Archives for 2009

Greeting Cards Giveaway from DigitalRoom.com

August 18, 2009 43 Comments

How would you like to receive 250 5″ X 7″ custom greeting cards?

Digitalroom.com is an online printing company that offers a variety of products for all your printing needs, including custom greeting cards and custom post cards. They offer high quality prints and custom sizes at affordable gang prices and a fast turn around. And prepress checks your files and prepares free proofs before you pay!

What would you do if you had 250 custom greeting cards? Here are just a few ideas:

Business Promotions: Business owners could use this prize to create postcards complete with their own custom logo. Use these to get the word out about your business or to announce sales and special events to your loyal customers. Just think of all the possibilities!

Thank You cards: Perhaps you just got married or had a baby, and you have a lot of thank you cards to send out. Or maybe you sell products on etsy and you’d like to send out a personal thank you card with each order. With custom greeting cards you could say thank you with your own special and uniquely designed thank you cards.

Holidays: Last year I noticed a lot of bloggers creating digitally designed Christmas cards with photos of their kids and family. Christmas is still a few months away, but it’s never too early to get those Christmas cards out of the way.

Announcements: Use custom greeting cards to announce an engagement or the birth of a child.

Invitations: You can go to Digitalroom.com and create your own custom wedding invitations. And businesses could create invitations for a special sale or a grand opening. Or perhaps you are holding some kind of meeting or seminar in your area. Mail or hand out custom greeting cards to promote your event. You could even mail out invitations to an online seminar or event.

Two Simply Sweet Home readers will win 250 5X7″ Greeting Cards. (Half-Fold; 10 pt Cover with matte or gloss Coating. Full Color Outside and Blank Inside. US residents only. Winner will just have to pay shipping costs.)

This Giveaway is now closed.

Additional Entries:

–One entry for following me publicly on blogger.

-One entry for joining my feedblitz mailing list, or 2 entries if you are already a member prior to this giveaway.

-One entry for subscribing in a reader.

-One entry for tweeting about this giveaway.

-One entry for becoming a fan of Simply Sweet Home on facebook.

–Two entries for writing about this giveaway on your blog and linking back to Simply Sweet Home.

Other Rules:

-Just leave comments for each additional entry, and please leave a user name/link or something so that I can verify.

-Don’t forget, if you don’t have a blog or a profile with a visible email address, please include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win. (Can’t stress this enough!)

-This giveaway is for US residents only. Winners are responsible for paying shipping costs.

-Jerri

Filed Under: Giveaways, Sponsors

Banana Bread

August 17, 2009 13 Comments

Since muffins and breads are the theme for the Sweet Thursday event I’m hosting this week, I decided to post my banana bread recipe so I’d have something to add to my round-up.

I just love banana bread and banana muffins for breakfast or as a snack. Usually I make banana muffins from a mix, because hubby doesn’t like banana flavored stuff, and I don’t like to spend a lot of time on something that’s just for me. But I’ve been wanting to make homemade banana bread for a while, so I searched around and finally picked out a recipe to try. And it actually didn’t take a lot of time to make. It was very good too!

Recipe for Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

I’m posting a link to this post on the following sites: Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace. Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven. Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Balancing Beauty & Bedlam. Ultimate Recipe is Swap is hosted by Life as Mom. Friday Feasts is hosted by Momtrends. Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by We Are THAT Family Hooked on Fridays is hosted by Hooked on Houses

Filed Under: breads and sides, desserts, Recipe of the Week Tagged With: banana

Whooga Ugg Boots Giveaway

August 14, 2009 2 Comments

Want to win a free pair of Ugg Boots? It’s easy! Just follow these 2 simple steps:

1. Visit Whooga Ugg Boots and fill out the entry form with your name, email, and your website URL.

2. Next place one of their badges on your blog, myspace page, or other website.

Every entrant will get a chance to win a free pair off Ugg Boots, and you’ll get a 15% discount!

Go check it out!

-Jerri

Filed Under: Freebie, Giveaways, Sponsors

Best of SSH: Back To College Edition

August 12, 2009 Leave a Comment

Last year I wrote a series of posts called “Back to College.” If you or your child is a current or future college student, please check out my posts. I have information on financial aid, deciding where to go to college, getting good deals on textbooks, dorm room supplies, and more!

