My Ukulele from UncommonGoods Review + $50 GC Giveaway! Springing into Summer Fun

Spring is in the air and you know what that means. We finally get to have some fun in the sun! Of course, we're celebrating bloggy style! Join us all Spring and Summer long for some great product finds for these awesome seasons. Of course we'll have tons of great prizes for you to win too so make sure to subscribe to our blog to stay in the loop!

UncommonGoods is a hub of unique and unusual gifts. If you have ever spent time over there you would realize the enormity of the shop, its diversity and how well they have things categorized so that you don't have to wade through the massive index. With Father's Day just around the corner, this really helps when trying to choose the best father's day gift. You could peruse all the men's gifts or break it down to a category, like gifts for sports fans. To find the gift I chose for my husband, I went to gifts for music lovers under the For Him category.

My Ukulele - Make Your Own Ukulele Kit

Sometimes for fun we all pack up into the car and go to Guitar Center. My eldest likes to mess with the DJ equipment and my youngest loves playing the drums and guitars. However, every time we go there my husband and little tot always wind up playing the Ukulele. It's size is perfect for my 3 year old and my husband can play it (sort of) since he knows guitar. So I decided to surprise them with the review of My Ukulele - Make Your Own Ukulele Kit. They were really excited and spent days working on their ukulele together. It was the perfect Father's Day Gift because it was a project that my husband and son worked together on, a prize they could cherish for years and pass down through the generations. I think of one day, many many years from now, when my son can give it to his son and say, "Your Grandpa and I made this together." 

Just as a note, my Grandfather had a Mandolin that he played and it hangs in my Grandmother's house. That's where I got my name and how I know that little things like this carry on.

Here, I documented the process through photographs and made a little video to share with you.




Every night they would set time aside to work on it and now they take that same time to play silly songs on it. They both love that ukulele and it meant more because it wasn't purchased outright, it was something they had to take time with and make their own.
The kit is very well put together. The ukulele itself is very well made. As you could see in the video, you will have to sand it down and coat (and/or paint) it. It is a really beautiful little instrument. 
The only downside being that the directions are a little difficult to understand at times, but they are so outrageously funny that you kind of forget. I know they aren't meant to be! (Sorry!) But we couldn't help ourselves. Also the strings are plastic, which is great for my toddler, but for any serious players you might want to get a set of professional strings. 
I love this gift. I don't think I could have found a more perfect one, at all. I'm positive that you can find so many wonderful things for that special Dad in your life. With over 305 items in the father's day gifts category alone, there is bound to be something that wraps with it all of your gratitude and puts that remarkable smile on their face that for some Dads is really rare indeed.
Connect: You can connect with UncommonGoods on their Facebook Page and/or @UncommonGoods on Twitter. 
Purchase: You can purchase the My Ukulele - Make Your Own Ukulele Kit for $40.00.
The Giveaway: How would you like to win a $50 GC to purchase your own UncommonGoods Gift? I have one to give away to one lucky contestant! To enter the giveaway please follow all of the directions below! If you don't follow the rules, you can't win!

Over The Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project {Review}

A beautiful collection of original lullabies and illustrations featuring music by some of Broadway's biggest stars and brightest composers with illustrations by acclaimed Children's artists and Broadway set designers.

All of my children are lovers of music and that is something that makes me very happy. I have always enjoyed music of all genres and started to introduce each of my children to different types of music while in the womb.
Yes, I was that mom with the headphones on her belly, or the music blasting loud to ensure that my little one would hear it.

Apparently my attempt to turn them into music lovers before birth worked!

After Xander was born, we played a CD of lullaby's in his room every night and it was truly magical because within minutes of the music starting, he was fast asleep and he slept so well.

Since Ellie was born in December, I have been exposing her to all kinds of music when she is awake and asleep.  Right now during the day we listen to a lot of different artists via Pandora while she plays in my office and I attempt to work.  At night, our current music of choice is Over The Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project.

Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is both a timeless benefit effort and a uniquely compelling, multimedia experience. The ambitious project — which incorporates a 2-CD, 26-song set; a lavishly-illustrated hardcover book of 17 songs from the album; a corresponding e-book encompassing the entire collection; and a documentary film and web series — gathers many of contemporary musical theatre’s greatest composers and vocalists, as well as illustrators, all of whom have donated their talent to deliver an emotionally affecting set of new lullabies, some written specifically for this project.

