Category Archives: Home

November 24, 2016 · 2:25 pm

Home Is Where The Heart Is, Especially At Christmas! #BoscovsHolidayHomeTour

This is a sponsored post and I will be compensated as part of the Blog Meets Brand Network. As always my words and views are 100% my own.

The holidays are upon us, I love Christmas, especially seeing it through my children’s eyes. I look forward to decorating our home inside and out every year. This year will be different, a few weeks ago a leak in our kitchen wreaked havoc on our lives that will change the way we celebrate this season. Our entire kitchen and basement has to be demoed and all of our belongings are being packed up and put in storage.

It will be a long process. We live in a rural location so there are no hotels nearby. The insurance company paid for a travel trailer to be put on site for us to live while our house is being repaired. This means that we will not be able to decorate the way we usually do. I want to make the holiday season special for my kids but most of my decorations have been packed and brought to a location to be cleaned. Anyway, we are making the best of things and that is why when I was approached with the opportunity to work with Boscov’s on their holiday home tour, it was a big blessing.

Recently, we all headed off to Boscov’s and rode the escalator straight up to the Holiday Shop. My kids’ eyes were as wide as my husband’s and mine. There were so many beautifully decorated trees and displays.

A member of the helpful staffed named Linda told me she decorated all the trees and many of the displays. There were indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, ornaments, village houses and so much more. The first thing that caught our eye was the Santa in Sleigh with Reindeer outdoor display.

I laughed because it was the same one from the movie Christmas Vacation. My husband said it was a great idea since we can still decorate the outside of our home. We also picked up a vintage looking outdoor lighted Snowman with Pipe.

I found some cute little cardinal and bluebird shelf sitters and a “Have Faith” block sculpture with a cardinal that coordinated. Cardinals are very special for me so I knew these were going home with me.

Then I found 2 Annalee dolls I loved, a mouse ornament and a mouse standing figure.

Next, I picked up a tablecloth and headed off to find a ceramic tree that is reminiscent of the vintage kind I remember as a kid. I had to decide between green and white and went with the white.The pictures don’t do it justice. I also picked up a beautiful Lenox silver-plated Christmas tree ornament and a train for our village.

They had so many nice ornaments, we picked out several that we really liked for our tree.

Soon we were ready to go and load our purchases in the car.

Here is a video of my Boscov’s haul:

The tree makes a cute little display with the other ornaments in the travel trailer.

I did get to at least try my tablecloth on my kitchen table before they took it away. I love the vintage look of this tablecloth.

The train is so detailed and will look awesome when we add a few of our village houses. Our village will be smaller this year but it will still be festive.

The outdoor decorations are very nice and with the new fallen snow they look just fabulous.

The kids really love everything and I guess this all goes to show us that home is where the heart is, especially at Christmas!

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Filed under Christmas, Family, Holiday, Home, Shopping

Tagged as #BoscovsHolidayHomeTour, Blog Meets Brand, Boscov's, Christmas, decorating, holiday, Holiday Home

November 20, 2016 · 10:38 am

How To Pick The Perfect Farmhouse Sink For Your Kitchen

If you love the look of a farmhouse sink and want one in your kitchen, you are not alone. The farmhouse sink with its apron front was designed for the comfort of women who spent long hours in front of them. By eliminating the countertop in front, women did not have to lean forward over sink. So, what is it about these sinks of yesteryear that appeals to us today? I think there are a number of reasons they are so popular. The size is larger since the apron front extends over the bottom cabinet. This makes them ideal to wash even large pots, pans, cookie sheets and more.

Besides looking beautiful that apron front means that any drips will not be falling on the cabinet but onto the floor eliminating the chance of water damage to your cabinets. Without having to reach over the countertop it is much more comfortable than a conventional sink. I think there is a certain romantic quality to a farmhouse sink that beckons us to simpler times and tugs at our heartstrings.

When you are considering a farmhouse sink there are some factors to consider. Material is a major one. Farmhouse sinks are available in white porcelain, cast iron enamel, Fireclay, stainless steel, copper and more.

For me the look of the white Fireclay along with the durability make it a strong contender. I do have a more modern stainless steel farmhouse sink in my laundry room but I still find myself longing for the true farmhouse look of the Fireclay. There are sink grills available which will help protect your sink. I love sink grills and would highly recommend them. If a Fireclay sink does chip, it can be repaired with a repair kit.

