Makeover a Mom Handbag

I’m a mom who needs a makeover for my handbag. My name is Stephanie.  I’m the mom who carries everything AND the kitchen sink in her handbag.  Don’t you? Do you remember Allison’s long running ‘what’s in your purse‘ series? I loved those posts because I’m always curious how other people, (mom-people specifically) organize their stuff. Seeing what was inside all those pretty purses was fascinating!

Once or twice I thought about submitting my own (mom) purse, but then thought better of that humiliation. Because on most days I’m lugging around a purse stuffed with notebooks and magazines, a diaper bag with paraphernalia for 3 kids, and a car seat with a 19-pound kid. No matter how hard I try there’s just a lot of stuff.

And this is my not-so-stylish diaper bag. OK, it’s not even a diaper bag – it’s what I call the purse side car. You know, the old, ugly, tired canvas bag that you fill with all the stuff that you don’t want in your purse.

In it you will find, diapers and wipes for the 10-month-old. Two complete spare outfits for the potty training 3-year-old. (Learned this one the hard way.) Snacks and crayons for the the 5-year-old. More snacks for me.

Thanks to Petunia Pickle Bottom I got a mom purse makeover. Just look at that organization!!! And trust me, there’s plenty of room to spare because this bag has zippers and pouches everywhere.

And my new favorite thing? There’s a changing pad hidden in the bottom of the purse.

Brilliant.

So I’ve ditched the purse and canvas bag combo for one chic bag. Good choice, don’t you think?

What kind of purse do you carry? Please tell me I’m not the only one who is lugging around the side car.

Did you see Allison’s post about her What’s in Your Purse Series, stressed mom edition?

Have you guys noticed this geo trend going on? There’s been geometric shaped everything lately, from how to jewelry to candles to how to geometric planters; even holiday decorations are getting geodified. Yes, geodified. Well, now it’s time to add some geometric flair to your ears with these simple earrings you can make in just an hour (and that even includes bake time)!

Materials for How To Geometric Earrings DIY:

• Polymer Clay in the color(s) of your choice
• Blank Earring Posts – available at most craft stores
• Razor blade, Xacto knife or clay knife – something to carve and slice the clay.

• Step 1: Cut off a ½” x ½” cube and then slice a tiny sliver off of the cube
• Step 2: Place the post on the back of cube
• Step 3: Stack the sliver on top and smooth together with your fingers
• Step 4: With your cutting instrument start slicing different angles until you get the shape you want!

Insiders Tip: I found that fewer, bigger cuts look better than a lot of tiny cuts. And don’t worry if you cut off too much or don’t like how it looks, you can just pull it apart and try again until you get it how you like it!

Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 275F for 30 minutes.

Afterward, take them out of the oven and resist the urge to touch them! They may still be a little soft but will continue curing as they cool. Wait until they cool completely before handling them.

You can add a coat of glaze to your new baubles if you want to add a little more shine to them, but that it isn’t necessary. Once the earrings are cool and glazed (if you chose to do so) your earrings are ready to wear!

These earrings are so simple to make that you could make so many different pairs! Try marbling the clay together and stacking two colors on top of each other and make a color-blocked pair.

What a fun way to add a pop of neon for your Spring wardrobe! Happy Crafting, go make your own geometric earrings (you know how to now!).

12 amazing bloggers teamed up to bring you the most blowout giveaway of the year. One lucky winner will win a big fat brand new Canon Rebel DSLR t4i camera (boom goes the dynamite) along with a gorgeous chevron purse camera bag from Epiphanie in which to carry your new precious.

Are you dying yet?  I’m dying a little for you.

I love Epiphanie camera bags a lot, and not just because Maile (the brilliant girl behind the bags) is one of the best humans on earth, but the new chevron camera bag is a big, big, fat, cute win.  Winning at life.

