Category: Uncategorized

A Giveaway and a Great Cause

giveaway

Remember this lovely statement necklace you saw me in yesterday? Here’s your chance to win your own. But if I can keep your attention for a bit longer before you get to the instructions, I really want to tell you where it came from and why it’s not just a necklace.

I found out about Bead for Life last month when I was searching the interwebs for “gifts that give back.” Bead for Life was one of two organizations I ended up buying from. I liked it so much that I ordered Christmas gifts for 3 people, plus this necklace for myself.

Bead for Life does more than just jewelry, but since that’s what we’re talking about today, here’s a little about how it works:

We enroll 3-4 bead making groups per year, and each group contains between 40-60 members. We welcome each new group into our program with singing, dancing and a heartfelt ceremony where members collectively decide their group name.

Each beginning group receives three months of extensive training in how to roll beads out of recycled paper and string them into beautiful jewelry. More importantly, they receive ongoing entrepreneurial and business skills training to prepare them to launch their own sustainable business once they graduate. 

. . .

Members increase their income 7 to 10 times more in our program. Earning a regular income creates immediate impacts in the lives of our members as they’re able to eat more nutritious foods, to enroll their children into school and to improve their homes.

bfl woman in blue

Read more about Bead for Life’s work in Uganda here and in the developed world here.

Even if you don’t enter the giveaway today, I would really encourage you to take a look at BFL’s shop. Their jewelry is lovely and makes a great gift (for someone else or for yourself…I won’t tell).

And if you end up really loving your BFL jewelry, you can host a bead party to spread the word to your friends.

OK. On to the giveaway!

What you could win:
Madaala Product 3

To enter:

  • First, follow Sarah’s Real Life on Bloglovin’ or Facebook.
  • Second, leave me a comment below telling me that you followed. (And you can also tell me thanks for opening your eyes to this wonderful organization.)

Voila! Easiest giveaway ever.

This giveaway is open through next Sunday, Jan. 20th, and a random winner will be announced on Monday the 21st.

Please note that this giveaway is open only to U.S. residents.

Text and images from Bead for Life used with permission.

How to Stalk Me

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Hey, peeps. I wanted to take a hot second to tell you about different ways for us to be buddies. These days there are a million and a half social media platforms for bloggers (and everyone, really) and I honestly don’t even know how some of them work. There are a few sites I’ve signed up for but haven’t used yet. There are, however, a select few I use on a regular basis in a helpful, non-annoying way:

Pinterest

I have 6 boards on Pinterest, but I mainly pin to 2 or 3 at a time:

  • Get in My Closet Like Now: This is where I try to pressure awesome clothes and accessories to magically show up at my apartment. So far it hasn’t worked, but I’ll keep trying. Sometimes I actually purchase the items I pin here, and other times I pin things I can’t afford just for fun. I include the price in the caption when it’s something budget-friendly. (Full disclosure: Most of these pins are affiliate links, meaning I might make a commission if you make a purchase from the original source. Thanks in advance for helping fund my education!)
  • Real-Life Fall/Winter Style: This is where I pin outfit inspiration for this season. I usually post a picture from my own outfit post for the day, but most photos are from other blogs. And I have excellent taste, so my pins are pretty awesome.
  • Real-Life Spring/Summer Style: You can probably figure this one out…same as above but for warm weather. It’s mostly dormant right now but will be back in action in a few months.

See all my boards here.

Bloglovin’

I used to have all my favorite blogs in my bookmarks menu, so I would just go through the list every day not knowing whether or not there was actually a new post up yet. Bloglovin’ is the biz-nass and makes it so much easier if you like to keep up with lots of blogs – fashion or otherwise. And you can see a quick preview so you know if it’s something you’re not interested in.

Anyway, I recommend signing up for Bloglovin’ if you haven’t already, and you can follow Sarah’s Real Life here. Each new post will show up in your feed shortly after it goes live.

Facebook

If you’re one of the elite 1 billion people who have a Facebook account, you can “like” the Sarah’s Real Life Facebook page here. A link to each post will pop up in your News Feed. I also post links with sales alerts to some of my favorite stores, which I don’t do here on the blog. You will love me and hate me for it 🙂

Twitter

I use Twitter a lot! Not only do I post links to my posts, I also do some sales alerts, along with Instagrams and random tidbits of my life (I like to think I’m pretty entertaining). I’m pretty excited about the upcoming awards season so I can tweet about all my favorite red carpet looks. But be warned, I can’t help but tweet about every IU basketball game. Follow me here.