*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.

Every year around the Christmas holidays Paddywax Candles has an open house at their factory store here in Atlanta and every year my family attends.  We eat cookies, drink cider and stock up candles.  We give some candles as gifts, but most we keep for ourselves to burn throughout the year.   We always stay at the open house far too long because not only does Paddywax sell great candles and it’s hard to shop quickly, but the company is also run by a fantastic couple, David Duncan and Gretchen Hollingsworth.  My family knows David and Gretchen socially, so we end up chatting with them forever.  I am always amazed by how they manage to run such a successful business and a successful household.  The success of the company takes extremely hard work, but on any given day I see either David or Gretchen picking their daughters up from school with one of their three dogs in tow.  The Paddywax office and factory has a busy, yet relaxed vibe–just like David and Gretchen themselves–and because their girls are often underfoot, there is always plenty of laughter and whimsy as well.  It seems like the ideal way to run a company–and a family.

During our last visit to the open house, our daughter disappeared with David and Gretchen’s girls back into the factory; with little cloth bags in hand, they were on a mission to find bits of hardened candle wax.    David took my husband and I into the factory to retrieve our daughter and show us how Paddywax Candles are made.   As David gave us a tour, he explained that Paddywax Candles is a boutique operation; the candles are made in small batches, hand-poured and hand-dyed.  I was a fan before the factory tour, but now that I have seen first-hand the detail and quality control that goes into each candle, I am even more impressed.

These are beautiful, high-quality, great-smelling candles.  If you love candles like I do, then you will love Paddywax Candles.  You can buy them online or in retail stores across the country.  If you want to know when they have the open house or other special events and deals, you can fan them on Facebook and follow @paddywaxcandles and @thecandlemaker on Twitter.

The winner of the Ouchies Giveaway is…..Diqueta McCoy!   Diqueta, you win your choice of 2 Ouchies tins.

Thanks to everyone for entering the Ouchies contest.  It seems that we all agree that kids shouldn’t have to suffer their boos-boos wearing bland, boring bandages.   Where were these when we were little?  Heck, I may sport them myself now; I’m really digging the tattoo bandages!

You can buy Ouchies on their website or in your local retail establishments.

*The winner was picked by random.org.

*This is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.  For this review Ouchies sent me two tins of bandages, but the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Ever since my daughter started school, she has become a walking medic case of bumps, bruises, scrapes and scratches.  Most of these are minor and all that’s needed is a magic kiss from Mommy and a bandage.  Wearing the bandage is important–even for the tiniest of cuts–because it lets the world know that she is hurting and could you please throw a little sympathy her way?

My daughter was thrilled when I was asked to review Ouchies Adhesive Bandages because  just that day she had gotten a small wound.    She’s an artist, so she immediately went for the Make Ur Own bandages.  They come with permanent markers, so she got to work right away on her masterpiece.

(photo by Ouchies)

That bandage went on her real wound.  But just for fun we opened up the tin of Ouchies 4 Girlz and put them all on her arm to get a better look.  The colors and graphics are fantastic.  My daughter really liked the different designs, especially Tattoo and Flower Power.

(photo by Ouchies)

This is what she had to say about Ouchies: “It’s padded nicely and feels like silk.  I like that it’s bright and shiny and I like the cool designs, like a comic book.   They are not plain like most or babyish like the ones that you get at the doctor.”   She wore Ouchies to school and her friends thought that they were “cool.”

There are other Ouchie designs for purchase, 4 Boyz and Mr. Men & Little Miss for both boys and girls, so there is design that your kids are sure to like.  Ouchies was started by a family who was tired of boring bandages for their children, and I totally agree; who says that a bandage has to be boring?   I like that Ouchies are a good quality bandage that doesn’t sacrifice function for style.

You can find a retail store near you that sells Ouchies by going to their website or you can even order online.   Nordstrom sells Ouchies here in Atlanta, which is perfect for me because I shop for my daughter there anyway.  But you lucky reader you, YOU don’t have to go to a retail store because Ouchies is giving away 2 tins of bandages–winner’s choice–to a reader of Funkidivagirl.com.

To enter:

1. Fan Ouchies on Facebook

2. Then come back to Funkidivagirl.com and leave a comment on this post, telling me that you became a Facebook fan of Ouchies.  Make sure that you leave a valid email address so that I can contact you if you win.

A winner will be chosen via Random.org on February 3rd.   Good Luck!

*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.  And if someone ever does pay me for a review, you will be the first to know.

Shopping with my daughter at Sprong, a local children’s shoe store here in Atlanta, we came across the cutest accessory and we just had to share.   Here’s my cute daughter modeling her necklace.  She wears it everyday.

First you choose a cord in one of many colors available and then you choose a bottle cap design to “snap” on to complete your necklace.  Yes, I said a bottle cap!   The design is on a bottle cap!   There is a powerful magnet on the back that snaps onto a metal ring, but the best part is that when you want to change your design, you just snap it off.   And there are TONS of designs to choose from!   I think it’s ingenious.

(photos by M3 Girl Designs)

The necklace is $8 and each bottle cap design is $8 as well.    We just bought the cord and one bottle cap on that day, but we will buy more bottle caps every time we go to that store.   I think it will make a great birthday present for any young lady.  I’m also thinking ahead towards Christmas when Snap Caps will make perfect stocking stuffers.

Besides being the cutest accessory that I have seen, I love Snap Caps because they are made by 2 young ladies.  You can read all about them on the M3 Girl Designs website, but these sisters started this company with their own money and they are quite successful.   I admire their creativity and entrepreneur spirit.   From what I understand there are now knock-off companies selling a similar product, but my daughter will be supporting M3 Girl Designs’ Snap Caps–while looking fabulously cute at the same time.

*I don’t get paid for my opinions in any way; this is just me sharing stuff that I like and I think you will too.

Shopping at Whole Foods this week I was attracted to this stand-alone cooler in the frozen food section.  It could have been that I was hungry for cookies or the big yellow sale sign got my attention, but I was intrigued enough to stop and read some more.

What I learned is that Immaculate Baking uses no trans fat, no high fructose corn syrup and only all natural ingredients in their cookie dough.   Now, although I am not a big fan of pre-made cookie dough as they all have an “fake” taste to me, and I have yet to find a tasty healthy cookie, I decided to try these cookies at home with my own cookie monsters.  I bought 2 packages for $8: Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate and Triple Chocolate.  Each package makes 24 cookies.    The dough is already scored for each individual cookie and therefore easy to bake as many or little as you want at one time.   My family wanted to taste the cookies right away (naturally), so after dinner I made 8 of the Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate according to the directions on the package.

14 minutes later (plus cooling time) we were enjoying some really delicious cookies!  No, FOR REALS!   They were fresh and clean-tasting (no nasty “fake” taste), the perfect consistency, and very flavorful; they were as good as (if not better than) freshly made bakery cookies.   Everyone in my family gave the cookies an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up!  I normally do not like oatmeal in my cookies, but I love these; oatmeal, cranberries and white chocolate turned out to be a winning combination.  With the holidays upon us, it is always good to have a quick snack in the freezer like this cookie dough for unexpected guests.  A fresh warm plate of cookies and some hot apple cider (also easy to keep on-hand) makes for a very welcoming house.   We can’t wait to try the Triple Chocolate cookies!

*Update: We tried the Triple Chocolate and they were just as good as the Cranberry White Chocolate–delicious!  I have also found that my oven bakes them best for 13 minutes.  They will look puffy and not all the way done when you take them out, but then they will harden upon cooling.  I transferred mine to a wire rack to cool for 3-5 minutes before eating.