The Importance of Planning – This post explains about early planning to finance your college tuition and to prepare yourself (or child) academically for college.

Deciding Where to Go to College – This tells you some basic things to look at when deciding where to go to college, and it tells you about different ways to do your own independent research on schools you’re interested in.

Guide to Fiancial Aid, Part 1 – Basic guide to getting financial aid.

Guide to Financial Aid, Part 2 -Shopping for student loans, Positives & Negatives to getting loans through your school, and My experiences with fiananical aid.

A “Major” Decision – About when & how you should choose your major. What factors should you take into account?

Dorm Room Supply List, Part 1 -School and office supplies, Furniture & other big items

Dorm Room Supply List, Part 2 – Household and every day items, Personal Touch/Decor Items, and personal entertainment items.

Textbook Dollars – Chart for a couple of years ago that explains where your textbook dollars go.

Textbook Q&A – Answers to some basic questions on buying textbooks

Beating the Bookstore – Tips & Strategies to help you saving money on textbooks (and all books for that matter.)

Beating the Bookstore Again – Information on bookstore refunds and buy backs, how to get the most money selling your books.

-Jerri

Filed Under: School/College

Blog Hoppin’ Tuesday: New Photos

August 11, 2009 13 Comments

For this week’s bloghop, we’re sharing some favorite recent photos. So I picked out a few funny pictures of my kitties to share with you, complete with my fun and cheesy commentary.

Anytime my husband goes out of town or even leaves the house, the cats seem very “interested” in what’s going on.

In these pictures Rebel is….um…rebelling! I’m not sure if he’s trying to keep “daddy” from leaving or if he wants to go too. You make the call!

Dixie was a little mad that Rebel got to the suitcase before her…after all, she is the queen and is supposed to have first choice of all items to sit on and play with. But she decided to put her personal feelings aside and focus on the task at hand: Keeping Daddy From Leaving.

While Rebel remained entrenched in the suitcase, Dixie successfully held and defended a pile of clean, just-folded shorts and underwear. “This oughta stop him!”

“If Daddy wants to leave, he has to go through us!”

But in the end, they could not stop the inevitable….Daddy had to leave!

So they retired to the office with me where they napped and snuggled together. Just before falling asleep they had a top secret discussion about future campaigns, including a “Welcome Home Ambush.”

….and they did a little grooming too, of course!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and story. Thanks for stopping by!

–Jerri

Filed Under: Blog Hoppin' Tuesday, Pets

Homestyle Pancakes

August 9, 2009 12 Comments

Usually I make the easy bisquick pancakes (just add milk & egg), but a while back I was trying a box of off-brand baking mix, and it had a recipe on the box which I decided to try. I apologize for my less-than-beautiful pictures. It’s still a good recipe!

Recipe for Homestyle Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups baking mix
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)

Directions: Stir all ingredients together until smooth. Cook on a hot griddle or frying pan on mid-high. Cook until bubbles form on the surface (about one minute). Then flip and cook the other side.

-Jerri

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I’m posting a link to this post on the following sites:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom.
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Balancing Beauty & Bedlam.
Ultimate Recipe is Swap is hosted by Life as Mom.
Friday Feasts is hosted by Momtrends.
Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by We Are THAT Family
Hooked on Fridays is hosted by Hooked on Houses

Filed Under: breads and sides, casseroles and quick meals, Recipe of the Week

My New Business Blog: Fortunato’s Hat

August 5, 2009 5 Comments

Just a little annoucement to let you know that I’m working on a new business blog. As some of you are aware, my husband was laid off from his job a few months ago, and he’s been looking for jobs and opportunities ever since. We recently got a call from the spouse of one of my husband’s former co-workers, and she told us about a fairly new and growing business that, unlike others, doesn’t have a ton of people doing it yet.

We looked at what it entailed and saw all the potential benefits to be gained from it, and we decided to give it a shot. In discussing our business plans, I talked about doing a little promotional stuff on Simply Sweet Home, but after giving it a little more thought, I decided it would be better for me to just start a whole new blog so that the business stuff doesn’t overwhelm Simply Sweet Home.

