Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Remember Homestead Blessings?

I have been following this series with delight – be sure to check out my reviews of the first three DVDs, as well as the “Second Season”. And now…

The West Ladies are back indoors for some winter wonderment!

I’m going to go through all three new DVDs, and make sure you keep reading – you can win your own free copy of the new set!

The Art of Cooking

This program is such a delight! I felt warm, cozy, and HUNGRY watching it!

The West Ladies teach us how to make a few delicious dishes for each meal:

• County Breakfast with Stacked Pancakes, Fried Potatoes (think Home Fries), and Fried Apples and Onions.
• Lunch of Pizza, Tomato Soup, and Salad with Homemade Dressing, and a yummy Smoothie.
• Dinner featuring Pot Roast (with carrots and potatoes), Buttermilk Biscuits, Green Beans (fried with onion), and scratch Gravy (for the roast or the biscuits!), plus a Peach Cobbler for dessert!

The cooking advice was very good, for any cook coming in at a wide range of levels – and of course their recipes and tips would be useful to anyone. I thnk this was probably my favorite of these three new progams.

Although guideline measurements were given, the ladies emphasized the need to adjust to conditions to make sure things work properly (especially for more sensitive foods like biscuits), as well as the cook’s ability to improvise with ingredients, seasonings, etc.

The Art of Dairy Delights

The thing that this DVD accomplished best was to make me long even more strongly for a cow!!

But, naturally, you can do these projcts with milk from the grocery store, as well, and still reap economic, culinary, and nutritional benefits.

Watch as the West Ladies make some yummy homemade ice cream, a variety of butters, yogurt, and even cheese!

Like some of the others in the series, this DVD suffers a little from randomness of information. In some cases the information is extremely deailed, and perhaps even repetitive. But other times facts I’d really like to know about are glossed over – like finding and choosing an ice cream machine. They also demonstrate making mozarella cheese, but have no general discussion of cheese-making, or other varieties.

That said, I did enjoy the DVD, and it is sure to provide lots of great inspiration and ideas.

The Art of Sewing

The West Ladies start us out by making a few simple projects, and along the way teaching some basic sewing techniques:

• Doll pillow, pillowcase, and quilt
• Tiered skirt
• Rag quilt
• Blouse

The first three are done using only basic measurements and/or a self-created pattern. For the blouse they recommend buying a simple pattern, then they walk through how easy it can be to sew it up, and create many variations.

My favorite section is the final one – ideas for creating your own inspired items, and upcycling other fabric goods (wholesale conversions, grabbing a ruffle, and many other great ideas).

I’m so disappointed with one thing, though. Throughout the series, I’ve been enjoying Hannah’s beautiful skirts created from converting blue jeans (pants!) – she even had a very stylish new one on in this DVD… But they never mentioned it! What a lost opportunity to not only satisfy my curiosity, but also to give women another great option for upcycling their bargain finds into modest clothing.

* * * * * * * * * *

Whether or not you’ve watched the first six installments of Homestead Blessings, if you’re interested in learning homekeeping arts, you should check these out!

BUY IT!

• Amazon.com price is $19.95, eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping (if your order totals $25 or more).
• The Homestead Blessings site currently has them on sale for $17.95, but shipping is $4.50 each (no multi-item discount) – cheaper if you really only want one DVD, more expensive otherwise.
• Prices at the Franklin Springs site are typically the same as Amazon.com (sans Super Saver Shipping) for single DVDs, but you can get a much better value on one of the various collections of three, six, or all nine programs.

WIN IT! One lucky As For My House reader will win a copy of all three new DVDs!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment sharing a tip on Cooking, Dairy, or Sewing. Or just tell me which one you’re most looking forward to winning!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entris, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Blog about this giveaway, and link to this post. Please leave the link to your post in the comment. (3 entries)

3. Subscribe to As For My House by reader, and/or email. (1 entry for each, you may do both!)

4. Follow Tiffany on Twitter and Tweet about this contest. Please post the link to your Tweet in the comment. You may Tweet once per day for additional entries! Suggested Tweet:

WIN Homesead Blessing DVDs at As For My House! Ends 3/28 http://tinyurl.com/yazaoyj Please RT! #giveaway

5. Add a link to As For My House to your blogroll/sidebar/etc. Leave your URL, and location of the link, in the comment.

6. Follow As for My House on Facebook Networked Blogs.

7. Give As for My House a 5-Star rating on FaceBook.

8. Suggest As For My House to your FaceBook friends, or post about this give-away on FaceBook (the “Share This” link at the bottom of the page can help). (1 entry for each, you may do both!)

