Breast Cancer Awareness Pjs Giveaway!

As we all know Oct is Breast Cancer Awareness month. There is a good chance we all know of someone (somehow) who has/is/was dealing with this disease. I’ve had two family members (my great grandma and grandma) die from forms of cancer. So this is something that I worry about probably a bit more than I should. So before going on with this giveaway, please remember to do all the necessary checks and check ups that us ladies hate to do oh so much. A little discomfort for knowing that things are okay is worth it right?

Well I have been asked to do a giveaway that supports finding a cure for breast cancer research. One winner will receive a pair of KN Karen Neuburger pajamas and chenille sock and another winner will receive a pair of KN Karen Neuburger pajamas. Now for those of you that have not heard of KN before here is a little information:

The KN Karen Neuburger^® lifestyle brand is synonymous with comfort-inspired fashion and home merchandise. The brand’s signature softness and quality can be experienced in heritage sleepwear and loungewear for the whole family, paper goods, crafting and memory products, sportswear and accessories, home collection, furnishings and décor. KN™ and KN Luxury Home™ products can be found in department stores, specialty stores and online at www.karenneuburger.com.  

To help show support for Breast Cancer Awareness, KN Karen Neuburger® is doing a few things with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® to help spread the word even more then it already is. During the rest of October at 300 Dillards stores guests will have a chance to shop for a cause. For every purchase of KN Karen Neuburger pajamas sold at these “Pink Parties,” KN will generously donate 30 minuets of research to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Not only that, but all shoppers will also receive a free gift with the purchase of a pink ribbon key chain. The overall goal of this event is to donate a month of breast cancer research to help aid in the development of live saving treatments and helping in finding the eventual cure for breast cancer. Of course not everyone will be able to attend these ‘parties’, so if you are one of them and would love to donate, KN will also accept donations through their Time for Research Page, which can be found here:
https://support.bcrfcure.org/civicrm/contribute/pcp/info?reset=1&id=53

Now about that giveaway I mentioned. As stated above, there will be two lucky winners. These pajamas are just adorable. They have a beautiful rose pattern on them with the breast cancer ribbon on there as well. Also, the socks are adorable as well and have a ribbon stitched on the cuff of the sock. These products would definitely help keep you warm on those frigid nights, much like what us Midwestern folk are dealing with now…I tell you we must have just flew past winter and now it feels like December. To win it’s real simple, all you have to do is visit www.karenneuburger.com and tell me what you would like to add to your holiday wish list from that site.

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This giveaway ends on Oct 21st 2009 @ 11:59pm cst

Wordless Wednesday; I WON!

Modern Expressions

I am just shocked because I don’t win anything lol and those collages (even if that isn’t the exact one) are usually pretty expensive. More on this later, just the perfect Wordless Wednesday.I can NOT wait to go get the photos done, Nov 6th @ 3pm lol.

What a day

or well I should say night. I was tired of seeing the last bit of boxes and bags sit around from when we moved in 2 months ago with my sister in law, so I finally got those all taken care of. Then my Mother-in-law & Sister-in-law both were awesome and helped me get the living area pulled together with the make shift pantry cabinet thing. Plus she got us some awesome new sheets to go on our new bed that I love.

After that I looked around and it felt so good to just get everything cleaned up. I even got 2 loads of laundry folded and put away, plus the basket I put off from Sunday. Now I am uploading the pics from the Apple Orchard and getting a blog post of those done, plus some other giveaway/review posts up. I think you guys will like the stuff I have coming up. Also, if you haven’t can you please fill out the little survey that I have available, it will help me get my numbers in order and hopefully help get bigger and better giveaways for you guys as well.

Reader Survey

Have a great night =)

Fun Halloween Jewelry

As I said before, me and my son watched Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time last night. So imagine how excited I was to find some adorable Halloween jewelry around my favorite place, Etsy that featured Mr. Pumpkin King himself. I’m a big fan of LillyEllen and if you have gifts to buy for some big kids on your list, stop by their shop because trust me you will not be disappointed.

