Beehive Cosmetics Candle Giveaway, Winner's Choice!

Each Beehive Cosmetic item comes in your choice of 3 unique scents: Alice Blue, Lulu Lemondrop, and Honey Blossom. I tried each item, each in a different scent. My absolute favorite is the Lulu Lemondrop aroma, a mixture of lemongrass and citrus with a fruity blend of pineapple, sweet berries, and spun sugar. I was also thrilled that they included lots of sample sized perfumes--I do love that Lulu Lemondrop perfume, and I'm picky about perfumes!

The other aromas are Alice Blue, a deliciously fresh floral bouquet dipped in vanilla and honey.  This one is my second favorite.  Next up is Honey Blossom, a floral explosion with notes of tea and mandarin harmonized with vanilla, amber, and sandalwood. I don't prefer this one as it smells too perfumey for me, but if you like traditional perfume smells, you'll like it!

Which candle scent would you like to win? Enter below by June 14th!

Make Summer Learning Stick!

How do you make summer learning stick? Stickers! Get your kiddos interactively learning timely subjects this summer. I like these sets because they're HUGe, fun, washable, and won't chip my paint! We've used so many of them and my kiddos always love them. 

As we honor Memorial Day and look forward to 4th of July, now is a great time to learn about the US Government and honor our history. Your kiddos could also be learning about the presidential election process for the first time this year, and this is a useful primer for questions that may come up.

 

Summer is a time for family visits, road trips, vacations and staycations. I love this set because we can point out where we've been, where we're going, and where friends and relatives are visiting from - all while memorizing the US! It's also great little brain teaser for the entire family. 

This set is a great way to get your little ones thinking outside of the sandbox! I like doing themed weeks where we focus on a geographic region of the world, then explore the region's culture (and foods!). The world map is a great jumping off point for math, too, for example: How many miles away is France? What is the distance between our house and the Statue of Liberty?

Summertime also means more time outdoors. These are a great supplement to any camping, swimming, and hiking your family will do this season. If you're at the pool, you can discuss the difference between fresh water and the ocean habitats, and why each are important to our ecosystem.

Whether your little ones light up at the sound of shooting stars or Star Wars, our solar system can capture their imaginations! I love this sticker set for summer because we have clear nights to experience what we learn, and then recap the next day. This can also be combined with outdoor and nighttime safety learning by using the sun and north star to orient cardinal directions.

There are also 6 different Mini Sets you can get for traveling and in the car, plane or train - from math to the solar system to time and money! These are a great addition to keep the little ones learning while you're on the go. Price: $13.99 down from $22.99 for a limited time - plus Free Shipping on any order with code SUNSHINE (for orders over $25) through Monday!

 

Stock Up on Non-Sticker Summer Learning

If wall stickers aren't your cup of tea, you can probably find some great tools at Educents this weekend and take advantage of the Free Shipping! 

Use code SUNSHINE at check out through Monday on any order over $25.  

Kiwi Crate is Amazing! And the Trial is Even Better!

My beautiful girl with her Kiwi Crate masterpiece, a working wooden clock. Her kit came with everything she needed to make it, from the supplies to every single piece of the clock--paints, brushes, stencils, precut wooden pieces, idea booklet, metal clock hands, and a motor.  $9.95 for a beautiful clock that she is so proud of designing and making all by herself!

In March, we received each of our boxes from the Kiwi Crate 50% off trial.  At $9.95 with free shipping, they were well worth it!  Just like with Love With Food, you can try each of Kiwi Crate's 4 different box themes at the intro discount which is 50% off!  The 4 boxes are Kiwi Crate, Doodle Crate, Tinker Crate, and Koala Crate and each is perfect for a different age group, though my 8-10 year olds enjoy 3 out of the 4.  Use the code MSA50 when you sign up.

Here we have the Koala Crate (the toddler/preschooler box) with a theme of "Wind".  It came with everything we needed to make a nice wind sock and a wind ship which turned out really awesome!  More pics coming soon!

This is the Kiwi Crate, which was the original crate style when they first started out. I'd consider it a lower elementary crate.  This one had a theme of "Explore" and came with everything to make 2 really cool race cars along with another craft of airbrushing.  We couldn't get the airbrush part to work, so they send us another kit to make up for it which was super nice!

Here we have the Doodle Crate, an upper elementary crate. This one is the clock, which was much loved by my daughter!

