We are getting blasted with cold temperatures, snow and ice. It is not pleasant to be outside and yet after every storm comes the task of cleaning the windows on your vehicle. That was why I was so glad to find the Scrape-A-Round, this scraper is made of a softer plastic allowing it to conform to the curvature of your windows. It is comfortable to hold even if you have issues like arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome.
I can clean my windows faster and get out of the cold quicker. The Scrape-A-Round has 18″ of ice scraping surface that lets me scrape the frost and ice off my windows faster than other scrapers. It also doubles as a funnel when you remove the cap! Watch a video of it in action HERE!
The Scrape-A-Round makes a very useful and practical gift this holiday season. We have added it to our 2016 Holiday Gift Guide at Mommy Ramblings! Learn more HERE.
Mommy Ramblings’ readers get to save! Get FREE Shipping when you check out at the Scrape-A-Round Website and Use code LU8FBEZREU2 at checkout. Hurry and order, this winter is supposed to be brutal!
We have 2 new renovation projects underway. Our kitchen and the renovation of our powder room with a new vanity, lighted mirror cabinet, new toilet and new paint. We made our decision on the vanity and medicine cabinet and want to share our choice with you.
We are happy to be working with Strasser Woodenworks and love their selection of bathroom vanities, vanity tops and medicine cabinets. We chose the 34.5″ height vanity in the Montlake Collection. For our door style we chose the miter and for our finish we picked satin white.
The vanity size is 48″ and we went with a 49″ pearl white quartz top with rectangular sink. We ordered the top to be customized for a one hole faucet.
For the medicine cabinet we went with the traditional tri-view with the matching miter door style in the satin white finish. We chose the model with the LED light bar.
I think this is going to look great and really update the space nicely and give us a so much more useful storage space. Stay tuned to see the progress of this new project and for the update on the toilet and faucet we chose for this bathroom.
If you are looking for a new vanity, check out Strasser Woodenworks. I have been working with Peter and he has been very helpful through the process. Strasser has over 10,000 combinations of door styles, finishes, knobs, pulls, granite, quartz and vitreous china tops.
Everything is made in the USA to order! It takes about 2 weeks for the vanity and medicine cabinet to be built using hardwoods sourced in the USA and Canada. They build with quality hardware and their soft close hinges are the highest quality and durable. Their cabinets are built with hardware not glued!
Strasser Woodenworks products come with a warranty to be free of defects in workmanship, materials and finish failure for as long as you own the product. That makes me feel really good! You can stay in the loop with Strasser Woodenworks on Facebook, Google +, Pinterest and Houzz.
Let me know what you think of our choice by leaving a comment here. I would love to know what you think.
If you wake up with a running or stuffy nose, have a dry cough, sneeze often, suffer from itchy or watery eyes, the culprit causing your allergies may be your home. Dust, pollen, pet dander, mold and more can be found in most homes. Here are some tips for a cleaner, healthier home.
Get rid of wall to wall carpeting and padding and replace with hardwood, tile or other impervious flooring. Carpeting is a magnet for just about every allergen, walking across them sends releases those allergens back into the air. If it is not possible to get rid of all your carpeting or if you have to do it little by little, start with the bedrooms.
Double up on the door mats, have one outside and right inside the door to minimize the chance of introducing irritants into your home. It is also a good idea to remove your street shoes at the door and encourage your guests to do the same.
Curtail the curtains and drapes. Opt for blinds or shades instead because they trap fewer allergens than window treatments made from fabric. If you must have curtains or drapes, make sure to get ones that are machine washable and wash them often. Vacuum blinds and shades once a week with a brush attachment, wash them regularly with warm water and soap especially if you keep the windows open often.
Many are allergic to mold and with over 100,000 different species of mold in the world it is hard to get away from. Mold loves damp places that is why it is so prevalent in bathrooms. Make sure you dry surfaces of standing water and make sure your bathroom has adequate ventilation. Replace caulk around sinks, tubs and showers to prevent water seeping in and encouraging mold growth behind the walls.
Check under your kitchen and bathroom sinks, make sure there are no leaks or drips that will be a breeding ground for mold. Also check for rodent droppings another allergen.
Use a vacuum with a Hepa Filter to vacuum floor surfaces, mattresses and upholstered furniture. After that, vacuum with a UV-C Light Vacuum like the Verilux CleanWave Sanitizing Portable Vacuum.
Vacuuming with this can leave your home surfaces 99.9% germ and allergen free! The ultraviolet light technology is built into the vacuum and can eliminate dust mites, bed bugs, bacteria, mold, allergens, flea eggs and more that are lurking in your home.
This portable vacuum comes with a brush and crevice tool attachment. This is a great way to clean your home and destroy germs and viruses like MRSA, H1N1 and more without the use of harsh, harmful chemicals.
