Winner - Green Christmas Book

Elizabeth from A Nut in a Nutshell.

Congrats!!! And stay tuned for the Crafty Giveaway winner November 2nd!!!






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Crafty Giveaway!!!

For November I am giving away a 2 sets of Sticklers, 6 Glaze pens and 6 Souffle pens. From Sakura of America, these are the coolest! Your kids will love to use them to personalize their stuff. Notebooks, electronics, books I can think up tons of uses for them.

There are 6 Glaze pens, which have a glossy finish and 6 Souffle pens, which have a matte finish. Both are 3D ink and leave an impression you can feel.

The sticklers are gold & silver outlines you can fill in with the pens. I used one to put a pink and gold star on my cell phone. I also used a heart to embellish a note card.




We had a blast one night with some of the other pens I was sent to sample. We used the Gelly Roll Stardust and the Gelly Roll Metallic pens on black card stock to make signs for football games.



Leave a comment = 1 entry
Blog about my giveaway = 1 entry (leave a comment and link here)

I will choose the winner using a random number generator at Sunday 9PM November 2 EST.



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Some Neat Gift Ideas - You Make Yourself

Affordable Wall Art

Country Soap and Lotion Dispensers

Homemade Bookmarks

Easy to make Hat Organizer

Kids Apron, Chef hat & baking tray

For Girls (but not small ones!) - Button Rings

Almost no sew Tutu

Sweater Mittens New gift, recycled material!

Crochet Dishcloths Who wouldn't love a bundle of colorful dishcloths!

Lots of "free" CDroms lying around??? Check out Make Stuff










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Congratulations...

The winner is Michele.

I used Math Goodies to generate the winning number.

I still have a second book up for grabs, that ends October 30th.

Stay tuned, I'll be launching another giveaway November 1st!!!





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Update on Princess

Apparently our Dr. isn't concerned with the swallowed ball bearing, so my mission is to find someone with a metal detector this weekend & hope it is good enough to detect something inside a person.
I think I might call our insurance company's nurse help line, simply because we got nowhere with our Dr's office (shocking).

I really believe she passed it & we just weren't around (like at school or flushed with out saying something), or she could just be like me & take forever to digest things...


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Blog Love!

Quests of a MsFit gave me this:



Thank you!





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I am THAT Mom...

I've been reading We are THAT Family for a while know. I just don't see how they are so much different from MY family, does that make us normal...???

Anywho, I just had to add my current THAT Family story to the blog-ishpere. Last week my almost 5 year old daughter swallowed a magnetix ball, ball bearing, metal marble... thingy. I haven't taken her to the ER yet, she isn't blocked up, but my Mom is freaking out about it.

We haven't been able to tell if she has passed it yet. Honestly, I was more afraid of giving her the half dose of mild laxative I gave her the night she swallowed the thing...

So, should I call our idiot DR.? Sorry, hubby still hasn't fixed our Primary Care Physician issue yet... Find someone with a metal detector??? go to the airport??? Find an inner city school??? I didn't read anything about these being dangerous alone, and the real danger is for small toddlers & the magnetic parts... I just don't think this is worthy of freaking out about. IF she were constipated and turning shades of yellow green I'd have her there in a flash, but this doesn't seem to be that HUGE. Or should I be freaking out???

Is it terrible that I just don't want to call this stupid Dr. and explain the whole thing. Like why was she putting this in her mouth??? I don't have a clue, it's not like we encourage her to put random gross things in her mouth. Or why didn't we call the next day? Well, I gave her a laxitive & waited, which would probably have been their orders, or there might be an inhaler perscription... OK sorry tangent.







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October Book Giveaway #2

"Did you know that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Americans produce an extra 2 BILLION pounds of garbage per week? Every Christmas Season, enough holiday cards are sold to fill a ten-story football stadium? If every child under the age of 6 received a quality wood toy in place of a plastic on, we'd avoid 17 million tons of plastic landfill?" - From the back of the book

I am not the biggest "green" person I know, but I can certainly relate to the eye popping trash pile during this time of year. I have only mentioned once or twice that my kiddos birthdays are around Thanksgiving time, so we have double the trash in a very small time frame.

I am hoping this book helps with that a little! After all there are only so many uses for large vacu-formed pieces of packaging or used gift-wrap.


I have a copy of Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season by Jennifer Basye Sander and Peter Sander with Anne Basye to give away.

This book has tips on deciding on a tree, making gifts that are "green", switching to led lights. The great part is that it is just a little book, perfect as an stocking stuffer.

I'll be drawing a # (Using online random number generator) at 9PM EST on October 30th (THURSDAY).

How to enter:

• Leave a comment here = 1 entry
• Post about it on your blog & leave the link here = 1 entry

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Tackle it Tuesday - CLR Edition!!!

