Brookeside Crunchy Clusters

This month I got to sample the new Brookside Crunchy Clusters

Crowdtap sent me the Brookeside Dark Chocolate Crunchy Clusters Berry Medley Flavors.

(Photo: Mine)
These are the perfect snack. So easy to grab and go and they taste amazing. They are "clusters of crispy multigrains and soft fruit flavored center's with sweetened cranberry bits, covered in smooth dark chocolate". They're crunchy, sweet and a little tart (the cranberries) which makes them such a great snack. I am picky and I actually really enjoyed these. My mother also tried them and loved them. She had tried other brookside products that she liked but hadnt seen these yet. We will definitly be purchasing these again!
Thanks Brookside and Crowdtap!

(Photos: Mine)

Easy to pair with other snacks like Greek yogurt :)

(Photo: Mine)

Hour long commutes to school mean snacking in the car!

(Photo: Mine)

*all photos are mine. I was asked to give my honest opinions and not rewarded for positive reviews over negative. These are my honest thoughts about the product. I recieved this product free for testing purposes*

No7 Protect & Perfect ADVANCED Sachet

One of the Products in my Frosty Voxbox is No7 Protect & Perfect ADVANCED Sachet.

(Photo's: Mine)

I'm still testing this out but I will have my experience and review up soon

In the mean time check out this video to see what others think about No7.

Cant see the video? Try here

@bootsbeautyUSA @influenster #getadvanced #contest 

The Frosty Voxbox

It's here! My 3rd Voxbox, the Frosty Voxbox!

(Photo: Mine)

Want your own VoxBox? Sign up here

One of the final Voxbox's of 2014, the Frosty Voxbox is full of beauty , hair and a few tasty products.

(Photo: Mine from my Instagram: Auntie_m_25)

The Card

(Photo's: Mine)

The first product in my Voxbox is "No7 Protect & Perfect ADVANCED Sachet" ($22.99 full size).

Some people received this same one while others received the "intense ADVANCED" ($29.99 full size) version.

What is is?: "This clinically proven serum is even more effective at reducing the appearance of fine lines for younger looking skin in two weeks".

What's the difference between the ADVANCED and the Intense ADVANCED?

Here's the Intense ADVANCED description: "This clinically proven serum is even more effective at reducing the appearance of deep lines & wrinkles, for younger looking skin in two weeks".

So plan ADVANCED helps with fine lines while Intense ADVANCED helps with deep lines & wrinkles.

OK so the one thing I really, really, really don't like about this sample is that it is a complete and total waste. I usually love the quality of the samples in the Voxbox's but this one I'm really disappointed in. In the description it specifically says "younger looking skin in two weeks". Is this tiny little packet really going to show us anything? This might come out to 3 uses if even that. They did include a $2 off coupon but with the cheapest bottle costing $22.99 I won't be buying to try. So I'm not sure I'll have too much to say about this product unless it magically shows amazing results in 2 uses.

The next product I recieved is the "NYC Expert Last Lip Color in Sugar Plum" which runs about $1.99 per tube.

                 

(Photo's: Mine)

About: "Ready to take your lips to the next level? Try our NEW Expert Last Lip Color in twenty tantalizing shades. Get intense, amplified color and shine that lasts up to six hours! Our moisturizing formula glides on easily for a silky, smooth, velvety finish for all day wear". 

Sugar Plums, what a perfect color for this time of year! I'm actually really excited about this one. I usually hate lipstick. It always looks chalky and awkward to me when I put it on and it always feels so chalky and uncomfortable to wear,  then you have to worry about it getting on your teeth. I couldn't resist and already tried this out today. It's nice and smooth, no chalky look or feel. I also love the color. Its a nice deep shade that looks good with my skin tone. I've tried reds and they are just too much for me I can't get used to them. This lasted the whole beginning of my day (through church and grocery shopping) and my lips stayed smooth while it was on. I can't wait to try it out some more and  let you guys know how well it works regularly.

Next in the box, "Chelestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Decaf Green Tea". They didn't give a price for these but I have gotten a few different teas from this company at Meijer and looking back at reciepts its only cost me around $2.45 to $3.15 for a box of 20 tea bags. I actually bought them cheaper then that, you can usually find them on sale.

(Photo's: Mine) 

About: "Live life well this holiday sEason with Celestial Seasonings and take a stroll down Candy Cane Lane! It's made with the very finest green tea leaves, peppermint and other botanicals, because at Chelestial Seasonings, we know you are what you steep". 

I really like a lot of the cheese that I have purchased from this brand before so I'm excited to try this one and I'm really happy that they included a coupon for this as well, it will definitely get used. I'm not a huge peppermint person so I'm not sure if this will be my favorite flavor but I do enjoy some peppermint things thought might be one of them. 

The forth product I received in my box is an "EcoTools Hair Brush" which  runs around $10.99. there were a few different designs of this hair brush that people received. I think they decided based on hair type and length, I have very long hair so they gave me a larger brush.

