Photo Displays, Water Bottles, and Sponsor Call!

Happy Friday!!!!  

We have lots to share today, so set back with your beverage of choice and enjoy some reading!  First, we decided to link up to the amazing Kelly's Korner today and show some ways that we display pictures around the house!  Courtney had this in her previous house in Durham, NC and is trying to figure out where she can recreate this in her new house up here in NJ.  The photo collage contains pictures of their family and is oh SO adorable, don't you think?

 I LOVE pictures and have lots scattered throughout the house because they just make me happy, but find it more difficult to display when you have little toddlers pulling everything off shelves and end tables!  Here are a couple ways that I display photos in our house.

In the picture on the left, I have displayed pictures on a window ledge in the dining room.  We had it empty for a long time and then one day I decided to put some pictures up there and I LOVE it (and for some lucky reason, the kids rarely pull these down!).  In the picture on the right, we have some wedding photos hanging right in our entry area/living room.  These black and white photos are my favorites!

One of my favorite DIY projects were these photo collages I made with some very simple Ikea picture frames!  These are usually hanging in our playroom (I have something that I need to fix on them so for the picture I just set them on the bookcase) above all our toys.  These pictures hold all my favorite shots of the boys from the past year and are a perfect addition to our playroom!

And for Friday Favorites today, it's going to be something really simple but oh so necessary to everyone's life.  A WATER BOTTLE!  I know that I need to drink more water, but for some reason, I just can't get myself to do it.  I was inspired when I was in Iowa visiting my bestie's house and she pulled one of these water bottles out of the refrigerator after our run.  Once I tried it out, I knew this may be the solution to my problem!  The Camelbak water bottle do NOT leak-important when you throw into your bag that goes everywhere you go.  It has a bite valve and allows you to drink from a straw, which I really like.  It has several pretty color choices (purple, blue, lime green, pink, orange, etc.).  And the water bottle is BPA free and shatterproof (important when you have little ones that manage to find their hands on everything you own)!
While I was out shopping in Iowa, I found a really cool Hawkeyes one that I just had to have to show my alumni spirit.  The next week, after returning home to New Jersey, I was out at Target with my two boys when little Andrew kept shouting for "wa-wa".  I handed him my water bottle, major tantrum started, water bottle was thrown to ground (unbeknown to be me), and this mommy knew it was time to get out.  We checked out and headed to our car (with some major toddler fussing, you all know what I'm talking about) and arrived home...with NO water bottle.  I was SO disappointed---no more Hawkeyes Camelbak water bottle.  So I immediately raced to Amazon and ordered this purple beauty (free 2-day shipping with Prime, thank you!) and I now own this purple beast (Purple Camelbak Better Bottle, 0.75 Litre):

And just so you know, Target called (after I left them a sad message about my water bottle) and they found my missing water bottle so now I own two of these amazing things.   So moral of this whole story---go get this water bottle, you will not be disappointed, and it will help you stay hydrated!!!

And last, but not least, for all our fellow bloggers out there, we do have some sponsor spots open for next month and are giving 50 PERCENT off for anyone interested if you use the code CHIRP50.  Click on our Sponsor Us page at the top for more information and send us an email at thechirpingmoms(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any questions!  We would LOVE to have you over here for the month of August!!!

PS: Today is the last day to enter our toddler skirt giveaway.  Check it out the tutorial and giveaway here---and maybe, just maybe, you will get inspired to do a little crafting this weekend!