Giveaway Archives - Laughing Lindsay

Five Star Notebinder and Ultimate Tech Backpack Review

July 28, 2016 By Lindsay 76 Comments

It’s hard to believe, but it’s back to school time and this year, I’m heading back to the classroom with the new Five Star Notebinder!

Disclosure: I was provided with Five Star®products for review and Five Star® is providing the giveaway items. All opinions are my own.

Five Star Notebinder

Being a teacher means that I adore school and office supplies. Needless to say, I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to get my hands on the new Five Star Notebinder and the Ultimate Tech Backpack for the upcoming school year. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint.

The Five Star Flex Hybrid Notebinder is a the multi-tool of organization. Its stylish cover folds over and lays flat like a notebook. This is great for small spaces and transportation purposes. It’s not bulky like binders typically are.

The real magic of the Five Star Notebinder is the fact that it works like a binder. The Notebinder has rings that can be opened to add paper and dividers. It comes with 80 sheets of paper but can hold up to 200 sheets. It also comes with 5 pocket dividers. So, it comes with the necessary items for organizing the Notebinder but you can also customize it to fit your needs.

I love my Notebinder. I like that the rings are sturdy without being metal things that clamp shut. These seem safer to me as they are plastic that snap into one another. I also love that the Notebinder is thin like a notebook but more useful like a binder. It’s a beautiful thing! I can’t wait to put mine to use this school year.

Ultimate Tech Backpack

You may recall that about a year ago exactly, I introduced you to the Expandable Binder and backpack from Five Star. I am still loving my binder and using it to store my coupons. I also received the Expandable Backpack, which I love. This time, I was sent the new Ultimate Tech Backpack! It seems similar to the backpack I already have in terms of appearance and quality. However, this backpack has padded compartments that protects laptops and other technology.

The backpack also features 3 external cord ports for listening to music and charging devices. The main compartment expands up to 4 inches and it will fit laptops up to 17 inches! Wow! What a great laptop backpack! Plus, I’m loving the cobalt blue color.

Five Star continues to make high-quality durable products that you can’t find elsewhere. They continue to impress me with their creative products and bright designs. I think both the Five Star Notebinder and Ultimate Tech Backpack fit the brand perfectly as they are useful and pretty!

Five Star Expandable Binder and Backpack #FiveStarBTS

July 27, 2015 By Lindsay 92 Comments

Recently, I received a very handy Five Star Expandable Binder and Backpack. I’m so happy to share these two products with you as they make a great addition to your back to school shopping lists.

Disclosure: I was provided four Five Star®products, two for review and two for a giveaway to my readers, by Five Star®. All opinions are my own

Five Star Expandable Binder

It’s hard to believe, but now is the time to start making those back to school supply purchases. If you’ve got an older kid heading off to school or you need some durable supplies, I’ve got the 411 on the products you need. I’m very excited to introduce two new items from Mead Five Star, both of which are expandable items that can hold lots of objects!

First up, there’s the Five Star Expandable backpack. This is truly an adult-sized backpack with all of its expandable storage space. Coming in three colors and expanding up to 7 inches, this backpack is for those of us who have lots to carry. Plus, it has a separate compartment for laptops (up to 16 inches). I also love that it has unique ergonomic straps that distribute weight evenly. I keep thinking about how handy this would have been in college. It would have made lugging all of my books across campus so much easier and safer.

The other item I keep mentioning is the new Five Star Expandable Binder! This binder has so many wonderful features. For starters, it has an expandable pocket on the front of it that can allow you to carry your planner (among other things). It even has a great organizer file system inside and it can be carried three (3) different ways! Plus, let’s not forget the super useful zipper that keeps everything from falling out.

The new Five Star Expandable Binder would be perfect for many uses. High school students will like it because it looks cool while giving them a neat way to carry their essentials (including their electronics). College students will fall in love with it for many of those same reasons plus it’s super easy to carry around campus. I love it because it makes the perfect coupon binder! I just upgraded mine to this and it’s working out beautifully. From being easy to grab and carry and storing the coupons safely, I couldn’t ask for a better binder.

If you enjoy talking about organizational products, learning back to school tips, or just want to win some fabulous Five Star products, then clear your calendar now. On August 4, 2015 from 3-4 pm, the @MeadFiveStar handle will be hosting a Twitter Chat! Several prize packs containing Five Star®school supplies will be given away during this hour. Anyone who uses the hashtag #FiveStarBTS will be entered to win.

How to Reuse Plastic Bottles with Johnson and Johnson Care to Recycle

February 10, 2014 By Lindsay 52 Comments

Have you ever wondered how to reuse plastic bottles after they are empty? Do you already recycle your plastic products? Growing up, we recycled our plastic. In fact, my mom used to volunteer at the town’s recycling facility. So, recycling is a cause that is close to my heart. However, I must admit that I haven’t been as good at recycling things since I’ve moved out. So, when I received an email about reusing things, I knew I had to share.

Disclosure: I received a package of complimentary Johnson & Johnson products.

How to Reuse Plastic Bottles

While 7 out of 10 Americans say they always or almost always recycle, only 1 in 5 Americans consistently recycle in the bathroom. Many consumers don’t even realize that most products commonly used in the bathroom, such as shampoo, lotion and cleanser bottles, can be recycled.

Each year, Americans throw away enough 15-oz. shampoo bottles to fill 1,164 football fields—that’s 18,000 tons of plastic ending up in landfills. So, this can have a major impact on the environment.

