On the first Day of Christmas.... Mudpuppy Review & Giveaway!

Thanks so much for being patient! I really had this all set up & ready to roll on July 1st. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans right? My mom gets epidural cortisone shots for her back. Well, the last one went awry and she started suffering from spinal fluid headaches as well as her legs not wanting to work. The Dr. decided against a blood patch instead seeing if it would heal itself. Thankfully for the most part it has. My mom isn't 100% but she's WAY better than she was! Now...on to the good stuff, right????

This month we're doing an ENTIRE month of Christmas giveaways! The first up is an oh so cute Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cube puzzle from Mudpuppy! This thing is so darling! My daughter is quite the puzzle aficionado and its an area that she has absolutely no delays in. Therefore, I LOVE shopping for new puzzles for her. Also, my family is a bit over the top when it comes to Christmas. I knew I had this Christmas in July event coming up and when I saw all of the super cute Christmas items Mudpuppy has to offer I knew I'd found a fit! Mudpuppy has sticker scene sets, advent calendars & puzzles. I love knowing that I can get something for my daughter that actually has a good chance of being liked more than the box it comes in (c'mon- all of you parents know what I mean!). Here are a few pics of Mudpuppys offerings:

and this little cutie that Mudpuppy sent me to review! Its also going to come live with a lucky Sarah Simplifies reader!

I've got to say that first of my daughter loved this puzzle. Secondly this isn't your cheapo might last for a few weeks kind of puzzle. This was a great, bright printed graphic on a nice thick base. This puzzle can definitely make it through a few holiday seasons and most likely more than one child! So, you want to know how to get this puzzle? Well, I'm here to serve!

Buy It:
Go to Mudpuppy HERE

Win It:
Mandatory: This must be done or all other entries will be deleted.
1)Publicly follow Sarah Simplifies (this has to show up on your Dashboard for it to count)leave a comment that you are a Sarah Simplifies follower- counts as 8 entries (leave 8 comments)
2) Head on over to Mudpuppy and take a look around. Come back here and leave a comment of what your favorite item is. Click HERE to go to Mudpuppy- 1 entry (leave 1 comment)
So just for publicly following Sarah Simplifies and going to Mudpuppy & telling me what you'd love to bring home you will get 9, count them, 9 entries!

Extra Entries:
-Blog about this contest and leave a link worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Add my button to your blog 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Subscribe to Sarah Simplifies worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Twitter HERE worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Networked Blogs 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Enter the JessaKay Designs giveaway 3 enteries (leave 3 comments)


Now for the fine print:
The giveaway will end on August 15th. Any comments left after August 15th 11:59PM CST will not be counted
Please make sure that you have a visible email link or include it in your entry
Winner will randomly be chosen from all entries
Winner will be notified on August 16th of their lucky win! They will have 72 hours in which to claim their prize. If the prize in not claimed within that time frame another winner is chosen.
Open to US and Canadian residents only



Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review and/or giveaway.

Dapple Review

I had the pleasure of testing a couple of Dapple products so I could offer this review. I was sent a travel size Dapple Dish Liquid and a package of Dapple Toy Cleaner Wipes in travel size. I've been washing my dishes in "green" dish liquids for quite awhile now. For the most part I just grab whatever is at WalMart or the grocery store- you know what I mean- Seventh Generation and Clorox Green Works. I've always been happy with those products and like that if my daughter wants to help do dishes its safe enough for her to use. I've got to say that now I'm a HUGE Dapple Dish Liquid fan. It washes dishes so well and leaves them squeaky clean. Seriously- the squeaked! I think its because Dapple Dish Liquid has some baking soda in it. I've read in the past that adding either vinegar or baking soda to your dish pan or liquid would help clean. Well, vinegar separates and if you have any open cuts it hurts. Since I tried Dapple and fell in love with it I used it all up and then went back to a bottle of dish liquid under the sink. I tried adding baking soda to that. Well the baking soda all settled on the bottom and would remix well until I was near the bottom of the bottle and could really shake it up well. This was never the case with the Dapple Dish Liquid. That was the definite selling point for Dapple! It was just a lovely clear liquid that did an amazing job. I also like that there are refill packs available for Dapple Dish Liquid. The Dapple toy wipes were just as wonderful. The pack fit in my purse and I was able to whip one out when we were at lunch with my nephew & he dropped a toy he was playing with. I love that it wasn't too wet- because you know that they'd drop the toy right away again. I can see how the toy wipes would be a huge asset to any family traveling or that has young kids that still have a case of the "oops dropsy's".

