"If You Care" Baking Supplies Review and Giveaway!

Today's review and giveaway is for a company I can't wait to tell everyone about.  It's sponsored by the unique and eco-friendly If You Care.

Here is a little about the company:
"The environment is everybody's concern. IF YOU CARE® is committed to providing the consumer with responsible high-quality alternatives to conventional products that are safe for both the environment and human beings by using 100% unbleached or 100% recycled resources."

I received wax paper, aluminum foil, parchment paper, baking cups, and baking twine, which were all of great quality.   The firelighters are 100% natural and will be great for our summer barbeques!  And look at that cute t-shirt!

My favorite products in the line are the paper snack bags (what a GREAT alternative to plastic).  I also used them for storing seeds for next growing season!

I also received their coffee filters, which is great, because we are coffee fiends around here.  You know how you sometimes associate recycled with flimsy?  Not with these products.  These filters are of top-notch quality.

My favorite item, though, is the sponge cloths.  I've never been a big sponge user, because I feel like they are just storage for germs, but laundering dishrags gets tiresome as well.  These cloths, however, are dishwasher safe!  Yes it's true.  They work great, and then you just pop them in along with the dishes.  (They are machine washable as well.)

Not only did I receive awesome products for this review, but the nice folks at If You Care are giving even more stuff away.  So, what do YOU get to win?

A great baking set!

This includes small, medium, and large baking cups, parchment paper roll, and parchment paper sheets.  PLUS, and If You Care t-shirt in small, medium, or large.

TO ENTER:

1. Become a follower of Till Death Do Us Part. (mandatory)

2.  Visit If You Care and tell me an item you expecially love. (mandatory)

Extra Entries:

3.  Follow me on Twitter.

4.  Post about this giveaway on your blog.

5. Tell me YOUR favorite way to conserve resources.

Four ways to win!  This giveaway will end on Sunday, July 24 at 10 p.m. CST.  The winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced HERE on Monday!

Thanks for entering, and good luck!




*Author was supplied with free product to review. All words, statements, and opinions, however, are solely that of the author.

I Have Lots of Stuff

Do you have a lot of "stuff"?

I do!  Most of it isn't displayed, because we have a very small house.  And we may move soon.  And I hate to dust.

I like the idea of having one place to put it all.  A beautiful place to see all my beautiful things.  I need a curio!

Here is a great corner cabinet.

I love this very cottage-style Pulaski curio.

The main thing for me to remember is going to be to keep the door closed, because the cats, well, they go everywhere.

Yikes!

Wildtree Giveaway Winner!

The winner of Amanda's Wildtree giveaway is....

Amy, who said:  "Yum I really want to try the buttermilk pancakes and the blueberry syrup one day!"

Congrats!  Stay tuned later today for another great giveaway!

Is It HOT Where You Are?

Is it absolutely overwhelmingly smolderingly hot where you are?

It is in southern Mississippi! 

Luckily, the zinnias love the heat.  I, however, do not!  As much as I love to garden and be outdoors, I've had to frequently take refuge inside more and more lately.

One thing that has definitely suffered is our outdoor entertaining.  We don't have much of a spring here in the South.  It basically goes from winter weather straight into the 90s!

The good part is that I love summer and the zinnias can take the heat, but the bad news is that outdoor entertaining is out of the question.   We need a bar for home use, like maybe a hide a bar or a folding bar!

 

Or you can do what I just did.....go to the beach and hang out with your husband and neice (and the rest of the fam) for a bit!

Stay cool, friends!

DIY Flower Crate

I love my zinnias in the summer, and I love any creative and beautiful way I can think to display them.  The latest way is in a summer "flower crate."

A few days ago, Lucy at Craftberry Bush created a beautiful Faux French Vegetable Crate, and I fell in love immediately. 

I set out a few days ago to make my own crate of sorts.  This is the first time I've ever "built" anything, and there are definitely a few flaws in the design and final product, but overall, it came out beautifully, even better than I'd hoped!