I love how this Jack Halloween Charmer is stacked up. It really draws your eyes to the little Jack bead, and the bright colors do not distract from it like some may think. As if the Jack wasn’t cute enough, you can personalize this for the Pumpkin King lover on your list. Who wouldn’t want to see this in the beautiful gift box that they send them in? Not only that it is the right length where it will sit on top of your shirt without feeling like you can’t breath in it. I think the green and orange colors really work well with the Jack bead and the personalized plate. As always please be safe when ordering your jewelry, this isn’t a toy.

Now I love the 3 little kids that dress up as a witch, a devil and the skeleton. So this little Witch necklace made me all giddy inside because of that fact. The bossy little witch was always my favorite. Maybe it was the millions of times I dressed up as a witch, lol. I always remember my dad had to rush home from work on Halloween to help me fix my ‘wart’ as it was always perfect when he did it.  Again, with this little witch you can personalize it for the special girl on your list. I know of one or two that would just love to find this as their gift this holiday season.

Now even though I’m a Halloween baby, and I LOVE Autumn, I for the life of me can NOT stand candy corn. Yet this candy corn necklace is just adorable and makes me want to go get a bag. Not only can you customize it for the candy corn fanatic in your life, but you can even add a charm on it to give it that extra step of uniquiness.  This really looks like a piece of candy corn stuck on there. With the candy corn piece being glass, it gives it that sugary ‘coating’ that we all know candy corn has.

So the next time you’re looking for some adorable hand stamped holiday, or even regular, jewelry for that prince or princess in your life why not stop at LillyEllen and see if they have what you need.

Autumn Jewelry Giveaway

 *CLOSED*

Etsy has some amazing designers on there. I spend hours just roaming around looking at all the beautiful pieces. Alicia (Stardust on Etsy) has some beautiful pieces of jewelry that I believe you guys will love. Not only that, but she has generously offered up TWO pieces of jewelry for  2 very lucky Creatively Yours readers.

Now I was sent this beautiful Pumpkin Stacker necklace that I am just in love with for a few reasons. I mean first just look at this, isn’t it beautiful? The other reason is that growing up we all had nicknames from my grandpa & grandma. Well being the Halloween baby that I am, I was given the name Punkin and it’s stuck ever since. I think the only time we were ever called our real name was when we were in trouble, I use to joke that my grandpa wouldn’t even know our names because we’ve only been called by our nickname. So with losing my grandma last year and all, this piece is really special to me just in that respect and because it’s the first pumpkin necklace I own.

What I love about this necklace is the worn look that is given to the pumpkins. I love that they are not ‘perfect’ can show off their imperfections. The antique brass really helps give the worn look to this piece and the fall, almost spooky feel you get just looking at this piece. I really liked that the chain was a brassy color as it pairs really well with the pumpkins. It has this feel that it’s a family piece, even though you may have just bought it yesterday. If you are looking for a simple piece to add to your holiday jewelry, this would be the perfect touch. Also the fun little poem that is included in the description of this piece is just really cute as well:

A harvest moon suffers a black cat’s cry.
Oh’ do the witches fly!
The bonfire catches a pumpkin’s gleam.
Rejoice, it’s Halloween! —Unknown

The next piece is one that she is offering up for a lucky reader here at Creatively Yours. It is these beautiful Pumpkin Garden IV earrings to match this beautiful necklace. These pumpkins have the same worn in look to them that the necklace does. They also include antique brass colored hooks that help play off the fall colors. The specks of green that are on the leaves really pop out against the other colors. It looks as if she picked some perfect little pumpkins from a garden and made earrings from them. Again, these would be the perfect touch to make any outfit a bit festive, or even the perfect finisher to that company party, or even out taking the little ones trick or treating.

Finally we have this beautiful necklace a lucky reader could win as well. Autumn Equinox is a beautiful necklace that is perfect for those not in the Halloween spirit, or just don’t celebrate it. The coloring on it is very rustic and reminds me of the leaves rustling across the driveway on a cool Autumn night. I remember as a kid we use to love to crunch the leaves as we would run around my grandma’s huge driveway.  The way the little leaves hang, just are really pretty and help draw your eyes to the big leaf in the center. A must have for all your Autumn attire needs. This piece would also be beautiful paired with a simple black dress as well. I really believe the ways to wear this piece is endless.

