Book Review: Lunch Bags- 25 Handmade Sacks & Wraps to Sew Today by Design Collective; C&T Publishing

Brown Bag it in Style

• Projects include sandwich wraps, baggies, bicycle bags, and totes
• Quick and easy to make with basic sewing techniques; everyone in your family will want one!
• Customize the outside with your favorite fabrics and insulate the inside. You can waterproof it with laminated cotton, oilcloth, nylon, or vinyl.
• Projects are fun, functional, and reusable-make your sack lunches even greener!
• Bags can be washed in your dishwasher or washing machine

Today's hottest designers share their sewing savvy with 25 projects, from a simple sandwich wrap to a sophisticated shoulder bag. Why shouldn't your lunch bag match your personal wardrobe and eco-conscious lifestyle?

My Review

Wanting to tote that lunch in style? Lunch Bags offers much more than just lunch bags. It also has patterns and instructions for reusable wraps and sacks.

I LOVE using wraps and fabric sacks for the snacks and sides I sent to school with Aidan (and now Adisyn) as well as Adam’s lunch for work. Not only does it keep everything separated but it helps to keep plastic sacks from being thrown away.

You’ll NEVER want to use a regular old lunch bag or brown bag special once you see all the goodies within this book. As a seamstress, this had my creative senses tingling all over!

No matter what your looking for, or who you want to make it for- you’ll definitely find something that peaks your interest! They have eco-friendly wraps for snacks, picnic sized lunch bags, basic lunch bags, insulated lunch bags.. some even include instructions on how to make accessories to go with your lunch bag such as drink wraps!

All of the designs are practical and yet beautiful at the same time. There are a variety of materials; denim, cotton fabric, burlap, lace.. and even plastic drink pouches (kool aid or capri sun pouches).

Each bag is designed by a different crafter, so no two bags are similar. There are some for beginners.. and some that require more experience. They all look very sturdy, durable, and well put together!

The instructions are very clear, detailed, and precise. There are pictures that follow—so it’s easy to flip through and pick which one you fancy! Every ONE of these would make awesome gifts!

BUY IT: Lunch Bags for $15.95

Connect with C&T Publishing:

Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, and Twitter

 

Jessica Renee

Roaring Springs Paper Products Review & Giveaway

Summer is here and it ALWAYS peaks my midnight ramblings. It intrigues me to just write and write and write. I have always been one of those girls that has too much paper, and too many pens, binders and markers. 'I have always LOVED shopping for office/school supplies.

SO you know I was excited to review some notebooks from Roaring Springs Paper Products.  Roaring Springs is a126 year old manufacturer of paper products in the US who has recently extended their line of earth friendly paper products to include Sugarcane Paper Notebooks, Cross-Over Notebooks and Color Me Products for the kids!

I was sent 4 Color Me Notebooks, 2 Cross-Over Notebooks, Genesis Shades 1 Subject Notebook Genesis 5 Subject Notebook and a Genesis 3 subject Notebook, SO you know I was like a kid at Christmas over here.

Here is some info on each:

Color Me Products – These notebooks and folders encourage kids to be creative and personalize by coloring the covers. There are a variety of pre-printed themes on the covers such as Aquarium, Farm, Sports and Fun Park to peak kid’s interest.

Sugarcane Paper Notebooks - This environmentally friendly product is made of paper from sugarcane, truly a renewable paper.  This is a notebook where, by purchasing it really does save a tree.

Cross-Over Notebook - Unique wire bound notebook that has college-ruled lines running the width of the page on one side, and the length of the page on the other side. This unique printing allows you to take notes three ways:  wide for sketching or to illustrate diagrams, standard, or use the backlight grid pattern the lines create for graphing. These are several great ways to get a lot out of one notebook-- crossover to a better note taking

 

My Review*

 

I Love to Write ♥

I write and I write A LOT! I feel better about using Roaring Springs Paper Products because their Sugarcane Paper Notebooks are environment friendly. Instead of using paper made from trees (like normal paper is) there are made from sugarcane!

The BEST thing about the sugarcane made paper is that it actually write more smoothly than regular paper (or to me it does anyway). I took one look at all these empty notebooks just waiting for ME to dig in and get to creating and I was HAPPY HAPPY!

They are regular white like normal paper, and has a durable vinyl cover that can be wiped clean! I also love that I can write notes to myself on these covers with dry erase markers and then wipe it off when I’ve completed whatever to-do list or whatever that I wrote down.

The inside of the notebooks still contain the little double sided folder which is convenient to keep to-do lists, grocery lists, school handouts, or whatever inside. That way they don’t slip out and you lose them for GOOD!

