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SodaStream is an at-home soda maker. They are sleek, fun to use, and come in several fashions. I got a chance to work with SodaStream on a review, and was amazed at the quality of soda that it produces. I thought the soda might come out overly carbonated or taste like really cheap soda, but it didn’t.
Making soft drinks and carbonated water has become a climbing trend, as more consumers are becoming environmentally aware of the build up that plastic and aluminum has on our earth.
Sodastream makes it easier to be eco-friendly, reducing our carbon footprints. Just think of the gas the trucks use to make it to the store with the 2 liters and cases of cokes. Think of the energy it requires to make plastic and aluminum, and think of all the plastic and aluminum that end up in the dump.
You can now enjoy soda without the hassle of tugging bottles or cases from the store. More importantly, no leftover cans or plastic. see the facts on what those plastic bottles do to the earth {here}.
How Does SodaStream Help the Environment?
SodaStream is an "Active Green" product, meaning that consumers are actively reducing their CO2
footprint every time they make soda or sparkling water at home instead of buying it from the store. The more the system is used on a daily basis, the more CO2 footprint
the user actively saves. (This differs from "Passive Green" products, which use green-friendly production processes, but their products are not inherently helping the consumers save on their daily footprint.)
Because SodaStream uses water straight from the tap, the system makes traditional store-bought beverage bottles obsolete. That means less plastic manufactured, less plastic waste is created, and fewer bottled beverages must be transported from manufacturers to distributors to stores to homes.
Globally, 206 billion liters of bottled water were consumed in 2008 (Zenith International Global Bottled Water Report, 2008). The energy required to make water bottles in the US only, is equivalent to 17 million barrels of oil (Container Recycling Institute, 2002).
You can turn regular cold tap water into soda or carbonated water in less than 30 seconds. Yes- you heard me right. Less than 30 seconds with no mess to clean up afterward. It is very easy to clean, and it is reusable. That is so awesome in my book. Reusable, easy to clean, and fits in the side door of my refrigerator perfectly.
The SodaStream Soda Maker doesn’t use electric or batteries. It comes as is- you just screw in the carbonator in the back, fill the bottle with water, screw the bottle into the maker, and press the button. Wah-lah.
This is the machine. First run your tap water and place the bottle underneath and then All you do is push the big black lever you see on the top of the machine. It tilts and you tip the bottle a little and place it on the long white piece and screw the bottle in place.
There is a gray button on top that you push for the carbonator to work. This is where you can experiment a little. You can push it firmly and quickly for a less carbonated coke or water. Or you can press it as many times if you like it to be quite fizzy.
Then you take your choice of flavor..which mine is lemonade this time.
You unscrew the lid and fill it up with the flavor. I added a little more than a capful and added a little extra sugar to it.
Tip the water bottle a little to prevent any spills, and just pour the flavor in.
You should see it cloud up..
and just tip it upside down slowly a couple of times.
put it in the freezer for like 5-10 minutes and you have the best tasting lemonade at it’s coldest in a really short time. Isn’t that awesome? Fresh tasting lemonade at your fingertips.
They have a variety of sodamakers to choose from, so that it will match your decor & styling if you have certain colors in your kitchen. I love this though. You don’t have to settle with plain black~ you can get pink, blue, yellow, or white. They are so amazing and colorful. They also offer a 30 day money back guarantee if your not satisfied, and they offer a 2 year warranty for all new sodamakers.
The Soda Mix Flavors.
Making your favorite flavor of soda, sparkling water, or energy drink is simple and fun with sodastream’s wide variety of syrups. They have the regular, diet, and caffeine free, but they also have exotic flavors like diet pink grapefruit and orange mango. They also have cocktail mixers, energy drinks and sparkling iced teas.
Call it whatever you wish~ whether it be soda water, sparkling water, club soda or seltzer. All you have to do is carbonate the water and pour about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon (according to what you like) into the water. They have lemon-lime, raspberry, and orange. I also added a little raspberry into the cola and it was great. Like flavored coke.
