Thursday, November 30, 2017

5 Reasons To Buy Holiday Cards

 Thank You Shutterfly for providing me product. As always all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Hello Foxy Friends! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite things to do each year. Holiday cards. Between me and all of you, Mr. loves sending out cards just as much as I do. Each year he helps me pick them out. Actually this year, while I was cooking dinner, he sat down went through the hundreds of options and picked out his top 5 picks, and then together we decided on the final product. Last year I told you how to pick out your cards, this time I am sharing 5 reasons you need to get yearly holiday cards and why Shutterfly is the best place to get them!  

| ONE |

Memories. Isn't that why we do anything? I keep them all, if you have ever sent me a Christmas card...scratch that, if you have ever sent me any card I still have it. I keep them all by year for random cards, and then the Christmas cards get their own bin. I love seeing how much the kids have grown each year.



Note: I came up with a fun way to store all of these cards I've gotten over the years, besides in the baggies that they are currently in...click here to see how to store your cards.

| TWO |

You know you like getting cards from people and seeing how their kids have grown up. The same can be said about your family. People want to see how much your family has grown. I know I look forward to Christmas cards each year, and when the new year rolls around, I'm sad to have to take down our cards. Full disclosure, one year we kept them up until mid-February.

These are the cards I've gotten over the years.






| THREE |

Feeling connected to friends and family. I know this one seems silly, but everyone is so busy all the time. You mean to see that friend or that friend, but time seems to go faster and faster the older we get. I like getting cards from friends, it lets me know, hey I'm thinking of you and even though we haven't talked in months, I still cherish our friendship. At least that's what I tell myself each time a card arrives in the mail. That and I haven't made it off their Christmas card list yet, and that makes me happy too. So even though you might not talk to them often, know that they always appreciate being thought of and you taking the time to send them a card.

| FOUR |

Shutterfly makes is super easy to pick out your cards. You can choose how many pictures you want, insert pictures, write sentiment click buy and off to your house they come. You say that you don't have time to send them? Shutterfly will do that for you too! Give them your addresses, they put them on the envelopes and send for you, you don't even have to do anything!



Tip: I use the same sentiment every year. Year after year I would scour the internet to try and find the perfect sentiment, and when I found it I decided you know what? I don't remember what someone said last year...they're not going to remember ours, so I use the same one each year.

| FIVE |

Shutterfly always has some sort of sale going on. Heck I have 4 coupon codes at home right now. So if you need one, email me and I'll send it right over! The prices are pretty good for the quality of the card that you are getting. You don't need to spend a lot, Shutterfly has a range of prices, something for everyone. Here are some of my favorite cards this year.

Card #1  




 Card #3 


 Card #4 




You're going to have to wait to see our cards this year until we send them out. Yep I am that person that takes family photos in September/October and then doesn't show anyone anything until after Christmas cards have gone out. Anyone else like that too? Just me? Figures.

So if any of you want to send me a card, know that I'll keep it for forever....then one day in 10 years, you can ask me...hey what did we do for our card in 2017 and BAM I got ya covered.

 Linking up here

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Black And White With a Little Leopard

Happy Hump Day Foxy Friends. I finally put together the outfit that I have wanted to put together for a while. I had wanted a white blazer for a while, and finally I found one! I ended up having to buy it twice, but finally I got the one that fit.

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.





I love this clutch, if you could only buy one clutch, but this one. It seriously will pretty much go with any outfit you pick out.


Yep you see it right, I am actually wearing a choker and not feeling like I can't breathe. This one is actually really light weight and comfortable. I would link it, but I got it as a gift and I don't know where they bought it.


Short and sweet post today. Thank you for continuing to link up with us to make this fashion link up a success!





Tuesday, November 28, 2017

3 Holiday Party Looks

Hi Foxy Friends! Today is day 5 of Blogmas, and today I'm sharing 3 party looks for all of those Holiday parties coming up. I thought it would be fun to do an outfit for a fancy party, a casual party and an ugly sweater party. Something for everyone! Let's get started! We'll start out with the Fancy and work our way down.

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.

I love this off the shoulder dress for a party, if I had a party to go to, I would definitely be wearing this pretty thing.


Dress ( similar here and here) / Choker (similar) / Heels 

I could see wearing this out with girlfriends for a girls night out, or my case Mom's night out. I just love the lace heels, so dang feminine to go with the moto jacket.