They also have colored notebooks that are made of sugarcane as well. They are also college rules and have the double sided folder in the front as well as the vinyl cover. This is one of my favorites! This is great for personal means. Journals, Quotes, Poems!

This is one of the crossover notebooks! This also have a vinyl cover that is easy to clean/wipe off if needed! It doesn’t have a folder, but these are AMAZING notebooks. I’d never seen anything like it before.

See how the landscape pages can be seen and then when you flip over it’s letter size! This makes it easy to use both sides for something different. Or you can use both back and front for the same such as poems, lists for school or work, to-do lists..

These are the Color Me notebooks. I got 4 of them, so I gave each of my kids 2 each. I’d never seen them have so much fun with a notebook! They had fun coloring and designing the front!

The top picture is my daughters, and the bottom picture is my sons. The inside of the notebook is like a regular notebook with lined paper.

Since it’s summer and Aidan learned so much in Kindergarten this year. We use one of his notebooks for continuing learning how to add and subtract small numbers.

Adisyn’s other notebook is used for learning letters and numbers since she will begin preschool in the fall. My kids are growing up too fast, HOW did this happen?

This is the inside of Aidan’s color book. I loved looking through it and seeing all the cool stuff he is learning to draw. The first picture is of Me and him inside me as a baby (as he wanted to know how he got here LOL).

The second picture is of a rocket ship and the last is a King! He is getting so creative and amazing at drawing for a 6 year old. It’s cool what some crayons, a paper, and an imagination will bring out!

This is Adisyn’s drawings. She said hers was the clouds and her (the first one) and flowers (the second). I am definitely putting these up as keepsakes!

Connect with Roaring Spring Paper Products on Facebook & Twitter.

They have a very interactive Facebook Page that offers their fans an opportunity to win products randomly, by answering quiz questions or sharing.

WIN IT: One Stylish Southern Mama reader will win the exact same assortment of notebooks that I received!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Jessica Renee

Romwe accessory fling sale, start at $1.99

Romwe accessory fling sale, start at $1.99

Go: http://www.romwe.com/Accessory-Fling-c-204.html

 

Jessica Renee

Beauty Review: John Frieda Luxurious Volume Touchably Full Shampoo & Conditioner and Fine to Full Blow Out Spray

John Frieda Luxurious Volume –Fight flat hair in the shower with the reformulated Luxurious Volume Touchably Full Shampoo and Conditioner—the duo creates the perfect foundation for full, natural looking and feeling volume. Trade in your arsenal of volume boosters for John Frieda’s breakthrough Fine to Full Blow-Out Spray, developed to deliver a salon-quality blowout at home.

John Frieda has been an absolute must on my list of hair care products since I can remember. I really liked their whole Brunette line and the frizz ease products. They came out with the new colour care line which included Brunette, Blonde, and Red.. I was fortunate enough to get to try the Brunette Colour Care Shampoo and Conditioner for my recently dyed Cherry Black hair! I LOVED it!

Now I am about to show you their new line of Luxurious Volume Hair Care products! This includes:

John Frieda TOUCHABLY FULL SHAMPOO

John Frieda Touchably Full Conditioner

John Frieda Fine to Full Blow Out Spray

 

 

This shampoo and conditioner duo really does live up to it’s name “Luxurious Volume”. It doesn’t strip the hair of it’s natural oils, and make it frizzy and dry It out. Most volumizing shampoos (even with the conditioner) dry the hair out in time. With the John Frieda Volumizing Line my hair comes out silky smooth, easy to manage, shiny AND full of volume.

The shampoo and conditioner both smell absolutely incredible. I can’t put an EXACT scent on the smell, but if I had to guess- I think it smells like freshly bloomed Tiger Lillie's which I find irresistible. The Spray smells exactly the same.

I love that the scent doesn’t leave ALL day. I can wash my hair the night before, get up and it still SMELLS incredible. Even after I get out of the tanning bed my hair STILL smells like it was just washed. Later on that day before I take a shower the scent is still lingering! ♥

The Shampoo lathers AMAZINGLY. I only had to use a very small amount to wash my entire hair (about a nickel size). This amazed me because even though my hair isn’t thick, it’s very long. If you think it isn’t sudsy enough, put a little more water on your head—that’s all it needs. I can see this bottle lasting longer than a month which is new to me and my long strands!

If you use too much, it’s a waste and ANY shampoo will begin to leave product residue behind if you use too much. Make sure your only using the amount you need for your hair. AND like I said before—add a tad but more water if you think it isn’t going to get your entire head! Rub it in and wa-lah beautiful, amazing, healthy feeling locks!

