Google launches review dashboard for business owners in Google Places

Gluten Free Sausage Balls

Hey there! It's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't been doing a whole lot of crafting here lately...the hubs was furloughed during the government shutdown, and we have been super busy with soccer as well. Thankfully both are over. 

We now have a few weeks to breathe before the holiday rush:o)

I have been doing some baking and sewing the past few days, and just happened to have my camera handy while doing so.

I had to go gluten free after my gall bladder surgery...crazy, but kind of good as well. I have had to make healthier choices since the surgery...you can't go wrong there!

Anyway, now that the holidays are approaching, I am trying to find ways to make some of my favorite cool weather foods into gluten free renditions.

I.love.sausage.balls.

I love the taste, but I think I love them more because my mother used to make them for us all the time. Especially when we were going on vacation. That was our staple breakfast car food. Memories:o) I actually do the same thing with my kiddos on long car trips...making memories of my own now!

Most sausage ball recipes call for Bisquick...Bisquick has gluten...boo! Now that gluten intolerance is more prevalent, there are more gluten free options available in local grocery stores. I found a baking mix at Publix that is gluten free...score!

So are you wanting to try your own?

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups of Gluten Free Baking Mix(I used Namaste)

2 cups of sharp cheddar

1 pound of your favorite sausage

Work the mixture in a large bowl with both hands. You will want to make sure that all of the baking mixture is thoroughly combined with the sausage and cheese. Your arms will hate you, but your taste buds will be thanking you very soon!

Roll out into little 1"-2" balls. Place on parchment paper...makes clean-up a breeze.

Bake at 350 degrees for around 15-18 minutes. 

The taste is slightly different, but not by much. They taste super yummy and are a great option for G.F. folks!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween! Looks like ours will get rained out, but I have a back up plan;o)

Hugs!

Social WOM is rising in addition to offline WOM

After Google's recent announcement about +1 recommendations and WOM (word of mouth), it's social networks turn to tell marketers about the growing importance of WOM.

http://www.retailwire.com/news-article/17099/most-brand-conversations-happen-offline-but-social-w-o-m-is-rising

Timing is very important with WOM, seeing customer patterns and following up with every single customer is the key to effective WOM, because we can't tell from the outset which customer will promote your brand or business (and which one won't).

Is WOM part of your online strategy?

The Yummiest Popcorn Ever

Today I share with you my favorite snack recipe, stove-top popcorn. 

We gave up microwave popcorn a long time ago. After we started eating cleaner, I began to think about all of the fake stuff that is in the microwave popcorn. I always felt sick after eating it, so I decided to start popping it on the stove.

It tasted a lot better to me after cooking it on the stove top and I didn't feel sick after eating it. Super bonus!

For a while I was using canola oil, but then I started using coconut oil.

That could have been one of my best decisions:o)

I HATE coconut, but I love what this oil does to the popcorn. It's delicious.

Coconut oil is actually one of the healthiest oils out right now.

When we have a bunch of kids over to play, this is my go-to snack, and they all LOVE it! Crowd-pleasing, cheap snack-ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!

So here's how you make it.

What you need:

Large pot with lid

Popcorn kernels

Salt

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil 

(click on the above link to order..it's cheaper on Amazon than in stores)

 Measure out 3 tablespoons. The oil is in a hardened state, but melts quickly.

Turn your stove on medium high. The oil will melt in just a few seconds.

 Pour 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels into pan, and cover with a lid.

 Once you start hearing the kernels popping, you will want to stand over the pan. I hold the lid while scooting the pan back and forth across the eye of the stove to keep the kernels from sticking to the bottom...usually about every 15-20 seconds.

There will be rapid popping kernels for about 25-30 seconds and then it will slow down to about 5-6 kernels per second. That's when I remove the pan from the heat, and let it sit for about 30 seconds. You don't want it to sit too long on the heat because the popcorn will burn and then your house will stink..no fun! Been there, done that!!

 When you remove the lid, this is what you should have.

Dump the popcorn in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. The salt will stick to the popcorn, and it's wonderful!

Let me know if you have tried it! I want to know if anyone else loves it as much as us!

Changing Table -Turned Dog Bed

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across a beat up, run down changing table on the side of the road. It was no longer safe to put a baby on. It was missing two shelves, and was super rickety. Because it was made of real wood and had interesting spindles, I felt the need to bring it home and make something out of it.

The hubs was obviously unhappy that I was bringing more junk home;o) Story of our lives, right?

