bullfrogs & bulldogs | Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways

My Vertical Garden #DigIn with The Home Depot

May 13, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

It’s finally that time my friends! Time to show you how my vertical garden turned out using the plans found on The Home Depot site. I have to say, this experience has really inspired me to tackle so many other projects around our home and property. Not only did I gain much more confidence using a drill, I also learned a whole lot more about gardening in general using The Home Depot’s Garden Club as a reference!

It feels really great when a project finally comes together and I realize how much I learned from doing the project all together.

Eventually, I think I may paint my vertical garden but right now, I love the natural color of the wood and how it’s discoloring with a little time.

The best part of making the vertical garden was being able to work with such a great company, The Home Depot AND walking away completely a project that has been on my Pinterest Garden board for a long time. If you don’t follow Bullfrogs and Bulldogs on Pinterest you can do so here! And, while you’re at it, you can follow The Home Depot here!

I love the multitude of colors and textures throughout the vertical garden. I wasn’t sure what colors some of the flowers would be as they had yet to bloom but so far, I’m loving what I see!

Eventually I’ll be able to turn it up and hang it on the side of the house here but the roots still need a little bit more time to settle.

And of course I need to give a big thank you to my special helpers, Isis and Maddy, who didn’t leave my side the WHOLE time

So, tell me. Do you think this is a project you’d love to add to your list? If so, what would you do differently to add your special touch?

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need to #DigIn for Spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, they have great values on all you need. They’re ready to help you with renovation ideas and expert advice, too.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/ to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: #DigIn, Gardening, The Home Depot, Vertical Garden

A Duluth Trading Company Giveaway

May 10, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 2 Comments

Happy Friday everyone! We have been having some of the most incredible weather I can remember in all my springs in the Pacific Northwest. We are having record breaking temperatures and to be honest, it feels just like summer around here! Which of course mean lots of time working in the yard. I’ve been on a serious mission trying to get the yard around our home in great condition and adding lots of plants and flowers to increase the curbside appeal. Well, we live on fifty acres so we don’t exactly have a ‘curbside’ but our home is part of the vineyard and we are starting to have events on our property and I want it to look beautiful. When I garden I typically just wear some old grubby clothes but I am was so excited when Duluth Trading Co. sent me some great gardening gear to try out because of the functionality of it all.

I chose the Plaid Armachillo Work Shirt because it is made to work in warm conditions allowing your skin to breath. I also chose the Quick Dry Pants because they are light weight on and wick away moisture. I think they would be awesome hiking pants too! Duluth Trading Co. also sent me the Oil Cloth Day Tote which is perfect because it will allow me to carry my gardening tools all around our property as I get to work.

Here I am working on one of our side gardens. I’m so excited with progress I’m making and I can’t wait to see these little babies grow! Note: I recommend ordering a size down from what you would originally order. They seem to run a tad bit big Hence why I am sitting and not standing in the picture below, my pants were falling off!

And here is the kicker, one of YOU is going to receive a $50 gift card to purchase something from the Duluth Trading Co.! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and you are entered to win! Giveaway ends May 15th.

Duluth Trading Company is offering free shipping now through June 30, 2013, for my readers. Just enter code “T13PRCG” (Note: $50 minimum order. Minimum order applies to total before tax, shipping or gift card purchases. Valid for US shipping only, on standard delivery.) a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Duluth Trading Co., Gardening

Shopping for my Vertical Garden Supplies at The Home Depot {Part 2} #DigIn

April 29, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Today I’m excited to share my experience shopping at The Home Depot for the supplies for my vertical garden.

If you have been following along, you know that I am working with The Home Depot on a special project building my very own vertical garden. You can read my other posts here and here.

I love vertical gardens for several reasons. First, I think they are just good looking. Whether you use the plan I did from The Home Depot or come up with one on your own, there are so many different versions of vertical gardens that you could definitely find one to suit your style and your needs.

I love how versatile they can be whether you are short on space and using it to grow your veggies and herbs or like me, are using it to add a little interest to one of your exterior walls. The options are really endless.

