Artsy Chaos

Thursday proved to be a very busy day. I wore my taxi driver hat 8 times today. 8 times=8 trips to drop off/pick up and back home again. Seriously, when will these kids get their driver's licenses...? And the real crappy thing is, I don't even have a taxi driver hat. Do they sell taxi driver hats? Do they come in pink? Hmm.. On one of these trips it was just me and Oliver. Somehow we got talking about birthing babies. Ya, I know, weird. He said he didn't think anyone could really remember actually being born, like the actual birth. I said ya, I don't think so, and he made some strange "squirming and trying to be born" movement. My kids are unique . Then he asked me about his older brother's "autopsy". Say what? Autopsy? Ya Mom, you know when he wouldn't come out and they had to cut him out. Oh yes, C-Section, I said, not autopsy because that's what they do to dead people to find out how they died. And so he says don't judge me, I...

Welcome to the 2011 Fall Fashionista Giveaway Event! The 100+ bloggers participating in this event are so excited to bring you the chances to win thousands in drool-worthy fashion items! You can enter at each blog participating and enter for the grand prize of a Fendi Mini Beige Red Pochette Bag!! Here at Artsy Chaos you can enter to win over $60 worth of gorgeous fashion jewelry sponsored by DuelOnJewel.com and GoFavor.com. To find all about these great sponsors, please visit our review posts for Duel On Jewel and Go Favor . Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter the giveaway here. You may do either mandatory entry to enter; you must complete both to unlock extra entries.  Make sure your java is up to date and be patient, the form may be slow to load. If you are unable to see either the entry form or the GFC widget to follow us, please refresh the page and that should do the trick! After you enter here, use the linky at the bottom of this post to hop to anothe...

So many things are just not like they used to be; sturdy, solid, simple and built to last. Everything these days seems so rushed, hurried and disposable, including so many of the products on the market. Honestly, we get real tired of rolling the dice every time we purchase a product. I bet you do too. Jacob Bromwell is out of the ordinary. Established in 1819 with an idea to create solid cooking and kitchen ware, Jacob Bromwell creates products the same way they did back then and they are expected to last for generations. I inherited one of Jacob Bromwell's fine flour sifters from my father's family's estate. It may have belonged to his great-aunt Josephine or possibly his grandmother but in any case, it made its way to me many years later. I used to just turn the handle to feel how smoothly it turned the little wires inside the sifter. It was mesmerizing. Unfortunately, the sifter suffered during one of our moves in my early 20's and couldn't be put back tog...

There are a lot of party games and printable games out there on the internet. A lot of party games that well, are pretty much all the same and not that clever or involved. I mean, don't get me wrong, if you have a crazy family like I do a lot of lame games can be fun. But I found something much different and WAY BETTER . Insert = PartyGamesPlus.com! Halloween is coming up and I have something perfect for your upcoming parties and get-togethers: Clues, Spells, and Curses Scavenger Hunt . Just the name is intriguing, right? I mean seriously, who doesn't want to cast a spell on smelly Uncle Charlie and Little Tommy's loud friend Helga! This downloadable game comes with everything, literally almost everything, you will need for an entire night of laughs and fun. The .PDF game is 25 pages long and you can use it over and over and over - it might even become a yearly tradition. The price may seem a little steep at $14.99 but remember that is on par or even less expensive than...

We wanted to share a quick discount available from Crazy Dog T-shirts for Halloween. Did you know that they also have Halloween costumes available at some great prices? Of course, if you did you're thinking 'duh' and if you didn't, well, now you do. Courtesy of Crazy Dog, you can use these codes:  TRICK for $5 off any costume order, OR TREAT for 10% off any costume order; whichever gives you the greater discount. Happy Halloween!! FTC Disclosure: We received no compensation for this post, monetary or otherwise but do have a relationship with CrazyDogTshirts.com.

We are pleased to introduce you to  Duel On Jewel , one of our fabulous sponsors for the Fall Fashionista Giveaway Event, October 14-19, 2011.  Over 130 blogs are participating, each with a prize minimum of $50 to give away.  Don't miss it! From the Duel On Jewel website, "jewelry is an accessory that helps to enhance your outfit and style". We couldn't agree more. Jewelry is like the icing on the cake, the part of an outfit that pulls it all together in your own unique way. I, myself, have more of a bold style in jewelry and I have a particular love of fashion jewelry. I like big pieces that you won't see anywhere else; Pieces that have a charm and style of their own. If you're unsure of what style of jewelry to wear or what to wear together, Duel On Jewel has a great jewelry tips section to give you direction in your jewelry style. We were able to review 3 lovely pieces from Duel On Jewel and we weren't disappointed. This 16" glass bead ...

