Glam Pumpkin Make Over

From outrageous orange to golden glam in a flash! This is how to make those plastic pumpkins super stylish!

I was browsing at the local thrift shop a few weeks ago and I noticed they had a huge pile of Halloween stuff out. Everything was 10 cents. I sorted out about 10 plastic pumpkins and happily took them home. 

I grabbed some gold spray paint and gave them a generous coat. I let them dry throughout the day, and now I have some total glamorous pumpkins to display! It may be only August, but I am ready for a super stunning and stylish Halloween display this year!

You might want to wear gloves when you spray paint... I got a little too enthusiastic about the idea and I just went for it. My hands were a lovely shade of gold too. HA!

How am I going to use these glam pumpkins in my Halloween and fall decor?

Make sure you come back in a few weeks to peek at the final results. 

But:

I am thinking to have hubby drill a hole in the bottom of a few and use them to plant mums.

I am going to stack 3 together and create a fall totem pole of fun. I am looking for Rose Gold and bronze spray paint to add to the colorful display!

If you have any ideas for my remaining 4 pumpkins, please leave it in a comment!

Biz Works Better, But Why?

Life with kids can get messy; both figuratively and literally! Between sports and grass stains and excessive dirt and art classes, there are always a few good stains awaiting me in my laundry.

This conversation has been sponsored by BIZ, but the ideas are my own.

A few years ago a stain from grass or markers might have been enough to send a shirt or pair of pants to the trash can, but these days I don't sweat it. I tackle stains like it is no one's biz-ness. My laundry room is stocked with Biz to fight stains for me.

Biz works better than other brands because it contains the ingredients needed to work on ALL STAINS!  It has enzymes for grass, blood and milk stains. It has peroxide for juice and pasta sauce stains. It has whitening agents to get clothes brighter than ever. It has detergents for dirt and mud. It has all of my bases covered in one handy package.

We are a crafty family, so we get messy! The kids are usually covered in something from head to toe. Asides from it being evidence of a day well spent, it shows we lived, made memories and created something lovely, took an adventure or just had a good time! When I use BIZ, I can keep the good times rolling without stressing over the laundry.

Regardless of if Rolf is out on the field, or just making something cute, he can wear his outfit another day without looking like a mess, no matter how much of a mess he might have been!Harp might have decorated herself instead of her art, but we don't even consider it, her outfits are safe from stains and can be cleaned up fuss free.

We like Biz powder and liquid equally, both work wonders without any elbow grease required! How do you tackle tough stains? Biz costs about $3 a bottle and is literally the best stain fighter we have ever tried. I would love to hear your best laundry tips in a comment!

Color Swirling Milk Experiment

Harper and I love to explore the kitchen when we need crafty inspiration. She is totally my partner in crime when it comes to creativity!

We were looking for a quick activity on a busy day, because even a busy day should have time for fun and exploration when you are 5! We found ourselves in the kitchen, again, to fuel our inspiration.

This is such a fun way to explore kitchen science and how dish soap works! You need only 4 things to make color swirling milk!

Supplies:

• Milk Use Vitamin D or 2% milk,
• Half and half or heavy cream provide even better results if you have it!
• Food Coloring
• Q Tips
• Dish Soap

This post contains affiliate links.

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a glass dish
2. Add several drops of food coloring to the milk.
3. Dip a q tip in dish soap 
4. Dip the q tip into the milk
5. And watch the colors swirl!

Why this works:

Milk has fat in it. The higher the milk fat content, the better this reacts. You can see the power of a concentrated dish soap before your eyes as the dish soap works to break down the fat content of the milk, thus disrupting the splashes of color, causing them to swirl.

What Harp thought:
Harp is a milk drinker, so she was ready to combine early science with her snack. She is intrigued by food coloring, so this was completely up her alley.

As you can see in the photos, she was ready to get hands on with this right away! She was completely intrigued by how the dish soap reacted to the milk. We tried this several times with different colors. We also tried this with skim milk and coffee creamer to see how the dish soap reacted to other milk products


 This is a fun way to engage the little ones with kitchen science, and I would highly recommend trying it with your kids sometime soon as it is so simple!

If you like colorful kids activities, you won't want to miss these glow in the dark nightlights.
This glow in the dark necklace is another fun project that my kids loved.

What Is the Importance of Instagram in the Marketing Strategies?

Undoubtedly, Instagram is the most powerful social networking platform to support a business. Since there are no restrictions about hashtags and the length of the content, one can make the most out of the Instagram account if you can use its features and advantages at the fullest for your business.  There are even tools available, such as instagram name generator, that you can use to ensure that your instagram username is unique to you. Nowadays, regardless of the size of the business every company is adopting social networking sites to promote the business. Hence, marketing strategies can be designed on the basis of Instagram to promote your business. Instagram is a photo sharing social networking platform and hence is a powerful medium to promote your brand.