(Photo's: Mine) 

About: "EcoTools hair brushes are designed with unique features that leave your head and hair happy and healthy. Long or short, straight or curly, Ecotools has the brush to tame any hair style with a variety of five brush head shapes and bristle designs pacifically crafted to suit every need".

I love that this brush and packaging are made with recycled material. This brush is supposed to help fight frizz and static as well as dry your hair 20% faster for less heat damage, and is supposed to nurture your hair and scalp. I don't usually blow dry my hair I normally let it air dry but I am excited to try blow drying my hair to see how well this brush works. Some people have already tried theirs out and said it left their hair a lot shinier. I'm also excited to check out their website, ecotools.com for "how-to's".

A product that will go perfect with the make up in this box is the "Rimmed Gentle Eye Makeup Remover" that they included. This product runs for around $7.49.

 (Photo's: Mine)

About: "Gently removes all eye makeup, including long lasting and waterproof makeup, with no oily residue".

I can always use more makeup remover so I'm happy about this sample. I am really into makeup removing wipes right now though because they are so quick and easy to use, you don't have to get a cotton ball or anything to use with them and you can take off your entire face of make up rather then just eye. But this will definitly be nice for that stubborn, hard to remove makeup.


Along with the rimmel  eye makeup remover they also included Rimmel  Scandal eyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner which runs at $4.49.

(Photo's: Mine)

About: "Gives instant colour impact with its high intensity pigments. The ultra smooth and creamy formula glides on easily".

You can never have too many basic black liners so I was excited to be able to try a new brand. I've already used it a few times and really like it so far. It stays on very well, one day I wore it and I was having really bad allergies so my eyes kept watering all day and this eye liner didn't budge! I will definitly be busing more of this for allergy season. It also goes on really smooth. Cant wait to try out a few more looks with this and let you know what I think.

Now for some tasty products. 

McCormick Gourmet Thyme which runs about $4.79.

(Photos: Mine)

About: "The freshest flavors deserve a fresh new look! McCormick Gourmet's Thyme imparts a light minty flavor that is distinctively warm and aromatic. McCormick Gourmet Thyme  can be used throughout the day and dishes such as breakfast casseroles, hearty soups, stews, stuffing, and oven-roasted chicken". 

I'm not a big cook so I'm not as excited about this product as others but I plan on trying to find a recipe I might like (I'm also a very picky eater) on Pinterest and giving some to my mom to let her try a recipe out for her and dad.

The last product in the box, and the first to disappear is Fruit Vines Bites which run between $1.28-$1.79.

(Photo's: Mine)

About: "Fruit Vines Bites are a new, soft, chewy fruit candy, from the red vines family, available in two fruit flavors - strawberry and cherry. Low fat and made with no preservatives, Fruit Vines Bites are available in three sizes: a 2oz single serve, a 5oz hanging bag and a 10oz resealable stand-up bag and can be found at Walmart in the West, Kroger, Walgreens, Target, Safeway and Rite Aid".

My boyfriend was over when I got my box so of course we has to open these right away and try them. They taste really good, aren't too chewy, nice and soft and they even peel apart (last picture). If you like licorice type snacks you'll love these. They would make the perfect movie snack. I love that they come in so many different sizes too.

I'll be working on really testing these products out in the next 2 weeks and letting you know my experiences and what I think. So look out for product posts :) 

Thanks Influenster for another amazing Voxbox!

*I recieved all the products in this post for free for testing purposes from Influenster. All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.*

6th Anniversary Smashbook January Portion

My boyfriend and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary together this past new year's eve. When we first started dating I started a scrapbook for him and he ended up loving it and is always asking for some new pages. With school and my crazy schedule I never seem to get around to finding our old pictures and printing them out. I decided this year I would start a smashbook to give to him on our 6th anniversary. The smashbook will go throughout the course of 2015 starting out on the first day of our 6th year together, new years day (how perfect starting off on the first day of the year) and ending on our anniversary, new years eve (last day of the year ♡).  

The hardest part of this whole project is I'm so excited about it it's so hard for me not to tell him about it lol. So I figured this blog post might help me get my need for sharing out so I don't accidently share it with him.

For my homemade smashbook I am going to attempt to add a note for every day of the year. Notes like "why I love you" and such. I also want to fill it with things that we do throughout the year. Adding pictures, cards, ticket stubs, brochures and such from whatever we do so he also has memories of the year. 

So for my cover I wanted something sturdy so I decided to use one of my birchboxes to make the cover (I've done this for 2 other books and loved how easy it was).

(Photo: Mine)

I simply took a box cutter and carefully cut off the sides of the box so just the top and bottom remained. I'm super impatient,so sometimes I have a really hard tI'm taking my time so I messed up the box a bit (cutting huge slits into the top and bottom) so I ended up having to trim the cover down a bit but it ended up ok :)

I just used a ruler to measure out how much I needed to trim down then made some marks along the box (so i could draw perfectly measured striaght lines to cut along) and drew lines to cut along then simply cut with a pair of sissors. 