Welcome to Thursday! ...which is almost Friday, but not quite. What better way to pass the day than to do a little hopping around and maybe finding some new favorite blogs to visit. Leave a comment and we'll be sure to follow you back. To find more blogs to visit, just click any of the hop buttons below! 

I remember when my kids were younger and always begging me to let them create a "My Space" profile. Honestly, I was horrified. With all due respect to My Space, it is not really appropriate for a 10 year old. I'm not an overly protective parent but having my children playing on what I feel is an adult place to hang out is just not my cup of tea. Boy, we used to have some tears over that one! I wish that FoozKids would have been around then. FoozKids is a kid-safe, parent approved place where kids can email family and friends, watch videos and even do some crafting all in a parent controlled and child appropriate environment. For a low one-time fee of $11.99 (hello, bargain!) for the basic application kids get access to web, video, games, crafts, virtual rooms, email and they get to create their own virtual look-a-like. What a great comfort to be able to let your children email when they want and to whom they want all because you have already approved who they can i...

You will not believe the amazing prizes that you can win in the upcoming Fall Fashionista Giveaway happening here at Artsy Chaos and on over 130 other participating blogs!  Here is a fun sneak peek of what is coming on October 14th... Open publication - Free publishing - More fashionista

Today is my birthday and what better way to celebrate than in supporting Breast Cancer Awareness! It just so happens, also, that the month of October is National Breast Cancer awareness month. Plus, I love pink and so it's a match. Freschetta has teamed up with bloggers to let you know about the Freschetta Proud to Support Pink program. From now until October 31st, Freschetta will donate $1 to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for every code entered from specially marked pizzas. One dollar may not sound like much but it really does add up - and fast. The specially marked package codes can be entered at www.ProudToSupportPink.com until they reach their goal of $50,000.  Freschetta is also donating 50 pink iPods each week in October to 4 cancer treatment centers around the US for patients to enjoy during treatment. My father had cancer and during his treatments, anything to relieve his mind from the pain was a welcome addition. We love Freschetta pizzas and my new f...

The hop is now over and it's time for the big reveal. *cue the howling ghosts, please*..... You may remember that the hint for our giveaway was something that may sparkle when you put it in the sun. If you guessed vampires from the Twilight series, you are correct!! The winner will receive Stephanie Meyer's eclipse on audio 13 CD set (ARV $57). Depending upon whether you like the Twilight series or not, this may be a trick or a treat. The winner will also receive a 3 knife set by RC Willey (ARV $10). This could be a real trick depending upon how you look at it! Eeek! Thanks to everyone who entered! Check your email to see if you are the winner!! Happy Halloween! Welcome to the Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop!  Each blog participating in this event is offering a prize worth at least $50.... but you won't know what you get until the hop has ended.  It's like a Halloween surprise! Don't worry, however, as each blog will be giving away some really great p...

Stress School has been in session for about a month now and whoa to the teen years. Homework, friends, driver's licenses, dates, first jobs, stress, stress, stress.... and acne. We are thankful to have been blessed with really pretty clear skin but every once in awhile, those pesky zits will pop up on my teens' faces making them uncomfortable and self-conscious. Oxy Clinical to the rescue! My youngest son has been trying the OXY Clinical Actions Solutions Pack for over 30 days now. His acne issues are not serious and he seems to only get a few problems on his chin. After testing the OXY Clearing Treatment, Advanced Face Wash and Hydrating Therapy, his skin seems overall clearer and more smooth. He still has some "zits" on the chin area but I think that's because he wasn't diligent about using the Clearing Treatment (seriously, have you tried to get a 15 year old to cooperate in a month long review? ha!). I am impressed with how nice overall his skin look...

Here at Artsy Chaos, we are always up for a challenge. Mix crafting in that challenge and you have yourself a party! Karina over at Karina's Challenge recently asked several craft bloggers to participate in a bit of a game to see what everyone would come up with.  Everyone participating was given a bag of similar supplies to use and were allowed to add items from their own stash as well. I decided on a banner for my daughter's room! From the bag Karina supplied, I used the paper, brads and ribbon. The photo letters are from Artistic Letters and are copyright   by Jodi Gerber. (We have an article on Artistic Letters which you can read here .) This was a lot of fun, thanks Karina!  There will be voting on the projects over at Karina's Challenge October 1st-8th if you'd like to head over and participate.

