DaSweetZpot Jam and Jelly Giveaway!

UPDATE--The winner is Melissa - giveawaymommy@ Congratulations!















Marlene, owner of DaSweetZpot, worked at a Fortune 500 company for over 20 years when she was laid off a few years ago. When she was unable to find another job, she turned her hobby of jam and jelly making, learned from her grandmother, into her primary source of income. She opened her Etsy shop, DaSweetZpot, last September.

In addition to selling on Etsy, she sells at different festivals and events. She even sells 1.5 oz. jars of jam or jelly as wedding favors, baby shower gifts, etc. All labels are personalized for these events.










Marlene offers a variety of flavors that most people would never think of. She goes well beyond grape, strawberry, etc. For instance, she sent us a jar of Hola Margarita to sample. This one is made from tequila. It had a sweet and tangy taste and had the consistency of honey. We ate it on toast and loved it.

She also offers the seasonal flavor of candy cane. Candy cane! This is another one I want to try and will probably order this October.















In addition to unique jam and jelly flavors, Marlene offers glazes, marinades, toppings, syrups and potato pouches. Her potato pouches are an eco-friendly way to prepare baked potatoes in the microwave. Just scrub the potatoes, pat them dry, put them in the potato pouch and microwave. There is no need to pierce the potatoes. When the potatoes are cooked in the Potato Pouch, their skin is smooth unlike the wrinkled look potatoes get when wrapped in paper towel and cooked in the microwave.

As Marlene becomes more well-known, she is appearing in various publications. She recently was featured in the L.A. Times. (Read the article here.)

The Giveaway:
One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to DaSweetZpot.

-To enter this giveaway, you must go to DaSweetZpot and come back to leave a comment either on a flavor of jam/jelly you would like to try or which potato pouch fabric pattern you liked the best.

Other ways to enter after completing the above step:

-Like DaSweetZpot's Facebook page

-Become a follower of my blog or state that you already are

-Blog about this giveaway or post it on Facebook or Twitter and include the link with your comment.

This giveaway will end on Monday, 8/9 at 9 pm. CST. Random.org will be used to determine the winner. Make sure to leave your e-mail in your comment so I can notify the winner.

I received a jar of jam and a potato pouch from DaSweetZpot for review purposes. (Thank you DaSweetZpot!) I received no other compensation.

Come Back for a Yummy Giveaway this Afternoon

I was too tired last night to post my usual Friday giveaway. It will be up by tonight, so come back for a yummy giveaway!

(Now it is off to do more freezer cooking.)

Trying Cloth Diapers Again--An Experiment

As I have shared my grocery bill each week on this blog, I have become aware that having two kids in paper diapers is MUCH more expensive than having 1 kid in paper diapers.

When my oldest daughter was born 21 months ago, we briefly tried to cloth diaper her. (We already had all the supplies because we cloth diapered my son from 6 weeks until he was potty trained one month before he turned 3).

However, some variables made it difficult to cloth diaper her—we live in a 3 flat apartment, and all floors share the same one washing machine. Our new neighbor had an elderly dog that was prone to accidents, several a day, so it was not uncommon for her to monopolize the washing machine for a few days at a time. That does not work so well when cloth diapers need washing. Also, we figured the laundry cost we had to pay ($1.75) per load, was not that much cheaper than buying paper diapers on sale.

Now that we have two little ones in diapers, I am feeling the pinch as much grocery budget routinely is $90 to $100 a week. Also, my neighbors dog has passed away, so she hardly ever uses the machine now.

So, I have decided to experiment in the month of August. I will cloth diaper my girls the entire month with the exception of the five days we will be visiting my mom. I will also use paper diapers for night time. (That will only be two a night as both girls sleep through the night.) At the end of the month, I will add up the cost and time difference.

I should state that my husband is generally not on board with this. He is finishing up his Ph.D. and thinks we are already too busy to mess with cloth diapers. We will see what he thinks at the end of the month. I will report back in early September.

Link Love, 7/30/10

Here are some posts I enjoyed recently on the web:

Even though it is only July, Life as Mom is already looking ahead to the holidays. Check out her post today "5 Ways to Save on Christmas Expenses."

Yahoo! had an article, "10 Summer Slow Cooker Recipes". Try these if you don't want to heat up your kitchen with the oven.

I saw this guest post on Money Saving Mom a few weeks ago and thought it offered an excellent tutorial on way to lower your grocery bill without clipping coupons, "How to Start Your Own Produce Co-op".

Lastly, I enjoyed this article, "Repurposing Baby Food Containers" by I Can Teach My Child. I plan on visiting her site some more to find activities I can do with my 21 month old during the day.

If you have read any particularly memorable posts, feel free to leave the links in the comments.

Happy reading.

Jeneri Jewelry and Accessories - A Giveaway!

UPDATE: The winner is Ashley hewella@ Congratulations!

Jeneri Jewelry is an Etsy shop that has been open since 2007. The owner, Jen, originally began making jewelry when her son was little and she decided to stay home with him. She started out making bead necklaces, but her true joy was making metal necklaces. Now she has a store filled with beautiful necklaces (which can be personalized with stamping), bracelets and earrings.











She also sells bags, scarves and belts, which are crafted by her 73 year old mother who has over 50 years of sewing experience.

The Giveaway:

Jen has graciously offered one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate to her store. This would be a great opportunity to get yourself a nice piece of jewelry or to give it as a gift to a daughter, a mother, a friend, the list goes on. Prices vary within her store, but all of the items pictured in this post sell for less than $30.

To enter this giveaway, simply go to Jeneri Jewelry’s Etsy shop, and state which item you would like to buy should you win.

Additional methods of entry:

-Become a follower on my blog or state that you already are, if that is the case.

-Blog about this giveaway or write about it on Facebook or Twitter

-Like Jeneri Jewelry on Facebook

This giveaway ends on Thursday, August 5th at 9 p.m. CST. The winner will be chosen via random.org . Make sure you include your e-mail address when you enter.

I received no compensation from Jeneri Jewelry for this giveaway.

My Freezer Cooking Plan for This Weekend

This weekend I am having another freezer cooking bout. This time I am trying out the 30 Meals in One Day system. (Enter my Dinner Is Ready cookbook and software giveaway for a great OAMC program!)