And finally, the teen's crate!  This one is a Tinker Crate and included blueprints and all supplies to build a working catapult!  This is the only one we didn't built yet as we already had a ton of stuff to make with the other kits and this one seemed a bit daunting!

 Which Kiwi Crate would your kiddos like best? You can also buy past crates at KiwiCrate.com if you'd rather know just what your getting.  We've done that, too, and will post pics soon!

Lucy's New Favorite Dog Box: PawPack Unboxing with a Discount!

The Rundown 

Box Type: Dog

Includes: 5 full sized items 
(you choose grain free or non-grain free & small, medium, or large dog)

Cost: $26.50 first month with code TSISTERHOOD and $31.50/month thereafter

The Value of This Unboxing: $57.12 value (based on Amazon's lowest prices)

This box is comparable to Lucy's previous favorite which costs $45 a month for the same amount of items.  PawPack has great items, costs $14 less a month, and is more customizeable than the other boxes.
 

Lucy loves subscription boxes maybe more than I do!  She loves getting mail and couldn't wait to dig into her PawPack!

Here she is doing her unboxing. The box included 5 full-size items in a wide variety--treat, a toy, a bone, a (really nice) dog dish, and a tug-of-war rope.

She grabbed the BBQ flavored GoGoback Strap Chew right out of the box (I took the plastic off before letting her do her "unboxing" as I knew she would go straight for this one.  She loooooooves it! I should say "loveD" it as she ate it up that afternoon. Sourced from USA cattle, it's full digestible. Value: $1.99

I love this bowl! It is the exact same shade of green as my kitchen. No, my kitchen is not lime green, but the camera did a funny thing here and made it glow. ;) Value: $18.99

Treats or Toppers, these are perfect as I always top Lucy's dry food with some type of yummy goodness and the ones I had were almost gone. Value: $8.49

The April box was Earth Day and so included a really cute toy for my Lucy!  You pull his branches and he squeaks.  Lucy ran off with this guy after eating her bone and hid him under my desk... the little spot where she hides all her most special things. Value: $16.49

You can never go wrong with a tug-of-war rope for my wild little dog! She may be cute, but don't let her fool ya. She's got a wild side. This rope is especially cool b/c it flosses your pet's teeth with every chew. Value: $11.16

Gorgeous Earrings Featured on the Cover of Kelli Pizarro's Newest Book... Get Them Free!

 

One of my favorite authors asked me to model for her newest book cover! I was so honored, and the cover turned out gorgeously.  The earrings just pull everything together--and you can currently get them free from Cents of Style with any purchase.  And their prices are already simply amazing! Just use the code FREE-EARRINGS at checkout. The ones in the photo come in other colors, as well, and you can choose from them or some others featured here as your freebie.  

 Miss Pizarro's newest historical fiction book will be available in July. In the meantime, you can catch up on her wonderful fiction by reading The Price of Remission and its sequel available as paperbacks from BookPatch. You can read the first chapter or purchase the e-book at Barnes and Noble. If you're a fan of historical fiction, you will love these!

The Funnest Game Ever Giveaway!!

The buzz in the toy world is a new game that most parents would not let their children say out loud – until now! Poopyhead is a hilarious game of cards where being #1 requires “doo” diligence in #2! And guess what?!  A lot like Uno, it is so fun to play!  Fast-paced and hilarious, those smiles are genuine! We've been having a blast with this as you'll see below!

Ut oh! He's a bit upset... the only one who didn't want to put the poopy on his head!

I don't think that guy wanted to put the poopy on his head, either! Maybe you won't believe me when I say this game actually does teach good hygiene.  The order in which you play the cards is the key: toilet, poop, flush, wash your hands!

The loser... but she wasn't too sad about that!  Time for another super-fast round! You can find Poopyhead online at Target, Toys R Us and Amazon, and expect to see shelves full of the game at Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million and Hastings for $16.99 or less.

One of you will win the Poopyhead Game! Enter  below by 6/1.

 Special thanks to the wonderful people at KidStuff PR and Identity Games for providing us with this product to review!  All opinions are honest and our own.

