Secret Santa gift #3?

I was surprised with another gift in the mail from my Secret Santa yesterday!

Apparently she felt bad the other gift broke and felt the need to send another one.

I did a little guessing and discovered it was the very talented Emily A. Clark.

Thank you Emily! Loved all your gifts.

The third "replacement" gift was totally unnecessary but I am grateful to you anyway!

Look how sweet this Snow and Graham Calendar is.

I am in love with the November print.

And I have just the place for it.

Happy New Year!

 

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Oreck Magnesium Vacuum review and giveaway.

Boy, oh boy, do I have the ultimate giveaway for you!

Oreck sent me their new Magnesium Vacuum Cleaner to review a few weeks ago.  

I vowed to be completely honest and no sugar-coating.

Let's just say my little apartment has never been cleaner.

First of all it is so LIGHT! My old vacuum was so big and bulky (and I've got the biceps to prove it). 

The Magnesium is light enough that I can now put my boys to work with zero guilt of child labor. 

It really is so easy to manage I actually use it more often.

It sucks up every last crumb on carpet...

...and does equally as well on hard surfaces.  I should know too...I despise using a broom and dustpan.  In fact, I've had three vacs in the past that claim to vacuum hard surfaces and none have worked well.  The problem is they blow the mess all over the floor when the vac gets close but the Magnesium vacuums without making a tornado mess!

It even worked on my jute rug.

This is my old vac filter which had to be cleaned after each use.

I actually had a rock outside that I designated as my "filter banging rock". 

The Magnesium uses bags that you simply throw away when they're full.  Simple.

The Magnesium also comes with this hand-held vacuum to clean hard to reach nooks and crannies.

I'm sensing a new addition to the chore list.

We give it two thumbs up!

Now for the fun part.

One lucky winner will be receiving their very own Magnesium vacuum (valued at $599.00)! 

To enter:

First visit Oreck.com and tell us one (or  more) thing you learned about the Magnesium vacuum by leaving a comment on this post.

For three additional entries:

1. Follow Oreck on Twitter.

2. Like Oreck on Facebook.

3. Get the word out by tweeting about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.  Once winner is announced they will have 72 hours to respond otherwise another winner will be chosen.  Giveaway closes Saturday, January 7th at midnight.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org.  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents (of the 48 contiguous states) only. Must be at least 18 to enter.

Disclosures: I received this product to review for free from Oreck.  Oreck Corporation provided the prize for the sweepstakes but is not the sponsor of the sweepstakes.  

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My proudest DIY moment.

Three years ago I tackled one of my most ambitious DIY projects ever of wrapping our entry with stripes.

The reason I'm re-visiting "my proudest DIY moment" is because Part Select is holding a contest for bloggers to post and submit a noteworthy project and potentially win $5,000.00 worth of new GE Appliances!

Go here for details.

Our home was a "tract home" meaning it was visually B-O-R-I-N-G! Feeling a slight allergic reaction to having an identical home that looked like everyone else's I knew I needed to give it some personality.  The house had quite a grand entryway which I envisioned wrapping in stripes. The "three-day project" actually took three weeks, every night from 7pm-12am.

We measured each line with a ruler and level to make sure the lines were even.  Then we used Frog Tape, (which was perfect because there was no bleeding under the tape) to mark off the stripes.  Last, we painted the grey between the tape, alternating every other stripe. 

Talk about tedious! 

Now when you enter it's far from looking like every other house on the block anymore.

People always ask about the layout and where the hall leads to.

At the end of the hallway is the living/dining room.

Another DIY feature we made was this message board which we created with magnetic and chalkboard paint.  It's perfect for displaying calendars items, making lists of things to-do and keeping us informed of important upcoming events.

This office is also right off the hallway.

Photos by: Wondertime Photo.

We also created a little breakfast nook, giving the space more use than just a means from here to there.  It's much closer than walking all the way around to the dining table and a great little place for kids to do homework while I'm doing dinner.

  I'll think long and hard about doing stripes again but it was well worth it in the end. 
It's a space that makes me happy and proud.

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