An Inexpensive Photo Gift

For Father’s Day this year I decided to make my dad a framed photo of the boys. I think it came out great. Best of all this was a very inexpensive gift to make.  Total cost was less than $2.00

I printed out the word pop pop on a piece of card stock in a font I liked. I cut it in half and gave one to each of the boys.  Then we headed outside for some pictures.  Once I chose the picture I liked I changed it to  black and white and had it printed at CVS. 

The fame was actually a baby frame that said A Bundle of Joy right on the glass.  I took an SOS pad and was able to remove the words. I got out my trusty black spray paint and painted the frame black. 

Here is the end result.  I think it came out great! (you can click on the picture to enlarge it).

You could make this for anyone for any occasion. Birthday, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Grandparents Day!

Now is a great time to join swagbucks! Hurry! Expires at 11:59 PDT

Yes I know I mention swagbucks frequently here on my blog. What can I say? I love getting FREE  Amazon gift cards! If you are not sure what swagbucks are you can  can read my previous posts  here and here. 

If you sign up today you can earn an additional 20 swagbucks! You already get 30 swagbucks just for signing up so if you sign up today you earn a total of 50 swagbucks and you have not even started searching yet!

So what are you waiting for? Go sign up! Once you you have signed up enter the code SweetTweeting in the search box  and get your 20 additional swagbucks! This code is for new members only and expires at 11:59pm PDT.    Head over to swagbucks and sign up!

disclosure: If you sign up with my referral code (in the links above) I also earn swagbucks.

Frugal Summer Fun~Free Movies!

 

Do you like going to the theater and watching movies? We do too! Unfortunately we do not go too often. It is pretty pricey for the four of us to go.  Did you know that Regal Cinema hosts a Free Family Film Festival each summer?  I knew about it and I have posted about it in the past but we have never attended. Why? I just assumed that it would be overcrowded and since it is first come first serve, I figured our chances of getting tickets would not be too great. 

The other night I was chatting with a gal that lives in my neighborhood and she took her girls last summer   and never had a problem with crowds or being turned away. So next Tuesday we are going to give it a try.  We are going to see Pippi Longstocking!

Shhhhhhhh……if you know us in real life don’t mention it to the boys. It is a suprise! 

To see if there is a Regal in your area hosting the free family film festival, click on the link above.

Have you been to Regal to see the free movies? How was your experience?

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We have just assigned the claim token QG5MPBSYYJA6 to this claim.

Awesome audio book deal on Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt only $2.49!

 

From now until June 24th you can pick up the audiobook Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream at Christianaudio for only $2.49!  Just enter code RADICAL610 at check out! I have been wanting to read this book and downloaded my copy yesterday!

It would help if I added the link! lol  Christianaudio

The Doll People

We have been doing a lot of reading this year.  We read usually for a couple of hours a day.  We  just recently  finished a series of books about DOLLS! Yes I said dolls, not Star Wars or Indiana Jones or Harry Potter  but DOLLS! Yes I have two boys!

There is plenty of action and adventure in these books to keep my boys wanting to hear more.  These dolls live in a doll house in the home of two little girls named Kate and Nora.  These dolls are living dolls that have taken the Doll Oath stating they want to be living dolls and that they will do their best not to jeopardize doll kind by letting humans see them moving and talking.

You will meet the Doll Family. They have been in Kate’s family for 100 years and have been handed down to her. Nora, Kate’s little sister is the owner of the Funcraft family. They are a modern plastic doll family along with their doll house.   Both families  can talk and walk, read solve mysteries, go on some pretty great adventures and even meet up with a pretty scary, nasty doll who terrorizes the doll families. 

Annabelle Doll and Tiffany Funcraft become fast friends when Annabelle decides to go out and try to find her Auntie Sarah who has been missing from the family for 45 years. Annabelle has never left the doll house in the 100 years she has lived there! While searching for her aunt, she stumbles across the Funcraft’s wrapped and waiting to be given to Nora for her birthday.   The adventure begins as these two families become friends! There two sequels to The Doll People.

We loved these books! Do not think because they are about dolls they are just for girls!

disclosure: If you click on the  above Amazon links and make a purchase.  I will receive a small credit from Amazon.

What I got free today…

It pays to send for those freebies in the mail! Today while I was out doing my grocery shopping I picked up some my free items! I had free coupons for all of this!  I did not pay anything for the items below. Everything was from sending for free coupons with the exception of the butter, which I won from Life As A Mom. If you have not checked out that blog you really should. Jessica shares all sorts of money saving tips, ideas and recipes.

