Mommy Has to Work

Having Fun w/Pumpkin Masters #PumpkinMastersKit

October 14, 2013 By Anne

Halloween is coming and I’ve always wanted to make one of those fancy pumpkins. I have been making the old triangle eyes and nose pumpkins for 30 years!! It’s tradition. But I envy those house that have owls carved into them or pretty designs on them. This year I am breaking tradition!!

I received a box full of different Pumpkin Masters carving kits to play with. Instead of it just being my family I decided to invite my neighbor and her family over to make a night of it! We had a pumpkin-pizza party! I bought a pumpkin for each of my children, but my thirteen year old son decided he didn’t want to participate that night so I got to play instead! First things first. Got to get the insides out. But save those seeds!! I love me some pumpkin seeds.

There were several kits to choose from. The kids choose a template from the Pumpkin Masters for Kids kit. Pumpkin Masters kits are available at most local grocery, drug, or craft store, and nationally at Target and Walmart. Savannah choose a cat and Hunter chose a spider. You have to tear out the page and cut the template out. Then tape the paper to the pumpkin. They even have the spots marked where to place the tape. The templates have holes in them and the kids then colored in the holes to create a design.

Then you remove the paper and take the saw and poke into the colored spots. It was a little difficult for the kids to do this and the adults had to take over for this part. Once you’ve sawed all the spots you can then poke out the cut pieces and viola! You have your design!

I got to try out the Decorating Punches Kit. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I did need some help from the men. But it did come out pretty. (I need to clean out the holes)

Other kits include: Pumpkin Carving Kit and Surface Carving Kit. They also have Xtreme Strobe Flashing LED Lights that you can place inside the pumpkin.

Wondering weather or not you should try a Pumpkin Masters kit? I say go ahead! It’s a great way t0 spend time with family and/or friends. make a night of it! Plus it’s better than using those big kitchen knives!!

You can also submit a picture of your carving and have a chance to win one of six prizes! Pumpkin Masters is hosting their annual Pumpkin Masters Carving Contest. Just share your picture on Instagram or Twitter with #PumpkinMasters2013. Or submit via the Facebook app or send via email to: social@pumpkinmasters.com to enter for the chance to win one of six prizes, including $5,000 for the Best Pumpkin. Contest runs from October 1 – 31, 2013. Contest details and official rules here.

You can win a Pumpkin Masters carving kit, valued at $35 right here on Mommy Has to Work. You will get everything below minus the pumpkins! a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Getting Ready for Halloween #HersheysHalloween

October 14, 2013 By Anne

This post is SPONSORED by Global Influence with PRODUCT provided by Hershey’s. All opinions are my own.

Last Friday I mentioned to my daughter that maybe we would get the Halloween stuff down from the attic. Well Sunday came and she insisted we get the decorations down and decorate! I can’t blame her. It’s exciting for little ones to get ready for Halloween. We made a day of it! My son helped me get the boxes down and my daughter started opening them and looking inside.

We hung up all the decorations and window clings all over the house. Of course she had to dress up too!

Then it was time to make some Halloween treats! I was sent a huge box of Hershey chocolates and wanted to make something special with them. I searched Pinterest and found some cute ideas. We made acorns, witch fingers and broom sticks. Find more ideas at Hersheys.com.

The acorns were really easy to make. You will need Hershey Kisses, mini wafers and peanut butter morsels. Melt a few morsels in a glass bowl in the microwave to use as your “glue”. Dip the Kiss into the “glue” and attach to wafer and then do the same with the morsel. Then refrigerate until set.

For the broom sticks, all you need are the small pretzel sticks and some Rolos or Miniature Reece’s. Dip the pretzel stick into your “chocolate glue” and stick into the candy. Cool until set. We also dipped some Peppermint Patties into orange chocolate and painted faces on them and cut the Scream Eggs in half and made lollipops.

So after playing with the candy and making all kinds of goodies, we headed outside to decorate the yard. My daughter had fun dictating what went where. She will be a handful to some man one day!

It was a long day, but it was fun! Now we are all set to enjoy the holiday!

Have you decorated yet?

Anne

Are You Getting the Information You Need From Your Child’s School?

October 11, 2013 By Anne

This is a partnered guest post.

When we send the kids to school each morning we do so with the best intentions, hoping that they’ll walk through the gates in the morning, sit down in their classrooms and learn something that will stay with them for life. However, there are often a series of issues that can develop over time within a school that affect both our children and ourselves – not all of them bad it must be said – but we want to be aware of everything and anything.

Schools will often send out a letter every few weeks telling parents about upcoming events or trips, and the first time we get to read them is six weeks after the events because they’ve been scrunched up at the bottom of the kids’ bags. For that kind of reason, it’s important that parents have some method of staying in touch with the events going on at the school, and in the modern era our first port of call for all news is a website. The issue here is that a lot of schools have poor quality and infrequently updated sites that tell us nothing, except those with website design services completed by Primary Site who help to maintain and update the site.

