Archive for August, 2010

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Giveaway Results: Cheer Detergent for a Year

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Sorry this giveaway is now closed! Thank you all for your fabulous entries. We would like to congratulate Nikki (Commenter #710) for her winning entry! A huge thanks to Cheer for sharing this giveaway with our readers and we hope to offer more in the future!

These past couple of months I have had the incredible opportunity of working for Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent as a spokesperson for their back-to-school season. I sometimes want to pinch myself because running this site and the jobs that have come from a mom’s simple idea of teaching frugal living have been so amazing for me & for my family.

The opportunity to represent a wallet-friendly detergent and to promote ways moms can save for the school year is a perfect fit for what I do every day as a mom and I couldn’t be more pleased to represent the company.

Today I am heading to NYC to do a media tour on Wednesday for a variety of morning and afternoon news shows promoting ideas for ways moms can save in every room in their house during the back-to-school season. As the years have gone by, I have become more in tune with what puts a strain on our budget and, to me, it is often the little things that add up the most.

Let’s take a tour through the home, shall we, and find some hidden expenses in the home that could be corrected with very little effort and by making small changes in your house and purchasing habits.

Kitchen

It is the heart of the home, and one of my favorite places to start saving money! Here are some simple switches you could make when preparing those back-to-school lunches that could have a really positive impact on the family budget.


Avoid Snack Size Products– The aisles are brimming over at the grocery stores with snack-size products during the back-to-school season, but do your best to avoid these products if you can. By paying for the convenience of these products, you are paying double or triple the amount for a lot less food. Invest in a set of inexpensive containers that can be filled with your very own snacks for a fraction of the price.

Buy in Bulk– With the convenience of online shopping, it makes it very easy to shop for school supplies in bulk and do price comparisons from the comfort of your own home. Jot down the prices and ounces/sizes of the products you commonly purchase for school lunches at the grocery store. When you get home, visit your local wholesale club’s website to compare the prices there and see if there is some savings by buying in bulk. I love to use this price sheet and this Price Book 101 article has great information for keeping your own price journal. What I have found is some snacks, fruits, vegetables, and drinks can be bought in bulk for a lot less than buying them in the standard sizes at the grocery store.

Chop and Create At Home– Designate one day a week (my day is on Sunday) to creating your snack packs and making items that can be tucked in your children’s lunches. For example, instead of buying pudding packs ($.89 for four at Aldi), buy a box of instant pudding and make it at home for half the price. Instead of buying pre-chopped vegetables, chop them yourself and pay half (or less) on the price.

To keep your lunches organized and accessible, designate one refrigerator drawer towards school lunches and allow children to select one sandwich, one healthy snack, one “fun” snack, and their drink from the drawer. I even tuck commonly forgotten items in the drawer like napkins and spoons to trigger my tired brain to kick in on busy school mornings.

Bathroom

Getting ready for the big first day of school can sometimes feel like you are flushing money down the toilet, but it doesn’t have to be! Here are a few of my favorite ideas for saving money in your bathroom.

Shower Yourself in Savings- Did you know that the average shower uses six to ten gallons of water?  Consider investing in an egg timer and a low-flow showerhead to reduce water waste in the bathroom. By cutting showers down to five to eight minutes per person, you can save an easy $200 a year by taking quicker showers. The bonus, of course, is that this will help keep the entire family on schedule for getting out the door on time in the morning.

Designate Towels– Instead of having everyone use a towel only once, designate a towel to each family member that they can use for a whole week before putting it in the hamper. Two ways you could keep track of the towels is by assigning each family member a specific color of towels or you could sew a simple loop of grosgrain ribbon at the corner of each towel in a particular color for each family member that the towels could also be hung from following showers.

Shop Drugstore Deals & Coupons– While I am not a typical coupon-user for groceries, I LOVE the savings that can be had by shopping at the drugstores and combining them with coupons. Consider visiting sites like Money Saving Mom or Deal Seeking Mom to track coupon and rebate programs to score those health and beauty items for free.

