So fresh and so clean.

This isn’t a typical or sponsored post, but I wanted to share an awesome product that’s been helping me with my teeth issues (and I am quite the profitable dental patient) 😏. If you stick it thru, I promise there's an incredible deal at the bottom!

I recently vented to my friend, who also happens to be a dental hygienist about my sensitive gums, and she highly recommended Burst Oral Care to me— I was previously using another popular electronic toothbrush, and it started getting a little too abrasive for my gums. It’s been half a year, and so far I’ve been noticing a huge difference in my gums. Plus, the clean and sleek design makes brushing less of a mundane task each day. 

This company will also ship you brush head refills for $6 (shipping included!), so you don’t ever have to run out. The rechargeable battery lasts for 4 weeks, and only takes an hour or so to fully charge. The added plus is that their brushes contain deactivated charcoal, which removes more bacteria than any typical brush, AND brightens your teeth over time! 

Another product to check out are their whitening strips, which only contain a handful of ingredients— compared to other major brands, and are also effective without being harsh on sensitive teeth. It got rid of all my wine/coffee/tea stains in 5-7 minutes each day for 1 week. You can also use 2 sets for 2 weeks to see maximum results. And if you're planning on buying the toothbrush, they’re offering the strips for 10.99 within the first 10 minutes of ordering their toothbrush. 

Here are my results from the whitening strips... ^^

My friend is currently offering an amazing discounted price of 39.99 for the electric toothbrush set (which is less than half of what you'd pay for your typical sonicare brush), and whitening strips are 14.99 if you decide to purchase those separate from the brush. 

Treat yourself and your teeth by heading over to the Burst website, and put in this special code: S8D4TB at checkout! 

Thanks for reading, and let me know if any of you decide to try out their products : )

Salvaging a Vintage Gucci Bag

I've been meaning to post this last year, but just got around to finishing up this post! : P Anyway, I scored this vintage Gucci at a Fashion Mamas Flea Market this past Fall. However, it needed a bit of work. If any of you own or have seen a vintage Gucci from the 70s-80s, they're a beauty from the outside, but the interior almost always has some sort of sticky flaking issue, based on the coating they applied to the bags during that time period. Unfortunately, this issue makes for almost an unusable bag, due to the stickiness and flakes that land on nearly everything it touches.

You'll need:

  a stiff bristle brush

a pair of plastic/latex gloves

Simple Green cleaner

a handheld vacuum

newspaper

tons of patience 

Line your workspace with newspaper, trust me you'll want to include this step! Put your gloves on before you begin (I learned this the hard way and it took acetone + tons of soap to remove the black grime off my nails) Start off by brushing the residue left behind from the coating of the interior. Depending on the bag, you may be able to pull the interior out to make it easier to work with. 

Take the hand-held vacuum cleaner (or hose attachment) and suction off the excess flaking left behind as you go along to eliminate the amount of mess you'll need to clean up afterwards.

Once the coating has been removed, there might be a sticky residue left behind. This bag had a ton of stickiness that left black smudges everywhere, so I sprayed Simple Green on the troublesome spots and gently wiped with a wet cloth as I went along. Unfortunately, there is a scent that it leaves behind, but it dissipates over time. I also did something shocking, since I was able to partially pull the interior out-- I gently rinsed the interior under the sink. 

Et voila! Here is the final result. What you should be left with is a soft, felt-like material. It probably took me a good 2-3 hours (after I put the kids down, of course ^^) in total to remove all that gunk left behind, but it was well worth the extra patience in saving this vintage beauty.

If any of you attempted to try this at home, please let me know how it went for you, and if there are any other cleaning products you'd recommend. I'm also curious to know if anyone has ever sent their vintage bag to the professionals (probably the best idea if it is an highly treasured bag), and what the end result was like!
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Bonjour, 2018.

Happy New Year! Can't believe 2017 just flew by and now we're ending the first month of 2018. There were high-highs and low-lows-- but honestly, most of it went by with a blur. Life with three crazy kiddos certainly kept us all on our toes, and we spent most of the year adjusting and surviving. 

Speaking of time, there was a particular question I was challenged by this year: 

"What activities made you lose track of time?" 

There are many things that distract and pull me away from the present, and my challenge for myself this year is to be more mindful of how I should be spending the time God has entrusted me with. And beyond the distractions, how am I letting these things saturate and shape my mind, therefore influencing my heart? 

But one of the things I do hope to do more often is write in this blog during my leisure time, so hopefully there will be more than a few posts this year! ^^

On a side note, we didn't get around to doing family greeting cards this year, but here are some outtakes of our "joyful family," taken by my brother (major props to him for taking our photos under 15 min before the sun set!) that I finally got around to editing.   : )