Disney Pillowcase Art

What child is not familiar with the popular Disney characters? Especially the younger ones, who adore having their special space decked out with their favorite movie pals.

When Amber was 5 she went through a Buzz Lightyear phase, and she wanted everything in her room to show that Buzz was "the" best thing in inner and outer space!

Which brings us back to the Disney characters and where your child lays their head.  Janlynn has wonderfully fun (and practical) Pillowcase Art kits featuring your kids' favorite Disney movies and characters.  Hannah Montana, Disney Princesses and Cars are just a few of the options available.

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Out Of Office

No not me, lol (at least not yet!) ~~ Out of Office is FedEx Office's blog! And it's chocked full of ideas for you to get for the 3 P's. That would be Projects, Parties and Presents!

If you're at a loss of where to start when it comes to a specific project you've decided to undertake, you may want to mosey over to the Out of Office blog because they'll help your planning with projects for:

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Holiday Decorating ☼ Don't Compromise Safety

Underwriters Laboratories, the world’s oldest and most-trusted product safety testing organization, knows that money savings will come in the form of reusing old decorations, shopping at thrift stores or deep discounters, and celebrating and cooking more at home. But if not done carefully, seemingly cheerful activities could quickly put a damper on holiday spirits – December and January are peak months for home fires, deaths and injuries.

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Green Works Laundry

I just love sharing the products that come my way via the Mom Central blog tours. This time it's two of the newest offerings from Green Works. And yes it's something everyone can use, laundry products.

I admit to not having "tough" laundry loads. Meaning that except for food stains (I do have sloppy eaters in my home), I don't have a lot of outdoors or grease type stains to deal with when I do laundry. Maybe that's why laundry is my favorite household chore! It's always a good thing when I can find a detergent and stain removal products that don't just work and smell good, but are also friendly on the environment.

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Healthy Hands Musical Hand Wash Timer Giveaway

While it seems as if the H1N1 virus is now becoming a background topic rather than the forefront of the news, there is always the seasonal flu to be concerned about, and germs from the common cold and other viruses too.

With the holiday gathering hugging, kissing and cheek pinching that will be happening, it's important to make sure that we help our children understand proper hand washing techniques in order to keep the germs at bay as much as we can.

Well I'm always a sucker for any product that is branded with a Disney character but the Disney Musical Hand Wash Timer by Healthy Hands has its own merit, the Disney branding is just an added bonus!

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ecostore USA Review & Giveaway

Recently I was able to try a couple of eco-friendly products from ecostore USA.  Completely natural with no chemicals, their products are all safe for your home and family.

 

One of the products I got to try was the Auto Dish Powder.  Ecostore USA's Auto Dish Powder only requires 1 tbsp. to do a full load of dishes.

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FIRST Wild Card Tour: The Christmas Kitchen

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Tammy Maltby

and the book:

The Christmas Kitchen

Howard Books (October 6, 2009)

***Special thanks to Jennifer Willingham of Simon and Schuster for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tammy Maltby is a writer, speaker, and media personality. For eight years, she was the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television talk show, Aspiring Women. She serves on the board of the National Women’s Ministry Association, Christian Women in Media and Arts, and Women of Courage International. She and her family live in Colorado Springs, CO.

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Wall Slicks Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was introduced to a product called Wall Slicks by Modern Wall Graphics. This  innovation in home decor is awesome, especially for people who don't want to fuss with paint, holes and/or tape.

Whether you want a high-style, sleek, contemporary or cutesy look, you can find Wall Slicks to fit your needs.

You could do one of two things: Choose one of the many pre-made designs from the site, or have a custom phrase or saying made just for you.

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PartyLite Candles Giveaway

There is something about the smells of the holiday season that just seem to get everyone in a festive mood.   PartyLite has great scented candles and holiday gifts that are perfect for hostess and teacher gifts.   Candles and accessories that go along with them also make good gifts for people that you work with.

PartyLite candles are known for their quality.  I purchased some beautiful votice holders close to 10 years ago, and they still get comments whenever I have them out.

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Calendars for Moms and a Giveaway!

Moms are busy.  Really busy.  It's so nice to have a variety of options to choose from when trying to organize the daily "busy"ness that we encounter.

Andrews McMeel Publishing has come out with a number of different calendars to help moms stay organized and inspired in 2010, and I want to highlight some of them.

