Top 5 Home Favorites | May 2018

Hey guys! Welcome to another post from my Happy Home series! Today I will be sharing 5 awesome products that we use and love in our home! I hope you find something you like and please be sure to let me know if you’ve tried any of these in the comments below!

Watch my TOP 5 HOME FAVORITES video here:

1. Lucero Smart Light Bulbs*:

 

Have you ever laid down in bed and gotten comfortable, only to realize you left the lights on…so you have to get back up? I hate when that happens. With Lucero Smart Light Bulbs, you don’t have to worry about that! You can control the lights in your home right from the app on your mobile device. What’s even cooler is all the extra things these light bulbs can do with the app like change colors, adjust the brightness, rotate through a series of colors at any speed, and so much more! The app includes some great presets you can use, or you can use it to customize your own!

How we use them: We use the light bulbs throughout our home to help set the mood and create a fun atmosphere. For movie lights, we choose fun colors on either side of the TV. In Avalynn’s Nursery, we usually set her lamp to pink or blue and dim the light quite a bit. This allows us to see her when we peek at her but not have so much light that she can’t sleep. In our room, we have two lamps on either side of the bed using the Lucero Light Blubs. I spend a lot of evenings working from my laptop so depending on my mood, the lights may be colorful or just normal (which is also an option). What’s neat is you can use the “normal” color and adjust between warmer light and cooler light. We also have one in the bathroom which is really nice for taking a shower at night without wanting super bright lighting. You can get a full demonstration of what the lights can do as well as how the app works in my video above.

2. Amazon Echo & Echo Dot:

We LOVE Alexa! She is used by our entire family! I will put together a more in-depth review on these devices in a future post to show some fun tips and tricks for using your Amazon Echo device to make life a little more fun and organize your home. But for now, I will highlight just a few (some of which you can see in action in the video above).

How we use these: The primary use for our Amazon device is to stream music from Amazon Prime Music. It’s commercial free (which is great because we play lullaby music every night for Avalynn) and they have an amazing selection of playlists by genre, artist, or type (kids stations and adults as well). I also use Alexa as an alarm clock, especially for napping. “Alexa, wake me up in 30 minutes,” seems to work much better than setting an alarm on my phone and hitting the snooze button for another hour. We use Alexa to check the weather, check traffic reports, play games, ask for help with recipes, and, of course, the boys LOVE to ask random questions. Lately they’ve been asking her all about snakes….eek! I have learned some things about snakes that I wish I could unlearn! Before that, Andrew was very interested in asking space questions and was able to learn quite a bit about outer space for his “trip to Mars!”

But overall, I really love these Amazon devices. I remember when I was young, I’d call in to the local radio station and request a song. Then, I would sit by my kid’s karaoke machine with a blank cassette tape for about an hour waiting to hear that song come on so I could record it. Now, I can just ask Alexa to play any song I want and instantly my music fills the room! Technology is pretty cool!

What does the little one do? The Echo Dot does all the same things that the full size does but it’s less expensive. The main difference is the quality and volume of sound. It still works great and its small size makes it really convenient to travel with since it fits easily into your bag.

Why do we have both? Having multiple devices also means that you can sync them together and stream music throughout the home at the same time. However, you are only able to do this if you stream the same channel. You can’t listen to Kids music via Amazon music on one device while simultaneously listening to Top Pop via Amazon music. This is my only complaint. You can upgrade your Amazon music to a paid account to allow multiple devices on one channel, or you can use a secondary music channel (like Pandora) that is compatible with the Alexa app at the same time. So there are options and you can definitely make it work.

The sound quality of the full size Echo is actually pretty awesome! I love listening to my music on cleaning days when my husband takes the kids out. And the new generation of these are really cool! They have done some awesome things with the design!

3. SnapPower Safelight LED Outlet Covers*:

While we lived in Utah, this was a local company and we saw them at a few trade shows. I was really excited to use the Safelights in our home. These are SUPER easy to install (watch the video above to see the process) and they work really well! We use them to light hallways and other high traffic areas in the home.