Here are the meals, sides and breakfasts I plan to prepare:

Meals
Honey Mustard Turkey Burgers
Beefy Corn Bread
Cola Barbeque
Pork Chops, Carrots and Gravy
Slow Cooked Chili
Stacked Tacos
Thanksgiving Burgers

Sides
New England Baked Beans
Cheddar Biscuits
Corn Meal Bread










Breakfasts
Breakfast Sandwiches
Pancakes

Here is my plan of attack:

Thursday
-Grocery shop
-Make New England Baked Beans in the slow cooker
-Soak the beans overnight for Slow Cooked Chili
-Put the meats in the refrigerator to unthaw

Friday
-Cut up 7 cups of onions
-Chop 2 cup green bell pepper
-Brown 6 lbs. ground beef
-Start Slow Cooked Chili in the slow cooker
-Prepare Stacked Taco mix on the stove top

Saturday
-Bake 18 eggs for Breakfast Sandwiches
-Put Cola Barbeque in the oven at the same time
-Prepare Cheddar Biscuits & put in the oven when eggs are don
-Brown ground beef for Beefy Corn Bread
-Assemble Beefy Corn Bread and put in the oven when biscuits are done
-Prepare Corn Meal Bread & put in the oven when Beefy Corn Bread is done
-Cook pork chops
-Put PorkChops, Carrots & Gravy on the stove to simmer for 1 hour
-Assemble Honey Mustard Turkey Burgers & put in freezer bag
-Assemble Thanksgiving Burgers & put in a freezer bag
-Shred the Cola Barbeque & put in the freezer
-Do dishes and collapse on the couch!

Sunday
-Cook Turkey Sausage patties
-Toast & butter English muffins
-Assemble Breakfast Sandwiches
-Make pancake batter
-Cook pancakes

I'll share my results and some of the recipes with you next week!

Guest Post - Alternative Sources for Back to School Clothing

You can tell it is back to school time when the Staples commercial that proclaims it’s the most wonderful time of the year where the kids are dreading going back to the classroom and the parents are ecstatic about having the kids back out of the house during the day is airing. Back to school shopping can be expensive, so the important thing is finding some items that complement that back to school shopping on a budget.

Some of the best places to find deals are under the radar, and one suggestion would be to go to consignment stores/shops. These stores offer a lot of stationary items, clothing for extremely cheap prices, children’s games/toys, as well as all sorts of great miscellaneous items like tennis and dress shoes.

If you are trying to find a local consignment shop you have a couple of options. You may use the traditional phone book to browse around, drive around the main streets in your town until you come across a store, or you can use the internet sites like Garage Sales Tracker which have a directory of consignment shops as well as garage sales on the web as well as well as turn by turn directions via their iPhone application.

If you are looking in the phone book for sales, you can either go to the shopping part of the phone book and then go to either the C’s for consignments or check out T’s for the Thrift Store directory as well. Some common places around the country such as Good-Will Stores and Salvation Army may have their own alphabetical listing.

If driving around to find shops is your preferred method, then check out the main streets in your town/neighborhood as often consignment shops will reside on the corners of strip malls.

If the internet is your chosen medium for finding a local store, then you can either Google consignment shops in (your city, your state) or utilize the search feature with Garage Sales Tracker where you can simply input your zip code and distance that you are willing to travel and then, voila, you will receive turn by turn driving directions and a map from Google.

No matter how you find your local consignment stores, the point is that it’s a different way to find, shop, and save tremendously right before the kids go back to school. These days clothes, shoes, notebooks, and accessories are getting more expensive, so I’m always glad to look down at my brand new Nikes knowing I only spent $25.00 on them thanks to a consignor!

This article was produced by Rich of Garage Sales Tracker who has been frugally bargain hunting since he was a kid attending flea markets, consignment/thrift shops, and yard sales and has helped turned the hobby into a website that allows people from all over the country to find all local sales in an easy to use manner born from the frustrations of not having a central resource for all of the places he loves to shop.

In Defense of Money Saving Mom

The very first blog I read was Money Saving Mom. I read her blog for about 6 months before I decided to start my own.

I was impressed with the beans and rice budget they followed while her husband was getting his law degree (perhaps because my husband is finishing up his Ph.D and I know how long the whole process can feel!). I was impressed with how she managed to find great deals for her family and spend very little money, and I admired their commitment to paying 100% down for their first home.

However, after reading her blog for several months, I noticed that she often got rude, dare I say, jealous, comments about her success. People come to her blog to learn how to live a more frugal life and to find great deals, and most of her readers applaud her success. But, there are more than a few that seem jealous of her success, of the fact that she is practicing what she preaches, so to speak.

When she and her husband just recently bought their house IN CASH!, there was quite a lively discussion about this on Facebook. One woman wrote something like this: “I am sure I could pay cash for my house too if my husband was a lawyer with a big salary and I could quit my job, stop paying for daycare and run a profitable blog.”

Really?

It is easy to be jealous of their financial success, but think about all of the work and sacrifice that went into achieving this goal. Are we all willing to live in a not so good area of town so we can live on $1000 a month? Can your family survive on an average of $40 a week for groceries? I know mine can’t. How long can most families live with only one car? (We are doing it now, but my husband can take public transportation, so I get to keep the car all day; that was not the case with Money Saving Mom as her husband had to take the car to get to work.)

Almost as if to illustrate the point of choices and sacrifice, one of her posts immediately following the post about their new house was that they are driving a dilapidated van that is on its last legs. Is the critical reader willing to do that?

The simple fact is that we all make financial decisions based on priorities. For Money Saving Mom and her family, paying 100% down for a house was a very important priority, and they lived their life to reflect that. It is true that she and her husband have more income coming in monthly than many of her readers. However, that does not guarantee the success she and her husband have had. There are millions of Americans who bring in great salaries and are deeply in debt. She and her husband made a commitment based on their beliefs, and they achieved an enviable goal. That is an example we can all learn from.

Grocery Shopping, 7/28/10

I stocked up on several items this week, which put us over budget.

