Cool Westcott Products For the Holidays

December 17, 2012 By Amberlee 1 Comment

Wrapping presents during the Holidays can be a real pain. Luckily we can find products to help us make wrapping presents more easily, and Westcott has some great products that you should know about. I was able to receive three great products from Shoplet.com to review for you: Westcott Titanium Bonded 8″ Non-Stick Straight Scissors, Westcott Kids Scissors With Microban Protection, and a Westcott Scissor Mouse.

The first thing I am going to talk about is the Westcott Titanium Bonded 8″ Non-Stick Straight Scissors. I just love how sturdy the name makes these scissors sound. What’s great is that they look even better! I love that the blades are more of a sparkly silver color than the traditional stainless steel color. The handles are more comfortable than any other scissors I have used which made them very easy to use.

This is the description from Shoplet.com:

“The very latest technology from Westcott combines titanium with a unique non-stick coating that is permanently bonded to the blades, delivering improved cutting performance. Blades are five times harder than stainless steel, stay sharper longer and are resistant to adhesives such as glue, adhesive tape and Velcro. For left or right hand use. Cut Length: 3 1/4″ Scissor Length: 8″ Tip Type: Pointed.”

I love that they are coated and resistant to glues and tapes. I know that this is not office or really Holiday related, but I like to use tape to decorate my nails and I always get the tape stuck to the scissors and it is extremely difficult to get it off. These scissors are great for craft projects because you don’t have to worry about things getting stuck to them.

Next up is the Westcott Kids Scissors With Microban Protection. I remember using kids scissors when I was a kid, and I always hated how they wouldn’t actually cut what I wanted them to cut. These scissors actually work great, and have the protected edges. So you get the best of both worlds. My daughter loved that she had her own scissors and immediately starting cutting the wrapping paper. She was so excited that she could help me wrap some presents. Here is the description of the kids scissors from Shoplet.com:

“Stainless steel safety blades. Perfect for cutting projects, in the classroom or at home. Handles infused with Microban antimicrobial product protection to inhibit the growth of bacterial odors. Cut Length: 2″ Scissor Length: 5″ Tip Type: Blunt.”

What I think is extra special about these scissors is that they have the Microban Protection Coating. I know that my girls will be protected from germs with these scissors, and I know that they will be easy to clean when they are done with them.

Last but not least is the Westcott Scissor Mouse. It looks like a computer mouse, but it has a blade on the bottom so you can use it to safely cut your wrapping paper or craft paper. I really like that the blade is hidden so that you won’t cut yourself or anything else but the paper that you are trying to cut. So not only is it great for adults, but it is great for kids of all ages too! Here is the description from Shoplet.com

“This revolutionary device acts like rolling scissors and its ergonomic design won’t harm surfaces. The scissor mouse cuts with a smooth paper slicing action which makes gift wrapping a breeze! It’s great for cutting paper, coupons and craft projects on flat surfaces with speed and precision safely. Cuts straight lines or long waves. Blade is not exposed making it safe for adults and kids to use on any surface.”

One thing I did not like about the Scissor Mouse was that it needs to be used on a flat surface like a table. I have ALWAYS wrapped my presents on the floor and the Mouse does not like carpet. When I used it on the table it worked great, so for future crafts with the girls, or anything else that I may be doing on the table this would be great! As long as you are using it on a table it works great, and is pretty simple to use. I think that they should have designed it a little differently by having it be two pieces joined together by the blade so that you can slide the paper in between the two pieces to cut it. That way you could use it on any surface. Either way, this little guy will be something I can give the girls and not have to worry about them getting cut, or hurting any of mommies things.

Overall I thought that these products were great, and that they would be a wonderful addition to any home. I am glad that I got these in time for the holiday season and they have already helped me wrap many presents, and I’m sure they will wrap many more in their time. You can find these and other great products on Shoplet.com

**Disclaimer** I was in no way paid, or obligated to give a positive review, or a review at all for this company. If you would like to read my full disclaimer for reviews you can find it here

Filed Under: home, kids, office, shoplet.com

Huge Giveaway!!!

