My favourite things and products of 2017!
Happy New Year everyone, I hope you are all having a good fresh start to the near year ahead! Things at our house are snowy and we are busy getting ready for a wedding show in a week and prepping to rip out and re-do three bathrooms, which I am sure will be quite the process!
I have always enjoyed watching 'favourite things' youtube videos, and reading peoples blogs about their favourite things, so I thought a great way to start off the new year of blogging would be sharing some of the things and products I used the most and loved the most in 2017! I tried to narrow it down and choose a good variety of different things, as well as share the links to the 'things' so you can find them easily too! I hope you enjoy seeing a little insight into some of my fave things...
1) My Letter Board!
I've been wanting a letter board for quite some time, and I may have hinted (about 10 times) to Chris that it would be the perfect little Christmas gift for me this year :) so though I've only had my letter board since Christmas, it's easily one of my fave things already! Not only can you write fun and encouraging quotes on it, but you can write bible verses on it, 'happy birthday to...!' or the to-do list for the day. I think it's super versatile and I got a smaller one so that it wouldn't take up too much space, I also decided not to hang it anywhere but to just keep it free to move about the house. We got our letterboard from Retroboards on Amazon !
2) Burts Bee's Hand Salve
Living up north where we have long, very cold and snowy winters, I need something to protect my hands from the harsh temps, and I have been loving my teeny tin of Burts Bee's hand salve. You only need a bit, and it works SO well to moisturize and repair any dry areas on your hands, it also smells really good and is full of essential oils, which is always a selling point for me. I've also tried some different burts bee's lip products and cream's this year too, and I generally really love their stuff, it's good quality, good ingredients and it works! Click for soft hands :)
3) Aerie Leggings
As a stay at home/homeschooling Mom, I tend to live in 'comfy' clothes, and clothes I can be active in being outside with the kids so much in all different temps. Leggings are always a go-to and this year I finally found the best ones, which I can order online (big perk because we have no malls where we live!) The Aerie leggings, are GOOD quality, comfy, cute styles, fit really well and they go on sale a lot and have free shipping on any order over $50. They even have fleece lined ones that are perfect for cold days, and more breathable ones for yoga or working out. I only ever buy them on sale, and use coupon codes, but honestly I'd probably pay full price they are so good. They also hit at a good point on the waist which is important, but don't cut off your circulation, which is also important, haha. Here are some of my faves styles that I own, the warmer ones , and the thinner active ones.
4) Shea Butter Body Mist
Smelling pretty has always been one of my fave things since I was really young, I'd always ask to steal a spritz of my Mom's perfume, but after having kids I realized perfumes were too strong for me. I then started to lean more towards body mist, and for years I have used the mists' from The Body Shop, which has ethical products and are open about the ingredients they use. A bottle also lasts a long time, and this year when I replenished my bottle I chose the scent 'shea butter' and I am loving it! I can smell nice and pretty all day without an overbearing smell. Another fave is the 'white musk' and they also come in a nice glass bottle which I like! Mist away :)
5) Succulents
This year as we moved and did big reno's on our new home, I found my favourite decorating secret weapon, the succulent LOL I know this sounds funny, but a succulent (real OR fake) in a simple pot can immediately change a window ledge, desk or a shelf into instant cuteness (yes instant cuteness is a thing). I also love how they are low maintenance and they add a pop of green life to a space. The best place I have found to get fake succulents in the colder months when the garden center's don't have them is Home Sense, they literally have a whole wall full of succulents in cute pots, and most all of them are all under $12. So when decorating just think of the phrase 'put a succulent on it!' and you'll never fail ;) here is an option on Amazon in case you don't live near a Home Sense.
6) Starry Lights
Since we are on the decorating train, I also discovered these strands of mini 'starry lights'. You can get them in single strand or multiple strands together, and they bring so much cozy to a living space. I got mine at a local lighting store where we live, but you can also find them pretty much anywhere now (home sense, winners, walmart, amazon) and they have battery and plug in versions, I prefer plug in because that is the easiest for me. We put ours in our bay window all year (twinkly lights aren't just for Christmas time!) and it's easily one of my fave spots in our house. Amazon strikes again with a lot of different options.
7) 'Different' By Sally Clarkson and Nathan Clarkson
I love to read, and I wish I had read more books this past year (it was a busy one for us) but if I only read through one book all the way (true confession! I am a big 'book starter' lately which means I start books then don't finish forever, eek) I am so glad I took the time tor read through this book. WHAT A GOOD ONE! I can't sing it's praises enough. If you are a mom to a 'different' child, or even if not ANY parent or person who works with kids would benefit greatly from reading this book. It resonated deeply with me, and encouraged me so much, and it's one of those ones I will go back and re-read again soon.