CVS:

1 gallon milk – 2.69, earned 1.00 ECBs
1 4 pk. Green tea – 7.99, - 2.00 Q, earned 7.99 ECBs
1 pkg. Huggies – 8.99, earned 3.00 ECBs
2 pkgs. CVS baby wipes – 10.48
2 pkgs. CVS diapers – 23.98

I used $14.97 in ECBs and earned $11.99 ECBs

Total = 30.37

Dominick's:

5 Classico spaghetti sauce - $7.45
1 Classico alfredo sauce – 1.49
1 jar Smucker’s peanut butter – 3.49
2 boxes spaghetti – 1.59
2 boxes linguine – 1.59
2 boxes pasta – 1.59
6 – 1 lb. pkgs. turkey sausage patties -5.94
2 pkgs. Hillshire farm sausage – 3.79

Total = 27.54

Food4Less:
1 watermelon – 3.98
2 -16 oz. tubs cottage cheese – 2.00
18 ct. eggs – 1.28
5 – 8 oz. bags shredded cheese – 5.00
1 – 5 lb. bag potatoes - .88
1 loaf cinnamon bread – 2.93
1 lb. turkey breast lunch meat – 3.82
1 lb. sliced mozzarella cheese – 4.93
1 box gramola bars – 2.00
1 bag spinach – 1.98
1 carton ice cream – 1.88
1 lb. baby carrots – 1.0
1 bunch broccoli – 2.07
2 loaves bread – 5.08
Pears – 1.98
Peaches – 1.53
Bananas – 2.21
Mushrooms – 1.00
Kroger vanilla wafers – 1.78
2 bags Craisins – 2.00
1 gallon milk – 2.14

Total – 53.40

Total for the week – 111.31

Total for the year – 2668.15 (95.29/week)

Food Waste, 7/28/10

This week we wasted 1/2 cucumber and about 1/4 cup of mixed veggies.

The cucumber didn't taste that good to begin with and was a bit slimey when I washed it up to eat the first day. When we got the rest out two days later from the refrigerator, it was already bad.

The veggies, well, we forgot to put them away after dinner and they sat out overnight. My husband put them in a leftover container thinking he would try to eat them until I convinced him not to.

Food waste for this week: $1.25

Food waste since February 1st: $82.25

Eco Friendly Easy Lunch Box System Review & Giveaway

UPDATE--The winner is Cathy--clink05@ Congratulations!

This is the third in a series of back to school giveaways I will list each Tuesday.






My son is starting 1st grade in the fall, so I needed a lunch box for him. His preschool lunchbox was Thomas the Train, and he has had it for three years. The bento box we bought for it no longer snaps closed. We had to put a rubber band around it when we packed his lunch.

I found EasyLunchBoxes.com on the web and was lucky enough to get to try one.






The Easy Lunch Box was invented by Kelly Lester, a busy mom of three, who wanted an eco friendly lunch box system that was also attractive. Since it hit the market in December 2009, the Easy Lunch Box System has been named a 'top 5 Eco-Friendly Mommy Must Have" by Parents Ask, and the EasyLunchBox System has been rated TOP CHOICE by many independent reviewers. Read their reviews HERE.

We received one lunch box cooler and 4 containers with lids in 4 different colors.

This bento style lunch box has three separate compartments which are perfect for say a sandwich, a fruit and a veggie. When my husband first saw these containers on the web, he thought they would be like the plastic containers you can buy at the grocery store, but they are much stronger and of higher quality. The lid snaps tightly closed, but is easy enough to open that my 6 year old can open it without trouble. More importantly, they are FDA approved. They do not contain BPA, phthalates, lead, vinyl, or PVC and are safe for dishwasher, freezer, and microwave.

Up to 3 containers fit in one lunch box cooler. Alternatively, you can pack one container and put your thermos and other snacks on top. The lunch box cooler is very roomy.

The set of four containers is $13.95, and the lunch box cooler is $7.95. If you have a few children, you would only need to buy one set of containers and a lunch box for each of your children. (Kelly had each of her children pick one particular lunch box color, so in the rush of the morning it is easy to tell whose lunch is whose.)

My son loves his new lunch box and likes to choose a different color lid every day.

The Giveaway:
One lucky winner will receive a lunch box cooler in winner’s choice of color and a package of 4 containers, a retail value of $21.90.

-To enter this giveaway, which is open to U.S. residents and Canadians, you must go to EasyLunchBoxes.com and come back to leave a comment about something you learned while visiting the site.

Other ways to enter after completing the above step:
-Like Easy Lunch Boxes’ Facebook page

-Become a follower of my blog or state that you already are

-Follow Easy Lunch Boxes on Twitter

-Blog about this giveaway or post it on Facebook and put the link in your comments.

This giveaway will end on 8/3 at 9 pm. CST. Random.org will be used to determine the winner. Make sure to leave your e-mail in your comment so I can notify the winner.

I received an Easy Lunch Box system for review purposes. (Thank you EasyLunchBoxes.com!) I received no other compensation.

Frugal Finds, 7/27

Last week I took advantage of Stockpiling Moms' suggestion to check K-mart for steep clearance toy discounts. I found 4 toys, two for my son and two for my oldest daughter. The one that I liked the best was this Discovery Kids Glow Star Globe.

My son likes geography; his kindergarten graduation project was on flags of the world. I know he will love this toy when I give it to him at Christmas.

I paid $14.99 for it on clearance; it is selling on Amazon for $46. That's the kind of bargain I like. (And it will help keep me out of the stores during all of the holiday shopping craziness in December.)

Did you have any frugal finds this week? If so, link up and share!

Works for Me--Reusing Freezer Bags

There are many ways to save money, but I read somewhere that the best way to save money is on the little things. Saving $2000 off the sticker price of a car is great, but it is only a one time savings. If you break your gourmet coffee habit and don't buy coffee out everyday for several years the savings is also significant. If you save money on many little things, well, the savings just multiple.

I have been freezer cooking for several months now, and one easy way I save money is to rewash the large gallon size freezer bags I use. If I put 10 muffins in a freezer bag, once the muffins are gone, I wash it by hand and hang it up to dry. When I am doing my next freezer cooking day, I just scratch out the old contents’ label and write a new one. It may not be pretty, but that doesn’t matter. (Note—I never reuse the bags that have stored raw meat.)

Back to School Challenge Update 7/26/10

As I mentioned last week, I am trying to get all of the items for my son’s first grade school supply list under $15. Until school starts, I will be updating weekly on my success.