9. Add As For My House to your Technorati Favorites.

10. Post/share/link to the blog (or this post) on your favorite *other* social media outlet – and tell me what it is. Kirtsy? Stumble Upon? What else works for you? You may share on as many as you’d like, and earn an entry for each (leave separate comments).

11. Become a Facebook Fan of Franklin Springs Family Media.

This giveaway ends 3/28/10 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your DVDs will ship directly from Franklin Springs!

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Ever wanted to see a map of cities with Christian Churches to A.D. 100? A chart comparing and contrasting couples in love in the Bible? An overview of the Levitical Offerings?

Well now you can! In Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, 3rd Edition. And yeah, it has the more “common” stuff, too…

This book is a biggie – over 450 pages of content.

It has a plethora of amazing maps, charts and tables, which would be a great resource for your home study, a Sunday School class, or small group study. The charts are full-color, most are a clean full-page layout, and they’ve even made them available as .pdf files online!

The maps are beautiful, and show the locations of numerous events, places, journeys, and stories in the Bible. The only thing I would have wished for here was a little more modern comparison – what occupies that space TODAY, not just what ancient city was it near.

There are amazing charts and diagrams, which pull together a lot of facts in a handy reference. Everything from the women of the New Testament, to the prophesies of Christ, to the images of God in the Psalms.

This is without a doubt the highlight of the book, in my opinion. These charts pull together facts in an easy to find way, saving you hours of research time (or giving up) when you say to yourself, “wasn’t there another church Paul founded with Barnabas?” (Okay, we’re admitting we are total nerds. But yeah, we do have those kinds of conversations around here).

There is also a lot (a LOT) of text , which I find more problematic.

It provides the basic information about each book – date written, author, outline, etc. But there is a lot more, including summaries and explanations, that seems to veer dangerously close to creating a “Cliff Notes: The Bible”.

This is definately a book any serious (or curious) Bible student should have on their shelf.

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Nail polish isn’t something we’re big on in our house – no acrylic nails, no fire engine red manicures… It’s part of that whole vain outward adornment thing that we try to avoid.

On top of that, there’s the toxicity of fingernail polish (and remover), that makes me totally unwilling to “go there”.

But we do still struggle with even the limited media and social exposure our kids get… Princesses obviously have on makeup and nail polish, you see.

Enter Piggy Paint. Natural as… mud?

Piggy Paint™ is specially formulated from God’s natural ingredients and dries to a hard, durable finish. There are no toxic chemicals; it’s free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, Bisphenol A, ethyl acetate and acetone.

This sounds like just the thing!!

Their website declares it to be:

• Non-toxic
• Low Odor
• Water-based formula
• Hypoallergenic
• Fun, vibrant colors
• Dries to a hard, durable finish

We received a bottle of Girls Rule, a lovely metallic purple, and a bottle of their Polish Remover (also terrifically non-toxic and low-odor). (Check out the rest of their fun colors!)

Princess J was delighted when I told her it was “beauty spa” day and sat her down to paint. We discussed my plan that we would only do our toe nails, so it would be just for us to enjoy together at home.

Since Piggy Paint lacks a lot of the chemicals of “regular” polish, they recommend that you cure it with a hair dryer. Not having one handy, we went for option two – paint in the evening so it can dry overnight.

Since Jewel is new to nail polish, we just did one coat to check it out. I was delighted how bright and vivid the color looked with just one coat!

And I was very impressed with how well it has held up, between being only one coat and not having been heat dried. We’ve been calling her “Princess Purple Toes” for almost a week now.

I absolutely recommend this as a fun, safe, eco-friendly treat for your own little princess. I admit I was initially put off by the price, but the peace of mind that this product brings is, to quote a currently-much-overused phrase… Priceless. (There are also sales and discounts – keep reading!)

Send me in a photo if you try it, and we’ll do a “toe gallery” photo follow-up!

BUY SOME! Piggy Paint is available at a variety of online and brick & mortar retailers nationwide, but right now you can get a special deal if you shop at their website.

Until the end of February, use the code KISSES15L for 15% off any order. If you miss that, my readers can use the code HOUSE10L to get 10% off any order until the end of April! They always offer FREE SHIPPING (domestic) on orders of $25 or more (March 1 this increases to $35), and they do ship internationally.

You can also follow Piggy Paint on Twitter and Facebook to be notified of additional sales and promotions.