This first is a delightful Mary Engelbreit design. The Mom's Can Do Anything Calendar, is a weekly wall organizer for 2010.  It has 54 weekly pages and 12 monthly pages.  With 6 different organizing lines, this will get you set to organize pretty much anything!

Each weekly page has an inspiring quote, which just might set your tone for the week!  This would make a great gift for any mom who likes to have a large surface area to organize her family's activities.

Then there is the Mom's Grab-N-Go 2010 Calendar.  If you don't want to have a wall calendar,  a desk calendar and a planning journal, this is the organizing calendar for you!  With weekly and monthly pages, this calendar has sections to keep track of appointments and kids activities.  It has extra space for lists and errands.  Plus it has a family reference guide in the back for  names, numbers and services.

The exceptional thing about this calendar is that it does double duty as a desk calendar and a planner.  Simply "button" it up and throw it in your bag, when you get home it easily props back up to sit on your desk or countertop.

The Moms Funny and True Tales of Motherhood 2010 Calendar, also makes a great gift.   This day to day calendar , will help mom get through the day with grace and wit.  Each page features an amusing anecdote, inspiring quote, or a fresh new tip.

There is also a Daily Extra, on the back of each page, featuring puzzles, jokes, lists, quotes tips and trivia.

All of these calendars and more are available at Andrews McMeel's online website.

Enter for your chance to win a Moms Funny and True Tales of Motherhood 2010 Calendar.

To enter visit Andrews McMeel and tell me another calendar you think is neat, besides the ones mentioned in this post.

For extra entries you can (the above must be done first before you are eligible for any additional entries)

* Blog about this giveaway linking back to Three Different Directions

* Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave the link to your tweet in the comments, this can be done daily)

This giveaway will end on December 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and open to U.S. Residents ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and Privacy/Rules declaration and agree to them.

I received complimentary calendars from Andrews McMeel prior to writing this post.

Ultimate Cloth Review & Giveaway

When I clean I generally use microfiber towels. I have ones about the size of a hand towel (but square) and use them for virtually every cleaning task in my home.

I recently had the chance to try the Ultimate Cloth in my home. It cleans all hard surfaces including, glass, granite, steel, painted surfaces etc), and all you need to use it with is....water.

Ultimate Cloth is made from MiraFiber™ Technology, which has open spaces between fibers that act as millions of tiny 'scoops' that pull dust, dirt, oil & other contaminants into the cloth and hold them until washed away with mild soap or detergent. (Can also be bleached for disinfection.)

There is vey little besides water I can use on my countertops in my kitchen, since the granite is not sealed. I can use a mild dish soap, but typically use only water to clean them. The deal is, even with my current microfiber cloths, I have to buff them dry, otherwise I will get waterspots.

Ultimate Cloth really did leave clean, streak free countertops in my kitchen, using only the cloth and water. I didn't have to dry the counters after cleaning them.

I like the fact that it is reusable. Just toss in the washer (if washing with a load, make sure the other items in the machine are lint free), and air dry.

The other cleaning chore that this cloth is awesome for is mirrors. I don't know about your home, but in mine, I often wonder what my Hubby and daughter do in the bathroom, when they brush their teeth. I can not in my wildest imagination even dream of how they get toothpaste where they do on the mirror. It's like they shimmy up as close as they can, and open as wide as possible and then brush, all the while splattering the mirror as they clean their teeth.

Amazingly enough, with just water, Ulitmate Cloth, wins the mirror war. Wow. I just wet it, made sure it was wrung out well, and then cleaned the mirrors. There was no streaking at all, and I didn't need to go over any of it. It was so quick, which in my books is fantastic.

Ultimate Cloth is available to purchase online starting at $6.00 a cloth. But the more you buy the more you save, and I'm pretty sure if you decide to purchase these, you'll want more than one.

Ultimate Cloth America has sponsored a giveaway for one of my readers to win one cloth.

To enter visit http://www.ultimateclothamerica.com/ and tell me what you would use your Ultimate Cloth for.

