Purex Crystals Laundry Detergent for Baby

Purex Crystals made a great new addition to their Purex Crystal family...  

Purex Crystals for Baby !! :)

Purex Crystals for Baby softens and freshens babies clothes. It is 87% natural and designed to keep babies gentle skin in mind, while leaving a nice scent in their clothing! It is hypoallergenic, dye free, and safe for all clothes.

Purex Crystals for baby has a great smell and leaves your clothes so soft. Pairs great with Purex Baby Laundry Detergent!

Purex has a "Welcome To The World" sweepstakes featuring the Purex Crystals for baby. One Grand Prize Winner will win $1,000 and 250 2nd place winners will win a coupon for a free bottle of Purex Crystals for Baby.

 Enter Here. 

TWO Lucky Readers will win your very own FREE Bottle of Purex Crystals for Baby!!! 

Enter through Rafflecopter below :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is made possible by Purex, for allowing me to be an Insider and providing me with the supplies to test and review. 

Re-Homing My Kitty :(

It's been a sad past week as we had to re-home our 9 month old kitty. I really didn't want to get rid of her but it was becoming a major problem in our family. She had always been feisty since she was tiny, just as Siamese are. But I thought with age, she would get better... though she only got worse. She came to the point where she would hiss, show her teeth, and growl really big at us. We believe this came about, due to trauma of her first 4 weeks alive. The man we got her from said her mother was feral and he had found them in a field. At the time, I knew basically nothing on feral cats and their attitudes, and I just figured her mom was the feral one, and that it had nothing to do with herself. I guess I was wrong. Looking back, that should have been my first red flag. My second red flag should have happened the day we got to pick her from the litter. She was 4 weeks old and the man who found her and her siblings, kept them on their carpet with a box upside down over them. I really don't know how long or often they were kept that way, but it seemed to me, that's how they lived since they were found. I wish I would have asked questions. I guess I was just too excited about finally getting a kitten, since I had waited five years for my husband (who originally disliked cats due to past trauma) ok'd me in getting one with the stipulation that he had to agree to the one we chose. We chose her from the litter because she seemed the mellowest and snuggled right up to my husband, stealing his heart. At the time we were really wanting a male kitten, but once we held her, it really didn't matter. After much researching on cat behavior, I realized a 3rd flag was shown. She hissed at me, when she was just 5 weeks old. I found online, that kittens who hiss, usually grow up with behavior issues as well. I wish I would have put all that together before we purchased our kitten. I never found out if the man bottled fed her previously, or how she ate. All I knew is she was adorable. And that we could have her at 5 weeks old. She was already eating solid kitten food at that age but I attempted giving her a kitty bottle and she wouldn't take. As our kitten grew, we talked to several people on her anwry behavior, with most people saying she would outgrow it in time. I wish that were true. But mixing a Siamese with being Feral, it doesn't make for a good outcome. The search went on, for finding her a new home...I wanted the perfect home. Something better then what we could give. We found a sweet older lady to take her, but just two days after she had her, she told me it wasn't working out. I was bummed because it seemed like the perfect home. It was quiet and calm. Kid-free and she was the only pet. But the hissing and growling didn't stop. After a lot of stress and racking our brains, we decided a shelter was the only option. I absolutely did NOT want that. Thank goodness my dear mother contacted her cousin who has a Farm, and said she would take her! I was so relieved because a Farm is the perfect scenario for our feral born kitty! So we took her there and she got to be introduced to several other animals. Quite a change for her since she has been the only pet since day one lol. Almost a week has gone by since she's been gone and I miss her dearly. But I know this was the best thing to do for her, and us. I'm just happy she can embrace her feral side now, like she always wanted.

DIY Laundry Detergent!!

I am SO happy I came across this DIY Laundry detergent recipe over at HowDoesShe. I've always wanted to make my own laundry detergent but never wanted to mess with melted the shredded bar soap on my stove top. This recipe is to make powdered laundry soap and it's really easy to do too!!

You begin by gathering all your ingredients. You need:

A big bucket

A 3lb 7oz box of Washing Soda

A 4lb box of Baking Soda

A 4lb 12oz box of Borax

A 3lb tub of Oxi Clean

2 Bar soaps (recipe calls for Zote but you can use Fels-Naptha as well. 

That's what I used but I forgot to buy two bars 

so I used 1 bar of Dial's White Peach & Shea Butter (not pictured) along with my Fels-Naptha)

A 55oz bottle of Purex Crystals-any scent 

(I used the 28oz bottle-just adds softness & scent so this is optional)

Shred your bars of soap and blend them in a blender or food processor 

to get the pieces extra fine.

