DIY Peppermint Spice Lip Balm

I love this DIY Peppermint Spice Lip Balm!  I intended to make it for gifts, but I ended up keeping it for myself!

It's so easy to make too!  Here's what you do:

Melt the following in a saucepan:

• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon beeswax beads
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa butter

When everything has turned to a liquid state, add 3 drops peppermint oil.  Pour into desired container (I used an old tin from a pack of mints.)

Enjoy!

Gift Card Mall Makes Christmas Shopping Easy #Givebetter

There is always someone on the Christmas list who is hard to buy for.  For me, it's my husband.  I never have any ideas!  If I do buy him something, he ends up returning it because it's not something he could use.

Instead of buying a gift that will only get returned, GiftCardMall.com will help me #Givebetter by giving a gift card!

GiftCardMall.com offers a wide range of gift cards that can be used online or in-store at their respective retailers.  You can also customize many of the gift cards with photos and images!  How fun is that?

If you're sending a gift card long-distance, you can have it delivered directly to the recipient.

I love the fact that I can get a gift I know will be enjoyed, all without changing out of my pj's.

Who do you have the hardest time shopping for?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of GiftCardMall.com for Sverve.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Free Christmas Printable

I made this Christmas printable back in November and promptly forgot about it until now!

Better late than never, right?

Download Here

Why I Don’t Get Up Early

Read any book or blog post on time management and productivity, and chances are pretty good you will be told to get up early.

I agree – getting up early helps my days run more smoothly and helps me be more productive.

But I don't get up early, and I have a very good reason.

Right now is not the right season of life for me to be getting up early.

I have a 3 week old baby.  She's doing really well with sleeping, but nonetheless I am still running on too little sleep.

A lack of sleep is a large contributor to imbalanced hormones.  Imbalanced hormones are almost a surefire way to send me right back into chronic fatigue.  I don't want to go there.

I could beat myself up for not toughing it out and getting up and getting going on my day.  Or I could recognize that there are seasons of life and get the proper rest until this season passes.

What season are you in? Are you feeling guilty because other moms seem to do so much more than you do?  Do you need to recognize the season of life you are currently in, and do what's right for you at this time?

You're not them, and they're not you.  It's okay to sleep in.  In fact, it may be more than okay – it may be good.

Do you have little ones who won't sleep in?  Sleep as long as you can in the morning and take a nap in the afternoon.

There will be a time and a place to get lots done. Maybe now is not that time and place.

For more information on sleep and other factors which can help you overcome fatigue, check out my new ebook, Farewell, Fatigue: How I Overcame Chronic Fatigue the Natural Way.

How much sleep do you get? Did you realize sleep plays such a vital role in keeping your hormones balanced?

How to Practice Safe Babywearing

Taking 4 kids to the grocery store, to the park, etc. is a little challenging, and it is definitely nice to have my hands free while still cuddling my newborn.

But there are some things about safe babywearing that I didn't realize, and perhaps some of you didn't know these things either. Boba is helping to spread awareness of how to practice safe babywearing.

Because an infant's hip socket is still developing, wearing baby incorrectly can cause a condition known as hip dysplasia. This condition occurs when the baby's hips become dislocated or misaligned.

Hip dysplasia has several different causes, and therefore cannot be 100% prevented; however, wearing your baby in the correct position can go a long way toward reducing your child's risk of developing it.

To carry baby correctly, he should be facing toward you and his knees should be higher than his rear. When a baby's legs are left to dangle or when his knees are at a lower level than his bum, his spine and hips are unsupported and can be injured.

An outward facing position is not good for mom's spine either as it throws the weight of the baby forward, leaving your spine to compensate.

This article at bobafamily.com explains the consequences that outward facing baby carriers have on baby's spine and hips a lot more in-depth.

You can also find a lot of information on hip dysplasia in general at hipdysplasia.org.

I've also created a Pinterest board dedicated to safe babywearing that you can check out:

I think I would be inclined to wear my babies a lot more often now that I know how much better an inward facing carrier is for their development and for my aching back! Boba is the only company that exclusively sells products that leave baby facing inward. I sure have been enjoying lots of sweet snuggle time with my 2 week old, but an inward facing carrier would make it a little easier.  

To learn more and connect with Boba, “Like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Boba. The opinions and text are all mine.

Why You NEED to Be Using Affiliate Links as a Blogger

If you missed the last post about my favorite affiliate companies – the ones I've found to be easy to promote and high-paying – you really should check that out.

But in this post I want to explain why every blogger who's trying to maximize their time NEEDS to be promoting affiliate links.

1. Quick posts on social media (takes maybe a minute to grab a link from Amazon?) perform really well. A brand new blogger might earn 50 cents from that link. If you have a large social media following, you can earn $10 or more. For 1 minute of work people! If that's not maximizing your time I don't know what is! I shoot for 1 – 2 product links on my page per day. As long as I'm posting other high-quality content throughout the day, no one is going to care. Honestly, people like it because I'm helping them get a great deal on something that is relevant to them.

2. Blog posts with affiliate links in them provide passive income. Make your posts evergreen – something that can be revisited and re-shared until the end of time – and include relevant affiliate links. Do you blog about fun kids' activities? Tell people where you got the supplies, or link to your favorite brand of markers, or whatever. Every time that post gets re-shared on social media, you've got a whole new set of potential clickers on your affiliate links. Passive income is the most time-efficient way to earn that I know of!

If you're trying to earn blog income on a minimal amount of time, you NEED to be using affiliate links!

What would you add?  Are there any other ways you've found to earn with affiliate links AND maximize your time?