LemonDrop Stop Photography Floordrops and Backdrops Review

I have owned my first dslr for several months now and I absolutely love it, but I still have so much to learn about photography! One thing I have learned is that the background of a photo can really make a difference. Since we no longer go to a photography studio for portraits I needed a professional looking background for in home photos. Browsing online I came across LemonDrop Stop who makes beautiful floordrops and backdrops for photography!

LemonDrop Stop has a wide variety of drops ranging from vintage to rustic and even many types of themed scenes. There are patterns, solids, faux woods and various fun bokeh patterns. These professional grade drops are made in canvas, poly paper or vinyl materials. They also are available in a variety of sizes to fit your needs. Pricing on LemonDrop Stop floordrops and backdrops are very reasonable making it extremely affordable for the amateur photographer, but still have the same great professional studio quality.

I am very honored to have the opportunity to review two of the LemonDrop Stop drops, the Golden Damask and A-Peeling White. The drops arrived in a thick cardboard tube which is perfect for storing when not in use. No need to worry that they will ever get damaged while kept in there! Both drops were printed on the polypaper material. Polypaper is the less expensive option at LemonDrops. The polypaper is really thick (and heavy!) and will not tear easily at all. It's water resistant to boot in case you have a drooling baby that you need to pat up after.

For the amateur photographer, the first thing you are probably thinking is how on earth you 'hang' the drops up to use them. I found a tutorial on Pinterest for a home made photodrop stand made with PVC piping. My husband picked up the necessary pieces (under $10) and took just a few minutes to cut and assemble. It easily breaks down and I keep it stored under my bed with my backdrops.

I first used the LemonDrop Stop drops in December for our Christmas photos. I had good intentions of sharing this review along with our photos earlier, but if you have read any the last few posts you know life has been pretty hectic here since November. I used the drops again for a Valentine theme with Cole and now I have even more photos to share!

 We used both drops for our Christmas pictures. As you know, it's a little difficult to get family pictures on your own! I loved the coloring of both the drops. The colors are so rich and added a nice touch to our annual Christmas photo cards this year.

Then I took a few photos of just Cole. These were so much fun!

For Valentine's Day theme I just used my faux wood drop A-Peeling White. Big brother was having a fit at the time (jealous??) so it was difficult to keep little brother in a good mood. I did get a few good pictures though.

This second picture was out of focus, but I just loved his little face and had to share :-)

I have had so much fun with my new photography backdrops and floordrops. The quality of the drops are impressive and realistic. My husband even commented on how real the faux wood drop looks in person and in the photos you can't tell at all. The polypaper drops do not produce glare in any type of lighting giving you the best photo each time. I am already looking forward to adding more drops to my collection, I'm in love with all the faux woods especially!


I highly recommend LemonDrop Stop Floordrops and Backdrops for everyone. You do not need to own a DSLR to even use these beautiful drops! Be sure to 'like' them on Facebook and sign up for their newsletter to keep up to date about new drops and sales. After browsing their website and if you are having a difficult time deciding on which drops to purchase, take a look on their Facebook wall for more inspiration. There are some really talented photographers who share their photos continually on there.

Product mentioned in review was provided complimentary and I paid for shipping. Opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.

Make Quilting & Crafting a Breeze with a GO! Baby {Review}

Every quilter and fabric crafter knows that the most time consuming part of a project is prepping and cutting the fabric. This is also the most important step because pieces cut incorrectly can cause some serious issues once you are attempting to put it all together. To the experienced quilter and crafter spending money on a quality item that will save time and provide accurate cutting is invaluable (and if you are like me it will save you from pulling out your hair!). I am so excited that I have found just that in the GO! Baby Fabric Cutter!

Accuquilt makes the GO! Baby Fabric Cutter, a unique easy to use hand crank cutter. It is portable and simple to set up for use. This amazing cutter makes preparing your fabrics for a project fun!