I decided to use the CLR tackle to clean my kids bathtub, it had been ignored for a while. Despite a quick scrub after a bath or shower, it hadn't been deep cleaned in a while. Say hello to the soap scum...

This is the rust stain I was hoping to remove.




It didn't go away, but the rest of the tub is now scum free! This tub & surround are textured & clearly not installed by someone with small children! It is next to impossible to get is to LOOK clean. Everything stains it & it's terribly discolored. I can hope right!



Since it didn't do a fantastic "on camera" job in my bathroom I decided to let the CLR do it's thing on my daughters kitchen.

She decided that it should be used for real cooking, ewww. After removing the electronic "Stove" part I sprayed it down with CLR, let is sit for 3 minutes. I wiped the goo off with a damp towel!


It's as clean as the day we bought it, now I have to take apart the electronics and clean them. Gross!

I'm not sure why things are manufactured with small grooves & holes that allow play sand or baking sprinkles to get stuck down in them... I really should be a toy tester, my kids find the oddest uses & destruction methods!!!

Check out the other CLR Tackles.


lso on the list for today...

Items I am also doing from Homemaker Barbi's 99 Ways to get ready for winter checklist.

16. Freeze fresh vegetables, fruits, and berries that will not be canned. We are putting up applesauce & grape juice, that's my 2nd tackle for tomorrow.

18. Declutter kids’ toys to make room for holiday presents. Donate extras or pack away.

19. Declutter kids’ closets to make room for holiday gifts of clothing. Donate extras or pack away.

31. Move board games, card games, trivia and flash cards, and family story books to a convenient location, such as a bookcase in the family room. You’ll be spending a lot of family time indoors this winter; make sure the main focus isn’t television!

34. Get out winter blankets and flannel sheets. Add wool blankets, comforters and quilts to beds for use on cold winter nights. The more insulation you can pack around a person at bedtime, the more body heat they will retain. And a higher body temperature means you can lower the thermostat a few degrees at bedtime, saving hard earned money on heating bills.

37. Have a series of family fire drills in case a real fire evacuation is needed later. Visit US Fire Administration for Kids for fire safety information.

39. Pack away indoor fans.

41. Stock candles and matches in convenient (but childproof) locations throughout the house for use in prolonged power outages.

52. Seal up window and wall air conditioners. Certain styles will be able to be covered with a winter cover; check your local hardware store for details.

58. Put up storm windows. Almost finished!!!

78. Lay out large bath towels across the floor in the back seat of the car. Kids’ snowy boots will melt off their ice, snow and dirt onto towels that can be thrown in the washer periodically, not onto your car’s carpet.

83. Put an ice scraper and snow brush in

84. Make sure there are jumper cables in your trunk. Winter can be hard on car batteries, and you never know when you ((or someone else) will need a jump start.

85. Pack a winter emergency car kit and put it in the trunk / cargo space.

89. Ask kids and relatives to start working on their Christmas wish lists. The sooner you get ideas about what they’re hoping for, the sooner you can start watching for sales that take place before the holiday shopping rush.






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Product Review - Febreze

It was like Christmas the other day! I got this in the mail...



This Lavender Vanilla & Comfort Febreze works on fabric & the air! I have been using it on our couch & on the Prince's football gear. It seems to wear off in time for practice the next night (lavender scented pads would be bad), but gets rid of the overall stink LOL!

I really do like this scent. It isn't overwhelming, but fresh and clean. It lingers long enough to get rid of any odd odors but doesn't smack of "I had to spray an air freshener."

The tote bag is pretty cool too! I think I'm going to store my Christmas crochet projects in it!


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Find $1000 by the Holidays

Again Kiplinger has sent me another great read I just had to share with you all!!!

“Find $1,000 by the Holidays” gives 6 simple ideas to trim some minor expenses and wind up with up with an extra $1,000 in your savings count.


The tips include:



1. Adjust your tax withholding.

2. Take fewer trips to the grocery store. Making bigger shopping trips less often will cut down on your impulse buys.

3. Kick a habit. Little routines can add up to big bucks.

4. Eat out one less time per month.

5. Put on a sweater. dropping your thermostat just two degrees and donning a sweater will save you $30 a month

6. Examine your phone and cable use. Do you really need all those cable channels?





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From My Google Reader...

Homemaker Barbi has put together an amazing Get Ready for Winter checklist. Seems redundant to do one of my own!!! I'm just going to go over hers & see what I need to Tackle for tomorrows Tackle it Tuesday!!!

This week I will be doing:


1. Pack away summer clothes.

2. Box up summer shoes and sandals.

3. Unpack winter outer wear. We already had to get out the box of hats & gloves for last weeks football game, brrrr!

4. Unpack and wash winter inner wear, such as wool socks, flannel pajamas, sweaters, and robes.

5. Donate adults’ and kids’ old coats, snow pants and boots that are too small to a local shelter or Goodwill. - We will have a coat collection at the Prince's school. I'll just be ready early!