December 16, 2012 By Amberlee Leave a Comment

Star Focal is happy to be included in this giveaway, and I hope one of you wins! As always be sure to let us know if you do!
This is a giveaway like no other! You will not believe the PRIZES we have for you!! We’re giving away multiple prizes including Gift Cards, KitchenAid Mixer, Keurig Mini, a Dyson, and a believe it or not…a 3 month paid internship! This is a full 3 week event with prizes all throughout! Make sure to keep coming back to not only do daily entries but to check the winners list!

About our Sponsor

What’s the Roo found for you? ™ Blue Kangaroo is a personal search engine for deals. Tell it what brands and products you’re looking for, and the Roo will start scouring the deal universe for the best offers to match. Through Web and mobile applications, Blue Kangaroo’s mission in life is to make sure you always get the right offer at the right time. “The Roo” is already monitoring deals from most major brands, flash sales, daily deals, loyalty programs, and even lots of local offers, too. It displays offers in a colorful format that’s fun to browse, kind of like Pinterest. With the Roo, you can… Explore the deal universe Follow offers from any brand or product you like De-clutter your inbox. Convert all of the marketing emails you’re currently getting in your Yahoo or Gmail personal inbox into just one crisp email every morning, letting you preview all of them quickly at a glance – a big time saver. (Note: this marketing-inbox service is strictly optional for contest entrants.) Helping others this holiday . The Roo is new startup designed by a small community of deal-lovers, many of them formerly from Yahoo. They have a strong commitment to helping others. During December, for example, Blue Kangaroo’s commission from all purchases by new members who elect to do so will be 100% donated to their choice of charity, including American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, and the United Way. A great time to get acquainted with Blue Kangaroo! To participate in the contest activities by Madame Deals, ALWAYS link to Blue Kangaroo through this special tracking url: http://chzn.me/rc5 Otherwise, your activities may not be credited properly toward the contests. You can find Blue Kangaroo on their Website, Facebook and Twitter.

Prizes and Winner’s List

(Prizes shown in images are just a representation and may not be exact prizes awarded. We will update the winner’s list as they are drawn from the Rafflecopter so make sure you keep checking back and checking your emails for notification).

Gift CardsDec. 17 $10 – Dec. 19 $15 – Dec. 21 $20 – Dec. 23 $25 – Dec. 27 $30 – Dec. 30
Keurig – (Keurig B31 Mini Brewer or $100 in Amazon credit) Jan. 3
KitchenAid – (KitchenAid KSM75WH Classic Plus Tilt-Head 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer or $270 Amazon Credit) Drawn on Jan. 6
Dyson – (Dyson DC24 Multi-Floor Compact Upright Vacuum Cleaner or $400 Amazon Credit) Internship(You can choose whether or not you’d like to compete for the Internship. Each week the Top Deal Finder will be listed based on effort put forth. Final 3 candidates will be interviewed and one will be chosen for the paid Internship at $200/mo for a 3 month term. Prize can not be exchanged for cash value. If forfeited, Internship will go to next candidate if qualified). Week 1 Top Deal Finder – Week 2 Top Deal Finder – Week 3 Top Deal Finder -
Final ResultsPaid Internship Spot – ($200/mo salary (paid in hourly wage) for 3 mo.) 1st Runner Up – (1 hour consult with Madame Deals) 2nd Runner Up – (1/2 hour consult with Madame Deals)