Dapple products are available at buybuybaby.com, bedbathandbeyond.com, ToysRUs.com and Diapers.com, or click HERE to find a store near you.


Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. A complimentary product/service was provided to facilitate this review. However all opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

ABC's of Yoga for Kids Review & Giveaway!

I started trying to get my daughter into yoga about a year ago. I'm one of those people that would like to be good at yoga but I'm still a work in progress. That said I also know that yoga can be beneficial to kids in SO many ways! It helps them academically as well as physically. Honestly, I think anyone would be hard pressed to find a downside to yoga, especially yoga for kids. One of the first people that agreed to a review and giveaway when I started Sarah Simplifies was Teresa Anne Power of ABC's of Yoga for Kids. Teresa is a Yoga Instructor and Author of
the AWARD WINNING book, The ABCS of Yoga for Kids. Teresa sent me a copy of her book The ABCs of Yoga for Kids. This book is amazing!!! One of the problems I had when I first started buying yoga for kids videos for my daughter is that they videos I had didn't actually have a segment that just showed the different yoga positions. Since I'm by no means a yoga expert I couldn't really show my daughter the right positions so we just muddled our way through (Meditation is so much more my thing!). I would have given my eyeteeth when I first started introducing my daughter to yoga! Things would have been so much smoother! Then we can go into the fact that the illustrations (by Kathleen Rietz) are GORGEOUS!!! The book is literally an ABC book that shows a different position (or positions depending on the letter and available positions) for each letter. It was so nice to look at my daughter and say "lets be a frog" and show her a still picture!!! This book is going to be part of our library for a long, long time! Its also going to be my go to birthday gift for awhile!

Now, for the really fun part! Teresa Anne Power is giving one incredibly lucky Sarah Simplifies reader a copy of her ABC Yoga for Kids 24 x 36 in. Poster! In addition to that Sarah Simplifies readers are getting free shipping from Teresa's website HERE You just need to enter the code SIMPLIFY

- To buy ABC's of Yoga for Kids book or poster go HERE

- To win a copy of ABC Yoga for Kids 24 x 36 in. Poster its easy peasy with lots of bonus entries!
Mandatory Entry:
Go to the ABC's of Yoga for Kids website HERE and take a look around. Come back here and leave a comment about something you have learned. This entry must be completed or all other entries will be deleted.

Extra Entries:
-Become a PUBLIC follower of Sarah Simplifies worth 8 entries (leave 8 comments)
-Blog about this contest and leave a link worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Twitter HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)



Now for the fine print:
The giveaway will end on May 28th. Any comments left after May 28th 11:59PM CST will not be counted
Winner will randomly be chosen from all entries
Winner will be notified on May 29th of their lucky win! They will have 72 hours in which to claim their prize. If the prize in not claimed within that time frame another winner is chosen.

Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. A complimentary product/service was provided to facilitate this review. However all opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

This post was interrupted.....by life!

Please accept my apologies! Things slightly derailed in my life last week and then I spent 2 days fighting with blogger trying to even sign in here! There is lots of business to wrap up and new things to do so lets get to it! I will announce the winner of the Nurture Your Body giveaway here. Also today and tomorrow I will post a few reviews & giveaways. Hopefully there won't be too much of a problem for awhile!

Now for the winner of the Nurture My Body giveaway- Picked using radom.org is:
Nancy said...
#3

I follow via Google Friend: allibrary.

Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

April 18, 2010 1:36 PM

CONGRATS Nancy!!! I will send you an email right now!

Lindy's Delights Review & Giveaway

I have another great Etsy giveaway for you! I had the pleasure of trying Lindy's Delights Triple Chocolate Chunk Scones and trust me- it was a pleasure! I made them with my daughters help on Sunday afternoon. It was just one of those kind of gray, rainy, blah kind of days. Baking & tea seemed in order and what goes better with tea than scones?!!!? The scones are super easy to make. Pour mix into a bowl, add cream and vanilla, stir until moist and then kneed on a floured board. After that sprinkle the top & bottom with sugar & pop in a preheated oven.