The reason I love it so much is because you can control how much carbonation goes into the soda or water. You get to experiment and find the exact taste you like best. You get to choose. You can either push the button quickly and firmly to have it slightly carbonated or press more for carbonation if you like the fizz.
Each bottle of sodamix makes about 12 liters (about 33 cans) for around 25 cents per liter. Can you say “Wow”? That is a major saving. Say no to soda at $1.25 per bottle, the sodastream is an investment that pays for itself quickly.
You can find SodaStream on facebook, flickr, myspace, twitter, and youtube.
They even have a blog.
I was not paid to review SodaStream Products. They were just nice enough to let me try their products myself and state my own opinion of it. I thank them for giving me this joy of experiments. Sometimes I imagine I am mixing up a concoction of mad scientist type of stuff. Just Kidding, but it is really fun and so much better than having to run to the store every time we run out.
You can buy one{here}if your interested.
♥Jess
Costume Discounters have some of the most amazing costumes I had ever seen. It was hard to pick a favorite. There were such great choices, that I didn’t know which one would be best..They had cute little outfits for Adisyn and Cool Superhero Costumes for Aidan. Look at some of them. I had a hard time choosing between the
Bandstand Baby Toddler Costume & Minnie Mouse for Adisyn. They are both so adorable and would suit her well. She wouldn’t like the ears so well, but that’s just Adisyn. I can’t bows or bands in her hair for 2 seconds. These are both unique and not totally massed produced and cheap looking. These are high quality costumes for cheap prices and I was glad to be working with them. They also have awesome kid costumes.
and then there was Aidan. With him starting headstart and doing so well, I wanted to get him something fun. He has been going to sleep without a sippy, peeing in the potty, and doing really well at school. He loves superhero’s, airplanes, and cars. So when I seen IronMan and SpiderMan it was hard to choose which one he would love the best.
Since Spiderman is the one he has little miniatures of, underwear, stuff animals, and a chair. I figured he would love it. I was exactly right. I know it’s not halloween, we’re not going to a costume party or anything like that. I don’t care if he wants to wear it just because he wants to. It’s great to indulge kids sometimes just for no reason. It is better to get your costumes before halloween though. Last year My best friend, her husband, and son were Barney, Betty, and Bam-Bam. While I, Adam, and the kids were Willma, Fred, Dino, and Pebbles. We were late ordering our costumes and finally had to buy @ the Halloween tent. Adam’s costumes and My costume were like $75 a piece. I’ll show you some pics some other time.
Here are the pictures in this amazing costume. He didn’t want to take it off. It slipped over his clothes and shoes easily, and I didn’t have to get a bigger costume then his clothes. He wears 3T and the size of the costume is 3T. It was amazing how much he loved it. He seriously a lot of fun. We flew through the house and shot “invisible” web everywhere. It was a fun experience to have with him. He comes up to me and says “I wanna be spida-man.” He doesn’t say spider- it’s spida..☺
He fell down when mommy shot the web back though..
Spida-Man down..please help..LOL
Of course after Aidan was done with the costume, Adisyn wanted a turn to be spider-man. Seriously- Are these not the best pictures EVER of her? She had an amazing time.
They also have some really cute adult costumes..I think these are awesome =)
These are the women’s costumes. I would wear all of their costumes. They are all so well designed and amazing.
Here’s some from the Men’s section that I would love to see Adam wear. Cracks me up just thinking about it.
Awesomely awesome, huh? I think so.
They even have a low price guarantee where if you buy the costume and find the same one cheaper. They will match prices and then lower it 20%. Plus if you buy it for 3:00 PM EST, they ship it the same day. No waiting, no hassles. Just amazing costumes providing laughs and fun♥
I was not paid to review these items. Costume Discounters did send me a costume to review for Aidan. We thank them for the fun they gave us when sending us this costume. I do think Aidan may try to keep it forever…
♥Jess
I had the opportunity to review Fruit2o’s original flavored water. They have 8 flavors, which is amazing because it gives the customer a choice as to which fruit they would rather taste in their water. I used to think that all flavored waters just tasted like watered down kool-aid which I didn’t like. This water surprised me though, it tasted like fruit juice.
