Showing posts with label Giveaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giveaway. Show all posts

Simple Strawberry Muffins {and a Giveaway!}

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Today's post is sponsored by Finlandia, but my love for their butter is all my own! 


Is there anything better than waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh strawberry muffins? Well there is, and it's topping those strawberry muffins with Finlandia butter! 



You may have heard of and tried Finlandia Cheese, but soon you will hear many speaking of how much they enjoy Finlandia imported butter. 

I used the unsalted in my strawberry muffin recipe and topped it off with the perfectly salted butter. I was really surprised by the rich taste, it's probably the best butter I've ever had...seriously! {No April Fool's joke here!}


The recipe called for two sticks of butter and Finlandia butter comes in 7 oz packages, just shy of two sticks, which usually measures to about 8 ounces. Despite the slight difference in the amount of butter used, the muffins turned out quite delicious! 


Fun Facts about Finlandia Butter: 

"Finlandia Butter provides authentic flavor still made the old fashioned way. With Pure fresh milk from cows cared for on small Finnish family-owned farms. Nothing artificial. No added Hormones. This creamy, delicious butter starts with the purest milk in Europe from small Finnish family-owned farms where the cows are treated humanely and not given rBST or any artificial hormones. The fresh milk is carefully churned and cooled to a perfect temperature that creates a delightfully creamy flavor and smooth texture. Chosen by the most discriminating French chefs to create their famous baked goods and croissants, Finlandia Imported Butter is the ultimate butter for baking, cooking and especially, eating!"


So before I get to the giveaway for a ShopRite® gift card so you can try Finlandia butter yourself, I'm going to share my simple strawberry muffin recipe with you, so when you pick up the butter you'll have a recipe on hand to try out! 

Simple Strawberry Muffin Recipe
{Makes about 18 muffins}

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 7 oz unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 cups diced fresh strawberries {I thawed out frozen ones}
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the cupcake liners in your muffin tins and sprinkle a dash of flour in them so the muffins don't stick. 
  2. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl until combined.  In a medium bowl combine milk, eggs, and melted butter. Make a well in the the dry mixture and pour in the wet mixture. Stir until combined. There should be some lumps, so don't over mix the batter. Next, mix in the strawberries and sugar and stir to combine.
  3. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups {I used an ice cream scoop}. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, check with a toothpick and if it comes out clean your muffins are done! Let them sit for a few minutes in the tins, then place on cooling racks to sit until ready to eat! 
{Recipe modified from Food Network}



Simple...right? Do you know what else is simple...entering my ShopRite® $25 gift card giveaway!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

{US entries only please. Giveaway will end on April 8th. Winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to reply. After this time a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook or Twitter. Thank you and Good luck!}


Luck O' the Irish

Tuesday, March 17, 2015


Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

When I chose the date for my birthday celebration giveaway to end, I didn't realize it would be St. Patrick's Day! So, who is ready to find out if they have the luck o' the Irish on their side today?! 



{Made using Pic Monkey} 

A Big thank you to all of the vendors who helped me celebrate and to everyone who entered. Shall we find out who won...


1. {Giveaway Prize: One Case (six cans) of Rust-Oleum® spray paint in winner's choice of color!} 
Danielle 

2. {Giveaway Prize: 6 pack of custom Dawn Nicole Designs flat note cards with envelopes.} 
Karen

3. {Giveaway Prize:  Mo&Pea Wool/Acrylic Blend Raspberry Boot Cuffs, Retail Price $16. }  
Colette 

4. {Giveaway Prize: Atutudes $10 Shop Credit}
Susan 

5. {Giveaway Prize: The Caramel Jar small jar of Fleur de sel caramel sauce}
Marlys

6. {Giveaway Prize: Mila Rose Designs $32 Shop Credit}
Julie 

7. {Giveaway Prize: Suburban Goods $50 Shop Credit off a purchase of at least $60 }
Holly

8. {Giveaway Prize: Piccolo Papercrafts $25 Shop Credit}
Michelle 


*Winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to respond, if I do not hear from them a new winner will be selected. 

Thanks again, have a great St. Patty's Day! 


Birthday Celebration Giveaway!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

It's time to party y'all...two more days until my birthday! 
But lucky for you I'm celebrating early and today I'm throwing a party for YOU!! I have 8 prizes for 8 winners!! Look at these awesome gifts I have for you, too bad I can't enter my own birthday celebration giveaway! 


I'm so grateful to all of these amazing shops for helping me celebrate my birthday. Each one is unique and has a little story and history behind it. Please be sure to stop by their pages and give them some love. 



