Compelled to Craft Feature and Very "Compelling" Giveaway!

I'm so excited to bring you the latest addition to our Domestic Bliss Series.  Compelled to Craft!  Compelled to Craft sent me an absolutely fantastic item for the laundry room.  And they are providing another one for giveaway!  When it arrived in this neat little roll, I couldn't wait to open it up!  And what is it, you ask?

A padded ironing board cover!  No longer do I have an ugly old cover on my ironing board.  I have this fun, fresh cover instead!  Who says doing laundry and ironing can't be fun? As much time as I spend ironing, I might as well make it an enjoyable experience. And when my board is hanging on the wall in the laundry room, it becomes a fun piece of decor for the room as well!

Look at how ADORABLE this fabric is!  The one Compelled to Craft sent me is  Riley Blake Domestic Diva in cream vintage look.  It was so hard to choose just one because they have so many fantastic covers available.  Don't worry, I'll show you a bunch of them here in a minute!

As you can see here, the padding is attached beautifully to the top fabric.  It is made with two layers of cotton batting, and makes the perfect surface for ironing.   I was very impressed by how much nicer the padding is on this cover from Compelled to Craft compared to the cheap brand I originally had on my board.

 It's hard to showcase how fantastic the fit of this cover is.  Since it has elastic around the edge, the padded cover is so easy to put on my existing board.  It just slipped right on.  All you have to do is just stretch it over the board, and adjust it slightly until it's nice and smooth.  When Garret saw it, even he was impressed with how great it fit! 

Compelled to craft can make these covers in any colors, fabric, and size of your choice.  They can also be made without the pad if you prefer to use your existing one.

I've been busy using this beauty since I received it about a week and a half ago.  It works wonderfully, and makes me smile every time I get to iron(I know that sounds just wrong, but it's true). 

This would be a fantastic girlfriend gift, mothers day gift, or gift for yourself!  Who doesn't want to make ironing fun?  I cannot thank Paula and Compelled to Craft enough for sending me my padded cover.  I love it so much!

Here are just a few of the other fantastic covers available at Compelled to Craft:

And she makes awesome pillow cases and covers

Not to mention sleeves for gadgets

And these table top ironing board covers

I encourage everyone to head over and see all these fantastic items in Compelled to Craft's Etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/compelledtocraft

Or check out their blog here:

http://compelledtocraft.blogspot.com/

Right now in their shop they are offering free shipping to my blog followers via the following coupon code: NOPLACELIKEHOME 

You have two weeks to take advantage of this wonderful discount!!!

Compelled to Craft is also providing an item for giveaway! A padded cover of the winners size and fabric choice!!!!!!!!!  The winner will be announced and emailed two weeks from today on May 14th!  You can enter by using the Rafflecopter below!  Good luck everyone!!

Linking up at:

Type A Decorating

http://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/2012/05/anything-goes.html

Not Your Ordinary Show and Tell Link Party!!

I have the pleasure of co-hosting one of my very favorite link parties this week!  Melissa over at The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife has so graciously invited me to co-host, and I could not be more excited! :-)

I'll turn things over to Melissa here in a second, but first I want to let everyone know that I will be posting an awesome Etsy shop feature later today that will include a GIVEAWAY!!  The feature is about Compelled to Craft, a wonderful shop full of beautiful items for the home!  I will be showcasing a great product as a part of our Domestic Bliss series!

Okay, here's Melissa with the "Not Your Ordinary Show and Tell Link Party"!!!!

My FAVORITE link up from last week was...

LIGHTEN UP from The Consigner Designer. Didn't she do an AMAZING JOB!!! LOVE it!!

The rules for linking up to this party are SIMPLE:

1. Follow your hosts below.

The Host:

Melissa @ The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife

Co-Hosts: 

Jess @ Living on Sweet Tea

Melissa @ There's No Place Like Home

Meg @ Revamp Homegoods

2. Link up ANY blog post that you would like to Show & Tell. From crafts, diy projects, recipes, ANYTHING! 

3. Have Fun and Visit some of the other Link Ups :)

You can also grab a lovely button and help us spread the word!

<a href="http://www.thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com/search/label/Show%20and%20Tell"> <img src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z237/melissaenault/linkpartybutton.gif" height=180 width=180 border="0" /></a>

If you would like to help me co-host "Not You Ordinary Show & Tell Link Party" next week, I would love to have you! Email me at melissaenault@yahoo.com.