8) Berkey water filter
If you've never heard of a Berkey before, I am so happy to be the one to introduce them to you! A Berkey is a gravity fed water filter and purifier. This is not even in the same classification as filters like the 'Brita' but it actually removes... well here I'll just copy and paste from the internet 'Berkey water filters provide the ultimate in waterborne contamination removal' they actually use them in disaster relief situations to provide safe water to volunteer workers, they require no electricity and we could actually pour lake water straight into it, and have crystal clear safe water to drink on the other side. We researched them for a while before taking the plunge (they aren't cheap) but they are worth every penny, also the filters if properly taken care of can last 5 to 10 years! Living in a lake house, our water source is the lake, and it goes through a UV filter before it comes out of our taps, so it's definitely safe, but after seeing what the Berkey removes AFTER it's already filtered is amazing! Anyhow, I sound like a crazy water lady, but if you think about it, water is REALLY important, and it's super worth the investment to me to know my family is drinking really good water daily. Highly recommend and they come in different sizes for your water needs :)
9) Essential Oils
If you come in my home or come near me you've probably been exposed to essential oils ;) I've been using essential oils for a few years, but this year I decided to research and purchase some GOOD quality medicinal grade essential oils, and the company I went with is 'DoTerra'. I liked them because they have a Canadian branch (woot woot, gotta support my country) and my friend sells them, so some of the profits goes directly to her which I also love. I wont go on and on about oils, but my two top oils of this year that I hadn't used before are 'Frankincence' not just for bringing to baby Jesus :) which is amazing for headaches, migraines and muscle tension as well as so much more and it smells like trees. And 'Vetiver' oil which has been an amazing tool in keeping my anxiety at bay. I don't go a day without my oils :)
10) Slippers/Moccasins
In our new home our whole main level has hard flooring and no carpet, so daily slipper wearing is something I definitely picked up this year, even in the summer I usually wear slippers on my feet while inside. I found a great and cozy pair of Moccs on Amazon and they didn't disappoint, they are good quality and warm and cute too. I also like that they have an actual sole on the bottom, because then I can keep them on to run the recycling out to the shed, or chase a dog down ;) The only problem I have with them, is that sometimes I realize I am wearing them out to the grocery store, lol....it's a joke with my husband now that he always checks to make sure I am wearing actual shoes before I go out to run errands since I got these slippers.
11) Myers Cleaning Spray
I thought I'd throw a cleaning product in the mix too, so this is the new all purpose spray I use in the kitchen and around the house this past year. I get it at Canadian Tire, and it lasts quite a while, it smells amazing and doesn't leave a yucky film on anything. I have tried the Basil, Lavender and Lemon scents and my fave so far is the Basil! It leaves such a nice refreshing smell in the kitchen, and they all have essential oils in them (do you see a trend with me and oils?) It was also great to have on hand with training a new puppy as there is no ammonia or chlorine in it which is perfect for cleaning up those puppy accidents that inevitably happened. Their website explains about all their products!
12) Himalayan Salt Lamp
This was also something I had been eyeing for a long time, and asked for as a birthday gift. Not only do I think they are beautiful aesthetically , but they actually have positive health affects too! When I was telling my Mom about them, she called me a hippie (in a loving way :)) and as I started to go on about 'negative ions' and all the cool things they can do, no one believed me! But after we got it and used it for a while, it even started to grow on Chris. You'll have to research it, but in a nutshell, they basically give off negative ions (that which is given out in nature) which cancels out the positive ions that are given off off computers, smart phones and tv's. Do you think I am a hippie now too? ;) I keep mine in my room, and put it on in the hours before bed when I am reading, or doing devotions or watching a show. We got ours on Amazon.
13) YouVersion App
Last but definitely not least I wanted to add my favourite and daily used app called 'YouVersion' I am sure you've all heard of it before, but it's basically like carrying the bible around with you in your phone, in any version you would like to read it in! The first thing I open on my phone everyday is youversion, and I love to read the 'verse of the day' first. It's also a great tool to look up verses for bible studies, or devotions, and you can highlight verses and share them with others. It also keeps track of how many days in a row you have connected with God's word, which I love! Thank you youversion for always being there when I need the word.
and I just need to add ONE more...
14) Sunrises
Enjoying sunrises is a new thing for me this year, as where we lived before the sunrise would typically be covered by houses, and I didn't always get to see the true beauty of it, plus I slept in later then ;) now I've become more of a morning bird, and one of my favourite things each day is seeing the sun rise up over the trees and lake. I didn't realize how beautiful a sunrise could be until I moved here, I was mostly into sunsets, but now I get the privilege of seeing and enjoying their beauty every day the sky is clear enough to see one. Here are some of my 'big camera' pics from one of the most memorable sunrises I was able to capture this past fall. This is always the best way to start my days!
As I was writing this post, I asked my family for some ideas on what they thought were my favourite things just to see what they would say, and they yelled out at least half of these things, so you know they are actually the stuff I use and love on a daily basis. Comment below what some of your favourite things and products of 2017 are, I would love to hear some of your faves. And do you use any of the same ones as me? I'd love to know!