Velvet Tank (similar) / Black Jeans / Moto Jacket (similar) / Necklace / Heels

To tell you the truth I've been to one ugly Christmas sweater party, 8 or 9 years ago, and I don't even know what happened to it. I love that everywhere now sells them, we had to hunt all over town for the ones we got.  Anyway, in case ugly Christmas sweaters aren't your thing, but you have to go to a party, then pick sweater option #2. Sweater option #1 is just fun, who doesn't love a good Christmas tree with pom poms on it...but #3 is the one that's going to win you that ugly sweater contest.

 




Linking up here

Monday, November 27, 2017

How To Decorate A Fancy Christmas Tree

Hi Foxy Friends! For my fellow American friends I hope you had a great long weekend. Today is day 4 of the 12 days of Blogmas.  Today is all about Christmas Decorations, I thought I would share a post I did last year for The Blended Blog, where my mom, the decorator, shares how to get your Christmas tree to look like one from a magazine. You know the fancy hotel or magazine trees and you think, I want that in my house, well my mom is giving you the tips and tricks to do just that.

So, let's just pretend for this exercise that you have found your perfect pre-lit tree and that you also have a tree skirt.  You need to find your garland and do that first. Starting from the bottom. My mom got this red feathery garland at Home Goods last year and loves it. As she adds each length she's watching for even spacing around the tree.



Step back and make sure that it looks good from far away.


This might seem crazy, but then add another row of garland.  Be sure that the second garland is of a completely different consistency from the first.  The first garland was long and feathery, the second is airy, small berries.  It's all about creating interest with different shapes and textures.


She could have stopped here but had this button ribbon from last year and just wanted to enjoy it again.  As she added the ribbon she used the berry garland to keep the ribbon in place.  Just twist as needed.


 

Now for the top.  She is using picks of berries and poinsettias and holly.  Up the ladder, back down the ladder, again and again.  Checking the look and the balance~ how far up, how far out and how close to each other do I want it?  Totally subjective.


She added picks throughout the tree and used greenery with small pine cones and red flower branches.  Always checking for a balanced arrangement.


Now come the ornaments.  Birds are the theme here. white and red ones.  Some she just pushes in, some are on metal 'feet' and some she just push onto the tip of a branch, in through the hole at the top of the ornament.  

TIP: A spool of wire is great to have to put your ornaments on your tree.  You'll get much better placement with it rather than trying to use those little pesky ornament hangers. Cut the wire to the length you'll need, feed wire through the loop on the top of your ornament half way.  Now you can attach the ornament to the tree at any length drop you want, twist wire as needed around the branch.




And here is the finished product.




Have fun with your Christmas tree decorating this year! I know easier said then done, but really, just do it. Buy some stuff with these guidelines and start decorating. See what does and does not look good, return what doesn't look good and keep what does. You got this!

Don't forget to go enter our giveaway for $1500 worth of goodies! 




Linking up here

Friday, November 24, 2017

Gifts She Really Wants

Hello Foxy Friends.  I hope you Americans had a good belly stuffing day of Thanks with family and friends. I'm back for day 3 of Blogmas! Today we're all sharing another gift guide. I decided since I have already done gifts for kidsfavorite gifts to give,  beauty gifts for her, and gifts for him, I would share my gift list. I would be super happy with any of these things under the tree, hear that Mr., hint, hint!

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.


1. Ever since The Blended Blogs trip to Canada and half the group was wearing Adidas Superstars, I needed a pair too!


See what I mean, goes with so many outfits...the options are endless, I need these!

2. I have always strayed from long sweaters, but after seen a few vertically challenged fashion bloggers wearing them, I"m thinking I need to rethink my stance. I think this grey sweater would be a perfect start.

3. Is there anything better than being comfy when it's cold and rainy out. Why not be stylish too, this loose sweater meets all the criteria for being a perfect lazy, lounge-y day sweater.

4. I've owned a couple of pairs of this brand of pj's. They are so stinkin' soft, and so worth the price! I don't have any PJ's that look like this, so it would be the perfect edition to my growing collection.

5. I really want a soft box light to do product shoots and to light some of my YouTube videos. For under $100 I think this is a great deal and can help me shoot at night, instead of waiting for the weekends. With day lights savings time ending, I don't get much time to get stuff done!

6. I have wanted a Diva Ring Light for a while now. I figure I've wanted one the last year, it's not a phase and I should probably get it, that's how that works right? Again this will help with YouTube videos and with doing stuff at night. A whole new world if I can film at night.

