Easy Living Guide to Smart Online Holiday Shopping – Tips for Saving Money and Time

easylivingfavorites Buying Guides, Christmas, Great Gifts, Halloween, Holidays, Seasonal 2 Comments

smart online holiday shopping tipsThe holidays are approaching and if you’re anything like me, you’re already doing some browsing online, so I’m sharing some smart online holiday shopping tips to help you save money, time, and your sanity during Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, and beyond.

Shopping in stores is a complete drain on most consumers. During the Halloween season, you dread going to the stores that sell costumes because it’s like a mad house. I know I do! The closer Halloween gets, the longer the wait to try on costumes.

It’s no fun.

It’s no different on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or during the Christmas rush. Chaos ensues – especially when anything in the store is limited in quantity, and you wind up going all over town trying to find an item – sometimes encountering rude shoppers and surly clerks.

Why put yourself through that? Read more

Best EASY Outdoor Decorations for a Spook-tastic Halloween

easylivingfavorites Halloween, Holidays, Home Decor, Seasonal 2 Comments

Best Outdoor Decorations for HalloweenYou’re ready to decorate your home and want the best outdoor decorations for Halloween. I feel you there! I love creating a spooky landscape for me, my family, my friends, and trick-or-treaters.

My Hunny is also a fan of decorating the outside of our home, but he leans more toward the scary whereas I lean toward the spooky and fun (and I guess scary is fun – sometimes for me and definitely for him and some of our visitors!)

Halloween often marks the beginning of the proceeding fall season, and many people use this as an opportunity to begin decorating for fall.

The following decorating tips provide family-friendly Halloween decorations that aren’t too scary, but are great for this season – perfect for how I like to spook up the place. Read more

Funny Halloween T-Shirts for Women

easylivingfavorites Autumn, Buying Guides, Fashion, Great Gifts, Halloween, Holidays, Seasonal 0 Comment

Funny Halloween T-Shirts for WomenYes, I’m already thinking about the holidays (you know you are, too!) and I thought I’d share these funny Halloween T-shirts for women. These are something I create myself!

Creating these allows me to express myself creatively and I get to share my love of tees with customers. Oh, how I love a good t-shirt.

Below, I’m sharing five of my favorite Halloween quote t-shirts for women. Sure, I’m a little partial because I make them, but I do think they’re funny and I do think you’ll like them!

Especially if, like me, you feel most comfortable in a soft tee and jeans.

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8 Best Kids Lunch Boxes with Compartments and Meal Ideas for Back to School | Bentos and More for 2017-2018!

easylivingfavorites Back to School, Buying Guides, Great Gifts, Sports & Outdoor, Year-Round 0 Comment

8 Best Kids Bento Lunch Boxes with Compartments and Meal Ideas for Back to SchoolEven though it’s still summer, I know I’m already thinking about back-to-school and I thought it would be fun to share my 8 best kids lunch boxes with compartments – also known as Bento boxes. These make for great school lunches and adults love them, too.

What I particularly like is that you can create hundreds of combinations beyond sandwiches and chips.

In fact, packing these lunches has practically become an art form!

There are even accessories to make endless varieties of lunches that don’t include peanut butter and jelly sammies (but of course there are even more ways to pack your favorite sandwiches!) Read more

Must-Have! Makeup Table with Drawers for Easy Beauty

easylivingfavorites Bathroom, Bedroom, Buying Guides 1 Comment

Must-Have! Makeup Table with Drawers for Easy BeautyA makeup table with drawers – and possibly a mirror and lights – is a must-have for easy beauty.

If you’re anything like me, you like to make a nice appearance but you don’t have time to search for everything you need (cosmetics, hair styling tools, even jewelry…you need it all in one place) and you need a place to get ready, often in record time.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror is fine but hardly comfortable – especially when you have to share with family members who need to shower and get ready, too!

The solution?

A desk and vanity combo with tabletop, storage options, and even a lighted mirror if you don’t have access to natural light.

