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Monday, August 4, 2014

Celebrate with Creative Card Ideas from Hallmark #ValueCards #shop #cbias

 I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Saturday was Kynthia's 3rd birthday and we celebrated in a big way! With so many kids in the family, we try to make each birthday extra special---it's always a great thing to have a whole day to yourself. In addition to sweet decorations and a few nice gifts, I've been buying Hallmark Value Cards for several years. Their creative card ideas are so bright and adorable, and it really helps that they cost less than a dollar!

 I headed out to Walmart on Friday night to pick up everything I'd need for her special celebration. This is the display where I always pick out my Hallmark cards. They've got .47 and .97 varieties.

Kynthia wanted a princess theme for her party and I immediately spied this super cute princess bear card. I knew she would love the bright colors and sparkly glitter.

The next morning as I was getting her cake ready, Michael helped the kids all sign the card. This is a favorite tradition at our house and everyone loves to leave a sweet or silly message for their siblings.

Lynzie has become the resident streamer hanger. She has happy memories of Daddy hanging streamers for her earlier birthdays so now she wants to do them for everyone else.

I found some cute decorations to top the pink princess cake. One thing I like to do when using these candies stuck on paper is to set the paper on a wet towel before I start frosting the cake. By the time it's time to put them on the cake, the backs have softened enough to remove them from the paper without the paper sticking to the candies.

Once the preparation was done, it was time to party! Another family tradition is that Daddy always hands out the gifts while I take photos. Here Kynthia is opening her sweet Hallmark card.

Daddy always reads the messages to the birthday child and everyone else giggles at the funny things the older kids write.

I think cards are really important---especially when you've got a whole group signing them. They're great ways to archive special memories and to keep track of who helped make those memories. Kynthia loved her special birthday card and it will be a treasure for her in the future, as well. For more about Hallmark Value Cards, join the #ValueCards conversation on Twitter and check out these ideas from other bloggers.

Hallmark has a rewards program for customers to collect points and use them toward savings on future purchases, dining perks, and more. You can collect points anywhere Hallmark cards are sold. The most convenient place for me is Walmart, since that's where I do most of the birthday shopping. Visit the Hallmark rewards site to sign up to earn rewards for every five cards you buy.

#CollectiveBias

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Fall Baking Recipes

It's almost Fall---my favorite time of year, and I'm already planning on baking up some delicious things for my family! Here are a few ideas to inspire you, as well!












Friday, August 1, 2014

Summer Reading Challenges

I absolutely love love love to read, but it's something I have a very difficult time getting done. You might think it's because I've got sooooo much responsibility---but no, that's not it at all. We're a family of hobbyists so most of us are always off doing whatever thing it is that feeds our creative souls. No, it's because I find so many things to distract me. Blogging, reading blogs, planning blogs, taking photos for blogs, applying for jobs for blogs...see a pattern here?

Over the next two months, I'm participating in two reading challenges and am really hoping to focus on knocking out a few books before the first day of fall. I'll keep a running list of what I've read here---it's fun to have a record of books I've enjoyed. Here's the info on the challenges I've joined---in case you're wanting to join too!

Simply Audra Marie is hosting the Summer's Flying By reading challenge from August 1st to September 21st. You can read whatever you want, and there's even a drawing at the end for an Amazon gift card. You'll need to write up a quick intro post, as well as an "all done" post at the end, to be eligible for the drawing.

Lost Generation Reader is hosting Austen in August---a whole month dedicated to reading Jane Austen-themed books. Novels, biographies, and modern-day fan fiction all count---even rereads count! They've even got their own hashtag: #AustenInAugustLGR.

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