Making an Emergency Kit with Energizer Light Up A Life #ChampionsForKids #EnergizerCFK #cbias

Our family had a wonderful time participating in the Energizer Light Up a Life Champions for Kids Campaign. You can read more about the campaign the mission in last week's post here.

We headed to Walmart to purchase supplies for an emergency kit.  We are donating it to a local charity, the Sullivan County Pregnancy Support Center.  We know that when you are struggling to make ends meet, the last thing you spend money on is emergency supplies for a "someday".  But it is also really important to have an emergency kit, especially with little ones in the house.

At Walmart we purchased items like a first aid kit...

And we found this fabulous Energizer emergency flashlight.

We loved all of the features, including a checklist

and that it took all different kinds of batteries...

And that it was LED, which meant less energy use!

We added a package of Energizer Ultimate Lithium Batteries that last up to 8x longer for a great combination!

We also purchased a plastic container to hold everything.

How cute are my helpers?

At home I labeled the box with vinyl letters I cut out with my Cricut...

Then packed it up and we were ready to go!

They were happy to get the kit at the Pregnancy Support Center

And even sent my little helpers off with lollipops!

Be sure to check out all of the details of our shopping trip and donation in my Google+ album here!

We truly enjoyed participating in the service mission, and encourage you to check out the Energizer website and complete a Simple Service Project all your own!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

Gabriel's Out of This World Blue & Gold Dinner

This weekend was our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner.  The annual theme banquet that our scout troop has to celebrate the milestones the boys have made.

This year the theme was outer space.

Gabriel is a Wolf and his pack had to make costumes that fit the theme out of recycled items.

We raided the recycle bin and my left over craft supplies from old projects.

He did wonderful and was so creative!

A boy after his crafty mom's heart...glitter initials

And of course his little brothers wanted their own alien-inspired getups.

He told three space-themed jokes and was adorable.  Here is the first one, computer themed ta boot!

He did get his older brother to crack a smile.

Congratulations Gabriel on your progress towards rank!

Neosporin Eczema Essentials (High Value Coupon!)

Does anyone in your family have eczema?  Our third son, Nathan, does.  Winter is a difficult time with many eczema flair ups, and it is hard to watch your child suffer from the itching and skin breakdown.  


For that reason, I am excited that Neosporin has come out with a line of products to bring relief to the skin, and to our son.  


Neosporin's new line, called Neosporin Eczema Essentials, will help get visibly healthier skin in 3 days! Here’s how it works:


#1 Daily Body Wash
• Proven gentle and non-irritating, even on eczema-prone skin
• Fragrance-free, soap-free
• Gentle enough for everyday use


#2 Daily Moisturizing Cream
• Deeply moisturizes
• Relieves itch on contact and irritation due to eczema
• Helps strengthen and restore the skin’s natural barrier function
• Fragrance and steroid-free


#3 Anti-Itch Cream
• Clinically shown to improve dryness, flaking and appearance of redness
• Maximum strength of itch relief
• For occasional use
                                                                                                                              
You can find these new products by Neosporin on Walmart.com or in-store in the first aid aisle.  Want to try it along with me?  Check out this high-value coupon!






This is a sponsored post.  I have been compensated to write this post, but all opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

Crepe Paper Ruffled Ombre Art

Pin It

Years ago I saw a fabulous tutorial by Stephanie Lynn of Under the Table and Dreaming that showed how to make an inexpensive art piece using nothing more than crepe paper streamers, a sewing machine, hot glue and a blank canvas.

Right now Ombre is all the rage.  I wanted to experiment with trying an ombre project, but didn't want to spend a ton on materials.  As streamers cost about 79 cents a roll, it was a great medium to work with for very little money out of pocket.

Truth be told, it did take scouring several places to find all of the colors I needed to.  But in the end I found 7 colors that went from a maroon to white.

The canvas I was working on was 16 x 20 inches.  I cut my streamers into 32 inch lengths, twice the width of the canvas.

I then set my sewing machine to the longest stitch it allowed...

I ran the streamers through the machine with a 1/4 inch "seam" 

And I then pulled one string to ruffle it.