It surprised my kids too. Adisyn loved it. She even chose it over milk, which blew me off my feet. She drank it just like she would drink juice. Aidan didn’t seem to care for it, the only one he liked was the grape. He doesn’t like any other type of juice either though. He will only drink grape juice. So, it’s not the water’s fault.
I liked it and will continue to buy more. Aidan could drink the grape and adisyn loves the tropical fruit kind. I could put this in their sippy cups instead of juice which has sugar in it. The only thing that the water has extra is a little bit of sodium…so I guess you know what my choice would be.
They have:
Natural Grape-Playful, spirited, and sometimes a little bit punchy.
Strawberry-bright, fresh, and delicious flavor. Wild Strawberries- is there anything more divine?
Raspberry-Sweet but not too sweet, with a hum of summer.
Lemon-Brisk & Bold flavor that brings out your funky side.
Peach-calling to mind memories of warm summer days. savor the tangy, smooth taste that puts you in a peaceful mood.
Tropical Fruit- exotic blend of orange, mango, and pineapple. Enchanting combination of lush tropical sweetness with the hint of pineapple takes your taste buds on a holiday.
Orange-Wake up taste of morning. A ray of sunshine on the gloomiest days making you feel bright and optimistic.
*About the fruit2o company..
We're into fruit. And water. No surprise there. It's where we come from and the name says it all.
We got our start with the VeryFine Juice Company. Back in 1999, we were the first to recognize how wonderful it would be to put the delightful 0 calorie natural flavor of fruit together with the healthy refreshment of crystal clear water and call it a beverage. After all, water by itself is just plain boring. An unfortunate fact since it's something we need plenty of—every day. That's where Fruit2O® flavored waters come in.
We really think there's a better, tastier way for you and your families to get your full complement of water each day. It's the right thing to do and we're all about making it deliciously easy for you to feel great about making healthy, meaningful choices in your life. Available in 8 full flavored varieties, Fruit2O originals combine natural fruit flavor in crystal clear water without any sugar, carbs or calories.
You deserve more from your water and we're busy working to find new, exciting ways to make that happen. Building on our heritage, in 2009 we introduced Fruit2O Essentials: 6 delectable blends of fruit flavors and a good source of certain nutrients found in fruit in each bottle. A great new way to get the water and nutrients you need anywhere, anytime—all with 0 calories and the fabulous flavor of fruit you expect from Fruit2O.
Acquired by Sunny Delight in 2008, we're thrilled to be part of a company that's all about creating wholesome beverages for the entire family. Look for us in your community, working with you to build a brighter, healthier future.
Fun, convenient, flavor-filled, goodness for you. Fresh Picked Water™ from Fruit2O.
2 coupons {here}
$0.55 off the purchase of one 6-pack of Fruit2O®
$1.00 off the purchase of two 18oz bottles of Fruit2O® Essentials
You can see their updates on twitter & facebook
I was not paid in anyway to review this product. I only sampled fruit2o products, and I thank the company for that.
♥Jess
Have you ever wondered how parenting can be so fulfilling and yet so overwhelming? Have you ever dealt with your child's behavior and then had to fight off the guilt and uncertainty as to whether or not you did the right thing?
Many parents experience regular battles with self-doubt, frustration, and fear that they are damaging their kids for life. In Break Free of Parenting Pressures, author and parent educator Debbie Pokornik discusses how you can throw off these shackles - recognizing you have what it takes to do a good job and allowing your inner wisdom to shine through.