The right one can even double as a student desk, which is great for the college student’s dorm! Read more

Easy Cooking Ideas for Camping

easylivingfavorites Seasonal, Sports & Outdoor, Summer 2 Comments

Easy Cooking Ideas for CampingIf I’m going to be living outdoors for a few days, I want easy cooking ideas for camping. I certainly don’t want to be spending too much time prepping food and the quicker I can cook up something for me and the fam, the better!

I also really want to enjoy every part of the process, from the food prep to sitting with my family and chowing down, to enjoying an after-dinner treat.

If you are brand new to cooking while camping, it can be intimidating. It seems like there is so much you need; from cookware and utensils to various tools and supplies just to make basic foods.

Here, I’m talking to beginners. This is meant to give you some basic things to start with, from lists of items to bring with you to easy and delicious starter meals. This is a great starting off point for your campsite cooking adventure!

Campfire Cooking Equipment and Supplies

Before learning about the different foods and snacks you can prepare for your family during the camping trip, it helps to learn about some essential campfire cooking equipment and supplies you’ll need.

Don’t feel pressured to purchase all of this gear since, as you will soon learn, some foods need nothing more than some aluminum foil or a skewer stick. However, it is a good idea to build up your stock, slowly and gradually adding these items to your camp cooking set. Read more

Almost Perfect Beach Hacks for an Easy and Enjoyable Day with the Kids

easylivingfavorites Buying Guides, Seasonal, Summer 0 Comment

Beach Day Hacks - Just Leave Your FootprintsI’m all about beach day hacks and when I saw some of these almost perfect ones, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Some I already do when I go for the day. (Boogie board sled, anyone?)

See, if you’ve ever been to the beach, it’s not all coconut scents and sparkly water (though, there’s a lot of that!)

There’s sand. And hot sun. And little shade.

When you have little ones – or…even not-so-little ones – that can make for a long day that leaves everyone sunburned and cranky (but with great memories…especially if you remember to bring your camera!) Read more

Portable Hammock with Stand – Fair Weather Relaxin’

easylivingfavorites Patio and Garden, Spring, Summer 0 Comment

portable hammock with standThe weather was so nice today that I started thinking about picking up a portable hammock with stand for enjoying some quiet time in my yard. A yard that doesn’t make it easy for me to hang up a hammock between two secure places.

No trees. No poles. No wooden beams. Nothing.

And today in sunny southern California, the sun is out, the weather is cool, the sky is a bright blue…and I’d love nothing more than to chill out in my yard with my cockapoo and take a nap.

Evenings are still pretty cool but it would be so easy to curl up in one of these with a blanket and a book – maybe even my current crochet project – and just relax.

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Choosing the Best Flip Flops for Plantar Fasciitis

easylivingfavorites Buying Guides, Fashion, Great Gifts 2 Comments

Best Flip Flops for Plantar FasciitisI started thinking about choosing the best flip flops for plantar fasciitis when I started experiencing heel pain several years ago. When I mentioned this to my sister, she told me what her experience was like (she had plantar fasciitis, too) and that the right shoes, exercises, and stretches really helped.

So much so, that she has never needed surgery.

So I’ve been doing some easy stretches and am very aware of what shoes and sandals exacerbate the pain and which ones seem to do well for me. I’m loving these flip flops right now – I feel like I’m walking on a squishy cloud!

Flip flops – the right ones, anyway – are my choice for (almost) daily footwear because they allow for a full range of movement. I’m not talking about the $2 kind you can buy from Old Navy. I’m talking about supportive, cushiony (it’s a word!), perfect-fitting sandals that – if I needed to – I could wear all day at Disneyland. Read more

Light Up Marquee Letters – A Festive Way to Brighten a Room

easylivingfavorites Bedroom, Home Decor, Kitchen, Living Room 2 Comments

individual light up marquee lettersLight up marquee letters are on trend right now. People are loving them for home decor and events.

They’ve even been featured on the small screen – I’ve spotted them on a couple of television shows and I love how they’re being used!

They are particularly popular as rustic wedding decor (and I love that because I’d like my upcoming wedding to have a rustic, shabby chic theme!)

What I love most about marquee letters and numbers is that they not only add beautiful light to a space, they also are incredibly versatile.

You can gather up enough letters to spell out your last name (though, I don’t know how this would work out for long names…I guess you would need enough wall space!)

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