The other day I made my venture to The Home Depot by my house, okay, it’s not really by my house…nothing is “by my house” since we live about 9 miles out of town BUT, I made my venture to the closet Home Depot to pick up my supplies so I could start building my very own vertical garden.

Every time I head to The Home Depot I get a very nostalgic feeling. My dad was a carpenter for about 30 years and the moment I enter the building {I typically go in where all the contractors do}, I am met with the delicious smell of wood. It reminds me of going to jobs with my dad when I was younger. I would fake sick so I could stay home and tag along with my dad to all of his job sites, driving in his blue pickup and listen to Randy Travis, drinking my orange Gatorade because I was ‘sick’. True story. I was a pretty clever little kid and kind of just loved hanging with my dad.

Anyway, I love going to The Home Depot cause it’s like going home, home to a bunch of fond memories.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really retain much of the information I learned going on these ventures with my dad and before this last trip to The Home Depot, I really didn’t even know what a 1×4 was so as I was walking down the isles of various wood I think I must have had an overwhelmed look on my face because one of the kind employees asked me if I needed help.

I sure did, I told him.

I handed him my list and I followed him around finding all the various sizes of wood I needed. As he started to load them onto my cart I realized there was a big problem, how the heck was I going to fit this all into my car? The boards reached about 8 feet long I knew they wouldn’t fit. I asked him if they happen to cut wood {yep, I didn’t even know they cut wood!} and he said of course! They would cut the exact measurements I needed. Hallelujah! Not only was this much needed for the wood to fit in my car but it would also save me a step when I got home. We all know what that really means, right? It would save Joel, David’s cousin, a step when I got home as he is my resident wood cutter guy.

So, I got my wood cut and now it was time to gather the rest of my supplies. Some of it I already had from other projects but I did need to get one of the most important piece of supplies besides the wood…the flowers!

I headed out back to their Garden Center and man, I don’t know about you but I love the Garden Center! As overwhelmed as I can get by knowing very little, I love how many options they have and can spend hours just walking around reading about all the flowers, herbs and shrubs. But since I didn’t have hours and needed to get home, I pulled out my trusty plan of what exactly I needed to get.

I needed to pick up some weed block and found a huge selection:

And then started perusing the flower selection knowing that I wanted a mix of trailing and colorful flowers.

When I finished getting all the goodies I needed, I packed up my car and headed home to get started on my vertical garden. Okay, so I may have picked up a few extra things for our front porch. I can’t help it, regardless if I go with a list or not, I always come home with more!

The Home Depot is a great place to shop for whatever home or garden need you have!

Stay tuned for my next post where you may just get my very first vlog!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: #DigIn, Spring gardening, The Home Depot, Vertical Garden

Who Wants One Case of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli?

April 22, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 9 Comments

Happy Earth Day! Are you doing anything to celebrate Mother Nature? It’s suppose to be incredible beautiful this week, possibly getting up into the upper 70′s! Whoot whoot! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me! I need some serious sun and warmth and so does our property.

To celebrate Earth Day I’m staying home and working on a very special project in David’s office using recycled wood (hint hint) and I can’t wait to show it to you when I’m finished. Crossing my fingers it goes smoothly. But, I’m also planting three new raspberry bushes, two new blueberry bushes and three new strawberry plants to celebrate her awesomeness, Mother E. Later this week I’ll be planting a couple fig trees and two kiwi trees! I’m doing my part to shop as local as possible…like as in my back yard.

I’d love to hear how you are celebrating! Okay, now on to the giveaway…

Yep, you read that right. Bob’s Red Mill has given me ONE CASE of their Gluten-Free Muesli to give away to one of you! They are so generous, huh? I think so

You may remember that a few weeks ago I made my Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Muesli Bars using their gluten-free muesli for their recipe contest. Did you vote? I sure hope so!

So what do you have to do to win this super tasty case of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli. It’s easy, just enter using the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck and don’t forget to share with others who may want to enter the giveaway!

Giveaway Details

Giveaway is open from Monday, April 22nd to Friday, April 26 at 12PM Pacific Time

Must be 18 years or older to enter

Giveaway open to U.S. Residents Only

Must be 18 years or older

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll announce the winner on Monday, April 29th!