Break Free of Parenting Pressures discusses:
• Insights into why you parent the way you do
• Secrets to help you understand your family
• Ideas for building strong relationships with the important people in your life
• Suggestions for strengthening your parenting strategies
• Techniques to help you relieve stress and increase your pleasure in being a parent
Parenting will always be challenging. Let Break Free of Parenting Pressures help you decrease your concerns so you can enjoy this time and blossom as a family.
About the author:
Debbie Pokornik is a parent educator, speaker, and workshop leader. She is a mother of two who believes all parents can benefit from support and encouragement at some point in their parenting journey. She lives on a small acreage in Manitoba with her husband, two teenagers, and numerous pets. Visit www.empoweringnrg.com or www.debbiepokornik.com.
My Review:
I loved this book. I loved it for many reasons. For one, it’s not just a book, it’s kind of a parenting NOTEBOOK. It talks about a lot of things that parents need to know, and a lot that parents could use some looking over from time to time. The chapters contain exercises, debbie’s personal stories, thought-provoking articles, and suggested resources so enthusiastic readers can use this book to guide themselves toward major changes. She also includes fun, realistic, easy and effective tips, which she calls FREE parenting tips, for those who prefer the ideas without any explanation at all.
You know your family and situation better than anyone else. You can use this book for ideas and support. This is just overall an amazing book that I will keep to look into every chance I may need it. This book is full of exercises to include your kids in. Although my kids are still too young to include, it did give me insight as to what I do want their future to include.
She tells her own stories of her parenting issues with her kids and how it affected her and her kids. I thought it was amazing and exactly correct what she said. She didn’t want them to feel bad when she asked them the truth. She knew that getting mad wasn’t the answer because they would be afraid to tell her the truth when she asked. I have seen this and even experienced this myself when I was younger. Kids do pick up on your attitudes no matter what they are. If you get mad, they will know you get mad, and will continue to be afraid to admit their wrongs.
I also love how she talks about bullying and the way you should act. As mothers, it is our nature to get mad at someone for being mean and disrespectful to our young. It is the way you react that teaches your kids how to react to the situation. She tells you that it is very important to listen to your child when they are talking about how they have been treated, but is also MORE important not to over react. When your kids come to you and tell you what they have to say, they are expecting you to listen to their stories and give them real world advice. It is easy to get mad at the person who has made your child upset, but it is teaching them the wrong way to act. Tell them that the way they are being treated isn’t okay and they don’t deserve to be treated that way. And then tell them that they are strong enough, smart enough, and resilient enough to handle it. If you take the battle for them, they may not learn how to handle it in the future.
This woman is just so smart. It is amazing how much I thought I knew about parenting, but she re-works it into an even better perspective. Teaching parents how to be great listeners, great advice givers, and how to manage the anger that sometimes eludes parents when their children do something unacceptable and know is out of bounds.
I recommend this to both newbie parents and experienced parents as well. It just helps you understand how parenting can be rewarding so we are teaching ourselves to be better parents, so our kids can just follow in the footsteps. Haven’t you ever heard “They won’t do what you say, but they will do what you do”. They need guidance and if you do something they may think it is okay too. This isn’t a “bad parent” book that someone would buy to be a “better” parent. It is a guide teaching you how to be a better person overall and how to handle parenting stress with ease instead of getting more stressed about it.
it’s like a parenting/psychology book mixed. I love it.
I was not paid in anyway to review this book. this is clearly my own opinion of the book after reading it. my recommendations of this book are true. I wouldn’t tell you that you should purchase something if i wouldn’t do purchase it myself. I thank debbie pokornik for the chance to review this book. I also thank her for being a genius parent and sharing this advice.
you can find her on facebook
her personal website, or on her empowering website
this book is available on amazon..it is a book every parent should have on their bookshelf.
♥Jess
Welcome to Follow Me RSS Monday hosted by Let's Just Give It Away and Made.By.Jess!