Key features of the GO! Baby:

• Consistent, accurate cuts - up to 6 layers at a time
• 90% faster than rotary cutters or scissors
• Lightweight (only 8 lbs./ 8 1/4" tall) and portable, it folds to store and closes with a magnetic latch. The easy-lift carrying handle makes it easy to take to classes, guild meetings, retreats and quilting bees.
• Compatible with more than 60% of GO! dies
• Creates perfect applique in the turn of a handle
• Reduces fabric waste
• Comfortable roller handle grip is easy and safe; eliminating arthritis, wrist, backaches, shoulder and elbow pain caused by using a rotary cutter
• Wide selection of GO! Baby dies allow the creation of unlimited projects - the possibilities are endless!
• Minimal space needed for storage
• Portable - no electricity or batteries needed
• The design is innovative and easy to clean with a high gloss exterior surface and a neutral, light-colored work surface.

I was sent the GO! Baby plus 3 dies  with the corresponding mats. It was such a difficult decision to pick out which 3 dies I wanted to try out. I finally decided on the basic set, the GO! Value Die. This is a perfect die to own because squares and triangles are so versatile in many quilts and craft projects.  Then I chose a couple of applique dies, the Rose of Sharon by Sharon Pederson and the GO! Fall Medely. Obviously with fall here the Fall Medely is perfect for several crafts and I fell in love with the Rose of Sharon as soon as I saw it because I could envision on the girly things I could make with it.

Now let me demonstrate how crazy simple the GO! Baby is to use!

Cut out your scraps of fabric to cover the shapes you want to cut out. I used only one layer of fabric here because I ironed fusing to the back first which makes it a bit thicker. You can cut up to 6 layers of regular cotton fabric at once.

Lay the correct size of mat over your cutting template before you run through the GO! Baby.

Run the template through the GO! Baby by turning the handle. This was very simple to do and it did not take a lot of strength to do this.

Enjoy your newly cut pieces and start sewing!

I have had so much fun with my GO! Baby the last few weeks. I now how essential this machine is for crafters and quilters. The GO! Baby saves an enormous amount of time and energy. If you are a Mommy, you know how valuable your time is anyway and how little of it we have to spend doing and making things we love. Owning a GO! Baby gives us more time to create which keeps Mommy happy :-)

Check out the cute items below and stay tuned for step by step tutorials for these as well as a GO! Baby Giveaway!

 I received the items mentioned in the review complimentary. All thoughts and opinions of the products are my own. No other compensation was received to conduct this review.

Holiday Photo Tips

Wow, it's already that time of year again when I'm starting to make plans for our Christmas photos! Back in 2007 we purchased a new pre-lit Christmas tree and since then we started the tradition of taking our family photo in front of it. I start planning our outfits several weeks ahead of time so that way if I'm searching for something in particular I can usually find it with no problem. The past 2 years the guys have had matching ties which I have picked up earlier in the year online for a great price.

I have a few tips to make your Holiday photo turn out great:

•  Opt for solid colored clothing and minimal patterns. Matching ties for all the guys is a great idea!
• Take your photo in the morning when everyone is well rested to eliminate crankiness :-)
• If you attend church services, a Sunday morning is a great time to take the photo because you need to dress up anyway. Just be sure to plan ahead the night before so you can make sure you give yourself extra time to take the photos before you need to head out of the door.
• Open the window blinds slightly to allow natural light filter in. You may need to take a photo or two to adjust this and see what turns out best.
• Be sure to clear the nearby area of clutter or furniture. As you can tell I didn't move the couch over enough for our 2010 photo! (I'll just blame that on the pregnancy brain!)
• Who ever is holding the little one(s) can give them a little tickle or spin them around right before the camera takes a photo to get their best smiles.

2007 

(we just found out that day we were expecting our first baby!)

2008

2009

2010

(pregnant with our little Cole!)

After taking the photos you can use a free photo editing program such as Picasa or Picnik to adjust coloring, lighting or cropping as needed. Editing a photo can make a huge difference!

Next you get to browse online for the perfect Holiday cards to upload your photo to. I love sending out customizable photo cards at Christmas and I'm impressed with all the new styles of cards available at Tiny Prints this year. My very favorite is the new cards that look like Christmas ornaments. They even have a silk ribbon so you can hang them on the tree.