Many schools are given template websites from the government that are nothing more than a token gesture, or one of those ideas that seems great at the time and then the people working on it leave the school and it ends up out of date and unloved. Schools are often hives of information and developments and people want to be informed – especially parents thinking about sending their children to that school in the future who want to find out about the events, trips and latest news.

More and more people source their news online today, with websites and social networks as popular – or in many cases, more popular – than traditional sources such as the television or radio news, or newspapers. From a school perspective, staying in touch with all parents can be very difficult and printing out newsletter after newsletter costs money in terms of printing costs, so having a website that is regularly updated and easy to read makes a great deal of sense from that perspective, and that of the parent.

Having arrived at work and logged onto a computer, parents would be able to visit the school site to take a look on the news section to find out what’s going on in the immediate future as well as what other classes have been upto. There may be a trip coming up soon that your child would be expected to go on as part of their work, so you can make a note of that date and how much it’s going to cost so you can ensure that they don’t miss out.

Some school websites, including those designed by Primary Site, offer children the chance to blog themselves so that they can develop their English skills as well as their computer skills. There is even the opportunity for them to access learning materials put on the site by their teachers to help with homework assignments, something that can be highly beneficial over the holidays or when they’re studying a subject you might have no knowledge of yourself.

Anne

Betty Crocker & First Birthdays

October 11, 2013 By Anne

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Remember your child’s first birthday? Of course you do! One of the best parts of the first birthday is the cake!

It was such a busy time for me and my local grocery store gave us a free cake for both of my children for their first birthdays! A cake just for them to dig into and get messy with.

Unfortunately or fortunately they did not make too much of a mess as you can see in my pictures. (not the best pictures, I know)

Want to make a special cake for your little one? Check out these Betty Crocker Smash Cakes!

Find recipes for Betty Crocker’s favorite first birthday smash cakes here.

Anne

Eat Your Way to Glowing Skin

October 10, 2013 By Anne

This is a partnered guest post.

It’s probably excruciatingly clichéd to repeat the old adage of ‘beauty starts within,’ but for healthy-looking skin, you’ll really get results from eating well. Trust us; it’s your best bet.

Sure, you can plaster on a bunch of skin treatments, but it will barely scratch the surface. Get a healthy glow and feel more energised by following these tips to eating your way to glowing skin:

Crash Diets

We can’t stress this enough: stop…dieting…for goodness sake. If you suffer from a weight problem, aim to cut out the unhealthy foods (no takeaways or greasy, processed, ready-made meals) and replace them with natural, nutrient-rich nosh.

Gradually reduce your food intake and exercise regularly, until you’re a healthy weight. Never starve yourself or try to shed pounds in a short amount of time – it’s an ill-advised and unhealthy approach to dropping inches off your waist. For more information on losing weight, check out the NHS – don’t listen to adverts or gal mags for anything as important as this.

Five A Day

Rainbows! Aim to eat fruits and vegetables in a variety of colours. The antioxidants in these healthy nommies help to heal cellular damage created by free radicals: pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, papaya, and spinach are all packed with antioxidants. Getting your five a day can help even out your skin tone and keep you looking fresh.

Vitamin C

Seeing as autumn is just around the corner, we all should be upping our Vit C intake. Vitamin C helps to boost your immune system and helps blemishes heal faster.

Some of the best C powerhouses are strawberries, blackcurrants, guava, blueberries, broccoli, papaya, kiwi, oranges, and sweet potatoes. These yummy additions to any meal help boost collagen levels in the skin, which means you’ll look younger for longer.

Don’t Shy Away From Fat

We’ve been brainwashed into thinking fat = bad. Healthy fats – the kind you see in avocados, fish, nuts, and seeds – are important for your skin. They naturally moisturise and keep it supple. Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important to consume, and you can obtain this from flaxseed oil, linseeds, and walnuts.

Keep Drinking

Dehydration is the enemy of healthy, radiant skin. You should aim to keep drinking water regularly throughout the day. It’s always a great idea to keep a huge bottle on your desk at work and a portable canister in your handbag. The skin needs moisture to stay flexible – dryness can lead to premature aging and dull, grey skin.

Low GI Carbs

Don’t even consider cutting carbs out of your diet altogether – your body needs them. Especially low-GIs like beans, pulses, and porridge. These are slow releasing carbs that leave you with a fantastic supply of energy throughout the day (meaning less snacking).

Acne

Although acne is just in the cards for some people, you can certainly reduce the signs of inflammation. Avoid hydrogenated fats (margarine and processed foods) and avoid junk meals or anything high in sugar. You should be focusing on raw veggies, wholegrains, fresh fruit, and fish. Snack on Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

Glowing skin takes time and effort, but we at Salons Direct try to make it simple and easy. Our approach to service doesn’t just stop at salon owners, but you, the salon consumer. Visit our salon service site here – http://www.salonsdirect.com/ or pop across to our Facebook page