Here’s a little information on the new blog and its features: The new blog will basically chronicle our “work from home” journey and tell everyone what we’re working on. Additionally since it is a site that is designed to promote a business, it will include links to our store front, and it will have information about our business and how others can get into the business we’re doing.

I’ll also be including some articles and tips for mompreneurs, small business owners, and people who want to work from home. And to keep it a little more interesting and fun, I’ll sometimes have some product reviews and product highlights on the this site.

Please wish us luck and say a prayer for us as we start this new project. I’m not sure how well it will go yet, but I’m very optimistic. And if it goes even half as good as we hope, everyone one of you will want to join our team.

We’re just getting it started up this week, so we don’t have a lot of information to share yet, but there will be lots of updates very shortly. So stay tuned!

Oh, I almost forgot. Here’s a link to the new blog: http://fortunatoshat.blogspot.com/.

Also, if anyone is looking for a new business opportunity, you can send me an email at simplysweethome@hotmail.com or email my husband at mrivers2347@hotmail.com. Or you can leave a comment on this post, and we’ll give you some information. You can also head over to the new blog and fill out our form. Thanks!

-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements, Business

Purple Trail Review and Giveaway

August 5, 2009 1 Comment

Today I’m going to tell you about a great website where you can make custom ecards, invitations, and annoucements. It’s called Purple Trail. Whether you want to send birthday or shower invitations to your friends, an ecard to your honey, or announce an event that’s happening on your website to your mailing list, this is the site for you!

The site is very user friendly. If you can use the paint application on your computer, you can use this site. It also differs from other card sites you might have seen, because there are no advertisements on your cards and invites.

My favorite thing about the website is the customization available for cards. When you create your cards, you can choose from one of their awesome designs and simply add your message. Or you can add your own personal touch and flair to their design. And if you prefer, you can add your own clipart or personal photos for a complete personalized look. You can even add music and sound to your card!

Another thing I personally like about the site is that when you create a card or invite, you can choose whether you want your creation to be private or public. I like this because I tend to be a private person. However, when I was reviewing the site I decided to create an invitation for the Christmas Festival I’ll be hosting on my blog in December. (Yes, I’m aware that it’s August, but I wanted to experiment!) So when I created the invitation I chose to make it public, so now not only will I be able to send it to people on a mailing list, but it also has its own unique webpage for people to view. (What a great way to invite Twitter followers and people on other networks to the event!) You can go here if you want to check out the invitation I made.

You can go to Purple Trail today and sign up for a free account, and you’ll be making your own custom cards and invites in minutes. And once you’re a member, you can even upgrade your account to a Basic, Pro, or Premium account and take advantage of a whole bunch of extra features.

Today I’m giving away a Basic Plan worth $14.95 to one Simply Sweet Home reader. The Basic Plan includes animated themes, full export of your address book, scheduled send, payment collection module, a larger maximum number of invitations per month than the free plan, and more extras!

This Giveaway is Now Closed.

Additional Entries:

–One entry for following me publicly on blogger.

-One entry for joining my feedblitz mailing list, or 2 entries if you are already a member prior to this giveaway.

-One entry for subscribing in a reader.

-One entry for following or subscribing to my new business blog.

-One entry for following me on twitter.

-One entry for tweeting about this giveaway.

-One entry for becoming a fan of Simply Sweet Home on facebook.

-Two entries for writing about this giveaway on your blog and linking back to Simply Sweet Home.

(Just leave comments for each additional entry, and please leave a user name/link or something so that I can verify. Thanks!)

Other Rules:

-Jerri

Filed Under: Giveaways, party ideas, planning, Sponsors

With A Side of Cole Slaw

August 2, 2009 8 Comments

No summer barbecue is complete without a little slaw! If you search on the internet, you’ll find countless recipes for slaw. Here’s an easy one for you. Unlike a lot of other slaw recipes, this one only contains a few ingredients and seasonings.