Whitney Farms O

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

 

Introducing Whitney Farms® a full line of 100% natural plant foods and soils with no additives, nothing artificial, just ingredients from the Earth, designed to give you big, beautiful flowers and veggies. Get the goodness of gardening naturally, with Whitney Farms® plant foods and soils.

I recently heard that the safe day for planting in the spring is May 12.  This information came from one of my patients, an old farmer.  I've been wanting to get out to the garden and dig around for a while now, since the spring  has been so nice.  I've held off though, and for good reason since we hit 30 degrees overnight a few days ago.  My favorite thing to plant is tomatoes and peppers so we can make fresh salsa all summer.  And nothing is more important than making sure these vegetables are planted in organic soil.  With Whitney Farms® organic plant food, I can make this possible.

 

Also, as all of you know, we just moved into this house at the end of last summer.  There is no vegetable garden area in our yard, so we need to get busy building one.  In the mean time, a container garden would work just fine.  This  shows the type I would love perfectly:

 

Using Whitney Farms® organic soil and organic plant food I will have a beautiful, lush, tasty, and organic garden of vegetables that I can share with family and friends all summer long!  I encourage each and every one of you to head and and get some Whitney Farms® to try!

 

 

No Longer Afraid of Making Distressed Decor!

Just want to remind everyone about our new giveaway, you can find it by clicking HERE! It's open until May 14th :-)

So I've been wanting to make some distressed decor signs for a while now, but I have been nervous to do it.  I think the idea of trying something new just scared me a little bit. Last week I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try.  I realized I had nothing to be afraid of, making these signs was SUPER easy!  I am really pleased with the way they turned out.  It took a little trial and error, but this is the result!

These were so easy to make you guys!  I took a few scrap pieces of wood.  The key to getting them to look like this is to use three paint colors in three layers.  The layers work best when your first layer is light, second layer is dark, and third layer is light.  Or you can reverse it and do dark, light, dark. 

On my laundry sign I painted a light yellow layer first.  It doesn't have to be perfect, because you're going to put several layers on, and it's supposed to look distressed anyway.  Next I painted a layer of red.  I just put it on sparingly, leaving it less thick in some spots for effect. 

The next step was a little tough.  A lot of people have machines they can cut vinyl letters with.  I don't have one of those machines, so I had to use stencils.  I bought a package, and punched out the middles of the stencil.  I took those pieces, sprayed them with an adhesive lightly, and stuck them to my board as you can see here.

The last step was to paint with light blue over the letters.  I did this layer thicker so that the letters would stand out well.  As soon as the paint was applied, I peeled my stencil letters off.  The adhered stencil cutouts worked perfectly.  After the paint dried, I did a light sanding over the entire thing.  This step is important to create a more distressed look, and also to remove any adhesive that stayed on the sign.

Easy as pie!  I used this technique on all of the signs.  I'm pretty happy with them considering it was my first attempt.  I can't wait to do it again with other sizes, sayings, and colors!!  Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!

I also am really excited to say that tomorrow I will be co-hosting the "Not Your Ordinary Show & Tell Link Party" over at "The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife! I hope all of you will come over and join the party!!

Linking up at:

Debbiedoos-You can also find her button on my sidebar! :-) Love this party!

http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/2012/04/thrift-store-chair-resurrection-newbie-party-started.html

Homemaker on a Dime

http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2012/04/creative-bloggers-party-hop-57.html

Brassy Apple

http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2012/04/make-it-monday-29.html

Between Naps on the Porch

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2012/04/office-updates-shell-charger-progress.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20BetweenNapsOnThePorch%20(BETWEEN%20NAPS%20ON%20THE%20PORCH)

How to Nest for Less

http://howtonestforless.com/2012/04/30/just-a-party-with-my-peeps-12/



Arty Aprons! A Whimsical Gift for Mother's Day?

Today's Domestic Bliss feature comes from an absolutely fantastic shop, Arty Aprons!