Love all of the colors!

I then just layered the ruffles one on top of the other.  

I secured using some hot glue, and was sure to go around the edges.

In all I used 22 ruffles, three of each color and then a fourth of the white.

I am very happy with how it turned out!  

The ruffles are so interesting, visually, and no one who has seen it has recognized that they were streamers.  

Inexpensive to make, but I think it has great visual impact!

Pin It

I'll be linking up here...

Energizer Light Up A Life #ChampionsForKids #EnergizerCFK #CBias

I am excited to be participating in the Energizer Champions for Kids Mission this week!

Did you know that 70% of power outages in the United States are weather related?  And that dangerous weather events cause hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries each year?   The Center of Disease Control recommends having a kit ready in preparation for  any emergency that may arise.  They recommend the kit include food, water, flash  light, extra batteries, medications, first aid kit, sanitation and personal hygiene items, copies of personal documents, and other necessities.  So many people are not ready for an emergency!

Energizer Champions for Kids is a great program that helps motivate people to do simple service projects to  help keep kids safe!  This month they are doing Energizer Light Up A Life and they give you four easy steps to be a Champion for Kids this month.  They are Gather, Learn, Give, and Report.  You can read more about the specifics here by downloading their Simple Service Project Card!

I live in rural upstate New York, and winters are usually pretty heavy duty.  We get lots of snow for months and months.  We usually use all ten of our allotted snow days and then have to have shortened breaks from school.  And we usually have several power outages to go along with it all.  So being prepared is a necessity, especially when you have young children depending on you!

I have chosen a local outreach program to donate my Energizer Light Up A Life emergency kit to.  It is the Sullivan County Pregnancy Support Center, and I love that this organization continues to reach out and provide services to families even after a baby is born.

Yesterday I stopped in and chatted with the volunteers at the Sullivan County Pregnancy Support Center about the #EnergizerCFK #CBias campaign and asked what they thought about it.  They were excited about having an emergency kit to hand out, as often when a family is struggling financially the last thing they are thinking about is making sure to purchase extra supplies "just in case".  They also responded that despite and unusually mild winter, emergency kits are great to have on hand as last summer and fall left our local communities struggling with major flooding and widespread power outages after a severe tropical storm season.

So I am incredibly excited to put together and emergency kit and donate it to the Pregnancy Support Center!  But it will benefit only one local family.  Won't you consider checking out the Energizer Light Up a Life Campaign and making a kit of your own to donate to a local organization?  Let's spread the word and make an effort to start and epidemic of giving to help children in communities across the nation!

Be sure to support Energizer for their efforts to do good!  Check out their website, Energizer on Twitter and on Facebook!


This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions and experiences expressed are my own.

Brix Stix At Toy Fair 2012 (and Mod Stickers Review)

Last year one of my favorite finds at Toy Fair was from Brix Stix.  I got to review their cool line of vinyl clings and the boyz loved creating with them.

Well, at Toy Fair 2012 I was thrilled to see that Brix Stix was back, and with a new product line to add to the original!

Mod Stickers are their new product.  They do have an adhesive, but they won't leave ick on your brick. Meaning-no residue left behind. So when you decide to build something new, Mod stickers come off clean! 

They come in five different designs with a price point of just $5.99, they are an affordable option that lets creativity loose!

Zombie Mod

Comic Mod

Medieval Mod

Special Forces Mod

WWII Mod

I came home with these for the boyz to try out.  Seth had a friend over during our long holiday weekend.  I handed them the packs and they chose to mostly use the Zombie package of Mod Stickers.

They created an entire scene with both story line and a back story.

I loved the creativity involved.

I love how the theme pack allowed for a direction, but gave them entire freedom in coming up with their own open ended play.

And I truly adore the details in the stickers.  Check out the torn shirt of this mini fig...

It occupied them for hours, with great conversation and imaginative cooperation.

Seth and his friend Cas loved the scene they created so much that they spent another hour making their first stop action video of their Zombie Mod encounter!

Not bad for two eleven year olds!



I was provided with the product without charge for the purpose of this review.  All opinions and experiences are my families and my own.