How I'm Cleaning During the Holidays - Swiffer Bissell Steamboost {giveaway}

This post is brought to you by Swiffer Bissell Steamboost. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 

I can't believe 2013 is coming to a close. The year has flown by and I know next year is going to go by just as fast (if not faster) when we welcome our baby boy in April. 

I have really enjoyed the holidays this year, but they are definitely a lot of work. You all know I love to bake, but with baking your bound to make a mess. As much as I try to keep the powdered sugar in the bowl, it somehow always makes its way to the floor! 

So to help me clean up the mess I made during my holiday baking this year, I had the opportunity to try out the new Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST.

The Swiffer Bissell Steamboost is basically a combination of the Swiffer, which I think most everyone is familiar with and a steam cleaner. I love using steam to clean since you can get better results without harsh chemicals. 

The Swiffer Bissell Steamboost took no more than 5 minutes to put together and get up and running. You just take the pieces out of the box, snap a few together, fill the chamber with water, attach the cleaning cloth and then plug into the wall. Then, in about a minute you're ready to start steam cleaning. 

The machine was pretty easy to use. All you do is push the button when you want the steam to come out. Since I had a big sugary mess on my floor, I was pushing that button quite a bit. But if you're mess wasn't that big you probably only need it every few seconds or so. 

One of the drawbacks of the steam mop is since you need to plug it in, you can only travel so far with the machine before you need to unplug and put into a closer outlet. My kitchen is fairly big and I still only needed to do this once, so it really wasn't a big deal. You probably want to change out the cleaning pad  for a new one too if you're doing a large area. 

I was pretty impressed with the Swiffer Bissell Steamboost. My floors were cleaned only a few days before my baking so I didn't think it would clean-up more than what I spilled on the floor that day. But from the photo above you can see that it also steam clean mopped away dirt and stuff that my that my other mop left behind - love that!

I'm still not sure this steam mop completely replaces some good ole' deep cleaning, but for in between those cleanings it is quick, easy and gets the job done. And I love that when I'm done I can just toss the cleaning pad in the trash and not worry about it. 

For more steam cleaning tips and tricks, visit http://www.swiffer.com/cleaningtips/frequency/floor-steam-cleaning. You can also learn more about the Swiffer family of products by visiting www.swiffer.com or www.facebook.com/swiffer. 

Buy a Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST starter kit before December 31 and receive a $15 mail-in rebate (rebate restrictions apply). For more info on the rebate, visit www.swiffer.com/rebate.

And now one of my lucky readers has a chance to win your very own Swiffer BISSELL STEAMBOOST! 

All you have to do is enter through the Rafflecopter link below and tell me one of your tips/tricks for cleaning during the holidays. Once you comment, you will more hances to enter. The giveaway runs from December 31, 2013 to January 17, 2014 and 1 winner will be chosen and notified on January 18, 2014. The winnerswill then have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. Please read the complete Terms & Conditions as this giveaway is only valid for U.S residents only (Sorry, rules of the giveaway prohibit us from offering this outside of the U.S.).

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$50 Minted.com Giveaway

This post is brought to your courtesy of Minted.com to help you find the perfect holiday photo card!

Can you believe that Christmas is only 50 days away? I know I can't. Seems like just yesterday it was summer! 

Since it never seems to early to start thinking about the holidays, I'm sharing with you an easy way to get a jump on your holiday cards. Minted.com has some beautiful and unique holiday photo cards. I already have a few of my favorites picked out. 

I love the idea of an ornament card. Seems like you always get more cards than you know what to do with and this is a great way to help display them.

This card is a great alternative to the typical Christmas letter. Makes it quick and easy for people to catch up on the on goings of your family!

I love the added touch of sparkle this card has, but don't worry it's not real glitter so it won't get all over the place :)

Don't want to be limited to just one photo for your card? Minted has lots of options for multiple photo cards including this cute, square card. 

To really get you started on your holiday cards, Minted has been kind enough to giveaway $50 to one of The Pink Flour's lucky readers, so you can buy your favorite photo card! The giveaway is open until Monday, November 11 at midnight and there are lots of ways to enter! Good luck!

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Del Taco Giveaway & How to Get a Free Carnitas Taco

This post is sponsored by Del Taco, but as always all opinions are my own and I don't post anything I don't use myself :) 

I try not to eat fast food too often, but it seems like in these hot, summer months we don't cook as much.  

For example, last week my husband had an away basketball game (he's a coach) and we needed something quick to eat on our way there. We chose Del Taco over some other places because I have always liked their chicken tacos. I always like to stop at the Del Taco in Barstow on our way to Las Vegas because I think it is one of the original ones and they have a few extra things on the menu.  

Father's Day 2013 Man Cave Filler Cash Giveaway

It's officially Dads & Grads season! 

To help celebrate, I've teamed up with some fabulous bloggers to bring you the perfect Father's Day (or Grad!) giveaway. 

You could win up to $200 CASH! 

You may remember the guest post from Lexie Lane a few weeks ago and it's because of her that I'm part of this awesome giveaway! If you haven't picked up a copy of her book, 

The Blogger's Survival Guide: Tips and Tricks for Parent Bloggers, Wordsmiths and Enthusiasts 

I strongly recommend you do. Even if you're a seasoned blogger, I'm sure you'll find some tips in there. And if you're new to blogging, it walks you through everything you need to know. I bookmarked so many pages of things I need to go back and do (now I just have to find the time to do them!)

So don't wait to enter this amazing giveaway! There are lots of ways to enter and we're not just giving away $200, you could also win $25 or even $50. Think of the great gift you could buy Dad :)

And I can't wait to share with you tomorrow the graduation gift I made for my cousin. I was so excited with the way it turned out. So don't forget to check back!

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$250 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Happy Cinco de Mayo! How are you celebrating?? My husband and I are definitely going to be having some Mexican food for dinner to celebrate (like we need an excuse to eat Mexican food...we could seriously eat it everyday!) We had a really fun Cinco de Mayo celebration with some of our good friends last night who had us over for dinner. It may have involved some really delicious margaritas :)

Today, I'm super excited to share an awesome giveaway with you all. My friend, Lisa over at Wine & Glue is celebrating her birthday this week. If you haven't been over to check out her blog, I suggest you do, especially if you have liked the cocktail recipes I post. She has some awesome drink recipes (like a Mango Mimosa Float & a Rolo Chocolate Martini!) along with some other great recipes and craft ideas. 

Giveaway from Pick Your Plum

Did you guys enjoy the guest posts last week? Those ladies are amazing and have some yummy recipes! I really appreciate them helping me out as I took the week off. My husband and I took a last minute trip to San Francisco (which was awesome...I'll share more about the trip later in the week, so stay tuned!) and Carole, Jessi & Melissa were great a came to my rescue on very short notice!

Top 7 House Goals for 2013 and a GIVEAWAY!

My husband reminded me today that it will be a year on MLK Day since we first looked at what is now our house. We’ve tried to make improvements and make it our own. But there are definitely things on our list that we want to get done in the coming months. So I’ve put together a lit of our Top 10 House Goals for 2013 (and I apologize for the photo quality – this is what happens when I use my phone and take pictures at night after work :)

1. Add hardware to our kitchen cabinets – anyone have any good places to order hardware through?