How To Enter

You will enter via the Rafflecopter below and will be able to come back and do daily entries. Entries will be as follows:
1. Register and “Get Started” with Blue Kangaroo. (see here if you need help and for “ how to “)
2. Create a Board on Blue Kangaroo and add 3 Deals to your board.
3. Share your board to Facebook, Twitter or Email (must share to anyone other than yourself)
4. New Daily Deal – you can earn additional entries for adding new deals to your board daily
5. Internship – Sign me up! I’d like to compete for the job! (Find out more about the Internship from Madame Deals. If you’d like to compete for this 3 month job, you’ll be doing all of the above and then instead of adding 3 deals to your board, you’ll add 8 deals. We’re looking for the Top Deal Finder. Someone who has great social media interaction, who shares their board and deals on their social media, who finds the best deals, etc. It will be a little bit based on chance when we draw from the list of participants but then we’ll be looking over your boards so it will also be based on your skill of deal finding. You can watch Blue Kangaroo’s Twitter feed and Facebook status’s for helpful deal finding tips too! And may the best deal finder win!!) Contest will start at 12/16/12 12:00 am EST and end on 1/5/13 at 11:59 pm EST. Enter via the Rafflecopter Below. Good Luck!! a Rafflecopter giveaway Blogs are not responsible for prize fulfillment. Sponsor will be sending the prizes. Winning entrant will be emailed and be given 48 hours to respond before another reader is chosen. Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Complete giveaway terms and conditions.

Filed Under: shared giveaway

Kidtronic My-Word-Magnets Review and Discount Code

December 12, 2012 By Amberlee Leave a Comment

I love my two year old! But what I do not love is that she loves the magnets on our fridge, and loves to destroy them! So I went on a search to find magnets that were not only fun for her, but would help her learn. What I found is a really awesome magnet set from My-Word-Magnets.

I received their Magnet Super Bundle to review for you guys. The great part about their bundles is that you can personalize the kit by choosing your own words to add to the already huge selection of included words. I was able to get magnets for all my daughters favorite people and things, as well as one for Star Focal of course!

The kit I received had the option to add 15 words of my choosing. I thought that it would be no problem choosing that many words, but I was wrong. After sitting in front of the computer for what seemed like hours I noticed a little wizard on the page named Wendell. Wendell was a life saver! Wendell will ask you questions to help you come up with ideas of words to add to your list. After finding Wendell it took only a couple of minutes to add the last of my words, and I was ready to receive my kit!

I love that this bundle comes with so many magnets! My daughter can play with these for hours and never get bored. Some of the magnets are even color coded and have different colors for nouns, verbs and more. The set also comes with number and symbols so they have everything they need to create their own sentences, or even solve math problems!

The magnets come in sheets, and you get to take them apart. For some kids this could just add to the fun, or for some parents it could just mean more work to do. I just wish that I had looked at all the words carefully before shoving them in the box, but with an excited two year old begging to play I couldn’t really wait. One word that I wish it had was “love.” I’m not sure if it was just missing out of my kit for some reason or if it doesn’t come in any of the kits, but if you plan to order one make sure to add it to your list of words!

The Super Bundle also comes with their Super Safety Board, which is great because my girls don’t have to use our fridge to play with the magnets. I was very surprised about how sturdy the board was and how easy it is to play with. My girls can now play with their magnets and mommy can have her fridge space back!

My girls really loved to play with this set. Sure they can’t quite come up with their own sentences, but they still had a lot of fun. My two year old was even able to recognize some of the words, which was really awesome! You can get your own set this month (December) at 20% off with the following code: “STARXMAS12″ Just enter it in where it says Discount Code at checkout to get your discount! You can find their website here.

Happy Holidays!

**Disclaimer** Star Focal was in no way paid, or obligated to give a positive review, or a review at all for this company. If you would like to read our full disclaimer for reviews you can find it here .

Filed Under: fun, kids, toys

Stanley Steemer Review and Giveaway! Closed

December 11, 2012 By Amberlee 18 Comments

So the holidays are quickly approaching, which means so are the parties! We all love having family over, or at least some of our family but we hate having a messy house! One of the biggest problems we all face is keeping our carpets clean. Not all of us are lucky enough to have hard wood floors! So for those of us that are stuck with nasty carpets, we have to get them cleaned. Today I am going to review an awesome company called Stanley Steemer. If you have not heard of them before they will come to your house and clean your carpets for a very reasonable price!

