Find Beauty In The Fall With Miracle-Gro

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Autumn is my favorite season of all. I love it when the leaves start to change, and mums go into bloom. Give me a beautiful fall colored flower bed, and I'm in heaven.

....The only problem with that is that I live in Florida now. Trees really don't change color too much, and mums bake in the sun. Daisies die in a heartbeat, so my flower beds consist of a lot of green shrub-like things. I decorate with a lot of sunflowers, as they are the ONLY fall-ish flower that does well in Florida, at least for me.

While searching for ways to spruce up our landscape and Find beauty in the Fall outside, I came up with several ways to beautify your flower beds with these Fall gardening tips from Miracle-Gro:

• Add fall color (ornamentals, mums, pansies) to your landscape (garden beds or containers)
• Grow fall or cool weather edibles (In the southeast, many leafy veggies are great!)
• Get a head start for spring by planting bulbs
• Plant trees and shrubs

Miracle-Gro offers a bunch of tips, no matter where you're located. For my area, they recommend using a garden soil specific to my gardens needs, (like Miracle-Gro Garden Soil for Trees and Shrubs). For flowers they recommend using a product like Miracle-Gro Liquafeed which makes  feeding as easy as watering. It feeds the plants through the leaves and the roots, and is for use with all flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs. Simplifying my life = perfect for me!

The Miracle-Gro Facebook page has some great tips and techniques available from Fall Veggies through big, beautiful flowers. You'd be surprised with some of the things they teach you!
Although my flower beds aren't quite in an autumn mood yet, I can still get the feel inside. I'm burning my Scentsy warmer with the delicious smelling Carmel Pear Crisp, and preparing to make my own rendition of this autumn centerpiece I found on Pinterest:

Isn't it gorgeous?! They used elements from Pottery Barn, but I think I might have enough acorns outside to help make it look spectacular. There's a wreath just like the one they used in the picture at Target (in their dollar spot), and I'm sure I can grab some faux leaves from Michael's or Dollar Tree, even.

These are available at Dollar Tree, I think they would work, right?

I need to just hunt down my hurricane vase centerpiece...or hope Dollar Tree has something I could use. Keep on the lookout for my spin-off centerpiece!

Read more...

HealthyWomen Top 12 Time Saving Tips Revealed!

I remember when my kids were young. Young enough that getting them to sleep through the night was a victory. Then, we got on this fabulous schedule long enough for me to really start catching up on sleep, and then it happened... Daylight Savings.

Whether the time "Springs ahead" or "Falls back", I cannot seem to make it work. Normal people "spring ahead" because time falls back in autumn, but not me. The first two days I wake up a little earlier, but the kids. Oh the kids.. They never seem to get used to it, it always takes a month.

I really hate this time of the year, because as a busy mom I'm always running to and from nine trillion different places. When I wake up it's dark, and when I serve dinner it's dark.. my days seem to get shorter and shorter the older I get.

So would you believe that most women feel most pressed for time in the early morning hours of their day, from 6am to 9am? Many also report that the biggest time pressures during early evening, from 5pm to 8pm., when many families are preparing for and eating dinner, as well as finishing up tasks from the day.

To help us cope with Daylight Savings Time, HealthyWomen, supported by an educational grant from Instead Softcup, presents a number of helpful time-saving tips to help us get organized and stay stress-free. These tips suggest multi-tasking activities that avoid drawn out tasks or painstaking efforts.

With the help of survey respondents, HealthyWomen compiled this list of the top 12 time- saving tips:

Domestic Duties
1. Make Fridays left over night – you will clean out the fridge and save time and money.

2. We know you want to be watching TV, but how about making that personal time a bit more productive? Use commercial breaks to squeeze in some of the end-of-day chores – sort laundry, start the washer, vacuum a room, unload the dishwasher, organize the kitchen counter.

3. Sign up for free automatic bill-paying services for all recurring bills such as utility bills, etc. Then set up an online bank account for free, one-click payment of all other bills - saves time, postage, and gas!

Running Errands
4. Combine as many errands as you can into one outing – grouping them by location and reducing travel time.

5. Ask for help! Keep a list of your errands and an ear open in case your spouse, relative or friend is headed to the same place.

6. Ride your bike, walk or run to run local errands – eliminating the need to take time to exercise later.

Communicating with Others
7. Set a schedule and establish boundaries throughout the day. For example, at the beginning of each conversation, tell others how much time you have available. It’s as easy as saying, “I’m glad you called, but I’ve only got about 10 minutes to chat…”

8. Make email more efficient – spending the time to unsubscribe for all the junk emails will give you an inbox with just the information you want, and less time deleting the stuff you don’t.

9. Take public transportation to work, and use that time to read, update your to-do list, or answer personal emails.

Health and Beauty
10. Reconsider your definition of clean and don't shampoo every day - your hair will be healthier and shinier and your shower will be shorter.

11. Keep your period light – at least packing for it. Wear a menstrual cup all day and save time packing up other protection.

12. Tried and true – set your clothes out the night before. Women who don’t can waste time trying on different outfits or having to iron at the busiest time of the day.

We hope that these tips and time savers really help you get some of your day back.. especially during Daylight Savings Time. It's really hard getting yourself back on track, and feeling that sense of accomplishment on these shorter, colder nights. Know that you're not alone, and that in a few short months, we will "Spring Ahead" again, and be back to longer hours of daylight.




“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and Softcup and received a $30 gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Read more...