Here’s how this whole Epic May Giveaway thing goes down:

Canon Camera Big Giveaway

• To enter to win the Canon Camera + Epiphanie Bag you MUST enter using the widget on the blog post.  No other entries will be counted.
• The giveaway runs May 10th through May 24th.
• One winner will be chosen at random and notified by email once the big give is over.  If you are said winner (winner winner, chicken dinner) you will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.
• Giveaway is open worldwide!  Seriously!

- Christine of Boston Mamas
- Jane of This Week for Dinner
- Kami of NoBiggie
- Marie of Make and Takes
- Audrey of Mom Generations
- Allison of Petit Elefant
- Kristen of Rage Against the Minivan
- Rachael of Todays Mama
- Meagan of The Happiest Home
- Heather & Whitney of Rookie Moms
- Pinterest You Are Drunk
- Eat Blog Run

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sponsored by the ladies of Boston Mamas, Eat Blog Run, Make and Takes, Mom Generations, No Biggie, Petit Elefant, Pinterest You Are Drunk, Rage Against the Minivan, Rookie Moms, The Happiest Home, This Week for Dinner, and Todays Mama.

Hurry and enter the BIG give!

I travel a fair amount in my life, mostly with kids, plenty without.  Regardless, there’s always, ALWAYS some sort of laundry emergency when I travel.  I tend to spill when I eat, all over the front of whatever it is I’m wearing.  It’s kind of an epidemic, but whatever, no need to alert the authorities or anything, it’s just part of the treasure of being me.  And at some point of all this regular travel (it was pretty early on), it occurred to me I needed to bring a travel laundry kit with me wherever I go.  Goest.  Goeth.  Trip, trippity, travel.  That way I’m presentable for at least a portion of my trip, wherever in the world I happen to be.

It’s pretty simple really, how to make a travel laundry kit.  The trick is remembering to replenish it every time you unpack your gear.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the road only to realize I have no quarters, or you know the important stuff like, oh, laundry detergent. 

Here’s how it all comes together:

How to Make a Travel Laundry Kit

I’m preferential to Ziploc bags.  They make my world go round.  Don’t stress out if you’re an environmentalist (I am too!), I use Ziploc bags over and over and over again for years on end (no, really) before I recycle the remaining shreds.  Put whatever you want in your travel kit, but I would recommend at minimum having the following.

• compact laundry bag
• tide pen
• liquid or powder laundry tabs
• local currency
• clothesline/thin rope
• clothespins
• fabric softener
• portable clothesline

If you want to add a sewing kit and a lint roller, go nuts.  I personally don’t sweat stuff like that when I’m traveling, but this is your travel laundry kit and you can put it together how you want to.  Unless we’re traveling together, in which case I might get bossy and have to intervene and teach you how to pack a laundry bag.

Not that you don’t have mad skills of your own.

Was that a double negative?  I love you, you’ve got mad skills, is what I meant to say.

You don’t really need me to teach you how, but in case you do need an easy checklist to make your own travel laundry kit, now you’ve got the know how.

Boom.

Okay, so maybe I am.

I want my kids to have their own Summer movie memories so I’m currently compiling a huge list of movies for my children to see before I leave the nest (*SOB*).  It’s unbelievable to me sometimes the stuff they haven’t seen (shut up, I know they’re still little).  I’ve got an arsenal of amazing movies up my sleeve for them, and while this list isn’t for kids, it is for you.  (Unless you’re a kid, in which case ask your parents before you go getting me in trouble.)  Now that it’s almost Summer I want to share my 5 top summer movies to see.  This list is far from comprehensive.  Think of this as a jumping off point in your cinematic Summer education.

5 Top Summer Movies to See (ASAP)

1. Top Gun

2. Grease

3. Stand By Me

4. The Sandlot

5. The Endless Summer

(I couldn’t stop, so here are a bonus 5 movies!)

6. E.T.

7. Jaws

8. Field of Dreams

9. What About Bob

10. Dirty Dancing

(Okay, okay, just 3 more.  And then I’m done. Pinky promise!)

