Celebrating + Sole Hope Giveaway

Today is a special day to say the least. Someone is turning another year older today whether they like it or not. That someone is Miss Alissa from Rags to Stitches. She has become someone near and dear to my heart in just a few months and I'm thrilled it's her Birthday!! And what better way to celebrate a birthday than having a HUGE celebratory fundraising raffle!

That's right she is kicking off her birthday by celebrating it with all of you! You must skip on over to her blog HERE for all the deets of the fabulous goodies you can score worth over $400!!!

The thing that makes this birthday raffle so special is that it isn't about her but about raising funds for Sole Hope.

Remember, her and I talked about that wonderful organization here and here
If you haven't seen the video, I hope you'll watch it


Alissa and I also shared in our posts about the Shoe Cutting Party I will be hosting at my house.

The response was incredible and so many of you emailed us about getting involved.

I was blessed beyond words by the blogging community. Seeing a need and then jumping right in to help make a change in someone else's life. You guys ROCK!

People are volunteering to have their own shoe cutting parties.

We even have had people offer to donate fabric for our party/

But we wanted to go ONE... STEP... FURTHER.

So in honor of Alissa's Birthday and in the celebration for all Sole Hope is doing to change the lives of children.

Alissa and I are hosting a GIVEAWAY!!!

So fun, right?!

So many women with amazing hearts have contributed to this fundraiser.

check it HERE

And now the time has come to get this party started, the Shoe Cutting party that is. Every dollar donated towards the raffle will go towards the Shoe Cutting Party.

**NONE OF THE MONEY RAISED WILL GO TO ALISSA OR MYSELF**

The winner will be announced next week as well as the date and time of the shoe cutting party.

 So if you are in the SoCal area and are interested in joining the party hit me up at natalie.ensor@gmail.com and we'll add you to the list of shoe cutters!

Also please keep in mind that whether your interested in the items of the raffle or not (but really how could you not be) donating even a dollar will help out tremendously in the efforts of trying to help with Sole Hope.

Happy Friday all,

and of course

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISSA WE LOVE YOU!

Spring DIY

Have I a sweet treat for you. Sweet Ashley over from Mister G and Me is sharing a  spring DIY with all of you today. She is just the sweetest thing and has the best tutorials over on her blog. You need to mosey on over there after you're done taking some tips from her here. 

so without further adieu Meet Ashley...

Hi!  I'm Ashley from Mister G and Me, a creative blog filled with craft tutorials, DIY projects, and delicious recipes.  Blogging aside, I'm a wife, dog mama, Etsy shop owner, and yoga teacher.  I love making new friends and would love to get to know you!  Come visit my blog and say hi!  

Reading Nat's blog is such a bright part of my day-- so I was totally honored when she asked me to share a craft on Take the Cannoli!  Today I am going to show you how to make a really cute (and easy) headband that is perfect for spring!  I wear mine all the time and get so many compliments.

Supplies:

Silk Flowers

Alligator Clip

Stretchy Headband

Hot glue + Hot Glue Gun

(I bought my flowers and alligator clips at Michael's and my headbands at Target)

Pop your flower off the stem. 

Then disassemble the petals until you get to the "core" of the flower.

Take your hot glue gun and put a bead of glue on the base of the flower "core".  Attach the next petal to the core and continue glueing the flower back together.  If you have any excess stem (I didn't) you can trim it so the back of the flower is flat.  Put a strip of hot glue on the alligator clip and a bead of glue on the back of your flower and press together.  Make sure the part of the clip that will attach to your headband is centered on the flower.  When the glue dries, clip your flower to your headband and get ready to turn some heads! 

You can clip three flowers to your headband or just one!

Happy crafting!  xo, Ashley

Hi, Nat here! Easy peasy right? Thank you so much for taking the time to share with my readers Ashley, you're the best. Hope you're all inspired to get your craft on! Happy Thursday!

New York Birthday Bash!

We three girls hit the streets of New York

in Celebration of this girls 30th Birthday

Nat and Trish have been deemed the sisters I never had for the past 17 years. They complete a big part of my life and are the type of gals who could have fun sitting on the floor of a Rite-Aid Drugstore browsing magazines and eating red vines for hours on end(this has literally happened...more than once)  So putting the three of us in New York together was practically insane and resulted in very little sleep and the time of our lives.

I can't even blog about everything we did because everyday was so jammed packed that it exhausts me to even think about it. I'm still trying to figure out how it was even humanly possible to do as much as we did each day.

There was too much good food eaten to list but I will say I had the BEST CANNOLI EVER. There were too many hilarious moments to list as well, including our first sample sale and stripping down to try on clothes in between racks of clothes with no shame in our game to snag a designer piece.

Chicago on Broadway, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, the 9-11 memorial, shopping, shopping and more shopping. Learning to navigate the subway lines, going to my first NY sample sale, guided tour bus rides, taxi rides, Mad Men Premiere viewing party, lunch in Central Park, flea markets, Times Square, Rockafeller Center and oh my goodness it seems like the list goes on and on.