(my lil man loved helping)

 Once you have those ingredients finely grated, your ready to add all ingredients into your bucket! It's best to layer each ingredient into the bucket, for easier mixing. That's what we did and stirred it all up with a big wooden dowel stick :)

(Be careful for the powder dust particles. You don't want to be breathing those in)

 Once finished mixing, you can choose to leave your detergent in the bucket, sealed tight til needed, or put it in a cute container. I like HowDoesShe's idea of putting the detergent in the Purex Crystals bottle. I did that for some of the detergent to share for my mom to try.

When you're ready to wash your laundry, use 2-4 Tablespoons (depending on load size) of the detergent and apply to water before you put your clothes in. I washed my sheets in this detergent and it worked wonderfully! No soap scum, no residue, and a nice scent! Next time I would add the 55oz of Purex Crystals as recipe called for, just because I like my laundry smelling strong. Using the 28oz bottle works just fine, but the smell is light. This was a super easy way to make your own laundry detergent and it is said to last a whole YEAR, based on washing 6 loads of laundry a week!! In my family of three, we wash maybe 2-3 loads a week so this should last us a long time!!

 If you've ever made laundry soap or plan to, I'd love to know how it turned out!!

I Received A Top Blogger Award!

Thanks to Scott Ertl from SHMILY Coins,  I got nominated for the 

"Top Blogger Award" !! Yay!

You can find me at TopBloggerAwards.com  

And search under T for TemporaryWaffle :) 

Pure Matters Protein Sample Review

 I received a sample of Pure Matters Protein shake powder in Chocolate Pea flavor, and wanted to give a quick review on it. On the package it says you can add the powder in water, or add it to a fruit smoothie. I couldn't imagine it tasting good by drinking it in water so I decided to make a smoothie. I added in a frozen banana, water (or milk) and a scoop of peanut butter. Blended well and drink up. It tasted pretty good this way, as banana and peanut smoothies always do, but the Protein powder made it very chalky! Not too bad that I couldn't drink it though. A nice after workout drink.

Vinyl Disorder's Loving Memory Vinyl Decals

A special way to remember someone you lost, is to get a customized "In Loving Memory" decal or sticker to place on your wall or car. Vinyl Disorder can do just that for you. They make several different wall decal quotes or sayings, custom car decals, and all sorts of custom stickers.

I was sent a vinyl decal to review and I got to choose my customization. I chose to do it in memory of my dad who died when I was fifteen.  My decal says "Until the day we meet again" with mountains on it, with his name and birth to death date. The decal is easy to put on, you just follow the instructions included, and apply it to your item! 

Here is my decal below. I wanted to put it on one of the weights my dad owned because he was a big weightlifter, but the decal was just a tad to big for it. Or I wish I could've found a snare drum or a drum of some sort to put the decal on because he was also an avid drum player! But instead, I found this cool piece of wood at Goodwill, that turns out to be a Harry & David cutting board. I applied the stencil onto the wood and found these stencils just didn't want to stick and stay put on it! I don't know if it is the type of wood making being repulsed by it or what, but I ended up having to apply the stencils by finger, and dab with some clear nail polish to get them to stick lol. That was a bit of a bummer but I think it turned out pretty cool as a little memorial with a place for the candle.

           (I blotched the name out-in black-for personal reasons)

You can see my previous Vinyl Disorder stencils HERE, that I did, from the Star Wars Family Decal 

Turned into some cool wall art for my son :)

Be sure to check out Vinyl Disorder for all their great stickers and decals. 
They have several different kinds, in categories from A-Z 
ranging from animals to zombies and everything in between.

One special reader will win your very own vinyl sticker decal!! Leave me a comment below telling me who you have in mind for the memorable decal and make sure to leave your email in your comment so I can contact the winner!! Good luck! :) 

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

SHMILY Coin Review

In 1995, a women named Laura Hammond wrote a story called SHMILY, about her grandparents who found different ways to surprise each other, showing their love for another and bringing their relationship closer. From that story, (which you can read here) the SHMILY coins were conceived. These sweet and simple, wooden SHMILY coins represent a fun and playful game you can play with your loved ones. The coins are about 1 1/2 inches round, a great size for hiding them in someone's wallet, shoes, lunchbox, a card (great for Valentines Day!!), the ideas go on and on.


SHMILY stands for "See How Much I Love You" and the point of the game is to leave a coin in different spots, as a reminder to your loved one in how much you love them. For instance, a husband who always forgets to put the toilet seat down can put the lid down and leave a coin on top for the wife to see :) (thankfully I don't have this issue with my husband haha!) Or if a wife irons her husbands clothing, she can leave a SHMILY coin on top of his nicely folded jeans. Or a child who makes their bed without having to be told, can leave a coin on his pillow so mom can see the bed nicely made. The scenarios are endless. But this is a great way to start up a fun family tradition that sends positive messages to each other and encourages each to do good for another.