7. Funny story about my hair dryer, when my sister and I shared a bathroom, and when she left for college we had to get another set of everything, since we shared everything.  I bought a travel size hair dryer...20+ years ago, and while it still works, it's not the best, and I know there is better out there. I have wanted another hair dryer for the last 5+ years but never found one I liked, but this travel hair dryer is PERFECT! I might have already bought it. It's on Ulta and Sephora's Black Friday sale for $99. Seems like a lot of money, but if you think about it, if I keep this one for another 20 years, that's only $5 a year...seems like a good deal to me....#girlmath

8. Now that we're out of the diaper bag phase (for a while now), I've been using my camel back packback, but I'm ready for a nicer looking backpack to carry around while I'm out with the kids. For under $50, I think this backpack would be perfect.

9. I saw this Eye Shadow Palette and I think I HAVE to have it. It has such pretty colors in it, colors which I don't already own, so that means even though I have 6 other palettes I need this one too, right?

10. I have a few friends with this Bootie, it looks so good on, and they say it's comfy...which means I need them to, plus I don't have anything in this particular color...and it's on sale. See them on my friend Shelly, don't they look fantastic?

Okay, so these are 10 things on my list of things I want for Christmas. What is on your list?

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for more than $1500 worth of stuff! Enter here.

Here are some other gift guides in case you want

Gift Guide for the Wine Lover
Best Personalized Gift Ideas
Christmas Gift Ideas for Young Moms



Linking up here




Wednesday, November 22, 2017

10 Gifts for Him

Happy Tuesday! Coming back from a 4 day weekend  is always hard. In case you missed it yesterday, I'm starting 12 days of Blogmas (skipping some days for Thanksgiving this weekend), the first topic is gifts for Him. I previously did educational gifts for kids, and beauty gifts for her, so now I'm doing gifts for him.

I don't know about you, but I always have trouble buying gifts for my hubby/Dad/brother...and the list continues. What the heck do you get these guys? So here is my attempt of what to get those men in your life. Let's

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.




1. For the guy who loves grilling and wants to try and electric smoker try this one, it's more resaonably priced and he can figure out if he wants to upgrade to a more expensive one later. Don't forget the smoking chips!

2. I love a good leather jacket for a man, but if real leather isn't his thing then try this faux leather jacket, both have a great look.


3. This is Mr.'s favorite t- shirt and long sleeve tee, they are super soft and so comfortable to wear. These are actually the shirts he makes a point to wear when we go visit new borns, cause he says they are soft and cuddly and babies want to cuddle him because of it...and you know what? It works every time, he puts them to sleep in no time.

4. For those colder climate places these pajama pants are perfect.

5. We recently got the Amazon Echo and have been loving it. Love that you can link your shopping lists to it, and when you need something you say "Alexa put milk on the list" and she adds it to the list on my phone. So awesome. The Amazon Dot is a smaller version of it, it's pretty awesome too.

6. I have gotten Mr. Bose products a couple of times, I've gotten then speaker and the headphones they are always a good thing to get the guy who has everything. The sound is amazing, you can't beat it.

7. If you get the Amazon Echo or Dot, might as well get something to go with it, this Programmable Thermostat is pretty cool and can be programmed into your Amazon product.

8. Okay this one might seem silly but it TOTALLY works, saved us once and then a co-worker who was broken down, save him from having to wait for help. This Portable Car jump Jumper, really should be in everyones car. It can jump your car without having to have someone else do it for you. It also has some cables to charge your phones if you are even in a situation that you would need that.

9. Okay I admit I have this one in my car, you just never know when you'll need a Portable Compressor. I use it mainly for pumping up tires for bikes and strollers, and once I used it to inflate a blow up mattress.

10. I love these watches, I think they are so great for any guy. Mr. doesn't like watches but I know several men in my life that would love one of these. They come in silver, gold, and black.

Need more gift ideas? Check out the other ideas below:

Gift Ideas for the Busy Mom
Non Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Toddlers
Gift Ideas For Her
Holiday Gift Guide: For The Breastfeeding Mama

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for more than $1500 worth of stuff! Enter here.



Linking up here

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

12 Days of Blogmas

Hey Foxy Friends! I'm currently driving home from Arizona...but wanted to start off Thanksgiving week right! I'm participating in my first 12 days of Blogmas with 9 other bloggers! We're so excited that we are able to get some sponsors for a huge giveaway for one of you!




The topics for each day will be the same for everyone involved. All of the posts for the individual days will be attached to the bottom of each post, so that you can easily find more ideas on the topics. For example, if you are looking for more niche gift guides, all of the other bloggers will have gift guides up for different topics (kids, kitchen lovers, fitness junkies, etc…) and they will be linked at the bottom of my niche gift guide on Day 3.  Here are the topics for the 12 days.