For extra entries (the above must be done first to be eligible for extra entries) you can:
* Become a Fan of Ultimate Cloth America on Facebook
* Subscribe to Three Different Directions
* Follow me on Blogger
* Become a fan of Three Different Directions on Facebook
* Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this contest: RT @threedifferent New Review & Giveaway: The Ultimate Cloth at http://bit.ly/4ELiKK (this can be done daily)
* Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway post and let me know which post you commented on. (2 entries, does not apply to previous comments made)

This giveaway will end on December 8, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and open to U.S. Residents ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and Privacy/Rules declarations and agree to them.

I received a complimentary Ultimate Cloth prior to writing this post.

Marcal Small Steps Giveaway

Today is American Recycling Day!  In one year, Marcal takes 200,000 tons of recyclable paper and makes products for your home from that.  Incredible!

I had seen Marcal on the store shelves in the past, but had never purchased them before.  Then I noticed one time going down the aisle, that it had new packaging and it was called Small Steps, and I thought "Sure, another company jumping on the green bandwagon."

But often my assumptions are wrong, as they were in this case.  After talking with someone at Marcal, I found out more information about Marcal's history and what they are all about as a company.

Marcal has been making its paper products from recycled paper, not trees, for more than 50 years!!  That's right, they've been in the green business since 1950.

Millions of trees are killed each year  to make the napkins, paper towels, tissues and toilet paper we use each day.  The destruction of those trees also destroy wildlife habitats.

Have you ever noticed how "white" your paper products are?  That may be a sign that chlorine bleach was added to them.  Yech.  Marcal doesn't use chlorine bleach, dye or fragrances when manufacturing their products and they are all hypoallergenic.  That's good news for those with sensitive skin.

Marcal believes that products should

• give you performance you can count on
• be good for your home and gentle on the environment
• not cost a lot

Their products include paper towels, toilet paper, napkins and facial tissue.

My family was able to try these products out and this is what we thought of them.

Bath Tissue - If you're used to double or triply ply bath tissue, you'll likely notice a difference at first with Marcal Small Steps.  Honestly, I tend to "double" up when using t.p. anyway (shameful, I know).  I had my doubts as the Small Steps looked thin, but when doubling up, it was strong.  Marcal Small Steps bath tissue is safe for septic systems too.

Facial Tissue - With cold and flu season upon us, you need a tissue that can stand up.  The Small Steps facial tissues have gotten a good workout in our home!  And we can tell you that they handle the strongest out put of nose blowing without tearing.  Again, don't expect plush, triple ply tissues, they look and feel thinner than other brands, but they are strong.  Another fact to note is that since no dyes or fragrance are used, that is nice when you're holding these right up to your face when you don't want to be irritated.

Paper Towels - Cleaning up quick spills or light household cleaning chores is now environmentally friendly when you use these recycled paper paper towels.  I admit to not using a lot of paper towels and opt for washable cloths instead for most cleaning.  Every once in a while though, I find that I want to be able to throw away my cleaning cloth, because I know the mess will stain or smell the cloth up.  When using Small Steps paper towels on greasy messes in my kitchen and not so pleasant tasks in my bathroom, they performed as well as any other brand I've used, and I got to be eco-friendly while using and tossing them!

Napkins - The purpose of a napkin is to wipe away the food lingering on your face and hands.  Obviously unless you're using cloth napkins, they just go in the garbage when you're finished.  As far as napkins go, in my opinion, less is best.  I don't want dyes, fragrance or bleach interfering with my food.  Small Steps napkins actually stood up better than the current brand we've been using, and they are less expensive!  Guess what's on my shopping list?

If you're looking to make small steps in your own home when it comes to living responsibly, Marcal Small Steps products are something to look into.  You can visit their site to find a store in your area that sells them.

Marcal is giving away a Marcal Small Steps Gift Pack to one of my readers!

To enter for your chance to win visit Marcal Small Steps and leave a comment telling me one thing you learned from their site.

For extra entries (the above most be done first to be eligible for extra entries) you can:

1. Join the Small Steps Family.  It's free.  You'll receive their newsletter and get coupons and special offers.
2. Tweet!  Follow @MarcalSmallStep and then tweet "@MarcalSmallStep @threedifferent Green Gift Pack Giveaway at http://bit.ly/4Bhic8" (be sure to leave the link to your tweet)  You can do this daily!

