Girls Are So Much Fun and Addilyn's Turning 1 Birthday Bash Giveaway!

We are extending the sign ups for this giveaway 

for one more week!  

Sign ups will end June 14th, 2012.  

So far we have 38 bloggers signed up and 18 Crafty divas donating items such as many custom boutique hair bows, hair flowers, a custom dress, a monogrammed dress, a custom embroidered shirt, adorable tutu, custom photo stickers, gift card to Whole Foods, personalized e-book, personalized juppy baby walker, eco orbies, kids DVD, Custom 8x10 canvas photo and 2 picture frames!!  I am receiving the items daily and they are ADORABLE!  I can't wait to start reviewing!!!  

So far this giveaway is worth $405!!!!!  Amazing!!!!  

Please repost, share, ask your blogger and crafty friends, or companies you've used to buy little girl items in the past if they are willing to donate!  Every bit of promoting helps!!

Girls Are So Much Fun and 

Addilyn's Turning 1 Birthday Bash Giveaway!

Brought to you by This Girl's No Expert, This Mom's No Expert, Swanky Moms Club,  Just A Marketing Mom, Mom 'N Daughter Savings and Confessions of a Busy Mom

Sweet little Miss Addilyn Rose, is turning 1 year old and we are looking for some crafty divas and snazzy bloggers to help us kick off her birthday with a BANG by doing a custom little girl giveaway!!   So far, our giveaway items just starting out are a custom Tutu, 8x10 Canvas Print of YOUR Photo, Copy-Kids DVD, Personalized Juppy Baby Walker, 5x7 Picture Frame, 8x10 Picture Frame, 3 Boutique Bows, Personalized Children's E-Book and a Custom Made Dress!  And we are just getting started!  The prize list grows by the hour!

We have TWO sign up options.

One for Crafty Divas that make handmade items  and one for Snazzy Bloggers  (and yes, there is a free sign up blogger option too)

(If you are not a crafty person but you are a blogger, scroll down to option two)

Sign Up Option One for Crafty Handmade Product Sponsors: 1. Donate one custom made item FOR Addilyn 

• Name: Addilyn Rose Rotenberry
• Gender: Female
• Initials: ARR
• Size: 12-18 Months 
• Shoe Size: Toddler 5
• Room Decor: Pink and Brown

Examples of items could be:

• Custom made dress, Shirt, Outfit or Shoes
• Personalized Embroidered Shirt
• Embroidered or Handmade Blanket or Quilt
• Vinyl Lettering
• Picture Frames
• Bows
• Bow Holder
• Hand Painted Wall Art for Little Girl's Room
• Hand Made Toys or Toddler Items
• Embroidered Diaper Bag
• Custom Personalized Sippy Cups or snack holders

The possibilities are ENDLESS!

*We will need to receive this item by June 21st at the latest!  I will email you my address upon completion of the below form in order to send your item for Addilyn to me so I can complete my amazing review of your product before the giveaway starts.  You will be responsible for shipping if you are not local in Dothan, AL.  2. Donate same custom made item FOR the Givewaway

• If your item is a personalized item (example - embroidered name, etc.) you will be provided with contact info of the winner and winner will be provided with your contact information upon close of the giveaway, and the winner being chosen via Rafflecopter.)  You will also be responsible for shipping.
• If your item is not personalized just send both items to me together and I will take care of mailing the items to the winner.

So you will be donating 2 items!

What do our crafty sponsors get in return for their amazing gift and giveaway donation? TONS OF EXPOSURE!!

• I will do an exclusive positive review of your product on my blog's home page and will permanently list a link to the review on my “Product and Website Reviews" page.  
• In my review, I will include links to your Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, Website, eBay store, Etsy Store – any or all that you choose.  
• I will include photographs of the product you send me for Addilyn in the review posting. 
• I will share the review post on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
• I will list your “linky button”, logo or link to your Website/Facebook/eBay store/Etsy store on the “Favorite Blogs, Sites & Products” page permanently.
• You will be listed as a sponsor in the giveaway and linked throughout the giveaway post with pictures and praises of your amazing products.
• You will be listed on the Rafflecopter giveaway form with ANY link(s) of your choosing. That's right - ANY AND ALL. No limit!  This will get you tons of exposure!

Click Here for the  Crafty Sponsors Sign Up Sheet

Not a crafty person but you are a snazzy blogger and want to be a part of this Giveaway?   We have a few choices so Option Two is for YOU!

Sign Up Option Two for Blogger Sponsors: 1.  Donate $20 towards a Toys R Us Gift Card  ($10 for Addilyn and $10 for winner)

• This will get you unlimited links of your choice on the Rafflecopter Form

2.  HOST Option:  Donate $12 to cover extra gift card purchases, shipping, etc. 

• You will get 8 links of your choice AND will be a linked co-host of this event.

3.  Donate $10 towards a Toys R Us Gift Card 

($5 for Addilyn and $5 for winner)

• This will get you 5 links of your choice on the Rafflecopter Form

4.  Donate $5 towards administrative costs to put the giveaway post and Rafflecopter form together.

• You will get 2 links of your choice on the Rafflecopter Form

5.  FREE Sign Up

• You will get 1 link of your choice on the Rafflecopter Form

Note:  FREE Blogger Signup Sponsors:  If you refer the most bloggers, you will be able to get 5 links on the Rafflecopter form for FREE!

Click Here for the Blogger Sign Up Sheet 

EVERYONE must be committed to promoting this giveaway on all giveaway sites they know of, twitter, Facebook, etc. during the giveaway.  Promotion is what is going to get us exposure and followers!  