Ditch the Expensive Bathroom Cleaners– Making your own cleaners is thrifty, frugal, and a lot better for the environment. Most cleaners can be made from simple ingredients that you can buy in bulk at your local wholesale club. Consider stocking up on baking soda, white vinegar, and dish soap to create your own cleaners at home. For a simple bathroom scouring paste, mix dishwashing liquid with baking soda until you have a thick paste and use this throughout your bathroom. For an all-purpose cleaner for your bathroom surfaces, mix together two tablespoons of mild dishwashing soap and two cups of water in a spray bottle and give it a shake. Glass cleaner can easily be made with one part white vinegar to one part water. All surfaces can be swiped with microfiber cloths (found in the automotive section of your wholesale club) and windows get a lint-free shine with a little of your newspaper from the recyclables.

Laundry Room

If there is anything that I have learned since school has started, it is that the laundry definitely seems to multiply with play clothes and school clothes every single day. Luckily, we have you covered with a few ways to save in your laundry room!


Switch to Cold Water- I have found that washing in warm and hot water are very rarely needed in our house. Just by switching to a cold water cycle you can save approximately $200 a year and it is a much greener alternative too!

Line Dry Those Clothes– Before the winter weather hits, take advantage of these beautiful fall days and consider line drying your clothing to save your family money.  There are many great benefits to utilizing a clothesline.

One of the best benefits of line drying your clothes is that they will last much longer than they would if they were just thrown in the dryer. Did you ever think about how much lint is in your dryer when you are done drying it? That is actually all of the worn-away fabric, that would have remained on your garments if you had line dried them. Zippers cause snagging on clothing when tossed in the dryer, but when line dried your garments will remain intact.

The second benefit is the energy-savings.  Did you know that electric dryers are often among the top energy-uses in a home, followed by refrigerators, lighting and water heaters? You will save your family $.36 a load by line-drying and you will keep those back-to-school clothes looking fresher for much longer

Switch to A Less Expensive Detergent– It may seem like a no-brainer, but switching detergents to one that is more wallet-friendly will save you oodles of money. Most brand-name detergents  cost family around $.30-.33 per load, but you can still have brand-name detergent at only $.15 a load if you switched to Cheer brightCLEAN™ detergent.That means each time you do a load of laundry, you can put $.15 back in your pocket to put towards all those back-to-school supplies. Hurray for savings!

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I don’t want to just talk about how much you will save by using Cheer brightCLEAN™ detergent, I actually want to give it to you and save you that expense for an entire year! Cheer brightCLEAN™ detergent has graciously offered to give to one of our lucky readers a year’s supply of laundry detergent. Imagine not having to pay for detergent for an entire year and what you could do with that money.

At only $.15 a load though, it is great to know that if you need to buy it, that this detergent is very budget-friendly and they offer different (including unscented) varieties to choose from! It is a product that I am using for my own family and one that I would love to share with you! The best part though is that it will remove the day’s dinginess from your clothing and brighten the clothes you already have at a fraction of the price. Who wouldn’t want a little of that in their life…or perhaps, a year’s worth of that!

Today we are offering one lucky reader a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent to kick off your back-to-school year right!

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: Leave a comment and let us know one tip you would like to implement in your house for saving during this back-to-school season.
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent . Please submit your entries by Tuesday (09/07) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

I am a spokesperson for Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent and have a relationship with the company. The thoughts and opinions expressed will always be honest and heartfelt and no reflection on receiving samples from the company.  We promise to always do our best to give away products to our readers because it is always better to give than to receive!  Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best content for our readers.

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Posted in Giveaways | 1,105 Comments »

An Apron Full of Giveaways: A Year’s Supply of Cheer Detergent

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

zemphira, $23.50

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways, where we round up all of the best giveaways on the web. This is the spot where you can share your blog contests or where you can find fantastic stuff to enter. As always, we welcome your links to your contests so please link on up!

