My Backyard Eden

Make It Yours

2011-12-28T09:01:00.001-08:00

Wow! That was a Christmas! Now on to the New Year!

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Make It Yours

2011-12-20T18:40:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas week! What have you been working on?

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re supernice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-dupernice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-12-18T08:49:00.001-08:00

Have a giveaway going on this week? Link it up here!

Make It Yours Highlights

2011-12-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks for linking up last week! Here are just a few things that caught my eye:

Something tasty:

Holly Jolly Cupcakes from The Seven Year Cottage.

Something festive:

Reindeer Pillows from Tales of a Trophy Wife.

Something pretty:

Natural White Mantel from Christina’s Adventures.

Something sparkly:

Glitter Bulbs from the Moody Fashionista.

Looking forward to seeing what you have to share at Make it Yours day on Wednesday!

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-12-11T09:38:00.001-08:00

Got a giveaway going on? Link it up here!

Make it Yours Day

2011-12-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for lots of holiday projects, recipes and crafts! What are you working on?

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-12-03T09:48:00.001-08:00

Got a giveaway going on? Link it up here!

Delicious Holiday Gifts

2011-12-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

One of my very favorite things to do each December is making edible gifts for my friends, neighbors and family. In years past, I’ve made

Sweet-Hot Spiced Pecans.

and Toffee.

This year I think I’m going to try these:

Don’t they look yummy? They’re Easy Oreo Truffles. I found them on AllRecipes.com. Can’t wait to give them a try.

What are you making this holiday season?

Fun Holiday Freebies ~ Christmas Music

2011-12-01T16:36:00.001-08:00

Every day through Christmas, Amazon.com is unveiling a new holiday song available to download free for a limited time. Check back daily to see what's next. Today’s free song is Ave Maria, one of my all time favorites. So pretty!

You can stop by Amazon every day to download your free song!

Wonder what it will be tomorrow?

Make it Yours Day

2011-11-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for lots of holiday projects, recipes and crafts! What are you working on?

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Make it Yours Highlights

2011-11-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks for linking up last week! Here are a few of my favorites:

Something tasty:

Caramel Applesauce Cake from My Little Blogspot.

Something Pretty:

Cranberry Centerpieces from Cherished Bliss.

Something Festive:

Rick Rack Christmas Trees from A Pumpkin and a Princess.

Something Fun:

Outdoor Christmas Garland from Creative Passage.

Looking forward to seeing what you have to share at Make it Yours day on Wednesday!

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-11-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

Got a giveaway going on? Link it up here!

Facebook Tips to Grow your Blog or Business

2011-11-25T13:35:00.001-08:00

Are you on Facebook? I’ve had a personal Facebook profile for a while. I’m definitely not one of these people with thousands of friends – I pretty much only friend and accept friend requests from people I actually know in person and want to stay in touch with.

But when I started my business so many people said, “OMG, you simply must have a Facebook presence for your business!” So I created a business page.

But then it pretty much just sat there neglected and alone because I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do with it, how to leverage Facebook for my business or even how to do some pretty simple things on my biz page.

Enter Karen Clark of My Business Presence.

I first heard Karen on a teleseminar that she did for The Mind Aware about Facebook and how you can use it to build the online presence for your business.

Karen is an expert in all things social media related. She knows her stuff: Facebook, Twitter, Linked in…you name it.

Here are just a couple of things I learned from Karen:

Did you know that social media websites (like your Facebook business page) can show up higher in search engine rankings than your blog or website? And a Facebook page is a whole lot easier to set up and maintain than a blog or website to boot.
With 750 million Facebook users, there is a huge chance that some of them just may be your perfect customer or reader of your blog. What an opportunity.
How to drive people to your Facebook business page from your Facebook personal profile.
How to improve the odds of Google and other search engines finding your business page.
One of the most important things I learned from Karen was an easy method to work Facebook in a way that is efficient and helpful to your business without being a major time sink hole.

If you’re looking for a way to build the online presence for your business or blog, I highly recommend Karen Clark at My Business Presence. On her website, you’ll also find free tutorials, reports and videos on how to help build your online presence. Go check it out!

Do you have a Facebook page for your blog or business?

Linking up to Tatertots and Jello’s Weekend Wrapup Party!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T23:45:00.000-08:00

I just love Pinterest. I swear I could spend hours scrolling through the gorgeous images.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Source: designbykelli.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: familycircle.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: pebblesinmypocket.blogspot.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: dearlillieblog.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Blythe on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Marly on Pinterest

Source: oldfashionedholidays.wordpress.com via J. on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Make it Yours

2011-11-22T19:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! What do you have going on this week?