6. Switch to heavyweight pajamas.

I am also ready for my CLR Tackle Now I just need to decide what to clean first!

For the Kids! 2 Fall Leaf Projects for kids.


Don't forget to enter my giveaway You have until October 24th 9PM!






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Good Deals & Smart Steals - Giveaway!!!

How to save money on everything!

This book gives tips on everything from installing dimmer switches to save up to 20% on your energy bills and double the life of your bulbs; to using online shopping, shopping strategies, home improvement ideas all geared to save you money.

I was given an excerpt of 10 tips to help you save on your winter heating bills.

1. Be a water heater cheater - Set your heater to 10 or 20 degrees. For every 10 degrees you could save 3 to 5%.

2. Dodge the drafts - weather stripping, caulk (my friend!), insulate electrical boxes, even draft stops.

3. Heat Smart - Programmable thermostats are worth every penny. Ours wasn't that expensive, I think $30. But the amount of money we've saved has been amazing.

4. Give yourself space - Use a space heater in the most used room of the house, turn the whole house thermostat down.

5. Dial Down - Lower the thermostat setting 2 degrees to save up to $40 on your heating bill.

6. Insulate - Wrap your hot water heater, hot water pipes, all pipes running to unheated areas. We always find ways to add insulation with every project we complete!

7. Draw the drapes - Heavy drapes can help retain heat, don't believe me just stick your hand behind one on a below 0 day... It's scary!!!

8. Plant Trees- South & West planted trees help shade your house in the summer, and let the sun warm it in winter. That's the best kind of solar use! Free.

9. Go Green - Replace heating with Energy Star rated, tankless water heaters, technology is a good thing!

10. Ask for an audit - Some gas & electric offer free audits to let you know where to make changes to save on utility bills.

These are just a small sampling of the great tips that can be found in this amazingly helpful book. Somethings may seem like common sense to us die hard frugalists, but there are a ton of haggling tips too. That is one area I tend to fail miserably at. I also love the Penny Wise Pound Foolish and the Shop Smart blurbs.



Thanks to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. I have one copy to give away, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Make sure I can contact you (email address, blog with contact info) by 9PM October 24th, 2008.


Good Deals & Smart Steals: How to Save Money on Everything from the editors of Good Housekeeping Magazine, Hearst Books, Sterling Publishing, ISBN 978-1-58816-690-6.


My Money Story is also giving away TWO copies of this book too!


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Sorry I've been MIA

My Mother-in-law passed away last Tuesday & we've been out of our routines ever since. We are still recovering from the whole thing.

Now that we are getting back to normal (at least for us) football is winding down, but dance has started. The kids birthdays are coming up, plus holidays & I am still painting and scraping my parents house. Hopefully I'll get myself to 90% done by the end of the week. Of course at the moment we have a forecast of rain my only day off this week. I didn't think it would take this long, but at 2 hours here, 1 1/2 there, with 2 coats & everything had to get scrapped it's taken a while, I've lost track of my time!!!

We have a wedding Saturday, we're missing a football game, then Sunday we are back at my Father-in-law's house to do more work. Busy, busy, busy. I think I'd get bored if we only had ONE thing to do... LOL!







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Frugal Tip & Frugal Mom Reviews give away!

My best Frugal Tip, right now, is plan ahead! The more organized you can be the less running around you'll have to do later! That means keep track of what's in your cupboards, have a shopping list, consolidate your trips so you use less gas and are not tempted to spend so much money! This is especially helpful if you live far away from shopping areas. We are 15 miles from most of our grocery & drug stores. I have started only shopping on days I am also working, so we don't have to make a special trip. This is also saving wear & tear on my aging but paid for vehicle! LOL!

Frugal Mom Reviews is giving away a flip ultra video camcorder as part of her involvement with the Eleven Moms campaign

Wal*Mart is looking for videos of your favorite money saving tips upload it at theYoutube contest page.

The Flip Ultra video camcorder has 2 GB of internal memory & will hold up to 60 minutes of video. The direct USB plug in feature is what I LOVE about this guy!





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Black Halloween Punch

Black Halloween Punch

1 envelope (0.13 ounce) unsweetened grape Kool-Aid
1 envelope (0.13 ounce) unsweetened orange Kool-Aid
2 cups white sugar
3 quarts cold water
1 liter ginger ale
Molded ice hand, optional

Stir together Kool-Aid mixes, sugar and water until dissolved. Combine
with chilled ginger ale just before serving. If you'd like, float the
ice hand in the punch bowl for a ghastly effect. (To make, wash a
disposable glove, fill with water, seal with a rubber band and freeze.)

allrecipes com