The goal of this hop is for everyone to gain new RSS readers! You will also be able to keep up with great new blogs without overloading you email! Here are a few simple rules:
If you want to help host this on monday’s email letsjustgiveitaway@yahoo.com
Add your monday blog hop so everyone can join and make some new friends. I will re-post this every monday..
Add Ruffled flutter sleeves to tank {Tutorial from Perry Jane}
Free Kitty Softie Tutorial and Pattern! {Tutorial from little-foots.com}
Toilet Paper Roll Flowers {Tutorial from Rhonna Designs}
Lovely applique cardigan tutorial {tutorial from adventures in dressmaking}
Have fun making something. and remember to share if you do. ♥Jess
I just wanted to say thanks to Mommy’s Memorandum for letting me feature this on my blog. She already did an awesome job with the Out! Grease Spot Out! Tutorial. And now she is awesome again, teaching us how to make this awesome little gift containers.
Handmade Gift/Snack Containers
We're getting ready for Valentine's Day at our house and for us, nothing says "LOVE" like a hand-made gift.
Part of our Valentine will be one of these Handmade Gift/Snack Containers. They're easy to make and once you have made one, they're quick to assemble and hold uber "WOW!" power!
They are also versatile. You can make these for school "treats", birthday favors, baby showers, bridal showers or just because!
To make one Gift/Snack Container, you will need:
Let's Get Started!
1.) Take your colored cardstock and measure in 2" on each side vertically.
2.) Within the 2" columns, measure 2.5" from the bottom and the top, in all four corners.
3.) From your 2.5" line, measure up 2" on all four sides
4.) In the 2" squares draw a diaganol line, connecting the bottom outside corner to the top "inside" corner.
5.) Score along the lines you have just drawn. You will want to score all the way across the page from the top of your diaganol lines (4.5" from the edge of the paper) This will be your containers "base".
Tip: You don't need a "fancy" tool to score. Just place your ruler against the line, and open your scissors. Drag your open scissors along the edge of the ruler, applying enough pressure to "score" it, but not cut all the way through.)
6.) Fold, back and forth, along the scored lines. This will make the folding easier.
7.) Fold along the 2" column and glue the 2.5" boxes to the paper.
8.) Fold the diagonal fold, up to the 2.5" square and glue.
9.) Repeat until you have a "bottom" on your container.
You have just completed the most difficult part of the project! The next part is customizing your container!
10.) On the backside of your coordinating paper, measure two boxes 4.5"x4.25" and cut out. These are your front and back panels for your container.
11.) Glue one panel to the front of your container and one panel to the back of your container.
12.) Using the same colored cardstock as your "container" measure one 4"x4.5". Cut Out. This is your "lid"
13.) Along the 4.5" edge of your "lid", measure down 1" and score.
14.) Fold "scored" line back and forth.
15.) Using either the same paper as the panels, or another coordinating print, measure 1"x4.5" and glue just beneath the scored edge of your "lid", on the "longer" section.
16.) Place glue along 1", edge and secure to your "container".
17.) To fasten your container closed you can cut slits in the front of the container, matching to slits in the lid and tie with ribbon OR you can use velcro circles to close the container.
18.) Add embellishments to your container to make it YOURS!
19.) The final step is filling them. You can put snacks or include things like miniature notepads, pencils, crayons, a small book, trial sized items--anything you like!
The possibilities are ENDLESS!
I got the privilege to work with CrazyDogTshirts. They have so many funny t-shirts, it was hard not to want all of them. They are shirts with attitude and shirts that I would love to wear. The company is just overall genius and awesome. the shirt fits and feels great. It is just amazing how a shirt can make you feel so amazing and just wanna say “lookit my shirt, isn’t is cool?” I WORE IT OUT AND MY FRIENDS AND EVEN ADAMS FRIENDS WANTED TO KNOW WHERE i GOT IT BECAUSE EVERYONE LOVES SCUBA STEVE. i SAID CRAZYDOGTSHIRTS AND TOLD THEM IF THEY JUST SIGN UP FOR A BLOG THEY COULD WIN ONE FROM ME…LOL.
