Don't Forget

Don't forget to check out RueLaLa today for the daily new deals!  Today I noticed they have Cuisinart and Reebok "boutiques" - some of the Reebok shoes were down to $19.99 - if you signed up with the $20 credit this would make them only the price of shipping!  Yippee!

(This particular style is $29.99 - making them $10 + shipping if you still have your credit!)

Eversave

Similar to Groupon, Eversave offers local (or online) daily deals at 50 to 90% off the original retail price.  For instance, you may pay $12 for the Eversave deal, and receive a $26 voucher for a retail location.  They send out a daily email with the daily deal.


When you sign up, you'll also earn a $5 credit good toward the purchase of your Eversave deal.


The reason I joined was for the All You magazine.  I found out from hip2save that it would only cost $7 for a year's subscription!  Sounded excellent to me!  I am a huge coupon fan, and typically get most of my deals from MoneySavingMom or hip2save.  A lot of great deals go by that use coupons from the All You magazine.  So I figured at $7 for a year's subscription, I'd easily make that money back in savings.


Here's how the deal works:

1. Join Eversave
2. Purchase the "$12 for $26 worth of magazine subscriptions from Blue Dolphin" deal
3. Receive your $5 credit, so you will owe only $7
4. Wait 2 days (the hardest part!).  The Eversave deal doesn't start until 2 days after you purchase.
5. Head to Blue Dolphin and purchase the All You magazine using $19.99 of your $26 credit.  You'll even have $6 leftover to spend on another magazine (Good Housekeeping is only $8!).

 
The deal is only good until Friday night at 10pm, and can be applied to any magazine on the Blue Dolphin site, so be sure to browse there and make sure there's a magazine you want, but they do seem to have most of the major magazines.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Shopping Sites Galore

All of these shopping sites are popping up out of nowhere!  And they all seem to be offering great deals.  So I feel obligated to share with you :-)  Feel free to ignore and move on if you're not in the market for anything - this is definitely not intended to make you spend your hard earned money frivolously!

The new shopping site for today is called Modnique.  It's another site similar to Rue La La, which I posted about earlier this week.  This time, when you sign up, you get a $5 credit.  Doesn't sound quite as good... but... there is also a $10 off promo code - just use the code "star" at checkout!

Doing this, I scored a gray cami for $2.95 shipped.  The cami's started out $9.99, and the "star" code took off the entire price of the cami.  Shipping was $7.95, which I applied my $5 credit to!  The "star" code cannot be applied to shipping, but the $5 credit can - so anything under $10 on the website will be yours for $2.95.

(Ok... now... I just checked the website again and they've upped the cami price to $17.00!!!  Not nice!)

If you're in the market for kids stuff there is also a very cute section of items $14 and under - things like rain boots and lady bug scarves!

Rue La La Free Cosmetics

 If you signed up for Rue-La-La earlier this week and received your $20 credit, this Laura Geller lip shiner set would be a great way to spend that credit!  After shipping, you'll only owe $1... this would make a great Christmas gift - but hurry, they're selling out fast!

Thanks to hip2save.com for the heads up!

Beautiful Fall Leaves

I snapped this picture right outside the front of our house this week :-)  Certainly don't have to wander far to find beautiful leaves!

Have you found any unexpected beauty this week?

New Laptop Bag

I got my laptop at the beginning of the summer... and have been carrying it around all by itself without any protection since then!  Obviously not the best idea.

So when my aunt, two cousins, and I decided to take a tote bag sewing class locally, I thought it would be the perfect chance to make myself a new laptop bag!  It turned out better than I had hoped for.

I used a random assortment of fabrics I already had - some Heather Bailey, some Erin McMorris, and some Amy Butler.  It took a total of 36 charm squares (more if you add pockets), which I cut myself by simply cutting six 5-inch squares from each of 7 fabrics (I had a few left over, which I could have used for pockets but chose not to).

Each side of the bag is 4 blocks wide and 3 blocks tall.  I used 1/4" seams, and once they were pieced together, I used fusible fleece on the backside.  I then did some free motion quilting on each side.