The conditioner feels like liquid silk. I don’t use very much conditioner in my hair at all AND I never condition the roots. My hair is naturally oily, so I conditioner from about 1/2 away from my scalp to the ends of my hair.

My hair has always been on the “finer” side, although it’s gotten a little thicker as I got layers (or so it seems). The layers weren’t really SHOWING like I wanted them to though. I wanted something that could put the oomph in my hair so the layers could be seen.

The best results I’ve gotten is when I use them together AND follow with the Blow Out Spray. My hair was definitely thicker and had more body to it. It was soft after just the SHAMPOO- but the conditioner really adds the silkiness and vibrancy to it.

I can even use a flat iron on it and it still looks amazing! Many companies make promises, but I needed one that would actually deliver on that promise and John Frieda always does.

I love that I can wash my hair at night, and I don’t wake up with a ton of gunk or oil in my hair. It looks freshly washed, all I have to do is flat iron it and be on my way!

This doesn’t just give you volume, but it gives you BODY from the root all the way to the ends. I don’t have to use a root lifter when I use these which I LOVE!

I just spray the Fine to Full Blow Out Spray onto my hair and blow dry my hair upside down. I love that this is a pump action bottle. I try to stay away from the aerosol sprays because they smell more like alcohol (like hairspray does).. this smells fresh and invigorating just like the shampoo and conditioner.

I do use a thermal protectant in conjunction with this. I love that it doesn’t weigh the hair down while giving it volume though. You can also double this with a styling cream so that if you want you can curl or flat iron your hair after you blow-dry it!

To make them EVEN better, all three feel like they are actually nourishing and moisturizing my hair as well. It looks and feels so healthy and strong. The shine stays all day without becoming oily. This is a plus for someone who has naturally oily hair!

Needless to say, compliments have been rolling my way since beginning to use these three products!

HANDS down A+++ for these! I can NOT live without them now!

Want to experience the awesomeness for yourself?

Buy IT:

John Frieda TOUCHABLY FULL SHAMPOO $5.49

John Frieda Touchably Full Conditioner $5.49 

John Frieda Fine to Full Blow Out Spray $8.99

Connect with John Frieda online:

Facebook and Youtube

 

Jessica Renee

Hot Buns Facebook Photo Contest - $1,000 Prize!

Hot Buns hair accessories Features:

• Fast and Easy to use for all ages

• Perfect for casual or elegant wear

• Also use it to get beautiful, bouncy curls

• So comfortable you can sleep in it

• Comes with 2 sizes for multiple hairdos

• Small – for short hair & half-up styles

• Medium – classic buns for any occasion

• Both sizes leave you with big, bouncy curls!

Bew contest for the hair tool Hot Buns.  Fans of the Hot Buns Facebook page can upload a snap shot of their best style using Hot Buns and then share the photo with their friends to be entered to win. The photo with the most fan votes wins $1,000!

You can enter the contest here.

 

Jessica Renee

Blogger Opp: Back to School Blast

Back to School Blast Event

Hosted by: Mom Powered Media

Prize: $1,000 in Gift Cards up for grabs!

Event dates: 7/1 - 8/1

Free Blogger Event: Sign Up HERE

Power of Pentel 500,000 Sweepstakes

"Unleash the Power of Pentel!" Have you ever dreamed of being a superhero?  You now have the chance with the summer-long Power of Pentel contest; a promotion that gives consumers the chance to win $500,000 ($250,000 for the winner and $250,000 for a school of the winner’s choosing). What would you do with $250,000? Pay for college tuition, take the family on a cruise around the world, pay off your mortgage or start a small business? Now imagine what a deserving school could do with $250,000 – build a new library, buy laptops for every student, create a scholarship program or install new playground equipment. The possibilities are endless with the “Power of Pentel.”

How do you play?

To participate, simply buy marked packages of Pentel EnerGel-X® pens or mail in for a code (no purchase necessary).  Then visitwww.pentel.com/power  and enter the code to see if you can “Unleash the Power of Pentel.”  There is no limit to the number of entries andPentel will be awarding second chance prizes via random drawings every week. Plus, fans of Pentel can engage in fun, hero-themed contests on the company’s social sites, like Facebook®, Instagram®, Twitter® and Pinterest® for a chance to win cool prizes up to a $350 value!


Good luck and enjoy playing!