Since they use LED lights, it doesn’t take much electricity. The outlet plug areas have built-in child locks on them so you have to slide your plugs in order to use them. I love that they feature both safety and convenience and they actually put off more light than the hallway night light we had previously been using. If you are into ways to integrate smart solutions into your home, you’ll definitely want to check out SnapPower and browse their selection of products. They have several other options available like USB outlets and more!

4. Glitter and Go Scented Toilet Spray:

You have probably seen my husband posting about Glitter and Go scented toilet spray, but for those of you who don’t know…..this is our new business. He came up with the formulation himself and together we created fun branding and packaging that everyone loves! We wanted to do something that was not only useful but also fun so we tested hundreds of scent options and narrowed it down to these fun scents that no one else has: Cotton Candy Vibes, Livin’ the Dreamsicle, Razzle Dazzle Lemonade, and Fresh Apple Pie.

We’ve had them tested against competitors products by real customers and the feedback has been amazing! We were even featured in a Rhett and Link Video where they put Glitter and Go up against all the big companies in the industry and we were very pleased with the outcome!

As a mom of three and a pet owner, I love knowing this product is totally safe to use. So safe, in fact, that I actually use it in several different ways than it’s original purpose: car freshener, keeping in the diaper bag for baby “situations,” room freshener, and especially while traveling. My kids hate going into public bathrooms when we are out and Glitter and Go definitely does its job! My parents even used it to get rid of cigarette smoke in their rental car while they were visiting us! And like any family business, your purchase is much appreciated! Not only do our kids benefit from each sale, but Andrew has been part of the process. Last summer, he got to participate in the Children’s Entrepreneur Market (at age 4!) and sell Glitter and Go all by himself….and he did REALLY well and we were so proud of him! It reminded me of my childhood entrepreneurial ventures. Building a business while building a family is certainly not the easiest thing to do, but it is by far the most rewarding. I love setting an example for our kids to follow their dreams!

This stuff really works and it smells amazing- and fresh, just like the real thing. I didn’t want anything that smelled fake and I think my husband totally nailed each scent. It’s really cool to see all the great feedback we’ve gotten so far. Next stop, hopefully the shelves of Target! For now, it’s exclusively available from Amazon Prime and if you buy any, please let me know and I’ll send you something special in the mail!

5. Oxygenics Curve Shower Head*:

I had wanted to try a rain style shower head for awhile and then I had the opportunity to try this one. I absolutely love the Oxygenics Curve shower head! It’s so much bigger than a regular size one and the extra water is really nice. There are three settings: rain, waterfall, and high pressure. I usually use the rain setting but waterfall is also nice when rinsing shampoo or conditioner. I feel like this shower head has definitely improved the water pressure a bit! It’s by far my favorite that I’ve tried!

We have used it for almost 2 years and we really love it! My husband is 6’4″ and I’m 5’1″ and we love that it is adjustable so we can both easily wash our hair comfortably. Our boys really like it, too! It certainly transforms your regular shower into more of a home spa experience! The installation is also easy and quick with no extra support arm required. You can see a demonstration of how the shower head works in the video above. We highly recommend it!

Thanks for reading! What’s next?

Alright, that’s all for my Top 5 Home Favorites! Thanks so much for hanging out and checking out some of my favorite things! I hope you enjoyed the video and I would love to hear what home products you guys recommend! It’s fun to find cool new things, especially for the home!

p.s. In the next post for my Happy Home series, I’ll take you guys on a tour of my Home Office later this week!

Let me know what YOUR Home Favorites are

in the comments below!

 

FTC Disclosure: This post is not sponsored. Sometimes I receive complimentary items to review for my blog and Instagram. Those items are marked with a *. As always, all thoughts are my own! I also use affiliate links to help support my blog. Should you make a purchase through one of my links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support in helping me grow my blog is much appreciated!