Fresh Realm Makes Every Mom a Chef! #Discount

Over the last 2 months, we've tried 7 different "meal kit", or food and recipe, delivery companies. Fresh Realm wins the #1 ranking for so many reasons--not only is their food delicious, but it arrives fresher than any of the others (you'll see why below), they offer you a choice of around 60 different meals each week, they have the best "try it" promo with $35 off, and they don't get you with a weekly meal plan subscription!  You simply order what you want when you want, and set it for delivery on the day you want.

 

This is why Fresh Realm lives up to their name. Their food comes packaged in sturdy containers in a refrigerator-like contraption! My husband said, "Can we keep it?" No can do, as they send someone out to collect it the next day. The other meal kit companies deliver in boxes. Oftentimes, food is squished, arrives leaking, and many times makes a mess. I've received 4 of these shipments and each time the food has been incredibly fresh and perfect! Each item also has a use-by date. You'd think that'd be a given, but some of the other companies don't include that.

My pretty girl helped me cook. Each and every ingredient comes pre-measured. With the exception of salt, pepper, and oil, every single item is included down to the fresh herbs and pre-diced veggies.  The recipes are easy enough for a child to follow and the dinners are so delicious!

This dinner was so good--hericots verts (green beans) with chicken in a bacon sauce, and watermelons on the side. Yep, even the fresh fruit comes with the meal. And those were some of the best watermelons we'd had in a long time!

It was a beautiful day for dinner outside and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

The next day, my kiddos and I had a blast making up-cycled boats out of the Fresh Realm food delivery containers.  As you can see, my son got very creative with a look-out tower in a carrier ship.  The ship is at the dock, about to take building supplies out of state. ;)

This one is a simple butterfly sailboat.  We hole-punched the sides to add a strand of beads and duct taped all around to make the boat blue. We made so many boats, but these two are our favorites... so far!  We've got more containers arriving soon and they're too good to put to waste! Of course, you could make boats out of all kinds of containers. It just takes a little imagination and our kids have plenty of that!

Use this link to receive a $20 credit for your first Fresh Realm order! Important note: the $20 won't show up until you click checkout. But don't worry, it'll be there. :)

Suggestion Box for my Lovely Readers

Recently, one of my best friends said she'd love to see a few companies reviewed on my blog. I was able to review one of her favorites and get her an amazing discount!  It made me wonder if any of the rest of you have products you really like but don't want to pay full price for that I could possibly review and get you a special discount for.  Often, the companies I work with create promo codes for my readers just because I ask which aren't advertised anywhere else.  And, of course, I will always do my best to provide you with giveaways or samples! So let me know in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. :)

These Amazing Things Called Dryer Balls... and they only cost $3 for a package!

I stuff my dryer pretty full, yes, but I still didn't think it should take almost 2 hours for it to be drying the laundry.  I tried using a line for awhile but it left a lot of our clothes stiff and, to be honest, when it's super hot outside I just don't want to be out there hanging laundry. Well, I had the opportunity to try out some dryer balls from Mighty Nest--they're only $3 and my laundry only takes 60 minutes to be completely dry now as opposed to 100 minutes! They work by keeping your laundry from sticking together b/c your stuff doesn't get dry in the stuck-togethery spots--hence, you need these fuzzy little spheres.  I was pretty amazed the first time I did my laundry with the dryer balls and it actually came out dry the first time around--I ran upstairs to proclaim it to my husband and to go on excitedly, "Do you know how much we're going to save on our electric bill? And they only cost me $3!" I'll really be looking forward to that electric company rebate check the next time they redo our budget billing!

So my dear readers, if you don't yet have wool dryer balls, get them from Mighty Nest for $3 total.  You won't be sorry. Purchasing them does sign you up for their subscription service where they'll send you an item every month to make your house more sustainable and eco-friendly. I will be honest with you--I tried them for another month, didn't think the item they sent was worth $10, and cancelled. It was easy to cancel--I just signed in to my account, hit "cancel", and that was it.  They didn't bill me again.

So try the MightyFix for only $3 with promo code DRYERFIX2016 and get 3 Dryer Balls!

How to Make Money Blogging: Subscription Box Edition!

Love With Food Deluxe Box

There are a number of subscription box affiliate companies that will pay you a profit for signing up with your own affiliate links (for example, pay $5 shipping for a free trial box and receive a $25 payment).  After all, once you receive your box, you can review it and bring them new customers and maybe, just maybe, you'll decide to stay subscribed.  