Not only is her jewelry beautiful, but she is really a sweet person as well. I had some troubles with things and she helped me out with them no problem. It’s always nice to shout out great customer service skills, even when it’s for a giveaway because with online shopping, you really just don’t see this very often anymore.

Love these pieces? Well to win it’s simple. Visit Alicia’s Etsy Store and tell me what piece or pieces you love. Also, please don’t list what is listed above. This giveaway will end Saturday Oct 17th at 11:59 cst

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While I did receive a product in exchange for a review, in no way did this change my views. Everything said is my honest opinions of the products unless otherwise stated.

Whew what a day/night

So I decided O and I needed a “Mommy/Son” date and would go see a movie. Now I admit that the thought of taking O anywhere in public by myself where some ‘creeper’ may try something scares the crap out of me. (Last year  I was in Walmart with O and Jeff was out in the car waiting. This guy comes up in line behind us and this little boy starts talking to him. He goes on to act like he doesn’t know the boy and what not. Then 20 seconds later is talking about how he’s his neighbor and such. It freaked me out and I’ve had a bit of a problem going anywhere with just O and me since.) Yet I had promised him if he was good we’d go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs  on the Movie “Feater” (movie theater for those that don’t speak mom lol). I was worried because well he’s never been to a theater before, though he seen an episode of the Upside Down Show that showed what a movie theater would be like, and was afraid my patience would be short.

I was pleasantly surprised. He was really good. He got tired about half way through, but I expected that. He was really interested in the movie and only got antsy about the last 10 minuets. It was a really funny movie. We laughed a ton. I was glad there weren’t a lot of people in there as we went to the afternoon show, because he was a bit loud at first and didn’t understand he couldn’t talk during the show. He is always asking me to go on dates with him. He likes to specify that they are not dates like me and daddy go on, giggle and tell him I understand. So I think we’ve found our monthly activity. I think we’ll switch it up and give him 2 options to decide what he wants, as he has been begging to go bowling so that would be fun as well.

Then I was so excited, we went to Burlington Coat Factory and I got the CUTEST coat for 49.99 (of course due to the size) and I love it. It reminds me of one of those little scottish dogs that wear the little clothes. It doesn’t look really warm, and living in Northern Midwestern Illinois it definitely needs to be warm, but let me tell you it is VERY warm, especially with an extra layer underneath which I do with all my coats lol. I couldn’t find the coat online but you get the idea of it, plus O wanted in on the pic like usual lol. Got to love taking photos in walmart lol.

Also, we went to Big Lots, and again I was so excited, not only did O get two Batman action figures that he loves, we FINALLY got a mini fridge. Since moving in with his sister & staying in the basement, I hate having to run up & down the stairs for a simple can of pop or bottle of water. Plus O always seems to want juice at the wrong times. So we went and they had a good one for $50. Of course my luck they were all sold out. One of the employees told me that the boss loves to give a good deal on the floor models. So I’m like what the hell, the worst he can say is, we can’t take any off. So he tells Jeff he can go $10 off. Which was exactly what Jeff was going  to ask for. Well we get up there and he is like ring this up for $35 dollars. I was shocked. I didn’t expect $15 off the price. I love it, I know it’s still new but I love being able to walk over there and get a pop instead of up into the super dark kitchen with my half dead flashlight lol.

Finally, am I the only one stoked for MONOPOLY being back at McDonalds? I love playing it and always get “so close”, which I am right now lol on a couple things. This year you get 2 or 3 different ways to play, though I hate texting things in like this even though we have unlimited texts.

Whew, you can tell why I’m exhausted. I’m just glad my first week of classes are almost over and I’m 99% done with the work this week so that is helpful and I’m able to relax now. I think I’m going to watch Made of Honor before bed, who knows. I will be getting a full review of Monster vs Aliens (I know I touched on it in my other post) and probably this one and The Proposal after I watch Made of Honor.  Yeah I’m a movie addict lol.

Sleep tight everyone,

Halloween Cookies on Esty

I know I couldn’t believe it myself, but I found the cutest Halloween cookies on Etsy. They are made by Linzy of sugarcookiecouture and I just had to share them with you. Believe me when I tell you they are ADORABLE and your mouth will be watering before you know it, I know mine was.

