Amber, Author at Rays of Bliss

Baby Shower DIY Ideas

For my younger sister’s baby shower I did some DIY projects that came out super cute.

First I made a really simple diaper cake. This was my first one and I used the role and tie with string method. I decorated it simple with pink ribbons and a cute bear on top.

Next, I made baby jane shoes from printed on patterned card stock paper. I glued a button on each shoe too. This was a bit time consuming, but they came out so cute I didn’t care. We put mints in them. When the baby shower was over I I gave them to my younger cousins who wanted them to take home for their dolls!

Here’s the template I used.

Baby Jane Shoe Template

I also made candy wrappers by designing a label on Avery mailing labels. They fit perfect around Hershey nuggets candy.

Here’s the cake we had made by my sister’s friend who makes cakes for a living. The cake came out beautiful and tasted great too!

We put the cupcakes on my cupcake stand. I use this stand at every party. Love it!

I don’t know how your family throws baby showers, but mine always provides lots of food and a nice spread! We went all out for my sister. We had nachos, sausage balls, 3 kinds of sandwiches, veggie and fruit trays!

I love decorating for baby showers! Can’t wait to decorate my other younger sister’s party in July, and then my sister in-law’s later this year! Lucky Me!

Quick Organic Taco Meal- Garden of Eatin Taco Dinner Kit

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This is my go to quick meal for my family, and of course Gluten Free. I actually have a stock pile of these kits in my pantry. I bought it in bulk on Amazon to a get a better price, but it retails about 4.99 at my grocery store Kroger (find it in the organic section). I definitely recommend this product for a quick organic dinner meal.

I really love this product. It first caught my eye in the store because of the Made with Organic stamp and the No Genetically Engineered Ingredients.

After reading the ingredients label I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients: Taco Shells: organic stoneground yellow corn masa flour, expeller pressed canola oil and/or safflower oil and/or sunflower oil.

Taco Sauce: organic tomatoes, organic green chili, water, jalapeño, lime juice ,garlic powder, salt.

Taco Seasoning: organic rice flour, sea salt, spices, organic evaporated cane juice, organic onion powder, paprika, organic garlic powder, dehydrated onion, citric acid, organic sunflower oil, extractive of paprika, yeast extract, silicon dioxide (as anticaking).

Super easy to prepare and taste great! The taco seasoning has a really good taste, and is the best seasoning I have tried. The taco shells are equally great; very good flavor and crisp. You can feel good about serving it to your family because of the natural and organic ingredients too!

My whole family loves this easy to make meal. My husband and son’s give it 10!

DIY Elmo Party with Free Printables

Blog, DIY, Kids Printables, Party Ideas, Party Printables, Printables

For my son’s 2nd Birthday we had a Super Cute Elmo Themed Party. I made most of the Decorations myself.

Here’s what I used:

I used a free printable Elmo kit from Sherry K Designs.

Click Here to go to Sherry K Designs.

I also purchased a personalized Elmo Kit from Etsy. The kit I used is no longer available but here is a similar one.

Click Here to Go to Etsy.

I made a custom Sesame Street Signs on my computer and stringed them together. It turned out really cute!

To make a sign like mine use the Free Printables below. Save the file and open it in an editing program. PicMonkey is a great option, it’s a free online editing program and is really easy to use! Just open blank sign file and add your text to the sign. Use Tahoma or Arial font all caps in white.

Click on Links Below:

pdf file Blank Sesame Sign

jpg file Blank Sesame Sign

pdf file Happy Birthday Sesame Sign

jpg file Happy Birthday Sesame Sign

I used Elmo merchandise we already owned to decorate the house.

I had my son dressed in a cute personalized Elmo shirt for the party from Etsy.

Click here to Go to Etsy Shop for Elmo Shirt.

I designed a simple cake and had a cake maker friend make it for me. For th top of the make I purchased an Elmo candle from amazon.

An Elmo pinata was made by myself from a cardboard gift box, tissue and printed an enlarged Elmo face for eyes, nose, and mouth.

It wasn’t the best for breaking purposes but it was super cute and it made for a fun mask afterwards!

If you like this printable you may also want to check out my other FREE PRINTABLES.

All printables and downloads designed by rays of bliss are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Please do not alter or claim as your own. This file is not intended for resale, nor are the printed versions of this file. Feel free to link back to www.raysofbliss.com if you like our printables.

How to Shop for Organic Products

Blog, Reviews

Grocery shopping for truly organic & natural products can be difficult. Company’s try to disguise products as better for you by marketing items as “dermatologist-tested,” “gentle” and “natural”, but these products may be no better. The only way to really know for sure if a product is truly organic is by reading the ingredients, but there are tricks to help scan the aisles for your green merchandise. There are particular things I look for and certain things I avoid when shopping, and now I can spot Green products like it’s my sixth sense!

