Custom Cards and Stationary Made Easy with Basic Invite

I received product complimentary from Basic Invite. All opinions are my own. 

Get Holiday Cards Out of the Way Early 

It's October. Why am I thinking about Holiday Cards already? Because if I don't start planning now they will never get sent out! I don't know how many years I've waited until after Thanksgiving to start planning holiday cards and then I either give up because there isn't enough time, or end up sending things after the New Year. Not this year. This year I already have my holiday cards in and it's not even November yet! The holiday season is just SO busy, anything I can check off this early is a plus. 

I got my cards from Basic Invite. It was so simple. Within minutes I had chosen my design, edited the text, uploaded my photo, and was done. Our card this year features BabyCakes, but if you want to showcase your pup they have a few cute dog Christmas cards in their designs. Thinking ahead, I also got some custom Thank You Cards to send out to folks who send us holiday cheer. Both sets of cards also came with envelopes, and there are 40 different envelope color options. 

Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different colors. 

What's a major blocker in getting Holiday Cards out on time? Addresses! 

Basic Invite offers an address capturing service that allows customers to simply share a link on social media or via e-mail to request their friends and family’s addresses which will be stored in your account and can then be selected during the design process. Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all Holiday Card orders.

Not Just Christmas Cards

Basic Invite offers more than just Christmas cards. There is still time to pick up Halloween party invitations cute and creative Thanksgiving dinner invitations. They also offer foil cards in gold, silver, and rose gold which are perfect for New Year's Eve party invitations or New Years cards. 

Give Basic Invite a try for yourself. Right now they are offering 30% off with coupon code: holi30 

Are you ready for the Holidays?

fairlife Deals at Peapod

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

Connect to what’s real. The best ingredients start at the farm. Dairy farmers across the U.S. are passionate about caring for cows and leaving the land better than they found it because that means a fresher product for you and your family. Celebrate the farmers behind the foods you love! Buy more, save more at Peapod.com. Buy any two 52oz. fairlife products for $6.00 now through November 9th!

Fresh Kids' Meals Options for Wendy's + Giveaway

Disclosure: I received the gift cards for my meal and the gift cards I'm giving away from the Wendy's + Shamrock Farms Teams. All opinions are my own. 

Today after a very fun trip to the park our little family of three took a trip to Wendy's for lunch. I absolutely consider strategic trips to the drive thru a Working Motherhood hack. Whether its because of a time crunch between activities or no drive to cook after a long day of work and extracurricular activities being able to grab food on-the-go is an awesome convenience. It's great that Wendy's and Shamrock Farms have teamed up to offer fresh options in Kids' Meals - milk (regular and chocolate!), grilled chicken wraps, and a seasonal Strawberry and Blueberry cup. 

I have $30 in gift cards that I'd like to give away to one of my lovely readers! Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway closes midnight October 15th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fall Bathroom Upgrade with DIY Toilet Paper Pumpkins

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

Finally. Finally! It is officially fall. I'm so excited. Fall brings many of my favorite things - sweater weather, warm beverages, fall holidays, changing leaves, boots and leggings, and fall decor! I managed to wait until the official start of fall to start this year's decorating. Today I'm going to share some very simple ways to upgrade your bathroom for the fall. 

DIY Toilet Paper Pumpkin

Materials: 

Roll of Scott® ComfortPlus Toilet Paper™
Orange tissue paper
Green ribbon

This craft is so simple to do and offers a really cute fall accent to the bathroom. Take a large sheet of tissue paper - the 20 in X 26 in size is perfect for this craft - and lay it completely flat on your table. Place your roll of toilet paper in the center. 

Gather all four corners of your tissue paper and twist all the excess.

Bend your excess paper to create your stem, and tie a green ribbon around it. 

And there you have it, a toilet paper pumpkin! Our family uses Scott® ComfortPlus™ Toilet Paper because its tested for strength and designed for comfort. The sheets are thick, plush, strong, and Septic Safe. We get our toilet paper at Family Dollar, and they currently have a deal for Scott® ComfortPlus™ 12ct Big Roll - just $4.25 ($0.75 Smart Coupon) valid from 9/2 - 10/22.

Basket of Gourds

Materials
Small basket
Faux gourds

Tissue paper

Grab a small basket and some faux gourds. You don't actually need enough gourds to fill the basket, you can use your tissue paper to fill the basket and place your gourds on top. This offers a cute fall harvest feel. 