I love free! Have you gotten anything free lately?

My Planet Lovin’ Boy

You all know that Justin loves the solar system. Rarely does a day go by that he does not create, watch or read about something solar system related. 

This is one of his latest creations.

First he needed a base

Then he added the earth and moon

This is the sun and the earth

a line of planets…..I love how he never tires of this. Ever. Since he was 2 years old….he’s almost 9….

Our lunch dilemma solved….

So the boys like lunchables. Unfortunately (for them) they are not my favorite. For a couple of reasons one being that they are not the healthiest and two they are pricey for the small amount of food you get. They are also not very earth friendly.   They ask for them every so often but since I do not shop at the big grocery stores (I shop at Aldi for most of our groceries) they don’t see them and want them. Until recently that is. Aldi now carries their own version of lunchables…….sigh. Seems I am fighting a loosing battle. Or maybe not?

A few weeks ago I came across these ziplock containers and the light bulb went off. I can make our own “lunch meals” for a fraction of the cost and not waste all that plastic.  I paid about $2 for each set. (2 in a pack). Yes I decided to buy enough for all of us.  There are times we are all together and out over lunch time or we want to take some snacks along. This would be perfect!

 

There are three compartments. Plenty of room. These containers hold a lot! 

Recently we took these on a picnic and they were a hit! Here is a fully packed one and they hold a lot of food.

  in this one we had two layers in the main compartment. I seperated them with waxed paper. The top layer had crackers and the two side compartments had a boiled egg and some strawberries.

under the crackers and waxed paper was cubed ham and cheese. 

Both boys loved them! (me too). The possibilities are endless. You could put in salad, sandwiches, cheese, crackers, peanut butter crackers, fruit, yogurt (just put a bit of waxed paper on the top to keep it from going anywhere) jello, pudding, pretzels, chips, turkey, ham, roast beef, ham and cheese roll ups and much more!

The best thing is we are putting in what we want, more healthy choices, and they can be customized to each child/adult. They stack nicely in a cooler, are very transportable and clean up nicely and…..we are not throwing away all that prepackaging and plastic.

My New Sale Blog

I started a new blog to list some items I have for sale! Stop by and check it out!

Michele’s Sale Blog

Wedgits Winner!

And the winner is #63~Terri from the Crew! Congratulations Terri! I will be sending you an email!

 

Free Journey to the Stars DVD from NASA

NASA and the American Museum of Natural History have teamed up to create the DVD Journey to the Stars. You can request your very own copy. Free!

Just go here to read about the DVD and request your own copy!

This looks really awesome! I know my space lovin’ boy is going to love this!

Swagbucks~Summer of Swag Starts Tomorrow!

You know I have mentioned swagbucks several times in the past.  You can read my previous post here.  Most of you already know that you earn some really cool prizes and gift cards using swagbucks. My favorite is the $5 Amazon cards! As I earn them I save them to my Amazon account until I have enough  saved for something I really want.  Currently I am saving for Justin’s birthday next month. To date I have $40 in Amazon cards with another $25 that I will receive from swagbucks on the 17th of this month.

Starting Monday (tomorrow)  swagbucks is kicking off their summer of swag! Tomorrow there will be a total of 5 different  swag codes released during the day! So you might want to think about joining swagbucks before tomorrow.  Not only that  they will also be giving away some big bills during the week. Tomorrow there will be a 25  swag buck bill.  Every day a featured bill will be awarded to every 7th win.  Remember just for signing  you get 30 swagbucks just to start you off!

Once you sign up you can get your friends to sign up with your referral link and earn additional swagbucks. When your friends and family earn you earn too! (up to 1000 swagbucks)

Another thing I have learned recently is that you can earn a couple of swagbucks each day by taking the daily poll and also doing the no obligation special offers.  You can earn 2 points each day by doing these two. I knew about the special offers but it used to be once a week and now it is daily. You can also earn a swagbuck each day by having the swagbucks toolbar downloaded on your browser.  I use the toolbar for all my internet searches.

So what are you waiting for? Would you like to earn some really great prizes and gift cards? Today would be a great day to sign up!  Just click on any of the links above and you can get started! (yes I do earn swagbucks when you sign up using my referral link and I thank you for using my link to sign up!)