Helpful Green Shopping Guide

Keywords to Look For

•USDA Certified Organic

•NON GMO

•Paraben Free

•Fragrance Free

•100% toxic Fre

•Certified Vegan

•Cruelty Free

What to Avoid

•Misleading and incomplete labeling of ingredients

•Claims like “dermatologist-tested,” “gentle” and “natural”

•Product has label warnings

*Good rule I use is the fewer ingredients the better, and I can read and am familiar with the ingredients listed.

Look up your products’ safety ratings:

Cosmetics and personal care products: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Household cleaners: http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners

Tips for safer products: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/top-tips-for-safer-products/

Please share your tips for shopping for Organic & Natural Products.

Why Choose Organic Personal Care Products?

Blog, Reviews

I never gave much thought of how natural or organic my families personal care products were. That changed after my husband found out he had Celiac, a gluten intolerance. When you have Celiac you have to pay attention to all products with gluten, not just your food.

To ensure no gluten I had to thoroughly read all ingredients on everything I bought. This made me realize how many chemicals my family was being exposed to just from the products we used daily . I did some research after coming to this realization, and discovered how bad some of these chemicals were for us. I decided then to do my best at converting my family to natural and organic products.

Anyone wanting to live more organic definitely needs to give their a personal care items a “green makeover.”

A good point to remember is, what you put on your body, ends up in your body. Certified organic products are made with ingredients that are free of harmful chemicals. By using organic hair products and organic skin products you can reduce the amount of harmful toxins that our bodies are exposed to through our scalp, hair and skin.

The only issue from using organic products is they do cost more, sometimes a lot more. I purchase most products from Amazon, but some are available in my local grocery store, usually in the Natural/Organic Section. Also, I use the Honest Company monthly family essentials bundle to save up to 35% on their products.

Here are the products we use:

Deodorant:

Me – Crystal – Crystal Body Deodorant Stick
Husband – Jason Natural Cosmetics – Organic Long Lasting Tea Tree Deodorant Stick

Toothpaste:
Me – Kiss My Face – Aloe Vera Gel Whitening Toothpaste
Husband – Tom’s of Maine – Antiplaque and Whitening Fluoride-free Toothpaste, Peppermint

Body Wash and Shampoo:
Honest Company – Shampoo + Body Wash

Lotion:
Honest Company – Face & Body Lotion

Hand soap:
Honest Company – Hand Soap

Baby and Kids Body Wash and Shampoo:
Nature’s Baby Organics – Shampoo & Body Wash (Lavender/Chamomile)
Earth Mama Angel Baby – Shampoo & Body Wash Angel Baby

Baby & Kids Lotion:
Nature’s Baby Organics – Organic Face and Body Moisturizer
Earth Mama Angel Baby – Angel Baby Lotion

Check out my easy tips for shopping for Organic Products: Here

What’s your favorite Organic Personal Care Products?

Cloth Diapers Laundry

Blog, Reviews

Important laundry & detergent guidelines:

*You must wash ALL diapers & covers prior to first use 3-5 times: This must be done so your diapers can be at their full absorbency. Washing will remove the natural oils and waxes that will hinder your diapers absorbency. I recommend you wash 5 times with hot water and use a small amount of detergent.

*ONLY use cloth diaper safe detergents. Detergent can affect many aspects of your diapers: absorbency, odor, and how long your diapers will last.

Here is a Cloth Diaper Safe Detergents Chart: http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

*Wash cloth diapers regularly. I suggest every 2-3 days. This will keep stains from setting in and will discourage mold growth.

*Wool products hand washed every 2-3 weeks.

*No fabric softeners, no optical whiteners or brighteners, & no enzymes.

*Never use chlorine bleach on cloth diapers.

My Laundry routine:

Step 1– No detergent cold rinse & spin cycle

Step 2-Hot water wash on highest setting with a cloth diaper safe laundry detergent

Step 3-1 or 2 Extra rinse cycles to ensure no soap residue

Step 4-Separate out diaper shells/covers to air dry. Everything else dry on a medium setting with 6 dryer balls and two large towels to help reduce static and dry quicker.

*Stained diapers I line dry outside for sun to naturally bleach. For really bad stains I spray a little lemon juice and then line dry. I use a portable clothes rack because I don’t have enough room for a traditional clothes line. The Household Essentials 3-Arm Portable Umbrella-Style Clothes Dryer works great for me and was not too expensive.

Helpful Websites and Resources:

Cloth Diaper Safe Detergents: http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

Washing Cloth Diapers Information: http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html#washing

Amber

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