First how cute are the Skull & Crossbone cookies? I know skulls are not everyone’s thing, but when they are in cookie form it seems everything is cute right?! These would be perfect for those tween Halloween parties, or even to bring into the office for a Halloween treat. With these being individually wrapped, you could use these in little gift bags for birthdays or parties that are around the holiday, and who wouldn’t want to receive this as a gift? I would think I’d have an extra special friend if these made from scratch gourmet sugar cookies wound up at my door, party, or even gift. Also, if you have a specific pattern you need, customizing these to your needs would be no problem!

Now maybe skulls aren’t your thing, well if that’s the case then there is this adorable dozen of Halloween sugar cookies. They include a pumpkin, ghost, bat, black cat, candy corn, and an adorable witches hat. These again are homemade gourmet sugar cookies that come in a dozen and are individually wrapped, boxed up and ready for your next party, office treat, or even something to just snack on around  the house. These yummy cookies are sure to be a big hit with any cookie lover you have on your holiday gift list.

Now maybe Halloween isn’t your kind of holiday, and that’s perfectly fine. Linzy even has some adorable Autumn sugar cookies as well. These adorable cookies are perfect for class parties or even to set in a bowl on your counter. Though I don’t know how well these will delicious sugar cookies will last.  They come in variety of shapes and colors just like the leaves.

What I love most about these cookies would have to be how much detail Linzy puts into her cookies. You can really tell that she puts a lot of thought into each cookie she makes. Plus who doesn’t love homemade from scratch sugar cookies that you don’t have to make yourself?  So the next time you need a homemade treat, why not think of Linzy at sugarcookiecouture you’ll be glad you did!

Perfect ‘Halloween’ Movies

I hate that when you are trying to find a Halloween movie it has to be about guts and gore. Now like I said, I’m a wussy for horror movies, so this is something I don’t like. I just want to watch a movie with my son and enjoy the moment. So in case anyone else is in the same boat, here are some movies we just love, and one that wasn’t as great as we thought.

My first pick has to be Ghost Busters. That is one of my favorite movies, and we are talking about getting it on blu-ray soon because Owen’s become very interested in the game and keeps asking about the movie. It’s not your typical Halloween movie, but for those that can’t handle bloody gore kinda movies, this is a bit hit. It has the thrill, the monsters, and that infamous line “Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!!” I can’t help it, I shout it out every time we watch it. Owen likes to sing the song with me and it makes me smile every time. Of course there may be some language in here, we haven’t watched it in a while and I can’t remember if there is or not lol.

Another favorite of ours is Nightmare Before Christmas. This has been my favorite Halloween movie ever. I love Jack the Pumpkin King and at times I was even a bit on the scared side. But I loved all the different monsters in Halloween Town and I loved how different they were from each other. Me and Owen watched this together for the first time the other night, and he was just amazed by it. He loved the animation, the songs and the monsters. But what he really loved the most was that they included Santa Clause. He wasn’t happy when Jack tried to be Santa, but loved Jack’s little ghost dog. He thought that was just the cutest thing ever. I wasn’t sure he would like it, as my husband swore he wouldn’t and he was in a grumpy mood when we started it. But once the first song started he was hooked. I loved watching his face light up with various emotions through out the movie. We’ve already watched it twice.

Now another favorite is Monster House. I have to admit I was scared when I first watched this. The house is just very scary to me, but of course my fearless 4 year old wasn’t phased and he LOVES this movie. We have it on DVR and watch it every night before bed. Thankfully he can’t wear out a DVR taping like he can a movie or DVD lol. He even had to have the monster house video game which he loves equally. After getting over my fear, what I loved about this movie was it gave you the Halloween thrill without any blood or gore. It really got you feeling like you were IN the movie. It even has the people get ‘eaten’ by the house. This really made Owen excited. He just couldn’t wait to find out if they were okay and how they were getting out. There were some moments where I had to cringe, the boys peed in pop bottles after staking out the monster house all night, and one of the boys stole some medicine (okay a lot) from his father’s store. But other than that we really like this movie as a family. Like I said, we watch it daily and he actually sits and watches it. Not many things do this lol

As I said, Owen LOVES monsters and all that so I could list things all day, but I won’t.The other favorite that tops his list? Monster’s Inc. He LOVES that movie. He always asks for the Kitty movie. It took me awhile to understand what he really meant. He watches that all the time and Just loves Sulley. I of course love Boo, I mean she is just the cutest thing ever. I love when she goes around scaring the monsters in the restaurant, and the overreacting when one of them is touched by her, way to funny. Owen’s intrigued by the fact that there is a city with nothing but monsters in it and that they live life like we do. He always gets so many giggles from this movie, it’s been recorded every time it comes on the dvr as we always watch a movie before bed and it’s either this one or Monster House.

