Home Maid Simple

Tag: Bloggers

What to get your Blogger Friend for Christmas
So it’s December, and you’re down to the last few people on your Christmas list. What do you get that one friend – the blogger friend – maybe it’s your spouse (hint hint Mark…), or a sister, maybe your sister in law, or even your mother. You want to help them pursue the dreams they have for their blog, but you’re not sure what they really want or need.

I asked around my blogging communities what they are wanting for Christmas, and added it to my list to bring you this helpful list of Christmas Gifts to give your Blogger Friend (or family member). Of course I say Christmas, but these gifts are appreciated for any occasion by the blogger in your life.

1. Blogging Conference. This is at the top of my list of what I would love to receive. A huge part of blogging is networking with other bloggers, and the brands we want to work with. There is no better place to do that then at a conference. The biggest problem bloggers run into if they want to attend a conference is the cost. They usually run no less than $100 and can be upwards of $400 to attend a 3 day conference. This cost usually will not include travel and accommodation expenses. If you choose to send your blogger to a conference, you can get together with other friends and family to gift this item. Just do a little research first. Sending your friend to BlogHer Food, when they don’t blog about food would not be a good fit. Check for local conferences too. I’m personally pulling to go to the Build Your Blog hosted here in Utah this year. It saves me the cost of travel and hotel, and it’s a pretty good price at only $149.

2. Craftsy Class. If a conference is out of the budget, you may want to look into Craftsy. Craftsy classes have something that can fit into any one’s lifestyle, especially a bloggers. They have food, sewing, gardening, paper crafting and new photography classes. You can buy your blogger a Gift Card so they can choose the perfect class for them. Price range on these are from $30 for one class up to $75 for 3 classes.

3. Erin Condren Planner. A few years ago, when I first started blogging as more of a business than just a hobby, I asked for a planner for Christmas. Mark got me this beautiful full sized planner, that made my life as a mom and blogger so much easier! That was one of the most organized years of my life. I don’t know why I didn’t buy a new one for the new year. I have heard some amazing things about the Erin Condren Life Planners, so I went looking at them. WOW, it is just what I need! 2 page monthly spreads, perpetual calendar, laminated tabs, stickers, folders….the list just keeps going. As planners go though, they are on the pricier side at $50 and something a frugal blogger will just put on their wish list. Grab a pack of colored pens to go with this gift.

4. Photography Equipment. It’s a guarantee that if you are a blogger, you will be taking a lot of photo’s. To work with quality brands, you need quality photos. There are a plethora of ideas I’m going to list for you under this topic, but the main one is a nice camera. Get your blogger a high quality digital camera, or if money isn’t an issue, a nice DSLR. If they already have a good camera though, here are some other items to help them get better photo’s.
- A photography book, such as the one I pictured above – Food Photography for bloggers. Just remember to keep it relevant to what they write about. Obviously food photography will not help someone writing about family/relationships, or crafting. Amazon has a great books on Photography for Bloggers (<–affiliate link)
- Light box, backdrops, and lighting. There are many DIY tutorials out there for putting together a light box. Make one for your blogging friend for a simple, affordable gift that will do wonders for their pictures. In a quick search though, I found this (affiliate link–>) LimoStudio Photography Photo Studio Lighting Kit Set for a great price of only $33.75. This would be the perfect starter set up.
- Props. What’s a photo without props? In many of my recent recipe photos, I look in my cupboards, and think to myself “boring”. I’m ready to have more colorful dishes to go with my food, for that added pop of excitement in the photos. This gift can be as simple as going to an antique store, or thrift shop and picking up some mismatched dishes that fit into your price range.
- PicMonkey Royale. I LOVE picmonkey. I edit all of my photo’s and make fun banners like the one above, using Picmonkey. They have a free service, but when you purchase the premium subscription, you can do so much more, and create all kinds of fun images. Picmonkey is also great for creating printables.
5. Rafflecopter Premium Service. If your blogging friend runs a lot of giveaways, look into gifting them a subscription to Rafflecopter. This is my personal favorite way to run a giveaway. They have a free version, which is what I use, but they also have different subscription levels, that make entering the giveaway so much easier for our readers with one click links to follow on social media, and pictures to show you exactly what the prize is you’re entering for!