Fireclay sinks are heavy and some require that the sink cabinet is customized with extra support to handle the weight. You will also need to decide on a double or single bowl. For me it is a no-brainer. I want the full experience of the large sink and don’t want to split it into 2 bowls.

Since I grew up with a dishwasher and don’t hand wash anything that can go in the dishwasher, I just did not see why I would want 2 bowls. The things we hand wash are large and so I know a double bowl would not be able to handle them with the ease of a large single bowl.

Even after you have decided on a sink material and bowl size there are still other decisions like the design. This is the hardest for me. I have been working with Jake from Nantucket Sinks and he has helped me tremendously. I finally made my decision and I choose the Hyannis 30″ Fireclay Sink.

So that is one decision down for our kitchen and about 1,000,000 more to go! What do you think of my choice? If you have any questions please let me know.

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Filed under Cooking, Curb Appeal, Decorating, Home, Home & Garden, Home Improvement, Kitchen

Tagged as Curb Appeal, curbappeal, Farmhouse Sink, Fireclay, home, home improvement, Italian Design, Kitchen Design, Nantucket Sinks

September 28, 2016 · 2:26 pm

Get Sharper Pencils & Help Fight Childhood Cancer with “Hello Yellow”

Do you think electric pencil sharpeners are the way to go? Think no one manually sharpens pencils any more? What if I told you there is a manual sharpener that works so well and effortlessly you might change your mind? Well, let’s find out because that is exactly what I am going to tell you.

Classroom Friendly Supplies has pencil sharpeners in a rainbow of colors that are more efficient and quieter that typical classroom pencil sharpeners. The owner of the company is an elementary school teacher who was looking for a better classroom pencil sharpener. In the last 10 years over 2,500 school districts have purchased Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpeners.

Check out the new “Hello Yellow” pencil sharpener below. You can see it in action in my YouTube video review as well. From now through November, Classroom Friendly Supplies is donating $1 to Childhood Cancer Awareness for every “Hello Yellow” pencils sharpener sold! I hope you will support this great cause and get a brilliant and bright pencil sharpener. These are available in single units or multiple unit packages.

This sharpener is so easy for anyone to use. My little kids love using it and never need help. There is no whining about anything. They like to do it and come away with a perfectly sharpened pencil every time! Check out my video below to see it in action.

If you have any question just ask them in the comments. So what do you think, do you think you will try one and support a great cause too? I hope you will, let me know.

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Filed under cause, Home, Review

Tagged as Cause, Childhood Cancer Awareness, Classroom Friendly Supplies, Hello Yellow, Pencil Sharpener, Video Review, Vlog

September 8, 2016 · 11:45 pm

An Easy Way To Add A Pop of Color To Any Room

I love growing things, I have been growing mango trees from seed all summer. I have germinated 10 or 11 trees now that are doing wonderful! I am growing pineapples too from the pineapple top and it is so much fun and so rewarding. I love to garden and also plant and maintain many perennial gardens on my property. I have a vegetable garden too and one of the things I hate about winter is the drabness that seems to take over. Sure the white snow on evergreens is pretty but the long winters can leave me longing for color.

That is where silk flowers come in. They can give me those pops of colors that really cheer me up and make me smile. I also like to use them in areas where it would be hard to maintain real flowering plants. I recently picked out a gorgeous Dancing Orchid. It is 32″ tall and comes in a beautiful ceramic pot.

I am really happy with it and plan to put it around my whirlpool tub in my master bathroom. I like to take a lot of warm baths in the winter and having that colorful orchid there will just help me to feel that spring is not too far away.

Do you decorate with silk plants? Would love to hear your thoughts.

I received the dancing orchid to facilitate my review. As always my words and views are 100% my own.

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Filed under Curb Appeal, Decorating, Gift, Home, Home & Garden

Tagged as Curb Appeal, curbappeal, Decorating Your Home, Silk Flowers, Silk Plants

July 29, 2016 · 2:06 pm

Kitchen Renovations-What You Should Know

Kitchen renovations are much different today than they ever have been before. It used to be that when someone did a kitchen renovation or a remodel the only real options they had were the design and architectural features of the room such as arches/doorways, walls/ceilings, and flooring or additional space options.

These days, though, you have many other elements you can add such as smart appliances and products for a smartly designed kitchen. If you are curious about the different smart kitchen ideas available, consider reading the article below for some cool and technology driven ideas to make your kitchen more forward friendly, convenient and comfortable.

