How To Add A Recipe Card To Squarespace Blog Posts

Are you a food blogger who is currently looking to add a Recipe Card into your blog posts? I've done lots of research and after finding only WordPress plugins and widgets, I have finally found a Squarespace-friendly way to incorporate printable, Pinterest-friendly recipe and instructions to your posts! This means your recipes will finally show the ingredients and instructions into a Rich Pin on Pinterest. 

This amazing Bread Pudding recipe can be found here!

SO excited to have finally found a way to create a Recipe Card that is optimized for Squarespace! I have been searching for months to find some way to code in a recipe card of my own, or even use a plugin. Every single one I've seen is for Wordpress, and I love Squarespace so much that I didn't want to have to switch over. I love the sleek design of my Squarespace template, and while a large portion of food bloggers do use Wordpress, I knew there was some way to stick with it! I am thrilled to share the Recipe Whiz! 

The Recipe Whiz is a no-frills form that you input your title, description, yield, prep and cook times, ingredients, and instructions! You are also able to put the Image link to one image of the food too. YAY! 

I originally found out about Recipe Whiz here, on the My Life As A Mummy blog, where she explained how it was perfect for Blogger Blogs, which it definitely is!

I would also recommend simply testing this out on one of your already-created recipe posts, since the info is already there for you, to copy and paste into the Recipe Card!

YOUR BLOG POSTS WILL FINALLY CONTAIN A PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD! (SEE BELOW)

YOUR POSTS LOOK GREAT ON PINTEREST - THEY FINALLY APPEAR AS A RICH PINS! (SEE BELOW)

1.) INPUT YOUR RECIPE INFORMATION

When you first visit The Recipe Whiz, the form below will be blank. Simply fill in the details of your recipe below, such as recipe title, cook and prep time, ingredients, and instructions.

At the very bottom of the form below, you will notice a box that says image. To get the direct image link, right click on any photo on your blog and select, Open Image In New Tab. It will open a new tab, and copy and paste that window's website address into this box.

After that, click "Get Microdata" and it will create some code for your Recipe Card.

ADD THE RECIPE CARD CODE TO YOUR BLOG POST

Grab that "Microdata" Coding in its entirety, and in a new or existing blog post, choose Add Code. Simply add this to a coding box on your squarespace post. Save and Publish, and you're done! In addition to the recipe card, I would still include all of this information in plain text, as well as lots of beautiful images. But, this definitely opens up a whole new world for use food and lifestyle bloggers who love using Squarespace! 

If you have any questions at all, please comment below and I'll get right back to you! Thank you SO much for reading through this tutorial, and feel free to drop a link to your blog posts that utilize this Recipe Card, below.

Organic Dessert Tortillas

4-Ingredient, No Churn Conversation Heart Ice Cream Recipe + An Amazing New Shopping List App - Board To Table

Check out this exciting new App, that takes your Pinterest recipes and makes a shopping lost for you, right on your phone! Also, this Valentine's Day Ice Cream recipe is divine - you will definitely want to make it for someone you love :)

Read More

My Most Popular Posts In October 2016

Since the month is almost over, and the season change is in full swing, I wanted to look back at some of the posts that brought me the most traffic this past month. 

I created so many fun recipes and ideas this past month, and I am so happy to be able to share it with you here on Lily The Wandering Gypsy! 

Organic Pumpkin Oat Dog Treats

Fall Booties By Lulu's 

Hosting A Food Photography Party

Create a Halloween Puppy Gift Basket 

Those posts gained me nearly 70% of my total traffic, which is so great! I love checking back to see what people are enjoying. Until next time! 

Blogging & Social Media Conferences To Check Out!

Have you ever attended a conference? If it is on the top of your priority list, I have gathered info on a few that look really, really good! I hope to expand on this list, so please comment below if I missed any events. Thank you SO much for checking out these fun conferences!!!

AltITUDE Summit - January

Altitude Summit began in Salt Lake City (Founded in 2009), and 2016 marks the last year that the conference will be held in SLC. I consider this the leading lady when it comes to social media or blogger conferences. The 2017 Event will be held in Palm Springs, which is already sold out! 