Vacuum bedding, mattresses, furniture. floors, rugs and more. Eliminate odors by killing odor producing bacteria. If you are looking to buy a new mattress like the Leesa Mattress make sure you keep it clean from the start with these methods.
The 400 watt motor and cyclonic action ensure maximum power and suction, and easy empty, bagless design and 2-stage micro-allergy filtration prevent recirculation of pollutants.
Using the same UV sanitizing technology that’s been used for over 30 years in hospitals, food processing facilities and water treatment plants, CleanWave’s germ reducing light can penetrate a micro-organism’s cell membrane damaging the DNA, preventing growth and killing the organism.
Check out my video here of how easy it is to use.
I love that I can take this anywhere, it is easy to operate and has a safety feature that automatically turns the light off if it is not on a flat surface. It is easy to empty and gives me peace of mind. We have allergies in our house and using this vacuum is making a difference.
Verilux is sponsoring a giveaway (giveaway is over) on Mommy Ramblings! One lucky blog reader will win a Verilux, CleanWave Portable UV Vacuum. Thank you to Verilux for the review CleanWave UV Vacuum and for sponsoring this fantastic giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!! Open to US residents.
Verilux CleanWave Sanitizing Portable Vacuum Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:
Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!
If you love the look of a farmhouse sink and want one in your kitchen, you are not alone. The farmhouse sink with its apron front was designed for the comfort of women who spent long hours in front of them. By eliminating the countertop in front, women did not have to lean forward over sink. So, what is it about these sinks of yesteryear that appeals to us today? I think there are a number of reasons they are so popular. The size is larger since the apron front extends over the bottom cabinet. This makes them ideal to wash even large pots, pans, cookie sheets and more.
Besides looking beautiful that apron front means that any drips will not be falling on the cabinet but onto the floor eliminating the chance of water damage to your cabinets. Without having to reach over the countertop it is much more comfortable than a conventional sink. I think there is a certain romantic quality to a farmhouse sink that beckons us to simpler times and tugs at our heartstrings.
When you are considering a farmhouse sink there are some factors to consider. Material is a major one. Farmhouse sinks are available in white porcelain, cast iron enamel, Fireclay, stainless steel, copper and more.
For me the look of the white Fireclay along with the durability make it a strong contender. I do have a more modern stainless steel farmhouse sink in my laundry room but I still find myself longing for the true farmhouse look of the Fireclay. There are sink grills available which will help protect your sink. I love sink grills and would highly recommend them. If a Fireclay sink does chip, it can be repaired with a repair kit.
Fireclay sinks are heavy and some require that the sink cabinet is customized with extra support to handle the weight. You will also need to decide on a double or single bowl. For me it is a no-brainer. I want the full experience of the large sink and don’t want to split it into 2 bowls.
Since I grew up with a dishwasher and don’t hand wash anything that can go in the dishwasher, I just did not see why I would want 2 bowls. The things we hand wash are large and so I know a double bowl would not be able to handle them with the ease of a large single bowl.
Even after you have decided on a sink material and bowl size there are still other decisions like the design. This is the hardest for me. I have been working with Jake from Nantucket Sinks and he has helped me tremendously. I finally made my decision and I choose the Hyannis 30″ Fireclay Sink.
So that is one decision down for our kitchen and about 1,000,000 more to go! What do you think of my choice? If you have any questions please let me know.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
The holidays are coming upon us fast. If you are like me, you might be thinking about getting your home ready for the holidays. I was recently browsing Home Decorators. I love decorating for the Christmas season and I admit, I squealed with delight when I saw the Martha Stewart Mouse Ornaments. Could they be any more adorable? I can’t see how, they are just precious!
As I continued to browse the site I landed upon the Martha Stewart Living™ House Advent Calendar Ornaments. I was floored because they are the same types of houses I remember as a child. My favorite thing was decorating a village under the tree with them. These houses look exactly like the ones from my childhood except they have numbers on the front. They are a unique advent calendar, you hang one house each day on the tree from December 1st thru December 23rd. I just love the idea and want to start this new tradition with my family.
They have such nice holiday decor, I want everything! I especially like this Chalkboard Joy Sign.
Check it out for yourself, they have so many great items. They even have a huge selection of artificial trees that look so real! Everything coordinates so beautifully, it is easy to create a home that reflects the splendor of the season.
Another store I like shopping at is Overstock.com. I have found super deals there. Now that it is getting colder, I like to use flannel sheets. I found their selection of flannel sheets to be amazing. The only hard part is choosing from the many styles!
Who doesn’t like curling up on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies? When I saw these Eddie Bauer pillows, I knew they would be perfect for my family room.