Here is our photo from last year in the Whispering Snowflake themed card. I love it!

I'm also drawn to the square shaped Holiday cards, like this China Pattern in Spanish Red.

With so many new different styles available this year I'm going to have a difficult time deciding which one I like best!  I hope my Holiday photo tips help make your family photo even better than the year before.

Tiny prints is giving me 50 complimentary Holiday Cards in exchange for this review and no other compensation was received. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Day Out with Thomas Review

Peep! Peep! We just got back from a Day Out with Thomas at the Oklahoma Railway Museum and had a great time. Ethan loves Thomas (and trains in general thanks to Daddy!) and I knew he would love to meet him up close. I was lucky to get the opportunity to be a Day Out with Thomas Mommy Reporter and take my whole family to this event. You may have even caught some of my Tweets leading up to the day and during the event while we were there.

We arrived an hour and a half before our scheduled departure on Thomas so we could enjoy all the fun things you could do at Day Out with Thomas. First we saw Sir Topham Hatt and got photos taken with him. Ethan was kind of leery of him but quickly recovered when Daddy stayed by his side. 

Imagination Station had different kinds of Thomas trains to play with which obviously was the hot spot of the event. We let Ethan play with the trains for a while. The tent next to us had the live music that we could hear while Ethan played.

Next we headed to the car that had storytelling. Ethan loves being read to so this was right up his ally.

Some of the cars even had model trains set up in them which was a part of the Oklahoma Railway Museum. I can't believe all of the detail that goes into these!

On our way over to get our pictures taken with Thomas we stopped by to get Ethan a Thomas tattoo.

We waited for a few minutes for Thomas to arrive. Here he comes!

Us with Thomas. (I have no clue why I wasn't looking at the camera)

Next we lined up for our departure on Thomas! We were so excited to be on the train and couldn't wait for Thomas to push off.

After we left the station the attendant came to get our ticket stubs. He was super nice and stopped to talk to Ethan for a few minutes.

During the train ride we saw mainly green scenery and a few houses.

At the end of the ride Ethan received a Jr. Engineer Certificate which he was really proud of.

Overall this was a great event and one of the best children events we have been to. It was definitely not an "overly commercialized" event and very laid back, but clearly well organized. There was plenty to do without being overwhelming for little ones. This is one event we will be sure to attend again!

I was given complimentary tickets in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received.

The All New Formula Moon Dough Review

A few months back we bought Ethan some Moon Dough. I have to admit, it was a nightmare. It was the most crumbly mess! After he played with it the first time it went in the trash and I vowed to never let it come into our house again. Just recently I heard about the all new formula and decided to give it another chance.

We were sent the Moon Dough Push 'N Pop Ocean Pals set to play with. This set includes 2 generous sized Moon Dough packs (green and purple) in resealable plastic bags, 3 Push & Pop Tools, Twisty Animal Molds and a cute under the sea themed mat to cut your shapes out on. 

Ethan couldn't wait to get the package open and get started! The Moon Dough is extremely soft and pliable which makes it easier to work with than other doughs for smaller children. The new formula was really much better and didn't crumble much. I do suggest not leaving it out for a long period of time because this will make it dry out a bit. We accidentally left it out for a couple of hours when we left the house to go somewhere and when we got home it was more crumbly and difficult to work with because it fell apart easier.

I was really impressed with the 3 Push & Pop Tools! They have a nice springy action that made it easy for a younger child to use and still get decent looking cut outs.

 The Twisty Animal Molds were fun too and added even more details to the ocean scene.

Ethan had a great time using his new Moon Dough play set and Mommy didn't pull out her hair from a big mess when he got done! You can purchase the Moon Dough Push 'N Pop Pals sets for $9.99. Moon Dough is available at Toys "R" Us, Target, Walmart, Kmart, Amazon.com, A.C. Moore, Michaels and eToys.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own and are not swayed by any monetary or product compensation. Moon Dough generously provided me with the items mentioned in the review through Team Mom and no other compensation was received. O