1. Rust-Oleum 



Rust-Oleum® opened its doors in 1921, shortly after its founder Robert Fergusson, a sea caption, accidentally spilled fish oil on his rusty, metal deck and discovered that it stopped the spread of corrosion. This discovery led to the world's first rust-preventive paint. Today, Rust-Oleum® manufactures coatings for home and commercial use. If there's a surface, there's a Rust-Oleum®.

{Giveaway Prize: One Case (six cans) of Rust-Oleum® spray paint in winner's choice of color!}

2. Dawn Nicole Designs 



Dawn is the DIY & Lifestyle blogger/Graphic Designer behind By Dawn Nicole. She is an Air Force Wife and mom of 3 who believes in “throwing kindness around like confetti”. While Dawn loves all things creative, she has a passion for hand-lettered typography and illustration.  A Paleo foodie who loves cooking as much as a a good run, she believes in balance and rarely lets a day go by without dark chocolate and over-caffeinating. You can find her shop here.


{Giveaway Prize: 6 pack of custom flat note cards with envelopes, pictured above. }

3. Mo & Pea


MO&PEA is a creative and cozy shop featuring both crochet and knit accessories. Handmade pieces from chunky winter wear to home decor can be found here, with most pieces being one of a kind goods. 

{Giveaway Prize: Wool/Acrylic Blend Raspberry Boot Cuffs, Retail Price $16. }



4. Atutudes


About Atutudes: My best friend, Jennifer Lee, and I were planning her daughter's first birthday party. We purchased a tutu at a local shop, but it was not exactly the perfect one. We decided to do a little research and try our hand at making them ourselves. Once I made the first one, I was hooked! I quickly realized that it ignited a passion inside me. It was so much fun and a great outlet for my creativity. In 2013 we were chosen to create a custom mermaid themed tutu for the original Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, for her daughter Blakesley’s birthday celebration.

{Giveaway Prize: $10 Shop Credit} 


5. The Caramel Jar


About The Caramel Jar: Since our first day on Etsy, we have launched six flavors of caramel, hired several production assistants and a Brand Specialist, and partnered with a small batch artisan co-packing team to create our signature Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce. Despite our growth, our goal remains the same :: to create caramels that are slow cooked in small batches to produce a rich creamy color, flavor & texture, without preservatives, ensuring the most natural, made from scratch sweet treat. We use eco friendly, reusable, recyclable and compostable materials in our packaging and produce and ship your treats in 7 business days or less! {except wedding favors} 

{Giveaway Prize: Small jar of Fleur de sel caramel sauce}

6. Mila Rose Designs


Melis is the head pretty maker and owner of Mila Rose Designs, a line of fun and whimsical hair accessories.  MRD loves embracing all things girly from over the top bloom headbands to leather bow barrettes!  You can also see some of your MRD faves on the CWs Hart of Dixie who has featured hair pretties the past 3 seasons! 

{Giveaway Prize: $32 Shop Credit...since I'm turning 32!}

7. Suburban Goods 


Suburban Goods is the storefront where Erin of Suburban Bitches blog sells handmade clutches, laptop bags, and other fun things. She loves experimenting with leather and fabrics to create clutches that are one of a kind and the perfect compliment to a great outfit. Her clutches have a signature fun fabric lining which adds to the uniqueness of each piece. Currently her favorite piece in the shop is the African mud cloth and leather clutch. She's going to have a hard time letting that piece go :). 

{Giveaway Prize: $50 Shop Credit off a purchase of at least $60 }

8. Piccolo Papercrafts 


Piccolo Papercrafts is in the business of sending smiles! Deena Hopkins uses stamps, paper, and glue to create fashionable and charming greeting cards for any and all occasions. From elegant and refined to cute and trendy, Piccolo Papercrafts' cards and crafts will bring happiness to every recipient. Let your loved one know they deserve a card as unique as they are!

{Giveaway Prize: $25 Shop Credit}


 I just adore each and everyone one of these vendors. I'm so grateful for their kindness in sharing these wonderful gifts with my readers for my birthday celebration giveaway. 

Make sure you stop by their shops and social media pages. 

Thanks for entering, good luck! 

{US only please}


a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This giveaway is not associated with Facebook or Instagram. On Tuesday March 17th I will email the randomly selected winners. Each winner will have 48 hours to respond, if I do not receive an email a new winner will be chosen. 

Sneak Peek: Birthday Celebration Giveaway!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Hip, Hip, Hooray, it's My Birthday Week! 


This Thursday, March 12th I'm turning 32...I'm officially in my thirties!

