Friday Favorites: Beauty Products

 I'm not in any way a beauty expert or even a beauty guru, but I do love a good product for a reasonable price that makes me want to tell everyone about it. That being said, these are my current 5 favorite products that I consistently use and can't get enough of.

1. Gel Xtreme Shine Topcoat   // This is like a lower price version of the SecheVite top coat but works just as well and doesn't get thick 4 days after opening it. (Am I the only one that happened to?!)

2. up & up Teeth Whitening Wraps   // Target brand teeth whitening strips. A little thicker than the regular ones but equally effective and cheaper.

3. Revlon Grow Lucious Mascara   // I've been cursed with tiny eyelashes but that stuff actually works you guys!  So I'll continue using it while I save up for $100 lash extensions.......

4. NuMe HydroPunch Shampoo & Conditioner   // With all the swimming I've been doing, this duo definitely gives my hair the much needed refresh from the killer chlorine and sunshine.  Follow them on instagram to see when they have amazing sales.  I just bought a curling wand from them and I'm already in love with it as well!

5. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1   // My sister-in-law gifted this to my for my birthday and it's taken the place of the last leave-in oil elixir I used.  Light and effective is a winner in my hair book!

Current Favorite Healthy Snacks

Living in Arizona we're either inside in the air conditioning, or in the pool. So when I'm stuck inside it's easy for the snack monster to attack.  You know....the monster that comes and makes you eat half a bag of chips, a handful of peanut M&M's, and your child's animal cookies. Just me?? Well....I'm trying to be more conscious about any snacking or treats I eat....really just food in general.  So here are my top 5 Recipes for healthy(er) snacking.

3-Ingredient Ice Cream from Proper

Flourless Muffins from AverieCooks

Almond Joy Bars from Inside BruCrew Life

Mint Chocolate Protein Shake via Tied Ribbon

"Cookie Dough" Greek Yogurt by Girl Gone Country

-Sarah Melcher Fitness & Health Contributor

build your library with kellogg's

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Back2SchoolReady #CollectiveBias

With school starting next week here in Arizona, we're stocking up on school supplies and that includes new books for daily reading! Kellogg's launched an awesome new campaign where you can purchase specially marked Kellogg's products in-store or online through Walmart.com and redeem codes for a free Scholastic book. 1 Kellogg's product = 1 free, full-length Scholastic book, and you can redeem up to 30 books. 

It's easier than you think, to start go to Walmart.com and look for the "Buy Now" button here to see a list of participating products and purchase online. 

I choose some delicious breakfast fuel for my son & I, Kellogg's Rice Krispies®, and Special K® Protein shakes. Added them to my cart and shipped them to my house!

After you get your Kelloggs products there are 3 ways you can upload your receipt- via text, via scanning into your computer or Kellogg's Family Reward app when you purchase Kellogg's products ONLINE between 7/21 - 9/11, just be sure to enter your codes by 3/31/16! Redeem your code for a free Scholastic book within 14 days of purchasing your product.

In order to redeem codes, you must create a Kellogg's Family Rewards account, and in a few minutes you're ready to start adding Scholastic books to your library!  Because I got 2 Kellogg's products this time, we decided we'd keep one book for ourselves and order one to donate to our local library.  You don't have to pay any extra shipping cost after choosing your book.

It only takes a few steps to get your free book, after entering your code, you'll have an option to order a book for yourself or donate a book.  Then we choose the book we wanted, entered our shipping info...

and we were done! You don't enter any payment information and you just wait excitedly for your free Scholastic book to come in the mail! So easy, right?! We're definitely buying more products to to get more books!

Celebrate Summer "Funshine"!

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareFunshine #CollectiveBias

Photography by Trisha Shelley Photography

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good party & I love some Dr Pepper®! School is starting in a few weeks, but this hot Arizona heat definitely reminds us that summer still isn't technically over.  So I decided to host a party to celebrate that there's still summertime left to be enjoyed! You can "Share the Funshine" too, by entering to win a Walmart e-giftcard here! After I planned my party, I stopped by Walmart and grabbing everything I needed for a delicious and fun party.

I grabbed 2 giant bags M&M's® Peanut, & M&M's® Plain some Skittles®,  Starburst® Minis Unwrapped, Dr Pepper®, Dr Pepper® Cherry, mini unwrapped SNICKERS®, some SNICKERS® ice cream bars, and of course Pedigree Dentastix® so even the pup can join in on the summer fun!

Then I sent out some fun invitation with a treat attached to make the party even more enticing! 

To make your own, take a small plastic baggie, pour in your treat, tie with twine, attach to your invitation with tape and you're done! Time to party!

My party had 2 elements, a Make Your Own Popcorn Mix and an Ice Cream Bar/Float station.

There was plenty of Dr Pepper®  and Dr Pepper® Cherry for floats, and a choice of ice cream bars in a bucket of ice.

The popcorn mix had butter, kettle corn and caramel corn popcorn guest could put in bags and then choose their own add-ins. There were M&M's® Peanut, & M&M's® Plain, Starburst® Minis Unwrapped, SNICKERS® Minis Unwrapped, chocolate mint candies, cinnamon gummies, & mini chocolate chip cookies.

Everyone loved being able to personalize their popcorn mix & ice cream floats!  The bags made it easy for guests to take some popcorn & treats home with them. I also had little containers filled with Skittles® so the fun could keep going and going, just like summer!

Click here to receive instant savings on M&M's®, SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars, Dr Pepper® Cherry, Skittles®, Pedigree Dentastix®! I'd love to hear your favorite ideas for making summer FUN!

Share a Little Funshine Sweepstakes Download the Blippar app from your Apple or Android store to scan your package and receive exclusive content.

DIY Giant Confetti

Birthdaaaaaays! Are you tired of hearing me say that word yet?!  No? Good! Because I've got another birthday celebration-worthy DIY for you.  Giant confetti has been on my "make" list for a while.  Such a random thing for me to have on my list, right? But it's a pretty fun thing though!  I figured out the best way to make it was to use card stock to get a good, clean cut using the punch. take a single (folded) sheet of tissue paper and fold over once in between a piece of card stock & punch away!

Friday Favorites

Today's version of Friday Favorites are all things you can access on your phone.  App, website, or account.  Things that I use consistently and best part, don't cost any money.  Happy Friday, friends! 

Cartwheel by Target is addicting and basically like mobile discounts.  You can stack them with items already on sale that week AND with coupons.  It came out about 2 years ago and my sister-in-law and I jumped right on board and have been using it ever since.

I've had snapchat for years.  love using it with family and close friends to send pictures (mostly of my child) without posting them all on social media.  But it's recently become popular for bloggers to show behind the scene snaps and I love it! (I'm katiecarranza on there!)

TheSkimm is a free service that emails you every weekday morning with a summarized version of the latest news happenings and goings ons.  I'm not a big news reader or watcher so this is a perfect and no-effort way for me to stay up to date all while laying in bed in the morning.

I'm no fitness guru, and usually I only work out so I can eat junk food, but I love a good burning workout.  AlexaJeanFitness instagram account is my current favorite way to get free, quick, gym-free workouts in at home.  She often posts simple, no equipment workouts that will make you burn like no other! After trying a few of her posted ones, I went and bought her 30-day Ab Workout plan, and let me tell you...that does not disappoint either!

Wood & Number Cake Toppers

Birthday month still in full effect around here! here are some easy color-blocked style cake toppers.  Right now I don't have a picture of them ACTUALLY topping a cake, since the time hasn't come to use them.  But once I do, I'll be sure to update this post. So for now just use your imagination...and happy celebrating!