Review/Giveaway: Spencer & Ivy Reusable Coloring Placemats

Whether it's at home or out on the town, meal times can be rough with a toddler. There may be 5 solid minutes where you can sit down beside them and attempt to get a few bites of your own food. It's hard to keep them entertained and I know with my daughter personally, I refrain from giving her crayons at restaurants because she liked to eat them more than color the paper placemats.

But when I heard about the reusable coloring placemats by Spencer & Ivy, I was very intrigued! The thought of a cute fun child's placemat that we were able easily roll up, and take to a restaurant to entertain Rhylee seemed so convenient! One side of the placemat had a full color image and the opposite side of the placemat is a black and white version of the image that your child can color like a coloring book. The placemats also came with their own 10-pack of washable markers.

Rhylee loved having such a vast choice of colors and had such a great time coloring with one of the images that she chose - the Garden Fairy Placemat. She usually won't color for more than about two minutes at restaurants with the paper and crayons they provide because she either eats the crayons or breaks them then gets upset. I was so pleasantly surprised by how long she stayed occupied and happy drawing with her markers when we brought her own Spencer & Ivy mat. She did not have any urge to eat the markers and they were not easily breakable like the crayons.

Since you can flip the placemat over and color on either side, Rhylee also liked switching back and forth to the color side and then back to the black and white side therefore giving me even more valuable time to enjoy my meal. This was the most pleasant dinner we have had in a long time, simply because my toddler was happy and thoroughly entertained.

When we took the mat home after eating, cleaning was just as quick and simple as the care and handling instructions described.

I took a lightly dampened paper towel, lightly wiped each side and the marker came right off! It took less than 1 minute to clean and looked brand new again.

You can buy just one reusable placemat for $14.95 or choose from the bundle of two placemats together for $24.95. Both choices come with the pack of 10 washable markers of assorted colors.  It was an absolute pleasure reviewing these reusable placemats from Spencer & Ivy. I know I will be purchasing many placemats in the near future!

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Spencer & Ivy is hosting a giveaway of two different placemat sets (four placemats total) - the Princess and Ballerina Placemat Set, and the Barnyard & Zoo Animal Train Placemat Set...valued at $50.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY 
and will end just before midnight ET on 1-5-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

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Flourless Yule Log Cake

This past weekend, I made a flourless Yule Log Cake to take to a Winter Solstice gathering we attend each year.  Made with eggs, but no flour - grain or otherwise, this cake is dark and rich and delicious, and allows those who are gluten or grain free to enjoy a bit of holiday pastry.  I've been bringing this for three years now, so I think I can officially declare it my tradition.

For the event I took this to, I made two - in the past only a few people were able to share a taste.  But for a family sized dessert, one is perfect! With the addition of some cherries in syrup, it takes on a delicious Black Forest Cake taste.

Flourless Yule Log Cake 

(makes one roll up)

For cake:

6 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 cup dark cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange liqueur (or zest of one orange)

Coconut oil to grease pan

Cocoa powder for dusting

For whipped cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or orange liqueur

Preparation:

Eggs should be at room temperature.

Cut a section of parchment paper to fit into a jelly roll pan.  Grease paper with coconut oil, then dust with cocoa powder.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Make cake layer:

Separate eggs, putting whites into the bowl of  a stand mixer, and the yolks into another large bowl.

To egg whites, add cream of tartar and 2 tablespoons sugar, and mix on medium until soft peaks form.

While the whites are mixing, add to egg yolks remaining sugar, salt, cocoa, vanilla extract and orange liqueur, and beat by hand with a whisk until well blended and thick.

When whites are beat to soft peaks, turn off stand mixer and fold whites gently into chocolate mixture by hand, so that they are combined - do not over mix or you'll flatten out the air you just put into the egg whites!

Once combined, gently spread mixture over prepared parchment paper in jelly roll pan.  Bake on center rack for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on raised rack.

While the cake is cooking, wash stand mixer bowl and attachments.

Make whipped cream:

In stand mixer bowl, combine heavy cream, sugar and extract or liqueur.  Whip until thickened and soft peaks form (but not so long it turns into butter!).

Putting it together:

Gently spread whipped cream evenly over the cake layer.

Using parchment paper to assist, carefully roll up the cake, pulling away the paper as you go.  

If you work carefully, it shouldn't crack, but if it does just remember - you're making a Yule log, and logs sometimes have cracks!

Once it is fully rolled up, remove the parchment paper.  The cake is sturdy enough to move to a serving plate.  Once plated, slice off ends to make it pretty.  Sprinkle with a dusting of confectioner's sugar, if desired.

(and then eat those ends, because how else can you know if it's good??)

Variations:

Cherry pie filling tastes wonderful with this - I put some in a separate dish for those that want it.  

A slice of cake topped with 3-4 cherries in syrup looks and tastes delicious.

You could also spread out a layer of cherry, cranberry, strawberry or raspberry filling on top of whipped cream before rolling it up - keep it thin or it will be too thick to roll!

Some meringue mushrooms would look adorable with the log on the plate - one of these years, I'll get ambitious enough to make some.

You could also decorate with some candied fruit or sugared cranberries - the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy, and Glad Yule to you all!

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Review: Handmade Charms by Sasha Smith

I have a confession. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to have a charm bracelet. My biggest problem was that I simply couldn't find charms that were unique enough and still meant something to me. And even though I can knit a badass sweater, I never did learn how to make my own adorable charms. Therefore, my charm bracelet dreams never came to be.

Enter Handmade Charms by Sasha Smith, and her Etsy shop, Squished Berries! Sasha makes completely adorable charms out of polymer clay. Now, being crafty myself, I've dabbled in the world of polymer clay, but she creates such wonderfully detailed pieces of art that I couldn't even dream of making. Every charm comes with a lobster clasp to make putting the charm on and taking it off of your bracelet extremely easy.

I was finally able to realize my dream of a charm bracelet when I received four adorable charms, two beautiful scones (because I told her that I like to bake) and two mother baby charms (hearts with footprints) to represent each of my children. I also received a set of super cute fun chocolate chip cookie earrings. I quickly put them on a link bracelet I already owned.

The level of detail on these is absolutely amazing, especially on the scones. The icing and chips are simply perfect. Every time I wear my (frankly too cute) charms, I get a plethora of comments and compliments on them. Also with my charms and earrings there was a lovely handwritten “Thank you and Happy Holidays” note that added a sweet, personal touch to the whole thing.  That's the sort of extra that I really appreciate about small businesses.

While browsing her Etsy shop, I found that most of her charms are drool worthy food, from caramel apples to sushi, though there are a few nonfood items as well.

 She also offers a plain necklace and a plain bracelet so you can get everything to make your own charmed jewelry in one place.

 Also available are a couple custom charm bracelets, a pregnancy cravings bracelet where you can put all of your favorite pregnancy foods on a bracelet, and a book bracelet that lets you proudly show off your favorite books.

While she is currently not taking any more orders until the new year, I am definitely keeping HandmadeCharms by Sasha Smith in mind for future gifting opportunities, as well as updating my new shiny charm bracelet!   

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