11. Tommy Boy

12. Point Break

13. The Graduate

Now that I’ve got you all excited for movie season, I have a giveaway for you!  A movie giveaway!  Because movies! Are! Awesome!

Have you seen the lineup for the Summer 2013 movie season?  You guys!  I’ll be in the theater all summer if you need me.  The Great Gatsby comes out in two days, then the new Star Trek (it looks so good!), Man of Steel (Henry Cavill, swoon), Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 … I could go on an on.  So many good movies coming out this season.

Fandango + Visa Gift Card Giveaway Details:

• $30 Fandango gift card
• $50 Visa gift card

To enter:

• Leave a comment below (not email) telling me your favorite movie, summer or otherwise.  I’d love to hear about your favorite movies!
• Giveaway runs today May 8th-Wednesday May 15th, Midnight MST.
• Please include your email address so we can get in touch with you if you win.
• Winner will be announced at the top of this post.
• If you win you will have 48 hours to claim the prize before a new winner is chosen.

Check out Fandango’s Weekend Ticket to help you find the best movie fit for you.

“Whether it’s finding the ultimate date movie or a film the whole family will enjoy, Dave Karger – Fandango’s Chief Correspondent and one of the country’s most highly-regarded movie experts – will help consumers find the perfect movie on “Weekend Ticket.”  The weekly series will offer movie reviews, celebrity guests, and movie fan buzz fueled by Fanticipation – a first-of-its-kind tool to measure moviegoer excitement based on Fandango’s proprietary data collected from its online and mobile traffic, the social media engagement of its fans, and its advance ticket sales.”

Check out Fandango on Facebook

Follow @Fandango on Twitter #Fandango #WeekendTicket

Giveaway sponsored by Fandango.

The Endless Summer movie poster, The Sandlot movie poster.

I’m a mom.  Not to state the obvious, but there it is.  And as a mom I carry around a ridiculous amount of, well, crap in my purse.  I’m not sure there’s a euphemism for the stuff I haul around on a daily basis.  I’m super OCD (it’s not awesome like you’d think it would be) and my purse stresses me out to no end, all the mom paraphernalia I need just to get out the door.  It’s the stuff of nightmares.

About once a month, when it occurs to me my shoulders are extra achy, I look in my purse and realize I’m carrying enough nonsense to keep a small nation afloat for a month.  I usually put 5 things back into the purse and like magic, the junk multiplies and has junk babies.  And the cycle continues.  It’s pretty awesome.  No, not really, no it isn’t.

I’ve dumped out my purse before to show you what’s in my purse and what’s in my purse-within-a-purse and it’s like confessions-of-a-secret-hoarder every time.

This is what I found inside my current purse (T.J. Maxx) when I dumped it out this week.

Here we have everything.  Oh, hey!  There’s the iPod shuffle my husband has been looking for all month!  And do I spy a tampon?  THAT would’ve come in handy had I known it was in there.

Anyone need a pen?  Or a purple marker?  How about a pencil from IKEA, I’ve got one of those too.

Top L to R: two pouches for Skullcandy ear-buds, sans headphones, migraine medicine, protein bar (you never know when you’ll need one) Skullcandy headphones, sans pouches, iPod shuffle (there you are!), my daughter’s earrings, a tampon, penny, Leatherman pocket knife, diet coke bottle cap (for the points! that earn you nothing!).

Oh hai there makeup.  L to R: eyeshadow brush, ELF lip-gloss, BUTTER LONDON lip-gloss, Bare Minerals lip-gloss, Maybelline 24 hour lipstick, 2 more Bare Minerals lip-glosses, Bath & Body Works lip-gloss, Cover Girl lip stain, L’occitane hand-lotion.  Top row: two MAC eyeshadow pots.

Hello there fortune cookie fortune.  I think it was a good one, so I kept it.  Probably that’s why, that’s it!  For sure.  Grocery store receipts, empty gum package, yogurt coupons, IKEA closet plans, self-drawn closet plans (for the master bathroom remodel project), more receipts, notebook full of lists and lists and lists and random blog post ideas.

