Love It – Scrub Daddy
I got a Scrub Daddy for Christmas. It has been a big help when washing dishes. When I first got it I wasn’t sure how well it would work, but I love it.
It feels pretty hard when you first take it out of the box. As soon as you run a little warm water over it the Scrub Daddy becomes more pliable. It works awesome on our smoothie cups because it gets all the way down in the cups and around the edges really well. While it is soft like a sponge in warm water it is firm when you use it in cool water.
It is safe to use on wood, plastic, stainless steel, non-stick coatings, glass, counter tops and more! The Scrub Daddy works great on spoons, spatulas, straws, and more kitchen items. The kids think it’s neat because it has a smiley face! It has been nice having around when it is time to wash the dishes! You can pick up a Scrub Daddy at a local store or on Amazon!
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Gift Giving: Give the Gift of Amazon Prime
The Valentine Holiday will be here soon, at the end of this week in fact! So EXCITING! If you are still looking for the perfect gift for someone on your list you can give the gift of Amazon Prime. This gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Celebrating Christmas Eve With My Family
Brina requested homemade Monkey Bread!
Thankful for a quiet and fun Christmas Eve with my family. It was a great day! We ate read books, played games, ate great food, made gingerbread houses, watched classic Christmas movies, and more wonderful fun with the family. It is nice to have a day to spend making memories together.
We got to open a family gift a day early! Jake got us the game “Forbidden Desert – Thirst For Survival“! we had a blast playing it together TWICE today!
Making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers! We had a great time making a mess and putting them together!
They turned out pretty well!
My sweet, thoughtful, and handsome man! He drove all the way across town early this morning to get me sushi, love him!
Sushi anyone!?
Starting reading this classic Old Yeller by Fred Gipson book to the girls today…so far they are enjoying it!
My parents got us some sweet hot cashews! DELICIOUS!!!
Watched the classic Christmas movie – Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!
Another Christmas classic – Frosty the Snowman
Love It – EcoSphere Closed Aquatic Ecosystem Aquarium
Jake and the girls got me an EcoSphere Aquarium for my birthday! I knew when the package arrived that it was some type of live plant or animal based on a text I received from Jake while I was out running errands – “There was a package dropped off this morning and it is susceptible to cold, can you make sure to bring it inside?” Oh Boy! As soon as Jake was home that night the girls were begging to check out the box. There was a lot of giggling, whispering, and checking out the special package that hung out in Jake’s closet with the lights on for several days before my birthday. Hmmm….interesting.
I knew if it was susceptible to cold and required extra light and/or warmth there was a good chance it was some living item. I didn’t hear any scratching, whining, or other funky noises or smells coming from Jake’s closet so that was a good sign. I was a little perplexed at what it could be though.
I was very surprised when I opened up my special birthday present to find an EcoShpere Aquarium inside it. I had never seen an EcoSphere up close before it was very neat! They got me an aquarium with four shrimp in it.
The best part about the aquarium is that it is super easy to maintain! My kind of pet! You don’t need to feed the shrimp, clean the tank, change the water, or anything else! Oh YES, that’s awesome! You just get to enjoy watching them swim around. It is a pretty cool system and the best kind of stress free pet to have around the house! If you are wanting to get a simple and easy small aquarium this is a great one to have around!
There are several places where you can get the EcoSphere Aquarium – on the EcoSphere website, at Amazon, on Target’s website, or another retailer that sales the EcoSphere products! If you have any Amazon or Target Gift Cards that you have earned from Swagbucks you could use them to purchase your EcoSphere Aquarium too! I hope you enjoy your EcoSphere Aquarium as much as I have! This is a great Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, or Special Event gift for someone special in your life!