3. Blog about this giveaway, including a link back to it.
4. Subscribe to my feed.

Open to US residents, ages 18+,  ends November 29, 2009 at 11:59 pmcst. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will bechosen. Email must be incomment or available in profile.  By entering this giveawayyou are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and my Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

I received complimentary Marcal Small Steps products for the purpose of this review from Marcal.

Magic Jack Review

VOIP!  Sounds like an alien expletive doesn't it?  Actually it's an acronym for Voice Over Internet Protocol, which in non-geek translates into: telephone service that uses your high speed internet connection to dial in or out.

Voip service can save you a lot of $$ vs. a standard land line phone.

About a month a go we started using Magic Jack for a second phone line in our home.
Hubby works from home on Saturdays and Sundays and needs a dedicated phone line for work purposes, but we didn't want to get one from our phone company.  Magic Jack so fits our needs.

Magic Jack can be purchased for $39.95 plus shipping and handling on their website  that includes a year of service, and then the yearly fee after that is just $19.95!

Many people are dropping land lines and only have cell phones these days.  If you are one of those people consider Magic Jack as an inexpensive backup to have around for calls where you know you many be on the phone for long periods, don't want to tie up your phone, don't want to waste costly monthly cell phone minutes, or drain your battery.

Magic Jack is easy to set up.  Simply plug the dongle into a USB port and it installs the software immediately on your computer.  There is nothing else to install, and the set up for your phone umber and options has you running your new "phone" in literally minutes.  Since you can choose to use a headset or an actual telephone to use with it, it's very versatile depending on your needs.

So far Hubby has been very pleased with it. It works reliably, even when forwarding calls from his office phone to the Magic Jack number.

There was some echoing when he first started using it, but a quick adjustment of some of the controls solved that.

One thing to note is that your computer needs to be running for this to work (seems obvious but that may be overlooked by people who may not be completely tech savvy).  If you're using it in place of a land line, you can't turn your computer off.

The only downsides we could find were that the website is not very user friendly.  You have to do quite a bit of searching in order to figure out how to configure and set up your voice mail.  There also is a lot of advertising bombarding you even after you have your year of service after the trial period.  That gets a little overwhelming when you're trying to find information.

The other thing we'd like to change that you can't is how many rings happen before voice mail pick up.  It is set at quite a high number and there is no option to make it fewer rings. 

All in all if Magic Jack continues working as it has, we'll continue using it as a second phone line, when our first year of service is up.  The cost factor outweighs the other issues by a long shot.

If you currently subscribe to an long distance plan through your phone provider you may want to look into Magic Jack as it includes long distance within the US and Canada within your year of service.

You can visit MagicJack.com to see how you can get a free trial for 30 days!

I received a complimentary Magic Jack with a free year of service to use in my home for the purpose of this review post.

Update on May 30, 2011 by Tammy

After having used the product for nearly a year and a half, after a driver update the Magic Jack would no longer connect to its secure site for log in or contact information. After being on a call with “service support” that wanted us to download some proxy software to get it working again, and then being disconnected from the call before it was resolved, we were beyond frustrated.

Keep in mind that although we were given the product complimentary to review, we had since purchased a 5 year contract to use it, and now it wasn’t working properly.

Magic Jack support was no help to us, my husband finally found the problem with the updated drivers (after about 1 week of not being able to use it), rolled back the drivers and it worked fine. However, Magic Jack’s lack of support and having the call being terminated before it could be resolved was more annoying to me than the product not working.

Soap Nuts - Really? Yep they grow NaturOli!

I am a laundry freak.  By that I mean I ♥ doing laundry.  Yes, it's true.

I first heard about Soap Nuts about a year ago, and they thoroughly intrigued me.  I just never got around to ordering any, because quite honestly, I like the "artificials" that give me the "scent" when doing laundry.  I know in my head that no scent means clean, but my nose needs more convincing.

Then I got the chance to review a number of products from NaturOli (pronounced like naturally), and I no longer had an excuse to not try them.

Soap Nuts do really grow on trees!  When they get wet saponin is released and that makes them a good cleaner.

4 to 5 soap nuts in a muslin bag is all it takes to clean a load of laundry.  I did add some essential oil on the bag to "fool" my nose, but I guess either I didn't add enough, or it wasn't really essential oil, because the clothes came out clean, but with no scent.  That's right no scent (cuz they were clean ☺).