*SIGH* I should be embarrassed about the state of my purse but mostly it makes me tired just looking at it.  Is there a jail for offensive purse owners AKA stressed + busy moms?

Right?

Anyway.  *ahem*

I did find it in myself to whip up some mashed sweet potatoes, because my kids need to be fed once in awhile.  Not very often, but sometimes.  So I was in the kitchen a few weeks ago, making sweet potato rolls (it was a whim, don’t ask) and the recipe called for mashed sweet potatoes from a can.  Nasty.  If you have sweet potatoes (yams) within reach, even if that means a trip to the store so you can try a new recipe, do it.  Fresh sweet potatoes (yams) are heaven.  Mashed sweet potatoes?  Holy-have-mercy, come-to-mama.

This recipe is from Paula Deen, so you know there’s butter involved.  If you’re vegan you can use the usual butter substitutes, but if you’re not, bring. it.  The honey and cinnamon are the frosting on top.  So to speak.  Next time I make this recipe, and there will definitely be a next time, I’ll add more cinnamon.  It just needed a little more kick.  And you could add some nutmeg, oh yum! p.s.s.s. this particular recipe is pretty big, but you could totally cut it in half, our fourths, or whatever makes your heart happy.

Sweet Potato – Mashed Potato Recipe

• 10 cups sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To Make

• Peel sweet potatoes (yams), rinse, and add to a large pot on the stove.
• Cover with water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft and tender.  It took about 15 minutes+ for me, because I’m at a high elevation.  8-10 minutes is recommended.
• Drain water.
• Put the potatoes back in the pot and add the remaining ingredients.  Beat with an electric (DON’T do this by hand!) until smooth and mashed potato-y.
• Garnish with cinnamon and serve warm.  Add extra butter on top if you’re cool with having an early heart attack (I’m cool with it).

That’s it guys, a super duper simple, easy, sinfully tasty sweet potato recipe.  Enjoy!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED AND

CONGRATS TO JAMIE M., comment #28, OUR WINNER

Please contact us right away Jamie!

Bath + body products.  You don’t even want to know how many different lotions and oils and sugar scrubs I have crowding my bathroom shelves.  Well, maybe you do.  I always want to know what my girlfriends are wearing that makes them smell so good.  The brand of that fabulous new lotion my mom recently discovered at a random boutique in Ohio while visiting the grandkids.  So I thought you might want to know what I’ve been obsessing over the last few months, and offer a little Mother’s Day giveaway while we’re at it.

Who’s in?

Me!

80 Acres Body Care.  That’s the name I whisper to anyone who tells me I smell good.  It’s my secret weapon.  I truly can’t get enough of 80 Acres and everything in their tasty, delicious body care line.  In fact, I’ve already burned through an entire tub of their Verde Olive Oil Salt Scrub and an entire bottle of Blood Orange body oil.  It only took me 4 months to completely deplete my stores of both, which is a little ridiculous.  That means every time I took a shower I used both the salt scrub and the body oil (a little redundant if you ask me) because I’m greedy like that.

Have we even talked about the packaging yet?  No.  But check it out.   I mean.  I just, I can’t even.  It’s amazing.

Alright, what’s in it for you?  I’ll tell you, because I’m a giver.  And I want to share my favorite secret weapon stash with you.  Check out the details:

I have 2 giveaway packages to give away, each of which contains the following:

• 1 Hand + Body Wash
• 1 Hand + Body Lotion
• 1 Lip Balm

80 Acre body care giveaway packages rules:

• Leave a comment with your contact information
• Tell me if you’d give this to your mother for Mother’s Day or hog it all for yourself.  I won’t judge you (probably), I’m just curious how selfish you are.  (or aren’t)
• Giveaway runs now through Monday May 6th, Midnight MST.