Small accents

Some other small fall accents you can add to upgrade your bathroom for the season are fall shower curtains and simple fall stems in the center of your paper towel holder. These small changes really brings your bathroom into fall!

In our paper towel holder we have Scott® Paper Towels because they're super absorbent and quickly soak up messes - which we have a lot of with a pre-schooler in the house lol. Family Dollar has a deal currently for Scott® Paper Towels 6ct Mega Roll  - just $5.25 ($0.75 Smart Coupon) valid from 9/2 - 10/22.

Check out the Family Dollar store finder to locate a store near you and pick up Scott® Toilet Paper and Scott® Paper Towels!

Why I'm Loc'ing My 3 Year Old's Hair

Both my husband and I have locs. I've been thinking about loc'ing BabyCake's hair for a few months now. My reservations were:

Starting them myself - my husband and I both got our locs started by an actual loctician even though I maintain both of our hair so I was worried about starting locs for the first time.

Getting bored with all our hair - I love having my locs, but I liked still being able to style and experiment with my daughter's loose natural hair.

Worrying about what other people would think - everyone loves BabyCakes big curly hair, so I hesitated with not wanting to disappoint other people.

So why did I ultimately decide to loc her hair?

BabyCakes has been saying she wants locs like us - the combination of her vocalizing that she wants locs and imaging us a fully loc'd family was definitely a big factor.

Washing and styling her loose natural hair is very laborious - it's generally not a fun time for either of us. She mostly hates having her hair parted, which is no longer necessary with her locs.

It's only been two weeks since I put in the two-strand twists to start her locs but it's already a relief to know I don't have to fight to comb her hair. She also has a lot more freedom with her hair now. I don't have to be concerned about it tangling so she's gotten to wear it out much more often than when she had loose natural hair, and enjoys whipping it back and forth.

I'm looking forward to her experiencing her loc journey, and to seeing the fruits of my labor being the person who started her locs and will maintain them.

Taking a day to 'just' be a mom

Today was a rare occasion when I got to “just” be a mom. My only priority was momming. I wasn’t checking emails, I wasn’t thinking about obligations, I wasn’t even cleaning the house. I wanted the day to just be about having a good time with BabyCakes.

Parenting is the hardest when you’re pulled in 5 directions while also trying to parent. I’m so thankful for the times I get to/allow myself to enjoy her and push everything else to the back burner.

Today we had an awesome time at our first visit to Sister Cities Park in Philadelphia. This place is truly a hidden gem.

They have a splash pad and a really awesome Children’s Discovery Garden that has a pond, rocks the kids can climb, and a stream. You can send a boat down from the top of the stream and watch it go throughout the park to the pond. There is also a Library in the Park Book Cart that has books from the library out that you can read while you're there. We read two books while we waited for the garden to open.

Next time we visit I'm definitely going to bring some water toys and pack us a blanket and picnic lunch so we can eat there in the grassy area. If you have never been, definitely take the kids. I recommend getting there around 9:30am-ish so the kids can play in the splash pad for a while before the garden opens up at 10am. By noon it gets pretty packed so we headed out around then.

When is the last time you slowed down and just focused on ONE aspect of your life for a day?

Summer Savings on Fresh Cut Fruit

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

Summer is right around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited for warmer weather and all the flavors that accompany the season, especially all the fresh fruit!

Summer doesn’t exactly mean things are winding down, which is why Odwalla and ZICO products are the perfect staple to fit into your busy lifestyle.

Whether they are part of a breakfast, or a pre/post workout snack, these products are a perfect on-the-go solution to those that are trying to make a “better-for-you” choice.

For a limited time at Albertsons and Safeway you can Save $1 when you buy any (2) Odwalla 15.2 fl. oz. or ZICO 13.5 fl. oz. and (1) Fresh Cut Fruit. Offer valid with digital coupon.

Click here to load your card to offer

Enjoy all the flavors of Fresh Cut Fruit without the hassle - ready for snacking or to add to your own fruit smoothie or smoothie bowl!

Don’t pass up these #FreshCutSavings - available for a limited time!

*Participating products:

• Odwalla 15.2 oz bottles
• ZICO 400mL

Offer valid 5/16 - 6/12 and while supplies last. Purchase must be made in a single transaction. Digital coupons are not valid unless downloaded to your Loyalty Account. Retailers include: Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Shaws, Star Market, ACME, Pavillions, Carrs, and Jewel-Osco retailers.