Adam Sandler has been my favorite actor for FOREVER. I love the way he had nothing and gained everything just because he has so much determination. I also love that he became famous, but didn’t gain the kiss my ass attitude that so many celebrities seem to have these days. He is humble, and seems like someone you would love to meet. My favorite movie from him is Big Daddy. It actually made me cry for awhile. I know- I’m a dork, but Julian was so adorable and it’s so funny when SUNNY (adam sandler) has to act like Scuba Sam (scuba Steve’s dad) so that Julian will take a bath keep clean & keep Scuba Steve clean.
So if you now understand what an Adam Sandler fetish I have, you would have known that I would pick this shirt. I love it so much. crazydogtshirts is best place to buy cool t-shirts. There’s no doubt…Crazy Dog’s funny t shirt designs will blow you away!
Meet Crazydogtshirts
We're CrazyDog T-Shirts and we made it here by accident. A beautiful accident to be sure, and one that has provided us years of entertainment, but still, an accident is an accident whether its spilling your milk or having a surprise kid.
7 years ago, CrazyDog Owner and CSO (Cheif Snacking Officer), Bill, started CrazyDog as an eCommerce project in the dark dormroom hallways of Ithaca College. Forgetting to take down the website, orders kept coming in, and Bill kept filling them, working out of his moms basement for a year or 2 before she stopped making him Meatloaf and told him he better start leasing the space or she'd stop making his bed and folding his laundry. Not long after that we started leasing space in the artsy Village Gate in our hometown of Rochester, NY; home of Genessee Beer, Garbage Plates, and a really nice water reservoir. Several years later our space is 3500 square feet of pure awesomeness; and we run the joint will a staff of 6 who love every minute of it.
Wondering what happened to Bill's mean mom who stopped making meatloaf? She still works here Part-Time...packing shirts and doing Bill's Laundry. In all seriousness though, we wouldn't be here without some great customers. We have tons of original designs, and several that come from our partners such as David & Goliath and Junk Food Tees. We are the go to shop for funny tees, clever shirts and hilarious Couture. We wear the shirts we sell, and we think that stands for something nowadays. Real people read and answer your emails, not robots or tiny underpaid children. We think bacon is the bomb, we still say "The Bomb", and we love naps. We work hard but have fun doing it. We are everything you think a company should be, and we stand by our promise to give you the quality shirts you deserve.
If you are unhappy with your purchase, send it on back and pick a new one! So give us a call, join the party on Facebook, Tweet us on Twitter, read the blog or peruse the site and have a giggle at some of the tees. Questions? Ask. Have a happy story to share? Email us, we love to hear it! Complaints? Speak loudly into our garbage can. We're looking forward to having you as a customer and joining the fam. Cheers to happy accidents!
Here are some of my favorites (besides my scuba steve of course)
They have many categories: Funny t-shirts, Vintage t-shirts, 80s t-shirts, Custom t-shirts
*Crazydogtshirts is sponsoring a giveaway on Lime Green Dreams and one lucky reader will win their choice of Free Mystery Tee or Free $15 Gift Card.
*So the first and mandatory entry is: Follow this blog and go {here} and choose which shirt you would choose if you won.
*Become a fan of crazydogtshirts on Facebook {2 entries}
* follow crazydogtshirts on twitter {2 entries}
*Post a comment on their Facebook page telling them what your favorite tee is or asking them a question about the shirts {2 entries}
*Signup on for their email list {here} {2 entries}
*Tweet about the giveaway {2 entries} can be completed daily until end of giveaway
*Facebook the giveaway {2 entries}
*Grab my button and let me know where I can find it {2 entries}
*Blog about the giveaway linking back to this blog post {5 entries}..
You don’t have to write 5 comments for blogging, or 2 comments for tweeting just write “blogged x5 entries & url” and I will add them up manually, to make it easier and more enjoyable for you.
♥Jess