Blog Post Credit: Passports and Pancakes Photo Credit: Justin Hackworth Photography

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

Create + Cultivate - January

January 2016, Create + Cultivate, will be held in Dallas! I am attending this amazing event, and cannot wait to learn from the top bloggers and creative people in the blogging business today! 

Create + Cultivate has been held in places like L.A. and Chicago, and they will be announcing the next location soon. The January 2016 #CreateCultivateDallas tickets sold out super quick this year, making me a happy girl for getting my ticket. 

When: January 30, 2016

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

BlogHer & BlogHer Food - August & October

I have heard really great things about BlogHer Conferences. 

Find Them Here: BlogHer 2016 & BlogHerFood 2016

When: BlogHer - L.A. August 4-6 BlogHerFood - October 7-8, 2016

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

Re/Code Media Conference - Various Months

Held in the absolutely gorgeous Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel (among other gorgeous places), this conference is quite wonderful. I had the pleasure of attending (AND being a speaker on The New Influencers Panel) in February of 2015, and it made me aware of the importance of the tech-industry side of the online world. Read my blog post here, to see images of my time there. A very special thanks to HelloSociety and Science Media for sponsoring my trip there. It was an unforgettable experience! Peter Kafka was an incredibly good host, and a great interviewer! 

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

Thrive Conference - February

Thrive is located at The Embassy Suites in The Woodlands/Hughes Landing in Springs, TX. 

When: February 26-27, 2016

FIND THEM: Facebook // Website // Tickets

Build Your Blog Conference - February

BYBC Is scheduled to happen February 19-20, 2016. They provide lots of great webinars, one of which I have seen, and was incredibly inspired by! They consider themselves the "Most Educational Blogger Conference". 

FIND THEM: Facebook // Website 

Go Blog Social - March

This conference will be held on March 5, 2016 in Kansas City, MO. IT looks like an absolutely amazing and inspiring event, so get your tickets here. KC is the first stop on their 2016 Tour, which sounds like so much fun!!!

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook Event // Instagram

Social Media Marketing World - April

This conferences, held by Social Media Examiner is going to be held in San Diego on April 17-19, 2016. With registration, you will get track sessions, workshops, and keynotes. You also get online recordings of the event, as well as lots of opportunities to network. They are even providing an opening ceremony in an airplane hanger! Sounds like fun! 

Register Here. 

FIND THEM: Website

Creative At Heart Conference - Various Months

This event will be held at three different locations in 2016! The video on their website is beyond inspiring! They will help you get your business in order whether you have been in business for years, or are just starting out. Learn more. 

Annapolis, MD (March 20-22), Denver, CO (July 24-25), and Memphis, TN (November 13-14)

FIND THEM: Website // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter

Learn How To Utilize Facebook Business Pages

I know Facebook can be challenging as a way to try and promote your business. But, I gained over 10,000 Likes on Facebook in less than a year by testing out a few ideas, and they worked!

WHY DO I NEED A FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE?

Every business, and every blogger needs to have a Facebook Business Page. It's another free way to get your name listed on Google's searches. It's also pretty easy to start. I am sure some of you who already have one have seen their impressions and views dwindle in the past couple of years, so many businesses and bloggers have pretty much given up on using Facebook as a viable means to gain readers, or even share content to people who already follow you. But, I have had a lot of success on Facebook. 

MY MOST POPUAR FACEBOOK POST / HOW TO CREATE A GOOD FACEBOOK POST

Here is one of my most popular (meaning most-liked) Facebook posts. I collaged the two images together in Photoshop, and people have been going crazy over this post I created. Here is a screenshot to show you the behind the scenes info about this post. The Weekends Are For Waffles Tee can be found on ModCloth.com. So, I believe this was a great investment in my FB posts!

Notes:

Likes: 9,112 

Photo Clicks: 855

Link Clicks: 21 (Still not extremely high)

Page Likes: 317 (Definitely happy with this!)

Age: 13-21 years old / Male and Female (98.3% women interacted)

Interests: pop culture and music

Location: 16 Countries (Click Image To View Them Larger) 

Budget: $16.00

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL FACEBOOK POSTS

1.) Image Size Is Important! Remember, Facebook posts look best when they are dimensions similar to 1200 pixels X 627 pixels. Squares and vertical images just don't display well in peoples' feeds. 