Okay, so why would you pay someone else to come and clean your carpets when you can just do it yourself? By the time you rent a steam cleaner (unless you are one of the lucky few that own one), and buy the special cleaner you have already spent a decent amount of money. Not only that but then you have to move the furniture, and you have to clean your carpets yourself. Trust me on this one, steam cleaning your carpets is not a fun task. Unless you are a professional it takes a lot of time and energy to clean your carpets properly, and if the stains are bad enough chances are that you won’t get everything out.

Stanley Steemer came to my house to help us prepare for the holidays, and I could not be happier with my experience! I live in a very old house, with some very old carpets. No matter what we do we cannot seem to keep them clean. This is what some of the worst stains on the carpets in my house looked like before Stanley Steemer:

This stain has been here since we moved in, but has progressively gotten worse even though we hardly use the room.

These are some stains that were in front of the door in that same room.

As you can tell our floors were in desperate need of some help! When I called to make the appointment the lady on the other end was a complete sweetheart and was able to answer all my questions about their pricing, and appointment options and did not seem like someone just trying to make it through the rest of the day. I was able to make an appointment for only a couple days after I called. I was very excited about how quickly you could make an appointment. I now know that if anything happens to my carpets I can depend on them to come to my rescue when I need them too!

Cleaning day finally arrived, and Stanley Steemer was scheduled to arrive between 9am and 12pm. I was glad there was only a couple hours in between this time slot, and they informed me on the phone that they would call me when they were on their way. They called me about 20 minutes before knocking on my door, which gave me enough time to get my two girls ready to go to their Mima and Papa’s house. I was able to talk to them before leaving about what I wanted done, and whether or not they were going to use my husband for slave labor while I was away. We ended up getting our living room, one of our bedrooms, and even our area rug cleaned. They also let us know about getting our floors protected with their Teflon solution that protects substances from penetrating the top fiber layers of the carpet. We decided not to do this, but if it is anything like their cleaning services I am sure it is an amazing product! I was very surprised at how much these guys knew about their products, and what they do! They were able to explain to my husband not only how they cleaned the carpets, but also what might have caused the stains and why they had gotten worse.

I was very surprised at how quickly they had cleaned the carpets. In less than an hour my husband had called to let me know to bring the girls home and that the carpets were finished. When I came home my husband let me know that they had moved the furniture for us, and really had gotten a lot done in the amount of time I had been gone. As soon as I walked in the door I noticed a major difference. The whole house just seemed brighter! Here are some pictures of what I came home to:

This is where the huge stain was.

This is in front of the door where all the little stains were.

Here is a picture of how our living room turned out:

I can honestly say that I have never seen our carpets look so nice! Now I cannot wait to have company over, and I am not afraid of them seeing my carpets!

Another great thing about Stanley Steemer is that they have products to help you keep your carpets clean in between visits. So you can have clean carpets all the time! I was also able to receive their spot treatment, which is a great way to clean stains before they stick. Since we have two little girls and a dog, we have already had to use it multiple times and luckily it is very easy to use!

If you are looking to get your carpets cleaned for the holidays I highly suggest calling Stanley Steemer. I was very impressed with Ruben C. and Jason S. from our local branch in Rancho Cordova and will be asking for them the next time we need our carpets cleaned!

Want to try out their awesome services? Thanks to the lovely people at Stanley Steemer we are giving away one $100 Gift Certificate along with two bottles of their Spot Treatment to one lucky winner! Make sure to complete all of the entries! Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Disclaimer** The Stanley Steemer gift certificate, information, and two gift packs have been provided by Stanley Steemer. If you would like to read my full disclaimer for reviews you can find it here.

Filed Under: Giveaway, home

Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur Review

December 2, 2012 By Amberlee 5 Comments

I love being able to come home and unwind after a long day. I am definitely not a big drinker, but I do like to have a drink every now and again. My favorite drinks are ones that are more sweet than anything else, such as drinks that remind me of deserts. That is why I have fallen in love with this next product.

If you often venture into the liqueur section at the store then you have probably seen Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur. The bottle is something you just simple can’t ignore. It has a very unique shape, and design. When I first got my bottle I kept trying to figure out why it had a rope tied on it. When I went to their website I found out that it was there because the bottle is made to look like a friar robe and rope, like what monks wear! I thought that it was pretty cool that they designed the bottle to remind us of where hazelnut liqueur came from. It just makes this bottle that much more special!