To celebrate I have rounded up a few of my favorite shops for an awesome Birthday Celebration Giveaway just for YOU!! 

Today I'm sharing a little sneak peek at the shops who are helping me celebrate, and tomorrow the giveaway will begin! 










Lucky me, I've already started the birthday celebrations thanks to my mom who took me to The Philadelphia Flower Show and Reading Terminal for lunch on Thursday.


Then on Saturday my husband surprised me with a little date night birthday dinner...


I couldn't leave without dessert! This salted pretzel brownie was the best thing I've ever eaten!! 

I can't wait to share all of the amazing prizes with you guys, stop by tomorrow to enter! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 


Tis' the season for a giveaway!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

2014 has been an amazing year for my blogging career. I've been keeping my little journal here since 2008 but never really pushed myself to go at it as a career. It was just a little blog where I shared my thoughts, a way to keep the writer side of me going while trying to pay the bills with a full time job out in the "real world". 

As I continued with my full time job I started writing for AWS {All Women Stalk} and helped them create their wedding section when they were still a small site with just a few different categories. 

I was making connections but still felt like I wasn't really sharing my voice, I was just writing round up posts with focus on searchable keywords. 

Then last year came the opportunity of all opportunities, an internetship as a blog assitant for East Coast Creative! I was on cloud 9 when I received the email from Monica and Jess that I got the job! 

Working as their intern and then being hired as a blog assistant gave me the confidence to finally push my own blog and create a space where I could not only share my thoughts, but get paid to do so! 

I know that readers sometimes hate sponsored posts, especially if they don't feel authentic. But, I'm a Philly girl and I'm as real as it gets! I'm not going to share something with you that I don't like and I'm not going to write up a post just for the sake of getting paid. 

I tell it like it is. Everything I share on here; the good, the bad, and the ugly moments in my life, come from my heart. 

Now I may not share every ugly detail, but some things in life are not meant to be shared. Oh I could name a few celebs who need to learn that! 

So as a thank you for helping me feel more confident and for being amazing readers I teamed up with a few other bloggers to share a $150 giveaway! 

One lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card to Target, a $50 gift card to Starbucks, and $50 right to their paypal account...sweet!! 

Giveaway runs until Sunday 12/21. Good luck! 

The ladies who are hosting with me: 







Rafflecopter Form:

Star Struck Stones Etsy Shop

Monday, September 15, 2014

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty relaxing, we took a little visit to my in-laws' house on Saturday and had a nice barbecue dinner last night. It was so good, probably the best pork chops I've ever had. I took a quick iPhone snapshot of them before they disappeared, so there may be a recipe post in the future for you!

 Alright, enough about food...I bet you all can't wait to find out who the winner of the Star Struck Stones giveaway is. But, first have you seen the new items in Michelle's Etsy shop? 


Find these items here, here, and here!

I am crushing on the black and turquoise bracelet with the leaf charm, the color combination is so striking. The black beads are lava rock and are said to promote courage and strength. I could use a little of that right now. Last week I finally started back on my workout routine and need a little strength and courage to go on with week two of Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 DVD...she is kicking my butt! 

 Oops, there I go running on about something other than the giveaway winner! Shall we get back to the real reason everyone has stopped by the blog today! Drum roll please.....and the name of the winner is....








A big congrats to our winner Erika, a big thank you to everyone who entered, and a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Michelle. I really can't thank her enough for the gorgeous bracelet she sent me for the review and the one she is sharing for the giveaway, she's so sweet.

Don't forget to stop by Michelle's shop Star Struck Stones for a 10% off discount until October 1st with the coupon code WorldAroundHer.

Now go and have an excellent day! 







Handmade Jewelry and a Giveaway!

Friday, September 5, 2014

I started to put together a fall round up post last week, but then life got a little busy and now it's been two weeks since I last wrote. To make up for the lack of posts I have an awesome giveaway and a coupon code for you guys from Etsy shop Star Struck Stones. Shop owner Michelle is best friends with my younger sister Christina, they have known each other since middle school and are now both in their twenties (my sister will be 25 this Saturday, happy birthday sis!).

 I couldn't wait to share Michelle's handmade jewelry on my blog when I found out she was starting her own Etsy shop. Lucky for me she was just as excited and sent me a few items to review...


She let me choose the bracelet and when I spotted this gorgeous blue and purple piece in her shop I immediately fell in love. To my surprise she sent me a ring and an Amethyst stone as well. 



 The purple stones on the bracelet are Agate and hold protective properties. The blue stones are Dragons Vein Agate and are known to heighten creative vision. 

