Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year's Eve "Midnight Kisses"

Happy New Year's Eve! 

Are you ready to get your party on? We are celebrating with friends and can't wait to ring in the new year. 2013 has been a BIG one for me. Mainly, being a mom to a now 1-year old baby girl. It has been a complete life adjustment going from full time working wife to full time home with baby mom. I've learned a lot about myself I like, and a lot I don't like and need to work on. It's been UP and it's been DOWN, but thankfully mainly UP. I can without a doubt say this has been the best year of my entire life. The joy Ava brings into our family can't be spoken. I can't wait to see what 2014 brings for my little family. But before that all happens, we have to party away 2013! 

I'm sharing a cute treat for New Year's Eve.

MIDNIGHT KISSES. Two of my favorite things: chocolate + kisses. This simple New Year's treat would make the perfect addition to your party spread or how about package it up cute and give it to someone you love? I'm using it both ways, because I just can't get enough. 

I made one version of Midnight Kisses to give to my husband as a New Year's gift. I cut out circles from printer paper (0.88" round), wrote reasons why I love him on the circles, then glued them onto the bottom of several kisses. It was SO easy. Just make sure you right on the circles before you glue them on! You could also use the circle stickers found in the office supply section, but I just wanted to use what I had on hand {paper, scissors and a glue stick!}. I then put them in a cute polka dot treat box I got from Target for $1. It was a simple and yummy way to give my love a few extra midnight kisses.



The second way I used them was in a treat dish! I made a Midnight Kiss circle dot in various colors to attach the same way. You could even make a cute placecard that says "Midnight Kisses" for your treat table. This is a easy, quick treat, if you need something last minute for New Year's Eve tonight! I've included the downloads for the blank dots and the color dots below!









Enjoy your Midnight Kisses!

**Here are some more last minute ideas for NYE**

 Free Printable by Glued to My Crafts Blog

Free Printable by Bull City Studio


HAVE A GREAT NIGHT! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
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Monday, December 30, 2013

My Love Monday ... Mod By Mel {& a giveaway!}

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We only have a couple days left in 2013, which means this is the last My Love Monday until next year. Which means I kind of have to give my love away! Today's love is one of my favorite Etsy shops: Mod by Mel. Melanie is one of my favorite designers.




The first print I ever saw of hers on Instagram was this one...




...and knew I just had to work with her and show off her fabulous designs to all of you. Mod by Mel has trendy, modern designs that I know you will love. You can order prints, mugs, calendars, notecards and more. You can place custom orders, too! Have you ever had that little ol' thought of i wish i could remarry my spouse so i could have the pinterest wedding of my dreams? Yeah. I would definitely be custom ordering wedding invites from this lady if I could go back. But right now, I'm kind of swooning over her 2014 Wall Calendar. "Best Year Ever"  what could be a better theme for starting the new year?



The newest addition to my kitchen shelf wall is this print .. which is my favorite .. and is 110million percent true.










I would give up sleep any night for that cute mug.


head on over to Mod by Mel's Etsy Shop to view all of her fantastic designs. When you do, use my special promo code for 20% off your order!     HOLIDAY20
Be sure to follow Mod by Mel on Instagram for new design sneak peeks and more promos! {tell Melanie I say hi!}

But before you get your shopping on, you can enter to win an art print of your choice from Mod by Mel! How amazing is Melanie to give away one of her adorable prints? You already know which ones I love...which one would YOU choose?! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!

{more ways Mod by Mel's designs have been styled}
{http://danielleoakeyinteriors.blogspot.com/2013/09/40000-playroom-design.html?m=1}
{http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2013/12/05/print-in-a-bag-quick-gift/} 

 Giveaway Rules
enter using Rafflecopter widget
open to US residents only
all entries will be verified
winner will receive one art print of choice {up to $14}

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You might also like

New Year's Eve Fonts

 How to Recycle Christmas


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Recycle Christmas

IT'S OVER!!

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is OVER. The trees are being taken down, the cookies have all been eaten, the tinsel has been vacuumed, and the resolutions are being written. I was looking around at all the empty boxes and wrapping paper laying around my house and thinking what a waste of paper! It hit me that most everything can be RECYCLED! I have a list of all that holiday stuff in your house that has got to go and how to RECYCLE it all. Don't throw away when you can REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE. Mother Earth will thank you!