To make the handles, I pieced 10 squares together, backed with fusible fleece, then folded the long raw edges into the middle, and folded the entire piece in half.  I sewed 1/4" from each side, and a line down the middle.  Then I just chopped the long strip right in half to make two handles.  These handles will definitely be easy on my shoulders!

For the interior I used some super soft Minky fabric.  I used fusible lightweight interfacing to give it some structure and reduce the stretch - it sews much better that way!

I also made a little flap to keep my laptop secure inside by using two charm squares, one lined with fusible fleece.  I attached the snap, then did some free motion quilting on top.

I then put the bag together, making sure to install the other half of my snap, and box the corners to give it some depth.  I used a box stitch over the strap handles to make sure they could hold the weight of my laptop.  And voila!  A lovely new laptop bag that took only a few hours.

Rue La La

I hadn't heard of Rue La La before today, but it seems to be a nice site for getting boutique items at a discount.  I heard about it through Money Saving Mom, because right now if you sign up, you'll get a $20 credit within 48 hours! 

I would think there's something for sale for right around $20, meaning you could get yourself something nice or score an almost-free Christmas gift!

Just click here to join - it's invite only, but free to join!

Kitties Love Boxes

What is it about a box that kitties just love?

Want to make a quick collage of your own?  If you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, it's easy with a free action from mcpactions!  I just found these today, and love 'em.  Just click "actions" - choose your version - then browse around.  Some actions will have the price "$0.00".  What a steal!
(I am not being paid to link up to mcpactions - just loving her stuff!)

Weekly Deals

I typically do my grocery shopping on Mondays, and spend a good couple of hours planning my trip and doing the shopping. I'll try to share some of my best deals here!

Rite Aid Deals

At Rite Aid this week, they have many "freebates" - including Bioguard tablets, Cold Buster Warming Syrup, Bee M.D. Cough Drops, and Thermacare Back Patches. If you buy these items, you then head to Rite Aid's Single Check Rebate Site and enter your receipts.  You can search for the rebates you'd like to claim, then at the end of the month, you can claim your rebate checks (make sure to only do this once per month!).  You will be send a check in the mail a few weeks later, and you will receive the entire purchase price for the items above (plus a few others - check the back page of the ad)!

Target Deals

At Target this week, there is also a great deal on Curel Ultra Healing Lotion.  If you buy two 6oz. bottles on sale for $3.79 each, you will receive a $5 Target gift card.  There are also Curel coupons in the SmartSource this week - my Target let me use both the $2/1 and $1/1 coupons.  Target also has a printable $1 off 1 bottle coupon, which you can print twice.  So if you add this up, I paid a total of $2.58 out of pocket, and got a $5 gift card back!  Thanks, Target, for paying me to take some lotion off of your hands :)

It looks like there is also a $1/1 coupon on Curel's website - in case you don't get the Sunday paper!

Earn Money for Surveys

Who doesn't want to earn money easily???  I've been skeptical due to the many scams out there, but this one is tested and true (by me and many friends).  I've tried a few different survey companies before, but the best by far is PineCone Research.  For each survey you fill out, you receive $3.00.  There are occasionally some household surveys that you won't get paid for, but for every "real" survey you fill out you will get paid.

Sometimes I'll get a survey twice a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.  They pay very promptly (no threshold amount to reach) by either check or PayPal, your choice.  The surveys take about 15 minutes.  Occasionally, they will also send you a free product to test!  This has happened to me at least 3 times now.

Overall, I've been extremely impressed with PineCone research, and have told many friends and family about it.  Right now they're recruiting females, ages 18-24, but even if you don't fall in this category, you should definitely apply!  It's worth the shot.

If you'd like to register to join the PineCone Panel, just click here.

Fall Photo Shoot

This weekend I got the chance to take some fall pictures of our friends from church.  It was a gorgeous day!

I hope you're out enjoying these lovely fall days as well :)

Grove City Homecoming

Last weekend was homecoming at Grove City College - both my husband and my alma mater.

We started off the day with a parade, complete with fire trucks...

...and a niece who graciously shared all of her candy with us :-) We decided that having a niece who is adorable, but who can't eat candy yet, was quite profitable at a parade!