Smart Appliances For A Smart Kitchen

Most appliances in the kitchen are already pretty darn smart in terms of timers and knowing when to stop cooking a product. But, you also have a lot of other different “smart” options available to you, such as:

– Touchscreen Stove Tops: Not only is this a really cool type of cooking technology, but it can also be used in a kitchen with children as well, since it’s a very safe product to use. Essentially the cook top uses conduction to heat things like pots and pans. But, the other parts of the stove stay cool – to the touch. You can actually use the touch screen to browse the internet, look up recipes to make, check out cookbooks in digital format and more.

– Home Chat: This cool little app is meant for specific things like the fridge. It will essentially keep track of items and ingredients inside the refrigerator and you can ask it questions such as: Do we have butter and it will reply back via text yes two sticks or no we do not. This is really efficient because you can use the app even out of the house.

Smart Fridge

This is a really cool option but in the near future, we will also have an even cooler option (it’s a concept right now) that will actually order food, keep track of what’s in the fridge and alert you when you are running low, and do a plethora of other cool options. For now, though, you have these smart refrigerators. The LCD display allows you to watch TV, listen to the radio, check the news, leave memos for yourself or other family members, check out the calendar and leave notes on specific days and more. It’s quite expensive, at around $3600 but if you want a tech driven kitchen, this might be the addition for you… for now anyway, until that higher tech fridge comes along!

Pair 3D Design Application

Okay, this is a really cool app and unlike any other smart application above. It’s only an Apple App right now, though. Essentially what you do is you bring up the camera on your iPhone and the app will give you different furniture options for that camera viewer. In the camera viewer, you can see how that piece of furniture or an appliance would fit in your space, what it would look in a 3D manner and more. The app can also be used by brands and businesses as well. But it’s also a great design tool for home owners that allow you to set up a room in real-time.

Radiant Flooring

In a lot of cases, you see radiant flooring done in a bathroom. But, since more and more people are also using porcelain in the kitchen as well (its durable, budget friendly and beautiful) some manufactures have started to make radiant flooring options for the kitchen too. This is a perfect option for any flooring in the kitchen, but especially stone or tile like porcelain because even though it does have a lot of benefits, one of the disadvantages are that it can get quite cool to the touch in the winter. In order to fix this, you can use radiant heating underneath the flooring to warm it up before you ever set foot on it.

Radiant flooring can be set on a timer so that it turns on every morning before you wake up to make the floor nice and toasty so when you come down for breakfast or coffee the floor is already heated up. You can also use Wi-Fi with a lot of radiant flooring systems so as soon as you wake up you can turn on your app – and have the floor heated so by the time you make it downstairs it’s warmed. Tile flooring like porcelain is a great conductor of heat. In fact, the two best materials to use a radiant floor on are porcelain and wood. Porcelain is a really good option though because it won’t expand as it warms and cools which means it won’t crack which means your flooring will last for longer!

There you have it, kitchen renovation ideas that you should know before you start your project.

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Filed under Guest Post, Home, Home & Garden, Home Improvement, Sponsored

Tagged as #Sponsored, DIY, Guest Post, home, home improvement, Kitchen, Remodeling, Renovations

July 10, 2016 · 1:40 pm

A Healthier Way To Slow-Cook Your Food!

Did you know that many slow cookers and crock pots leach lead into food when heated up? Lead can cause many detrimental health issues. There are safer ways to slow cook your food. The VitaClay is the Smart Top Rated Clay Pot Cooker. This cooker has computerized, electronic technology that makes it easy to use. It works with hundreds of recipes and best of all it is a healthy way to cook.

The secret is in the centuries old, slow-cooking, organic clay pot, combined with the perfect computerized balance of temperature, fused to bring out the textures and flavors that will please the health conscious first timer or pro.

The clay pot is non-stick and chemical free. This cooker is perfect for everyone whether you are vegan, vegetarian, health-conscious or just like great food and awesome kitchen appliances.

We recently tested out the HIGH-FIRED VITACLAY® SMART ORGANIC MULTICOOKER -in the largest, 8 cup size with a 4.2 qt. capacity. This multicooker also is a Slow Cooker, Steamer, Rice Cooker and Yogurt Maker.

The VitaClay was designed for the passionate, healthy cook. The award-winning VitaClay®Chef Gourmet Rice and Slow Cooker Pro is now updated to a Smart Organic Multicooker! The cooker features a natural, unglazed, Zisha clay pot that enhances the flavor of food and preserves nutrients, vitamins and enzymes.