Today I am kicking off the best gift I could ever give you… a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN detergent! While I am on a media blitz showcasing how budget-friendly and how beautifully bright and clean your clothes can get from making a switch to this detergent, you can be entering to win a year’s supply to keep your family looking fabulous this back-to-school year. Head on over to the contest in the link below to learn more and enter to win. PLEASE NO ENTRIES HERE!

Don’t forget that our giveaway with Hallmark ends tonight at 8PM EST. Hallmark always has that uncanny way of making everything look so darn fabulous and I would love to give you the opportunity to win a $50 gift card to make all of your personalized card dreams come true. Be sure to check out their beautiful baby announcements and so much more! Head on over to the contest in the link below to learn more and enter to win. PLEASE NO ENTRIES HERE!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we aren’t giving away the aprons just showcasing them!

Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Children’s Movies).”

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck to each of you!

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Posted in Giveaways | 6 Comments »

Back-to-School Celebration Feasts With Recipes

Monday, August 30th, 2010

I hope you will allow me the beauty of indulging in my endless brag book of photos of my children. There is nothing like the freshness of a new year, a new opportunity to do better, a new opportunity to be better, new teachers, new friends, and the same old sappy mom who won’t stop taking your picture. Ah, some things just will never change!

Emily is all tutus, ballet shoes, and anything purple, pink, or sparkly. She is wildly dramatic, has the sweetest little voice in the world, and is fiercely independent. She plays pretend for hours with her Little People and in her little doll house.

This year she was off for her last year of preschool. My heart just aches when I think that next year my little baby will be going off to kindergarten. I am savoring this last year together more than I can say.

Ethan & Emily started on two different days this year and so we  had two fun-filled celebrations for each of them. I have never cooked so much in my life, but they each got to request their favorite main dish and a favorite dessert to celebrate their big day at school. I look forward to having one giant celebration next year to celebrate them both at once, but I might have to make an investment into another celebration plate to make that happen!

Emily’s celebration request was a taco bar and chocolate cupcakes with pink icing. I have a feeling you are going to really love this celebration dinner because it is thrifty and absolutely delicious!

This taco meat is the best taco meat in the world- truly! The mixture of tomato sauce and chicken broth take away the beefy taste and give it just the right hint of flavoring. Since my kids can’t handle the heavy spices, we modified the chili powder to 1 teaspoon and skipped the cayenne pepper.

Beef Tacos (Courtesy of  The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced (I use a tablespoon of the bottled minced garlic)
2 tablespoons chili powder (adjust to your personal taste)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt
1 pound (90 percent lean) ground beef (or use a higher fat beef and rinse the meat)
1/2 cup smooth canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
8 taco shells

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about five minutes. Stir in the garlic, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until fragrant about thirty seconds. Stir in the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until no longer pink, about five minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, broth, vinegar, and sugar until thickened, about ten minutes. Season with salt to taste. Divide the filling evenly among the taco shells and serve passing any desired accompaniments separately.

Make-Ahead Version: The filling can be fully prepared, cooled, covered tightly and refrigerated for up to three days. Reheat over medium-low heat, adding additional water to adjust the consistency.

These cupcakes. These cupcakes. No words. The cake is moist  and gets its beautiful texture from a few pantry ingredients and a little boiling water. The batter looks like a watery-looking mess and turns  out to be the most delicious cupcake I have ever made in my life! The cake was moist and flavorful. Use a batter bowl or a ladle to scoop the watery batter into the lined cupcake pan.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes (Courtesy of The Farm Chicks)

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners.  Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  (I recommend a batter bowl to easily pour the batter into the cupcake liners).  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat with a mixer for about two minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the boiling water, and beat, just until blended.  (Don’t be alarmed – the batter appears watery).  Evenly ladle (or pour) the batter into the liners.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the center of the cupcakes springs back when lightly touched.  Cool and frost.

