Guilty Pleasures Swap

I took part in another of Mamarazzi's blog swaps. This one had a really fun theme of 'Guilty Pleasures'.

I don't know why I can't get the buttons to work for this swap... but you can follow the link to the swap post here.

My swap partner was Tammy.

Abi was trying to rip the box open immediately.

She didn't understand I like to take a picture of things when they are wrapped all cute.

Here's all my prizes..

She enclosed a cute note explaining all of her favorite guily pleasures.

Australian Craft magazines- that was fun to look through. I found a really cute craft inside that I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make for Maddy for Christmas.

A tart burner and some of her homemade meltaway candles- I have never tried these kind of candles before and I quickly put on one of the apple pie ones to try it out. They smell really good Tammy!

Some sweet smelling lotion - I was actually able to convine Doug to give me a foot rub using it!

Goldfish Crackers- Abi's eyes were so big when she saw them! She loves Goldfish crackers so she felt like these were just for her.

Thanks Tammy!!

Mothers Day Swap reveal!

This was such a fun swap for me. I pulled out my mom's name and my sister got me so it was a huge family thing. I had so much fun putting together the package for my mom.
I got the package from my sister a little over a week ago and had to open it to get out a dress she sent for Abi that Courtney had outgrown and so I decided to set out the things inside on the table. I wanted to open them so bad! But I did wait until this morning.
Look how pretty they looked on the table!

Here is all the swap package goodness!

She had fun little tags hooked on to everything.
Her favorite things....
1. Scrapbook supplies to use for tropical type vacations (her favorite thing to do and place to go)
2. A gardening shovel and seeds- can't wait to use these and actually have some flowers in our yard!
3. Popcorn in a cute little popcorn box- one of my favorites too!
4. A manicure set and french manicure polish! Yay!!
5. Giant Chewy Nerds- I already ate them a little while ago
6. Diet Pepsi- yep I drank this already too. It was the first one I've had in 3 months so it was so good.
7.A copy of LDS Living Magazine because she loves living LDS- I love this magazine too so was really happy to get this as well
8. Some yummy gum
9. Some Utah truffles because she loves Utah- can't wait to try these!
10. A temple recommend holder with her favorite picture of Jesus on the cover
11. A really great book she made with Mormon ads to use for a church book
12. A notepad for making lists
13. A really sweet Sisters plaque
14. A magnetic picture frame for the fridge with a picture of her family
and 15. some really cute white flip flops..
It was such a fun package and I love everything Steph!! Thanks!

So what did all of you get? I was going to use Mr. Linky below to link to your pages but I couldn't get it to work so just comment on here once you have your post done and I will add a list of links on the bottom of this post. Thanks again everyone for taking part in this. I hope you all had fun. I can't wait to see what everyone got!!
Happy Mothers Day!

Check out what Julie J. got here. She also posted what she sent since Brinn has a private blog!

Jinii posted about her package here. It is a private blog so if you are not one of the readers here is a picture of what she got: Brinn sent her her favorite things to take to the pool!

Check out what Stephanie W. got here.

Check out what Amy B. got here.

Check out what Stephanie F. got here.

Check out what Tanya got here.

Wendy's blog is private but here is a picture of what Jamie sent her. She loved it!

Check out what Janna got here.

Check out what Julie V. got here.

Check out what Karen got here.

Check out what Marcia got here.

Mothers Day Swap reminder

Just a reminder to all of you participating in my mothers day swap that your packages should be going out now!! Have fun!

Last day!

Hey everyone,
today is the last day to sign up for the mothers day swap!
If you are interested scroll down or click here to read all about it and sign
up! It's going to be lots of fun!
You can sign up any time for the rest of today!

Mothers Day Swap

It's finally time to announce my upcoming

Mothers Day Swap!!

I was going to wait until tomorrow but I may not get a chance to post it tomorrow... so here is the scoop:

I had so much fun doing the swap I participated in and thought it would be fun to be involved in one around Mothers Day. This will have the same theme-

Favorite Things.
The swaps I have done have worked so well and I have heard some bad stories of ones that didn't so I am incorporating the rules used in the last swap I did. If you want to participate please carefully read ALL of the rules:

1. By signing up you are committing to do the following:
a. be able to email me back quickly with a response when I send you an email so that I know that you have recieved it.
b. put together an amazing package of your favorite things. This should be a package that you yourself would LOVE to get. All items should be new (for example, if you are sending your favorite brand of makeup.. it should be a new tube not an old one..)
c. The contents of the package should be worth at least $20 not including shipping.
d. You must be able to ship the package out on or before Monday May 4th. This ensures that everyone gets it by Mother's Day.