The clay pot is free of any non-stick glazes, chemicals or aluminum. To season the pot all you have to do is make rice! That’s right you cook white rice in it for about 2.5 hours and your pot is seasoned. That is very easy to do! The multicooker is programmable and has settings to let you cook stews, soups, all kinds of rice, pot roast and other meats, beans, vegetarian dishes, and even probiotic-rich yogurt.

The all-natural clay pot promotes uniform cooking and the double lid design creates micro-pressure that gives you the most tender meats and flavorful food you can imagine. It also cooks in less time and with less energy! A whole meal can be made in this in as little as 30 minutes!

After seasoning our pot, I decided to try a chicken recipe in it. I initially thought I was going to make Chicken Cacciatore but I ended up with a slight variation which was a delicious chicken and vegetable dish served over angel hair pasta. The chicken when it was done was so moist and shredded so beautifully. All of the vegetables and colors were delicious and vibrant.

It was simple to make, I just cut up onions, carrots, bell pepper and celery and put in the bottom of the pot. I added some sliced mushrooms and then seasoned with some pepper and garlic powder. I put the skinless, boneless chicken breasts on top of that and then added tomato sauce and Italian style stewed tomatoes. After that I took fresh Italian parsley, basil and oregano from my garden and added that.

We cooked it for about 2.5 hours and it was just so delicious and perfect for summer because we literally turned it on and left to go swimming at our dock. When we came back after swimming and were famished, everything was ready! I love how it keeps food warm for up to 12 hours without drying it out or overcooking it. That is so nice when you have a large family where everyone may not be eating at the same time. It is also great for those second or third helpings an hour or so later!

The multicooker came with a nice recipe book and there are more recipes on their website. However you can basically cook all your tried and true slow cooker recipes in it. It has a nice design and does not take up too much room on the counter. It is easy to care for and is something we are going to be cooking in a lot. I will update as I try new things in it.

Enter The Giveaway:

Would you like the chance to win the same multicooker I reviewed? I thought you would, just enter below and good luck!!!

FEATURES

All natural unglazed pure clay pot intensifies flavors of your favorite dishes
No aluminum, lead and non-stick chemical coating contacting your food!
Up to 4 times faster than conventional slow cooker
Easy whole meals are ready in under 45 minutes
Food is simmered in its own juices
Preserves natural juices, important nutrients, enzymes and vitamins
Makes probiotic rich Greek yogurt or yogurt or yogurt cheese
10 minutes up to 5 hours programmable cooking time with 10 minutes increment!
Delay timer and automatic Keep Warm
Push-button controls and an easy-to-read LCD display / Clock eliminate guesswork
Rice paddle & measuring cup included
UL listed, FDA, CA Prop 65 and RoHS laboratory tested

VitaClay is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win an 8 Cup VITACLAY® SMART ORGANIC MULTICOOKER ! Thank you to VitaClay for the review product and for sponsoring this awesome giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!! Open to US residents.

VITACLAY® SMART ORGANIC 8 CUP MULTICOOKER Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

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Filed under Cooking, Giveaway, Health, Home, Home & Garden, Kitchen, Recipes, Review

Tagged as Clay Pot Cooking, giveaway, Healthier Slow Cooker, Mulitcooker, organic, Rice Cooker, Vegan, Vegetarian, VitaClay, Yogurt Maker

July 5, 2016 · 3:39 pm

Win A $100 Gift Card To Decorate Your Home!

If you are looking to spruce up your living space with some unique and decorative accents, My Wonderful Walls has so much to help you do that. Whether you are looking for colorful wall stencils and decals, throw pillows, throws or blankets, you will a huge selection there.

Their website is easy to navigate and you can search for what you want or browse by product type or category. I recently selected a personalized twin size fleece blanket in an absolutely fantastic jungle safari animals design.

Elegant elephants walk among a grassy field while a gorgeous giraffe stands nearby. The playful monkeys swing from the trees as a vibrant tree frog, brilliant butterfly and colorful toucan enjoy the fresh jungle air against a blue, cloud-filled sky. Personalizing this with my son’s name makes this super soft, blanket extra special. This can also be purchased as a throw. They are cuddly, cozy and amazing soft made of 100% polyester that can be machined washed.

If you absolutely love a design, you can create a theme room with their coordinating wall decals, stencils, throw pillows, blankets and throws!

Check out some other items from their site I think are awesome!

