For Japan- Bloggers Day of Silence

For Japan With Love: Will you join me for a Bloggers Day of Silence tomorrow?

Hi guys, tomorrow I will be joining the blogging community in a collective Bloggers Day of Silence, in order to raise awareness in respect of the recent disasters in Japan.

We may be living far away, but together we can certainly do a our bit to help! Please keep reading to see how you too can join...


Here's the info from the Japan With Love website:

Fundraising

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to the fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

Bloggers Day of Silence

Anyone that has a blog can help out with this one.
The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple:

1. This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.
2. Please post a blog post about what you will be doing this Friday whenever possible in hopes to spread the word and whoever else would like to join in.
3. Tweet, Re-Tweet & Facebook the link to http://www.forjapanwithlove.com please.
4. Encourage your readers to contribute to donate shelter to Japan.

Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated. Every little bit helps.
Feel free to ask other bloggers you like to join in on this. Whatever impact we can make will be so awesome.


If you have any questions, feel free to email lydia@ever-ours.com or info@utterlyengaged.com or see their post about this project HERE

Happy Birthday- To Me :o)

Yesterday was my birthday! And look what my husband got me! A scroll saw :o) I love it! He said it was a little weird buying his wife a saw lol. But I have had a great time playing with it already. I am excited to share some of the projects I have had in my head for awhile :o)


Don't forget to enter into the Nanny Note's Giveaway ~ it ends on Sunday!

Purex Complete Crystals Giveaway Winners

The winners of the Free Purex Complete Crystals Coupons are:

Comment #14, Kimberly
Comment #36, Robyn
& Comment #21, Traciet

Congrats ladies! I will be contacting you by email :o)
Thanks!

General Conference Candy Lei Countdown & Linky Party

General Conference is just a few weeks away and I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to it :o) I think most of us adults enjoy conference, it is the kids we have to convince. Don't get me wrong, my daughter is usually pretty good. She loves the traditions we have over conference weekend, including the conference tent, special meals, and a conference basket with treats and and her conference packet.

It is all exciting the first morning, sitting in her tent with her basket and crayons all ready to listen. And then by afternoon session I am constantly telling her to be quiet so I can hear, and to sit down and stop jumping in front of the screen ;o) I know it is not as fun for kids, and I understand she is a very energetic 7 year old and sitting there that long is HARD so I just try to make it as fun as possible. And that is where all of my fun crafty blogger friends come in.

I would love to see what fun things you have planned for your kids for conference, so I can copy your brilliant ideas of course...;o) Below I am going to start a Conference Idea Linky Party that I would love for you to link your wonderful Conference crafts, recipes, and other ideas to. If you don't have a blog to link feel free to even just leave comments with your ideas because I would love to read them!

And now for one of my ideas... A Conference Candy Lei Countdown.
I personally think kids love countdowns. They are fun! With this countdown, they get to wear it around their neck and munch on a piece of candy during each talk, counting down to the very last one. Or if you like bribing your kids, they could get to eat one after each talk that they LISTEN to ;o)


You will need:
4 ft long piece of plastic wrap cut down the middle lengthwise, you will need just one half, unless you are making 2 :o)
25 pieces of candy (Over the last few conferences there have been 24-26 talks so I went in the middle and added 25 pieces of candy to my lei.)
10 inch pieces of ribbons in coordinating colors

Super easy! Cut your plastic wrap and lie it flat one the table. Line the candy up spaced a tiny bit apart about 2 inches in from the edge of the plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the candy from the edge, then roll until the candy is completely rolled up. Then take your ribbons and tie and curl between each candy. At the end you will overlap the ends of the plastic wrap over the last piece of candy and use the plastic tie to secure it, making it into a necklace.

Conference Idea Linky Party.
Go ahead and link your conference related crafts, recipes, and ideas. And please link back to me, I would greatly appreciate it :o) And that way other people can find all of our great ideas in one spot too :o)

Girl Scout Heaven Shrimp Recipe

My daughter sold Girl Scout Cookies for the first time this year. So my kitchen was taken over with 550 boxes of deliciousness. And of course I wanted to eat them ALL!!! I am especially drooling over the flavors I didn't order for our family, thinking~ I wonder what that kind tastes like? Mmmm...


When we were taking orders for cookies I came across some recipes in a news article (you can find HERE). And because my family LOVES Samoa cookies, and my husband and I LOVE shrimp, the Fried Samoa Shrimp immediately peaked my interest. I have patiently been waiting to try it... So today, I did! And of course being my silly rushed self, I couldn't wait to eat them and I didn't really read ALL of the instructions and two steps into making them I realized- I MESSED UP! I poured the flour in with the cookies when that is completely wrong. Ahhh! So I took out as much flour as I thought necessary and then winged it from there, even adding an additional ingredient. And they were so just over the top amazing even my daughter who HATES shrimp ate them! Alot of them! And now claims she loves shrimp :o) You must try this recipe! Must! And the lime at the end... perfect touch. We had them for dinner with pasta, but these would even be a terrific appetizer. YUM!



Girl Scout Heaven Shrimp Recipe
1 lb Large Shrimp, peeled & deveined
5 Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, finely chopped
2 tbl Flour
1/2 c Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 c Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 c Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
1 Lime
2 Egg Whites

Mix finely chopped cookie, flour, italian bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, coconut flakes and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Dip shrimp in egg whites then coat with cookie mix. Fry shrimp in vegetable oil until golden brown. Squirt with lime juice, serve and enjoy! Oh and then go track down another girl scout so you can order some more boxes of Samoas...


Please check out all the blogs that I link with on the right sidebar of my blog...

Feature: Nanny's Notes & a Giveaway!

I am super excited to be featuring Nanny's Notes by Natalie Griffin and share her card collection with you :o) She is one talented lady who makes the cutest cards for holidays, birthdays, saying thanks, etc... You really must take a look!

Natalie says, "I started making cards because it was something that allowed me to share my talents with the ones I loved. I've always been crafty; from scrapbooking and knitting, to baking and decorating. I find peace in sitting down and focusing all of my creativity into making my cards. It's true when they say they're made with love."

Natalie and I would both love for you to visit Nanny's Notes and check out her adorable cards for all occasions. And she has been kind enough to offer a collection of 3 of her cards to giveaway to A Mama B's followers, yay!

To enter:
Main entry: Be a follower and leave a comment that you are.
Extra entry #1: Visit Nanny's Notes site and tell me which card you just love.
Extra entry #2: Like Nanny's Notes Facebook and leave me a comment once you have.
Extra entry #3: Like A Mama B's Facebook and leave a comment once you have.

Giveaway will end on the evening of Sunday March 20 and I will announce a winner at that time :o)

New Facebook Page!

I've created a Facebook page :o) I am hoping it will be a good way for us to communicate and be updated on new posts, ideas and giveaways. So please visit my new Facebook page and LIKE me HERE. Pretty, pretty please ;o)

Oh and don't forget to enter in the giveaway for the Purex Fabric Softener HERE, and get ready for a Feature and another giveaway this next week :o)