I am not a fan of heavy frostings, in fact, I don’t even really like buttercream frosting. That being said, this frosting is my favorite frosting in the world. It is light, delicious, and reminds me a little of marshmallow fluff. It is not a decorator frosting, but decorating isn’t important if the frosting tastes like heaven. For the perfect little swirls on top of your cupcakes,  you can use a Ziploc bag and cut the corner to pipe the frosting on top or use a 2D tip that is gathering dust in your baking supplies and hasn’t been used since that last batch of Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. Get ready for a good old-fashioned mind-blowing frosting perfect for the frosting-haters.

PS- Be sure to break out your stand mixer for this or be like me and forget to do it and update your Facebook profile, tweet a bit, watch a You Tube video, secure a new freelance job, and do this all while simultaneously beating the crud out of those egg whites. Yeah, that really happened.

No Cook 7 Minute Frosting (Courtesy of Food.com)

3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 unbeaten egg whites
food coloring

Mix sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla and egg whites. Add boiling water. Beat on high til mixture forms peaks (like meringue) approx 5-7 minutes.

My sweet boy was ready to head off to second grade. I know many of you have read my site for many years. I still can’t believe that I have been doing this since he was only a year old. For many of you, this kid has been growing up right before your very eyes!

This year it is all Pokemon and Bakugan and, more recently, a lot of the magical Harry Potter. We started the tradition of reading the series together at night before he goes to bed. When he bursts through the door he begs for another chapter. One of the naughtiest thing he does is hide books under his pillow to indulge until the wee hours of the night. He reminds me so much of my bookworm self.

Ethan’s celebration feast was my homemade spaghetti and meatballs, homemade bread sticks, with the new family favorite…peanut butter balls.

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

For Sauce (sauce recipe adapted from AllRecipes Dinner Tonight Cookbook):

3/4 cup chopped onion (we omitted because we don’t like onions)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For Meatballs (this recipe will make enough for a double batch, half to eat and half to freeze):

1/2  cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 cups grated Romano (or Parmesan)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Italian turkey sausages (remove the casings)
1 pound ground beef

To make sauce: Saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and meatballs and simmer thirty more minutes. Gently break apart the tomatoes with the back of your wooden spoon.  Five to ten minutes before serving, add in your meatballs and then serve over a big bowl of your favorite pasta.

To make meatballs: In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the turkey & ground beef, then gently stir to combine. Make your meatballs the standard size and put them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes. When done cooking, drop in the baked meatballs for a few minutes. This will be just as delicious with a lot less mess and fewer calories.

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I add a 1/4 cup of extra flour to make sure  the dough is sticky, but not too sticky. I cover the whole cookie sheet with plastic wrap and pop it in my fridge until our dinner hour. About a half hour before our dinner, I pull it out of the fridge and let it rest on the counter while our oven preheated.

Homemade Bread Sticks (Courtesy of Chocolate on My Cranium)

Dissolve:
2 TBSP sugar and 1 TBSP yeast in 1 1/2 cups warm water

Add:
3 cups flour and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix and knead for 5 minutes with your stand mixer (using the dough hook)

Let rest for 10 minutes. Melt 1/2 cube (4 TBSP) of butter in a bowl in the microwave and pour into a 11×17 pan (jelly roll pan). Place dough into pan then lift and turn over so that both sides of the dough are covered in the melted butter. Press dough into pan. Sprinkle with desired seasonings (I love the Italian Cheese Blend cheeses and a sprinkle of garlic salt all over). Let rest 15 minutes. Cut into strips with pizza cutter. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Recut with a pizza cutter and serve.

Our dessert was courtesy of last week’s notebook at The Southern Plate. I halved the recipe just to see if my kids would love these. The results were delicious and satisfying. The oats combined with the peanut butter and the dried milk create a dense stick-to-your ribs treat perfect for after-school or as a yummy snack before bed. My husband said they reminded him of cookie dough. I will definitely be making these again!