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I was recently approached about doing a review of this beautiful breastfeeding book… And I had to laugh because I had purchased a copy to read with Jewel back in 2007!

I’m happy to share it with you, since it is really lovely and we have enjoyed reading our copy many, many times.

Near Mama’s Heart is the creation of Colleen Newman, available on her website My Baby & More. There’s even a Spanish-language version.

Best of all, while you’re there you can “read” the whole book in a beautiful video, totally free!

Near Mama’s Heart is even approved for use in La Leche League and Attachment Parenting International Libraries (by those respective organizations).

We have a large collection of nursing books, and this one is right there in the “favorites” pile.

The text is simple, sweet, and rhyming. Images show a wide range of mamas and babies – different races, different positions and situations, different ages of babies, even tandem nursing.

Look for, “I like to nurse like a skilled acrobat” – which, of course, Jewel felt like she needed to practice often after reading it. And the oh, so precious photo near the end with the tiny baby who can “nurse anytime, day or night.”

Personally, my only wish is that it was a board book. I like to let the littles have the nursing books to look at, since they enjoy them so much, and this is just not built to stand up to that.

Want to check it out for yourself?

You can purchase a copy from My Baby & More for $13.99 plus shipping. Use the PayPal option – Amazon.com no longer stocks it.

And one lucky As For My House reader will win a copy!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment sharing your favorite breastfeeding book. Or watch the video on Colleen’s site and tell us which image from the book is your favorite.

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following:

2. Blog about this giveaway, and link to this post. Please leave the link to your post in the comment.

3. Subscribe to As For My House by reader or email.

4. Follow Tiffany on Twitter and Tweet about this contest. Suggested Tweet:

WIN Near Mamas Heart breastfeeding book at As For My House! Ends 2/13 http://tinyurl.com/yjy8roy Please RT! @tiffanyblitz

5. Add a link to As For My House to your blogroll/sidebar/etc. Leave your URL, and location of the link, in the comment.

6. Follow As for My House on FaceBook.

7. Give As for My House a 5-Star rating on FaceBook.

8. Suggest As For My House to your FaceBook friends, or post about this give-away on FaceBook (the “Share This” link at the bottom of the page can help). (You may do both – leave two separate comments for two entries!)

9. Add As For My House to your Technorati Favorites.

10. Post/share/link to the blog or this post on your favorite *other* social media outlet – and tell me what it is. Kirtsy? Stumble Upon? What else works for you?

This giveaway ends next Saturday – February 13th at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your book will ship directly from the author!

** Comments are now closed. Look for a new post announcing the winner! **

We are (were?) big fans of Hewlett Packard’s LaserJet printers.

Spending a little more upfront (compared to an inkjet) means beautiful print quality, but also a better value in the long run. Cost per sheet printed is less, so the printer cost amortizes over time (especially since we replace them so rarely!).

But in the past this only applied to black and white. We had an inkjet in the house, too, for color jobs.

Early in 2009, Office Depot ran an unbelievable deal on the HP Color LaserJet CP1215, and we stepped up to the next level.

Color Laser. Wow!

The printer works wonderfully, and the output is beautiful…

But I am distressed at what seems clearly to be HP’s abuse of its customers with regard to toner replacement.

Let me share with you the high points of the letter I sent to HP in September 2009. I have left out some sections to keep the length down, but the content is unchanged.

After using the printer for some time, we began to receive the alert message that the black cartridge was low. We had already purchased a cartridge with the printer, since we were told that the original setup was “mini” cartridges that would not last very long.

We were frustrated, however, that there appeared to be no way to access the “toolbox” needed to override the automatic “lock-down” when it decided the cartridge needed to be replaced.

As LaserJet owners since the inception of the product, we are well aware of how to manage toner cartridges to best suit our needs. Like many people, we nurse and baby along a low cartridge, gaining substantially more printing.

It is Orwellian and wholly inappropriate for my printer (and therefore, HP) to tell me when I *must* stop printing and install a new cartridge.

We spent a long time over several sessions with your website Live Chat representatives discussing the issue.

First we were told that there was simply no way around it.

Then we were told that all we needed to do was reinstall our driver software. We did, to no avail.

Then we heard that we needed to reinstall the driver software, but from your website. After downloading, however, we were never able to get that to install.

Eventually, we gave up and installed the new cartridge. Unfortunately out of sight is out of mind, and we forgot about the issue for a while…

In due course, the color cartridges ran low enough that printing ceased… And we were again unable to get anyone to tell us how to override that setting.