I then took a hole punch and punched three holes along the spine of my book. I just used my other covers to figure out where to put the holes but the first cover I made I used a ruler to measure out where to put the holes.

I haven't decided what to put on the cover yet but I plan on covering it with some scrapbook paper then decorating it. I would recommend to put your scrapbook paper on first then punch the holes, it makes it a lot easier but I don't plan on making the cover for awhile and wanted to be able to attach it to my book so I wouldn't loose it so I went ahead and punched the wholes. 

I wanted to have a way to keep each month a litthe organized so it was easy to see what events happened in what month. I had these adorable month cards I got in an awesome pack at michals on sale once that were perfect. I wish I remembered what brand they were from but I through away the packaging and can't remember. I plan to get some more so I will let you know the brand when I figure it out.

(Photo: Mine)

I added little tabs to each month so they would stick out a bit and be a little easier to find. I used some silvery glitter tape that I found in the dollar section at target once. I see it in there still from time to time, it is one of my absolute favorite tapes, I LOVE glitter! The tap has a backing on it so you can cut a strip you want then peel off the back to reveal a sticky side when your ready to use it. This made it super easy to cut strips then fold them in have, figure out where I wanted them and then peel and stick. I then cut a little triangle out of the end to add to the look.

I love the cards because they are simple but have some fun colors that go along with each month. I like that they are simple enough you can add to them and customize them a bit. 

I decided I wanted to add a little decoration to each month to go along with events and/or weather of that month. I want to keep it cute and fun but simple.

Here's January (you can see all the other tabs from the rest of the year, I did two rows of 6 tabs)

(Photo: Mine)

I decided to add a little bling to January since it's a new year and some snow flakes since it's winter and we usually get a lot of snow here in Ohio in January. The two white snowflakes I found on sale at jo anns. They're 3D plastic pieces covered in glitter with a little circle adhesive on the back. It comes in a little box. The silver snowflake I think I found on sale at Meijer, it's from a back of stickers. Not sure where I found the gems but you can usually find them just about any where. They were individual sticky gems that you can place however you want.

The back side of the January card

(Photo: Mine)

I wasn't sure what to do with the back of the cards. Some months have the

is graph type design on them oothers have dots (which can easily be made into graph type paper)

I though it might be cute to put a calender on the back of each month and decorate each day that has an event or that we do something with a little doodle. I just started this so I plan on filling it in throughout the month and decorating the page a bit.

The month set also came with cute smaller cards for each month. Some are activity cards and others are holiday cards. I decided to place January's on a piece of card stock.

(Photo: Mine)

I made the little banner myself out of bakers twin (another target dollar section find) my silver glitter tape from target and some gold glitter tape I found on sale at Meijer last year (very similar to the target tape but came in a small clear box)

I simply cut pieces of tape

(Photo: Mine)

Fold piece in half

(Photo: Mine)

Unpeel back and place on twine

(Photo: Mine)

Cut into triangles

(Photo's: Mine)

I founD the happy new year card after I made this page and it went so well with the banner I decided to make it a flap by sticking it on with the gold tape. The banner is attached at the ends with glue so the little flags can flap around instead of being peneed down. The flag banner helps to hold the flap down as well so it doesn't swing open. I put the activity card on the card stock and added the 14 and 15 and filled in the rest with Journaling (which I blocked out with the Journaling flags for this picture.

(Photo: Mine)

I thought the page was a litle too bland for new years so I took my hole punch and some sheets of shiny, holigraphic letters I had and punched holes around the letters to get little confetti pieces. I took the pieces and spread them out around the card stock and glued them down. I tried to make it look a little like they were just tossed on like confetti. I wanted to add a little more blig so I found some gold gems I got from Meijer on sale. They came in a sheet that you can cut and they had the peel adhesive on the back so you can easily cut and decorate. I just cut out individual gold gems (they're square shaped) and placed them randomly over the card.

I'm not sure what I want to do on the back of the card stock yet but I think I might put new year resolutions related to our relationship or maybe things I hope we do together this year.

I also have a little Journaling card I'm sticking in after the cardstock.

(Photo: Mine)

I journaled on the back of the card for the first day of January. I used my valentine's day date stamper I got from target

 I'm not sure if it's a k&company stamp because it doesn't say anywhere on it like they usually does but it looks exactly like theirs and just has a heart on the handle.

(Photo: Mine)

Day 2 and 3 journaling

(Photos: Mine)

Days 4 and 5, Pocket 1

(Photos: Mine)

Days 6 and 7, Pocket 2

(Photo's: Mine)

So that's what I have started so far :) I'll try to add more as I go along. I would love to see smash pages from you guys if you have any! I love seeing different books to get inspiration so please share if you'd like :)

Happy New Year Everyone!