Anyway, I thought it would make a perfect pet bed.

 This is how it started out. 

I used an electric hand saw and chopped the legs off. That was definitely an experience. Note to self...use a sharp blade next time. I was literally shaking so hard that I had blurred vision while cutting this piece because the blade wouldn't cut through the wood:o) 

I sanded down the feet to get a nice edge.

I then ripped the safety buckles off of the bottom.

And then spray painted it.

The cushion is made from painters' canvas and two large pillows from my couch in the bonus room.

I made the cover removable by adding a zipper to the back. That way when it gets dirty, I can just throw it in the wash.

Not bad for a roadside rescue?

What businesses can do to get customers? Why customer retention has become even more important

Here is the link to the recent story  http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/business/2013/09/23/exp-lead-intv-howard-bragman-crackdown-fake-reviews-yelp.cnn.html

I want to repeat one of the most repeated things in customer retention--staying in touch with your past, current and potential customers can increase retention by about 80%. That itself can make it amazingly inexpensive to run your business.

Internet is one place to get customers through affordable and long lasting marketing. It is very important for every business to build their presence online and take control of their online presence. There has to be one place where every business can login and see all their online assets (reviews, local listings, videos, asset sites, track their keywords, see their results over a period of time for keywords, store all their social media links and track their progress (and sometimes track the progress of the agency they have hired).

If businesses start with this, they will realize that they will build a long lasting source of customers they can rely on, which is always referrals from existing customers. Online reviews are a form of referrals. It is a public referral from a customer which makes other customers purchase from a business.

Old Drawer Turned Jewelry Organizer

My master bathroom is in need of some serious organization AND upgrading. Everything, and I mean everything is still builder basic. We have been in our house for almost 4 years, and haven't touched a thing in there. Unbelievable, right? I have so many ideas on what I want to do with my bathroom, unfortunately, we don't have the funds to anything about it right now. 

Tile in the shower, tile on the floor, a beautiful arch above our tub...

(I would love a claw foot tub, but that will never happen...the hubs must have his jacuzzi tub;o)) ...We would love to have separate vanities instead of a double vanity, and big chunky mirrors. The list keeps going, right? 

So, I'll continue to dream; peruse Pinterest and magazines; walking the aisles of Lowes and Home Depot; adding to the list of wants;o)

For my UK readers, if you are in the market for a new bathroom, check out these UK bathroom brands.

So since I can't overhaul our bathroom, I figured I would at least tackle the organization part.

 Today I am sharing another old drawer re-do.

If you guys remember, a couple of weeks ago I shared with you my drawer turned bathroom shelf.

The drawer I am sharing today, is it's little sister.

I found it along side the other drawer.

It's new purpose is a jewelry organizer.

My inspiration for the jewelry organizer came from this picture. When I came across it on Google, I thought to myself, "Hey, I have something like that!"

(source unknown)

As you can see below, my jewelry organization was lacking..in a bad sort of way. I can't tell you how many times I have stood in my bathroom untangling necklaces and earrings. SO very frustrating. 

So here is baby sister in all of her glory. A diamond in the rough.

 I used the same technique of stripping the 4 layers of paint off of the drawer. 

I did wear a mask this time...but I wore flips flops while scraping the paint and burned a couple of holes in my toes. Dumb. 

One of these days I will actually wear all the proper safety gear!

 I attached some glass knobs from Hobby Lobby to hang necklaces from. I also installed baby cup hooks in the top, spray painted this pretty little Union Jack aluminum sheet and hung it off of the hooks.

Now my earrings have a pretty place to be displayed.

No more tangled mess!

Isn't this way better than shoving everything under the sink and hoping for the best?

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This post contains links to affiliates. All opinions are my own.

Throw Back Thursday-Pumpkin Bread

I thought I would change things up a bit and take a trip down memory lane. For those of you who have been with me from the beginning, you will remember this post. 

I made these little pumpkin loaves 3 years ago. My how time flies! They have been a huge hit across the web. Even Hershey's saw it and posted it on their Facebook page....I felt pretty awesome after seeing that!

Anyway, you can click

here

to read more.

Happy Thursday!

Coffee Table Redo-Part3

Our coffee table serves many purposes. It's the place where the kids do homework, make crafts, sometimes eat their dinners. It's also a foot rest, and occasionally used in pillow/blanket forts.

It's used A LOT, and had been showing lots of wear here lately.

This coffee table has gone through a couple of transformations.

To see the actual before, you can go here.

