I’ve been hanging on to this SpareOne emergency phone trying to figure out how to review a product that I hope I never have to use. This week with all the tragedy surrounding the Oklahoma tornado damage is a great time to think about emergency preparedness. I grew up in a household that planned for emergencies. We had backpacks under our beds with clothing, non-perishable food and water and basic first aid kits. We also stored extra food and water in case of hard times (which we ended up using during a time my dad was out of work for a year) and we gardened to have healthy foods to store.
As I think about how my life and technology have changed over the years, I am happy that I have kept the habit of preparing for the future. In my own home, I store extra supplies, water, food and keep a store of first aid supplies. Now, I also keep a SpareOne emergency phone. It’s quite a neat idea – a battery operated phone whose battery lasts for 15 years. The packaging is waterproof, floats and the phone is operable through the bag. Knowing that we are covered for emergency phone calls in the event of a disaster is a great feeling. Although we all have cell phones, having a waterproof, cold temperature proof phone offers more peace of mind.
Yesterday, I was contacted with a special offer in relation to SpareOne and the Oklahoma disaster. Right now at SpareOne.com you can buy a SpareOne emergency phone at a discount and an additional phone will be donated to people in tornado stricken areas. Anyone using the code BUYGIVE04 will receive a $20 discount on each phone purchased, a SpareOne phone will be donated and SpareOne will track buyers coming from WindyLou.com!
This is a small way to help the recent Oklahoma tornado victims and first responders, and at the same time, prepare your own family.
DISCLOSURE: I was provided with a SpareOne phone for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review/article and all opinions are my own and honest. This review is provided as part of my relationship with itsaglamthing.com
I’ve been working with a new group that sends me products for review. One of the recent boxes on my doorstep was a nifty set of all natural, organic dyes! I was super excited to try these because I had promised one of my stepdaughter’s friends birthday cupcakes. Her favorite color was green, so I yanked off the wrapping and got coloring.
The Nature’s Flavours dyes come in glass bottles, and must be refrigerated. I love the heft of the bottle and not feeling like I am going to squeeze a little plastic dispenser so hard that the coloring will fly everywhere. (Yes, I know this from sad experience!) The box is sturdy enough that I can store the entire set in one spot of the fridge and not have to worry about the bottles rolling all over.
Since the colors are all natural, they don’t have the fakey neon look of other food coloring. I liked the difference in a more natural color. It didn’t take a ton of coloring to get a nice shade either. At first I worried I would have to use half the bottle to get a nice shade of green, but I didn’t!
My requisite taste test of frosting delivered no surprises either. Another thought at the back of my mind was that with the dyes being plant based, the frosting would taste like beans or grass or something icky. Not so!
Everything turned out just right and from all reports the cupcakes were well received! To order your own set or to check out more all natural products you can find Nature’s Flavors online at their website, on facebook and twitter.
Disclosure: I was provided Nature’s Flavours Rainbow Pack of Natural Colors for review in affiliation with www.itsaglamthing.com I was not compensated for this review. All opinions and photos are my own.
A while back I reviewed and gave away an awesome household cleaner: J.A.W.S. The Just Add Water System is cool because the products are environmentally friendly AND the packaging is minimal. The best part is the little refill holder attached to the bottle – it doesn’t get lost in the dark corners of a drawer or cabinet.
Since we tried the sprays indoors this time I tried the degreaser/cleaner on a REALLY grubby project. I’m renting a booth space in a boutique mall, which has sent me hither an yon trying to find all sorts of displays and shelving. I found a darling chippy old cabinet, but man o man was it dirty. Armed with my JAWS I decided to see if it would work on the crusty cabinet.
I’ll let the picture give my answer:
Y’all that is years of who know what all caked on. I didn’t photograph the whole cleaning sesh, but needless to say I’m an even bigger fan of my JAWS now.