I received a set of SHMILY coins to keep and share. I love the story that goes with them. Such a sweet and inspiring read.I will be sharing these with others and my family, as well! With Valentine's Day coming up, it would be a great time to purchase SHMILY coins! You can check them out on Facebook and on their website.


 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

MorningStar Veggie *Chik* Burger Review

How many readers here are Vegetarians? And how many are on the opposite spectrum and love anything meat? I find myself right in between. Although some days I'll really crave meat, and others I rather just eat a salad. The new fad going on this year is "Meatless Mondays" cutting out meat every Monday. Not only is this said to be healthier for you, but also another way to save you a little cash, in buying less meat! But what if you're a severe carnivore and feel like you absolutely need meat in your day to day routine? That's where MorningStar Veggie Burgers come in.

MorningStar makes a wide variety for meat substitutions in burger patties, chicken nuggets, buffalo wings, bacon, sausage, the options are nearly endless! They even have meal starters to make preparing meals that much easier! You can eat with MorningStar for any meal of the day and they have a great list of recipes for any food palette.

As a member of Bzzagent, I learned about MorningStar and received a free coupon to try them out! Plus $1 off coupons to use and share. I can't believe I forgot to use my coupon when I purchased these though!! lol.The first time I tried MorningStar, I purchased their Chik Patties Original. These are made with 64% less fat then that of a real chicken patty, only 140 calories per serving and they are cholesterol free. To make mine, I first microwaved the frozen patty just to see how it would turn out. I wanted it to be a little crispy so I cooked it in the oven for a few minutes. When done cooking, I placed the patty on an EatingRight Whole Wheat Sandwich Slender with some melted cheese and ketchup. I was surprised at how much these veggie patties tasted like real chicken! They had the texture of chicken but it was slightly more stringy, not really that noticeable, but I assume from the veggies. I ate half of the sandwich just fine, but it started getting gummy tasting to me. I would much more prefer a real chicken sandwich lol. But if you're serious about going meatless, I think MorningStar would be an ideal switch. I hope to be trying other products from MorningStar soon, and will blog as I do! :)

               Here is my MorningStar Veggie Chik Burger:

 You can find MorningStar on their website and Facebook.


 This post is sponsored by Bzzagent in providing me coupons to purchase products to test and review. Although I completely forgot to use my coupons, I will still give them the credit:) As I will be using the coupons soon! All opinions are my own.

Emmy Rossum's Sentimental Journey CD Review

Sentimental Journey is Emmy Rossum's newest "passion-project" with a collection of classical music. She is a multi-talented actress who stars in Shameless on Showtime, and will be in the film Beautiful Creatures, which is out on February 13th. And she is also a singer that brings life to past popular songs of the century.

To be honest, I listened through the whole CD and just didn't find her style appealing to me. The music is pretty and she does have a good voice, but her singing style I just don't care for. It has a classical 50's style to it which make you think of the pinup girls and old Ford Trucks. lol. I think it's unique though, how she made a new song for each month, fitting around the holiday theme. Emmy said  "Each song needed to either lyrically or emotionally reflect the corresponding month, Some songs were obvious fits, like Summer Wind for June, and Pretty Paper for December. Others songs were less literal fits. I chose Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out) for September because, to me, the plaintive melody and lyric emotionally reflect the cold weather creeping in and the sense of melancholy we can get in the fall months."

Emmy will be performing a track from Sentimental Journey on Access Hollywood Live on January 25th as well as being a guest on Conan on the 28th, on Chelsea Lately on the 29th, and on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on February 6th.

You can see her music video for the song:
"These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) HERE
And find her on Twitter.

If you'd like to purchase her CD, you can do so on iTunes or Amazon.




 I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

DIY Felt Pretend Play Bandaids

My son has a cute little Doctor kit he likes to play with his toys with, so I decided I'd make him some cute little felt band-aids 

to bandage up the owies! :P

All I did was cut the needed shapes from light brown and white felt, and hot glued the pieces together! Super easy, super cute.

Old Spice Body Wash...for kids hehe

Have you ever seen the Old spice Body Wash commercials with Terry Crews?? If not you can watch the video below:



My son thinks it's just the funniest thing ever and has said he wants Old Spice body wash for himself since he's seen the commercials! lol...so for a last minute Christmas present, we bought a normal bottle of Old Spice, emptied the contents into another empty container so my husband could use the manly body wash, then washed the container out and poured kiddy body wash into it! Much better on our sons skin. My husband found pictures of Terry Crews doing the commercial and he taped them all around the bottle so they wouldn't damage when wet. My son thought this gift was hilarious and loves it!! He uses it in the shower every night and says "Is that my left bicep? No, it's my, aaabdominal's..P-p-p-power! Boom!" hahaha such a memorable gift for him!!