His school is very specific about the brand of some items on his school supply list. Here is the exact list:

Quantity - Description
1 Large Backpack
1 Crayola brand crayons – 24 count (No larger amounts please!)
6 7 oz glue sticks (Large glue sticks or twice as many small ones)
*8 #2 pencils
1 Pink eraser
1 Box markers – Mr. Sketch or Crayola Classic brand (Broad Tip)
1 Box Addition and Subtraction flash cards for use at home
1 Fiskars brand scissors
*2 Rolls of paper towels
1 Jumbo box of tissue
*1 Container of wetHAND WIPES-Not Lysol or Bleach… used for cleaning hands
*1 Gallon size box of Zip Lock bags
1 Plastic pencil box
1 Wallet size photo of student
1 Ream of copy paper – white
*1 Package of either 7 oz cups, 5 oz cups or paper napkins

This past Sunday I bought the following at Office Max:
1 ream of paper (free after Max Perks rebate)

In the previous two weeks we bought:
Meijer—24 ct. box of Crayola Crayons .25, 3 glue sticks .75
CVS—large box of tissue—$0.06
Walgreens—Fiskars scissors--$0.99
Office Depot—Mr. Sketch Markers--$0.00 (cost 7.99 but will mail in for a 7.99 rebate)
Target—6 glue sticks--$1.20 (I will still need to buy more because I am 18 oz. short of what is requiredTotal--$3.25

Our total cost thus far--$3.25

*Items denoted are what we still need to buy.

Have You Heard of Juice in the City?

Juice in the City (aff.) is a new discount program geared towards moms. Deals are posted there, and you have the option of buying in. The program, which started in San Francisco, offers great deals. For instance, a recent deal was a movie ticket to see Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts. The tickets were $12 a piece, but when you bought them on Juice in the City, the price was only $4. That is a 66% discount!

Juice in the City is expanding their program to include the following cities:
Alexandria
Atlanta
Austin
Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Collin County, TX
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Denver
Detroit
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek
Houston
Indianapolis
London
Los Angeles
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Nashville
New York City
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland
Raleigh-Durham
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco East Bay
San Francisco North Bay
Seattle-Tacoma
San Francisco Bay
St. Louis
Sydney
Toronto
Washington D.C.

Signing up is free, and you get to choose what deals you would like to opt in to or what deals you don't want to buy. Juice in the City aims to bring moms what they really want: insanely good deals on crazy-fun things to do...and great content. Each day Juice in the City features something fun for local moms to do at an incredible price. Enjoy

Menu Planning, 7/25/10

A few weeks ago I scored some pork chops on sale for .99/lb since they were near their expiration date, so I have plans to use some of those this week. I have gotten so many .99/lb deals on various types of meat at one particular store in the last several weeks that I am afraid that store location will close! I hope not. I like .99/lb meat!

Monday--Chicken Enchiladas,* Spinach
Tuesday--Freezer Burritos,* mixed veggies
Wednesday--Crockpot Chili Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Thursday--spaghetti & garlic bread*
Friday--Monterey Jack Stuffed Chicken*, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots
Saturday--dinner out
Sunday--soup & sandwiches

all items with * are already prepared in the freezer

Breakfasts will be omelettes, oatmeal, cereal, fruit

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers

Do you like pasta? Don't miss my giveaway for an Organic Kosher Pasta Gift Basket!

Eden Foods Organic Pasta Basket Review and Giveaway!

UPDATE: The winner is Monica - monicalavoie@ Congratulations!















When we can afford it, we like to eat organic food. When our two oldest kids were little and I made their homemade baby food, I bought mostly organic produce. Last summer we enjoyed produce from a local organic farm.

So, I was delighted to have the opportunity to review an Organic Pasta Basket from Eden Foods featuring organic, kosher foods.

Eden Foods began in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the 1960s and quickly grew. They opened their first warehouse in 1972, and they are now the “oldest natural and organic food company in North America and the largest independent manufacturer of dry grocery organic foods.” Furthermore, “Eden buys all food from, and pays farms directly, in a sustainable way.” They offer food you can feel good about buying and eating, both from a social responsibility stand point and a health stand point. Beyond that, their food tastes good.

The Organic Pasta Basket that they sent us came carefully packaged in a large box; the basket itself was beautiful and carefully wrapped so none of the contents was disturbed in transit. The Organic Pasta Basket contains:

-12 ounces of 100% whole grain EDEN Organic Kamut & Quinoa Twisted Pair gemelli pasta made of 70% northern plains kamut and 30% Andean Quinoa.

-14 ounces of 60% whole grain EDEN Organic Parsley Garlic Spaghetti made from family farm high plains durum wheat, durum semolina wheat and a healthy touch of garlic and parsley.

-12 ounces of our Best Selling EDEN Organic Vegetable Spirals with a celebration of color - golden, red, orange, and green from organic vegetable powders.

-25 ounce jar of EDEN Organic Spaghetti Sauce of fresh organic Roma tomatoes, organic extra virgin olive oil and a traditional blend of organic spices.

-15 ounce can of our thick, spreadable EDEN Organic Pizza-Pasta Sauce made from the finest fresh organic vine ripened Roma tomatoes and a traditional northern Italian recipe.

-14.5 ounces EDEN Organic Diced Tomatoes with Sweet Basil, no salt added.

-16 ounces of our finest award winning cold pressed EDEN Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a protective amber glass bottle. Provides 10 grams healthy monounsaturated fats per serving with no cholesterol.

-15 ounce can of our exclusive, no salt, EDEN Organic Cannellini (White Italian Kidney) Beans packed in bisphenol-A free cans.

-one 40 page EDEN Recipe Book with dozens of popular and easy, nutritious recipes.

We have enjoyed every item we have tried from this basket. I especially liked the pizza-pasta sauce. It had good flavor without being overpowering as some sauces can be. It enhanced the meal rather than detracting from it.

The Giveaway:
One lucky winner will receive an Organic Pasta Basket from Eden Foods valued at $40. (U.S. & Canada only)

To enter this giveaway, you must go to Eden Foods and come back to leave a comment either on another type of gift basket you thought looked good or a recipe you would like to try from their more than 875 recipes on the website.

Other ways to enter after completing the above step:
-Like Eden Foods' Facebook page

Become a follower of my blog or state that you already are

Follow Eden Foods on Twitter

This giveaway will end on 8/2 at 9 pm. CST. Random.org will be used to determine the winner. Make sure to leave your e-mail in your comment so I can notify the winner.

I received an Organic Pasta Basket from Eden Foods for review purposes. (Thank you Eden Foods!) I received no other compensation.

Link Love, 7/23

Earlier in the week, Yahoo! had an interesting article entitled, "Secrets of Extreme Savers." I found it to be an interesting read.

The Frugal Girl posted a tutorial on how to make "Homemade English Muffins." I would like to give these a try.