In fact, the bread sticks and chocolate cupcakes were both featured in our notebooks (and were notebook experiments) which is why notebook day is my favorite day of the week. We have gained so many family traditions and meal ideas from it. I love experimenting and being inspired daily by bloggers.  You all are wonderful!

After all of that, I collapsed into a puddle of endless dishes combined with a puddle of pure exhaustion. It didn’t matter though because I am so proud that we have these moments to cherish forever!

Do you have any special traditions for celebrating the back-to-school season? I would love to hear them!


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Posted in Celebrations, Family | 19 Comments »

Snackpicks: Labor Day Celebrations Simplified

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Labor Day cookouts are just around the corner and I am sharing some easy ideas for simplifying the party-planning process and a couple of great new recipes to try over at Snackpicks! I garnered some inspiration from the patriotic party I threw for our son’s birthday because the theme was such a wonderful one to celebrate as a family. I am still using all of the party accessories I bought and have found many ways to incorporate those reds and blues into other party themes we have done.

We are looking forward to cooking out and having some time together as a family this year! I hope you all can do the same!

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Posted in Celebrations, My Work | 1 Comment »

Freebie Friday: August 27, 2010

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! We are so lucky to have Freebies 4 Mom share their list of the best freebies of the week with our readers each and every Friday. Please visit her site for fabulous freebies and sweepstakes information every single day!  This week you will also find her giving awayI’m giving away four Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Baskest ($50 value).

On MomAdvice we have gathered every resource we can to get your back-to-school week started out right. We also are sharing 10 painless (and free) ideas for giving back to charities, a round-up of fantastic projects you could tackle now that the kids are heading back to school, and a round-up of great giveaways.

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a $50 gift card to Hallmark!

Have a great week and check back next Tuesday HERE for a HUGE giveaway that you will not want to miss entering!

Health & Beauty
Aveeno Nourish Hair Care
Breathe Right Extra
Flexitol Foot Cream
U by Kotex
Pampers Dry Max (Sam’s Club members)
Degree for Men (BJ’s members)
Lipgloss or Eye Primer at Sephora inside JCPenney

Entertainment
Barnes & Noble eBooks “12 Women Who Inspired Us”
iTunes Country Music Sampler
Digital Scrapbook Artist Compact
Kaplan Study Books on iBooks

Home
Dryel Full Rebate (when purchased at Walmart)
BIC Easy Glide Pen (first 1,000 daily at Noon ET thru 9/9)
Fisher-Price Perfect Playdate House Party
Beyblade Let It Rip House Party
Kraft Homestyle Comfort Food House Party
My Thai Kitchen House Party

This Week’s Freebie Events:

AUGUST 27 to SEPTEMBER 2
27 – FREE Pink Sports Gloves from Cutter starting at 10am CT for first 1,000 (move mouse over pink rectangle)
28 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic make a school bus box 10-11 am
31 – Gain Giveaway First 5,000 (starts at 11am CT)
2 –   Gain Giveaway First 5,000 (starts at 11am CT)


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Posted in Freebies | 2 Comments »

Amy’s Notebook 08.25.10

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

I am in love with these braided ribbon headbands (@ Skip to My Lou)

I would have never thought to bleach my shirt to match the bleach stains (@ a thousand words)

I am going to grill up some of these easy grilled vegetables this week- they look delicious! (@ gimmie some oven)

I love these tips on winging it and making your first loaf of homemade bread (@ the kitchn)

We are definitely going to be printing out this traceable stationary to practice our writing (@ Creative Mamma)

I could definitely go for one of these portobello-prosciutto burgers right now (@ Pioneer Woman)

I am in love with these ideas for ways to re-purpose reusable bags (@ Grace Violet)

These yarn-wrapped hangers are a great way to stash bust my yarn collection (@ wise craft)

I think we could all go for some of these breakfast cookies (@ Cooking With My Kid)

I love these fun back-to-school traditions to celebrate the start of school with your kids (@ How Does She?)