2.) Facebook will not promote your posts if they are more than 20% text. Meaning, get creative, and get more visual. You can just add the text in the Facebook post, so don't worry too much about adding in a lot of text to your Facebook posts. 

3.) A great way to gain content for your Facebook post is to share other people's posts to your Page. This is a great way to curate some content for your page, and the original poster is always fully credited.

HOW TO START A FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE.

1.) LET'S GET STARTED

On your main feed at facebook.com, on the left side of your page, find Create Page. 

2.) CREATE A PAGE

How To Set Up A Facebook Business Page

Here, I would suggest that if you are a lifestyle blogger, and are not offering goods and services, but only digital information, to choose Cause Or Community. Some of the other topics are best if you are actually wanting to sell your goods and services either locally or via websites like Etsy. 

3.) FILL OUT YOUR INFORMATION

Here, you simply customize your page by adding a short and to-the-pointDescription, Profile Picture, Adding To Favorites, and choosing your Preferred Page Audience. One note about choosing your Preferred Page Audience, is that you definitely want to start out with a broad audience. Why try to eliminate any possible interaction with a possible reader or follower? 

4.) PROFILE PICTURE

This is such an important part of your page! Make sure you create or find a cute logo or graphic for your page. I even recommend using a colorful letter, like the first letter or letters of your blog or business name as a beginning logo. 

 

5.) ADD TO FAVORITES

Pretty self explanatory, but by adding your new page to your favorites, it will show up on the left side of your home page, and is easier to access. 

6.) PREFERRED PAGE AUDIENCE

Here is one way I have gotten so many likes! Since I am only trying to drive traffic to my Facebook page and my blog, and since I do not rely on local traffic of any sort, I make sure to include lots of different countries and interests in my Audience. I would always recommend making sure you include Mexico in your audience, because over 60% of my likes, on my Facebook Business Page, comes from people in that location. This is of course, only a suggestion. 

Another really wonderful bit of info that Facebook now shares with us, is how many people like each Interest. See below, when I choose Travel as a targeted interest, over 920 million people like it! So, just think of more broad topics, as well as more pop-culture interests like musicians, TV shows, etc. 

7.) CREATE A BANNER

If you create nothing else, just feel free to upload a solid colored rectangle for now. Facebook will resize this for you, and it makes a big impact! Make this image 851 pixels X 315 pixels. The image , below is one I created in Photoshop by pulling a gradient of purple down the document. Super easy! 

8.) OTHER IDEAS

A few more key things to consider:

Monthly Budget - This one is totally up to you! The more you spend, the more Likes you are going to gain, if you follow the rules above. But, make sure to space out your budget. I generally spend $5.00 per ad/image/post, and have it run for 2-3 days at a time. Try spacing out your budget across different ads to see what is appealing most to your audience. 

Sharing Other People's Posts - Like I said above, it's fun to share and curate posts from other people on Facebook if it aligns with your blog!

Stick To A Color Scheme When Possible - I have noticed that my eye is always attracted to bright and inspiring images, with pops of bright colors in them. To begin, any post you see that contains your color scheme, share it on your page. 

Like Pages And Post Comments As Your Business, Not Your Personal Account - Did you know that you can like posts as your personal profile OR your business profile? At the top of the page, there is a drop down arrow. Hover over, and it says: Use Facebook As...and just choose your business page. 

Respond To Messages Quickly - Facebook shows your viewers how quickly you reply to messages, so have a friend or family member send you a few messages, and et back to them right away. Then, you will show your readers that you are catering to them in a timely manner. 

You Can Do It! - Believe me, I was surprised that I gained over 10,000 Likes on my Facebook page in less than a year by using the principals I explained above.

Mayil Scarves & Which Queen Are You?

Mayil reached out to me and asked for a bit of help photographing her products. The products she offers are stunning, and I had a great time capturing the beauty of these scarves, bracelets, and pendant necklaces she sent me. 

Mayil Scarves are absolutely gorgeous, and you must check them out!!! Check her out on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and her website! 

Man Crates - A Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is fast approaching (June 19th to be exact), and I am helping to promote Man Crates. I added a little bit of text to their images, and made them even more pin-worthy! I hope you love this fun idea, or even get inspired to DIY one of your own...