Now if you are getting that decorating bug, you can use the code SummerFun16 to take 15% off any purchase at My Wonderful Walls (offer expires 8/1/16) and don’t forget to enter the giveaway below to win a $100 dollar gift card to My Wonderful Walls! Just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

$100 Gift Card To My Wonderful Walls Giveaway:

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Filed under Giveaway, Home, Home & Garden, Home Improvement, Sale, Shopping

Tagged as decorating, Fleece Blankets, gift card, giveaway, My Wonderful Walls, Throws, Vinyl Wall Decals, Wall Stencils

June 18, 2016 · 4:24 pm

Bacon Bouquet For Father’s Day #ChefsCutJerky

Father’s Day is tomorrow and my husband got an early present, a bacon bouquet! You probably think that sounds funny but he really did. He is not really into flowers, truth be told he does not know the difference between a flower and a weed most of the time. That has led to some huge problems when he decides to just weed my flower beds without telling me, but let’s not go there now. Back to the bacon. My husband likes jerky so when I found out I could get him a Chef’s Cut Real Bacon Jerky bouquet it was a no-brainer. Chef’s cut handcrafted bacon jerky has real ingredients and is slow-smoked to crispy perfection. This man’s bouquet is perfect to celebrate the special Dad in your life.

The Bacon Bouquet arrived in a bouquet box, and included 8 packages of bacon jerky in 3 different flavors: Siracha Style, Maple Style and Applewood Style. My main beef with bacon is the nitrates so when I found out Chef’s Cut Bacon Jerky was nitrate free…you really can have your bacon and eat it too! Beyond that my husband thought it was an awesome Father’s Day Gift! He said it was really tasty and he loved the varieties. It is also much healthier than you might think.

The jerky is made with uncured bacon that is marinated in chef-crafted seasonings. Each piece is a thin, crispy piece of hog heaven because they smoke each piece slowly. Chef’s Cut has no MSG, no Nitrates and is Gluten Free. Bacon and Jerky Lovers of the world know that is something to rejoice about. If there can’t be bacon flowers, at least there can be bacon bouquets!

You can see all Chef’s Cut products on their website and stay in the loop with them on Facebook and Twitter.

I received a bacon bouquet as a blogger working with Chef’s Cut and #SocialBttrflyCo. All my words and views are 100% my own as always.

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Filed under Father's Day, Gift, Gifts, Home, Review

Tagged as #ChefsCutJerky, Bacon, Bacon Bouquet, Father's Day, Father's Day Gift, Gift Ideas, Jerky, review

June 17, 2016 · 4:56 pm

Save Money While Cleaning Your Air! #HimalayanSalt

I like to keep things natural as possible in my home. Did you know that Himalayan Salt Lamps are all-natural air purifiers? These pristine pink Himalayan salt crystal lamps clean the air in your home while providing a warm, stunning glow that enhances any decor.

These unique health and wellness lamps are available from the Himalayan Salt Shop. Himalayan Salt Lamps have been popular in Europe for decades, but have only recently become known in the United States. Visit www.HimalayanSaltshop.com to learn more. If you decide to order one of these unique, natural lamps use code USFAMILY for 20% off.

I will receive a complimentary Himalayan Salt Lamp for review. All opinions are my own.

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Filed under Art, Discount Code, Health, Home, Home & Garden, Natural, USFG

Tagged as #himalayansalt, Clean Your Air, Himalayan Salt Lamp, Mommy Ramblings, mommyramblings, Promo Code, Purifier, Save, USFG

May 14, 2016 · 12:41 am

The Better Way To Clean Your BBQ Grill

We are starting to really fire up that grill now that we are almost into the unofficial start of summer. If your grill needs a bit of spiffing up from a mostly unused winter or just cleaning between grilling, I have the product for you! This USA Q’Grill BBQ Stainless Steel brush is all business!

It is strong and durable and made to last. It will also cut your cleaning time down because it gets your grill clean 3 times faster than conventional grill brushes. The brush’s ergonomic design and sturdy construction offers unparalleled durability. You can see it in the polymer enhanced handle that feels great and looks great! The stainless steel bristles offer a horizontal 3 in 1 grill cleaning that will get your grill sparkling clean fast. So no matter what your entertaining schedule looks like this summer, cleaning your grill will be fast and easy!

See my video below to get up close and personal with this awesome brush.

You can purchase it right on Amazon, just click on the link at the bottom of this post. Makes an awesome Father’s Day Gift too! If you do get it, let me know what you think.

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Filed under Cooking, Home, Home & Garden, Review

Tagged as amazon, BBQ Grill, clean, Father's Day Gift, Grill Cleaning, mommyramblings, review, USA Q'Grill, YouTube Review