The aprons from this shop prove that there's no reason you can't feel good and look good while working in the kitchen!  Arty Aprons recently sent me a Katie style apron, and I have so much to tell you about it!  Arty Aprons has an amazing collection of aprons available, and I'll be sure to show pictures of all of them.  This one is the Katie that I received.  I'm using the picture from Arty Aprons because it shows the shape so well!

I know, I'm in love with it too!  It's obviously gorgeous, but there are so many other great things about this apron.

The first thing I noticed was that it is made from quality fabric.  It's not thin or cheap, which means I can get as messy as I want in the kitchen knowing I can wash it as much as I need.  The Katie apron I received was made with five different fabrics that go together super well.  This apron has two fabrics on the back side with black and white polka dot apron strings.  I just love the detail that was put into this apron, including the adorable and handy pocket on the front.  It even has a cute little button at the top of it. :-)  

I was most impressed by how well made this apron it.  The stitching is impeccable, and the shape perfect. My Katie apron fits amazingly!  It's not too tight, but not too baggy or lose.  The top of the apron is form fitting and shaped to show off curves without making you feel self-conscious.  This Arty Apron is not your grandma's apron...but might be a nice gift to keep grandma feeling whimsical and modern!

I had a brunch party on Saturday morning, and wore my apron.  Why wouldn't I?  It's comfortable and beautiful, and made me feel like the hostess with the mostess!  My friends absolutely loved it, and my sister even made me take it off so she could try it on.  I hadn't seen it on someone else, and it looked so cute!  The apron strings are nice and long, so you never have to worry about it fitting right.  The top of the apron ties as well, so everyone can find their own perfect fit!

Okay, I want to show you the other styles available at Arty Aprons.

The Polly

The Peggy

The Alice

The Sally

The Andi

The Lucy

The Charlotte

The Violet, half apron. LOVE these pockets!

And how cute is this? His and Hers aprons.  What a fun gift for a couples wedding shower!

And of course, the cutest one yet, the child's apron. The Karen.

And this isn't even all the styles Arty Aprons has.  There are a ton of different styles. 

I have to show you a few more of the pics from their Facebook page because the details are so wonderful.

Well, if you want to own one of these beautiful, whimsical, kitchen aprons I will provide all the info you need to hunt one down.  These aprons also make amazing girlfriend gifts, or gifts for Mother's Day!!

You can see all of the aprons pictured today, and many more on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arty-Aprons-Such/119167928207227  Make sure you tell them I sent you!!

Linking up at:

Type A
http://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/2012/04/anything-goes_24.html

Homemaker on a Dime
http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2012/04/market-your-biz-and-giveaways-46.html

733
http://www.733blog.com/2012/04/sugar-spice-108.html



Melissa's Silk Marvelous Mornings House Party!

I hosted a Silk Marvelous Mornings HouseParty this past Saturday!  I want to tell you all about it, and show some of the pictures! 

Here's a picture of the table, silly straws and all!

Coffee, with Silk as a creamer?

Little goodie bags!

It isn't breakfast without mimosas!

Strawberries and bananas, blueberry and apple muffins, bacon casserole, and a sausage casserole as well!

The girlies!

We tried Silk Vanilla, Silk Fruit and Protein Strawberry and Bananna, Silk Fruit and Protein Mixed Berry, and Silk Chocolate! 

Here are some snapshots of everyone taste testing.  I'll introduce everyone and tell you what their favorite flavors were!

This is my sister Amy. Chocolate was her favorite.

This is my niece Riley, and she liked the chocolate just like her mommy.

Say hi to my mom, Pam.  She was a fan of both the fruity flavors.  We decided that they almost tasted like yogurt! :-)

This is Charley, my other niece.  She tried every kind, but drinks Silk Vanilla regularly, so it was of course her favorite.

This is my friend Katlin, but my sister Amy and I pretty much consider her another sister.  She liked the chocolate, and thought the fruit flavors would be great in a smoothie. 

My favorite was the chocolate!  It was definitely interesting to see how each of us preferred certain flavors over the others. We had a fun morning trying new products, eating breakfast, and spending a few hours with just the girls. 

I want to thank Silk and HouseParty for allowing me the opportunity to host this get together, and to share these wonderful products with my guests.  What a truly marvelous way to spend a Saturday morning!

Linking up at:
The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife
http://www.thelifeofanotsoordinarywife.com/2012/04/not-your-ordinary-show-tell-link-party_23.html