So by this time we have purchased four cartridges (black and all three colors) in advance of the time they were actually required. This additional expense clearly negates the “good value” of the printer’s initial cost!

Recently, the black cartridge warned that it was low, and panic set in again. Unemployed for the last several months, like so many people in this economy, we wanted to put off purchasing the replacement as long as possible.

One of the representatives on this go-round had some new information for us: We were finally told that the “toolbox” mentioned in the documentation does not exist in the drivers for the 1215. The 1215 “full-featured” software is still in development, and “will be realising (sic) it very soon”.

So…

Not only did HP sell me a printer which was hobbled by its inadequate software… And not only does it have documentation claiming that you can do things you simply cannot do… But I have spent hours chatting with numerous HP Customer Support agents, and none of them up to this point knew that!

He blandly informed us that many of the printers had similar function, and some did have the full-featured software, and they all just used the same manuals. How very sad, if true!

Eventually, we managed to get connected to a supervisor. She verified everything we had just been told… but then told use there was a (work-around) solution – the driver package from the 1210 could be installed, and the “toolbox” from that software would work with the 1215. (And it does).

So we are saved from purchasing yet another black cartridge prematurely, but at the cost of another substantial chunk of time and frustration.

Previous HP printers have been simple, reliable devices, and we trusted HP to continue to deliver on that expectation – we gave you the benefit of the doubt over and over again.

But this printer… and its inaccurate documentation… and the extra money it has cost us in early toner replacement… the frustration of trying to get help from someone across such a huge language gulf… and the wildly incompetent Customer Support…

…it is enough to shake our faith in HP.

P.S. This lovely document was printed while on “override” from an “empty” black toner cartridge.

As I mention at the end, I was printing that letter, back in September, on a toner cartridge that the printer had frozen out as “empty” weeks earlier.

And what’s worse?

I am still using that same cartridge.

Four
months
later.

I don’t know what to think, if not that the printer is set up to intentionally force consumers to replace their toner too frequently.

Big Brother is watching my printer?

It’s just too much.

I wanted to use this Monday’s post to share with you a wonderful modest-dressing resource I recently discovered: Katie’s Mercantile.

You can “meet” the owner, Cathy, and her daughter, Katie, in a previous Modesty Monday post!

We began our modest clothing business in 1997. We had a difficult time finding clothing that met our own needs and thought perhaps other ladies had experienced similar challenges. Our first catalog “Country Clothes for Everyday Girls” offered custom made garments using the patterns we had developed for our own use.

This little business was much more successful than we ever dreamed was possible. In 2003 daughter Katie opened a retail store “Katie’s Mercantile” that offered the same clothing only ready made.

After Miss Katie became Mrs. Jeremy we closed the retail store and a neighbor put the entire inventory on the Internet

I was just tickled when I found this online store!

While sticking to a set of basics, they have a range of options from a “classic” dress to a cape-style dress, in sizes for women and girls. They also have jumpers, skirts, blouses, undergarments, nightgowns, head coverings… Even nursing clothing!

And their prices? VERY reasonable!

A lot of items are stocked, but they are also happy to make something to your specifications – being tall, I always have to have things longer, for instance.

This is *not* a paid, or even anticipated, review. I purchased a few items from Katie’s Mercantile just like any other customer, and was treated just like any other customer… Wonderfully, it turns out!

Because I was ordering nursingwear, and becase of my height/fit challenges, I emailed a few questions prior to ordering. Katie answered, and a lengthy email exchange began. She was wonderfully patient about explaining the fit of various things, the options available, and even sending pictures of an item not yet listed on the website (which turned out perfectly – see below).

So what items have I tried from there?

I have a Nursing Jumper, although it is different from the one shown. They are now doing a jumper that simply zips on the sides for easy access. If you’re like me and need a place to put your keys when juggling the kids, make sure to ask them to add pockets (which is no problem).

I also got the Nursing Nightgown, in a pretty green fabric. It’s delightful to have a nightgown like this, after making due with t-shirts all these years! I just wish the pleats were a little deeper, to provide coverage, as this is not suitable for wearing out of bed.

My order also included two headcoverings.

I got a white hanging veil:

The darts allow this to sit so nicely on the head, it stays in place beautifully!

…And a black lace “covering veil”:

I ordered this with extra length (it’s an oval, rather than a circle), and I usually wear this as my “dress up headcovering” for church.

My second order from Katie was for a slip, to wear with my jumper.