As much as I like shopping for new home decor, I love saving money on new home decor! Home Decorators and Overstock are having huge sales now but what makes it even better are Groupon Coupons! Do you use Groupon Coupons? If you don’t, check them out, you will be glad you did!
Can an air cleaner be beautiful? The answer is yes, especially if it is a Himalayan Salt Lamp. You may think they are just a pretty accent or night-light but they are so much more! They clean the air by releasing negative ions, the same kind that are produced by thunderstorms, waterfalls and the ocean. They are quiet and make no noise at all. There are no filters to buy, change or clean. The lamp lasts forever as long as it is not submerged in water. It requires very little maintenance besides unplugging it once a month or so and wiping it with a damp cloth or sponge.
The lamps come from the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Each salt crystal lamp is chipped out by hand and a hole is bored in the base for the light.The lamps are made up of 84 different minerals just like the human body. These natural inclusions account for the unique coloring and patterns within each lamp. The apricot colors come from Manganese. The robust red comes from Iron.
Benefits of Using A Himalayan Salt Lamp
The negative ions that are released by the lamp clean the air of Dust, Pollen (grass, weed and tree pollen), Animal Dander, Smoke, Odor, Mold Spores and more. The light emitted is calming and along with the natural colors can help relieve anxiety. They are said to be a natural way to help eliminate or relieve allergies, asthma, migraines and more.
I have been using Himalayan Salt Lamps in my home for years now. I love them. Not only do they create a very beautiful glow but the health benefits are wonderful. Everyone that sees them asks about them. They even help to offset the positive ions produced by televisions, computers and other electronics. The cord of the lamp has a toggle switch to turn it on or off. You can see more in my video below.
Save Now
If you are thinking that you might want to try a Himalayan Salt Lamp in your home, the Himalayan Salt Shop has some great specials. The 5-7 pound lamp in my video is now half price and there are big savings on sets of 4 lamps and more. You can save 20% by using the promo code USFAMILY when you check out on their site.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have a Himalayan Salt Lamp? Do you want to get one? Do you have any questions for me? Tell me or ask in the comments.
I cannot believe that I have been turning the heat on and walking around in sweatshirts this last week. While it is still warm during the day, it is turning very cool in the evenings. Seeing as we just hit mid September and it is still officially summer, it is far too early for my taste. I love my plants and I hate knowing it is only a matter of weeks and the first frost will mean the end of the perennials in my flower beds until next spring.
I also dislike having to carry my house plants and trees in and out when they were loving their time on the deck this summer. I am not a winter person. The thing that I dislike the most is the drab grayness that happens right after all the beautiful, fall leaves fall to the ground. There is such a harshness in winter and even when the first snowfall comes the beauty does not last long. Before long, the drabness of the long cold winter leaves me longing for color.
While I do not have the power to change the weather in New York, I can do something to add color to my home during the winter season. I recently found a company called Permaleaf that has a collection of artificial plants, trees, and flowers that are lifelike and can withstand the elements.
They look great outside, on a patio, by the front door, in planters and more all around my home. I like that they are a nice way to add color during the gray winter months. I ordered a lavender plant in a nice black ornate planter and love it! It is easy to see how the elements will not affect it and I know it will make me smile to see those pops of color over the long winter.
I love growing things, I have been growing mango trees from seed all summer. I have germinated 10 or 11 trees now that are doing wonderful! I am growing pineapples too from the pineapple top and it is so much fun and so rewarding. I love to garden and also plant and maintain many perennial gardens on my property. I have a vegetable garden too and one of the things I hate about winter is the drabness that seems to take over. Sure the white snow on evergreens is pretty but the long winters can leave me longing for color.
That is where silk flowers come in. They can give me those pops of colors that really cheer me up and make me smile. I also like to use them in areas where it would be hard to maintain real flowering plants. I recently picked out a gorgeous Dancing Orchid. It is 32″ tall and comes in a beautiful ceramic pot.
I am really happy with it and plan to put it around my whirlpool tub in my master bathroom. I like to take a lot of warm baths in the winter and having that colorful orchid there will just help me to feel that spring is not too far away.
Do you decorate with silk plants? Would love to hear your thoughts.
I received the dancing orchid to facilitate my review. As always my words and views are 100% my own.
Kitchen renovations are much different today than they ever have been before. It used to be that when someone did a kitchen renovation or a remodel the only real options they had were the design and architectural features of the room such as arches/doorways, walls/ceilings, and flooring or additional space options.
These days, though, you have many other elements you can add such as smart appliances and products for a smartly designed kitchen. If you are curious about the different smart kitchen ideas available, consider reading the article below for some cool and technology driven ideas to make your kitchen more forward friendly, convenient and comfortable.