Pentel of America Online Outreach
Connect with us!
Twitter: @PentelofAmerica
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PentelofAmerica
Blog: www.pentel.com/blog

YouTube: www.youtube.com/pentelofamerica
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/pentelofamerica
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Beauty Review: SuperGoop SPF 35 CC Cream and ACAIFusion LipBalm SPF 30

Supergoop is a brand that is solely focused on sun care. They make a variety of items that ALL have SPF in them. They have sunscreen wipes, giant pump action bottles of Sunscreen that will last all summer, even sunless tanners!

I am excited to say that I have gotten a chance to review their new CC Cream and an AMAZING lip balm that both have SPF inside!

The CC Cream

 

Supergoop has a new Daily Correct CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 35 which is available in two shades; Light to Medium and Medium to Dark. This is amazing because it promises to soften the look of lines, wrinkles and pores.

A multivitamin for your skin, this light and silky cream protects, corrects, smoothes, and nourishes with specially formulated health properties.

I’ve heard a LOT about the CC Creams, but haven’t had the chance to try one out yet. SO I was super SUPER excited to be able to see first hand what this bad boy could do!

I don’t really like wearing makeup (cream foundation or anything creamy) that much during the summer. It’s because my skin automatically gets SUPER dark and most foundations make me look like a ghost AND they tend to melt/sweat off.

IF it doesn’t sweat off, it clumps or balls up- which I DO NOT like. So, if I don’t wear mineral makeup, I don’t wear anything. UNTIL now. I’ve been testing this out for awhile and LOVE it!

I love how silky this CC Cream is, and how well it blends into my skin. It acts as a primer, concealer, and foundation all in one! It leaves my face feeling fresh and perfectly flawless.

I love that it blends so well with my complexion. I don’t like noticing that there is a weird lightness to my skin after I’ve applied a foundation or cream. This doesn’t do that though.

It works amazingly at protecting, correcting and smoothing uneven skin. It’s a giant plus that is has SPF in it, SPF 35 to be exact. Amazing anti-aging benefits and super antioxidants to help fight free-radical, wrinkle-forming damage.

The staying power is a big A+ for me. I don’t like having to take time out of my day to reapply because I’m always on the go with the kids, errands, and such. I can put this on at 8-9 and it will still be there around 3-4 which was amazing to me! I didn’t have to reapply even ONCE!

I love the SPF 35 because I’ve been using a skin care at night that makes my face sensitive to sunlight. I wash it off in the morning, but there’s still a chance it could make my skin burn just by being outside because it has Retinol A in it. This keeps me satisfied knowing that I’m covered from the burns!

Neutralizes discolorations, inflammation, blotchiness while restoring vibrancy and glow which I love. This IS a CC cream, so you aren’t going to get the SAME coverage as a Foundation, but you could certainly apply a thin layer over it if you wanted. I love how it works like a Concealer/foundation/primer all in 1!

100% natural ingredients and antioxidants to triple protect against UVA, UVB and infrared-A rays. Light-diffusing mica minerals soften the appearance of pores and wrinkles for a fresh, flawless complexion!

NO parabens, fragrances, petrochemicals or oxybenzone to provide an environment- and skin-compatible choice for UV protection. I’m glad that I found something that I can actually wear in the summer without it balling up or sweating off. It doesn’t even feel like I’m wearing anything when I put this on!

Want to give it a try?

Buy IT: You can buy the Supergoop SPF 35 CC Cream in Medium/Dark and Light/Medium for $32 for 1.6 oz

 

The Lip Balm

I had been on the lookout for something like this. EVERY single time I get in the tanning bed my lips dry out. No amount of chapstick was helping break the dryness cycle, and it was because my lips were dehydrated and burning I guess.

The shea butter in this lip balm provides deep, long-lasting hydration. I can put this on my lips before getting in the tanning bed and my lips still feel SO soft and hydrated when I get out.

It protects against broad-spectrum UVA and UVB rays while calming, soothing and protecting dry or chapped lips. It feels more like a lip gloss to me than a chapstick which I love.

I can easily apply this over my lipstick or wear it by itself and it looks amazing! I love the fact that even though it wears like a lip gloss, it isn’t sticky! It goes on very smoothly and has lasting power.

It says that there’s a pink tint to it, but it’s more of a sheer pink than anything. It makes my lips look so healthy! It doesn’t have a taste and it doesn’t smell, which is a plus. If this tasted like Acai berry, I’d probably lick it off LOL.

Want to give it a try?

Buy it: Supergoop AcaiFusion Lipbalm SPF 30

Connect with Supergoop on their Blog, twitter, facebook, and pinterest

 

Jessica Renee