De Vier Zusters: A GIVEAWAY!

I have been sitting on this gem of a giveaway for awhile and I'm super excited that the time as come to share this shop with you all!

When I was a senior in college, I had to find a school and a teacher that would allow me to try my hand at teaching in a real classroom. Now I can understand how it would be hard to open your room and your students and turn them over to a potentially terrible wanna-be-but-not-quite teacher and let them practice their skills on your turf. If you're not a teacher, or you're a bad one ;), this may sound crazy because you're thinking, "Hey! Someone else to do my job for a couple months!" But [good] teachers view their students as theirs, and the thought of someone coming in and boring them or letting all hell break lose is a risk. Lucky for me, I had not one but TWO teachers not only open their classrooms to my new professional slacks and sweaters, but open their arms and their hearts to me as well.

I spent a month with Seniors and Tricia, and my last month with Freshman and Trish. [I actually started my blog around this time and posted THIS poem way back then]. And those three months were filled with practical advice from them, as well as lunches out and endless cups of coffee and lots of laughter. So much of the teacher I became was because of these two ladies, each of them fabulous teachers in their own ways. And now, seven years later, I still consider them dear friends and try and sneak in visits when I'm in the area. They ask about my daughters, I've watched their kids become teenagers and adults, and I know God had a hand in that student teaching placement in that small, frozen Iowa school.

For fun, here are two pictures of me student teaching. Please notice the massive amount of HAIR and CURLS that I had.

Trish, the Freshman English teacher, was everything I wanted to be and then some. She was full of spunk and sass and just so much dang fun. Her students adored her, and so did I. And now she has a little business with her sisters, Di Vier Zusters, and I can't get enough of her stuff! She and her sisters always thought they may start a business someday, and this past year their love for vintage books and dictionaries coupled with their love for words and stories and their craftiness. And now they make some of  the world's coolest, most personalized magnets you'll ever see.

What about that weird name? Di Vier Zusters? If you don't know, I went to college in a very Dutch town. Windmills everywhere you look. Trish and her sisters always said if they ever started a business they were going to call it "The Four Sisters." Of course, they wanted to be a little more unique, and they are Dutch [like everyone up there], and "De Vier Zusters" was born. [Ahem. If I must spell if out for you: Di Vier Zusters is the Dutch translation of The Four Sisters.] Trish and her sisters have always loved words and holidays and things that tell a story, and they found that their magnets had the ability to capture all of these things in one. Their favorite part about their business is the stories their customers share about why they are ordering what they are and about their loved ones who will be the lucky recipients.

Do you remember the traits Brent and I chose to pray over Blythe, and then later the ones we chose for Becks? Well I shot the list off to Trish and then badda-bing, badda boom a package arrived in the mail and out tumbled two sets of magnets with my girls' traits emblazoned on them! I was immediately in love. Not only do they mean so much, but they are absolutely beautifully made. 

Right now I have Blythe's traits holding down her behavior chart. I love this because if I'm frustrated about a day she does poorly in some of these areas, I see the magnets and am reminded about the reasons why I am enforcing these things in the first place: to teach her to have hospitality and compassion, to live modestly and with purity. 

And let me tell you: the magnets are substantial. Which I think is important. Weak magnets frustrate me.  But these puppies can hold up multiple pictures on your fridge in the most important room in your house: the kitchen. :) [Or wherever. Your file cabinet at work. Your medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Your belt buckle. ]

Di Vier Zusters can pretty much put anything you want on a magnet. Look at these examples of some fun custom sets they have made for their customers:

music lover?

Christmas lover?

Dachshund lover? [or any dog lover?

Beard lover? 

what? [I love this!] 

 Comic book lovers?

Photographers? 

Dancers?

I guess some people even love cats, God bless 'em. :) 

A fun Valentine's set/ just someone you love ["schmalty" "hot stuff"… if you haven't been able to tell the reason I loved working with this lady, maybe you're getting a better idea now!] 

Farmers? 

And check out their Facebook page for even more! I think these would make a perfect gift for someone for Valentine's Day, which is fast approaching, but also a myriad of other occasions. Your mother in law likes sewing like mine? Have them make you a set with sewing words-- "cut", "sew", "create"! Have a friend who loves to hunt? "shoot", "deer", "camouflage"! Need a little something to throw in with that gift card for your graduate? "learn", "college", "friends", "cum laude"! Baby gift? Spell out the babies name or the meaning of his/her name. Do you see what I am saying?! The possibilities are endless and the stories they tell are so cool! [You can also find some sets on their facebook page in which the magnets spell something out: "Each" "Day" "Is" "A" "Gift".] You come up with it, they can most likely figure out a way to tell that story through your magnets!

And they are a steal. The magnets are $1.50 each, and sometimes she has sets you can purchase that end up being great deals, like this awesome month set for $10! [How fun would this be to make a calendar out of on your fridge or something?]

Coupled with these weekday magnets?!

They ship for $3.00 anywhere in the USA for up to 10 magnets. BUTTTTT… For YOU GUYS, my lovely readers, right now Trish is offering a SA-WEET discount. You can order yours for just $1 a magnet! What can you get for $1 right now? Nothing. Not even a cheeseburger on the "value" menu. Just send her a private message on her facebook page [HERE] with the coupon code "sweetnectaroflife". [And if you can name the movie that came from I will give you two imaginary bonus points. And with a coupon code like that, you can tell this lady is super fun! She is a peach to work with].

AND for one of you lucky ones, De Vier Zusters is giving away some awesome GOODS! One lucky winner will not only win this super fun Valentine's Day set...

seriously, how cute.

…but ALSO gets to have a CUSTOM set of FOUR magnets made just for them. WHAT?! I know! It's a great giveaway. Here is how you enter: Any of the following will earn you ONE entry in the giveaway. Do ALL THREE and you'll get THREE entries. Do TWO and you'll get TWO entries. Do ONE, well, you get the picture. Just don't do NONE. Because then you can't win.

1. Leave a comment on my blog [or on the link on FB or Instagram to this post] and let me know what you think of this sweet little shop. 

2. Go LIKE De Vier Zusters Facebook Page [and tell me in your comment that you did so I can count it] 

3. Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect by clicking on the blue "Join This Site" on the right side of the screen [not on mobile app unless you view full web version] and following the simple steps to join and follow! 

I've had some people ask how I select winners for these giveaways. I take all the entries and use a random name picker app [here] and it selects the winner at random. If you have three entries then your name gets entered three separate times and so on. It's the easiest way for me to keep it fair. 

This giveaway will be open until Thursday at 8 p.m. and the winner will be announced here on my blog on Friday! Good luck! Enjoy browsing the facebook page and thinking of the custom magnets you want, and if you don't win Friday then get to ordering because these are seriously awesome.