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Last Minute Holiday Gift Idea – Amazon Prime Gift Certificate
It’s beginning to look A LOT like Christmas….. If you are still looking for the perfect or last minute gift for someone on your list you can give the gift of Amazon Prime. It is quick, easy, and will be a blessing to the person on the receiving end! An Amazon Prime Gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Holiday Gift Giving: Give the Gift of Amazon Prime
The Christmas Holiday will be here soon, next week in fact! WooHoo! If you are still looking for the perfect gift for someone on your list you can give the gift of Amazon Prime. This gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Savoring Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates
A box of delicious goodness has arrived!
Chocolate is a special treat at our house! I love pretty much anything chocolate so when I was sent a box of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates to try I was delighted. All Mrs. Cavanaugh’s chocolates are made with fresh ingredients without preservatives. The chocolates were rich, fresh, and melt-in-your-mouth-delicious!!!
In my package I received a 9 oz. box of the “Most Famous” chocolates as well as 4 chocolate bars:
- Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Truffle
- Almond Coconut White Chocolate Truffle Bar
- Candy Mint Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar
- Caramel Chocolate Bar
My family has really been enjoying Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates! All of the ones we have tried have been delicious! The four of us split the Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Truffle, it was rich and creamy. We have tried several of the “Most Famous” Chocolates from the box as well and all of them have been amazing.
If you are looking for a great Holiday gift to share with family, friends, or co-workers and they love chocolates you can send or share a box of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates with them!
The best news is you will receive extra chocolate with the Buy 1 lb Get 1 lb FREE of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates when you use the promo code below on your order! Go to Mrs. Cavanaughs to order your chocolates today!
Use Promo Code: usfamily14
What’s your favorite kind of chocolate?
We brought our chocolates to share with family over the Thanksgiving Holiday, however, they got placed in the back of the van and I forgot to take them out with all the wedding activities that weekend (thankfully it was a cold week)! On the long drive home from Indiana the box of chocolates were discovered so we opened up the box to try them out!
Ready to taste something out of our box of chocolate goodness!
More information about Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates & Gifts:
- Like Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Facebook Page
- Follow Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Twitter Feed
- Pick up your favorite treat or learn more on Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Website
A special thanks to US Family Guide and Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates for sponsoring this post! Any specific product information was provided by US Family Guide and Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own. We received complimentary products for sharing information and our family’s experience.
Holiday Gift Giving: Give the Gift of Amazon Prime
Over the next few weeks I will share a variety of Gift Giving ideas for the upcoming Holidays. We have all had those people on the gift list that we try to find the perfect gift for, but it takes time and a little extra creative thinking. This gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Holiday Gift Giving: Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates
If you a looking for a wonderful and delicious gift to give this Holiday Season check out Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates! Everyone loves a sweet treat! It is the perfect gift and will help you check one more name off your list!
The best news is all of my readers will receive Buy 1 lb Get 1 lb FREE of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates when you order! Go to Mrs. Cavanaughs to order your chocolates today!
Promo Code: usfamily14
There was a time when Marie Cavanaugh spent hours in her South Dakota farmhouse each Christmas season making pecan rolls and homemade chocolates for holiday gifting. “It started when my aunt sent her pecan-rolls recipe,” Mrs. Cavanaugh recalled. “I gave the recipe my own touch and started making the yummy specialties. Then I began dipping chocolates. Our friends and neighbors loved these treats, encouraging me to start a candy business. Finally, I decided it might be a good idea.'”
Her husband George and children Carla, Lorraine, Calvin, Colene and Genise rallied, helping Mrs. Cavanaugh fill demands for her homemade sweets. In 1972, the family moved to Utah, leaving good friends and their beloved cattle ranch. “It was a difficult decision, especially for George,” Mrs. Cavanaugh said. “He was excited about making our new venture, which we chose to call Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Candies, a great success. We felt Utah was blessed with good chocolates and that we would enjoy – and could compete with – those who pride themselves on making excellent chocolates.”
Millions of pounds of chocolates later, Mrs. Cavanaugh’s candies have earned a reputation for unquestionable excellence…. Ask chocolate aficionados. They will direct those seeking the best chocolates to the popular Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Candies.