Now sadly what we weren’t fond of, but felt it needed to be included, was the new Disney film: Monsters Vs Aliens. I was really sad that we didn’t like this, as I thought for sure it would be a big hit since Owen’s all about Monsters and Aliens. But sadly it seemed to jump around a lot in the story. One minuet it was talking about the Ginormica’s love life and the next they are fighting off these Aliens. It just seemed a little much for Disney, and we didn’t even really get to know much about the other monsters. It’s a really cute movie, it just didn’t hold Owen’s attention (or my niece’s) at all. I would definitely rent this one before you buy it as if they don’t like it, it’s always money saved and if they do, you can go out and buy it with the bonus 3D movie thing that they are advertising, and Owen wants lol.

Some of our favorite other picks would be the Great Pumpkin, you can NOT go wrong with a Snoopy movie. Or the Scooby Doo movies as they are always full of different monsters. He is a big Scooby and Snoopy fan. So if you need some good children friendly monster movies, why not try some of these. Of course I’d love to hear what your favorites are as well!

Not So Scary Halloween: Live Giveaway

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By now you guys know I’m a Halloween baby. I love it except for the fact that I HATE all things blood, guts, gore, and anything that is way to scary. I can’t handle scary movies and when my mom tried to do a horror movie marathon for my birthday one year and yeah didn’t go so well for me lol. So this giveaway is right up my alley. I love to do crafts, though they don’t always turn out quite as planned, and they are not as relaxing as they could be, also as the mother to a 4.5 year old the scary part of Halloween isn’t always that great to deal with.

What I love the most about YouCanMakeThis.com is that there is a DIY project of just about any subject for a crafter of any skill level. Which is perfect for the less than crafter that is myself. I can do awesome stuff with my computer but ask me to use a sewing machine and that’s where we have problems. Yet with YouCanMakeThis.com that doesn’t matter because they give you EVERY single step you’ll need to create something amazing.

One lucky Creatively Yours reader will win an amazing will win an amazing Halloween prize pack consisting of $50 worth of Halloween Downloads including:

Fancy Filled Tutu with Bonus 40 Tutu “Recipes”
Pumpkin Polly Patterns
Paper Piecing Project: Pumpkin Patch Pillow

Frayed Applique: Too Cute to Spook!
Little Miss Spider Applique Patterns
How to Applique the Easy Way
Hocus Pocus Patterns
Just a Little Something for a Happy Halloween Table Runner

Now onto the rules:

First entry: visit YouCanMakeThis.com and tell me one of your other favorite items they have. 

Follow me on my facebook Fan Page (see right side for link) and post about this (comment with link)

(If you don’t like facebook twitter is acceptable as well.)

After doing these steps, you can post as many times as you’d like as long as it’s on the topic of YouCanMakeThis.com. When we reach 100 comments that is who will be the winner. I want to be able to get your prize to you in time to use them before Halloween comes.

Wordless Wednesday-Generations

FAMILY

This has been a rough week for me in this aspect. I’ve dealt with my friend tragically losing her younger brother, I had my 18 yr old cousin’s baby shower (with his girlfriend of course) last weekend (when photo was taken), I’ve had to figure out how to handle Owen’s newly gained almost 5 attitude and that isn’t going so well for either of us. On top of that, I’m trying to understand how things got to where they did with my mother, all the while knowing my grandma would be heartbroken to see how things unraveled with everything. So this week amist all the Halloween stuff I have going on, I want you to just give those you love an extra tight hug.

Also, because I am doing Halloween stuff this week, I had to share my 4 yr olds halloween costume. Isn’t he the cutest batman ever? Okay biased I know lol but I just love this photo.