VZ Wraps Fabric Gift Bags Review and Giveaway

 

     So I finally just ended the busiest season in my families year.  From the traditional holidays celebrated at the end of each year through St. Patricks Day, my family is jam packed with parties and celebrations including most of my extended families birthdays.  On Christmas alone it hurts me to say we use well over dozens of rolls of wrapping paper then not to mention on the birthdays in the coming two months, its sickening if you are even remotely an eco-conscious person.  The sad thing is that most wrapping paper is not recyclable because of the dyes and additives.  "According to the Clean Air Council, an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated in the U.S. during the Christmas holidays and a substantial portion of that is wrapping paper and shopping bags."  I have always tried to reuse bags or even reuse bigger pieces of wrapping paper if in good enough condition.  Now I don't even have to do that since I discovered VZ Wraps.

A Greener Kitchen Evelyn Organic Cotton Half Apron Review and Giveaway

     I used to be a Training Restaurant General Manager so I consider myself to be quite the foodie.  I am always in my kitchen - if not cooking then cleaning up.  I love my kitchen and am always trying out new recipes and gadgets.  If you've ever worked in a restaurant of any style you know they are always a mess, your clothes never stay clean, and there are all sorts of rule/guidelines to follow.  One of my biggest pet peeves in cooking at home is sometimes the same resources are not always available.  I am always forgetting I don't have an apron on like I did when I was working which usually causes me to destroy some really nice clothes. 

EvriHolder - Kellogg's® Pop-TartTM Container, Ketchup Kritter/Mustard Monster, and Campbell's® Soup Can-tainerTM Review and Giveaway

     So who here uses plastic baggies for sandwiches/snacks?  How about when/if you pack your lunch for work and the kids lunches for school?  What types of products do you load up in the lunch pack?  Well, there are so many edible products out there that the packaging either goes into the trash after eating or other products that people easily toss into a sandwhich baggie which is then too thrown away after!  This makes me sad to see when I know I can simply use reusable containers for my children's and my own lunches.  Through shopping at a store nearby called Five Below, I found myself a neat little container I had never thought of using - A Pop tart Holder.  I have always reused baggies for my leftover one from the boys breakfast.  But, when I thought all was good, the dog chewed ours up!  Thus, forcing me to find out who made these nifty containers and to my surprise EvriHolder had even more products for just about anything you could imagine!  I had discovered a whole new world of reusable containers. 

Simple Green Household Cleaners Review and Giveaway

 

      Always on the lookout for green friendly products, I recently came across a company called Simple Green®.  Right away I was interested in learning more because of their unique line of products.  These are not just your typical household cleaners.  They are very specific geared towards the different types of stone people have in the newer kitchens or with stainless steel.  They produce a large line of pet products as well as industrial strength outdoor cleaners for your home, grills, patio and car.

ecoSTORE USA Laundry Liquid and All Purpose Cleaner Review

 

     I think everyone by now knows I am allergic to Tide detergent.  I have been since birth or at least as far as I remember.  My father and sister are also allergic.  If I wear clothes that have been washed in Tide I break out in hive or worse if I sleep in a bed that has been washed in Tide I have a severely hard time breathing throughout the night and into the next day on top of the hives.  So for the majority of my life I have been very picky about the types of detergents I choose to use.  Five years ago I bought my first front loader which initially proposed an issue since Tide was the main supplier of HE Detergent.  I was forced to explore other brands as well as stock up when I found them to avoid having a reaction.  Over the course of the last couple years I have tried to transition my family into a much greener world and one of those ways meant making my own cleaners at home (laundry detergent most specifically).  I know first hand how harmful some of the every day chemicals we use in our homes can be.

The Green Ostrich Green Toys Recycled Milk Container Toy Tool Set Review and Giveaway

 

      I know a lot of my followers have children and most follow because they have similar beliefs as I do around the planet.  But do any of you really realize how many of the things we use each day that are not only harmful to the earth but ourselves?  People may not have lived longer lives a couple hundred years ago but in my opinion they lived happier and healthier lives.  Change doesn't happen over night and you'll kill yourself if you try to get rid of everything potentially harmful in one day.  What you can do is promise yourself to make one change a month, a week, or even a day if your real ambitious (but only one).

     My first priority in the last five years has been making these changes for my children.  This can be in the things they use/touch daily or things that I use/touch that directly affect them now.  Over the most recent holiday season, toys became a major focus of mine which is how I discovered The Green Ostrich.

     The Green Ostrich is "a woman-owned business founded in 2009 based just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Green Ostrich™ started with the following observation: the energy-intensive retail stores that we frequent do not offer many Earth-friendly, green products. That, and we were spending a lot of time and energy driving in our car to and from these stores."  SO instead of using gas to get to the store, Green Ostrich is an online store with online ecofriendly products. 

     I love that they state up front "We help people make changes, not sacrifices.".  They aren't asking you to sacrifice anything or really even change all that much because you are getting the same types of products you would already be using or buying only better.  We were given the chance to review the Green Toys Recycled Milk Container Toy Tool Set.  This set is super cool!  Not only is it made from 100% recycled milk containers BUT contains less or no BPA because it is made from recycled plastics.  Kevin even thought these were better than your average toys because the even had the names of the tools labelled on each of them.  They are also dishwasher safe which if you know anything about toys, that's a great AND easy feature to maintain their quality!