A huge thank you to all of our sponsors who contributed to this giveaway! We have some really fabulous prizes this year, and the winner of this giveaway will be set with so many gifts for their loved ones.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, November 20, 2017

$10 Target Haul: November Edition

I'm back again, with another $10 Target haul. You know what, when I went to Target, the Dollar Spot, or rather $3 spot was almost compeletly empty...see what I mean? They must have been changing over from Halloween to Thanksgiving/Christmas...so I had to go find stuff elsewhere.



First I headed over to the jewelry department to try and find something there...I did find this necklace, but it didn't compel me enough to buy them.



Then I tried over in clothes, they're clearance rack was seriously lacking...nothing there.

 Time was not on my side, as I was here by myself, but had to get back home to go somewhere afterwards, and I had several other stops to make...so after searching high and low and coming up emtpy handed, I settled on some random things that we needed in the house.



I picked up the Sharpies, because who doesn't love those, and I used up all my Sharpies doing a Wine Cork Pull (eventually I'll blog about that). And I had initally gotten the glitter paint as a stocking stuffer for the girl, but Baby Fox was going through my bags and saw it...and announced, hey it's glitter paint! I knew I couldn't then put it in the stocking, because for some reason Baby Fox thinks Santa leaves the stockings too. We never told him that.

So that's it, here is the price break down.

Sharpie: $3.99
Glitter Paint: $5.49

Tax: $0.78

Total: $10.26

So I went over a little, stupid tax. I should really get the red card, but I never remember to bring a check to tie it to my account...So what did you get for your $10?

Go Check out what the other ladies are buying.





Friday, November 17, 2017

Friday Favorites #140

Happy Friday Foxy Friends! The family and I are off on a road trip! We're so stinkin' excited and can't wait to share all of the pictures when we get back! But first, lets start off this weekend by sharing a few favorites, I feel like it's been a while since I last did one. So here we go!

In case you missed it, this week I wrote these posts:

Monday: Thankful for Who and What
Tuesday: Beauty Gifts for Her
Wednesday: Polka Dot Skirts for the win

Also don't forget to enter these giveaways:

$200 Amazon Giftcard
$150 Nordstrom Giftcard
Instax Camera and Film
$150 Starbucks Giftcard


Baby Fox has been super busy, he played his last soccer game this past weekend. For whatever reason our league didn't do pictures this year? Crazy right? But I took one of him...so that counts, I guess? No team picture, boo!


Team party was this week and the coach had some great things to say about him. Sad that next year they are changing the rules so he won't be able to be on his team any more. He misses the cut off by 6 days...that stinks doesn't it?



He got his second strip on his yellow belt this month in karate (wouldn't let me take a picture) and then after class he went to a STEM class and built this by himself...his teacher was super proud of him.

The other day Mr. came out of his office and found this on the ground.


It's says: Dear Daddy, I hope you have a great day at work. I will see you when you get home and the alien spider babies are coming from you (inside joke between the two of them) From Baby Fox.


 The other night he wanted to set a trap, so he put his leopard on his door to fall on someone (me) when they came in his room.



Every year we got to Hallmark and let the kids pick out an ornament. This was by far the fastest year they've picked one out.


Not the ornament he ended up with, after we went to pay and they told us we had to buy a power cord and be able to plug it in somewhere on the tree, umm?? Huh? Who does that? Put a battery in that thing and call it a day.


So he ended up with this one.


Then we went back to the house and we might have decorated a tree.


The boxes are starting to pile up people...yep they've been sitting there for a few days, just can never remember to open them.



As always, linking up with The Blended Blog for a Friday Loves where we share things around the blogger world that we love.

Erika from The Slaughters, wrote this post that really spoke to me. Bottom line she says this: I hope this reminds us all that no matter how small the task, our big God can work in mighty ways.  Even something as simple and routine as packing a lunch. You really have to go read the whole thing. From now on I will remember that even something as mundane as packing a lunch might have a bigger impact then I think.


Isn't her family so cute?




I feel like I haven't done this in a while, but here are some random things on the internet that I've been loving.

Oh my gosh, I don't even know what my life would look like if I said yes to everything to my kids.





Have you seen this yet? I've watching ever single episode of this show with Mr. It's our thing. I can't believe it has been 300 episodes! Anyone else still watch?


This lady created a house so that film crews could use it, it's been in over 1800 movies and tv shows! How cool is that?


So what are you up to this weekend? Come back Monday I have a fun post!

Linking up here