Have a great day

Filed Under: Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Bob's Red Mill, Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli, Giveaway

Garden DIY with The Home Depot {Part 1} #DigIn

April 18, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 2 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot. All opinions expressed are 100% mine.

As I mentioned in an earlier post {if you missed it you can find it here} I’m working with one of my favorite stores of all time, The Home Depot, on a pretty cool project to spruce up my home a bit.

My project is one that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time and I was really excited when I found out that I get to make a vertical garden and show you all how I do so. I love vertical gardens for many reasons but mainly, it’s a unique way to add green to even the smallest of spaces. And although I am definitely not short on space, I do have a lot of outdoor wall space around our home that could benefit from the beauty that is a a vertical garden.

I love when vines or flowers are creeping up a trellis and adding height and varying textures to the outside of your home. We have several, more like ten 3 x 13 raised garden beds for our veggie garden and plenty of old wine barrels we’ve cut in half for our container gardening so I’m pretty excited to see some color crawling up the side of our home too.

I’m planning on getting a few more planters for around the house, especially on our front porch and on the ground level patio that is currently bare. I also love the idea of doing a couple square food gardens in random places with a bunch of flowers and herbs. I love herbs and actually use them as ground cover in a few beds around our home.

But more thoughts on my future vertical garden and what I am thinking of doing. I’d love to plant herbs and some edible flowers for easy access when I am cooking. Since most of our veggies and herbs are in the garden and the garden is a whole 50 yards away from our house, I love the convenience of being able to step outside my back door and snip off exactly what I need.

This is the area I think I will hang the vertical garden when I’m done building it:

I’ll be making something a lot like this:

{Source}

But I came across a couple others that I would love too…

{Source}

Or this…

{Source}

This weekend I’m heading to The Home Depot with my shopping list and I’m pretty excited because the employees at THD are always extremely helpful and make you feel at home. I will be buying a couple different sizes of wood and that, to me, can be really intimidating but there is always someone around with a smile on their face to help out.

Regardless which style of vertical garden I go with I definitely think I’m going to be planting a mix of edible flowers like nasturtiums, borages and french Marigold and herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley. See, this brown thumb is slowly but surely turning green?

This weekend is going to be a busy one for me with several projects in the works but hopefully this sunny spring weather we are having stays around. Next week it is suppose to be in the high 70′s. Can you say YES! One thing about us Pacific North-westerner’s is we definitely know how to appreciate the beautiful spring weather.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here (http://thd.co/ZNbhDj) to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to homedepot.com/gardenclub to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: #DigIn, container gardening, planters, rain barrels, raised garden beds, square foot gardening, The Garden Club, The Home Depot, trellis, Vertical Garden

Garden Planning with HGTVGardens.com

April 10, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

Have you heard of HGTV? I think it’s safe to say that most of us have but did you know that they have an area on their website dedicated to all things pertaining to the garden? HGTVGarden.com is an awesome online community that has something for whatever your gardening needs are. Whether you have a specific question or need inspiration, when you join their online community you can find answers and browse through the abundance of information they provide on their site.

I joined HGTVGardens.com and you can find my profile here http://bit.ly/Xg33n6.

All of the areas on HGTVGardens.com have been extremely helpful as I plan out some new landscaping ideas for around our home. One of the things that has been really overwhelming for me has been the actual designing and knowledge behind what should go where and with what. I found this article on How to Create a Design for Small Gardens found here: http://bit.ly/10zsPlJ to be really helpful and now I’m actually really excited to create a drawing of the area I’m working with to size and start planning.

There is literally information for everyone’s needs like Gardening Basics, Learning about Edibles, Flowers and Plants, Landscaping, and something else I find super helpful is their tab Plant Finder found here http://bit.ly/17flxYZ. This is an extremely detailed way of figuring out what plants or flowers will go perfectly for what you have with the option to input your zone, whether its shade, part shade or a sun exposed area, elevation, soil type, time of year and even the colors you are wanting to work with. I think it’s safe to say gone are the days of having to browse gardening book after gardening book. HGTVGardens.com is a one stop alternative where you can find absolutely everything. Pretty incredible, huh?