6. Website Hosting and Domain Name. I’m sure you’ve all been to a blog that has a web address with .blogspot.com at the end. This just means the Blogger uses google’s blogging platform, and basically google owns it. Last year Mark purchased me my very own domain name http://www.homemaidsimple.com from GoDaddy. I got to drop the .blogspot and have more ownership of this site. I still use google’s blogger platform though I’ve been perusing self hosted wordpress for a year now. Through December 31st, GoDaddy is offering a domain .com transfer for only $7.99.

7. The Gift of Time. My friend Angelia, from Tim and Angi’s blog shared with me one gift that any blogger, no matter what they blog about, can appreciate, and that is the gift of time. To create quality content that our readers want to read, and will find useful in their life, it takes time. Sometimes I have to ask Mark to please take care of the kids, so I can shut our bedroom door and really think about what I’m writing, and sharing with you all. There are just some days, that trying to work with the kids playing on and around me is impossible (though most of my writing is done with a child cuddling on my lap). An offer to have my kids go play with friends would be a wonderful gift. Or bring my family dinner sometime, so I can have just a bit more time in my day.

Find some more ideas for your blogger friends at Shaping Up Your Blog and Eat, Pray, Read, Love

*this post contains affiliate links. You purchase through any of them help me grow my blog! It’s the last gift a blogger looking to make an income may ask for!*
December 9, 2013
Blogathon Bash Wrap Up #blogathon2

Wow! What a wild and crazy blogging weekend! I am so glad I participated in this blogathon. I got so much work done behind stage here at Home Maid Simple! I got some personal goals accomplished, like weeding through all my emails, organizing my schedule, writing up some rough drafts, brainstorming post ideas, and scheduling out some posts so I can spend more time with the family.

My favorite part of this blogathon though is how much I learned!! I sure hope you guys are ready for some awesome posts. Through the Mini Challenges I’ve now learned so much. My favorites that I’ll be using constantly though are these

– Printable Recipes! Now you’ll be able to print out Foodie Friday’s recipes.
– Photo Collages! I have wanted to figure this out for awhile, but had no idea where to start. Turns out it was really easy. Check out Picmonkey.com. No more huge pictures all in a line. Yay!
– Favicon. Ok this doesn’t benefit you guys so much, but I just think it’s cool. Look up at your browser tabs. See my cool new symbol? It’s the maid’s head. So now you can always get back to me when you go browsing elsewhere. Cool right? Ok maybe not for you, but I feel awesome.

Normally I take weekends off from blogging, but I’m glad I put a little more focus into it this weekend. I’ll be using many of the things I learned to make Home Maid Simple a better experience for you my readers. I spent approximately 10 hours this weekend blogging, learning, and having fun with my fellow blogathon participants. You guys rock!!

June 25, 2012
Blogathon Bash – Kick Off Post

This weekend I’m taking part in a Blogathon Bash. All weekend long a bunch of bloggers are taking time to focus on their blogs big time. Working on new posts, cleaning up blog designs, and promoting posts through social media outlets.

Here at Home Maid Simple, I’m going to focus on writing many posts and scheduling them out. This will give me more time to play with my kids, as the blog takes care of itself posting.

I will also be taking part in the mini challenges on the Blogathon blog. I’ve browsed through some of the challenges already, and I think I’m going to learn a lot about blogging, and making this a better place for you my readers!

During this event (and always really) I would love any tips, ideas from you all on what you’d like to see here at Home Maid Simple. Why do you visit this blog? What do you like reading about? Are there any posts you’d like to see? What can I do to keep you coming back?

You can contact me at familyroom2@gmail.com
or follow me on facebook or twitter

June 22, 2012
Spotlight on Tim and Angi’s Blog

Awhile ago I feature my bloggy friend Eschelle from Mumfection. Today I’m pleased to tell you more about another Bloggy friend Angi! We’ve connected through Blogelina’s facebook buddy groups, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her.

Keep reading to get a fun look at Angi, and then visit Tim and Angi’s blog for some great content!

About Tim and Angi’s Blog
Tim And Angi’s Blog is written by a mom and dad team. They live in a small country town in southern New Mexico with their two boys and two dogs. When Angi’s not blogging, she designs websites and print material. Tim works from home as a technical support agent. If that’s not enough to keep them busy, they also homeschool their boys.