I had not been planning on re-doing the coffee table. It sort of just struck me last Friday that I needed to strip all of the nasty paint off of it. 

This was part two...the center is chalkboard paint. I had found some inspiration on Mrs. Mustard Seed's blog with some chalkboard tables she had created. At the time of the second re-do, my children had a nasty habit of writing on furniture. I came up with what I thought was an ingenious idea to paint chalkboard paint on the top of the coffee table; that way they could have at least one piece of furniture in the house to write on with out mommy fussing.

Well, it's been a few years and the kids are past the graffiti-on-my-furniture phase, thankfully. However, this table has been put through the ringer.

 As you can see there are tons of nicks, and scratches all over the top. There was also this weird film that developed...not exactly sure if it was from the chalkboard paint, or if we're just that nasty.

Regardless, it needed to come off. 

After two coats of paint stripper and a little bit of sanding, I was able to restore the wood to it's natural state.

 I applied the same stain I used for the old bench.

I let the stain sit for 15 minutes before wiping it off. I'm not one for waiting hours to reapply coats of stain to get what I think is basically the same result.

And this is the finished result. A beautiful stained wood top.

A much needed improvement.

I haven't applied the coats of poly yet. We had way too much going on over the weekend to get that done.

I love my big coffee table, and love that it serves so many purposes. Styling it, is an issue all on it's own. Because it has so many jobs, leaving things on it isn't an option.

But, the kids and the hubs are away, so mommy gets to play around with some fun styling:o)

 I love these old Bibles. I think they are so beautiful. The thicker ones belonged to the hubs' grandfather. The smaller one was my mother's cousin's Bible that was given to him when he was fighting in the war. They were to put them in their pocket to figuratively and literally protect their hearts.

Definitely a treasure.

 I can't get enough of these old blue mason jars either.

I have them scatted throughout the whole house. 

I have three more projects that I am in the process of finishing. I can't wait to share them with you all!!

Busy Beaver

I have been working the day away trying to get several things done. Laundry, cleaning the house, hanging things on the wall, stripping paint off of furniture(as seen below), sanding, etc. This is the first time since my surgery that I have felt well enough to tackle multiple projects at once. I actually have 3 in the process of being completed. And I'm just a little jazzed at how they are turning out:o)

The weather couldn't be anymore perfect for this sort of thing either. So grateful for Fall-esque weather.

We have a big weekend ahead of us. We have 2 kids' birthday parties to attend, a soccer game, and the hubs is having a birthday on Sunday. 

Busy, busy, busy.

Today I just wanted to fill you in on what's going on behind the scenes with my blog. 

As you have probably noticed, the appearance has changed over the past few weeks. I have been working really hard trying to spruce things up and make it seem more appealing. I have scoured the internet for different tutorials on how to make these changes. 

If you check out my Blogger Tutorials Pinterest Page, you can see where I have gotten all of these great ideas.

I have been playing around with this blog for a little over 3 years now. I have had so much fun learning, creating and sharing with you guys.

Now that my kiddos are at the age where they are in school full time, I have a few extra hours in the day where I can get through more projects.

I also have more time to dedicate to this blog and trying to make it grow. 

Growing will hopefully mean turning a profit...yep, I said it. I want to earn an income from blogging. I absolutely love crafting, sewing, DIY'ing, and everything that goes along with blogging. Why not try to make money at something I love doing?

So, hopefully in the not-so-distant future, I will be looking for sponsors. People who I feel my readers, that's you, would want to purchase from.  That part is still in the works right now. Other ways I am earning, is through ads. Every ad-click counts towards me earning a little extra..so if you see something that interests you, click on it:o)

I appreciate each and every one of my readers. I am so thankful that you guys take time out of your day to see what I have been up to. You are what makes doing all of these projects more enjoyable. It's fun when you get to share something you're excited about with other people who will get excited right along with you. I hope that you will stick around and help this little blog continue to grow!

Bicycle Art

It seems like ages ago I told you that I would have a fun little art project for S.R.'s room. Well, I finally got around to making one.

I just needed the right inspiration!

I wanted to do something with a bike, but just wasn't sure what. I came across this really cute vinyl cruiser on Etsy , and knew it was exactly what I needed.

Source

And this is what I came up with.

FrogTape makes a chevron painter's tape. Crazy! I know!

 It's super easy to use! 

I found some at Lowes the other day, but you can also purchase it from Amazon. 

Click the link below and it will take you directly to Amazon.