And this recipe is very easy to play with. You can easily double or cut the recipe in half. You can change the amounts of mayo and vinegar to suit your tastes, or you can add additiona veggies or seasonings. It’s up to you!

Add this to a sandwich, use it as a side item, or even use it as the base for salad. Enjoy!

Recipe for Slaw:
1 ½ lb green cabbage, shredded
2/3 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoon cider or malt vinegar
2 medium carrot grated (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper (or more to season – optional)

Directions: In a large mixing bowl, toss the cabbage with the vinegar and salt. Grate the carrots and add to the mixture. Add the mayonnaise and toss well. Season with pepper if you desire.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Then toss just before serving. (Or if you’re in a hurry, you can skip the refrigerating and serve immediately, but refrigerating for 30 minutes is recommended.) If you want the slaw to be less crunchy, you can let it set in the refrigerator overnight.)

-Jerri

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Filed Under: breads and sides, Recipe of the Week

Spotlight on Simply Sweet Home

July 31, 2009 4 Comments

Tara at Feels Like Home and Adrienne at Adrienne’s House are hosting a great event where they are helping fellow bloggers to get connected with PR professionals. In January I received my first advertising offer, and since then I’ve had the chance to work with a few companies on sponsorships and product review/giveaway opportunities. It’s been very fun and exciting for me, and I would love to get more opportunities like these in the future to grow my network and build relationships. For this event, I have to write post introducing myself and my blog to the PR professionals.

About Me
My name is Jerri. I’ve been married for two and a half years to my college sweetheart and best friend Mark. We don’t have any children yet, but we hope to start a family in the next year or so. In the meantime, we have two kitty cats that we adore. (Our parents jokingly refer to them as the “grandcats.”)

My husband was recently laid off from his job, so we’re in the process of starting a new business, which I hope to share with everyone as soon we get started. And I’m also getting ready to open a small handmade jewelry shop on Etsy in the coming weeks.

Why I Started Simply Sweet Home
I started Simply Sweet Home nearly two years ago, because I thought it would be a good creative outlet. I enjoyed reading other people’s blogs, and I thought it would be fun to be a part of the blogging community and be able to share ideas and give advice and tips to women just like myself. And I hoped that it could open the door to other opportunities.

About Simply Sweet Home
When I got married I fell in love with all the aspects of being a wife, and I wanted to create a blog that would encompass any and all topics related to home and family. Since this blog was started, I’ve always posted a Recipe of the Week, and this year I began posting it on several weekly carnivals. I also host a special feature called Sweet Thursday, which is a monthly dessert carnival where people can submit a dessert that goes along with the month’s theme. These two features seem to be the most popular among the readers and have helped me to increase my readership. Because of this fact, my blog would be great for promoting food products and kitchen items.

Other topics that people enjoy and find helpful are my posts on organizing, party planning, seasonal/holiday posts, and home decor. I love highlighting new organizing products and sharing ideas and products for seasonal decorating and parties.

Also, every few months I try to do special features and events on my blog. For example, last year I had a Christmas Festival for the entire month of December, which I plan to do again this year. I’ve also written a series of articles called “Back to College” for potential college students and parents of college students. And I recently did a series of Bridal Shower Posts.

And because I’ve worked in a small business before and am in the process of starting a new home-based business with my husband, I would like to start writing some posts, advising work at home moms. With this in mind, I would love an opportunity to review office products and any products and services that are designed to help small business owners, bloggers, and people trying to make money from home.

Contacting Me
If you’re a PR Professional, thank you for visiting and considering my blog. If you would like to work with me, please send an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com.

-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements, product review, Sponsors

Archives for 2009

Greeting Cards Giveaway from DigitalRoom.com

Banana Bread

Whooga Ugg Boots Giveaway

Best of SSH: Back To College Edition

Blog Hoppin’ Tuesday: New Photos

Homestyle Pancakes

My New Business Blog: Fortunato’s Hat

Purple Trail Review and Giveaway

With A Side of Cole Slaw

Spotlight on Simply Sweet Home

Welcome

My Shop

Pin with Me

Archives

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Archives for 2009

Welcome

Subscribe to Simply Sweet Home

My Shop

Pin with Me

Archives

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