I started with small poplar planks from Lowe's.  They were only $.94 each.  I cut them to the sizes I needed with a handsaw, and then I sanded and painted each with Valspar's "Luxurious Linen."  After they had dried, I added swipes and smears of Valspar's antiquing glaze to add the distressed look I love.

I then constructed the bottom and "walls" with small black tacs (just a dollor or so at Lowe's).

(I also cheated and used some Gorilla Glue here and there, wink wink!)

Once assembled and filled with flowers in bottles and jars, my crate made me feel like a master carpenter.

It looks like it was simple made for holding zinnias....

....and really, it was!



To see what parties I'm linking to, see my Blog Parties tab! I'm also linking to:
Passionately Artistic

Giveaway with Wildtree!

Wildtree is a company that sells a huge selection of spices, sauces, oils, and more.  They have everything that you need to make nutritious meals that are quick and easy.  Wildtree even offers ingredients to make drinks and desserts!  I have friends and family who have been using Wildtree for ages, and they all love it.  Not to mention that there are many items for under $10!

Today I'm excited to be partnering with Amanda, a wife, mother of FIVE, and Wildtree representative!  She has graciously offered to provide the winner with a special prize from Wildtree.

The item up for grabs is one of their most popular--Wildtree's Grapeseed Oil in the butter flavor.

"Expeller Pressed Grapeseed Oil is made from grape seeds after wine production. It is therefore environmentally sound and requires no new farmland or water to produce. Versatile, delicious and good for you, Grapeseed oil allows the pure flavor of fresh food to come through. Its delicate flavor and body make it perfect for sautéing, baking or frying. Try it in salad dressings, on pasta or hard breads, or use as marinades or bastes for the grill."

Health Benefits

· There are NO preservatives such as TBHQ or BHT.

· It is NOT hydrogenated.

· There is NO sodium.

· NO trans fatty acids.

· NO cholesterol (it actually aids in cholesterol reduction).

· It has one of the lowest levels of saturated fats of all oils.

· It is easily digestible.

· A good source of Vitamin E Alpha (an important anti-oxidant)(4.3 mg per serving).

· Highest concentration of poly (76%) unsaturated acid of any oil.

Basically, you can use it in place of cooking oil, and it lends food a buttery taste without the calories!

Ready to win?

To Enter:

(Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.)

1.  Become (or already be!) a follower of Till Death Do Us Part. (mandatory)

2.  Visit Amanda's Wildtree site and tell us another item you'd love. (mandatory)

Extra Entries:

3.  Follow Till Death Do Us Part on Twitter.

3.  Post about this giveaway or put it on your blog sidebar.

4.  Buy an item from Amanda!  If you do, you'll receive 5 extra entries!

5. Post about Amanda's Wildtree site on your blog.  If you do, you'll receive 3 extra entries!

That's a lot of ways to win! 

Deadline to enter is Sunday, July 10 at 10 p.m. CST.   Open to U.S. residents only.  Winner will be announced here!  Good luck!

Something for the Guys

I shared with you last week my husband's awful, terrible, horrendous, embarrassing office.

Triple frowns.

However, without me even asking, he began to clean up in there the day after I posted this.  A miracle, to be sure.  However, there's still miles to go before we sleep.  As you can see from the photo, there's not a lot of furniture in there, which is problematic, because he has tons of files/papers/manuals that deal with his work.  He also has tons of personal stuff in there, like books and CDs.  His degree is actually in music, so he's obviously got the biggest CD collection I've ever seen (everything from Bach to Blondie).   In other words, he needs a stereo cabinet or an audio rack.  Badly. 

 

I'd also like to get this Bello TV stand and move our big screen out of the den.

One, I don't watch much TV, and two, what girl who loves interior design would want a big flat screen to be the centerpiece of her den?? 

Ah, the joys of marriage!