These same nuts can be used again, anywhere from five or more times.  Just keep them in the muslin bag and let them air dry.  When they stay mushy, it's time to put some new ones in the bag.  Oh and don't let the vinegary scent turn you off, your clothes won't take on that smell.

Since they also soften your laundry, no fabric softener is necessary.

The next product is what I like to refer to as Phenomenal Cleaning Powers - itty bitty bottle.

The EXTREME 18X Soap Nuts Laundry Soap and Green Cleaner is produced from pure soap nuts liquid extract.  Just 1/2 a teaspoon (seriously that little), in an HE washing machine will clean a medium load.

I found it a little unbelievable, but after doing 5 loads now with about 1/2 of my 12 load bottle left, I'm a believer.

Personally I'm a fan of this more than the actual nuts in the muslin bag for two reasons.  1.  I don't really want to dig through my wet laundry (yeah I grab and toss into the dryer), to look for the bag and then dry it out and 2.  This is going to be awesome for traveling.

Again no scent to this when the clothes are finished their wash cycle, and really the scent of the product is bearable even in liquid form.

The third product I got to review was the Soap Nuts & Olive Soap Bar.

Well the scent of this product does have something to be desired, but it's not made to be a chain store bath product (if you know what I mean), so for rich, healthy oils in a natural product a compromise on scent might have to happen.

It lathers nicely but without the chemicals that produce lathering in traditional soaps. We have very hard water where we live and I was pleased with how little I needed to get a decent lather on my cloth.

The EXTREME 18x was definitely my favorite of the three, and in difficult economic times that product and the Soap Nuts definitely make sense to purchase.

Price wise they are a great bang for your buck, plus they are all natural and safe for your family and environment.

All of these products and more are available in various sizes at NaturOli.  If you would like to try the three items that I received to review, it is only $8.50 for a sample pack.

I was provided complimentary products of the items noted in this review from NaturOli to use and formulate my own opinion for the purpose of this post.

Little Husks Tableware Giveaway

Little Husks makes some truly awesome children’s tableware.

Available at Simplygoodstuff.com, it includes a bowl, a cup, child-sized fork and spoon, divided plate and spaghetti plate all perfect for little hands.

Everything is dishwasher safe. The natural brown color means that there are no added dyes, fillers or chemicals.

Your not going to believe what this is made from though.....no it's not melamine, and its not ceramic...
it's made from RICE HUSKS!!  What a great way to ensure a safe way to feed your kids. That in itself is worth the price, which is $26.95 for the set.

You will also love the fact that these dishes can be put in the microwave.  Most children's dishes can't, and this makes Little Husks much more versatile in your kitchen.  As a matter of fact they are temperature resistant from -30 degrees Celsius to 120 degrees Celsius.

Because they are made from 100% natural fiber they are also biodegradable.  So after years of normal use when your children are done with them and your ready to move on, under optimal conditions they will break down 100%.

We have been using these dishes for the past couple of weeks even though we don't have any littles around.  The bowl has been a perfect size for breakfast cereal and ice cream, and the spaghetti plate for toast and snacks.  They have come out perfect from the dishwasher and it was noted when they arrived that they could have a "smell" to them when they get heated up because of the natural fibers, but we didn't notice any at all, and I have an extremely sensitive nose.

The labeling stickers that come on them are a little tough to get off even with some elbow grease, a different method of adhering them to the product would be nice, but it in no way effects the tableware.

The only other thing I wish, is that these dishes would come in "grown up" sets as well!  We like them so much we would buy a complete tableware set of four, for our home if they did.

SimplyGoodStuff.com has generously offered one reader from my blog to win a complete Little Husks Set.

To enter visit SimplyGoodStuff.com and leave a comment telling me another item that interests you from their site.

For extra entries (the above must be done first) you can:

 
1. Become a fan of Three Different Directions on Facebook

2. Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway (this can be once per day, please leave the direct link to your tweet in the comments). Just click the birdie.
3. Follow my blog publicly.
4. Subscribe to my feed via e-mail or reader.
5. Blog about this giveaway linking back to my blog.
6. Add my button to your blog.

This giveaway will end on November 12, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and open to U.S. Residents (no PO Boxes) ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews and Privacy/Rules declaration and agree to them.

I received a complimentary set of Little Husks Tableware from Simplygoodstuff.com for the purpose of this post.