These whole wheat blueberry muffins would be a great breakfast treat (@ Salsa Pie)

This camp-out party theme would be such a fun one to do with my little guy (@ kara’s party ideas)

I love this DIY Garnet Hill inspired embellished t-shirt (@ Blue Cricket Designs)

I am so inspired by this thrifty playroom tour (@ ashley ann)

These ice cream balloons are such a fun & simple addition to party decorating (@ ohdeedoh)

I bet my kids would love these homemade peanut butter balls for a fun snack (@ Southern Plate)

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Posted in Amy's Notebook | 16 Comments »

Giving With the Scraps of Life: 10 Painless Ways to Give to Charities

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Do you ever feel like you don’t have the means to donate to make a difference in someone’s life? I often felt that the size of my wallet was a hurdle to the type of giving that I imagined that I could do in my adulthood. When financial times were particularly difficult for our family, I always envisioned the day that would come when I could give more to worthy organizations.

In the last few years though, I began to realize that there are so many more ways to give than I ever imagined possible. I refer to this giving in my house as my, “scraps of life giving.” There are so many things that I have within my possession and that I can do with the limited talents and budget that I possess that the possibilities for good old-fashioned giving are endless.

Today I wanted to share with you a few, “scraps of life giving,” opportunities that you just might not be aware exist! Within this list, I am confident you can find a few opportunities for giving a few scraps from your life to a worthy organization.

Clean Out Those Couch Cushions & Pockets- Do you have a spare change jar in your house that has been gathering dust? Rather than saving it for something for yourself, consider taking that donation to a worthy organization instead.  Ronald McDonald House Charities is just one great example of where your change could be put to good use.  While you are visiting the drive through for your next dollar soda (one of my own favorite inexpensive indulgences), consider dropping your change off in the boxes at your local McDonald’s and know that your change is being put to great use.

While that little bit of change may not seem to really make a big difference, the organization collected over $20 million dollars in spare change last year. That change goes to helping keep families together by providing shelter for them while their child is being cared for at a nearby hospital.  Just think of that impact you are making on a child and family’s life with that simple gesture of donating your change!

PS- RHMC’s Day of Change is happening on September 9th! Plan to take your change to your local McDonald’s & RSVP for the event here!

Call Up a Cell Phone Donation– The rapid rate that families go through cell phones these days is quite amazing!  With most cell phone plans now, the opportunities to upgrade come around every couple of years.  The dilemma of what to do with those old, outdated cell phones is no longer a problem now that organizations like  CellPhonesForSoldiers.com are around. Visit the website to find a place to drop off those gently used cell phones to the cause.

Cell Phones for Soldiers will recycle the cell phones, and use the proceeds to provide pre-paid calling cards and cell phones to troops serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Just imagine that you can give a child or spouse the opportunity to hear from their loved one with something that was just taking up space in your house. How beautiful is that?

See Any Worthy Donations In Your House?– The cost for eyeglasses is astronomical when you don’t have an insurance plan that covers them. For lower income families, a pair of glasses can be the equivalent of a week’s salary or more, and is a cost that most just can’t afford. Consider taking your gently used glasses to a local Goodwill, Lion’s Club, or to LensCrafters and donating them to the worthy cause of helping those who need them.

Think of that child who is struggling in school because his family can’t afford a pair of glasses for him and think of that pair of glasses that are gathering dust in an old drawer in your house that could be benefiting him. It seems like a win-win situation to share the gift of sight with someone else.

Craft Your Way to Giving– Do you have the gift of crafting in your possession? You may not realize how valuable that talent is, but it can make the difference in the life of a child, a soldier, or someone who is undergoing treatment for an illness. A quick Google search of your craft skill and the word charity should pull up a number of worthy organization that you can give to.