When you go to Mrs. Cavanaughs you can get Buy 1 lb Get 1 lb FREE of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates using the promo code: usfamily1
Gift Giving: Kids Two Liter Surprise Gifts
Kids Two Liter Surprise Gifts
Are you looking for a unique birthday or fun gift for someone? These gifts were a big hit with our family! I had a blast brainstorming and coming up with these fun gifts for my nieces and nephews. I wanted something fun, unique, and easy to send in the mail. I recycled 2 liter bottles, stuffed them with all kinds of fun items as well as colorful shredded paper and mailed them! The kids absolutely LOVED them! 🙂
I was super excited to hear that my nieces and nephews overjoyed at getting these in the mail! I sent one 2 liter surprise gift to each family, so these four bottles were actually for 12 kids in all. This is a great way to get something special for a group of kids because they all have fun opening and discovering all the goodies in the bottle. Every bottle had a variety of items that all the kids would enjoy from candy to markers, erasers, glue sticks, paper clips, colored pencils, bouncy balls, stickers, and so much more!
View of the back of the bottles, you can see a lot of the fun items inside the bottles
I originally did these gifts for my nieces and nephews as their Christmas presents but since I have been asked by several people to duplicate these gifts I thought I would share them with you too. If you need to send a gift for an upcoming birthday, graduation, Christmas, congratulations, baby, wedding or for any occasion these would be fun to put together and bring a smile to the person receiving it! One lady in the post office wanted to know if I could put together one for each of her grandkids! 🙂 As you can see from the pictures above I did four at one time but it would be very easy to do one at a time too. The gift is unique, memorable, fun, and very affordable!
After cleaning out the 2 liter bottle I filled it with colorful shredded paper and all kinds of fun items then stuck bows to the lid, taped the address on the outside, and mailed them. They cost less postage then a box, were super fun to put together plus I got raving reviews from both those that seen them in transport and on the receiving end. I even had a postal worker from another office contact me to comment on the awesome gifts!
Once you get started and your creative juices get going the possibilities are endless with this two liter surprise gift. Here’s how I did it:
Empty and clean 2 liter bottle (I used clear and tinted bottles both worked well)
Everything you put into the bottle must got through the top opening where the cap screws onto the 2 liter. Put a little bit of colorful shredded paper in first to get some color and padding in the bottom of the 2 liter.
Gather a bunch of items that you think will fit through the 2 liter opening at the top. I like to have a lot of variety in my Two Liter Surprise Gift so here are some of the items that I put into mine. I used what I had in my stockpile from shopping sales, clearance racks, and using coupons so the entire gift was very affordable. Here are some of the items I used to get you started:
- Twist Lollipops
- Markers
- Glue Sticks
- Color Pencils
- Erasers
- Paper Clips
- Post-it Notes
- Crayons
- Highlighters
- Paint Brushes
- Mechanical Pencils
- Tattoos
- Pencils
- Stickers
- Magnets
- Balloons
- Ink Pens
- Binder Clips
- Bouncy Balls
- Small Toys
- Small Notebooks
- Decorative Bags
- And MORE!
Twist Lollipops were the surprise in the middle of the 2 liter bottle with all the other items and shredded paper packed in around them to protect them. I was glad to hear they did really well in shipping!
Filling the two liter bottle with surprises! The lollipops are wrapped inside the blue (with candy canes) tissue paper and put in the middle of the two liter for extra protection.
Packing the bottle full of goodies (another example). You can “stuff” a lot of fun items into a 2 liter bottle
I added the ribbon to the bottle and put a couple pieces of wrapping tape on it to help secure it to the lid. This bottle is a green Mountain Dew bottle with blue shredded paper in it.
Last step is to put on a label with your address and the recipents address and take it to the post office to mail out. (The addresses in the photo have been distorted on purpose for the protection of the kids to whom the gifts were sent to).
Every kid (who I am kidding every person, young & old) loves to get a special surprise in the mailbox. You will put a smile on the face of a family member or friend even though miles may separate you with this great, fun, and affordable gift!
