apartment

July 15, 2016July 13, 20166 Comments

Well everyone. It has been a wonderful two years at my last apartment, but on Monday I moved to a new place.

It was a hard decision, but when I thought I would be moving in with some friends and that fell through, I had to find something else that worked. So I looked at apartments to live by myself, but I didn’t think that I could afford it on how much I make a month.

So I turned to Craigslist where I found an ad for someone looking for another roommate. I would have my own room, but share a bathroom with one other roommate. And after meeting the girls and signing the lease, I moved all of my stuff in on Monday.

And here is what my new room looks like!

Okay, so that’s what my bed and wall looks like. I put my bed in the corner of the room because I wanted the most room to add my other furniture. My room is a lot smaller than my last room, so I had to really work to get everything to fit. One of those things, is all of the artwork that I have. So, mom told me that I needed to create a gallery wall.

Now, it’s not completely done, but here is what I have so far.

Yeah, so I still have a few things left to hang on my wall, like a chalkboard and two mirrors that fit in nicely with my other art. I might also buy a S to go with the L on the wall. Who knows?

On the other side of the room is where the rest of my furniture is. I have this dresser that is filled to the brim with stuff.

Doesn’t it look familiar? If not, I’ll leave a link at the end of the post for the original blog post about this dresser. But, I was finally able to use it and it fits all of the clothes. Hooray!

I also have my bookshelf that was brought over from the other apartment. And it is already filled with decor and books.

And yes, that is an unopened box of Cards Against Humanity on the bottom shelf. I just need to find some people who would want to play it with me… But yeah, I have I ever mentioned that I like Paris and the Eiffel Tower and pink? I think you can definitely tell just by looking at my room.

Finally for furniture, I have this TV stand that I had painted blue a few weeks ago when I still thought that I was moving in with my friends, not people on Craigslist. Well, mom surprised me by painting it black, adding pink and white knobs on the front, and decorative paper on the bottom of the drawer and inside the doors. Imagine my surprise when I saw that pull up to the new apartment instead of the blue one.

I also hung my bow board up behind my bedroom door because I am sharing a bathroom and there isn’t space in the bathroom to hang it. So, it is by my door so that way I can just grab a bow before I head out to work!

And finally the closet… Is it any bigger than the closet at my last apartment? The answer is yes. Not much, but yes it is bigger. I don’t have a walk in closet anymore, but I have a lot more hanging room and storage for my tee shirts and work clothes. So, I guess that I have a bigger closet?

So, yeah. That’s my new space. I really like it. It makes me really think before I buy something big because I have to think about where I am going to put it. Since I don’t have as large of a space like my last apartment, I have to be really careful. But, I like it a lot and I am very grateful for not having to climb so many stairs.

Check out some of my other blogs!

Lauren’s Apartment A New Dresser Teen to Adult TV Stand

It was My Birthday!

July 1, 2016June 30, 20166 Comments

Well everyone. It is that time of year where I get to celebrate my birthday yet again! Yippee! I turned 22 this year, which means that I am still a baby and still have soooooo much to learn in life.

But, for my birthday this year my mom, Haley, and I went shopping! Because, who doesn’t like shopping?

So we started shopping at Forever 21. And as usual, I didn’t buy anything. Even though they have some of the cutest clothes, I don’t usually buy anything.

We continued through the mall and stopped at a new store called BoxLunch. When we entered the store, I immediately noticed that it is a lot like Hot Topic but without the goth. There are a lot of fandom items that would make any fangirl happy! There is a lot of items for Harry Potter, Disney, Doctor Who, Marvel, DC, and much much more. But, another reason I like the store is because they give back to community food banks with every purchase. Who would’ve thought? So, I bought a mini pop vinyl figure of Hermoine Granger.

And I bought a Five Nights at Freddy’s mystery box. There are 12 figures that you could possibly get in the box. Who doesn’t like a mystery and a surprise? So, I bought it and got a Toy Bonnie. I think that he is adorable!

We then made our way to Charming Charlie’s where all of their clearance stuff was an additional percentage off! So, why wouldn’t you want to buy some? I bought a feather necklace, a leather and rock bracelet, and a leather tassel keychain. I bought the keychain specifically to hang my Hermoine pop figure, but now I want to buy the other Harry Potter pop figures to hang with her.

I also bought my first poof! I love how cute and poofy it is!

We then made our way to Home Goods. And I found a Paris mason jar. It is big and perfect for keeping…something in. I don’t know what yet, but I am sure that I will find something to put into it.

Finally, we made our way to Walmart where I purchased a Fitbit! I bought the Fitbit Alta and couldn’t be happier with my purchase. I like wearing it and seeing how many steps I take and how many calories I have burned. It’s awesome!

And, I also received a Paris tote from my family! Isn’t it cute?

So, yeah. That’s what I did for my birthday. Not super exciting, but I did have a good day! It was nice to spend time with my mom and sister and do some shopping. I hope you all have a good rest of your day!