What have you got to loose? Give them a try!

disclosure: I received no compensation  for this post. I will receive Swagbucks if anyone signs up with my referral link. The opinions expressed above are my own.

Frugal Summer Fun~Kids Bowl Free!

 

 

Summer Fun is a new little series I thought I would share here. I have been compiling a list of some frugal summer fun things we want be do this summer.  I may post a couple a week so you have time to do some of these.

First up we have free (or almost free) bowling! Have you heard of this? This summer your kids can bowl free.  Just go over to Kids Bowl Free and see if there is a participating bowling alley near you!

Kids can bowl two free games per day! Yes I said PER DAY!   In addition you can add a family pass for the adults for $24.95 and add up to four adult family members to bowl two games each day along with their kiddos! Not a bad deal!

You do need to keep in mind that shoe rental fees are not included and you will need to pay for that.  I called our bowling alley and found out that their shoe rental cost is $3.59 per person.  So for my boys to bowl two free games each day it would cost us an additional $7.18 per day. (now we will not be going bowling each day but will go a bit over the summer) .  Our bowling alley also offers an unlimited shoe rental pass which is $30 per person. Now that is not such a good deal unless you were an avid bowler and were planning on going daily.

This would be some pretty inexpensive fun for your kids though and I know that even when we go bowling  with our  homeschool group once a month during the school year we pay $12 for both boys to bowl two games.  This program runs through September 20th 2010.

note: each bowling alley has its own times and restrictions you be sure you read all the info thoroughly before you sign up~Happy Bowling!

Thrifty lighting

I have been working on making our home look more inviting.  I wanted some strategic lighting in my kitchen.  I am working on a very tiny budget. As in I really cannot spend any money.  This is idea not something new but something I have been wanting to do.

All you need is a wine or in my case a sparkling grape juice bottle and a small set of Christmas lights. I did not count them but I believe my string is 25 lights.

Fish the lights into the bottle and plug them in.  That’s it!And there you go!  Instant pretty lighting! That did not cost me a dime.  It now lights up a dark corner of my kitchen.  I think though I need to add something to the neck of the bottle. It needs a bit of pizzazz. I’ll have to look around and see what I can come up with! 

CSN Stores Review and Giveaway~WEDGITS!

 

A few weeks ago I posted I would be having a review and giveaway from CSN Stores.  Today is the day! Have you ever heard of CSN Stores? They are a great company that has over 200+stores.  They carry quite a variety of products from children’s toys to cookware and bedding to home furnishing and small appliances to TV stands and much more.   So go and check out what they have to offer.

I was able to choose an item to review.  I decided on a set of Wedgits. My boys love to build and I have had these on my wish list for quite sometime now.  I will say right off these were a hit!

We received the Wedgits Translucent Deluxe  Set. This set includes 30 pieces and two clear plastic storage stands.  The recommended age is 3 and up. (there are several small parts)  It also comes with a product design booklet that contains pictures of different designs you can make. Over 60 different designs are included in this booklet.  It also shows the different Wedgit sets available.

This what we found when we opened our package. I was really happy to find that there were enough Wedgits for each of the boys to build something at the same time. If you have more than one child you know what I’m talking about!

  Getting ready to build! Kaden is excited.

Justin was too but was giving me a hard time about pictures! (can you relate?)

Here are the pieces all apart. 

Below are some of the creations the boys made. You can use the deluxe set all together as one set or you can divide them and  use them to make smaller creations.

   

 

The boys have played with these almost every day for the past few weeks and they love them. I have played with them as well and I have to say I had fun with them too!

Now for the giveaway. CSN stores has generously offered one of my readers a set of WEDGITS! If you would like a chance  to win a set just leave a comment on this post. 

How about some additional  chances to win? You will get one additional entry for each of the following:

• become a follower of my blog and leave a comment that you are following ( I would really love some more followers!)
• post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to my blog. Be sure to leave a link back in your comment.
• visit any of the CSN stores and let me know what your favorite item is. Again be sure to leave a comment.

This giveaway will remain open until next Thursday June 10th at 3:00 pm. ONE winner  will be drawn at random.

This giveaway is open to the US and CANADA only. CSN Stores ships only to the US and Canada.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a set of  WEDGITS Translucent Deluxe set in exchange for my review of the product from CSN Stores. All  reviews and opinions expressed on this blog are my own.