Here is a screen shot to give you a little taste:

When you create a profile and put in your location it will automatically tell you what your zone type is which isn’t something I use to give too much thought to. That and what kind of soil we have which just so happens to be clay. Hard, clumpy, brownish-orange clay. Not so fun to work with. By creating a profile and putting where you live it also gives you recommendations on what to plant which I have found really useful as I start to plan this one bed by our driveway.

I’m thinking about incorporating a few of these plants to add texture and varying heights. Not in the same area but in a couple different beds around the house. What do you think?

{Source}

I strongly encourage you to drop by HGTVGardens.com and take a look around and hopefully sign up to be apart of their ever growing gardening community!

Brought to you by the gardening crew at HGTV.

What are you planting this year or what plants/shrubs do you love that you want to recommend? I’d dying to know!

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Gardening, Gardening Community, Gardening help, HGTVGardens.com

Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Muesli Bars + A VERY Special Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway

April 3, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 4 Comments

Have I mentioned how much I love using Bob’s Red Mill products when I cook and bake? I’ve been using their products for quite some time now and find that they are my go to for all the essentials {and non-essentials}. Not only does Bob’s Red Mill have a plethora of cereals, mixes, flours, meals, grains, beans and seeds, they also have just as many options in gluten-free. And even better, I feel like I really am shopping local when I buy from Bob’s Red Mill because they are located in Milwaukie Oregon, not too far from where I live. It’s high up on my list to go and visit them someday and if possible, give Bob himself a giant hug in appreciation and thanks.

When Bob’s Red Mill asked me to be apart of a fun little recipe contest using their new Gluten-Free Muesli, I jumped at the chance to get to play around with their delicious version of an all time favorite breakfast food. Before I share my recipe, I want to tell you a little more about the contest so that {hopefully} you can help me win the grand prize!

{Source}

A few select bloggers, yours truly included, were selected to use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli in any recipe of their choose as long as the Muesli plays a major role. From April 9th to April 22, voting opens to the public {YOU} and you get to help decide who is picked as the first, second and third prize winners. As a big huge thank you for coming back April 22nd to vote {hopefully for a certain someone, hint hint, wink wink}, I’m giving one of my amazing readers the opportunity to win something totally awesome from Bob’s Red Mill. But, you’ll have to come back on April 22nd to see just what that is

So here is the recipe for my delicious Dark Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Muesli Bars…

5.0 from 1 reviews

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Muesli Bars + A VERY Special Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

Author: Amanda

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 15

Ingredients

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli
2 cups Hazelnut or Almond Meal
1 cup peanut butter
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 6 tbsp water. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes)
4 tbsp agave nectar
¼ cup. coconut oil
For the Chocolate Dip:
½ cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips)
¼ cup coconut milk (full fat)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Cook for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.
Add flax egg, peanut butter, agave nectar and coconut oil and mix well using a mixer of your choice.
Add muesli and hazelnut or almond meal and continue mixing until well blended.
Line a baking dish wish parchment paper and pour mixture in baking dish.
Pat down until evenly spread through baking dish.
Place in oven and set timer. Check after about 15 minutes and continue baking from there up to 25 minutes. I say this because honestly, everyone’s ovens are completely different.
Once baked to your liking {they should be soft and chewy but not super moist}, take out of oven and allow to cool completely.
Once cooled, remove by simply lifting up the parchment paper and placing on a cutting board. Cut into 2 inch bars.
Melt the chocolate chips and coconut milk together until completely melted.
Dip half of the muesli bar in the chocolate and place on a piece of parchment paper to cool. You can dust the side with chocolate with coconut if you’d like or leave plain.
Enjoy!

But that isn’t it! Is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Muesli already a part of your daily or weekly routine? If so, you have the chance to participate in your own little contest. Details are below.

Click it to win it! Do you love the new gluten free muesli from Bob’s Red Mill? They want you to prove it with a fun Instagram/Pinterest contest! Grab your cameras and snap a picture showing them how much you love their new Gluten Free Muesli and share it with them on Pinterest and/or Instagram for a chance to win a fabulous prize pack including Gluten Free Muesli, a beautiful cereal bowl and a $50 Bob’s Red Mill gift card. For more information, descriptions of prizes and rules for entry, visit: http://www.bobsredmill.com/blog/featured-articles/ gluten-free-muesli-photo-contest.