Finally, I was looking online for crafts to do with my 6 year old when his two little sisters are napping on the weekend. I found this recipe for homemade playdough. We have never made that before and are going to give it a try this weekend.

Meet & Greet Friday

I am participating in several blog hops today, including:

New Friends Friday at Trendy Treehouse

Friday Follow

Green Follow Friday at Eco-Friendly and Frugal

If you are visiting from there, welcome. Leave me a comment and I will visit your blog.

Have a good weekend!

The Juppy Baby Walker--Review and Giveaway!

Update: The winner is Bao - giabao.ng@ Congratulations!

When my son was little and just learning to walk, he would hold my hand and walk stooped over. My daughter was so small when she learned to walk that I was the one stooping over to reach her hand.

When I heard about the Juppy Baby Walker, I couldn't wait to try it.


The Juppy is made of durable material and comes in pink or blue. It zips in the back for easy on and off, and it features adjustable straps. Just set the straps to the level that is comfortable for you and start helping your baby practice walking. You'll be much more comfortable, as will your baby.

My newest little one is only 3 months, so my cousin tried this out on her little one (11 months) and they both liked it! My cousin found it very comfortable and easy to use and said it did relieve any back strain. Her daughter enjoyed the ability to walk a little faster and seemed to feel more secure. She kept laughing and smiling, and clearly enjoyed the experience.

The Juppy is to be used for children 7 to 13 months old and has a weight limit of 30 pounds. One size fits all. The Juppy comes with its own matching carrying bag that is small enough to easily fit into a purse or diaper bag.

When Delaney is old enough to start cruising, I will be sure to use the Juppy. I am sure she will love it.

The Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive the Juppy in their choice of color. (Retail Value $31.90) If you don't have a little one, this would make a great baby shower gift.

To enter this giveaway, you must go to The Juppy and come back and leave a comment on the color Juppy you would like to win and who this would be for. (Please make sure you include your e-mail address)

Other ways to enter after the above entry include:

-Become a follower of my blog or state that you already are

-Like The Juppy's Facebook page

-Follow The Juppy on Twitter

-Blog about this giveaway (and include the link) or write about it on Facebook or Twitter (one entry for each of the three methods)

This giveaway will end on 7/30 at 9 pm. CST.

I received no compensation for this review. I did receive a Juppy Baby Walker for review purposes.

Homemade Pizza and Pizza Rolls OAMC

When I did my monthly cooking a few weeks ago, one of the recipes from Holly Clegg's Trim and Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals cookbook that I tried was Italian Pizza Rolls. These did require some work, but they were delicious! (And they were also the first freezer meal for the month to be eaten up.)

Italian Pizza Rolls
1/3 c. finely chopped carrots
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 pound ground sirloin
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 cup shredded, part skim mozzarella cheese
9 to 10 egg roll wrappers

-In a non-stick skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray, saute the carrots, onion, green pepper and garlic for 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat until tender. Add the sirloin, cooking until browned. Remove from heat and sitr in tomato sauce, oregano, basil and Mozzarella cheese.

-Place about 2 tablespoons in the middle of each egg roll wrapper. Fold the lower bottom third up, fold the 2 sides toward the center and then roll up.

-Do not bake before freezing. Freeze on a baking sheet, then transfer to freezer zip-top bags, label and freeze.

-When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove rolls directly from the freezer and place on a non-stick baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes; turn rolls over and continue baking for another 5 to 6 minutes or until crispy and browned.

I ended up with leftover filling, so I froze it. The other night I made homemade pizza crust (substituting some of the white flour for whole wheat), layered on pizza sauce and some mozzarella cheese and finished with the leftover filling. Then I baked it at 375 for 20 minutes. It was a hit at our house.

Two freezer meals from one filling. It doesn't get much better than that.

Great Toy Sales at Kmart

I read on Stockpiling Moms last night that K-mart is offering 50% off their clearance toys. I went this morning and found a few Christmas and birthday items for my older two. (More on that coming next Tuesday for my Frugal Finds post.) For more details, check out Stockpiling Moms full post here.

Huge Frugal Failure

It pains me to write this. Remember the 9 lbs. of chicken that I bought for $1.68 a pound? Well, on the day that I bought it, it was 90 degrees out and humid. After my big shopping trip, I had to stop by CVS. I was in CVS maybe 15 or 20 minutes. The chicken was in the car. . . Not a good thing.

Two days later I started smelling a funk. A bad funk every time I opened the refrigerator. I took out the chicken to put it in the freezer, and much to my disappointment and annoyance, the chicken was causing the stench. The label said it should be sold within the next 7 days. It should have been fresh still, but it was bad. . .very, very bad and stinky.

I don’t know if the chicken was bad quality to begin with or if it was my roasting car. I am guessing it is the latter. Ugghh. Such an expensive frugal failure.

Blog Hoppin' Again

Today I am participating in Keepin' Company Thursdays and Thursday Friends. If you are visiting me from there, welcome! Make sure to also give your site in the comments; I will come visit you.

Food Waste, 7/21/10

I would like to write that the only food waste we had this week was a half jug of orange juice. We all like juice, so I am not quite sure why it got wasted except it was pushed to the dreaded back of the top shelf. (.64)

However, I bought 9 lbs of chicken to use for freezer cooking next month THAT ALL WENT BAD!! Read about it here. ($15.65)

Food waste since February 1st: $81.00

Make Money Selling Your Kids' Clothes on Ebay, Part 2

This is the second in a two part series about selling your kids' clothes on eBay. For the first part, go here.

When you sell your kids' clothes, there are several ways you can maximize your earnings:

Presentation
-Make sure all of the clothes are clean and wrinkle free.

-Carefully look them over to find any stains or tears. When writing up the auction, make sure to clearly state what defects are in the clothing and take a picture of those defects.

-Take pictures in good light so buyers can see the clothing in detail

-Outfits almost always sell better than individual pieces of clothing

-When listing your clothes, try to have several available in the same size. Let’s say you have two daughters; the oldest one has outgrown her size 8 clothes, the youngest her size 6 clothes. Rather than listing them as you can, focus on one daughter’s clothing first. Create auctions or fixed price listings for all of your daughter’s size 8 clothes first and then move on to the size 6 or vice versa. If someone likes some of your items in size 8, they are likely to look at the rest of the auctions and see if you have more things to sell in that size that they would like to buy. Why? Because the buyer almost always pays less in shipping this way.

