January 2013
  

How to Make a Playlist on Youtube (& enter to win $1000 !) #LEGOChannel

Did you know that LEGO® has an official Youtube channel now?

And while we’re on the subject, did you know that you could make playlists on Youtube?
…or am I the only one who has never tried this? ;) I know there must be others!

So, I found out about The Official LEGO® Channel and I went over to check it out- there are over 500 videos to choose from over there, and they’re always adding new ones, all from LEGO®. You can go over to their channel, and you can create a playlist of the videos you or your kids want to watch.

Here's a little video that'll tell you all about what you can find on the channel:


One thing I love about this new discovery of playlists is that if you’re letting your kids watch something on Youtube (that you approve of them watching), you can get it playing for them with the next video in cue, ready to go- and it’s okay for you to walk away, because they’re not going to be faced with a list of video options to click on as soon as “Part 1” of whatever they’re watching is over. (I’ve had this happen with innocent Strawberry Shortcake or Smurfs episodes in the past, and been grateful that I stuck around to get them safely from Part 1 to Part 2, saving them from inadvertently clicking on something that might be inappropriate!)

And here’s what I like about the videos I’ve found on The Official LEGO® Channel - I watched an episode of LEGO® Club TV with them, and I loved that it introduced them to something new- a fun way of using their imaginations, and playing creatively! Seeing what they’ve got going on at LEGO Land is amazing and inspiring! (not just to me, but to my kids).

If you haven’t tried making a Youtube playlist, get over to The Official LEGO® Channel and try making one!

How to Build a Playlist on Youtube:

• Visit Youtube.com/LEGO and watch one of your favorite videos
• Click "Video Options"?
• Select "Add To Playlist"?
• Sign-In using your YouTube Login ?
• Add your selected video to an existing playlist or create a new one?
• To prevent non-LEGO® videos from being recommended, build your playlist using only ?Official LEGO® Channel videos.

Here’s my playlist that puts one of the episode’s parts altogether, so that you can watch it without searching for the next part. Plus it’s totally ready to go at any time- your kids could watch in the car, in the doctor’s office, anywhere they need a little entertainment!

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There is a lot of content on web; creating a playlist on the Official LEGO® Channel is a great way to ensure your kids are entertained and watching videos you can feel good about.
 
 
Visit the Official LEGO® Channel to build your own playlist to watch with your kids and then reply below for a chance to win one (1) $1,000 gift card to buy your family’s favorite LEGO® products!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of LEGO. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.



Tutorial Tuesday: Love Letter Books

This gift idea was originally shared by me over at Or So She Says, in 2010! I realized I had never shared it here and thought it would be a good one as we approach Valentine's Day :)

This is a gift idea for significant others.

For whatever reason, I find it incredibly challenging to come up with a good gift for my husband. I know I'm not alone in this, so here I am to share one idea that I came up with that has been great for me- and it's a gift that keeps on giving! (sweet!)

You can get as creative as you wish with this. It can be strictly a love letter book (which is how I've done mine) or it can be scrapbookish.


Here's what you do:

1. Search the stores for the most masculine journal/notebook you can find
(I found this small brown leather book with a lot of pages).




2. Write your first love note. It can be the same sort of note you might write in a card or something a little more lengthy.



3. Give him the book as a gift, and explain that the pages will be filled (by you) over time.

4. Every time you notice something great that you love about your husband, get out the book and write a dated note to him. Don't tell him when you've written them. Just let him find them next time he looks in the book.

5. Next time there's a special occasion, instead of buying him a card, just get out the book and write in that instead. If there are past notes in there that he hasn't seen yet, he'll see them when he re-receives the book for that occasion.

Bonus: No more cards from random occasions to stash in a shoebox somewhere or add more clutter to your home. All of your meaningful notes will be contained in one small and accessible place- yay!


I've also started something like this for each of my daughters. They look way more girly and include monthly letters for the first year of their life and then random letters after that, whenever I find time or feel inspired. They also include notes about the hilarious things they say and do.


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If you're looking for more gift ideas for men, check out my Sock Bouquet!



Or for Christmas, here's a fun one: Dad's Root Deer


or click here 
to see a list of 100 great gift ideas!




Project 365 - Week 2

This year I've decided to take on Project 365.

Here's what I've challenged myself to:



Here's week 2:



Week in Review & Sharing Time 2012

Click HERE for January's Sharing Time Linky. <--can't wait to see what you link up!


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This week I introduced my Project 365


I shared a bit about the new Barbie Kinder Eggs and a contest.


...and I shared a tutorial for Handmade Paper Flowers.

“Hand”made Flowers


Want to know how to make these adorable flowers? :)

Click over to HowDoesShe to see my post about how to make them, and then what you can do with them! :)

Project 365 - Week 1

This year I've decided to take on Project 365.

Here's what I've challenged myself to:



Here's week 1:



January 2012 Sharing Time & Week in Review

Click HERE for January's Sharing Time Linky. <--can't wait to see what you link up!


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Earlier this week I shared my experience with photographing a birth


I shared a bit about the problems I'm having with my hands.