Impact of Sharing Visual Content

Visual content is the most powerful thing for communication. From the perspective of business promotion, use of pictures and videos create a huge impact on the audience. Generally, every human being loves to tell and listen to stories. If you create the stories related to your brand and upload the videos on Instagram, the audience will get engaged to your content and creation of engaging content works better than to buy Instagram likes to enhance your brand value. Product-centric approach is the outdated strategy of marketing. Instead, concentrate on the needs and feelings of the customers while designing videos to endorse your products and brands.

Share your stories

Share your stories with captivating visuals! Studies show that images and videos are far more engaging than text-only posts.  Consider incorporating elements you use in your blog newsletters, but reformatted for a social media audience.

To build brand recognition, establish a consistent color palette or theme across your content. A Web design melbourne firm (or one more relevant to your location) can help you to develop a strong visual identity that resonates with your target audience and keeps them engaged. 

Regularly sharing your story fosters deeper connections with your followers.  These connections are essential for turning casual viewers into loyal customers.  Dealerships and businesses often focus on product promotion, but customers gravitate towards brands that prioritize their needs and emotions.

By converting your stories into visual content, you'll grab attention and hold it.  Platforms like Instagram offer limitless opportunities for creative expression.  Don't be shy about using relevant hashtags and collaborating with complementary brands to expand your reach.  With no restrictions on video or audio length, you have the freedom to craft a truly impactful message and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

You can reach more people

You can reach more people through Instagram since this photo sharing based platform does not impose any restrictions regarding characters or hashtags like Twitter. You can use 10 to 15 hashtags on your content, decide the location of your choice, and can get more audience engagement when compared to any other social networking platforms. With a little investment of time and budget, Instagram offers a huge potential for the expansion of the market. If your follower count is lacking slightly, you might want to look into services that can help you with this. Knowing Where to buy Instagram followers with Twicsy, for instance, has the potential to put you in a better position and get your page to be more visible. Statistics show that there are nearly 800 million users on Instagram and hence, a little amount of money on Instagram marketing helps you to reap a huge amount of profits. 

You can create relevant advertisements to address the targeted audience and reach more customers. Which is why, you should try to invest a little amount of time and money.But be careful that you don’t overuse hashtags to attract more customers and enhance the brand value. If your content is stuffed with keywords and hashtags, your website or profile may seem spammy and may distract the targeted audience. On the other hand, you may lose your loyal customers as they get annoyed by spammy ads or keywords in your profile or bio. If you're not sure which hashtags to use on your posts, then let Social Studio decide for you. The hashtags that they generate are based on an algorithm and not just random.You can get more community following to enhance your brand value if you remain active on Instagram and post stories now and then. On the other hand, you can enhance the social relationships and business relationships with the people of same taste and can create products based on different niches. Hence, take care that you get more Instagram followers of your community on your Instagram account.

You can create posts requesting their response and comments through interactive buttons or call to action buttons. The requests for interaction and call to action requests can engage more audience that may allure more customers to your product. You can ask your followers on Instagram to comment on your posts and invite your customers for a conversation using specific branded hashtags to gain more free Instagram followers.

Hence, take care of the methods you follow to attract your customers through CTAs and the way you send invites to your customers. Make sure that you are not using spammy back links or contents in your posts since this may cause loss of your reputation among your followers and audience. Always stay cautious that you are not using automated engagement methods because real user engagement is the only thing that will have a positive impact on your fans and followers.

Stay Alert about Your Competitors and Feedback

Stay Alert About Your Competitors and Feedback 
Instagram is a powerful media to keep your mind open to the feedback of your customers since the visual content and media will get more customer response and feedback when compared to text content. Instagram helps to keep track of the progress of your competitors in their business as well. If you have a good idea about the progress and moves of your competitor brands, you can stay strong and design more useful strategies to withstand the competition and gain more followers and loyal customers through Instagram. Instagram is just one of many new fangled customer service tools, for instance, take a look at Qualtrics for more info on how people use it and similar social media platforms.

Conclusion

Instagram is a powerful image-based platform to endorse your business and products faster and clear when compared to other social networking platforms without the restrictions about length and hashtags of the content. You can use your skills to gain more followers and keep track of the competitors to attain more value to your business and attain more loyal customers through this powerful platform. Use high-quality relevant images and videos to keep the followers glued to your profile.

Baby on a Budget: 10 Tricks to Save Money with a Newborn

Having a baby doesn’t have to be expensive – whilst there are certain costs that are necessary, it’s possible to still give your baby everything it needs on a modest budget. Here are a few tricks for saving money on a newborn baby.