Shipping
-Offer shipping discounts. For example, state in your listing that each additional item is only $2 to be shipped. If a person buys one item from you and pays $3.50 in shipping, only charge them $2 more for the next item they buy. So, if they buy two items from you and they are shipped together, instead of paying $7 ($3.50 for each listing they buy), they will only pay $5.50 in shipping. The more they buy the better bargain it is for them with shipping. This encourages a buyer to purchase more than one item from you.

-Let the buyer know the maximum they will pay for shipping. To ship a priority large size flat rate box in the US, shipping is $13.95. You can let the buyer know that is the maximum they will pay for shipping. So, if they buy 5 outfits from you, as long as they all fit in a large flat rate box, they will only have to pay $13.95.

-Give a reasonable shipping cost. List what the shipping cost actually is. A shirt might cost $2.85 to ship first class; don’t give a shipping price of $5.00. You will lose many potential bidders who do not want to pay inflated shipping costs.

Pay attention to end times
-If you live on the east coast and have your auction end at 8 p.m. in your time zone, it will only be 5 p.m. on the west coast; you could potentially miss out on many bidders. Try to end your auctions so it is at least 7 p.m. on the west coast and 11 p.m. on the east coast.

-There is a way to have all of your auctions end at the same time. If you are going to list with the auction format, I do not recommend this. Some people like to bid on multiple items and they wait until there is about 30 seconds left in the auction to place their bid. This is called sniping (sp.), and a buyer can’t do it if all of your auctions end at the same time. Spread out your auction ending times, if only buy a few minutes.

And there you have it, a quick tutorial on selling your kids’ clothes on eBay. If you have any more questions, please leave me a comment or e-mail me privately.

Abbe' Designs Backpack Review and Giveaway!!

Update: The winner is Liz at lizlivingbarefoot@ Congratulations!

This is the second in a series of back to school giveaways I will be starting each Tuesday and ending the following Tuesday.

Is your little one going to school for the first time? If so, wouldn’t she be excited to go to school in her own custom designed backpack? You can buy backpacks just about anywhere during the back to school season, but not all of them are as cute as those for sale at Abbe' Designs.

Christina from Abbe Designs has had her own web store for six years now and makes many different items from hair bows to pillow case dresses to custom embroidered lunchboxes and backpacks. Christina worked in retail for 15 years until the birth of her twins in 1999 when she decided to be a stay at home mom. When her twins were toddlers, she started sewing again (a passion she has had since childhood) and a few months later opened her web store, Abbe Designs in 2004.

Abbe Designs sent my son a backpack for review, and he just loved it! This backpack features two zippered pockets in the front, a small pocket on each side and, of course, a large main area for books or other items. My son’s is navy blue with his name lettered in red. He wore it the entire first night he received it, and now he is even more excited for first grade to begin.

These backpacks are standard size, not toddler size, and are not recommended for heavy book loads. They are perfect for grades kindergarten through second or third grade (as long as the book load is not too heavy). They are also great for sleepovers or traveling.

The Giveaway:

Christina has offered to give away one backpack from Abbe' Designs in the style and color of the winner’s choice. Please keep in mind that you must choose a design and color that is listed on the web site. The winner will also be able to choose their monogram color if they would like monogramming.

To enter this giveaway (U.S. only), you must go to Abbe' Designs and come back to leave a comment on the color and type of backpack you would like to win.

Other ways to enter after stating which backpack you would like to win:

-Like Abbe' Designs’ Facebook page

-Become a follower of my blog or state that you already are

-Join Abbe' Designs’ mailing list

This giveaway will end on 7/27 at 9 pm. CST. The winner will be chosen via random.org. Make sure you include your e-mail address when you comment.

Remember too that there is still time to enter to win a custom made girl's dress in your choice of size, color and style. Go here to enter that giveaway.

I received a backpack for review purposes; I received no other compensation from Abbe' Designs.

Grocery Shopping, 7/20/10

Almost half of our grocery budget this week went to stocking up on blueberries so we can have them all winter. Yum.

Leduc Blueberries:

20 lbs. of blueberries = $40.00

Food4Less:

I don't have an item by item breakdown because my daughter ripped several papers on our table; one of them being this receipt. I do know that the total was $43.00

CVS: (no picture)

1 box CVS diapers = 15.99

Total = 16.79

Total for the week: $99.79

Total for the year: 2556.84 (94.69/week)

Frugal Finds, 7/20/10

My son has a strict dress code to follow at his new school. He is required to wear brown or black dress shoes.

I didn’t want to spend much on these shoes because he is all boy at recess and will likely destroy them in short order. Also, he is growing so quickly that if they are not destroyed, he will likely outgrow them well before the year is over.

When I stopped in at Payless a few weeks ago, they were having a sale. I found some brown shoes for $7!! I bought two pairs—one for now and one in a size larger than he is wearing now. Hopefully for $14 I have covered his shoe needs for the year.

Do you have any recent Frugal Finds? If so, please link up!

Make Money Selling Your Kids' Clothes on Ebay - Part 1

Have your children outgrown their school clothes from last year? If so, instead of having a garage sale, consider selling them on eBay. Depending on the brand of clothing, you could make much more money this way.

The Selling Season
July through September are the optimal selling time for fall clothing because parents are gearing up for their children going back to school. They are looking for high quality used outfits, jeans, dresses, long sleeve shirts, etc. If you can’t list every thing at once, save sweaters and holiday clothes for September or October; that is the optimal selling season for those items.

Items to Sell
I have found the best brand of kids’ clothes to sell on eBay include Gymboree, Gap, and Hanna Andersson. (See my article here about how to buy name brand kids’ clothes on the cheap.) Backpacks and lunch boxes that are still in good shape also sell well.

How to Get Started
If you don’t have one already, open up an eBay account. E-bay has an excellent tutorial about how to list your items for sale; if you have never done this before, follow the tutorial.

There are two basic formats for listing your items up for sale:

Auction
This is a great strategy if you just want the clothes out of the house and want to make money quickly. I would not recommend starting the auction at .99 cents; unfortunately, far too many auctions only increase a bit from this starting point. Instead, settle on a starting price a little lower than what you would like to earn for the item. For instance, if I have my son’s shirt up for sale that is in very good condition, I might want to make $6 from it. I will start the auction at $3.99. Most auctions run for 3 to 7 days; I always choose 7 days. The drawback to listing as an auction is that you may not get quite what you think the item is worth.