Cost:  $18 Green Toys Recycled Milk Container Toy Tool Set (15pc.)
Available to purchase:  Green Ostrich
Recommendation:  This is an AWESOME set of toys for such a good price.  You'd pay a lot more in the toy stores for something with less pieces that's made of who knows what.  Green Ostrich also carries whole variety of green gifts for all ages, green school supplies, and other green toys.
Facebook: Green Ostrich
Giveaway:  Green Ostrich is going to give one of A Lucky Ladybug's lucky readers a Recycled Milk Container Toy Tool Set of their own!

Ozeri Tungsten Ring Review

     One thing my husband and I didn't do when we first got together was follow the traditional steps.  We were married within 6 months of dating which also means our initial wedding wasn't really a wedding at all.  It was very rushed and unplanned at the court house in Georgia where we were living at the time.  I am not one to regret anything from my past but this would be one of those things I wish we could do over.  There was no proposal, we just knew we were in love and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.  Plus Kevin had already been married and had the beautiful Alana, so it just was easier to make it quick even though we had a real wedding ceremony a year later.

ManGroomer Do It Yourself Mens Grooming Tools Review and Giveaway

     So now even though I have always been more of a low maintenance, tomboy chick with tons of guy friends, I'm still new in to the world of men.  I am the first in four generations to have a boy and the whole "Personal care and grooming" of a guy is an unexplored region for me.  I know every girl (or guy) has their preference as to what they find attractive in a guy - whether it is a good old fashioned hairy manly man or a clean cut shaved guy.  If I'm telling the truth as a blogger I like my men clean cut and smooth skin.  I was lucky enough to find a guy like that to marry (obviously attraction is part of why we got married haha).  BUT I gave birth to one hairy as hell son.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from A Lucky Ladybug!!!

 

ALSO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband!!

Everyone please remember to be safe wherever you choose to celebrate!

Smart Silk Pillow Review and Giveaway

  

     Everyone sleeps right!?  But everyone sleeps differently.  Sleep is an essential part of all living creatures and each of us want to make sure we are sleeping comfortably and safely.  There are so many things to consider about our bedding and how it affects us.  We of course want to be comfortable but we also need to be aware some other issues such as bed bugs, allergies, or head/neck injuries.

Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil Review and Giveaway

      From the very first week I started being a product review, I have wanted to work with the company

Tropical Traditions.  This is one of the first truly organic companies I had heard of and they are really

the company that sparked my interest in to the whole line of natural oils.  So needless to say, when I was finally asked to review one of their products, I hopped on that boat immediately.

     Of All of the products I could have been asked to review, they chose their coconut oil.  Yes, I was psyched yet again AND this couldn't have come at a better time for me and my family.  Tropical Traditions carries a huge line of oils, personal care products, organic foods, pet products, and much more.  I have always heard so many great things about the coconut oil and the wide variety of uses it has.  I may have mentioned it already before, but I just spent seven hours getting a very large tattoo that I still have another six to seven hours of work left.  If you've never had one, that's a pretty intense tattoo and as part of my aftercare, I used my new coconut oil.

     Because I have such sensitive skin, I have to be careful what I put on my skin (ie. lotions) especially if its for a prolonged time.  After two days of A+D ointment my skin broke out in a rash.  So several times daily I switched and coated it with the  Tropical Traditions coconut oil to keep it moisturized and to help the healing process.  The rash went away almost immediately and no more breakouts.  There are also several other uses for coconut oil such is cooking/baking/frying everything you can imagine, beverages, dieting, hair/skin/nail care or virtually anything.

Cost:  $40 Reg. $29.50 Sale price

Available to purchase:  Tropical Traditions

Recommendation:  Well if you couldn't tell I recommend this company as well as the Coconut Oil.  Yes these are all pretty pricey but when you think about all the uses you can get out of it and seriously how long it will take you to go through an entire 32oz jar or even the smaller one, its definitely worth a buy!

Facebook: Tropical Traditions

Twitter: @troptraditions

Giveaway:  Tropical Traditions is going to give one of A Lucky Ladybug's lucky readers a QT. of coconut oil of their own! 

Parissa Wax Strips for Legs and Body Review

     Now, I can honestly say I consider myself to be a pretty low maintenance chick.  I don't wear makeup most days, I dye and cut my own hair which is then thrown into a ponytail frequently, and I wear/have very few accessories.  I do not wax (anywhere ) and very rarely tweeze anything.  In fact, I can't even tell you if I've ever really tried to wax anything other than maybe when I was first a teen playing around with my mother's beauty products.

Zoobies Blanket Pets Review and Giveaway

 

     There are two things I don't think any of my children could ever have enough of - stuffed animals and blankets.  I swear I think we have more than enough of both, then another child asks for a new one because "its so cute!" or "its the softest I've ever felt Mom!".  Boy or girl it's just a kid thing to love the soft and cuddly things.