I am a knitter and am currently working on knitting caps for a chemo drive through an organization. It is something that I can easily do while watching a little evening television with supplies that I already have on hand, but can make the difference in the life of a patient undergoing chemotherapy. I have found though that knitting has been a fantastic gift to share in so many ways and I always try to keep one charitable giving project on my needles at all times. Whether it is whipping up a cap for a chemo patient, donating a blanket to a project like Project Linus, or knitting a prayer shawl for someone who could benefit from this comfort, I am so proud I can use my talents for someone else.

Consider donating your crafting talents to a local homeless shelter, teaching a craft to underprivileged children, or just creating crafts in your spare time that could make someone’s day a tiny bit brighter. The possibilities with the gift of crafting truly are endless!

Whittle Down Your Shoe Collection Charitably– I will admit that I have a bit of a shoe purchasing habit and have developed quite a shoe collection over the years. The good news is that your old shoes do not need to go to waste because of a worthy organization called Soles4Souls.

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people just like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need and has donated over 10 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes. These shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.

In our town, the local New Balance offers a drop-off location for the organization which makes donating just as easy as all of the errand-running that you are already doing. Consider weeding through your shoe collections and giving to someone who doesn’t have the creature comfort of a good pair of shoes.

As you can see, the possibilities for giving are endless without really spending a dime. Of course, the best gift you could ever give to any organization is the gift of yourself. Read to a child, mentor a child, serve at your homeless shelter, visit a nursing home, or help at an animal rescue shelter… these are just to name a few!  For oodles of volunteer opportunities, please visit VolunteerMatch.org to find a worthy organization to donate your time and talent to.

Not enough giving opportunities  here? Here are 5 more easy giving ideas!

5 Surprising Things You Could Be Giving Today

  1. Soda Can Tabs– Collect these for a metal donation to Ronald McDonald House charities.
  2. Expired Coupons– Military families can use expired coupons for groceries.
  3. Books– Better World Books can take your old books, pay you, and the books that are sold create a donation to literacy programs.
  4. Old Cars– Goodwill will happily take your old clunker off of your hands.
  5. Diapers– Give your diapers to the diaper bank charity in your town to benefit needy families. If you are a Michiana resident, call 237-7888 and leave contact information to arrange for a donation drop off in our town.

What are your favorite scraps of life giving opportunities for your family? I would love to hear the giving opportunities that your family takes part in!

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Posted in Gifts | 53 Comments »

An Apron Full of Giveaway: $50 Hallmark.com Gift Card

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Frise, $25

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways, where we round up all of the best giveaways on the web. This is the spot where you can share your blog contests or where you can find fantastic stuff to enter.

This week we are kicking off a brand new giveaway with Hallmark.com. I had no idea that Hallmark was now selling personalized baby announcements so you could announce the new addition of your little one to the world in total style. Hallmark always has that uncanny way of making everything look so darn fabulous and I would love to give you the opportunity to win a $50 gift card to make all of your personalized card dreams come true. Head on over to the contest in the link below to learn more and enter to win. PLEASE NO ENTRIES HERE!

This week our Chef’s Table 16 piece dish set is coming to a close. I am amazed at the volume of entries and how many of you are suffering through mismatched dishes or chipped and broken pieces. I hope someone really deserving wins this one because a good set of white dishes is an essential in my kitchen. Remember that this contest ends tonight at 8PM EST.  I have a very exciting giveaway for one lucky reader! We are giving away a sixteen piece set (service for four) from the new Chef’s Table line from Oneida. These dishes are beautiful! PLEASE NO ENTRIES HERE!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we aren’t giving away the aprons just showcasing them!

Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Children’s Movies).”

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck to each of you!

Posted in Giveaways | 6 Comments »

Back to School Recipes, Organization Tips, and Other Hidden Resources

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Good morning, friends! Today my daughter heads back to school and my son will be shortly following behind her on Wednesday. I am a sappy momma and tend to sob on both days that the children head to school. I also am the one in sunglasses for the entire day to hide the tired circles and red eyes from all of the crying. They do drive me crazy sometimes when they are here, but I miss them when they are gone.