BEER CAN CHICKEN - MAN CRATES GIFT BOX

BEARD WRANGLER KIT / BEARD GROOMING KIT 

To check out lots more Father's Day Gift Ideas, visit my Pinterest board, Gifts For Guys! 

Savor Your Summer Recipe With Aidells® Sausage + The Wine Group's Cupcake® Wines

I had an amazing time creating this delicious summer recipe, featuring tasty ingredients like mozzarella chicken sausage, colorful peppers, and basil pesto. I then paired the dish with two styles of wine! How could things get any better? I tend to like lighter wines in the summer, so I chose to feature two varieties from The Wine Group's Cupcake® - Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. For this recipe, I used Aidells® Sausage. I chose Italian Style Smoked Chicken Sausages with Mozzarella Cheese - they were absolutely perfect!

I originally tried this recipe with friends, and they went up for seconds and thirds, so I know this one goes over well with a crowd! I loved it too, and I also thought the sausage and peppers mixture would taste incredible in an omelet for breakfast. This dish is so versatile! Make it for two, make it for lunch or dinner, or incorporate it into your next party menu!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Aidells® & The Wine Group. The opinions and text are all mine.

- 1-2 Packages of Aidells Italian Style Chicken Sausages

- 1 Box Penne Noodles

- Red, Green, and Yellow Pepper (1 each)

- 1 Onion

- Green Pesto (either store bought or homemade)

- Olive Oil

- Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

TO MAKE THE NOODLES:

Boil noodles as directed. Drain them, and return them to the pot you boiled them in. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and also stir in around 4-5 tablespoons of pre-made or homemade pesto. Stir until well incorporated, and then top with parmesan cheese. These noodles compliment the sausage and peppers so well!

Below, the perfect mix of ingredients. Italian Style Chicken Sausage, peppers, and onions! YUM!!!

TO MAKE THE SAUSAGE & PEPPERS

1.) Cut up chicken sausages into thin slices, around 1/4" thick or less.

2.) Chop onions into tiny pieces (or larger if you like)

3.) Chop peppers into small pieces and set aside.

4.) In a skillet, heat 1-2 tsp of olive oil, and add onions. Salt and season, and continue cooking and stirring onions until they are soft.

5.) Time to add the sausage! Add your sausage slices to the pan, and stir. I used tongs to turn the pieces, and continually check the status of the sausage. I let them brown on both sides before I decided they were done. They taste SO good!

6.) Turn down the heat to very low, and add peppers into the sausage mixture. Stir, and cover with a lid, to just basically steam the peppers. They should be done in 4-5 minutes. Stir again to incorporate one last time.

7.) Place noodles onto a plate, and then top with sausage and pepper mixture. This could also be served atop rice of any sort! Enjoy!! Scroll down to learn more about these wines.

Some great things about Aidells® Sausage:

* Each sausage is made with naturally smoked, all-natural chicken, real fruits & vegetables, and herbs & lively spices
* Gluten Free
* No Nitrites
* No Added Hormones
* All sausages are hand-crafted with real, hand-picked ingredients in small batches with care
* Fully cooked and ready in just 8-10 minutes: sauté or grill over medium heat or bake at 375 degrees F.

The Wine Group's Cupcake® Wines are great! Both styles featured in this post are under $10 per bottle (I got them at Kroger - in fact, I got all of my ingredients there). I really do prefer white wine to red wine any day, but especially in the summer. I opted to get the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc because they are not overly sweet, and are very well-balanced.

Luscious, creamy, silky, zesty, intense, elegant, complex wines!
Great for celebrating the good and genuine things in life & simply making life delicious!


What sorts of dishes do you prepare during the summer months? And, what is your favorite style of wine? Do you prefer white wine or red wine? Let us know in the comments!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Aidells® & The Wine Group. The opinions and text are all mine.

HelloSociety + Our Social Campaigns

I wanted to use this space today to extend my gratitude to a wonderful company, HelloSociety. I've had the chance to visit them in Santa Monica, CA, three times, and have grown close with many of the team members. They're very inspiring to work with, and I love each and every project I complete for them. 