After the parade, we found more family and friends, and enjoyed spending a lovely fall day with them.

It turned out to be a great day, and it was wonderful to catch up with people we hadn't seen in a while!  See you next year, Grove City!

Psalm 51

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
 ¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
 ¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Fall Table

Just a few weekends ago, we had some friends over for dinner - a perfect chance to decorate for fall!  I love fall - all of my dishes seem to fit with the fall colors the best.

There was only one little issue... recently, we inherited my grandfather's dining room table.  But, the chairs were not in great shape, so that meant we had a table but no chairs, and we needed to seat 7!  My husband and I went on the hunt the morning of the dinner... and wouldn't you  know, we found these beautiful refinished chairs circa 1880s at the first place we stopped!  They had a set of 6, which was perfect.  We already owned two needlepoint chairs of similar style that my grandmother made, making it possible for us to seat 8.  Excellent!

The guy at the antique store gave us a fabulous deal, so we were quite pleased how it turned out.  It ended up being much cheaper than buying chairs at Ikea even!

Here is how my fall table turned out all set up (sorry for the poor picture).

Apple Series

Well, I enjoyed the apple picture from yesterday so much that I decided to do a series!

Happy Saturday!

Free Candy!

Attention: This deal is no longer available - apparently it was a mistake on Rite Aids part that has now been fixed!

Whatever you are doing, you should stop right this minute and go to Rite Aid.  After you read this post.

(I have no idea how those sour patch kids got open, honest...)

See all this candy?  I made $5 by buying it.  And I'm not kidding.  Here's how (I found out through one of my favorite blogs, hip2save, and my friend).

First, if you don't have a Rite Aid card already, you need to get one (for free) by signing up here.
Next, head to Rite Aid and purchase up to 12 bags of the following candy:

* Skittles 14 oz
* Swedish Fish 14 oz
* Cow Tail Minis 10 oz
* Starburst 14oz
* Jolly Ranchers 14oz
* Caramel Cremes 12 oz
* Sour Patch Kids 14 oz
* Jolly Rancher Pops 10 oz
* Charms Blow Pops 10.4 oz or 11.4 oz
* Dum Dum Pops 11.4 oz
* Lifesaver Mints Wint o Green 13 oz
* Tootsie Roll Pops 10.175 oz

First of all, these are large bags of candy, not individual servings!  I believe any of the candy that they have the yellow 2/$5 tags on will work, but the ones I bought are listed below.

When you check out, you'll pay $2.50 per bag.  You can use a coupon for $5 off your $25 purchase found here or here.  If you buy 10 bags of candy like I did, this means you will pay $20 out of pocket.

On your receipt, there will be coupons for +UP rewards off your next purchase.  For every 2 bags of candy you buy, you get $1 +UP reward.  Then, there are mystery rewards ... for every bag of candy you buy, you get another $2 +UP reward!  If you do the math, this means that you will receive $5 +UP rewards for every 2 bags of candy you buy. 

I bought the following 10 bags of candy:
2 Tropical Starbursts 14oz.
2 Skittles Original 14oz.
2 Sour Patch Kids 14oz.
2 Starbursts Original 14oz.
2 Tootsie Roll Pops 10.125oz.

I paid $20+tax out of pocket (actually less by using previous +UP rewards), and earned $25 +UP rewards off my next purchase, good through 10/23!  Which means, I earned $5 by buying a TON of candy!

Now I just have one question ... what in the world am I going to do with all this candy???

Gettin Artsy

Every once in a while I like to get a little artsy (read, weird).  But I did like how this one turned out.  I even tried making it into a blog banner, but it obviously doesn't go with my theme.  It's too bad, I liked it a lot!

A New Look

I decided to give my blog a little facelift today... what do you think?

Here is a screenshot of the old (especially for Colleen)

Adorable Girl!

This has to be one of my favorite photos I've ever taken...

A Quick Craft Show

A few weekends ago, my good friend asked me to do a small local fall fest with her.  I was able to throw the table together without much thought since I had kept the things I used at my last craft show.  I didn't go overboard for this one, realizing that it was going to be on the smaller side.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed spending it with our friends!