Fixed Price
You can choose to list your item for a fixed price. This strategy is good if you don’t care that it might take awhile to sell your item; you want to make sure to get what you think it is worth. Let’s take the shirt that I mentioned previously; I believe it is worth $6, so I will list it at a fixed price of $5.99. If someone wants to buy it, they will have to pay me that price. You can put fixed price auctions up for as few as 1 to 3 days, but I recommend choosing the full 30 days for maximum exposure. The drawback to this type of auction is that if you have your item priced too high, it won’t sell and you will still need to pay listing fees.

Read the second part of this series, Maximizing the Money You Can Earn

Back To School Supply Challenge Update

As I mentioned last week, I am trying to get all of the items for my son’s first grade school supply list under $15. Until school starts, I will be updating weekly on my success.

His school is very specific about the brand of some items on his school supply list. Here is the exact list:

Quantity Description
1 Large Backpack
1 Crayola brand crayons – 24 count (No larger amounts please!)
6 7 oz glue sticks (Large glue sticks or twice as many small ones)
8 #2 pencils
1 Pink eraser
1 Box markers – Mr. Sketch or Crayola Classic brand (Broad Tip)
1 Box Addition and Subtraction flash cards for use at home
1 Fiskars brand scissors
2 Rolls of paper towels
1 Jumbo box of tissue
1 Container of wetHAND WIPES-Not Lysol or Bleach… used for cleaning hands
1 Gallon size box of Zip Lock bags
1 Plastic pencil box
1 Wallet size photo of student
1 Ream of copy paper – white
1 Package of either 7 oz cups, 5 oz cups or paper napkins

This past Saturday I bought the following at Meijer:
24 count box of Crayola Crayons--.25
3 glue sticks--.75
Total--$1.00

Last week we bought:
CVS—large box of tissue—$0.06
Walgreens—Fiskars scissors--$0.99
Office Depot—Mr. Sketch Markers--$0.00 (cost 7.99 but will mail in for a 7.99 rebate)
Target—6 glue sticks--$1.20 (I will still need to buy more because I am 18 oz. short of what is required
Total--$2.25

Our total cost thus far--$3.25

I am hoping to swing by CVS and Walgreen’s and pick up some more deals early in the week.

Menu Planning, 7/18/10

We went to Michigan this week and stopped by Leducs Blueberries to grab 20 pounds of fresh blueberries. Yum! I am in the process of freezing them so we can enjoy them all year long, so I need to clear out some freezer space. Most of our meals this week are freezer meals once again.

Monday--Chicken and Bacon Sub Sandwich* with baby carrots & lettuce
Tuesday--Spaghetti and meatballs* with garlic bread *and spinach
Wednesday--No Meat Freezer Burritos,* lettuce & mixed veggies
Thursday--Homemade Pizza
Friday--Stuffed Shells,* garlic bread *& broccoli
Saturday--dinner out
Sunday--sandwiches & soup & veggie

All items marked with * are already prepared in the freezer.

I will be taking some of those fresh blueberries and making several batches of Banana-Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. We will also be eating omelettes, oatmeal and fruit salads for breakfast.

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

Custom Dress by Little Biscuit Creations Giveaway!

Update: The winner is Melissa - melissa.raab@ Congratulations!



My daughter has reached the age where she loves dresses. She also loves to pick out her own clothes, which I find cute and annoying at the same time. (It seems like I should be able to pick out her outfits for just a bit longer.) So, she was absolutely thrilled to receive an adorable dress from Little Biscuit Creations.

The owner of the shop, Rachel, is a busy stay at home mom to two little girls—Ava, who is almost 4, and Leah who is 19 months old. She enjoyed sewing cute, unique outfits for her daughters, so she decided to turn her hobby into a business.

The dress she sent my daughter was made of four different complementary fabrics; the main one being a whimsical bird pattern. The bodice was made of small stripes, and the bottom of the skirt had larger stripes. The straps were made of a polka dot pattern. This dress looks comfy and cool, perfect for summer. My daughter liked it so much she insisted on wearing it two days in a row (with a quick wash in between).














(my daughter can't quit looking at the birds on her pretty new dress)

The Giveaway
Rachel has generously offered to make one girl’s dress in the size, color and style of the winner’s choice.

-To enter this giveaway, simply go to Rachel’s blog, Little Biscuit Creations and state which style dress you would like to win. This step is mandatory.

-To enter again, become a member of Little Biscuit Creation’s Facebook Fan page

-To enter an additional time, become a follower on my blog or state that you already are, if that is the case.

-To enter another time, blog about this giveaway or write about it on Facebook or Twitter.

This giveaway will end on Monday, July 26th at 9 p.m. CST. The winner will be chosen via random.org. Make sure you include your e-mail address when you enter.

Remember too that there is still time to enter my other two giveaways--10 lbs. of blueberries & a gift box and hair clips by Spunky Bunny Boutique. These giveaways end on 7/19/10 and 7/20/10 respectively.

I received a dress from Little Biscuit Creations for the purpose of the review. I received no compensation for this giveaway.

Link Love, 7/16

I don't know about you, but I have a ton of my son's artwork around the house. I am trying to find a way to organize it all. One possible way I found was in the post "Organizing All that School Clutter" by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junky.

Over at Life as Mom, Jessica wrote a good article about the reasons we say no to some of our children's requests and why we should say yes instead at "To Be More Joyful--Be a Yes Mom."

Breakfast Sandwiches - OAMC

When I was pregnant for Delaney, I ate way too many Egg McMuffins. After I got tired of those, I switched to Burger King's Ham, Egg and Cheese Croissanwich. If only I had found this recipe back then, I could have saved a ton of money and eaten a better diet.

Breakfast Sandwiches (OAMC)

24 English muffins, toasted and buttered

2 dozen eggs

24 ham, bacon, Canadian bacon slices or sausage patties

24 slices cheddar cheese

--Scramble eggs in a large skillet. If you want a uniform shape, cook in greased canning rings.
--Assemble sandwiches with one egg, one slice of meat, one slice of cheese.
--Wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap, then freeze and place in zip-top bags.

I made these during my freezer cooking bout in May. I read in the comments (I found the recipe in recipezaar.com, now food.com) that one person just mixed all of the eggs in a 9 x 13 pan and baked them and used them in the sanwich to save time. I tried that tip, but the little squares were a bit odd, mostly because the floor in our old apartment building slopes so half the squares were much larger than the other half. I think I will try a different method when I make these again.

