Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box: October Box Review

Disclosure: I received free products to facilitate this post.  Affiliate links are contained herein. The opinions are my own.

October is here, and it is time for another  Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box unboxing!  Appropriately this month’s box has a fall theme; since that is my FAVORITE season, I was really excited to get this!

Here are a few quick facts about the Essential Oil Recipe Box:

  • Cost is just $39 / month.
  • Each box has 4 bottles of essential oil, recipe cards to help you use your oils in fun and unique ways, plus other materials you need to make the recipes.
  • Each box is specially curated with a unique theme in mind.
  • Each box is a $150 value!
  • When you subscribe you get a cool BONUS box for FREE!
  • You also get a $40 gift card for FREE when you use my referral link and coupon code:  SSHOMEFREE!

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Fall Cleaning in My Kitchen

Disclosure: This most contains affiliate links. The opinions are my own.

Since the baby was born last fall, I’ve struggled to catch up and keep up with everything, especially the housekeeping, but the fall season always tends to jumpstart my cleaning habits.  The last couple of months I’ve really been focusing on fall cleaning in my kitchen.  Here are a few areas and items I like to focus on when I’m doing a deep clean in my kitchen.

Decluttering and Organizing Your Cabinets.

My cabinets were getting a little out of hand.  I managed to throw away a few items and rearrange some things.  Now they are looking a lot better and my stuff is way more accessible.  (And I don’t have pots and pans falling out when I open the door!)

Items to consider decluttering – Lids without containers, containers without lids.  Gadgets, appliances, and dishes you never use. [Read more…]

Fall Decor on a Dime

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. The opinions are my own.

I absolutely love the fall season! And I love decorating for fall almost as much as I love decorating for Christmas.  As I shop I see so many cute finds at great prices.  There’s so many great deals out there that there’s really no good reason not to decorate for the season.  Today I’m going to show off some of my fall decor and tell you some of my favorite places to find fall decor on a dime!

I’ve had my scarecrows for several years, and I love setting up this porch so these guys can greet our guests.  Just add some faux leaves, pumpkins, and a few other pieces, and you’ve got a great scene for family photos.

My mom bought me this wreath.  It came from Home Depot.  I think if you don’t do any other decorating this fall, you should at least have a nice wreath in place.  (I LOVE wreaths!)

I also love wall signs.  I got this one at Target for a whopping $3.  I also saw a ton of awesome fall signs at Hobby Lobby.  (I only wish I had a place to hang more signs!)

The bird and flower stay on this shelf year round, but I originally bought them during the fall season.  Those, along with the pumpkin, in this photo came from Family Dollar, and the Hello Fall sign was another $3 Target find!  This wall shelf also came from Target.

I had no intention of decorating this bookshelf.  Most of the items shown here are there year round, including the birds which were another fall find at Family Dollar.  I believe the pumpkins on each side came from there as well.  The fall star in the back came from Oriental Trading, and the Happy Fall pumpkin is from the Dollar Tree!

I’m most excited about my new floating shelf.  I used to have a China cabinet and an entertainment center.  Both of these had shelves that I could put my decor on, and I miss that!  Finally I broke down and bought this shelf.

My favorite things on this shelf are the plaid pumpkins.  They came from Target.  The little black and white pumpkins and the subway art came from their as well.

The wooden pumpkins that say things like “grateful” and “give thanks” came from the Dollar Tree.  And most of the other decor came from Family Dollar.

This Thankful & Blessed sign also came from Dollar Tree.  (And it’s actually wooden! No flimsy plastic/poster material here!)

Where do you shop for fall decor?  Do you have a favorite decor item or trend?

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 397

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And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Cute Party Themes for Autumn Birthdays

Is someone in your family having a birthday this season? Autumn birthdays can sometimes be tricky, tucked into all the craziness of the back-to-school time and the holidays coming up so soon. Here are a few fall-inspired themes that you can use for your child’s next birthday party.

autumn birthdays

American Western Theme

The fall just makes us want to stomp around in boots and flannel, so you can take this natural type of style and apply it to your party theme. An American Wild West them is fun for kids of all ages, letting them dress up in Stetsons and cowboy boots. Serve baked beans and hotdogs and teach the children a line dance or two for a folksy, fun hoedown. Decorate with corncobs and bales of hay (or just a few bits of hay here and there if you don’t want to go all out!)

Retro 1980s Party

Does the autumn make you feel nostalgic? Although to some of us the 1980s don’t seem all that long ago, to kids this time period might as well be science fiction. With its bright colours and fun pop music, it’s super child-friendly. You can get 80s fancy dress from Funidelia to look the part, or go DIY with slogan T-shirts and mesh gloves of your own. It’s a good idea for costume parties like this to offer a few extra accessories in case anyone misses out on the dress code. To complete the theme, play the top 40 hits from the decade and encourage guests to dance along. The décor should be as wild and neon as the decade.