Most of the beads and stones in Michelle's shop have metaphysical and therapeutic properties, so be sure to read more about your stones when ordering. 



How gorgeous is the design of this jade wire wrapped ring?! Maybe she'll teach me the secret to making these! 
The jade stone is said to bring good luck to those who wear/carry it and I have to say I am feeling the luck of this stone lately. Very good things have been happening...very good things! 


This pretty little amethyst stone is said to help relieve stress and anxiety to create a peaceful environment. So, with the wrapped jade ring and this amethyst stone I can look forward to plenty of good luck and stress free days, I'm down with that!

OK, enough about my jewelry pieces, I know that you are all waiting to see what you can win from her shop...


I'm actually kind of jealous that I can't enter, but I guess I'll just have to ask Michelle to replicate this bracelet so I can purchase one from her! 

I love the colors; the opal and turquoise stones will look great with any outfit and the feather/wing charm is just too cool. I love that she also included a citrine point for one of my readers to win along with the bracelet. 

*For everyone else that doesn't win (and even if you do!), Michelle has a 10% off coupon code for you. Use WorldAroundHer at check out in her Etsy shop on any purchase.*


Giveaway: 
Enter below in the Rafflecopter...

Note: 
 Michelle only ships within the United States, sorry Canadian and overseas friends. I will email the random selected winner next Friday, September 12. Good luck! 
{This giveaway has no affiliation with Facebook.}






Drum Roll Please....

Monday, May 5, 2014

Wow, for our first giveaway it was a pretty nice turn out of 193 entries, thank you so much! 

So, who wants to find out who the winners are...


A big thank you to Busy Bee Kate for hosting with me and to Mila Rose Designs, HorseFeathers Gifts, Erica Jacqueline Designs, and Vintage Vinyl Journals for sponsoring the giveaway. 

Drum Roll Please...


3rd place winner is:  Casie S.

2nd place winner is: Danielle F.

Grand Prize winner is:  Julie M. 

All winners have been notified, if you haven't gotten back to us yet please check your email. Note: All gifts will be shipped separately from the vendors. 

Come back tomorrow to see what I decided to do with this little guy...


Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 





Five Things & A Giveaway!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

I'm so excited for this week's Five Things link up party, because not only do I have some pretty great things going on this week, but I also have a giveaway for you as well! 

My good friend Katie at Busy Bee Kate and I have both reached 100 on our Facebook pages and wanted to throw a little giveaway to thank our followers. We contacted a few of our awesome friends and they pitched in a few items for you to win, we will actually have 3 winners!

Plus, I thought it would be fun to combine the giveaway with my five things party that I host with Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama and include the giveaway as one of my five things! 




Thanks again for linking up with us last week, I loved seeing everyone's posts. 

On to the link up and giveaway, but first a few reminders...



1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. Share any five things that are on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books; it's totally up to you. 

2. Please put the Five Things button on the post your sharing for the link up; sharing is caring, the more players involved the more fun we'll all have.

3. Please follow both your hosts Diana from The World Around Her and Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama via Facebook {here and here} and/or Twitter {here and here}. As it’s not mandatory it is greatly appreciated. 

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me or Tairalyn and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up, show them some love and comment on at least one other bloggers link-up post.




1. Today we're celebrating our four year wedding anniversary! We've been together for 8 and a half years and married for four, but it feels like a lifetime. I just feel so connected, he is my best friend and I would be lost without him. Pictures to come soon of the little DIY I put together for my guy! 

2. How adorable is this little can! He was part of the Earth Day project I did with the local business women's group that I'm in. We volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club in the area to teach kids about upcycling. We also upcycled milk and juice cartons into bird feeders. The kids went crazy for the stickers and colorful duck tape. I feel so blessed to be able to help them put together a project they can take home to enjoy and share with their families, they were all so proud of what they did. 

3. Since we have three bundles of prizes for three winners, I thought they could make up numbers 3-5 on my five things list! All of the items are handmade, so we thought it would be fun to throw in a $25 Michaels gift card for the 3rd prize winner to inspire you to get creative...that means you have to come back to show us what you made with your purchases! 

4. The 2nd prize winner will take home a 'perfect for spring' crocheted tote bag from Erica Jacqueline Designs and their choice of an in-stock Vintage Vinyl Journals. 

5. The grand prize winner will take home this adorable two-toned yellow and blue turband headwrap from Mila Rose Designs and a $40 gift card to HorseFeathers Gifts. 


A closer look at the fabulous giveaway prizes...


Don't forget to join the link up party as well...




 
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