• B reviews,  giveaway

    Mom’s Magical Headache Cure – and a giveaway!

    moms-magical-headache-cure-1

    This year I experienced my first migraine headache. Wow. They are something else. I’ve been lucky enough to have only had two so far but boy, did they do me in. I’ve never had to actually stop my day and go to bed over a headache before. It’s terrible! My heart goes out to all of you who suffer through them regularly.

    Usually when I get a headache I just drink some coffee and pop an advil and they’re gone. Maybe, if it’s really bad, I’ll close my eyes and try to imagine I’m a pat of butter melting in the sun. But lately I’ve stumbled across another trick: peppermint!

    I have a friend who is an essential oil fiend. She’s got oils for everything. She even has a diffuser emitting orange peel scent in her car! I haven’t actually jumped on that bandwagon but I do love me some peppermint oil at the right time.  Like when a headache is coming on.

    I won’t say that it’s a magical cure for migraines but I definitely go to it as my first line of defense. That and drinking water of course. All you have to do is put two or three drops of peppermint oil on your fingers and gently rub it into your temples, making sure not to get it too close to your eyes of course because it can sting!

    moms-magical-headache-cure-2

    When Infinity Jars hit me up for a possible collaboration I was all over their tiny five-millimeter roller ball bottles. Aren’t they cute? Perfect for keeping in your purse for when that niggling headache shows announced!

    I don’t usually go for these types of blog posts unless I’m getting paid but I was already in the market for some jars, and you know me, if there is a chance to make some packaging and then give it away to my blog readers (aka my ten friends who still loyally read) I’m all over that. I love packaging design!

    moms-magical-headache-cure-3

    It took me a few times to get it right. I tried to make some circle labels to punch out with my handy dandy punch but these jars were too small for style of label. My big circle labels would have gone right over the lid and looked like a seal, which might have been cool if we were trying to keep things fresh but who want’s a ripped up label once you open it? Not me!

    Rectangle it had to be. Next, I learned the hard way that oil and sticker paper don’t mix very well. That was a mess. Aren’t you glad I’m making all the mistakes first so you don’t have to?! In the end I figured out that regular old printer paper worked great with packing tape on top.

    Now I have everything perfected so you can make some too! Wouldn’t they be perfect for stocking stuffers? Or to give to your anxious kid so she can roll some on at school when she’s feeling stressed out? These make perfect gifts. I know because I’ve already given three away and the rest are threatening to walk away but I am protesting because I plan on giving five more away to anyone lucky enough to actually read this far and comment something funny in the comments below. YES! A GIVEAWAY like old times!! Don’t you miss those days.

    If you would like to make your own here is my recipe:

    • 5ml bottle (these are what I used – thank you Infinity Jars!)
    • jojoba oil (I ordered this one)
    • peppermint oil (I have no affiliation with this brand, it’s just the one my friend happened to give me)
    • cute labels! (my mom version here AND another version here where you can type your own name in here.)

    Directions:

    First add 5 to 10 drops of peppermint oil to each jar. Then fill to the top with your jojoba oil.

    This part is tricky. I tried funnels and measuring cups with pour spouts but nothing really worked without making a mess. In the end just pouring the jojoba oil in drop by drop from the jojoba’s flip top. That seemed to make the least amount of mess.

    Next I wiped everything up really well with a cloth lightly dipped in rubbing alcohol. I sealed my little jars with their roller balls by screwing the lids on tightly. The roller balls come in the lids and when you screw on the lids they sink into their position in the jar below. Then when you unscrew the lid the ball is stuck in the jar and ready to applicate! AND the best part is you can manually pull the roller ball out again when you want to refill. Then you reinsert the ball into the lid and start all over again.  So you can use these bottles forever.

    Pretty cool, right? Or is it giving you a headache? Just kidding! But if you have one you should comment and see if you can win some magical medicine for free so you don’t have to make your own. :)

    moms-magical-headache-cure-4

    Need something to comment about? How about you tell me what gives you a headache. Taxes? Hayfever? Obamacare?  Kids practicing violin? Plane rides? Lack of coffee? Lack of sleep? Polkadots? Email problems?

    Inquiring blog writers want to know!

    I’ll announce the winners (chosen randomly by some method I’ll come up with) next Tuesday.

    *This was not a sponsored post. I received the product for free in exchange for an honest review.

  • B reviews,  BIG news,  my books,  Tis the Season

    Merry Christmas, Little Hoo : My own review!

    brenda-ponnay-christmas-owl-book

    (Wow. That’s a scary big picture of me. Sorry!) So I have this book coming out in a few days…. It’s called Merry Christmas, Little Hoo! I’m not a huge fan of Christmas (too much clutter!) but this book was actually really fun for me to work on and I think you’ll like it.

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book2

    This is probably way too much of a sneak peek but I figure why not! I’m feeling the sharing love.  I dedicated this book to all the munchkins in my life instead of the usual ode to Bug. I’ve got a lot of kids in my life and I call them munchkins. Just ask my nieces. So I thought it would be fun for them. Especially for my boyfriend’s little girl who has been loyally watching me make this book from over my shoulder.

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book3

    Basically this book is a typical Little Hoo story. As you probably already know, Little Hoo is the scardiest, scardy-pants, little timid owl ever. He is afraid of EVERYTHING (even the beach but that book is coming out in summer). I started this series with Bug’s anxiety in mind when she was a toddler as a way to work through some of her fears.

    Of course some could (and will) say that these books have turned into little horror books for toddlers as they introduce all kinds of new things to be afraid of but I think it’s still fun. If anything, it’s a way to go THROUGH the fear instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.  The dark is scary and going to bed on Christmas even can be incredibly difficult for angst-ridden children who feel like they have no control over their little brains that go a mile a minute.

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book4

    Little Hoo hears noises in the night but instead of being scared, he thinks it’s Santa coming and he’s stayed awake long enough to get in on the Christmas action with his wild imagination.

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book5

    Snow crunching, jingling bells, scuffling in the kitchen… is it elves? How can little owls go to sleep with so much noise going on in the night?

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book6

     

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book7

    Of course half the time it turns out to be boring things like Mama Hoo putting away leftovers… I had a lot of fun illustrating Mama Hoo who is very tired. She’s so over Christmas already. She was over it at Halloween.

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book8

    And reindeer without teeth? Not sure what I was thinking there…

    merry-christmas-little-hoo-book9

    This is my favorite page though. Papa Hoo has been caught eating cookies. Bad Papa Hoo! And bad Little Hoo! Go to bed Little Hoo!

    Maybe I scold too much in my books. Some of my critics have gone to town on my Time to Eat Bunny book for that.  I guess I’m kind of a scolding type of parent but I try to say it all affectionately with a smile in my eyes.

    buy-my-book

    Like here! What does this picture say? It says, Buy my books for Christmas presents this year, OR ELSE!

    Or else what?

    I’ll tickle you to death?  Yeah, something like that.

    By the way, the print edition is not available yet but it will be very soon and I will put the links here when it is. Or maybe I’ll write another whole post and get Bug to read it to you or something. That would be fun.

    The ebook edition is available here for pre-order if you’re looking to load up a kindle as a Christmas present or something cool like that.

    Print version available here! Ebook version available here!

    If you have a blog that gets a lot of hits, I might even be persuaded to give out some free copies for reviewing so email me! I don’t have a lot of free copies though because just like you, I have to buy them and unlike you, I am cheap! (Can’t you see I can only afford a manicure for one hand?!!  Just kidding. I was trying out Bug’s new glow-in-the-dark polish {which totally works and is awesome, buy it at Target} and I’m right-handed, yo. I can’t paint with my left!)