                               

The tape isn't recommended for use on textured surfaces...says so right on the box. As you can see below, my canvas is a textured surface. I went with it anyway because sometimes you can bend the rules a bit in the crafting world. 

I used a scrap piece of tape to keep my lines even.

Once all of the tape was down on my canvas board, I smoothed out all of the edges, painted, and promptly removed the tape.

After letting the paint dry for about 30 minutes, I placed the vinyl bike on top of the painting.

You have to be patient with vinyl. It can tear easily, and can stick together if you don't follow the instructions.

Once in place, I smoothed it out to make sure there weren't any bubbles.

I had the large frame on hand. I was actually using the frame as a Christmas card holder. However, last year, the cards never made it to the frame. 

So I figured I would make good use out of it, paint it purple, and hang it in S.R.'s room.

I don't normally do anything with colors this bright or go with things that are this contemporary because it's not my style. I'm more of a classic style kind of girl.

However, it is S.R.'s style...so I'm goin' with it;o)

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Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. By clicking on said links, you help me make money. It wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit if you decided to click and buy;o)

Partying Here:

Craftionary

The Jenny Evolution

Ladder Quilt Rack

I have so many projects I want to get started on, but I am still having to wait on the doctor's approval to start lifting heavy items. I am reminded several times a day that where once was a gallbladder, now resides a slight tinge of pain when I try to over-do it.. I am not a patient person. If the mind is willing, so should be the body, is my thought;o) 

So I have been piddling around the house, trying to clean things out and make things a little more organized.

I love to organize.

 I cleaned out a closet this morning that had tons of junk in it...it was the hubs' junk closet...shhhhh! Don't tell him I threw away a ton of boxes that had absolutely no purpose what-so-ever;o)

He's never been one to throw away boxes that electronics come in. Some of the boxes have been hanging out in that closet since before we moved here...mind blowing, right?;o) 

That last statement is absolutely impossible since we are the only owners of this house;o) A slight exaggeration. 

So anyway, here is another way I have been organizing.

I found this cute ladder (1/2 a ladder to be precise), on a Facebook yard sale page.  I have been able to find so many great deals on our local site. If you guys aren't apart of one, I highly recommend it; from a buyer and seller standpoint. 

It's so much easier than having to get up at O-dark-30 every Saturday morning. 

This little ladder has been a great way to store our blankets in the living room, and it's super cute. And guess what?!? I only paid $10 for it. Awesome, I know.

Now to teach the kids and the hubs how to properly fold the blankets and re-hang them...one can dream, right?

Back to School Shirts

The regular school routine has set in, and things seem to be moving along just fine. It has taken this mommy a little more adjusting than these two kiddos. 

They were both pumped and ready to go. Me, not so much.

I miss them.

The first day back broke my heart and I might have sobbed like a baby...in front of my baby...who is now a kindergartner.

My kindergartner might have shed a few tears because her mother lost it in front of her, but waited for her to leave. Such a strong little girl.

My first grader was a brave and happy little soldier. He's an old pro at this sort of thing now; in his mind's eye.

It does my heart good to see how happy they are with their teachers and their classmates. My favorite part of the day is when they get in the car at the end of the school day, smiles beaming, ready to tell me every detail of their day...competing to see who can tell the most.

Yes, I know these days are very short lived, and there will come a time when they won't say two words to me. 

I'm living in the moment and soaking it all in.

I love it.

We had a "morning of" photo shoot. This year wasn't nearly as fancy as last year's;o)

I will say that this impromptu photo shoot was a lot more fun and waaaay less stressful!!

 I made the kids' shirts to wear on their first day of school. I forgot to get good close up shots, so bear with me.

I found the fabrics from Hobby Lobby.

The shirt S.R. is wearing was created by using a pattern I had on hand. Super simple to put together, and took no time at all. I actually made it the night before school started because I am a last minute kind of gal;o)

 Here is a full view of the shirt along with a pair of shorts I found at a yard sale for $1...I really scored some awesome boutique deals that day.

This has to be one of my favorite shirts to date. I love the bright colors. Super fun!

 I asked E's permission before making his shirt. It needed to be something that didn't seem baby-ish. There is a fine line to walk when you mix applique and almost-7-year-old boys.

He approved, thankfully:o)

I made a pair of shorts to match, but when I finished them, I realized he might have been made fun of if he wore them. And we can't have anybody making fun of my sweet boy!

I haven't taken the time to make anymore clothes for them right now because we're about to head into Fall.

Hopefully I can get a few things together soon.