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How to Host a “Pretty” Spooky Halloween Party

This post is sponsored by Personal Creations. Opinions are my own.

“Hold on, man. We don’t go anywhere with “scary,” “spooky,” “haunted,” or “forbidden” in the title.” – From Scooby-Doo… I totally relate to this quote! I do not like scary movies, creepy decor, haunted houses {unless they’re the non-scary type for little kids} or anything else like that. But I do love me some Halloween fun!! I just like to keep it on the fun side – slightly spooky, but still… you know, happy. Which is why I am SO excited to share some tips for you to host your own “Pretty-Spooky” Halloween Hangout – we had a blast this past weekend decorating, eating sweet treats, and watching classic Halloween movies. Check it out – and share your fave Halloween party ideas with me in the comments at the end. I love hearing from you ladies.

How to have a non-scary Halloween party

How to have a “Pretty Spooky” Halloween Hangout Party

You know I love to put on parties, right? For awhile I felt like I was working too much – and even though technically I was spending all day at home with Abby, I wasn’t spending enough real time with her, you know? So we now try to take an hour or two every afternoon for some type of themed activity – like our Little Mermaid Crafty Day, or Monsters U Lunch Date – so this past weekend we decided a fun theme would be to host a Halloween Hangout, since we’d have Abby’s cousins for the day. We were super lucky to have gotten an awesome package of products earlier in the week – Treats from Shari’s Berries, beautiful floral decor from ProFlowers, and some super duper fun personalized Halloween pieces from Personal Creations. I usually like to do a lot of DIY when entertaining, but sometimes it’s actually really nice to be able to order some amazing stuff that’s all ready to go. And everything was so gorgeous – and a lot of it WAS made by hand. Check out the awesomeness….

Fall wreath - ProFlowers fall and Halloween decor

“There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch.” – Robert Brault

We already have the front yard decorated for Halloween – including lots of twinkling orange lights, a pretend graveyard in the garden filled with tombstones, and some spooky black cats perched atop the fence. This absolutely beautiful fall wreath from ProFlowers is the perfect addition – and is such a pretty way to welcome party-goers to our house all season long. I may weave a strand of tiny solar lights in it for Halloween, to greet trick or treaters. And – it’s hard to tell because it looks so fresh, but this is actually made from dried flowers, so it can be used year after year. LOVE. [Read more…]

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Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Women + $1,000 Giveaway!

Who else loves these things – Fashion, friends, free stuff, and earning money from home? If you like even a couple of those, you’ll LOVE Stella & Dot jewelry. Stell & Dot is a boutique-style accessories company that offers flexible entrepreneurship opportunities for women – you get to share amazing jewelry and other beautiful pieces with your friends and family, and earn an income from the sales. And…. You can WIN big from them right now too – check it out, ladies…

Stella & Dot Entrepreneurship for women [Read more…]

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Green Living Brings Rewards….

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Green Works. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and promotional item as a thank you for participating.

If you’ve been reading this blog for much time, you know about my mission to live cleaner and greener. It started when I found out that I was pregnant – I really wanted to do everything I could to ensure that my baby was growing happy and healthy. I started a Green Living board on Pinterest to help me collect ideas. I started a garden on our property, to grow more of our own fruits and veggies. We started reading more – product labels, websites, books. We’re not perfect – living clean in the society that we live in is a difficult task. But I do feel that we’re on a good path :)

Green cleaners really workPlay games to learn more about going green

Sometimes the whole thought of living more “green” or clean or organic – all of that can feel overwhelming. Hard to add into your already hectic life. Unrealistic. Which is why Green Works is running a super fun game right now to help encourage you to learn more about clean living – while giving you a chance to win! After you’ve done those steps, all you’ve gotta do is:

  • Step one: Follow @greenworksclean on Pinterest, create one pinboard and title it “GreenWorks Games.”
  • Step two: Play one of the Green Works Games – Word Search, Fill in the Blank, or Word Jumble to reveal special words.
  • Step three: Find an image to match the word and pin it to your Green Works Games board with the word it represents and the hashtag #greenworksgames. For example, if the word is “natural” you might pin a lemon, flower, or whatever represents natural to you – your pins should be reflective of your personality. Each picture needs to include the word you found and both the #greenworksgames and #sponsored hashtags. Please pin a minimum of five images to your board. Get more info here.

You can see my board here – Green Works Games.

Have fun and good luck!

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5 Tips to Help Moms Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Big thank you’s to Nature’s Sleep – they’ve provided me with memory foam products to try out and share my honest opinion…

I’m a mom. A mom who runs a business from home. A mom who runs a business from home while also running after a 3 year old all day. So – I need my rest. I don’t always have much time to devote to sleep, so the hours I do get, I need to make them worth it. Which is why I am always looking for tips and tricks, products and picks – things that can help me get a better night’s sleep. Most of you know already how much I love, love, love my Nature’s Sleep products – from our new memory foam mattress to the amazing pillows – they really envelop me in a super supportive cocoon of sleep-inducing amazingness. But, there are a few other great tips you can use too, to sleep better. Keep reading to learn more…

How to get a better night sleep - for moms

How To Get a Better Night’s Sleep – for Moms [Read more…]

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The Importance of Outdoor Play – and How to Support It!

Kids should have time to play — at home and at school. We know that creative play can make kids happy and healthy, but some kids aren’t getting enough of it. That’s why the makers of Children’s Claritin are teaming up with the national nonprofit KaBOOM! to help bring innovative play spaces to schools in need. And since I’m a member of the Children’s Claritin Mom Crew, I wanted to be the first to tell  you all about this exciting program.

The Importance of outdoor play for kids

Why this is a great partnership to support play [Read more…]

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How to Make Super Awesome Kid’s Lunches

Thank you to Mott’s® for sponsoring this article. Grab goodness on-the-go with Mott’s®.

“One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.” – Jane Goodall  One of the main reasons that I wanted to be a work at home mom was that I wanted to be here to spend time with Abby every day. {You can read my story of how I got started here, on Start-Up Nation.} Then about a year ago I realized that I was spending way too much time working, and not enough time being a mom. I caught myself saying things like, “Not now,” or “in a little bit, mommy’s working” – way too often. So, I made a point to take afternoons off, and have that be “Me & Abby” time.

How to make super cool kid's lunches [Read more…]

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Little Mermaid Party Ideas – Lots of Disney Princess Crafts and DIY!

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This Disney Princesses The Little Mermaid Party Ideas shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client, Disney Walmart.

I love Disney Princesses – I’m sure you’ve guessed that by now. I have a Pirates & Princess party board on Pinterest, that I used when planning Abby and her cousin’s birthday party this summer. I also have a Disney Fun board too, where I collect more princess ideas. We’ve had a Cinderella party, a Disney Princess birthday party, and we’re planning a fun princess tea party for one of these days when I get all of the little girls together.  I love sharing sneak peeks at the new Disney movies – {did you see that they’re making a  new live-action Cinderella movie? So excited!} And another thing I love is creating fun memories for Abby, like our recent The Little Mermaid crafting party.

How to have a Little Mermaid Crafting Party [Read more…]

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