Although I’ve been wearing exclusively skirts for several years now, for some reason I have never run into this issue. All my skirts are denim, or heavy khaki, or velvety for dress, and so on… Thick fabrics that are neither clingy nor see-through.

Amazing the things you just never think about.

I did need to send one piece back for an alteration, and the Customer Service continued to be excellent – and speedy.

Thank you, Katie (and Cindy!), for this resource – it is truly a blessing to modest-dressing women!

I have recently grown more and more convicted about covering my head, but making a shift like that meant I needed some additions to my wardrobe. Since once I decided I had to begin immediately, I spent the next few days alternating between a regular old red bandana tied over my head, and a navy blue open-weave snood that I had worn at Renaissance Faires (like this reddish one):

I checked out several places online, read reviews on other blogs, and decided to give CoverYourHair.com a try. I ordered three different items, and had somewhat varied results. Luckily, at least, the order arrived very quickly, to relieve my wardrobe crisis!

Product images below are from the CoverYourHair site, and are used with their permission.

Light Brown Five Star Tichel. This was just what I expected – a lightweight fabric square (with little fringes). I have experimented with tying it in various different ways, on several occasions…

I have yet to get it on my head in a secure and reasonably competent manner that would permit me to actually wear it. This is certainly no fault of coveryourhair.com. They actually provide a simple instructional lesson on the website, as well as a video. For me, though, certain things just don’t seem to work out (how do you keep from pulling it off your head as it tightens when you wrap the tails around the bun?); maybe it would be easier if someone was helping you learn in person.

White Cotton Paisley Pre Tied Headband – essentially a strip of folded bandana and inch or so wide, made into a headband with elastic. This one gave me trouble from the get-go.

When I took this headband out of the package, I pulled it open in my hands… and it fell apart. Apparently it was not constructed or sewn properly, and the fabric pulled away from the elastic entirely on one side.

The good news is that I now know coveryourhair.com has terrific customer service. They responded promptly and politely to my email, and quickly shipped out a replacement.

The new item was not defective… But was not a good fit, either. I’m 6′2″ tall, so this is pretty common for me in general, but a headband? Indeed, it is just “that much” too small. I guess I’m a classic example of the fact that “one size fits all” doesn’t.

I can put it on and wear it, but it doesn’t lay quite right, and tends to pull off. I ended up giving it to my four year old daughter, but it’s really not her style…

Navy All Around Wide Pre-Tied Headband. For me, clearly the best of the bunch.

This looks just like the picture, and seems to me like an ideal style for an everyday head covering. It is thick enough not to look “cheap,” but lightweight enough to breathe and feel comfortable (even in hot Florida weather). Since receiving this order, this was my “go to” daily cover for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, it is also the tiniest bit too small. With the forgiving gathered styling, this headband stays on well and seems fine – but it is slowly but surely ripping apart at the seams joining the headband section to the elastic section.

So, while it’s a great idea, I am still left with nothing to wear on my head!

Overall?

Being quite tall, I presumably have a large head; I do not imagine most women would experience these fit problems. It would be great if some of the products came in a “large” size, though – just as I’m sure some folks would appreciate a “petite” version.

I sent feedback to the company about this issue, and a lively discussion ensued. They suggested I try either the “Untied Headbands” or the “Headbands With Tails”, both of which can be adjusted to fit.

In the case of untied, I do not feel justified paying for what is then just a strip of fabric to tie around my head. In the case of the tails, I have to consider several issues including the undesirability of the tails themselves (with small children), the lack of selection of fabrics/patterns, and the relative difficulty of adjustment (apparently it involves cutting out and replacing the elastic, although they assure me it is simple!).

So far I have not taken either of these routes; coveryourhair.com was also gracious enough to refund the price of those two items.

It seems my options are limited, as other online sites focusing on head coverings seem to carry largely the same assortment of merchandise. I guess if I don’t want to stick with regular bandanas and the “veil” type coverings, I’m going to have to break out the sewing machine…

Post-Script: Most of the items in the “Headbands” section of the coveryourhair.com website proudly claim “One Size Fits All”. After this go-round, I noticed that they have changed the product description for the Cotton Paisley Pre-Tied Headbands to instead say, “Not for a Large Head.” The All Around Wide Pre-Tied Headband, though, still proudly has an emphasis that “One Size Fits ALL.” Oh, well…

I get so frustrated with “political correctness.”

Not only do I typically disagree with it in general, but so often people who are striving to be politically correct seem to totally miss the point.