Here’s the skinny on a few sales at a couple of stores: BOGO sale on JAWS cleaners April 14-27 at Busch’s and April 8-21 at Hiller’s (www.Jawscleans.com). It’s normally $4.99 a bottle at each store (with one refill included). The sale is a BOGO at each store, so it’s $2.49 a bottle with the included refill. The sale is on the JAWS Glass and Hard Surface Cleaner; JAWS Multi-Purpose Cleaner/Degreaser; Bathroom Cleaner/Deodorizer; and Disinfectant Cleaner Degreaser.
AND
I’m also giving away another full line of cleaners valued at $20!
I’ve been working on a little side project. There is a soon to be open craft and antique mall in the next town over. I am delighted to have a small booth there for my overflow vintage lovelies. This is what I have been working on: price tags!
Good things are coming our way! I love having new projects. More than that I love having new adventures to look forward to.
I’ve been a busy little bee down in my sewing room over the last little while. I have Pinterest and Instagram to thank for my recent fabric re-obsession. It’s hard for me to see so many gorgeous photos of other people’s projects and not be inspired. So far I’ve made a seat back organizer, a lap quilt, a tote bag and a makeup bag, with several other projects lined up! Behold:
Meet Hugo, the latest Millionaire sob story. This little lost sweetheart showed up on our doorstep, cold and starving. I haven’t been able to locate an owner, so it looks like we have kitty number 8.
We seem to have acquired another cat. We waited several days, trying to locate an owner for this little lump of skin and bones we found freezing on the front porch. Now he has been named: Hugo. He’s scared shitless of anything that moves, but drum practice didn’t faze him at all. He’s super cute, but literally skin and bones. I can feel each bone in his body. I’m afraid to rub his fur too hard in case it’s tender to have your bones poking out so.
He’s not the kitty I would have chosen for our last baby, but he must have known which porch was the best. He’s hit the jackpot here. Isn’t he cute? He better be, ’cause we aren’t getting any more kitties for a long, LONG time.
Today is my chicken baby girl’s birthday. She decided on a room makeover. Now, I don’t know how most people go about a room makeover, but I don’t have a few grand to throw at a 14 year old’s room, so we started small. I bought a few thrifted and clearance items to get us started – wall art, an ottoman and a set of letters that spell her name. With those things out of the way, I had to start thinking bigger. It will be up to her to decide on paint, so I didn’t tackle that for her. Instead I DIYed a bedspread.
As we were talking about how she wants her room to look, I directed her to Pinterest for some eye candy. Of course she found an amazing bedspread from Urban Outfitters that was completely and utterly out of the budget. (I didn’t even spend that much on my own bedding!)
Here’s the inspiration bedding:
Now, this puppy retails at over $150. Nuh-uh. No way, no how. So I set about to recreate this as best I could with thrifted materials. I knew that I would have to buy yards and yards of fabric, which wasn’t in the budget either, so I went a hunting for a blanket and sheets that I could dye. My girl asked for charcoal gray. Baby I tried my best, but apparently my fabric dying skills aren’t up to snuff.
Turns out that when you want dark gray or black fabric from white fabric, you don’t actually use black dye. I got a gorgeous purple. Three times. Then I started adding other color dye to see what I could come up with. Long story short, I ended up with a slightly green tinted gray! Success! (sort of!) The blanket and one sheet were the same color, and the other sheet came out light gray. And not a nice matchy combo. So, I ditched the light gray sheet in favor of coordinating the ruffles and blanket.
I bought a gathering foot for my machine and ruffled the heck outta those ripped strips! For a bit of interest, I added a trim of grosgrain ribbon to separate the ruffles from the rest of the blanket, and with the left over sheeting, made a pillowcase with ribbon trim! She likes it!
Here’s my handiwork, with some improvisation thrown in. It’s not a copy, but I kind of like that it isn’t exactly like what we could buy in a store.
We’ve got some work ahead of us, but I think we are off to a great bedroom makeover start! Stay tuned for more progress.
