WhirlyBird Granola GIVEAWAY

It's TIME for our first giveaway in December...and the first giveaway for our birthday bash! Hooray! Get ready to eat your heart out in GRANOLA...and even better, it's local (from Cincinnati)!

WhirlyBird Granola. I can't get over how cute their marketing is. Just go look at their website and you will see what I mean: burlap flag banners and birds that whirl. And it must be delicious, because Drew Lachey (brother of Nick Lachey and a Cincinnati native) eats it for breakfast.

I met up with Christy, the owner, at a Starbucks in Cincy to snag a few bags of Whirlybird and give it a whirl (pun intended!). She was really sweet and excited to be working with PD! Plus, she has three ADORABLE little kiddos, and you all know how much I love kids (in fact, as I'm writing this, I'm nannying a 12 week old infant! SO CUTE.). 

They currently have four flavors: Original, Vanilla Berry, Chocolate, and the seasonal Gingerbread. As far as my favorite flavor goes, I'm having a REALLY hard time choosing between Gingerbread and Chocolate.

WhirlyBird uses all natural ingredients and makes every bag in small batches. It is free from artificial flavors and preservatives, so that's a plus. It's also vegan friendly and incredibly delicious! Their website offers a lot of great, unique ways to eat granola besides just tossing it with milk or grabbing it by the handful (although that's not bad, either!).

Is your mouth watering yet?

I thought so. 

Here is what you need to do to win FOUR BAGS (one of each flavor) of WhirlyBird Granola.

Each thing you do is an entry. Please leave a SEPARATE COMMENT in the comment section for each thing you do or your entries won't be counted!

1. Follow Passing Daisies on Twitter and tweet "I just entered to win FOUR BAGS of @WhirlyGranola from @passingdaisies! Head to the blog and ENTER TO WIN now! #birthdaybash #giveaway"

2. Instagram a picture of this post (or a picture on it) and say "I just entered to win FOUR BAGS of Whirlybird Granola from @passingdaisies13! Head to the blog and ENTER TO WIN now! #birthdaybash #giveaway"

3. Pin this post on Pinterest and say "I just entered to win FOUR BAGS of Whirlybird Granola from @passingdaisies! Head to the blog and ENTER TO WIN now! #birthdaybash #giveaway"

4. Comment on the PD Facebook page and tell me how you would eat this granola. 

5. Follow PD on Google (right hand column, where it says "Followers" AND//OR subscribe to PD via email.

That's all she wrote, folks! Now get entering! Only people living in the United States can enter to win. Giveaway ends on FRIDAY DECEMBER 13TH at 11:59PM. Winner will be contacted by email.

EDIT// Giveaway now closed. Congrats for #4, Ray! Please email me your contact info.

DIY: Monogrammed Stool

Hey there, friends! Long time, no post. I can't believe I went nearly three months without posting. Oops.

To make up for my absence, I've got a really great DIY post for you today! I decided to make a monogrammed stool a while ago, and I ended up really loving it. It's mustard yellow, which is currently my favorite color, and goes nicely with my hipster/artsy style bedroom.

It's also really simple make! It does take a little bit of time, but it will be worth it in the end - I promise!

First, you're gonna need to get some paint. I used ordinary house paint, and I got one of those little sample size jars that cost around five bucks. You can get pretty much any color you want!

You're also gonna need an old stool. This one my mom found at the thrift store, I believe. It's really a chair that is missing all the back pieces (hence why you see holes around the edge), but I like it that way. I think it makes it look more rustic.

The first step is to paint the stool. It took me about three coats of paint to get the color I wanted. This is what takes time - be patient and let the paint dry completely before moving on!

Once your stool is dry, grab a sheet of the thickest sand paper you can find and start rubbing. Sand wherever you want and however much you want - this is the fun part! The sandpaper makes the stool look aged and worn...it basically gives the stool that "I'm-vintage-but-not-really" feel that people pay hundreds of dollars to have.

Once your stool is sanded, take a pencil and sketch your monogram in the middle. I just did a Google search for monogrammed letters and then copied the picture on my screen. This took a lot of time because I wanted the letters to look just right. 

The good thing about this part is that you can sand the pencil off if you mess up. I accidentally put the "E" in the middle the first time around, and my pencil didn't erase all the way. But after I went back and painted the letters and did some more sanding, you couldn't even tell I messed up. 

After you're done sketching your monogram, go back and fill in the lines with the paint color of your choice. I used a black paint pen, but anything should work. Sand your letters once they are dry if you want them to look aged. Then let your stool dry and TA-DA! You're finished!

Pretty easy, right? I thought so. It just requires some patience. 

Below is a list of all the materials I used.

Materials Needed:

Thick sandpaper

Wooden stool 

House paint in color of choice

Secondary paint in color of choice (for letters)

Newspaper (to put under the stool while painting and sanding)

Paintbrush

That's it, kiddos. Now go make that monogrammed stool you know you've always wanted. In return, I'll start blogging more often. 

I promise.