2. RSVP to me through the comments before/by April 10th. I will then match up all participants and email you with your partners information within two weeks which will give you at least two weeks to put together and ship your package.

3. Once you have RSVP'd send me an email at dcavw@hotmail.com with the following information:
a. your real name and address
b. your blog address (if you are private you must be willing to 'allow' your partner to read your blog so they can learn a little about you.)
c. your email address
d. any food or product allergies you may have to pass along to your swap partner

4. Once you have recieved your package you can choose to open immediately or wait for Mothers Day. Once you open it create a post using pictures on your blog that I can link to so we can all hop around checking out what everyone got!

If you would like to post about this on your blog that would be great... the more the merrier! Also, you do not need to be a mom to participate in this.. I just thought it would be fun for all of us to get packages around Mothers Day so we welcome everyone mother or not into this swap!! I am so excited to host this and I hope you'll all be excited to participate!!

Pay it Forward: Handmade by me

I'm so excited to be getting a handmade goodie from Katie over at Katie's Nesting Spot as well as so excited to be doing this for three of you!

Here's how it works. The first three bloggers to leave a comment on this post will get a handmade gift from me some time this year! It could be anything.. I don't know what it will be yet. That's part of the fun, it's just a little something in the mail from me to you, out of the blue.

Here is how you pay it forward: You, the lucky first three commenters, then post this on your blog so that three people can leave you a comment and in return you send them a handmade gift! Include a link back to me in the post.

The gift needs to be handmade. The gift can be any price you want and has to be sent out some time this year! You might want to send it out earlier before you forget it completely, and because your receipient is probably anxiously awaiting it. Remember it is the thought that counts!

When you receive your gift make sure you blog about it.

Who wants to pay it forward? Who will be the first three bloggers to leave a comment and pay it forward?

Update: All right... I've got my 3... you'll each be getting something in the mail sometime in the next year! It will most likely be in the next few months!

Good Mail from the Favorite Things Swap!

About a month ago I posted about signing up for Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap. I was paired up with Janna for it. She has a really great and inspiring blog. So, I just got the package from her and it was AMAZING!!

This has been such a fun experience, not only getting this but also as I was planning what things I would put in the package for her.. I just hope she enjoyed mine as well.
This is what my loot looked like out of the box. I just loved how pretty everything looked all wrapped up in some of my very favorite color combinations. I just knew everything was going to be awesome.

There was a really nice note addressed to both Abi and I. I was not expecting to have so much stuff for Abi in this package and I thought that was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful things. We were able to share the opening of the packages together and it actually made it even more fun to see the looks of excitement and happiness on her face as well as my own. So, we got these GREAT water bottles (the pink ones). My friend Andra saw them this morning and was telling me how great they are! I am so excited to use them. I have been anxiously awaiting the warmer weather so Abi and I could go walking at the track again and had been planning on trying to find something like this since I plan on not having her in the stroller for it anymore.
There was also that really cute mug with my initial on it, the great hand cremes (I already tried the hand cream and it was amazing!) those luscious candles and body lotion, and the sequiny black coin purse.. I have had to steal that back from Abi all day! I absolutely love the three shirts she put in for Abi. The dark pink one says Austin Texas (where Janna is from) then as you can see the pink one is a cute little love bug (Abi was excited to get her little love bug toy to show it!) and the cutest St. Patricks Day shirt ever. There was also the little package of Tinkerbell lip gloss, a key chain that has the Austin skyline on one side and blinks Abigail on the other side, a package of Texas Blue Bonnet seeds, and if you look really hard on the upper right hand side of the hot pink shirt you will see a cookie cutter in the shape of Texas. So cute! I made Abi's sandwich for lunch today with that cookie cutter and was going to take a picture.. but she ate it too fast.

So, Janna, thank you so much for the incredible package. I am thrilled with everything in it and just can't believe how great it all is! I really enjoyed taking part in this swap and plan on doing many more!
In fact, as a little teaser... check back in at the beginning of April. I plan on hosting a swap for Mothers day so if you want to take part come back around the first week of April for the announcement!

Favorite Things Swap

I sent out my favorite things swap package to Janna yesterday. Here's a little preview. I hope you like it Janna!