Not only is the bottle pretty, but the liqueur itself is a very pretty amber-caramel color that is almost golden. I like it because its not as dark as most other liqueurs. I like that I could tell right away that it was going to be smooth. I love that you can tell that it is made from hazelnuts just by the aroma, but you can also smell cinnamon, vanilla, and cocoa. It really has its own fragrance.

Frangelico is very smooth, and doesn’t burn like some liqueurs and you can really taste the hazelnut along with cocoa and vanilla. Personally, I don’t normally care for liquors on their own but Frangelico is completely different. I like that I don’t have to make some fancy drink to hide the taste! If you are looking for something a little different Frangelico’s website has plenty of drink options to make just about anyone happy. You can even drink Frangelico accompanied by a sugar-coated lemon wedge to make a Chocolate Cake Shot! There is even a drink recipe for a Red Velvet Cupcake Martini! I love all the things you can do with Frangelico, it really is something special!

Another thing to note about Frangelico is that the liquid itself is not too thick. I think this is great because it makes it so that the flavor doesn’t linger longer than it should.

If you are looking for something great to add to your holiday drinks I think that Frangelico would be perfect. It goes great with so many different things, or is great just by itself. Don’t just take my word for it, go try it! It really is something that everyone should try. Check out Frangelico’s website here for more information, or to find a store near you!

Have you tried Frangelico? Tell us your thoughts below!

**Disclaimer** I was in no way paid, or obligated to give a positive review, or a review at all for this company. If you would like to read my full disclaimer for reviews you can find it here .

Filed Under: adult, drinks

Uniqso Barbie Contact Lenses Review!

November 30, 2012 By Amberlee 5 Comments

I remember when colored contacts first came out. I was so excited! I always wanted blue eyes, but when I found out that they also made purple I about had a heart attack! Anyway of course things have changed since then and now there are so many different color and style options like big eyes circle lenses that it will make your head spin. Finally after all these years I was able to try out some of these colored contacts and I am very happy to share with you not only about how awesome they are, but also an awesome place to get them!

I was sent a set of Barbie Sasha 3 Tones in Grey by Uniqso to review for you. Uniqso sent them in the CUTEST little box I have ever seen!

The other great thing about this box is that my daughter loved it because my daughter was able to mix and match the characters to make her own new characters.

So while I was playing with what was inside she was occupied with the box.

As soon as I saw them I knew I would love them. They have a really nice design and great colors. I love that the colors are mixed so that there is not such a drastic change in colors.

As you can see the contacts are very detailed and the colors seem to blend really well.

So now onto the most important part! I loved these contacts. I have never worn contacts before so I was practically expecting them to be uncomfortable. I was very wrong, I barely noticed that they were there. The center of the contacts actually matches my natural color very well and I think they looked great! Below you can see some pictures of me wearing the contacts.

If you are looking for a new set of lenses, or even if you are new to the lenses world like I was and want to find the perfect pair I highly suggest checking out Uniqso on their website here! They have an amazing selection and they have amazing customer service. The representative I worked with was truly amazing and very sweet. Use the code below to get 10% off your purchase! Let us know what you think in the comments below!

**Disclaimer** I was in no way paid, or obligated to give a positive review, or a review at all for this company. If you would like to read my full disclaimer for reviews you can find it here .

Filed Under: beauty

Diamond Candle Giveaway!! From Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways Closed

November 27, 2012 By Amberlee Leave a Comment

I LOVE Diamond Candles and I am so glad to be a part of this giveaway. As always make sure to let us know if you are chosen as the winner!!

I know how much all of you love Diamond Candles. Everyone loves the scent of a freshly lit candle and Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways is giving you the chance to win one of whatever scent you would like! With Christmas right around the corner it would make a great gift as well. Not only is it a highly scented candle there is also a ring in it worth anywhere from $10 to $5,000! This giveaway wouldn’t have been possible without the wonderful bloggers helping me spread the word. Be sure to like their Facebook pages and follow them on Twitter!