Bramble Box

I tried out each of these boxes, but cancelled all of them but one after the first month. I say this to say that it's super easy to cancel. Just log-in to your account, click "cancel" or e-mail them, and you're done. The one I kept was Beauty Box 5 because it's a great value for your dollar.  Important: be sure and check for any coupon codes before purchasing so that you can make the most profit.  Some of these are free trials where you only pay shipping and you end up making $20. Can't beat that, right?!  Just check for the current promo, make your purchase, and then check ShareASale; your commission will show up immediately.  These are called self-referred sales. They're allowed, even encouraged, unless specifically stated otherwise (generally only in 1st time sale bonus situations).
  

Of course, you won't get paid until the 20th of the following month (this is the date ShareASale always makes payments) and this can only be done once per company (with the exception of LoveWithFood who will pay you for both a gluten free box trial and an original box trial). Because of that, I use a credit card and pay it off each month when my SAS payment hits my bank account. I suggest the Chase Freedom Cashback card because they pay you a $175 sign-up bonus (no annual fee, which is important) so you can essentially make money off of making money! Following are the 10 subscription boxes I was able make money by purchasing. Note: some of these will only bring a profit if they have a current coupon code. If they don't, just read your affiliate newsletters when they come in--sooner or later, there will be a high end percentage off.

First things first. Sign up with ShareASale. After that, each of these applications only needs a click of the mouse...

Love With Food

CandyClub

Urthbox

Paw Pack

Little Passports

Surprise Ride

Mighty Nest

Bramble Box

Madison Reed

Bulu Box

Beauty Box 5

Junior Explorers

For more in my free Make Money Blogging Series, head over here!

62 ShareASale Companies that Send Free Products to Bloggers Organized by Type (Beauty, Fashion, Kids, Pets, Subscription Boxes, Food, Gifts)

All of the below companies have either sent me sample products in the past year or have expressed an interest in doing so and they are also members of ShareASale which means they will pay me for any sales I generate for them. You can sign up for each one by clicking their links below. If you're a member of ShareASale, all you need to do is sign into your account, scroll through their terms, and click a checkbox. Don't worry about filling out the "general marketing plan" box. I have never put anything in that box and I'm approved about 99% of the time!  If you're new to ShareASale, simply fill out their application here; after that, each application takes about 4 seconds to complete. 

KIDS
Cooper and Kid 

Frecklebox

Pley

 StoryBox
Mabel's Labels
 Bramble Box Props

Lil  Passports
Canned Critters
Groovy Lab in a Box 
Really Color 

 

BEAUTY

 Beauty Box 5

 Madison-Reed
EcoCentric Mom
World
BDellium Makeup Tools  

FITNESS AND HEALTH FOOD
BuluBox

 Love With Food

Just Add Honey Tea Co.

Home Bistro/Dinewise

Kitchen Table Passport
SunBasket
The Tea Spot 
TeaVivre
 Hatchery 

 
FASHION

 Cents of Style
Adorn 512
Rhea Footwear
Mejuri 
Griffon Apparel
Arrow & Board
Goodie 2 Sleeves
Tee Shirt Palace
Larson Jewelers
Zoe Girl Box of Style

Rent the Runway 

     Design By Humans      

SUBSCRIPTION BOXES
BuluBox
Book of the Month

 Bonjour Jolie
Indigo Art Box

 Hatchery 

 Love Goodly

GlobeIn

 Homegrown Collective
Mighty Nest
Brusher Club 

FOOD

  Love With Food

CandyClub

 Eleni's Cookies

Just Add Honey Tea Co.

Surprise Ride

Home Bistro/Dinewise

Bean Box
Kitchen Table Passport
Treatsie
SunBasket
The Tea Spot 
TeaVivre 

PETS

PupJoy
PoochPerks 
Canna-Pet
PawPack
Pod Trackers

 

GIFTS
Zazzle
 Blurb Books
 Teacher Peach

Destiny Candle
Script & Scribble
Whimsical Gifts

 OTHER

Grammarly

Grokker

After you're approved for each company, send them a short e-mail.  Here's a sample you can feel free to copy and paste to make it your own.

Dear Jaya, 

Thank you for accepting me into your affiliate program.  Your children's products sound wonderful! If you're currently able to provide complimentary samples or gift credit to your affiliates, I would love to review an item or two at The Traveling Sisterhood.

Thank you for considering and have a lovely weekend!

Celena

For more in my Make Money Blogging series, head over here!