Gift Exchange

A few weeks ago Alicia from The Crowely Party posted about a Blogger Gift Exchange. I thought it was such an awesome idea! We were all paired up randomly with another blogger to exchange a small gift. I was excited the day I received the email that my exchange buddy was Amira from Shades of Gray. She's an newlywed, librarian, animal lover and amazing crafter!

I had mentioned to my husband about this exchange so when he walked in from checking the mail yesterday with a big grin on his face I knew my special delivery had arrived. Boy was I excited! It was hard for me to shop for someone I didn't know much about so I hope she liked what I sent her. It was a nice store bough gift. Amira on the other had did an AMAZING job at picking out the perfect gift that I love so much. She put together an entire Valentine's themed gift box. It had a heart baking pan, brownie mix, pink {my favorite color} sugar dots, decorative frosting's, Valentine socks and this put the icing on the cake {no pun intended}. A hand written recipe for her favorite cream cheese icing. 

I don't know if Amira knew how much we love to bake in this house, but this was a perfect gift. I can't wait to bake this weekend! Thanks Amira! This gift was truly a blessing.

Blessings,

GIVEAWAY + Blog Swap with The Posh Daisy

I'm SUPER excited today to have Cerrisse from the {posh} daisy guest posting. We've actually swapped blogs for the day so you can check out my post today on her blog here.

Hi Laura Hernandez Readers! So excited to be here today on the lovely Laura's blog. I am so happy I have got to know Laura and she is a wonderful supporter with my shop and blog. We thought it would be fun to come together and share a little bit about ourselves and a do a little giveaway. 

So let's get started. 

My name is Cerrisse and I am the co-owner of The {posh} Daisy with my lovely mother Dotti.

We opened up our shop in September of 2011 and are loving every minute of having a handmade shop business. We create fun, chic, posh, handmade jewelry and accessories. 

When opening up our shop we wanted to create items that we would wear ourselves. We try to offer different styles for different types of tastes out their from simple to more whimsical and fun. 

I love all the pieces we make and it's really hard not to keep every single thing we create :) 

We have recently started making hand stamped jewelry and will be doing more of that in the future. 

So a little bit more about us. 

I am happily married to my darling husband Curtis and have been married for almost 5 years now. We have a darling 19 month old little boy Jaxon and currently one on the way (crossing our fingers for a girl) I am blessed because I get to stay at home taking care of my son while running this business. It's amazing because I get to socialize all day with amazing women who blog and own shops themselves. I feel a great support system with these women and I give them a bunch of the credit to the success of my shop. 

My mother Dotti is involved with the shop but is more the "behind the scenes" I am more of the spokes person of the shop. I do all of the marketing, emails, etsy, facebook, blog, etc...She helps me make the jewelry and the designs for the shop. She also contributed the money in the beginning to open the shop, so we wouldn't be here with out her. 

She is happily married and going strong for almost 27 years!!! She is the mother to 5 children, me I am the oldest and her favorite ;) Just kidding....

She works for a non profit housing development which takes up a lot of her time, so we always play jewelry on the weekends. 

and our crazy family! 

Our goals are to one day open up a little local boutique to sell our lovely handmade items, living in a small town where we do you don't see fun and different jewelry and think it would do really well here.

We are in the process to improve everything from our logo, blog design, jewelry designs, and marketing strategies right now. So you will see something totally different in a month or so and we are so excited to share it with you all. So I hope you follow us with these changes that are coming, I promise you wont be disappointed. 

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I just want to thank Laura for letting me come on her blog and share a little bit about myself
and my shop. I wanted to do a little something for you guys and do a giveaway!!
Everyone loves to win something now and then. 

So you have a chance to win....

+

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the Love of Bikes

If anyone knows our family, they know us with our mountain bikes. Where we go, our bikes go. Period. After our "I do's", we actually rode back down the isle on a tandem! {No we didn't fall and make it safely to the limo.} We honeymooned on Mackinac Island, MI since there are no cars allowed, only bikes and horses. That's bike love.

In the winter, even though we live in California, its colder and rainier and I just don't seem to get out there as much as I should. I come up with the excuse I'm to tired. I work 40 hours a week, I'm a photographer on the weekends, and I'm a mom. That's not an excuse. I need to put exercise back into my daily routine. Somehow its slipped away but these pesky winter pounds are sure holding on strong.

We had a family portrait session taken earlier this year with the fabulous photographer Jessica Velarde. During this session she did an amazing job of capturing the "real" us. 

Thank you Jess for these amazing photos that will be treasured for a lifetime, just like you.

 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in ALL circumstances 1 Thess. 5:17-18 ♥

Blessings,

 

{Guest Post} Ellie from The Ellie Life

Today, Ellie from The Ellie Life is my speical guest.

You can read more about her from her blog.

She's being a voice for young teenage girls.

Hi sweet people!  I am so beyond excited to be posting here on Our Reflection. Laura is the absolute best!  I'm Ellie and I blog over at {The Ellie Life} 13 short weeks ago my blogging journey began and let me tell you....I am never looking back.  I blog about life, heartache, and all the giggles in between.  I have this crazy dream to create, educate, and inspire people with my story.  Hence the story behind why I tell it.  Actually that story started two short years ago when my best friend headed on up to heaven for a better view. This best friend also held the title daddy in my home & seeing him leave....taught me that each day is just another reason to feel blessed.  I have realized much more then ever imagined. At fifteen I still have much living and figuring to do. Still though the way I look at it....at least I have found something that makes me smile.  The Ellie Life isn't just my diary though as much as I'd just love to tell you so.  The Ellie Life is a place to come and be heard.  Because the story here.....is that everyone has a voice & I want to hear yours.  I Listen Lovely is my online "advice" column and let me be the first to tell you...that I am tickled pink to have answered over 2,000 questions to the most amazing people in the whole wide world.  The Ellie Life is your diary too.  This isn't just my story. This is our story.  Now come live it with me & embrace all the ups & downs of this pretty little world. 