Good luck! I hope you win some bath + body goodies!

You can make your own customized cards for the people in your life, did you know this? At cardstore.com  I knew it was a thing, back in the day.  You could go to a kiosk in the mall and make your own card, throw in some MS paint graphics and print it up one beepy line at a time.  I know this because two of my friends surprised me one summer day in the early 90′s with a treat and a special customized card.  There was a random picture and the text ran somewhere along the lines of,

“You need to get better.  Those peaches won’t can themselves.”

I remember thinking it was awesome because it’s not like any card company out there knew I was spending my summer(s) in a steamy kitchen working as (unpaid) slave labor for my parents, canning bottles and bottles, and bottles of peaches.

That’s pretty cool, right?  The card, not the picking, washing, and canning of peaches all the summers of my youth. That part made me resent my mother and her home-making-ness until I got old enough to appreciate the skills she taught me as a kid.

In fact, much to my chagrin, in the first few years of my marriage I found myself itching to make homemade jam and can the fruits and vegetables from my mother’s garden.  Now I know how to can salsa and make my own bread, and I make decent rolls even though they aren’t anywhere near as awesome as my mother’s croissants.  In fact, I even have my own garden and look forward to picking fruit at my parents house to make my own preserves.

I’m officially turning into my mother.  And I’m okay with that because she’s a pretty rad lady.  In fact, I’ll be lucky if I turn out to be even a little bit as wonderful as she was at teaching her kids how to make things, and work, and live a full life at the same time.  In fact I wrote an entire post on why I love my mom.

This is the front of the card:

Guess what?  I’ll tell you what: Cardstore.com is running a discount, just for you and yours.  Because they love you, and want you to have the chance to make your own sassy card for the mother in your life.  You can add your own genuine signature, photos or graphics, and how cute would it be to scan a drawing of one of your littles and put it on the card?  The cutest.

Here’s the skivvy:

• Cardstore can print, stamp, and send your card via USPS for you!
• Mother’s Day cards are $1.99 each (just for you – not available onsite!)
• Cards are only $1.99 and shipping is freeeeezies until May 6, 2013
• Coupon code is: CSF3199
• Cards can be shipped in the US + territories, and Canada.

Go!  Make some cards.

|| This was a sponsored post.  Sassy card text came from yours truly, and I can’t wait to make another one. ||

My easy craft technique of choice is knitting. I love that it is portable, quiet, and easy to work on while relaxing for the night. However, now that the warm weather is finally starting to come, (knock on wood) I lose all motivation to make any sort of scarf, blanket or any other cold weather necessity.

What’s a girl to do?

Make easy knitted jewelry, of course!

Don’t be intimidated by the small stitches, even if you are a total novice on the needles, this project is super easy, and is definitely something you can try to start mastering your knitting skills.

Materials for Easy Knit Bracelet DIY:

• Scrap yarn – mine is leftover from this yarn ornament project from the holidays
• 1″x4″ piece of leather (vinyl will work fine, too)
• snap and tools needed to attach (I used these)
• 2 double pointed needles (I used size 8, but it will depend on the weight of your yarn)
• tapestry needle

Each of the knit loops are made by knitting an I-cord, a very simple knitting technique:

• Cast on 5 stitches and knit 1 row.
• Instead of switching hands and knitting the next row, slide the stitches down to the other end of the double pointed needle, then knit from that end.
• You will have to pull the yarn across all five stitches for the first stitch (lower left photo)
• Continue sliding the stitches down to the end of the needle after every row and you’ll get a small cord.
• For this bracelet I made three 7″ long cords

Next, attach your snaps to the wrap piece and trim down to the correct length. My piece ended up being just over 3″ long.

Sew together the cords to make three loops with the tapestry needle and weave in the ends.

Assemble your bracelet by snapping the wrap piece around the three loops.

See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it? Keep this up and you’ll be ready to tackle those scarves in the Fall!

Happy Crafting this super easy DIY bracelet!