...and a list of Fun Popcorn Ideas for National Popcorn Day!

Happy National Popcorn Day!

I'm not American, but I'm on board with celebrating something like Popcorn Day! :)

We've posted about popcorn in the past in a few different ways:

Paint your Popcorn! (and then eat it!)


Give popcorn as a gift!


Try popcorn with Vinegar! (My siblings & I love it!)


Have you got fun posts or ideas involving popcorn??
Please share in the comments!



Thursday Thoughts (These Hands)

I've always liked my hands.

My fingers are long and thin- "piano hands", they'd say. My finger nails grow long, and I trim them so that they curve at the ends. They remind me of my mother's hands. They are mine, and I think they're nice.



Lately, however, my hands have caused a lot of frustration, a lot of pain, and a lot of sadness. It's nothing I chose for them to do. It's just something that has happened to them. I don't know what's causing it- I just know that it's painful, and that the doctors can't confirm anything or make a diagnosis at this point.

This is the second "flare up" that I've experienced. The first time Katrina was 6 months old and my saddest memory from that time is of having to pick her up, out of her crib by squeezing her between my arms, because my hands just couldn't do it. This time around, my saddest memory is of having to ask my husband to put my hair in a ponytail for me because I can't take the pain of doing it with my own hands.

A couple of times, I've thought they were getting better. I'll have a few good days, and I'll get hopeful. Then I have a bad day, and it's hard not to worry about the future and about what this means for what I'll be capable of both in the near and the distant future.

I'm sad about being unable to do things around the house, and I'm sad about how much pain it can cause just to hold my camera for a few shots, let alone a couple of hours, when I'm having a bad day.

One thing that this experience is giving me is an appreciation for the times when my hands feel well- for how capable they are when they're working right. I just pray that whatever is wrong isn't permanent, won't continue to get worse, and will leave me again- for a long time.

Henry James (A Birth Story)

On Friday night I got to do something amazing! I witnessed the birth of a friend's baby.
Today I'll share a glimpse into the birth story of Henry James, from my perspective.


Laura gave me the warning call- that she thought tonight might be the night- at 3:30 in the afternoon. Kyle called me not long before 7pm to let me know that it looked like the birth would be happening "now", and that it would be at home (not at the hospital as planned). I got in my car immediately and was surprised to arrive before the midwives!

Laura laboured at home, by herself and with Kyle for almost her whole labour, and the midwives arrived just after I did- and just before the baby!

Kyle was so sweet, telling Laura how good she was doing, being there for her in whatever way he could.



Laura was amazing. I remember the pain of a natural childbirth! She would endure those contractions, and then her face would relax into a focussed calm while she waited for the next.

January Sharing Time & Week Review

Click HERE for January's Sharing Time Linky. <--can't wait to see what you link up!


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Earlier this week I shared my Thoughts on Blogging in 2013


And a tutorial on How To Remove Sticker Residue from Clothes

Thursday Thoughts: Something Worth Blogging About

I woke up sick on Sunday.

The girls joined me in my room- Katrina's cough in her chest, Talia all sniffles.
We stayed home.

We laid in my bed & watched Matt & Mandy and some others on the laptop, to make up for missed church.
An hour later, they transformed into Disney princesses, busy with their imaginations while I tried to stay awake- drifting.

Ken came home from church, lunch was had, and then naps for all.
But after my drifting I wasn't tired, so I spent some time on the couch with my laptop, lazily surfing, with thoughts in my head about a new year of blogging.

I had already come to clear conclusions about resolutions for the priorities in my life- the ones that rank higher than blogging. I had blogging on the brain, knowing that I can't keep posting "top 20" and "top 8" posts and other lists from last year much longer ;) I needed a plan. I needed resolution.

So, I spent time thinking, reading, writing.

I thought about last year's plan and how it has helped me grow as a blogger.
I thought about doing something similar but different.
But it didn't feel right.




In the end, what feels right is not to set a schedule or a list of promises.

I think this year I need to give myself a little more freedom.
Freedom to stop rushing.
Freedom to do what feels right to me.

For 2013, at least for now, what feels right is to make one promise:
I promise not to post here unless I have something worth sharing.

I don't know how often that will be, but I hope it won't be seldom.
I will still share fun products and brands with you when given the opportunity.
I will still have Sharing Time on the weekends.
I will still post tutorials of fun projects that we've tried.
I will still share my photography.

Mostly, I hope this plan will give me the freedom to blog the way that I want to, every time. I hope that every post will feel worthwhile (at least to me), even if that means less frequent posting.

Now, on with 2013!
I am resolved.
Carry on. ;)


How to Remove Sticker Residue from Clothes

Here's how to remove sticker residue off of clothes- even if they've been washed with the sticker still on! 

You can remove sticker residue from clothes using things you probably have around the house already!

Have you ever washed clothing with a sticker on it?
...and put it through the dryer?

I just found out how to get sticker residue off a shirt after washing it and I never would've guessed that this would work!