We absolutely love having this CD set as part of our collection an what makes it even better is that the Over The Moon book contains the lyrics to 17 song from the album with beautiful illustrations which has allowed us to swing along with the songs as well and Ellie loves it when people sing to her.

Ellie's favorite song is A Lullaby for Midnight performed by Vanessa Williams which you can see her record below.
Just listening to this song makes me sleepy.

The great thing about Over The Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is that is raises funds for respected breast cancer charities, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Young Survival Coalition.

Connect: You can connect with Over The Moon:  The Broadway Lullaby Project on Facebook, Follow @BroadwayLullaby on Twitter or Visit the Over The Moon website to learn more.


Buy It! You can buy collection online by visiting the Over The Moon website

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LibreTea Review and Giveaway - Springing into Summer Fun!

Spring is in the air and you know what that means. We finally get to have some fun in the sun! Of course, we're celebrating bloggy style! Join us all Spring and Summer long for some great product finds for these awesome seasons. Of course we'll have tons of great prizes for you to win too so make sure to subscribe to our blog to stay in the loop!



 Can I tell you a secret?  I know almost nothing about tea.  Nothing.  I like the tea my mom drinks, bags with black tea with orange something-or-other.  In my house this is a shamefull secret.  My husband, George, is from Kenya which is the third largest tea producer in the world.  He knows his tea.   He says that a real tea drinker uses loose tea, not tea bags.  Oh, and with milk.  Ick. 

The problem with loose tea?  You can only brew it at home.  Too many parts needed to take it on the go or make a cup at work, right? 

The LibreTea Original Tea Glass solves those problems!!

By now, you’ve probably discovered the wonderful taste and variety of loose leaf tea and tea’s health benefits. Are you also aware that loose leaf tea has a smaller eco-footprint than tea bags, because of its bulk packaging? And, of course, loose leaf is economical – significantly less than whole leaf tea bags. Enjoy the benefits of loose leaf tea anytime, anywhere, with your Libre tea glass! Take along your favourite loose leaf tea, and simply add hot water for easy, great tasting loose leaf tea all day long. Now you can have loose tea on the go, at work, or anywhere else! 

The LibreTea Glass'n Poly Original is really pretty and modern looking.  It is very well made with a really modern streamlined style. 

Each Libre glass ’n poly Original has a health-conscious glass interior for fresh taste and a durable polycarbonate exterior for ‘on the go’ durability. The stainless steel tea filter is surrounded by BPA free polypropylene as is the lid interior. Can be used 2 ways to brew and travel with loose leaf tea - 'how to' video here.

The directions are almost deceptively simple (found here).  But you have to be really careful that you follow the directions on the video really carefully or you could have leaks or get scalded.  The Care and Use page really helps too!

So if you are a tea drinker, and a real one (not a faker like me!),then you will LOVE the Glass'n Poly Original Tea Glass!  You can take your favorite loose tea on the go! 

Connect: You can connect with LibreTea on Facebook, @libretea on Twitter and/or follow/subscribe to their blog!

Buy It! You can buy the Glass'n poly Original when it comes back in stock!.

The Giveaway: How would you like to win your own LibreTea Glass'n Poly Original? I have one to give away to one lucky contestant! To enter the giveaway please follow all of the directions below! If you don't follow the rules, you can't win!

Flower Friday - Dose 2

Welcome to the second Flower Friday! I hope you enjoyed last weeks post and continue to come back each and every week to see the new flowers blooming in my garden! This weather has been beautiful this past week, so lots of flowers are coming up. Without further ado, here are this week's beauties!

I posted the one flower that bloomed off this plant last week and had no idea what it was called. Thanks to one of our lovely Facebook fans, I found out it is a Spiderwort.

Here's a beautiful Columbine that I got on clearance at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago. It was starting to die off and I just knew I could revive it!

This little beauty is an 'Arizona Apricot' Blanket Flower Gaillardia. I had one similar one year at the old house and never did figure out what it was called. It got really tall and was just breathtaking. This one only gets about 10-12 inches high.