Know the things you need – and the things you don’t need

There are a lot of baby products that are essential, and a lot of baby products that are a waste of time and money. For example, you don’t really need a changing mat and you certainly don’t need a changing station. You can bath your infant without a baby bath, and you can keep bottles clean without a steriliser. And whilst most parents will endeavour with baby shoes since they look cute, your baby isn’t really going to need them until they start walking. Other useless items include wipe warmers, baby cologne, baby hairbrushes and pacifier wipes.

Save your money for the things that matter such as diapers, bottles, wipes, clothes, a cot and car seat. It’s worth noting that there are some bits of baby kit that are useful, but never get bought. A travel cot for example is useful for staying round other people’s homes, whilst a baby sling can be useful for tackling pram-unfriendly terrain or simply doing housework whilst keeping your baby close.

Shop second-hand

Buying second hand is always a lot cheaper than buying brand new. A lot of mothers will be selling prams and cots and other baby items online for cheap. You’re best off buying locally using platforms such as Facebook and Gumtree – this allows you to pick up the item in person and get a good idea of its condition before buying it. Sites like eBay can have great deals, but you’ll have to put your trust in a picture because there’s no way of seeing the product in person first.

Some baby items being sold second-hand may even be unused. This is often the case with baby clothes – new parents often end up getting lots of newborn clothes, but some babies can grow out of this size in the first week (others are born so large that they never get to wear any of these clothes). This can be a great way of saving money on clothes.

Accept hand-me-downs

Parents or older siblings may have hung onto items that could be of use. They may even be willing to give you these items for free. Don’t reject these hand-me-downs if you think they could come in use. Of course, you do need to be careful with really old products – an old car seat may not even be legal under today’s health and safety laws. Don’t forget to also turn to friends who may have had babies as they too many have items that they can give you.

Throw a baby shower

Baby showers are excellent opportunities to receive baby-related gifts. You’re certain to get a few impractical gifts, however there’ll be a few useful gifts such as blankets, bibs and diapers. If your friends are unsure as to what to buy you for your baby shower, don’t be afraid to request certain gifts that you need. Your friends would much rather buy something that you need than splash out on something unnecessary. You could even get people to all give you money or you could get them all to chip in and buy something big that you need such as a pram or a car seat.

Consider convertible products

Some items are convertible allowing them to be used for different ages and helping you to get more use out of them. For instance, there are cot beds with different height settings, some of which can eventually be converted into a small bed – this could allow these cots to grow with your baby rather than having to buy separate sized cots as they get older. You can also buy convertible prams that start off as regular prams and can later be converted into strollers. Try to look for products that come with all the extras so that you’re not having to buy these accessories separately. For example, many prams comes with a waterproof cover to protect your baby in the rain, whilst some even come with a cupholder. You’ll pay more for the well-known brands – if you’re willing to be less brand conscious, you could find yourself a convertible pram or cot that’s just as good quality at a much cheaper price.

Breastfeed

Whilst breastfeeding may not be for everybody, there’s no denying that it’s the cheaper option. Those that go down the formula-fed route will soon realise how much it adds up, even if you are opting for the powder over the premade formula – you could be spending up to $20 a week. Of course, there are pieces of extra kit that you may want to buy when breastfeeding such as breast pumps and nursing pillows, but even with these purchases you’re still likely to save money compared to feeding your baby on formula. You’re best off attending breastfeeding classes before your due date to give you a good idea of whether breastfeeding is for you.

Make your own baby food

When your infant eventually moves onto solid food, you could save money by making your own baby food. If you’ve got a blender, it’s possible to make your own purees using vegetables such as carrots, peas and butternut squash. You can also easily mash up bananas and serve these as a sweet treat. You’ll find many recipes online for DIY baby foods using basic ingredients at your local shop. These foods are likely to be just as healthy and a lot cheaper to make than buying baby food brands.

Buy stuff in bulk

You can also save money on many baby supplies by buying them in bulk. This includes formula milk, wipes and diapers. Your local supermarket may only offer small packs of these items, so you may have to go online or visit a wholesaler to find the larger bulk packs. Be wary of buying too much of certain products – you don’t want to buy too many of one size diaper only for your infant to grow out of that size the next week.

Make use of coupons

You can get also get huge discounts on baby stuff by using coupons. There are many coupon sites where you can find free voucher codes. Alternatively, you could try signing up to baby brand mailing lists – these companies may send you discounts via email. Coupons often have an expiry date, so make sure you use them before it’s too late.

Convince a friend/family member to babysit

There will be times when you need someone to look after your little one. Rather than forking out money on a babysitter, consider asking a friend or family member. In most cases, friends or family members will be willing to look after your baby for free. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for someone to babysit on a regular basis whilst you are at work, you could consider using a mix of friends and family and occasionally hiring a babysitter to fill when this isn’t possible. Even if a friend or family member wants payment for this service, you shouldn’t have to charge as much as you would for a full-time babysitter.