CHRISTMAS TREE

Curbside
Tossing your Christmas tree on the curb is always the first thought! It's definitely an option, but you need to be informed about a local pick up -- if your area even has one! Many communities will pick up Christmas trees from the curb, but you need to check with your local county waste management dept to find out the dates and any guidelines they may have. Be sure to remove all ornaments, tinsel, lights, etc. and cutting your tree into small chunks always help whoever is picking it up.

Local Recycling Center
Many communities have local recycling centers that you can take your Christmas tree to and drop it off for recycling. Your tree will then end up as mulch or part of a soil erosion program. This option is great, because you know your tree is going becoming part of a local lake, river, park or playground!

Get Creative
If you really want to go all Ron Swanson on your tree, CLICK HERE are 5 creative ideas from TLC for reusing your Christmas tree.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Retail Stores
There are several stores that offer drop off boxes for your old Christmas lights. Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart all should. Call your local store to verify. Home Depot was offering a Christmas lights trade-in coupon last month. If you brought in your old incandescent lights, you could get a coupon for a discount on new LED lights {much better for energy saving!}. Again, call your local store to see if this trade-in is still being offered.

Online
One store, HolidayLEDS.com, lets you ship your used Christmas lights to them, and they will give you 15% off a purchase from their store. This is another great way to trade-in your old incandescent lights for new LED ones.

Get Together
Try to get more people to turn in their old Christmas lights with you. Start a box at your office, amongst your neighbors, etc. Often, people are more willing to recycle if they're doing it with a friend!
What happens?
When you recycle your old Christmas lights, the lights get removed and are broken down. The plastics are also saved. Companies sells these parts to manufacturers, which are then turned into NEW PRODUCTS. Yay for recycling!

CHRISTMAS CARDS

We all do it. Endure the two hour family photo session, praying for every child to smile, so we can snap that picture perfect family photo that ends up on the front of a Christmas card. We even make handmade holiday cards. Who doesn't love receiving a Christmas card in the mail -- photo or not? But what to do with them come December 26? Martha Stewart is such a wise lady -- she shows you 10 ways to reuse Christmas cards. I love these ideas and already know which ones I'm going to do.


CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Reuse Next Year
Save your ornaments for next year! Every year, I always have this gorgeous dream tree in my head with a brand new color palette and ornaments, but every year I use the same red and lime green ornaments. And guess what?! Every year -- I love it! 

Recycle Local
If you do decide to get rid of your ornaments, don't just throw them away! Call your local recycling center and see if they accept ornaments. Think of all the glass, plastic and metal that can be broken down and sold to manufacturers, just like the Christmas lights. 

Donate
Save your ornaments for next year to give to a family in need. Or, find a local thrift store to take your used ornaments to. Here in Utah, we have a Deseret Industries in almost every city. Here is a link to find a D.I. near you: Deseret Industries location look up.

CHRISTMAS BOXES AND WRAPPING PAPER

Reuse Next Year
Christmas gifts are like gifts within a gift. Presents opened by children don't really provide much wrapping paper to keep, but as an adult, you can totally control how mad crazy you open your gifts! Try to save what wrapping paper, boxes, gift bags, ribbons, tissue paper, etc. that you can. You may never need to buy wrapping goodies again!

Recycle Can
Whatever you can't keep, be sure to put in your recycle can outside! Growing up, we didn't have a recycle can, but where I live now, we do. Check with your utilities department to see if they offer a recycling program. 

ELECTRONICS

Every year, companies come out with the latest and greatest electronics, and we all have to have the newest phone or computer or gaming system. But what to do with last year's model? 

Sell Online
Try to sell, if you can, through online sites such as Craigslist or your local newspaper's online Classifieds section. Facebook is also a fantastic source for online yard sales. Search for an online yard sale near you. *Always be careful when selling or buying online! If you are meeting someone for a purchase, always go with a male companion, never meet at night or alone, and pick a well crowded area. I've never had a problem before, but you always want to be safe!*

Recycle
You can find a local electronics recycling center by going to the National Center for Electronics Recycling's website. This is much better than just throwing old electronics away! CLICK HERE for link 

BATTERIES

All the toys and electronics need new batteries, but those are eventually going to die! Batteries contain materials that are recyclable, but also materials that are hazardous. I used to always throw away my batteries, until I worked for the environment dept for the State of Utah. I learned that I should be recycling my batteries! You can find a local drop off location by clicking HERE.