                                    (front and back)

Microwave Orange Cake

I was craving cake awhile back and wanted a simple and quick recipe to make a small cake. I came across this post on, I believe it was, Small Wall Bit Appetite, and found her Lemon Curd pudding recipe. I decided to follow her recipe for a microwave cake and just not have lemon curd with it. So I made a microwave Orange cake and just halved the recipe! 

You start by mixing together 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 c softened butter . Then add in 1/2 c flour, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp orange flavoring (or vanilla if you don't have any just use enough orange zest for flavor), 

orange food coloring for color and some Zest of an orange. Mix Well.

 I added some rainbow sprinkles for added color and fun :)

Microwave on high for about 3-4 minutes

 Comes out delicious and just the right amount!

Dress Up Your Pet Day 1/14

Did you know that today is "Dress Up Your Pet Day" ??

How many people dressed up their pets? lol...I didn't exactly dress my kitty up today, but here is a photo of her around Halloween this last year (2012) wearing baby clothes :)

(don't mind her odd looking eyes...they were "red eyed" cat eyes in the photo, 

so I edited them and they came out a little too big and black looking lol)

NYC Color Liquid Lipshine Review

New York Color Liquid Lipshine is a new lip gloss that contains a pure pigment to create a 3-D gloss filled with Vitamin E to provide shine and moisture. It's non-sticky and gives your lips a soft and creamy texture. NYC Color Liquid Lipshine is available in 10 different shades being from neutral to nudes and berries to fuschias.

I tried the NYC Liquid Lipshine in the color NUDE. It blended well with my skin and made my lips look natural with a nice shine and a glittery shimmer. Easy application and it smells really good! Reminded me of the scent of cupcakes :)

You can find more NYC New York Liquid Lipshine in most stores at a retail price of $2.49 Be sure to visit them at their website or on Facebook or Twitter.

The above product was provided by Influenster as a part of my Holiday 2012 Vox Box to review. All opinions are my own.

Montagne Jeunesse Face Masque Review

Montagne Jeunesse is a company that makes some great face masks! They range in all different varieties containing different ingredients and fragrances. Clays, Muds, Peel Offs, Scrubs, Creams and more!! You must check them out to see the many choices!

I received the deep cleansing "Clean-Up Mud" mask. It is filled with Aloe Vera Juice, Willow, Rosemary and Witch hazel, made for blemish prone skin! It has a pretty potent smell of the Witch Hazel but I managed to get through the smell ;) It dried within 10-15 minutes and I washed it off in the shower. It took quite a bit of rinsing but once it was off, my face was soft and smooth.

Each mask retails under $2 to make it affordable for all. Check out Montagne Jeunesse on Facebook and Twitter, as well as their Website.

The above product was provided by Influenster as a part of my Holiday 2012 Vox Box to review. All opinions are my own.

Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal Review

Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal is oatmeal you can enjoy on the go! It comes in a convenient single-serve cup, filled with whole grain oats, rye, barley and wheat, as well as chunks of real fruit and nuts. All you have to do is add water and microwave, to have breakfast at any time!

I received a cup of Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal in Apple Walnut flavor. It was easy to make but I didn't really care for the flavor. It tasted kind of plain and lacked flavor. I did like the nutty chunks in it and the apple pieces though. I would have enjoyed if there were more of those :)

  Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal comes in four different flavors: Apple Walnut, Cherry Pistachio, Peach Almond, and Summer Berry. It retails at $1.79 per cup. You can find more information on the Quaker website or visit them on Facebook or Twitter.

The above product was provided by Influenster as a part of my Holiday 2012 Vox Box to review. All opinions are my own.

UNREAL sweepstakes!

Do you remember my reviews from awhile back on the delicious yet nutritious, Unreal candy??  
(Check it out here if you don't)

Well....

#GetUNREAL! 

Because UNREAL Candy is holding a Sweepstakes where you could win $10,000 to shop at Target!!!

To enter:

Take a photo of your UNREAL candy and send it to unreal@pongr.com

10 additional winners will receive a year's supply of UNREAL candy!!Yum!

Thanks to Unreal Candy and One2OneNetwork, I have entered this contest myself! :) 

And in sharing the info with you, I have been entered to win a special prize through #O2O.

$25 off Sole Society Shoes!!

You can discover the latest shoe trends over at Sole Society! They have several styles of shoes to choose from, heels, flats, boots and more!

I browsed their site and found these super sexy "Sophie Stretch Tall Boots" which are made of Faux Leather and have a 4 inch heel height! These are shoes i could never wear but aren't they gorgeous?

I would have to go with something a little more like the "Aileen Motorcycle Boot", also made of Faux Leather but with a heel height of 1 and 1/4 inch :)

Check out Sole Society and see if there's any shoes you might like! You can get $25 off of your first pair if you use the code: INFLUENSTER25 before 1/31/13!

The code is provided by Influenster as a part of my Holiday 2012 Vox Box to review. All opinions are my own.