Smart Appliances For A Smart Kitchen
Most appliances in the kitchen are already pretty darn smart in terms of timers and knowing when to stop cooking a product. But, you also have a lot of other different “smart” options available to you, such as:
– Touchscreen Stove Tops: Not only is this a really cool type of cooking technology, but it can also be used in a kitchen with children as well, since it’s a very safe product to use. Essentially the cook top uses conduction to heat things like pots and pans. But, the other parts of the stove stay cool – to the touch. You can actually use the touch screen to browse the internet, look up recipes to make, check out cookbooks in digital format and more.
– Home Chat: This cool little app is meant for specific things like the fridge. It will essentially keep track of items and ingredients inside the refrigerator and you can ask it questions such as: Do we have butter and it will reply back via text yes two sticks or no we do not. This is really efficient because you can use the app even out of the house.
Smart Fridge
This is a really cool option but in the near future, we will also have an even cooler option (it’s a concept right now) that will actually order food, keep track of what’s in the fridge and alert you when you are running low, and do a plethora of other cool options. For now, though, you have these smart refrigerators. The LCD display allows you to watch TV, listen to the radio, check the news, leave memos for yourself or other family members, check out the calendar and leave notes on specific days and more. It’s quite expensive, at around $3600 but if you want a tech driven kitchen, this might be the addition for you… for now anyway, until that higher tech fridge comes along!
Pair 3D Design Application
Okay, this is a really cool app and unlike any other smart application above. It’s only an Apple App right now, though. Essentially what you do is you bring up the camera on your iPhone and the app will give you different furniture options for that camera viewer. In the camera viewer, you can see how that piece of furniture or an appliance would fit in your space, what it would look in a 3D manner and more. The app can also be used by brands and businesses as well. But it’s also a great design tool for home owners that allow you to set up a room in real-time.
Radiant Flooring
In a lot of cases, you see radiant flooring done in a bathroom. But, since more and more people are also using porcelain in the kitchen as well (its durable, budget friendly and beautiful) some manufactures have started to make radiant flooring options for the kitchen too. This is a perfect option for any flooring in the kitchen, but especially stone or tile like porcelain because even though it does have a lot of benefits, one of the disadvantages are that it can get quite cool to the touch in the winter. In order to fix this, you can use radiant heating underneath the flooring to warm it up before you ever set foot on it.
Radiant flooring can be set on a timer so that it turns on every morning before you wake up to make the floor nice and toasty so when you come down for breakfast or coffee the floor is already heated up. You can also use Wi-Fi with a lot of radiant flooring systems so as soon as you wake up you can turn on your app – and have the floor heated so by the time you make it downstairs it’s warmed. Tile flooring like porcelain is a great conductor of heat. In fact, the two best materials to use a radiant floor on are porcelain and wood. Porcelain is a really good option though because it won’t expand as it warms and cools which means it won’t crack which means your flooring will last for longer!
There you have it, kitchen renovation ideas that you should know before you start your project.
As a mom of 5, I know life throws us the unexpected. However with so many things we can’t control, it is nice when we can eliminate others easily. Have you ever been faced with an unexpected layover at the airport and your kids want to play on the filthy airport floor? Forget your chairs for you child’s soccer game? No space at the picnic tables in the park? Now you don’t have to sweat those things because the Monkey Mat is an ultra-compact mat that fits in your purse or diaper bag. It is perfect for so many things, use it at the beach, lawn concerts, camping and hiking, sporting events and so much more! You can see more on their website.
As an added incentive My readers get to save! Use coupon code “USFAM” for $5 off + Free Shipping! Click HERE to get your coupon!
The Monkey Mat was seen on Shark Tank and comes in different colors and prints. This is a mat I would not want to be without!
The Monkey Mat is a clean, portable surface you can take EVERYwhere!
For all ages, all places, all year long.
5′ x 5′ mat – large enough for several friends or family!
Attached pouch – so nothing separate to keep track of!
Ultra compact – no more bulky blankets!
Ripstop nylon – durable, but still soft to the touch (no plasticky feel)!
Lightweight – only 12oz, so really can go everywhere!
Machine washable – of course 🙂
Water repellant – spills, grass, sand, dirt, etc shake right off!
Corner weights – super lightweight, so keeps it from blowing away in the wind!
Corner loops – use stakes, shovels or whatever you have for extra grounding if needed, or tie multiple Monkey Mats together for even more clean floor!
Center fun tabs – attach and keep track of toys, keys, dog leashes, etc!
Hello, I’m Carolyn! I am a PR Savvy, WAH Mom to 5! I love Photography, Baking, DIY Projects, Crafts, Cooking and making memories with my family. I love sharing reviews and giveaways too!