Over the past few years, I have been a part of a large number of campaigns, where I created content for brands and shared those images with almost 1.5 million people. Check out my page in their Influencer Lookbook, here. Most of this would not have been possible without the support of them! I have blogged about many of these projects, so you may be familiar with some or all of these, but I just wanted to share a few of my all-time favorite projects with HelloSociety!

You can find HelloSociety around the web! 

Pinterest // Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Their Blog

FYI Style Unzipped 

Blogging For A Cause with bluehost.com

Are you part of a group or organization that is doing some really amazing things for your cause or community? It is so important to have a space where you can share all of your thoughts and accomplishments, in one place, on the web. If this hits home, have you thought about starting a blog? You can find a template pretty easily, and you really don't need much else.

Blogging For A Cause

I am also a web designer (by degree), so let me know if you need some help creating a beautiful website or blog, I offer web design services, and would love to talk about how I can help your cause. 

1.) Plan It Out On Paper. Make a diagram of what you want the blog to contain, as well as how you want it laid out. What do you want to click through to, what type of pages are important for your cause? A general, overall sketch will be important at this stage, too, and save you lots of time in the future.

2.) Build Your Website. There are so many places to start a free blog. I used to use blogger.com (and I know a ton of people use Wordpress because of how many templates are available for that platform). But, after many years of blogging via blogger.com, I decided it was time to have my very own dot com! I only pay about $8-10 per month to have a blog/website on Squarespace.com. I absolutely love this platform, because it is drag and drop designing (meaning I can just drag different elements around on the page until I like how they look). So streamlined, I just LOVE it!! 

3.) Stay Organized! Before you even start a new blog or website, make a folder on your computer (NOT your Desktop, the Documents folder is best for this). Then, start folders inside of that one called whatever you will name your pages, like Home, Apply, Blog, Vendors/Members, etc. 

4.) Create A Color Scheme. It's so easy to find popular blog designs and other color schemes on Pinterest or Google. 

5.) Create Some Content! If you are running a craft fair, begin to share images of work from artists, and share their bio photos if they would like it. Take photos of your group members out at dinner or other events. Share photos from past events. Text is also pretty important, so begin writing as much as possible to explain what your group does, and how you're helping the community! Asking group members or community members to write guest blog posts in their own words. Canva.com is a website that makes it SO easy to design website graphics, logos, and more! 

6.) Have fun! A blog is an incredibly rewarding project, and can be a very inexpensive way to create lasting memories and create awareness for your cause! If you have a blog for a group or organization, I would love to see what you have created! Please feel free to link us to it in the comments below. 

7.) Host Your Website. After you have done all this work designing your website or blog, it needs to go live. Bluehost.com has extremely reasonable rates, and have amazing customer service. Click the blue banner, below, to learn more about their services. Use my link to make sure you let bluehost.com know who sent you :)

Blogging Ideas

FARMER'S MARKET WEBSITES

Above, The Seattle Neighborhood Farmer's Market website contains links to their social pages, a search bar, and showcases a slideshow with bright and festive photos. Their main pages are: Markets, What's Fresh, Programs & Events, Vendors, Help Us Grow, and About. It looks like they have multiple locations, so on the right of the page, you can learn more about each location. If you are only operating in one location, use this area for images leading to blog posts or upcoming events. 

The Mill City Farmer's Market website is wonderful. They have a great video on their home page, which really brings the market to life. As you can see, their pages are as follows: Home, Visit, Meet Our Vendors, About, Eat Seasonably, Learn, and Support.

I also really enjoy the fact that they have bright and colorful recipes on their home page, which helps customers envision easy ways to use what they find at the market. 

CRAFT FAIR WEBSITES

Finders Keepers is lively and inviting! I just love how they highlight so many of their artists, and really give a face to each and every artist in their shows. They have pages such as Home, About, Markets, Information, Directory, Blog, and Contact. I think all craft show websites need an Apply Page. The Squarespace Form blocks are magic for this type of thing. 

The Handmade Market has a wonderfully inviting website. Not every design works well with the woodgrain background, but this one really does! I love how they are featuring artist interviews as blog posts - this is a great way to get quick and fulfilling content for your Cause Blog. 

If you want to see if your website is available, fill in the form below to get started. If you have any questions, just comment below, and I will get right back to you!