Please Play By These Rules.

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece

2011-11-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

This is a repeat of a popular post from last fall…Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Inspired by the most recent Woman’s Day magazine cover, I made myself a festive fall centerpiece. These are some of the monsters I grew in my garden this year. I had these overgrown summer squash displayed with my pumpkins for Halloween, but I thought they could use a little spiffing up for Thanksgiving. All it took was a little bit of paint.First, I sprayed them with white paint. Then, using a brush, I painted the stems gold. Finally, I splattered on a little more gold paint. I really like the natural look of the twisty stems.

What’s on your table this fall season?

Make it Yours Day

2011-11-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for hanging with me while I was AWOL! We had 50+ projects linked up which was way more than I had hoped for.

I love this time of year! So many great ideas to try! What have you been working on?

Please Play By These Rules.

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Make it Yours Day

2011-10-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

It’s been such a long time since I hosted this linkup, I hope someone shows up!

Please Play By These Rules.

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re supernice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-dupernice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

Hello Again, Hello.

2011-10-23T19:54:00.001-07:00

Where have I been, you ask?

I wish I had a fantastic story to tell, or some amazing adventures to share.

My reason is pretty boring.

Earlier this year, I found myself doing projects for the sake of having something to post on this blog. Not because I really wanted to do them. I lost track of why I used to like to be here.

I just got burnt out.

I was trying to keep up with some of my favorite uber-amazing blogs and always ended up feeling less than. I’ve decided to stop comparing myself to others, it just never ends well. I will probably never write the blog that makes tons of money each month, but that’s OK with me.

I’ll still be able to share my creative side with you, exchange ideas, take care of my family, work my part time engineering job and my bamboopink business. I just won’t be trying to be an overachiever anymore.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Wish I had a thinking place, just like this:

Source: gardenandgun.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Happy Fall!

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-05-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

Have a giveaway going on? Link it up here!

Saturday Inspiration

2011-05-28T10:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Saturday Everyone! We’re off to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for a soccer tournament. What are your plans this long weekend?

via pinterest

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."
James M. Barrie

New announcement with bamboopink: Sign up for free this weekend only (through midnight on May 31) and start your journey today.

Winners! Winners!

2011-05-27T15:59:00.001-07:00

The winners of the House of Grace Shaklee Giveaway are:

SuperWittrocks (lizard_trouble @ hotmail com)
ayeshia728 @yahoo com
Vonda (vcstrader @ yahoo com)
Heather (hmraymond @ gmail com)
Cher (casnell @ gmail com)
Joley (joelster87 @ hotmail com)
Amy (acunard @ rcn com)
Liz (Ryan+Liz)
Paula, Rachel.Dor,Rene (salesandinfo @ nourot com)
Jamie Kaufmann

Contact Bonnie at donahuewellness@hotmail.com with your name and address and she will send out your sample.

The winner of the Delicious Freschetta Giveaway is
Little Brick Ranch (littlebrickranch @ gmail com).

Send me an email with your name and address and I'll get your coupon and cutting board sent right away!

Make It Yours Day {66}

2011-05-24T15:57:00.001-07:00

Happy Wednesday!

My daughter and I are going to see “Glee” live tonight! I don’t know who’s more excited!

Please Play By These Rules.

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

You are next...
Click here to enter

Get your own Linky Tools here...

Sunday Sweepstakes Linkup

2011-05-21T22:40:00.001-07:00

Got a giveaway going on? Link it up here. Have a great week!

Make it Yours Day {65}

2011-05-17T19:28:00.001-07:00

What a week! First my internet was kaput, then Blogger went down!

What have you been working on this week?

Please Play By These Rules.

Link up something you’ve created, crafted, cooked, etc.
Link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.
If you’re super-duper nice, you’ll put my button in your post. Or, if you’re super nice, you’ll put a text link back to my blog in your post. Or, if you’re simply nice, you’ll put my button somewhere on your blog. Wouldn’t you like to be super-duper nice? I truly appreciate you linking back here.
Visit the person who linked up before you. Everyone loves comments, so please don’t just post and run.
Thanks for playing nice. Now go have fun!

You are next...
Click here to enter

Get your own Linky Tools here...