An Adorable Gift Idea - Spin For Perfect Skin & Coffee Cacao Coconut Sugar Scrub #VPbeauty

I wanted to share a little DIY project with you, and tell you all about a wonderful Mother's Day gift idea from Vanity Planet! Keep reading to learn more about this Shabby Chic Birdcage Gift Basket, the Vanity Planet Spin For Perfect Skin, and the Vanity Planet Coffee + Cacao + Coconut Sugar Scrub. This DIY is SO easy, let's get started!!

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Let's Make A Gift Basket!! 

Materials Needed -

1 birdcage, large enough to fit your gifts (I found this one at JoAnns)

Silk Flowers (I chose peonies - I used about 4-5)

Pink Paper Crinkles

Vanity Planet Spin For Perfect Skin Brush, Vanity Planet Sugar Scrub

That's it!

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I filled the birdcage with paper crinkles, to make add a pop of color, and to make sure the body scrub and spin brush fit in the birdcage properly. I love how it looks. 

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Top off the gifts with some silk flower heads to hide them a bit. love how well the presents fit inside of this shabby chic birdhouse. 

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So, here's what is inside of this amazing gift basket. The Spin For Perfect Skin gift set comes with FOUR brush heads, which is awesome! My current spin brush is great, so this set will last w very long time. I love the addition of this larger brush head (it measures a few inches across), because it's perfect for your neck, chest, and back. I think it's a good idea to have a separate spin brush head for your face compared to the rest of your body. I also really like the pumice stone head. This is a bit more than anything I need at this point, but a lot of people would absolutely LOVE this!! Get your skin ready for summer with this awesome gift set. The sugar scrub was nice too. Read more about that below. 

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Below, you will see the brush head that I have on my current spin brush, as well as an even softer brush head, that might be nice around your eyes. 

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This Bru Coffee + Coconut Cacao Sugar Scrub contains "dead sea salt, organic kona coffee, organic olive oil, sweet almond oil, organic grape seed oil, coffee arabica seed oil, organic shea butter, and natural fragrance extracts". When I first opened it, I could instantly smell the coffee. It smells very fresh, and not only like coffee, but a very pleasant mix of sweetness as well. 

I would definitely recommend opening this over the sink or the tub, because it is a bit messy, but is very easily containable (if that makes sense...). This scrub is more oily than others I have used. I wound up needing to use another soap to fully remove it from my skin. But, it's very luscious, and I am so glad it contains almost 100% organic ingredients. That's very hard to find! 

This Essential Body Scrub "hydrates, moisturizes, and stimulates blood flow while targeting cellulite and stretch marks. It exfoliates dead skin" and smooths your skin out very nicely. 

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To learn more about Vanity Planet, visit their website!

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Erin Pelicano Jewelry

I absolutely love photographing anything from Erin Pelicano. I was so inspired by the city of Santa Fe, because of the gorgeous architecture, and the history of the buildings and my surroundings. I absolutely LOVE the fact that so many of the doorways, doors, and other parts of the buildings are painted mint or blue. Erin's necklaces always arrive wrapped in light blue tissue paper, so I thought that the mint railing would be the perfect place to photograph her necklaces. I also utilized an adorable courtyard (that I had all to myself!), and was able to work on her photos near a fountain and lots of pretty early Spring flowers. Such a magical place to work! I had so much fun with this project, and I hope you enjoy!! 

And, of course, these necklaces are wonderful gifts for Mother's Day and beyond! I have given these to various women in my family, and they are wearing them every time I visit! Erin Pelicano jewelry is always made from either real silver or gold, which I think sets her work far above the rest! 

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Find Erin Pelican Jewelry On The Web

Learn more about Erin Pelicano Jewelry on her website. 

If you are in need of product photography for your goods, please comment below, or feel free to Contact Me for quotes! I would love to help you capture the beauty of your products.

Milkshakes Inspired By M&M’s® New Flavors!