This contest will be live (hopefully) from June 30th to July 30th 2012 Sign ups will end June 14th 2012

For paying bloggers, please send payment as a gift only (so there are no fees) via Paypal to email address hrotenberry@hotmail.com. Do not mention giveaway or contest anywhere on the page where you send me the fees, because Paypal frowns upon that. Just leave your name and blog name in the subject title.

Click Here for the Crafty Sponsors Sign Up Sheet

Click Here for the Blogger Sign Up Sheet

Thank you all so much for your help!   I think this will be a lot of fun and will  be a great way to celebrate my 

little Addilyn Rose turning 1!!

Please click here to copy and paste the HTML code in your own blog post in order to promote this blogger sign up!!

Veteran's Honor Roses - My Favorite

Today I finally got out to cut some roses from my yard.

These Veterans Honor roses are my very most favorite.

They are a deep red in color and have long stems.

I ordered them from Jackson Perkins. 

I was so determined to have them that I ordered another one

after I killed the first one died.

They look lovely on my mantel.

I added them with some fresh greens to the wire wrapped vase I created

Here

 Thanks for stopping by! Happy Gardening!

Holly

Garden Update - Tomatoes are coming

My mouth is watering! I found this in my garden today.

It is within days of being harvested and accompanying lettuce in a fresh salad and/or bacon on a BLT.

Home grown tomatoes are like the ultimate summer taste.

The rest of the garden is also doing well however, I've not been out to weed and pull the sprouts from last years tomato plants. It could use a little grooming.

My excuse: I had foot surgery last Thursday and have been in a boot. I go for my post op this afternoon and hopefully will get to give the the boot - The Boot. I have been sleeping, showering and everything else with it 24/7 for the last 5 days and am pretty sure I am ready to part with it.

Isn't it fashionable? I had to make the picture small because at full size it is even worse. Although nothing compared to the walking boot and crutches I had to wear for six weeks when I broke same foot a couple of years ago. There is always a bright side - right?

Anyhoo - Back to the garden.

Looks like the peas are ready to harvest too. I love 'em fresh from the garden. I peel and freeze what we can't eat to add to soups and stews all winter.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Gardening!

Holly

Creative Corner Blog Hop

Belly Bands for the Dogs

Does your dog mark? Mine doesn't but I occasionally have visitors that do. Having these belly bands on hand always saves the day. If your dog does mark these allow you to bring your little fella with you and not have to deal with those embarrassing moments.

You can spend a lot of cash purchasing these on line or at your local pet store.

Or you can do like I did and make your own.

Here's what you will need:

Fabric (flannel works best but, you can also use cotton or felt)

Industrial strength Velcro

scissors

thread

sewing machine

I made a trip to Joann's and picked up these cute fabrics. I found some in the fat quarters

and some on the clearance isle, Nothing to girly because these are for the boys

(Don't want to give them a complex).

Cut the fabric for the size you are making (sizes are listed below).

Fold in half lengthwise face to face.

Pin and sew leaving one end open.

Turn right side out, iron and tuck open ends inside creating an invisible seam.

Sew across the open end a couple of times.

Cut Velcro into 3" strips or 4" for Large and Extra Large sizes.

Peel and stick the Velcro like so to the belly band (inside of one end and outside of the other end).

This stuff is super sticky and may not need it but can be sewn on

 if necessary.

All that is left to do is peel and stick a pantie liner to the inside.

The wings fold around and stick holding it secure.

After use just throw away the pantie liner and replace it.

Launder belly bands with like colors when needed, light ironing.

That was so easy, I made all of these in less than one hour.

And now I am ready to take on the pack.

Here is Bob rocking the orange one.

These will make great gifts for some of the dog owners I know.

Sizes:

Small - Cut fabric 16" X 8-1/2"  fits 12" circumference

Medium - Cut fabric 21" X 8-1/2" fits 16" circumference

Large - Cut fabric 22" X 10" fits 18" circumference

XLarge - Cut fabric 27" X 10" fits 23" circumference

If none of these fit your dog the sizes can be easily adjusted.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful week!

Holly

Painting the banister

I have been putting off this project for-ever because I knew it was going to be very time consuming.

The banisters did not look all that great when we bought the house 9-1/2 years ago.

This last 6 months have not been especially good to them either -

Lucy and her pups found them to be good for teething.

We plan to eventually take this section of the railing out and eliminate the split in the staircase - I could no longer bear to look at it in this condition. Drastic action needed to be taken! So, I did.

The BEFORE pictures..

Notice all the marks where she and her pups layed leisurely on the landing and gnawed at it. And it actually looks milder in the pictures.

The culprit...

Lucy

Yep, she looks pretty innocent. 

My DH says I should have named her "Tzu" for  "Shi# Tzu".

And sometimes he calls her Luci-fur. Really, We do love her dearly!

This is wear and tear - the Tzu's are not this tall - Thank god for little things!

I made a trip to Kwal Howells paint store and purchased a quart of water based white acrylic semi gloss paint (That is a mouthful). I sanded all the surfaces down lightly with fine sandpaper - This took some time but was essential to ensure the paint sticks and for that smooth finish I am going for. Then using a damp towel, I wiped it all down and let dry. Using a foam brush (disposable - this makes for easy clean up) to eliminate any brush marks, I tediously painted 3 light coats being very careful to not get any drips, and allowing each coat to dry before continuing

= Serious time spent here!

And now - The AFTER pictures...

 I used frog tape, it's the best - It sticks great to the carpet making it easier to paint the edges.

Much better now with no bare wood showing.

I had to  replaced some of the plugs here that the puppies chewed up.

It turned out so good - all that time spent was worth it.  :)

I still have to paint the railing between the dining and family room. So really I'm only
half way done. My goal is to have it completed by the end of June -

There, I've put it in writing now I'm committed - rite?

Thanks for stopping by, Would love to hear from you - Please leave me your comments.

Holly

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