It has been a flurry of activity- uniform shopping, clothes shopping, shoe shopping, backpack shopping, school supplies shopping, back-to-school nights,  ice cream treating, lots of individual dates with each kid, and plenty of talking about the exciting year to come.

I just wanted to point out a few of my favorite resources for moms that might help you as you ease back into your busy school year! These are my favorite resources for organizing and feeding my family during this busy time!

Back-to-School Breakfast Ideas:

Blueberry Pancakes (make and pop them in the freezer for the school week)

Fluffy & Light Pumpkin Pancakes (make and pop them in the freezer for the school week)

6 Amazing Waffle Recipes & Tips for Getting Your Waffle On

Protein-Packed Strawberry & Banana Smoothies

Banana Cream Pie Smoothies

Slow Cooked Oatmeal

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (a great way to celebrate your week at school on Saturday morning)

Honey Nut Granola

Vanilla Scented Granola

Deliciously Homemade Granola Bars

Getting Organized for Back-to-School:

One Month of Slow Cooking (perfect for those days filled with after-school activities)

The Essentials for Saving on Back-to-School

Weekly Planner Sheet

Weekly Menu Planner Sheet

Transforming the Paper Clutter

Choosing a Great Family Organizer for Your Family

Simplifying Your To-Do List

Ideas for Celebrating That First Day of School:

Back-to-School Celebrations

World’s Greatest Homemade Slushies

Throw a Frugal Pizza Party

For Capturing Those Back-To-School Photos:

Capturing Your Children Through Photography

Making Lunch Special:

Free Printable Lunch Box Notes

Writing Love Notes to Your Child

Fun with After-School Snacks:

Deliciously Easy Raisin Bran Muffins

Deliciously Homemade Granola Bars (I think I like the word deliciously)

Lemony Blueberry Muffins

Simple Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Delicious & Easy Cereal Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Good luck to each of you that are on this journey again with your kids! I hope you all get off to a successful school year start!

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Posted in Family | 9 Comments »

Freebie Friday: August 20, 2010

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Hurray for freebies and giveaways and hurray for Freebie Friday! We are so lucky to have Freebies 4 Mom share their list of the best freebies of the week with our readers each and every Friday. Please visit her site for fabulous freebies and sweepstakes information every single day!  This week you will also find her giving away a Slobproof with Crypton Ottoman ($200 value) and 100 Wet Ones Travel Packs to 10 classrooms ($165 value for each classroom).

We are also proud to be offering a few fun things around here of our own! Enter this week to win a 16 piece set of Chef’s Table dishes from Oneida and over a hundred great giveaways from other great bloggers. We are also sharing the winning cauliflower recipe from my cooking showdown, some insights on a week of simplicity before our school week starts, and our fun notebook of inspiration (which was so exceptional this week- bloggers are so amazing!)

Please feel free to browse around and share our site with your friends. We LOVE new readers and are always so thankful for your visits each week!  Enjoy your weekend, everyone!
Health & Beauty
SalonPas Pain Relief Patch
Huggies Good Nites
Nature Made Chewable Vitamin D
Triple Paste Medicated Ointment (for BJ’s members)

Food
Genesis Today Veggie Blast (share a photo on Facebook)
$1 Donation by Lunchables to Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Atkins Bars (3 assorted flavors)
Sargento Panini Month Page-A-Day Recipe Calendar

Entertainment
Custom Business Cards from Starbucks
Mystery Case Files Ravenhearst computer game
Bridal Guide magazine (1 issue)

Home
BIC Easy Glide Pen (first 1,000 daily at Noon ET thru 9/9)
Smead FasTab Hanging Folders (free samples restocked each morning)
Pregnancy Planner & Calendar
Capri Sun House Party

AUGUST 20 to AUGUST 26
24 – Gain Febreze Air Effects First 5,000 (probably starts at 11am CT)

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Posted in Freebies | 9 Comments »

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