The scones were SO delicious! We ate them right out of the oven with a bit of butter and cups of tea. I still get such a kick out of my 6 year old drinking tea! She kept on calling them cookies no matter how many times I told her they were scones. We also indulged in them later that night & I ate the last one the next day & they were wonderful each time! (Actually I got in BIG trouble for eating the last one!)

Now for the really good stuff- I have a package of Lemon Poppyseed scone mix for one incredibly lucky Sarah Simplifies reader! Entering is easy peasy & there are many opportunities for extra entries!

Mandatory entry:
This must be done or all other entries will be erased.
Go to Lindy's Delights HERE and take a look around. Come back here and tell me what mix sounds the best to you!

Extra entries:

Extra Entries:
-Become a PUBLIC follower of Sarah Simplifies worth 8 entries (leave 8 comments)
-Blog about this contest and leave a link worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Twitter HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Make Lindy's Delights a favorite store if you are an etsy.com buyer worth 2 entry (leave 2 comments)
-Buy something from Lindy's Delights 10 entries (leave 10 comments)(Think Mother's Day- these would be a great gift with some incredible tea mixes or an easy for kids to make with minimum supervision Mother's Day treat!)


Now for the fine print:
The giveaway will end on May 16th. Any comments left after May 16th 11:59PM CST will not be counted
Winner will randomly be chosen from all entries
Winner will be notified on May 17th of their lucky win! They will have 72 hours in which to claim their prize. If the prize in not claimed within that time frame another winner is chosen.

Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. A complimentary product/service was provided to facilitate this review. However all opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

Circle Creek Home Soaps Review & Giveaway

I don’t know if you remember my post on Etsy from a few weeks ago. If not you can read about it HERE.

Today I have the great pleasure of having Sarah Simplifies first giveaway from an Etsy seller! Circle Creek Home makes some absolutely incredible smelling soaps! John and Brenda the owners of Circle Creek Home are super friendly and really are excited about the product they make and sell. I find it so comforting and am much more inclined to buy something from someone who is passionate about what they do. You can find Circle Creek Home right HERE.

Brenda sent me two bars of Circle Creek Home soap to try, citrus lime-zip and sweet orange clove. Now I have to tell you that my daughter loves getting mail when it gets here and when the soap from Circle Creek Home arrived she came running in yelling “I don’t know what it is but it smells really lishious” (her version of delicious). The soaps come neatly wrapped in waxed paper with personalized, hand stamped labels. As I was doing a sniff test on the soaps my mom decided that she had to try them as she’s a citrus scent fan. I usually cut my soap bars in 2 or 3 pieces anyway. Its an easy way of helping the soap last longer & not losing it down the drain which is just a bummer. I got out a regular kitchen knife to cut the bars and it slid through them like it was butter. A really great sign that there is a nice oil ratio in the soap! What does this mean for you? A soap that is more moisturizing! Gotta like that!

Now for the fun part! Circle Creek Home is giving one very lucky Sarah Simplifies winner 4 bars of Circle Creek Home soap! ALSO, if you buy soap from Circle Creek Home you will receive a FREE bar soap in your choice of scent! In the note to seller box mention that you are a Sarah Simplifies reader and what scent soap you would like for your free bar and it will be included with your order! (This offer lasts for the duration of the giveaway ending on May 9th)

Can’t wait for the giveaway to be done to find out if you’ve won?

Buy it!
Circle Creek Home
(don’t forget to tell them you’re a Sarah Simplifies reader and what scent soap you want as your free bar!)

Win it
Mandatory Entry:
Go to Circle Creek Home and browse around. Come back here and tell me what scent soap you’d like to try. This must be done or all other entries are null and void.

Extra Entries:
-Become a PUBLIC follower of Sarah Simplifies worth 8 entries (leave 8 comments)
-Blog about this contest and leave a link worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Twitter HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Make Circle Creek Home a favorite store if you are an etsy.com buyer worth 1 entry (leave 1 comment)
-Buy something from Circle Creek Home 5 entries (leave 5 comments)

Now for the fine print:
The giveaway will end on May 9th. Any comments left after May 9th 11:59PM CST will not be counted
Winner will randomly be chosen from all entries
Winner will be notified on May 10th of their lucky win! They will have 72 hours in which to claim their prize. If the prize in not claimed within that time frame another winner is chosen.

Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. A complimentary product/service was provided to facilitate this review. However all opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

Emmett Cooper Haircare Hydration Rinse Review

I was recently given the opportunity to try a product by Emmett Cooper Haircare. I must admit that before I received this item to review it I had never heard of Emmett Cooper Haircare. These products are the result of 2 haircare pros, Emmett Cooper and Naieem Abdool, working together to make a product that they actually wanted to use. They realized that there was a market for haircare products that were made with certified organic ingredients that could work well.

The product that I received to review was the Emmett Cooper Hydration Rinse. I don't just like this product, I absolutely LOVE it! Enough that I'm willing to buy it online (I'm a bit cheap when it comes to ordering online- I hate the whole shipping cost thing!) I might even introduce my beautician to this line and see what she thinks! I have very thick hair. I'm not trying to brag, as its actually a pain more than anything else. Since I have seriously thick hair it often looks weighted down and tends to get oily quickly. I love the way my hair looks when I've conditioned it but hate the it looks the end of the day. Neither of those situations was an issue with the Emmett Cooper Hydration Rinse! Also when I read the label I thought "rinse" and immediately got the idea of a thin, runny product. Nope! This stuff is very thick! It has a lovely fragrance but isn't overpowering and makes my hair look great! I definitely give the Emmett Cooper Haircare Hydration rinse a thumbs up! If you are interested in checking out the Emmett Cooper Haircare Hydration Rinse or any of their other products you can go HERE for the Emmett Copper Haircare website. Check it out! Buy it! You'll like it!

Nurture My Body Review & Giveaway

I was recently given the opportunity to try the Cleansing Milk by Nurture My Body. Nurture My Body is a company that offers beauty products made with NO toxic ingredients. Actually, they're made with certified organic ingredients, not tested on animals, and phthalate-free. The added bonus is that the packaging is eco friendly too!!! Nurture My Body has a baby line, skin care, hair care and body care.

I've used the Cleansing Milk cleanser for the past week and I have to say I love it! The Nurture My Body website says the Cleansing Milk is good for normal to oily and combination skin. Most of my life I've had oily skin but as I've gotten older I've noticed that I have some areas that are actually dry. I suppose this means I have combination skin. The problem is usually if I use a combination skin product my skin is very dry & tight in places and if I use something for dry skin that I become very shiny looking- ugh! Well, much to my delight when I used the Nurture My Body Cleansing Milk my skin looked & felt fantastic! Not too shiny, definitely not dry- just right! It was such a pleasure to find this item! I'm definitely a fan and plan on continuing my use of Nurture My Body Cleansing Milk and I plan on trying some of their other products since I'm so happy with the Cleansing Milk.

Want to buy something from Nurture My Body? Go HERE

Want to WIN something from Nurture My Body? Well, its your lucky day! One lucky Sarah Simplifies winner is going to win a Nurture My Body Cleansing Milk! This is so easy (I know its Monday and no one needs to tax themselves today, right?)

Mandatory Entry:
Go to Nurture My Body and sign up to win a $50 Nurture My Body Gift box. Honestly its win win isn't it???? Come back here & leave a comment after this is completed. This must be done or all other entries will be deleted.

Click HERE to go to Nurture My Body

Extra Entries:
Extra Entries:
-Become a PUBLIC follower of Sarah Simplifies worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Blog about this contest and leave a link worth 5 entries (leave 5 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Sarah Simplifies on Twitter HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Nurture My Body on Facebook HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
-Follow Nurture My Body on Twitter HERE worth 3 entries (leave 3 comments)

Now for the fine print:
The giveaway will last one week. Any comments left after April 29th 11:59PM CST will not be counted
Winner will randomly be chosen from all entries
Winner will be notified on April 30th of their lucky win! They will have 72 hours in which to claim their prize. If the prize in not claimed within that timeframe another winner is chosen.


Disclaimer- NO monetary payments were received for this post. A complimentary product/service was provided to facilitate this review. However all opinions expressed are my own. Different people may have different experiences with products and/or the company. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.