To see Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways review on Diamond Candles click here. a Rafflecopter giveaway The winner will have 48 hours once Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways has selected them to respond by email. The winner must be a live in the Continental USA! Be sure to add info@casandrasreviews.com to your safe sender list! Good luck! Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways is responsible for picking the winner and she is responsible for prize fulfillment. The bloggers helping to share the giveaway are in no way liable for the prize. They are just sharing the opportunity with you. For any questions regarding Casandra’s Reviews and Giveaways participation in the giveaway email info@casandrasreviews.com.

Filed Under: Giveaway, home, shared giveaway

Free Blogger Event! Upcoming $500 Christmas Cash Giveaway

November 26, 2012 By Amberlee Leave a Comment

Christmas Cash Event hosted by Mom Powered Media

Prize: $500 Visa Gift Card OR $500 Paypal Cash OR $500 Amazon Gift Card {winner’s choice}

Event dates: 12/5 – 12/26

Free Blog Event! Sign-up here, BLOGGERS WANTED

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Auntie Anne’s Apple Cinnamon Pretzel Giveaway! Closed

November 25, 2012 By Amberlee 2 Comments

I love soft pretzels, in fact me and my friend get them every time we are at the mall. I think that this would be a really fun kit, and would be great for kids too. Good luck, and make sure that you let us know if you win!

Auntie Anne’s Apple Cinnamon Pretzel Review and Giveaway!

The Auntie Anne’s At-Home Baking Kits are a great way to have these awesome pretzels in the comfort of your own home! With the gas prices soaring now a days and the malls packed with people buying Christmas and holiday gifts, these kits are the way to go! I don’t know about you, but going to the mall, especially after this weekend and Black Friday, it’s the LAST thing on my to-do list!

What is also great about the At-Home Baking Kits, you can bake anything you want with them! They have a recipe on the side of the box that you can even make an apple tart with it! Also, inside there is a recipe for an Apple Cinnamon Pecan Monkey Bread.(Yummy!) Of course, I chose the traditional way and just made the simple pretzels.

Now when I first decided to make these, I am glad I had the time set aside! I didn’t realize that it would take an hour or so to make them! Even though it did take a while to mix, twist, and bake them, the results were definitely worth it and oh-so tasty!

At first, we got everything out of the box and read the directions. We mixed all of the ingredients together to form a “dough ball”. We had to add about another 1/4-1/2 cup of water to our dough mix because it just because it wasn’t mixing very well into a ball. After we finally made our big “dough ball”, we let the dough “rest” for thirty minutes like the instructions said.

After our dough was done “resting”, we took handfuls of the dough and rolled them out. It said to roll the dough out to about 1in, or the thickness of your finger and 36 inches long. We couldn’t get our dough to get that long without breaking so we did the best we could and they still turned out awesome! We ended up having smaller pretzels, but it made about 12 instead of the original 10. After we twisted them into pretzel shapes we baked them for about 8-10min and then sprinkled them with the cinnamon sugar. They looked so good, I could not wait to take a bite out of one of these bad boys!

If you would love to have some of these soft pretzels enter using the rafflecopter below to win your very own Auntie Anne’s At-Home Baking Kits!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Disclaimer** This is a review from a fellow blogger. Star Focal is not responsible for prize fulfillment. If you have any questions please email me at love@www.dreampilot.net

Filed Under: food, Giveaway, shared giveaway

Ronco 5 Tray Food Dehydrator Giveaway!

November 23, 2012 By Amberlee Leave a Comment

Make your own holiday treats this year! Enter to win a food dehydrator!

Ronco 5 Tray Food Dehydrator Giveaway

Loving Life and Living on Less is hosting this amazing giveaway sponsored by Ronco. Check out LLandLoL’s review by visiting the site. Enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win a Ronco 5 Tray Food Dehydrator. US Only. 11/22-12/7

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Star Focal is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

Filed Under: food, Giveaway, home, shared giveaway