It's that time of year again when ice cream sounds good in just about any form. Check out these amazing milkshakes, inspired by M&M's® flavors! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MMSFlavorVote #Walmart #CollectiveBias.

Here's How It Works.

You can help choose the next flavor of M&M's®!!! 

• Throughout the voting period of March 1 to June 17, you can purchase and taste each of the new flavors for yourself, and then cast your vote, once a day until June 17.
• Once you cast your vote for your favorite new M&M's® Peanut flavor, you are entered for the chance to win $100,000 and earn the title of the official M&M's® Taste Tester. The winner will be announced in August, along with the winner of the 'Flavor Vote,' which will remain on retailer shelves nationwide.
• Vote for your favorite flavor using the hashtag #MMSFlavorVote across social media!

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Be sure to visit the M&M's® Flavor Vote page on Facebook to vote for your favorite flavor!

Find The Flavors Here:

M&M's® Coffee Nut
M&M's® Chili Nut
M&M's® Honey Nut

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Note: The jars used in these recipes hold a bit over 4 Cups each, so all recipes are formatted to these jars.

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THE CHOCOLATE MOCHA SHAKE - INSPIRED BY M&M’s® COFFEE NUT

Ingredients:

M&M’s® Coffee Nut Flavor

2 1/2 -3 C. Chocolate Ice Cream

1/2 C. Cool Whip

1 C. Coffee of any sort (Mine was pre-packaged)

1 Packet of Hot Chocolate Mix (Optional)

Dash of Milk - Optional

FOR THE COOKIES...

Ingredients:

Pre Made or Home Made Chocolate Chip Cookies

Melting Chocolate + Brush To Spread It Onto Cookies

Instructions:

These are so easy! Simply melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave until smooth. Carefully brush chocolate onto half of the front of each cookie.

In a zip top bag, use a rolling pin to crunch up some of the M&M’s® Coffee Flavor candies. Top half of your cookies with M&M’s® Coffee Nut candy pieces, or chocolate sprinkles. They stick super well to the chocolate. Let cool, and eat separately, or add to your milkshake.

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THE HONEY NUT PEANUT BUTTER SHAKE - INSPIRED BY M&M’s® HONEY NUT

Ingredients:

M&M’s® Honey Nut Flavor

2 - 2 1/2 C. Vanilla Ice Cream

1/2 C. Peanut Butter

1 1/4 C. Milk

1 C. Cool Whip (And more for on top)

1 -2 Tbsp Honey (depending on how strong you want the flavor)

Yellow Sprinkles

Get ready, this tastes amazing!!

Instructions:

Blend ice cream, peanut butter, milk, honey, and Cool Whip together until smooth. Add M&M’s® Honey Nut Flavor either as whole pieces, or crushed up into smaller pieces. Stir with a spoon.

Pour into a large glass, and top with whipped cream, yellow sprinkles, and crushed up M&M’s® Honey Nut. 

This one wound up being my absolute favorite!! Enjoy!!

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THE CHILI CHOCO SHAKE - INSPIRED BY M&M’s® CHILI NUT

Ingredients:

M&M’s® Chili Nut

3 C. Chocolate Ice Cream

1 C. Milk

Red Sprinkles

Red Chilis For Garnish - Optional

Luckily I got some of the last of the new flavor M&Ms at Walmart! Looks like just about everyone in town wanted a piece of the voting action! 

My local stores were almost sold out, but I found them near the front of the store by the registers. 

Instructions:

Mix together chocolate ice cream, milk, and Cool Whip until smooth. Feel free to add a dash of Cayenne pepper for some heat if you want. Also, add some M&M’s® Chili Nut candies, and mix with a spoon.

Pour the mixture into a jar, and top with whipped cream, M&M’s® Chili Nut candies, and red sprinkles. 

To create a fun garnish, take two red chilis (I used ones that weren't spicy, because these candies have some heat), and poke holes in them to make room for the straw to pass through. Love how these turned out!