We are pleased to introduce you to GoFavor.com , one of our fabulous sponsors for the Fall Fashionista Giveaway Event, October 14-19, 2011.  Over 130 blogs are participating, each with a prize minimum of $50 to give away.  Don't miss it! I love fashion jewelry, costume jewelry, whatever jewelry you'd like to call it.  It just speaks to me in some karmic way.  Maybe I love it so much because as a child, my grandmother would buy me the kid's jewelry from the Avon catalog.  If you're old enough, you'll remember the plastic pins with the pots of solid perfume on the back.  I think I had them all. Recently, I discovered GoFavor.com, an online retailer of fashion jewelry with unbelievable pricing.  Seriously, you can find items as low as 90 cents!  I might have been a little skeptical at first but having been given the opportunity to review some of Go Favor's items, I am sold!  Yes, the quality is not what you'd see at a fine jewelry sto...

I bet you're familiar with Mixbook through their amazing customer promotions and photo books, but did you know that they also have photo cards and invitations?  And that they have tons of great designs too? Mixbook was very generous in letting us try out their photo card services.  We chose to make and order some custom 5x7 flat  Christmas cards for the upcoming holiday season.  It really was hard to choose just one design but in the end we went with one that is a trendy mix of turquoise and red, a hot color combo right now.   The kids really didn't want to pose for some pics to use on the Christmas cards but in the end, I think I got some pretty good shots to use.  I changed them to black and white and the used Mixbook's easy-to-use built in website software to make our cards.  It truly was very, very easy to use as well as user friendly.  We were impressed with how many additional elements and fonts they have available for use on y...

This post is part of  Endless Summer at Artsy Chaos , happening only during September! Wouldn't we all like to keep our outdoor wood surfaces in summer ready appearances all year round?  Certainly!  I mean, unless you're a fan of the old, faded, peeling grey look in your decks and wood fences.  We want people to drive by, stop by and walk by with a "wow" on their face at our gorgeous outdoor wood.  Who wouldn't? Ok, we're not that vain but we really do want to protect our wood and make it look great at the same time. This is where Thompson's WaterSeal enters the picture to provide homeowners with "deck protection" from water damage.  We certainly don't want water damage.  We want Thompson's WaterSeal. And since Thompson's has been protecting the world's treasures since 1929, like the Parthenon, they certainly are trusted with our outdoor wood fixtures. Lucky for us, Thompson's let us try out their   Oxy Foaming Action Ex...

Admit it, you have a hard time thinking up tasty new foods to cook for your family. I certainly do and since we eat a lot of chicken, it seems to fall into the same boring rut. Hellmann's to the rescue! Hellmann's is launching its first-ever Chicken Challenge - a series of head-to-head chicken dish challenges to help moms diversify their dinner routine. Hurrah! Watch celeb dad and actor Mark Consuelos, renowned chef Tim Love and lifestyle expert Sissy Biggers try to win over the crowd and champion for their favorite Hellmann's chicken recipe. Watch a video of the rivalry: Here is the info for the event: What: Hellmann's Live Chicken Challenge Where: Live stream at Facebook.com/Hellmanns When: Tuesday, Sept. 20th at 12:10pm EST Don't miss it!! FTC Disclosure: We learned about this project as a direct result of our involvement with the One to One network.

This past week my oldest son turned 23. 23!!! I could say "seems like yesterday when he fill in the blank " but really, it doesn't seem like just yesterday; it seems like forever ago when he was little! I must be incredibly old. Some of you reading this might be the same age as my son which means I could be your mother .   .sigh.    Having another family birthday meant that I could make more cupcakes. This time it was carrot cake with buttercream cream cheese frosting. I tweeked the recipe just a bit from the one I had made previously in this post . Again, the cupcakes were topped with toppers from Expressions by Devin . My son lurves his Star Wars so the little Yoda, R2D2 and Darth Vadar were perfectly fitting. Did I say he turned 23 !?!? This past week also brought the state fair which is always super fun. Our youngest 2 kids had earned the right at our county fair to have exhibits shown in the state fair and it's always fun to go see what ribbons they mig...