Basically, the moral of the story is, there is a way to recycle ANYTHING. You can find drop off locations by searching your local government websites (environmental, utilities, etc). I can't post all the links, because there are, you know, lots of states and they are all different. But I encourage you to search and find how you can recycle -- and not just Christmas! We can recycle every single day of the year.

For more info, I recommend the website Earth 911. They have a search option where you can type in any item and any location, and it will tell you how and where to recycle it. CLICK HERE for link

Send out some good karma today and Recycle Christmas!

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You might also like:

Mod by Mel Giveaway 
 

New Year's Eve Fonts

Co-Hosting Fantastic Friday Link Up #13


Fantastic Friday Link Up


Let's start by introducing your hosts and co-hosts!



The Fantastic Friday Link Up is brought to you by:

Michelle from The MaMade Diaries Stephanie from Life as a Mommy Leah from Mama Knows Nest Stephanie from TinTin & Livia Kim from This Ole Mom Embrace from Embracing The Good Life


This weeks lovely co-host is:

Daniela from Put A Bird On It
The Fantastic Friday Link Up is a place for you to come each week and link up all of your social media sites. Link ups are a fun way to network your blog, gain more followers, and make new friends!

Each week we will also have two or three co-hosts. If you are interested in co-hosting please e-mail me at mamadecreations{at}gmail{dot}com so that we can get you scheduled!



The Rules:

There is only one real rule and that is to please follow your hosts and co-hosts in any area that you add your links. These will be the first few links in each list below, and will also be labeled host or co-host so there is no missing them. Please stop by a few other pages and follow along as well, after all, that's how link ups work!Don't forget to leave us a comment when you follow so that we can be sure to follow you back! :)
Besides that we do ask that you please share the link up in any way you are comfortable. The more views and participants we have, the more views and follows we all receive!
If you would like, go ahead and grab our button above and placed it somewhere on your page. We would really appreciate it and that’s one more way to help get the word out about the link up :).
Each week Michelle sends out an e-mail notification that the Fantastic Friday Link Up is live. If you'd like to stay up to date with the link up and receive the reminder e-mails so you can be one of the first people to link up, you can sign up below.

An InLinkz Link-up
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(Submissions close in 4d 9h 35m)
Link tool by inlinkz.com



(Submissions close in 4d 9h 35m)
Link tool by inlinkz.com



(Submissions close in 4d 9h 35m)
Link tool by inlinkz.com

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Link'n Blogs link party #5


Welcome to Link'n Blogs {#5} !
A place to link up your projects and make new friends. We are all about visiting links and following new bloggers here at Link'n Blogs. Remember to leave comments, say who sent you, and PIN PIN PIN!
Cause sharing is caring.

**Your links will show up on BOTH blogs hosting the link party!**

Grab my party button!
Put A Bird On It

<a href="http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com" target="_self"><img src="http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx5/daniwalsh/linknblogslogo.jpg; alt="YourSiteTitle" width="125" height="125" /></a>


Today, I am sharing my favorite New Year's Eve fonts. 10 sparkly free fonts to help you ring in the new year. View the list and get the download links here:



My fabulous guest host is Ginnie from Hello Little Home. Ginnie is all about design, food, fashion, travel and more! Be sure to check out her blog for some fab ideas.

Ginnie is sharing with us ...


Here are this week's features:

My Pick



Ginnie's Pick


Fan Favorite



Follow my blog! If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link.
Link to your blog post -- not just your blog.
Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you.
If you enjoy a link, you can LIKE it {new feature!}
Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog. 
Grab my party button! - See more at: http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2013/12/diy-christmas-scriptures-advent.html#sthash.mPINNYsH.dpuf
Ok, here are the guidelines for the link party:  

Follow your HOST and GUEST HOST
If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link
Link to your blog post -- not just your blog.
Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you
Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog
Share this link party on social media to help Link'n Blogs grow!


Happy Linking!

All links will be pinned to my Link'n Blogs board. Follow it here!


Interested in being a guest host? Email me at {danieladavis17@gmail.com}!


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You might also like:

Mod by Mel Giveaway


Peppermint Christmas Crack Recipe

Hot Cocoa Bar {pink & gold baby's 1st birthday}