Woodland Creatures

There’s perhaps no better time to have a wander in the woods than during the fall, when the leaves are changing colours and the air turns crisp. You can bring this same spirit into a woodland party theme. If you make it a costume party, encourage guests to dress like forest animals from bunnies to squirrels or foxes. For the decorations, you can transform your own backyard into a woodland setting with hidden gnomes, brown burlap decorations and fairy lights.

Baking Theme

Is your child old enough to try their hand at baking? This can be a great theme for the budding chef. Get a group of friends together to make seasonal treats like pumpkin spice cookies or apple cupcakes. Just be sure to choose something that they can make and decorate to fill plenty of time. Naturally, the children can then take home their creations at the end of the party.

Wizards and Magic

With Halloween ahead of us, a magic-themed party is a natural fit for september or october birthdays. You can get a jumpstart on your seasonal decoration with whimsical wizard costumes, colour-changing drinks, and black cat cupcakes. Children are excellent at employing their creative imaginations when dressing up for an occasion. You can help your child choose perfect Halloween costumes for the party, so feel free to consider this. Some costume ideas you can suggest to your child include Victorian circus costumes if your child wants to dress like a circus ring leader, a creepy clown costume, vampires, or undead zombies. These are interesting costume ideas you can help your little one choose from.   Play pin the broomstick on the witch, or use Harry Potter decorations to make your theme even more specific. 

No matter what your child’s interests are, you can combine them with the natural magic of the fall season to create a memorable birthday party this year.

Tangy Dr Pepper® Chicken and Grill-gating Fun

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillGatingHero #GrillGating

Tangy Dr Pepper Chicken and Grill-gating Fund

It’s that time of year again! Time to break out your favorite fan gear, whip up your favorite recipes, and get ready for fun-filled football Saturdays!  Every fall I enjoy sitting in front of the television with my husband on Saturdays and watching our favorite college football team (and any other college team who’s playing).   Whether we have a house full of people or it’s just our family at home, we always have a good time, and we always enjoy our share of delicious homegating and grill-gating food!  Today I’m going to share a recipe for grilled chicken.  It features a Tangy Dr Pepper® marinade, and can be used for your chicken fingers, boneless and bone-in wings, or any other meat of your choice! [Read more…]

Tres Leches Pumpkin Cupcakes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeHolidayGoodness #CollectiveBias

tres-leches-pumpkin-cupcakes

The holiday season is almost here! (Or is it here already?)  And with that, comes holiday baking and snacking!  When you’re an on-the-go mom, you don’t always have time to spend a whole day in the kitchen baking up something for the family Thanksgiving or the church potluck.  Luckily NESTLÉ® is here to save a day with whole host of baking staples and creative products that make holiday baking easy and fun!  Today’s featured recipe is actually two recipes in one.  I’ll be sharing a recipe for Pumpkin Muffins, and then I’ll show you how can transform those muffins in to Tres Leches Cupcakes. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 346

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you’ve all had a fabulous week.  As we move forward to Thanksgiving, this week I’m featuring a yummy recipe for Cornbread & Apple Dressing.  And we have a great collection of other holiday ideas that I know you’ll love!

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 345

Hello everyone! Happy November!  I’m so glad that you decided to stop by for this week’s party!  This week we have a great mix of featured posts, including Thanksgiving food, fall and general decor, and even a hint of Christmas!  My pick comes to you from Simply Stacie.  It is a Turkey, Cranberry, & Brie Quesadilla.  I love this, because it looks like a gourmet bistro style lunch item, but it is so simple to make!  And it’s also a great idea for using that leftover Thanksgiving turkey!

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Strawberry Banana Orange Popsicles

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Healthy4School #CollectiveBias

banana-orange-popsicles

The fall season brings so much stress.  First we have the back to school season, and that is immediately followed by the holiday season.  This also just happens to be the time that is the busiest for my business.  With everything going on, it is absolutely essential that I am feeling well and have plenty of energy.  One thing that I find helps with this is Emergen-C®.  Today I’m going to tell you why Emergen-C is a fall must-have for me, and I’ve got a delicious “better for you” popsicle recipe featuring the product!

Emergen-C is a dietary supplement.  It comes in powder form that, when mixed with water, makes a delicious fizzy drink that’s great for a morning pick me up or as an electrolyte replacement after your workout.  It also provides a great source of Vitamin C and antioxidants for immune support and B vitamins to enhance your energy without caffeine.  [Read more…]