1) If you were to re-live one moment in your life up to this point, what moment would that be?
I’m not sure if I’d want to re-live any particular moment as I’ve had many great moments. If I had to narrow it down, I’m sure it would be one of the firsts; first solo birthday party (my brother and I shared a party for many many years), first fight with a friend, first crush, first kiss, first baby kicks inside my tummy, first steps of the boys, or any one of a million other firsts in my life.

2) Funniest poop story… I know you have them.
I don’t actually have one. I’ve never walked around unknowingly with poop on my clothes. I’ve never seen poop just peeking out the top of a diaper. I’ve never sat in a restaurant with a little guy who’s grunting out a special surprise. Or maybe my mommy brain ate those stories.

3) What’s your favorite blog post you’ve written? link please!
Corn Dogs, Beef Jerky And a Sprinkle of Rain ( http://wp.me/pQxgf-F2 ) After writing about our trip to the county fair, I was surprised that a title came so easily. I had the post as private for a long time but recently removed the private status because it’s such a great post. Since it was private, there are no images breaking up the text. Maybe I should add some? Hmm…

4) What are your hobbies?
I usually try to turn my hobbies into a job so I can do what I enjoy. That’s why I design websites and print material. It’s why I blog. It’s why I read. It’s why we homeschool.

5) What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?
All of them. LOL. I would love to have a maid that just did it all but if I had to narrow it down to one, I’d say keeping the floors clean.

6) What story does your family always tell about you?
When I lifted a boy off the ground by his t-shirt. I was a 12 and this 9 year old boy was picking on my friend’s 7 year old brother. I told the 9 year old that he’d better straighten up or go home. He decided to grab my arm and twisted it as far around as my arm would go. I grabbed his shirt with that same arm, lifted him off the ground, and calmly told him that if I ever saw within 4 houses of mine, he would regret it. Thankfully, he heeded my warning and stayed away. I did pay for the incident with a very sore arm for a couple days but it was worth it to keep a bully away.

Thanks Angi for being my online bloggy friend!

May 17, 2012
Featured Blog – Mumfection

Some bloggy friends and I are in a group over on facebook and we thought it would be fun to do a little feature on each other. We all asked a few questions and now we get to see the answers!

Today I’m featuring Eschelle from the blog Mumfection

You can connect with Eschelle on facebook and twitter!

1) If you were to re-live one moment in your life up to this point, what moment would that be?
I think I would re-live one day back in high school around spring break so I know I won’t be in class. Why?? Cause I could and wouldn’t it be great to be a teen again?? Just for a day though…

2) Funniest poop story… I know you have them.
Eldest used it as play dough once in his crib, youngest used it as paint… gross… just gross…

3) What’s your favorite blog post you’ve written? link please!
This one is so hard! I would have to say it was one of my firsts describing a date hubby and I had. http://www.mumfection.com/2010/09/you-would-have-called-cab.html

4) What are your hobbies?
I paint using watercolors, HUGE movie buff, audiobooks I am soo HUGE on audiobooks. I would have to say that blogging would be a hobby but it would be more under the passion or “work” category.

5) What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?
Hands down, folding laundry, I loathe it!! In fact currently you can find a HUGE pile of clean clothes in my room and a pile of dirty ones. I hate folding so much I would rather hunt for kids’ socks in a MOUND of clothing than organize it. I should pay someone to do it for me…. Hubby also hates it, doesn’t work out so well for mum.

6) What story does your family always tell about you?
Oh umm… I dunno I don’t really talk to my family. I think my sister would tell stories about what a terror/demon I was. I have heard her describe me as both Lilo and Stitch, evil like stitch and morbid like lilo! I must have been a LOVELY little sister!

March 29, 2012
Diamond candles campaign for bloggers!

Looking to review some candles this holiday season? Looking for ways to bring the seasons scents into your home and your readers?
Diamond Candles Company is looking for bloggers to review and giveaway their Precious soy candles. These candles burn twice as long as normal candles, and when they’ve finished burning have a special surprise inside! What could it be? Each Precious candle contains a ring valued anywhere from $10 to $500!
To be a part of this blogging campaign visit here

December 4, 2011