2014 Ultimate Blog Party! #UBP14

This is my party post for for the 2014 Ultimate Blog Party! I am excited to be involved and make some new blogging friends!

A little about Michelle's Pixie Dust...

I started Michelle's Pixie Dust in 2012. I can't believe it's been two years already! I started this blog as a way to display my DIY projects. For my one year blogiversary, I wrote a more detailed post about my first year of blogging. You can read that HERE.

Ultimately, this blog has grown to be a reflection of me. I post about whatever is going on in my life at that time. Sometimes I am really into Cooking and finding new recipes, other times I am into Craft Projects and upcycling. My career is counseling, so I have posted different Creative Therapy Projects. Sometimes I post about parenting and my family life. Right now I am pregnant, so readers will find a lot of Pregnancy Posts!

At present, I am 28 years old. I have been married since 2012 to a wonderful, wonderful man. I have a son who is 13 years old (which if you are quickly doing the math, makes me a very young mama) and I am expecting my daughter to arrive in August of this year. I have two little dogs, Mustang and Stella, they are chiweenies and are completely our babies. We recently adopted a stray cat, Walter, who is sweet and sneaky and possesses all of those other cat-like qualities. I will graduate in less than a month with a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. And I still have yet to figure our exactly what a want to do for a career.

Sometimes I am a "bad blogger". Sometimes I don't post frequently or update my social media. One time I let my URL expire...As much as I love blogging, it usually falls at the bottom of my priority list. I get caught up with family and work and life (as many of you can relate)!

So thank you for stopping by my little piece of the internet and I hope you enjoy some of the things you read here. I love to connect with my readers, so please comment me and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Blog Partying!

Trending: The Writer's Block Rescue and Ronan Farrow

Sometimes...only sometimes...I don't have a recent craft to display or recipe to share. Sometimes...I am fresh out of "words of wisdom" and cleaver anecdotes. Sometimes...I know I want to blog about something, I just don't know what.

This happened to me today. True story. Like 30 minutes ago.

So I thought to myself, "why not see what's trending and write something about that? Gosh Michelle, you are so smart. And I bet you are the first blogger ever to think of this idea. Your post is going to get a million views!"

I am very confident I am not the first blogger to think of this. Just as I was not the first blogger to make a holiday wreath or use owls in Christmas decor. But my hope is that this post will reach someone who has not heard this idea and to help spark a little creative writing.

• How to I find what's trending?

• Go to Google. Type in "Google Trends". You will be taken to a whole world of trending.
• Twitter. Hashtags. Left side bar.
• What the Trend (whatthetrend.com)

Once you find what's trending, write about it. For example, the top trend on Google Trends this evening was Ronan Farrow. I have no idea who that is. Who is Ronan Farrow?

Ronan Farrow is a human rights activist. I thought he was a movie star. Now I am embarrassed. According to his Wikipedia Page, he is also a freelance journalist, lawyer and government official. And he looks pretty handsome. 

He has actually lived quite an amazing life. I highly recommend checking out his page and learning more about him. He was a child prodigy and went to Yale University at age 15. He is trending today due to talks of hosting an MSNBC show. So interesting! 

In conclusion, I hope this blog post has helped at least one person with the dreaded blogger writer's block. Thanks for reading! 

Information on trending gathered from Make Use Of.

Holy Blogging! It's been one year!

I have to admit, the creation of Pinterest led to my blogging. It was about one year ago when my sister introduced me to the site, and I spent hours looking at projects and recipes. I looked at all of the cool and creative blogs these pins came from and I thought, "I want one of those too!". 

I promise you that there are much better blogs out there than mine. Blogs with better photos, higher quality posts, better page organization and more frequent posting, but I didn't start this blog to be the best. I started this blog to share ideas with people and because honestly, I love when people tell me that the stuff I create looks awesome or that I have good ideas. The attention does feel amazing! 

I can't even begin to tell you how much I have learned about blogging in the past year! I have learned to network with other bloggers, I have learned blog promotion, HTML coding and much more about photo editing than I ever expected to. I have used programs that I had never heard of before (Rafflecopter, InLinkz) or for that matter, I never knew they existed. I am proud that I taught myself these skills that are sure to be beneficial in other aspects of my life as well. 

I have made some great blogger friends and received incredibly valuable advice from other bloggers. I have also seen the nasty and mean side of blogging, where people have made fun of my projects or tried to virtually bully some of my blogger friends. It is a learning experience on how to ignore hurtful comments and grow thicker skin. 

I am amazed everyday to look at my blog and how far it has come. My heart is happy when I see 100 page views per day on my stats (when I first started I would be so psyched about 10 per week). I can't believe sometimes that people are actually out there, reading what I write. I have gotten opportunities to do things that are so cool and fun (like product reviews or help host giveaways). This little blog has opened up a whole new passion for me. 

So, thank you. YOU. Whoever is reading this. Without people reading this little blog of mine, it just wouldn't be the amazing thing it has become. I am very grateful! 

Cheers to 1 year and many more!

Blogger Secret Santa: Part 2

When I got home from work today, I got my special package from Secret Santa #2! I don't know how I got so lucky! 

My gift is from Ashley at Oh Wells Instead of What Ifs.

She got me this beautiful Owl Cuff and super cute notepad! She is so thoughtful and knew how much I love anything owl. Thank you so much Ashley!

I am linked up at: http://messydirtyhair.com/2012/12/the-secrets-out.html

Secret Santa: Part 1

Hi Everyone! I was so excited to get a chance to participate in the Blogger Secret Santa Swap!

