$125 Custom Blog Design Giveaway with Sweet Faerie Designs

I'm thrilled to introduce you to Carrie Koehmstedt, a designer, wife, mom and blogger. She is the owner and creative force behind Sweet Faerie Designs.

Do you have a blog through Blogger?

Carrie is giving away a beautiful, custom design to an 

In Between Laundry reader! 

That's a $125 value that will include

* a custom banner,

* background,

* one, two or three-column formatting,

* custom font titles for posts and widgets,

* coordinating social media icons and linking, and

* a custom favicon.

Having a clean, beautiful site is so important and Sweet Faerie Designs can help! 

Here are a few of my favorite custom blog designs

 from Sweet Faerie Designs...

Carrie also does Twitter backgrounds, graphics, t-shirt design, holiday cards, business cards and so much more. 

custom t-shirt design

custom business cards

How to enter:

You can enter up to three times by leaving a comment for each of the following--

1. Become a Sweet Faerie Designs Facebook fan 

2. Follow Sweet Faerie Designs on Twitter.

3. Subscribe to her blog, Carrie Loves.

The giveaway will end at 11:59 pm central-time on Monday, March 5th.

Don't want to wait? Sweet Faerie Designs is also giving away a 15% coupon on pre-made templates (reg. $30) and custom designs (reg. $125) at her Etsy shop! 

Use coupon code SFD15OFF and make a note at check-out if you are requesting a custom design. 

Thanksgiving Ties

I hope your Halloween weekend was so happy and restful! Is it already Tuesday? Oh! I guess I weekended a little long. We spent the last few days with my sister and her family.

While we were there, she took down all the Halloween decorations and started assembling her Thanksgiving mantel. My own wheels are now turning about what I might do over our fireplace. 

When we got home, I pulled up these sweet pictures I took before our trip...

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a color palette like this for my Thanksgiving home. 

Erica at B is for Boy made my two little men these adorable argyle adjustable strap ties and I think that the colors are absolutely wonderful! Bright orange, lime green, browns and blues. Not too serious, but still pays homage to the traditional.

I'm feeling so inspired! Didn't she do an amazing job? I told her that I needed a longer tie for my oldest and she whipped one up to my specifications with no trouble.

Erica sent the ties quickly and they came professionally packaged--great for gifting. She even included instructions for how to wash and fold them back together if your boys are prone to spills (what boys aren't?). 

You will find so many cute handmade ties in Erica's shop, B is for Boy. She also writes a great blog called B is for Boy where she documents the projects she takes on for her sons. 

As a mom of two boys myself, I love finding great shops like hers (it's not easy to find fun dress clothes for my guys) and am even happier when the service is excellent.

You'll love Erica-- go check her Etsy shop and blog out right away!

Stuff I Love: Bale and Twine {Store for Handcrafted Goods}

I'm always a fan of products created by hand-- there's something so authentic and genuine about knowing that what you're using has been lovingly and carefully made by a person with a story, a family, a life.

That's why I've been so impressed with Bale and Twine. 

Suzanne, the owner, beautifully constructs soaps, soy candles, jewelry and seasonal products, and she features other talented artists, too.

The coolest part is that Bale and Twine selects a different charity every month to donate a percentage of their sales. You can read more about that here.

So, you can imagine how excited I was to receive a package of goodies from Suzanne!

Here's what she sent me and I love, love them both.

1. a FANTASTIC soap, Orange Ripple with Shea Butter

which I had to force myself not to eat. That's how good it smells, girls.

Orange Ripple is like an orange dream bar in my opinion, but better. It is blended with shredded loofah and shea butter so it's a nice exfoliater yet provides plenty of moisture.

My bar is almost gone, by the way. I've seriously used it every day.

2. a pure silver "E" mini-pendant, hand rolled and stamped with a vintage letter stamp from Japanese silver clay

This unique jewelry is adorably petite and dainty, perfect on a small ribbon or chain as a necklace.

I think it would make the sweetest baby or child gift on a little bracelet.

Definitely get to know Suzanne-- who is so nice-- and her great company, Bale and Twine.

 

Stuff I Love: Amanda's Naturals

No. 1: I LOVE handmade items.

No. 2: I LOVE natural products.

No. 3: I LOVE foo-foo smell-ums bath and body stuff.

No. 4: I LOVE making up words like foo-foo smell-ums.

Amanda's Naturals sent me the most wonderful box of goodies and I can't get enough of this high-quality bath, body and home line.

{Whipped Body Butter}

 in Caribbean Dream

You will not believe how lush and silky smooth this is-- a little dab will do ya. In several weeks of use, I've barely made a dent in my can.

It's 100% all-natural and whipped until thick and creamy with grape seed oil, palm oil and olive oil.

The scent is clean and citrusy, very light and fresh.

{R & R Herbal Bath Tea}

with peppermint leaves, lavendar and 

chamomile flowers, oatmeal and essential oils

Genius! You place one bag under hot, running water as the bathtub fills and the bag literally brews.

We all need a little time to ourselves and this is definitely a treat at the end of a long day.

Minty and herbal, this scent is my favorite.

{Oatmeal Soap}

 in Energy

Sign me up for anything that can help out with energy. Mercy me, I need it. I think most moms can relate.

This week, my boys have been battling a stomach bug. Ugh. I'm exhausted and I cannot tell you how many times I've washed my hands.

After switching from an anti-bacterial liquid soap which left my skin itchy-dry, I am pleased to tell you that

this oatmeal soap not only smells wonderful and cleans with a nice, rich lather, but my hands are perfectly smooth and soft--even after many hand-washes.

It's a delightful body wash, too. The scent is orange and ginger, not too feminine or masculine, just natural and pure.

{Aromatherapy Room and Linen Spray}

 in Sleep Time

Can you hear me singing? I saved the best for last...

I am in love with this linen spray.

It smells HEAVENLY, a soft and delicate blend of vanilla and lavender.

But let me show you why it's a miracle-product in my book.

One light spritz in my baby's crib and he actually enjoys getting into bed for nap time. My four-year-old thinks spraying it on his own sheets before bed is extra special, making my life about 58 times easier every night.

I'm pretty willing to bet Amanda would sell this by the case if your kids happen to be anything like mine.

By the way, I use it as a room freshener and in the car, as well.

--Check out Amanda's Natural's--

Use coupon code SPRING for 10% off at check-out.