Photo contest is open now until April 30th so you have plenty of time to grab a bag of their muesli and try it for yourself!

Filed Under: Recipes, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: baking, Bob's Red Mill Giveaway, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Museli, gluten free giveaway, museli

I’m Leaning on My Friends at The Home Depot and Their Garden Club This Season

April 1, 2013 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

Can you believe it is April first already? Spring has sprung in Oregon and let me tell you, I am so excited. I love living in the Pacific Northwest because we get four seasons {somewhat} but around this time of year I think it’s safe to say that most of us here are very ready for sun and a little warmer temperatures.

We’ve been busy hurrying to get a few projects done while we have a break in the rain. The winter was pretty mild which means one of two things, we are going to have a crazy good spring or we are in for a real treat {insert sarcasm} until after the Fourth of July, when it actually starts to feel like summer around here. But regardless, we still have a long list of projects to get done and most of them involve working outside.

David, my husband for those of you that are new here, is the one with the real green thumb. He is excellent at growing, nurturing, and seeing our vegetable garden through to the end. Me, on the other hand, I’m a work in progress. I have been assigned the role of landscape and flower beds which is no small task at hand. With a limited budget, I’m trying to figure out what to do with the beds around our home, specifically. As mentioned before, we live on our 50 plus acre vineyard and only twenty-six of it is planted in vines so I have a lot to work with. We also have a manufactured home that David’s cousin lives in with a whole other situation to deal with. But that’s another story.

After last spring and summer I decided that it would be most efficient and cost effective to take on one project at a time, starting with the beds around our house {including our front porch} and our deck. My main goal is to add more perennials so that over the coming years I have to worry less about the lack of. I love annuals because you can change things up and add exciting pops of color every year but my main focus is going to be adding evergreens and other perennials that will help keep our yard looking nice all year long.

Here is what I am working with:

Our back deck… I’m thinking this year I’m going to do lots of purple, yellow and red flowers and a few vegetables and herbs.

A different perspective… our patio furniture goes on the far end but it’s still in the garage waiting for consistent warmer weather.

The front of our house… I’m thinking of adding some window boxes to add depth and texture to the front of our home. And more height with evergreens in yellows with pops of color in the flower pots.

This is a garden on the back side of our house. I have no idea what to do here. I do know, however, that the Ivy is going away.

This is on the side of our house and my main project. I want to rip out all the Ivy because it’s so invasive and put in some raised beds full of evergreen and other perennials with a border of annual flowers.

So, you are probably wondering where I am getting my inspiration from? Did you know The Home Depot has one of the largest gardening communities? The Garden Club offers so much information right into your inbox it would make even the novice like me and expert in no time! Each morning I wake up to another deal or piece of advice that is perfect for this time of year. I think that is something I struggle with the most, knowing what I should be doing in the garden each month of the year.

Also, by joining The Home Depot’s Garden Club you get exclusive offers that can save you over $300 each year in your gardening endeavors. The benefits don’t stop there though. When joining their exclusive Garden Club, which is so easy by the way, you get awesome benefits such as

+ $5 your next garden purchase of $50 when you sign up

+ Projects to help you #DigIn to spring

+ Tons of advice and how-to videos

I don’t know about you but this is totally worth the free membership to get so much helpful advice right to your mail. I sip on my morning cup of tea and read my daily email.

Gardening can be pretty overwhelming, especially if you are working desperately to uncover some kind of green thumb. With the help from my friends at The Home Depot, I can pretty much guarantee this will happen a lot quicker. I encourage you to take a look at their Garden Club and see what it’s all about.

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need for spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, The Home Depot has you covered.

Spring is the perfect time for all your outdoor home renovations. Shop The Home Depot for terrific values on new patio furniture, landscape supplies such as fertilizer and potting soil and outdoor grills. Keep your lawn and garden looking great, too, with the huge selection of lawn mowers, edgers and trimmers, and garden tools.

Visit The Home Depot Garden Club for product ideas from kick-starting your Spring with seed starter kits to building a window birdfeeder.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

So what have you been busy doing in the garden?