Thanks so much for checking out these fun recipes, inspired by M&M’s® new flavors! 

Blogging For A Cause with bluehost.com

Are you part of a group or organization that is doing some really amazing things for your cause or community? It is so important to have a space where you can share all of your thoughts and accomplishments, in one place, on the web. If this hits home, have you thought about starting a blog? You can find a template pretty easily, and you really don't need much else.

I am also a web designer (by degree), so let me know if you need some help creating a beautiful website or blog, I offer web design services, and would love to talk about how I can help your cause. 

1.) Plan It Out On Paper. Make a diagram of what you want the blog to contain, as well as how you want it laid out. What do you want to click through to, what type of pages are important for your cause? A general, overall sketch will be important at this stage, too, and save you lots of time in the future.

2.) Build Your Website. There are so many places to start a free blog. I used to use blogger.com (and I know a ton of people use Wordpress because of how many templates are available for that platform). But, after many years of blogging via blogger.com, I decided it was time to have my very own dot com! I only pay about $8-10 per month to have a blog/website on Squarespace.com. I absolutely love this platform, because it is drag and drop designing (meaning I can just drag different elements around on the page until I like how they look). So streamlined, I just LOVE it!! 

3.) Stay Organized! Before you even start a new blog or website, make a folder on your computer (NOT your Desktop, the Documents folder is best for this). Then, start folders inside of that one called whatever you will name your pages, like Home, Apply, Blog, Vendors/Members, etc. 

4.) Create A Color Scheme. It's so easy to find popular blog designs and other color schemes on Pinterest or Google. 

5.) Create Some Content! If you are running a craft fair, begin to share images of work from artists, and share their bio photos if they would like it. Take photos of your group members out at dinner or other events. Share photos from past events. Text is also pretty important, so begin writing as much as possible to explain what your group does, and how you're helping the community! Asking group members or community members to write guest blog posts in their own words. Canva.com is a website that makes it SO easy to design website graphics, logos, and more! 

6.) Have fun! A blog is an incredibly rewarding project, and can be a very inexpensive way to create lasting memories and create awareness for your cause! If you have a blog for a group or organization, I would love to see what you have created! Please feel free to link us to it in the comments below. 

7.) Host Your Website. After you have done all this work designing your website or blog, it needs to go live. Bluehost.com has extremely reasonable rates, and have amazing customer service. Click the blue banner, below, to learn more about their services. Use my link to make sure you let bluehost.com know who sent you :)

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FARMER'S MARKET WEBSITES

Above, The Seattle Neighborhood Farmer's Market website contains links to their social pages, a search bar, and showcases a slideshow with bright and festive photos. Their main pages are: Markets, What's Fresh, Programs & Events, Vendors, Help Us Grow, and About. It looks like they have multiple locations, so on the right of the page, you can learn more about each location. If you are only operating in one location, use this area for images leading to blog posts or upcoming events. 

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The Mill City Farmer's Market website is wonderful. They have a great video on their home page, which really brings the market to life. As you can see, their pages are as follows: Home, Visit, Meet Our Vendors, About, Eat Seasonably, Learn, and Support.

I also really enjoy the fact that they have bright and colorful recipes on their home page, which helps customers envision easy ways to use what they find at the market. 

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CRAFT FAIR WEBSITES

Finders Keepers is lively and inviting! I just love how they highlight so many of their artists, and really give a face to each and every artist in their shows. They have pages such as Home, About, Markets, Information, Directory, Blog, and Contact. I think all craft show websites need an Apply Page. The Squarespace Form blocks are magic for this type of thing. 

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The Handmade Market has a wonderfully inviting website. Not every design works well with the woodgrain background, but this one really does! I love how they are featuring artist interviews as blog posts - this is a great way to get quick and fulfilling content for your Cause Blog. 

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If you want to see if your website is available, fill in the form below to get started. If you have any questions, just comment below, and I will get right back to you!