Here is the wonderful gift I received from Tricia at Today with the Tennery's:

My goofy son immediately stole one of my hand sanitizers, we love those! 

I got to be the secret santa for Brenna over at Perfectly Imperfect Mom. I know she hasn't been blogging lately due to the passing of her mom and dad. My thoughts are with her, I can't imagine such a loss.

I put together a little package for her that included an owl earing and necklace set, some Christmas socks, peppermint Christmas chapstick and a sticky note meal plan organizer (there may have been more, but I can't remember...I should have taken a photo). 

I call this Part 1 because I got a special email from someone stating that I have another gift on the way! I am very excited!

Linked up at: http://messydirtyhair.com/2012/12/the-secrets-out.html

Pin It, Tweet It, Like It, Love It!

This is a collection of the wonderful links I have found with instructions on how to add these nifty little buttons to every post...

For the "Pin It" button:

http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2012/04/add-pinterest-it-counter-button-to.html

For the "Tweet" button:

http://www.bloggersentral.com/2010/11/add-twitter-tweet-button-to-blogger.html

For the Facebook "Like" button:

http://www.simplebloggertutorials.com/2010/05/how-to-add-facebook-like-button-in.html


If you want to align all of these buttons with a single code, look at the code on this page:

http://www.bloggersentral.com/2012/01/aligning-google-1-twitter-and-facebook.html

I hope these links are useful!

Searching for Sponsors: SNAP! Conference

I have never been to a blogger conference and I have been dying to go to one for a while! Unfortunately I don't have the extra money in my budget for a conference ticket, hotel stay and travel. I came across an article the other day about bloggers who get sponsors to go to conferences. Logically, I think my chances of finding a sponsor are pretty slim. However, I thought it would be interesting to blog about my journey.

What is SNAP? 


"There is something a bit different about being a creative blogger…Instead of dissecting life and examining the pieces like many online writers, we’re busy dreaming, sharing and building things up.We inspire one another and when we connect in ways that comfort and sustain, it is something truly extraordinary.

That is why we launched SNAP – a community where imaginative bloggers can come together; learn from one another and walk away invigorated.

The hallmark of this community? A three-day conference April 18-20, 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah, targeting the best bloggers representing modern handmade, contemporary craft, mind-blowing events and DIY.

Take a step away from your busy life and join us for lots of laughter, hugging and replenishment. You’ll walk away with a stronger sense of community, enhanced skills and an even greater sense of self."

Step one: Learn what a media kit is and create one.

I did some research about media kits. Basically, these are one page sheets that give a rundown of your blog and your stats (followers, page views). Here's what mine looks like:

Step Two: Develop A letter to send out to potential sponsors.

What your letter should include:

• Who you are and where you blog
• Information about the conference
• A request for sponsorship
• Why you think this company would be a good sponsor
• What you can do for the company (promotional ideas)

Step Three: Look for and contact sponsors!

I am in the process of doing this now. I have been going to different sites that I feel fit the "brand" of my blog. I have been looking for PR contacts to send emails to.

I will continue to post about this adventure! Does anyone have any other ideas?

Blogging Basics: Button Code

For me, one of the most challenging parts of blog design is all of the codes! I have taken one web class back in 2005 (?). They briefly touched on web design and coding. In this post I will talk about two things:

1. Button Code to send to others
2. Button Code for a "grab my button" box.

The first thing you will need to do is design your image. You can use Photoshop or Picmonkey or another photo site. In my experience, most buttons are usually sized 150x150. Some sites might ask for different sizes. Here's a picture of what this means on Picmonkey:

Once you have your image you will need to "host" it somewhere. Basically that means post it online. I have done two different things. I either:

1. Upload my button pic to my "about me" section and then right click for the image URL

2. Upload my button pic to Photobucket.

Once you have your image uploaded somewhere you can make the code.

This is by far the best site I have found as far as a code generator is concerned:

http://www.mycoolrealm.com/sandbox/gbgen/

All you have to do is follow the instructions! 

1. Enter your website name

2. Enter your website address

3. Copy and paste your image URL (either right click on uploaded pic or copy and paste the direct link on Photobucket)

4. I usually click Textarea because I use blogger.

5. Click to preview your code.

(If you are generating a code to email to someone, you can stop here and copy and paste your code).

6. If you are making a "grab my button" box, then continue and click "get code". Scroll to the bottom of the page to get your full code.

To enter the code into your blog (for Blogger) go to your Layout, click "add a gadget", choose "add HTML".

Copy and paste the code, save it, move it where you want it...and...Ta-da! You have a "grab my button" box!

Hope this helps! Feel free to email me with any questions and I will try to answer them!

Blogging Basics: Facebook Like Button

To follow up with my post about the Twitter buttons, I decided to give some information about the Facebook "like" button as well. Sometimes it's easier for someone dropping by your page to just click the like button. I think it's a good way to get more page likes...and let's admit it...sometimes we can get a little lazy :)

Here's the quick link to the button site on Facebook:

http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/

Follow the instructions to design your button. Then copy and paste the HTML into your layout. Hope this helps! :)

Blogging Basics: Twitter Buttons

This may be common knowledge for more established bloggers, but for beginning bloggers like myself, every bit of information I can get about blogging is helpful!

The more I visit other blogs, the more features I notice for social networking sites. I immediately get a case of blog envy and want to figure out how I can have the same thing! 

I did a little investigation on Twitter and here are the instructions to add all of those easy to access little links!

https://twitter.com/about/resources/buttons#follow

Copy and paste the HTML code into your layout and there you go! I hope this was helpful for some of you :)