And, though the original recipe calls for American cheese, I preferred the batch we made with mozzarella cheese and would only make those kind next time. (They were less greasy.) I used sausage but next time would buy flatter rounds of sausage.

These were the first item eaten up entirely from our May freezer cooking day, and my husband has requested them again for my August freezer cooking day. Yum.

I shared this post at $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Life as Mom and The Grocery Cart Challenge.

A Huge Frugal Failure!

Last weekend, my husband decided to take our two oldest kids downtown for some fun. There is a place where they can splash through water, and every weekend there are kids’ activities and a band that plays music for kids.

He took our son all the time when he was little. They rode the train together and had a good time downtown. However, the one time my husband took our 20 month old daughter on the train, she got motion sickness from all of the shaking of the train and threw up on him several times.

Not eager to repeat that experience, he decided to drive downtown. They could only stay there for 2 hours before it was time for our daughter’s nap. While they had fun at all of the free events and enjoyed playing in the water, parking for 2 hours was $27! TWENTY SEVEN DOLLARS! All that free fun ended up costing $13.50 an hour.

I guess they will have to enjoy more frugal fun splashing in the water at grandma's:

Another Party with New Friends

Today I am participating in Keepin' Company Thursdays and Thursday Friends. If you are visiting me from there, welcome! Make sure to also give your site in the comments; I will come visit you.

Grocery Shopping, 7/14/10

This week I was able to stock up on skinless, boneless chicken for $1.68/lb. A few weeks ago I bought several pounds of ground turkey for .99/lb. My freezer meals next month will revolve around these two proteins.



Dominick's (no picture):
1 gallon milk - 2.69
1 bag of hamburger buns - 2.89
2 pints blueberries - 3.00

Total - 8.81


Food4Less:
(sorry about the darkness of the pictures)










9.5 lbs. chicken - 15.82 (not pictured)
2 jars applesauce - 2.34
2 gallons milk - 4.16
4 cans soft cat food - 1.84
1 jar spaghetti sauce - 1.88
1 bottle hand sanitizer - 1.28
1/4 lb. roast beef lunch meat - 1.50
1 lb. ham lunch meat - 4.10
1 lb. mozzarella cheese - 3.88
1 tub whipped topping - .78
2 cans frozen juice - 2.12
2 bottles bbq sauce - 1.76
1 box mac & cheese - .79
1 container cottage cheese - 1.00
2 boxes pudding - 1.16
1 bottle prune juice - 3.22
1 loaf bread - 2.54
18 ct. eggs - 1.08
1 package tortillas - 1.17
1 graham cracker crust - 1.48

1 cantaloupe - .98

3 lbs. strawberries - 2.94

2 bunches lettuce - 1.33

Fuji apples - 1.91

pears - 3.32

2 tomatoes - 1.00

bunch bananas - 1.24

nectarines - 1.79

1 avocado - .75

1 pkg. cucumbers ( mini) - 1.98

Total = 73.14
Total for the week - 81.95

Total for the year - 2457.05 (94.50/week)

Any Suggestions for a Blog Designer?

I have been thinking about hiring a blog designer to revamp my blog and make it more organized and easier to find posts (and prettier, too, of course).

I would appreciate it if any of you could recommend a good blog designer. Did any of you hire a blog designer you were impressed with? Also, how much does revamping a blog usually cost?

I look forward to your input!

Food Waste, 7/14

Ah, deep sigh. Today, my food waste is like the typical American's who throws more than $500 in grocery food in the garbage each year.

I have no excuse; worse yet, it is all produce we wasted. Sigh.

1/2 of an onion - .25
1/2 of a green pepper - .50
1/4 a bag of spinach - .75
2 small bunches of broccoli - 1.75

Total for the week - 3.25
Total food waste since February 1st -64.71

Frugal Finds, 7/13/10

When my son and I were out gathering back to school supplies on Sunday, we stopped by Dress Barn. I was looking for some tee shirts on clearance since I have continued to wear my maternity tee shirts since my daughter was born 3 months ago. As I have lost almost all of the baby weight except six pounds, this is not such a good look any more.

Tee shirts weren't on sale, but I did find 6 sweaters I liked on clearance. (Two of them are pictured above.) The full retail cost for these sweaters would have been $177.94. Instead, I bought them for $50.94 or 28% of their retail cost. With fall just a few months away, I now have non-maternity sweaters again. Yeah!

Do you have any recent Frugal Finds? If so, please link up!

Spunky Bunny Boutique Hair Clips Giveaway - BTS

Update: The winner is Jennifer at jonandjen10@. Congratulations!

Over the next several weeks, I will be having a back to school giveaway beginning each Tuesday.











































I remember when I was little picking out my outfit and having my mom braid my hair before school. I wanted everything to be perfect on the first day. Back then all we had were barrettes, pony tail holders and the pony tail holders with round baubles on them. Now, however, your little girl can be stylish with all sorts of different hair pretties.

This week, to kick off my series of back to school giveaways, Ellen from Spunky Bunny Boutique, has generously offered to giveaway two sets of hair clips of the winner’s choice.

Ellen first started making hair clips when she gave her daughter her first hair cut and the bangs were too short. She tried to hide this with pretty hair clips she designed. Now she has a store on Etsy full of cute hair clips.

She sent my daughter the trio of flowers (above) and the lady bug clips (below) to try out, and we were impressed with the quality. They look even cuter than the picture. My daughter has very fine hair, and most hair accessories simply slip out. Ellen’s daughter has the same type of hair, so she knew what to do; she just added a piece of dense foam to the clip, and now they stay in her hair.

The Giveaway:

To enter this giveaway, simply go to Spunky Bunny Boutique and then leave me a comment stating which two sets you would like to win.

To enter another time, follow me or let me know if you already are.

You can gain another entry by blogging about this or writing about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter.

Finally, for a last entry, tell me your favorite back to school memory.

This giveaway ends on Tuesday, July 20th at 9 p.m. CST. The winner will be chosen via random.org. Make sure you include your e-mail address when you enter.

Remember too that there is still time to enter the giveaway for 10 lbs. of fresh blueberries & a blueberry gift box from Leduc Blueberries. That giveaway ends on 7/19/10 at 9 p.m. CST.

I received two sets of hair clips for review purposes. I received no other form of compensation from Spunky Bunny Boutique for this giveaway.