To help make a difference, Johnson & Johnson is launching CARE TO RECYCLE™, a recycling campaign that encourages people to recycle more items from the bathroom. The Care to Recycle website includes helpful information and tips on what can and can’t be recycled and an infographic with additional statistics on bathroom-product recycling.

I found some of those statistics to be very surprising. I hate how much we waste. So, I’m excited to share these next couple of ideas with you. If you don’t know how to reuse plastic bottles and have never done it, then I’ve got some great ideas for you. If you’ve done it before and have other tips, please let me know them in the comments. These are just some great ones to get you started.

Most of the ideas on how to reuse plastic bottles consist of cutting the top off of it and using it for storage. However, the container could also be used to amplify the volume of the speakers on your cell phone or as a gardening shovel. So, do you have any other ideas for repurposing plastic bottles?

2023 Update: I have found it to be easier to recycle the plastic bottles by keeping a little recycling bin in my bathroom. It’s beside the trashcan, so it’s easy to just toss it in whenever I empty a bottle. This has helped me to recycle a lot more plastic! Additionally, we are very lucky that are our town starting offering a recycle pickup program. So, we just collect our recycling and put it out every other week. I highly recommend looking into recycling programs near you!

The Smores Cookbook by Susan Whetzel

August 21, 2013 By Lindsay 88 Comments

Right before I attended the Mixed Conference last year, I learned of a fellow southwestern Virginia blogger. Her name is Susan Whetzel and she blogs at She’s Becoming Doughmesstic (which is a lovely food blog that makes me jealous of her skills). She was actually one of the conference founders, but I didn’t get a chance to really chat with her much during the conference. Nonetheless, I could tell she was really nice and I was thrilled when I learned that she had written The Smores Cookbook. It just came out this summer and I’m happy to tell you more about it.

Smores Cookbook

It’s kind of sad, kind of funny. Susan lives about 1.5 hours away from me. However, I had to go to Chicago to see her again. Haha! While I was in Chicago, I was lucky enough to be able to attend Susan’s The Smores Cookbook event at the Hard Rock Chicago. You probably saw me Tweeting about all of the chocolate-y goodness on Saturday night since Hershey’s was kind enough to sponsor the little get together. Long story short, I won a very nice s’mores gift basket and Susan gave me 2 signed copies of her new book! Yay! So, I’m going to keep 1 for myself and I’m giving the other away to a lucky reader.

In case you aren’t already hooked just by hearing that it’s called The Smores Cookbook and need more info, let me fill you in. The Smores Cookbook features all kinds of s’mores recipes. Think of things like S’mores Chocolate Bread Pudding, Crock-Pot S’mores Brownies, Chocolate Graham Pancakes, and S’mores Eclairs. Yum! My mouth waters just thinking about those delightful dishes. Every recipe in the book is fairly straight-forward and is accompanied by a delicious-looking picture. Oh, and the foreword is written by Chef Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes. So, the book obviously has his stamp of approval (as well as mine).

Susan has created countless ways for us to re-imagine the classic s’mores. One of my favorite chapters in the book is all about drinks. There’s a S’mores Milkshake, S’more-tini, S’mores Frappuccino, and S’mores Hot Chocolate. It just so happens that I have the perfect mug for the last one (I purchased this cup back at Christmas time without even knowing it would come in handy for a post)…

Like I said, it worked out well. So, are you as excited about The Smores Cookbook as I am? I hope you want to support Susan in this new endeavor by purchasing her book.

Vera Bradley Beach 2013 Summer Tote Bag Towel and Sarong

July 9, 2013 By Lindsay 2 Comments

When one of my favorite brands reached out to me the other week for a post and giveaway, I got very excited. I recently received free Vera Bradley Beach 2013 summer gear, including a tote bag, towel, and sarong. In addition to receiving my own, Vera Bradley sent another set for me to giveaway to one lucky reader. Keep reading for your chance to win some fabulous Vera Bradley Beach 2013 summer stuff!

Vera Bradley Beach 2013

Now that the 4th of July has come and gone, it doesn’t mean that summer is over yet. In fact, there’s still plenty of time for a quick trip to the beach or pool. That means it’s a great time to pick up some of the can’t be missed deals on Vera Bradley Beach 2013 items. For instance, look at the fabulous towel I received above. I’m still loving the Viva la Vera Bradley patterned towel I received back in 2011. Now, I have this beautiful Plum Crazy one to go along with it. I think the deep purple is very pretty. Plus, I can already attest to the high quality of their towels since my older one is still holding up nicely.

Another item on sale right now, is their small mesh tote. Since it comes in the same great pattern, it matches my towel perfectly. I can now feel very stylish as I carry my items down to the local pool with my nice towel. Plus, there’s no mistaking which bag is mine now since I can easily spot this pattern. The tote is a good size for carrying several items in without being too bulky. It’s definitely ideal for a quick few hours away trip.

Lastly, I received my first sarong from the Vera Bradley Beach 2013 showcase. It can be used to cover you up in different ways. It would be perfect to put on at the beach as you walk back to your room. It’s very light-weight and won’t take up much room in your bag. In fact, mine is actually folded up and is inside the bag in the pictures above. How’s that for space friendly.

You can now get all of these Vera Bradley Beach 2013 items 50% off on their site! So, hurry over now to get the best selection and stock up if you can. Additionally, one very lucky reader will win each of these items in the Go Wild print.

WIN!

One Laughing Lindsay reader will win a towel, small mesh tote bag, and sarong in Go Wild from Vera Bradley.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED!

Disclosure: I received the three items for free and Vera Bradley is providing the winner’s items as well. No compensation was received.