Here’s a great example:

Zip a Dee Doo Dah

It won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song, can be heard in almost every Disney montage made, and the animated clips from the song are included in many compliations. The movie which featured it – Song of the South - also inspired the Disneyland ride Splash Mountain.

But you can’t buy a copy of it in the U.S. Never could.

Why?

The movie, they say, features content which Disney executives fear would be construed as insensitive toward African Americans.

Yeah, racist.

Again, I have to ask: WHY?

Because of the historical setting, the black (or, you know, African American) characters are slaves. This is history, not something derogatory.

The black characters are portrayed as warm, caring, wise, musical, and fun. Uncle Remus is the hero of the film.

So what’s racist about that?

Nevertheless, it has never been released in the U.S.

Luckily, it has been released overseas in several versions (there’s a very comprehensive list over at Wikipedia).

I wanted to get a copy of Song of the South for Nick (who didn’t yet have any siblings) after he enjoyed Splash Mountain at Disneyland. My resolve was doubled when I learned of Disney’s nonsensical ban.

I was forced to find a Song of the South eBay auction.

I wouldn’t want to pirate anything, even in this weird situation, so I made sure I purchased a legitimate, original UK movie, which just happened to also include a backup copy which was converted into the U.S. viewing format when it was made.

The original, obviously, is being lovingly preserved in storage, while the copy is in our regular viewing library.

Zip a Dee Doo Dah is fun…

Politics needs to mind its own business.

I originally reviewed Kristine’s Shower over on Life on the Road last year… And now, Jenny has been kind enough to offer a special something to help kick off our new blog (keep reading)!

First, I encourage you to click over and read the full review.

Jenny is a Work at Home Mom with some amazing Homesteading skills.

Her website is flashy and her product names are wild… on the surface she has absolutely nothing in common with The West Ladies.

But when it comes to making soap (and all of her products)… lovingly, in small batches, while nurturing her family, Jenny is the cream of the crop.

Check out Kristine’s Shower (and if your first question, like mine, is “What’s with the name?” the answer is here).

I really enjoy a hot bath, and good bath products, so I had a delightful time when I tried out Jenny’s various wares.

I had four different scrubs in the bathroom when my Kristine’s Shower package arrived… But they all collected dust on a shelf once I’d tried the Body Frosting sugar scrub.

And does she have cuteness? This soap is called “Pink Cupcake” … and it looks just like a cupcake, complete with pink frosting and sprinkles on top! It was almost too cute to use.

My next bath I tried a Bath Bomb – and I am (was) not a fan of bath bombs.

I’m a convert! Again, please go read the full review over at Life on the Road to get the inside story.

But now, without further ado, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

WIN YOUR OWN!

One lucky winner will receive $25 in Kristine’s Shower Cash!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Head on over to Kristine’s Shower, and tell us which scent intrigues you most!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following:

2. Blog about our new blog, and/or about this giveaway specifically, and link to www.as-for-my-house.com or this post (depending). You may do each one separately, for a total of TWO extra entries. Please leave the link to your post in the comment.

3. Subscribe to As For My House by reader or email.

4. Follow Tiffany on Twitter and Tweet about this contest. Suggested Tweet:

WIN $25 Kristines Shower Gift Cert! Ends 10/3  RT @tiffanyblitz

5. Add a link to As For My House to your blogroll/sidebar/etc. Leave your URL, and location of the link, in the comment.

6. Follow As for My House on FaceBook.

7. Give As for My House a 5-Star rating on FaceBook.

8. Suggest As For My House to your FaceBook friends, or post about this give-away on FaceBook. (You may do both – leave two separate comments for two entries!)

9. Add As For My House to your Technorati Favorites.

10. Post/share/link to the blog or this post on your favorite *other* social media outlet – and tell me what it is. Kirtsy? Stumble Upon? What else works for you?

That’s actually 12 ways to win!

This giveaway ends October 10th at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected.

October 11: Comments are now closed. Watch for the winner to be posted soon!

Looking for your input:

I want the items I review on the site to be things of interest to you, so please help me by letting me know what that would be!

I’m open to suggestions for anything at all pertaining to Christianity, parenting, homemaking, homeschooling, marriage, family, homestead…

Whether it’s

* A book you’ve read that you think others would like,

* Or a product that you’ve seen advertised that you’re wondering about,

* A product that you market that you think would be a good fit here (you might want to check out my Review Policy),

* Toys… Clothes… Even if it’s only to say what child’s age or category of product you’d like to see!

* Or ??

Just leave a comment here with your product suggestion, and any contact information you might have (website, etc.).