Filed Under: Garden Talk, Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Green Thumb, Spring gardening, The Home Depot, The Home Depot Garden Club

Christmas Came Early with My New Lamps!

December 19, 2012 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs Leave a Comment

David and I aren’t really doing Christmas presents this year since we are leaving on February 1st for a month in Central America. I think that suffices as a pretty great present! But back in December we stopped into Lamps Plus to just ‘check’ and see what they have. Well, I fell in love with the table lamp below and joked that it could be an early Christmas present. Here’s the thing about me, I’m kind of, for lack of a better word, cheap and always have to have a good reason to buy a new piece of furniture hence my love of thrifty and the Goodwill. I never feel bad spending a few bucks on something

So, we got my lamp and a new floor lamp for David’s office AND we finally found new chandeliers for our entry way and hall closet that were totally affordable and SO perfect for that space. I don’t think you even know how excited I am about this. Currently, our ‘chandeliers’ are very unique and very 1970′s but not in the good way. I can’t even describe them so here is a picture:

You’ll have to wait and see what the new ones look like because we haven’t put them up yet. Stay tuned!

I’m digressing a little, back to my new lamp. Here is a picture of the lamp we got for the living room.

I love the rustic feel of it paired with the linen shade. It’s amazing how one little lamp can completely change the feel of a room. This guy adds so much more warmth and added character to our living room and every time I walk by it I smile. Have you ever been to a Lamps Plus? If not and you are in search of some awesome lighting I highly recommend checking them out. They offer affordable, high quality lighting options and literally have something for everyone. They also just released a new ‘Color + Plus’ Lighting design line that is simply brilliant, covering every color you could imagine.

All I can think about is spring and summer when I look at all these beautiful colors and it’s not even Christmas yet but I always do that and I think I picked that up from my mom. The minute Christmas is over we are eager for Spring and we still have a whole Winter to get through. Oh well, gotta live in the present and enjoy where you are at, right?

Disclaimer: I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective; the opinions expressed here are all my own.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sponsors, Giveaways Tagged With: Lamps Plus

My Heart of Haiti

December 10, 2012 By Bullfrogs and Bulldogs 2 Comments

I’m so excited to be a part of this beautiful and inspiring campaign, Macy’s Heart of Haiti, which is an initiative that allows opportunities for the artists to work with US designers, helping strengthen international artisan relationships and making their products viable in the US market. The Heart of Haiti campaign pays in excess of fair wage to the talented artisans who create the product, giving them the dignity of work and economic self-determination. The collection features more than 40 home decor items including quilts, metalwork, jewelry and paintings all made almost entirely from recycled and sustainable items such as old cement bags, cardboard, oil drums and local gommier wood. Purchasing items from Macy’s Heart of Haiti is an easy way to contribute to the Haitian community, which now in light of Hurricane Sandy, needs our help more than ever.

Macy’s Heart of Haiti upholds the belief that “trade not aid” is a powerful way to create sustainable work and much needed financial opportunities. To date the program has employed 780 artisans, which has improved the lives of over 6,200 individuals. The Heart of Haiti initiative provides artists with an opportunity to make a living, feed their families and pay their children’s school fees. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and despite the devastating earthquake people there are filled with hope and a desire to improve their lives through employment.

Here is a photo of the beautiful star ornament they sent me for participating in this great opportunity. I love ornaments that have a story behind them. Every time I travel somewhere I try to purchase an ornament from that location to put on our tree. Every time I look at this one I’ll think of everything I am grateful for in my life.

In fact, this past weekend we spent sometime up in a cabin on Mt. Hood celebrating David, my husbands 30th birthday. It was such a fun time and it got me thinking about how lucky David and I are to have such great people in our lives how grateful I am for them, especially my husband. David is my star. He is loving and caring, a provider and a great shoulder to cry on or person to laugh my butt off with. I’m not sure I know what I’d ever do without him in my life. He’s enriched my life in so many ways and continues to inspire me to be a better person and I know I do the same for him.

Whenever I look at my Macy’s Heart of Haiti hanging on out tree I will forever think about how grateful I am for my husband and all that he brings to my life. Happy 30th birthday hubby. I love you always.