How to get sticker residue off of clothes
How to get sticker residue off of clothes


So, Katrina put a sticker on my T shirt one day & I totally forgot about it, washed the t shirt, and put it in the dryer. Then when it was time to fold & put it away, I found a very difficult-to-remove mess of sticker goo on the front of it!

I tried washing it again, without drying, to see if that would loosen it up, and it sure didn't!

So, I started googling and among suggestions, I found peanut butter. So, I gave it a whirl!

How to Remove Sticky Residue From Clothes


Peanut Butter can remove sticker residue from clothes

I started by spreading it on like a sandwich.
(Ken walked in the room to see what I was doing & just started laughing ;)
Remove Sticker Residue

I let it sit for a few minutes (not too long- I couldn't wait to test this out!), and took an old toothbrush to it, giving it a good scrub.
how to remove a washed-on sticker from clothes

I scrubbed until the peanut butter and some sticker residue had gotten all stuck up in the brush (you can't see it all in this pic, cuz I'd already rinsed it a bit)
Get Sticker Residue off of clothes

Then I thought I'd help the greasy peanut butter along with some soap:
DIY Sticker Residue Removal from Clothing

Scrubbed it with the tooth brush again, and then put it in the wash.
How to remove sticker residue from fabric

It came out good as new! I'm so happy!
What an easy way to deal with this problem!

(Now that I know how to remove stickers from clothes, I tried this method again on sticker residue on plastic containers, and it works just as well!)

January 2013 Sharing Time

This week's posts mostly reviewed some favourite posts of 2012...

Fun Indoor & Outdoor Winter Activities


Top 20 Posts of 2012


Top 8 Product Reviews of 2012


I hope you've enjoyed revisiting some of the most popular posts from the past year. If you haven't had a chance, go check those posts out! (or pin them for later :)

Now, onto the link party- can't wait to see what you're up to as the new year begins!




Indoor & Outdoor Winter Fun Ideas

What are you doing with your kids while it's cold outside?

Are you going out?

Or staying in?

Here are a few of the things we've had fun doing in the past:

Make Snow Cream!


Make Maple Syrup Candy Pops!


Make a Winter Tree Snow Scene!


Go Indoor Ice Skating!


Make a Stuffed Snowman :)


What are some of your favourites?
Or favourites you plan to do or have pinned for later?
I'd love for you to share some links in the comments!

Top 8 Product Reviews of 2012


I have had the opportunity to share some great products with you on this blog!

I don't post a review until I've had the opportunity to use the product and give you my honest opinion and observations about it. I know that, as a consumer, it's really nice to hear how people feel about the product after some time has passed.

Today I want to share with you my favourite product reviews from 2012 & a few of my favourites from earlier on. These are products that I have continued to use a lot, and really enjoy, even after months (or even years) have passed!


Made By LinLin Rose Earrings
I love these earrings!! I wear them all the time (I went back & bought a bunch of other colours after doing the review), and I give them as gifts a lot! I can't say anything negative about them!)


Vintage Pearl
I have a couple of Vintage Pearl necklaces and I love to wear them. They have special meaning to me, I think they look nice, and I still have people noticing them. I have also used Vintage Pearl for meaningful gifts- they're a great company!


Paper Coterie
I LOVE Paper Coterie's products. I use the book I reviewed every week, and I have often gone back to their site and drooled over their products. The only thing that holds me back from being a frequent customer is that their shipping to Canada is pricey!


Scentsy
Since I did this review, my sister actually became a Scentsy consultant!
So, I certainly haven't forgotten about Scentsy- I use it all the time!



Hapari Swimwear
Oh, how I love my Hapari swimwear! I have gone back & ordered more since the review, and am always tempted to order more pieces! The only drawback I found with Hapari was that their shorts bottoms were shorter than I expected- I thought they'd be a more "modest" option than the typical swimsuit bottoms, but they are quite short, so you end up baring more "bum" than you may have wanted to ;) I only wear them under a swim skirt. Their cover shorts on the other hand, are great for modesty!


Easy Lunchboxes
Easy Lunchboxes are a part of my life every weekday! I use the containers inside of a smaller Disney lunchbag because I didn't want to put the large bag in Talia's backpack. I found that one container was enough for her lunch anyway. I love these containers- I hardly ever have to use baggies! They've got great customer service, too.


Jo Totes & Kelly Moore Camera Bags
I still use both of these bags & love 'em. I sometimes find the Millie to be a bit tighter than I would like (but the people at Jo Totes warned me that it would be a tight fit for my camera, so I'm not complaining- it still works), and sadly, my Kelly Moore bag is wearing a bit on the bottom- nothing too major, but it's not "good as new" anymore.


Opus2Music's All Through the Night CD
I love playing this CD in my home while the girls are playing together.
It really does give our home a peaceful feeling- I love it!



Disclosure: The original posts linked to from this post were sponsored, in the sense that I was sent a product to review (with the exception of the camera bags- I bought those myself). My opinions remain my own, and it was my choice to re-post about them- that was not part of any agreement from previous reviews.

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