I love these girls. I loved celebrating Nat's birthday in style. I love making memories such as these. I love that I can never tire of their company and cried when I had to part with them both. I loved returning home to my family after such a wonderful trip. And I love that I have almost 800 pictures to view over and over from our magical trip.

Happy Birthday my Nat!
yes my best friend's name is Natalie too.haha
You are beautiful inside and out and are one of the biggest blessings in my life.

Oooo girl I love you so, neva eva eva gonna let you go...

Recuperating + Fantastic Giveaway

As I'm drinking my afternoon cup of coffee (which is really just my unfinished morning coffee re-heated twice over) and devouring the last bit of my last Black & White Cookie I brought back from New York, I realized I don't have any photos from my trip. I took a few with my cam but let the girls just take all the shots with their fancy shmancy cameras and decided to get copies in a few days. So while I'm gathering what pictures I do have and waiting for all the rest of the photos to compile one awesome post of my fabulous trip I will take this time instead to introduce you to Kristen from Rock a Bow.

she blogs here

has a fab shop here

and Facebook here

I love this girl. Her shop and blog are awesome but her heart takes the cake. I was introduced to miss Kristen by Alissa at a meet up at Disneyland. Within moments of getting to know her I knew I liked her. She was a down to earth girl, good momma and was filling me in on her newest venture of becoming a foster parent. She let me know what God was doing in her life and how he was taking her down a path she wasn't too comfortable with, yet she was choosing to submit to his will and is now in the process of converting her house to foster home standards and preparing her heart and mind for the soon to be newest addition to their family. I know right... You love her already too huh?!

I asked her to write a little blip about herself and her shop

Hey- I'm Kristen from Rock-A-Bow, the blog and shop. I am the wife of my highschool crush and mommy of 2 littles...soon to be 3 as we begin our journey in fostercare to adopt.

I would love to invite you over to my blog where I share about pretty much everything. I am an open book. You will find stories about my kids, my love for the Lord, recipes and crafts; that's where the shop comes in.

If you hop on over you will find a mommy and me style boutique with lovelies for all ages. We've got bows and dresses, artfolios and crayon rolls, bible sleeves and our newest product...genuine leather clutches and wristlet pouches.

I'm having a blast using my love of crafting to help to support our growing family.

Isn't she lovely? Well she gets even better folks. She is offering one lucky ready this beautiful leather clutch! 

swoon much?

Oh and to top it all off she is offering a 15% off in her shop for my readers using the discount code

CANNOLI

I can't get over her gracious heart!

Okay make sure to enter using the raffle copter for a chance at this fab clutch and make sure to show this girl some love by stopping by her blog and shop.
(winner will be announced Sunday April 1st)
pssst...she will also be part of the fab raffle happening over at Rags to Stitches later this week in efforts to raise some money for Sole Hope

a Rafflecopter giveaway

drumroll please

Today I'm excited to not only introduce a fab product to you but a fab girl as well. I only just recently met Alissa but since doing so have made a life long friend. I had already loved her blog but have grown to love her as a real life friend as well. She is a great momma, friend, shopping buddy and I can count on her for text sessions at any hour of the night. She is someone I can pray with, laugh with and even cry with. Oh and to top it off she is talented. Like she can sew up some awesome goodness for your fave electronics like nobody's business!

Today she is here to tell all of you about her newest creation! Take it away Alissa... 

HI!!!!!!

I'm Alissa and I blog over at Rags to Stitches.

I also have a handmade shop and I'm so excited to share with you the launch of my brand new iCozy!!

As you can imagine I've been so excited about today for the last couple of months.

Designed with your lifestyle in mind...

The iCozy has a fun and vintage feel.

Girly from top to bottom, the iCozy is newly adorned with vintage lace is still lined with multi-functional minky fabric. 4 brand new colors, each with 3 vintage lace color options.

No more digging through your purse to find all your iPad Accessories, now you can carry them all in your new iCozy.

The new design features a pocket along the back, allowing you to take your iPad charger and earbuds with you wherever you go.

Each iCozy comes padded and lined with a multipurpose minky fabric.

Need to clean your glasses? The front of your iPad has finger prints?

Clean it away with out worry of scratches with the versatile, minky lining.

Whether you're going to coffee with a friend or carpooling your kids to soccer practice, your iPad will travel in style.

Are you as in love as I am?

I really, really hope so!

This design is near and dear to my heart.

So head on over to the shop and snag your iCozy as quantities in each color are limited.

All photos taken by the lovely Katie of Katherine Elizabeth Photography

Aren't they fab? Don't you just want to go buy the latest version of the iPad so you can store it in this cuteness!

I may have to adopt Micah's iPad just so I can rock this iCozy!

Hope you take the time to not only check out her shop but get to know her over at her blog as well.