{Heartache. Advice. Life. Teenage Stuff. Humor. Faith. & the pretty things along the way}

Simply, The Ellie Life. 

Come on over-stay a while. 

Love to you friends! 

-Ellie-

{Meet & Tweet} Its a Twitter Parrrrrtayyyy!

Meet and Tweet!
Let's link up and make new friends!

What do you need to do? 

First follow @_laurahernandez on Twitter. 

What's a party without a prize! 

A beautiful Forever21 "Tweet" necklace is up for grabs. 

How to win?

1) Link up your Twitter account below 

to meet new people. 1 entry

2) Tweet a shout out about this event using @_laurahernandez in the comment. 1 entry  

Happy Tweeting!

Guest Post: Cassie from Live.Laugh.L0ve.

Everyday, a new blessing. I'm a newbie to the blogging world {today is actually day 25} and I'm so overjoyed today to have my very first guest Cassie from Live.Laugh.L0ve. The reason this it was so important for me to have Cassie as my first guest is because she was one who reached out to me first. To help, support, and answer silly questions. She offered to do a button swap with a girl that didn't know what a button was! Thank you Cassie for caring. For taking the time to make others feel special. 

I blog over at Live.Laugh.L0ve. I LOVE God first and foremost, you can read about my faith here. I am a wife to my high school crush! :)

I am also a momma to two of the most adorable boys 
in the world if I do say so myself. :)

Today I'm going to try & tell you a little bit about myself. Something I'm horrible at doing & I have no idea why, because well, I know me so it should be easy right? :) Here it goes.

I am a free spirited person. I live life one minute at a time, savoring every moment I can. Even little things like drinking hot chocolate with my little one's! These tiny moments are as precious to me as the big moments.

I believe in Living life, Laughing as much as possible & Loving with my whole heart. I try to Embrace life. Something I think people don't do often enough. I want to encourage/inspire people to embrace this crazy beautiful thing called life and loving every minute of it. Even the bad stuff. This life is so short, why waste it?

I have learned that I am beautifully different & it has taken me awhile to accept that. I take a too many pictures & believe it's okay to cry. I am a very sensitive person and a very passionate person. I am also utterly compassionate. I want to reach out and help those who are hurting, who are unhappy and show them the light in a dark place. 

I am spontaneous & I believe in living my dreams! I blog about anything and everything! I also have a shop called ccy designs where you will find inspirational hand stamped jewelry! Today I would like to offer Laura's readers a 15% percent discount on everything in the shop. The code will be good through the 28th! Use Code Laura at checkout!

Hope you will stop by and say hello! 
Thanks so much Laura for having me here today!

Framed Button Heart {Getting Crafty}

This week we got a little crafty {totally out of the "norm" for us}. We do a lot of baking in our house but when it comes to arts and crafts, sewing, putting things together with our own hands, it just doesn't happen. Who would have thought this simple craft project would totally changed my way of thinking. I don't have to be an artist or seamstress to do these things with my kids. We'll learn together {and probably laugh A LOT along the way}! I treasure those moments I can spend one-on-one time with my daughters. Sometimes I need to remind myself, everything else can wait, family comes first. My kids are growing fast and if you don't take the time now, I might not get that chance again. Gosh, I never intended this post to turn into a cry-fest {as tears run down my face}.
Framed Button Heart {Under $5.00}

Pin It
Don't get overwhelmed by all the photos. I'm a photographer so sometimes it gets the best of me. {I seem do better visually that verbally.}

Here is what you need:

• Frame {you can get from the dollar store}
• Buttons {we purchased from an antique store for $2.00}
• Fabric {we used an old scarf from the antique store for $1.00 or burlab fabric would work}
• Cardboard {we cut an manila folder in half}
• Hot Glue Gun {any super glue would work}

First we spread everything out and warmed up the glue gun.

 Opened up our piece of material, put the piece of cardboard in the center and

cut around the cardboard, leaving 2" of extra fabric around each side.

We then used the hot glue gun and glued the fabric around all the edges. 

{Yes I burnt my finger!} Our first laugh of the project. 

 We then opened the frame, removed the glass, inserted the fabric covered

piece of cardboard, and put the frame backing back on.

 Then the fun crafting started. I had my daughter Charlie (age 6), choose any

buttons she wanted to use and make an outline of a heart in the center of the frames opening.

We chose pink since this was a Valentine's project.

Once the heart outlined was created, I had her start filling in the middle.

 She was so engrossed this project. I loved her attention to detail.

 After a little rearranging, the heart was complete.

 Then I stepped in with the hot glue gun and began gluing the

buttons down exactly where she had placed them.

 Charlie is just as particular as me, she corrected every millimeter I was off. Again we

were laughing hysterically until we both couldn't talk and tears we running down our faces.

 And voila, our master piece was complete.  Miss Charlie was so proud of her work

{as she should be, it turned out beautiful}.

It now has a permanent spot in our living. The heart is a constant reminder of the love of our family and for me personally, to take more time for the little moments.

And for all your not-so-crafty moms like myself, I hope this was found helpful.

Now let's go get our crafty on!
Join in our DIY Valentine's Craft Link Up Party!

Don't forget to follow up on Facebook & Twitter!

Blessings,