Frugal Front Porch

Keepsakes-Etc > A Great Gift That Warms More Than Just Your Heart

2009-11-09T15:36:00.006-06:00

Keepsakes-Etc. is an online gift shop specializing in throws, wall tapestries, and personalized gifts. I was blessed to receive a free personalized holiday themed throw blanket of my choice for this review. I chose the Santa's Christmas Gift throw monogrammed with my kids' names plus my two step childrens' names to give as a gift.

While browsing for their selection for this review, I came across several other items I'm considering for gifts to other family members and friends. I love this Texas throw and Navy wall hanging for hubby. Perhaps my MIL would like this Harley Davidson throw, while some of these John Deere gifts might appeal to some of my farming friends.

My experience: I was extremely impressed with their customer service from the moment I placed my order. I submitted my order on a Monday evening. The order was placed in their shop on Wednesday morning. I received my blanket on the following Monday. It took less than SEVEN DAYS from when I placed the order to embroider, package, ship, and receive my blanket. WOW! I've ordered online before and this is pretty amazing turn around time ESPECIALLY for a personalized product!!!

Santa's Throw retails for $49.99 plus $5.00 per line of monogramming. It is a large blanket measuring 48"x69" leaving plenty of room for all the kids' and grandkids' names. This blanket is made in the USA (which is difficult to find these days), 100% cotton and completely washable. The quality is OUTSTANDING. The Santa's Throw blanket is a double layered throw making it thick and warm for those cold winter nights. The weaving detail is impressive and the fringe is so gorgeous. It even comes with a gorgeous satin red gift bag with tissue paper to make gifting it even easier.

The Verdict: This is great product I wished I found earlier. I highly recommend a throw blanket from Keepsakes-Etc. With over 2,500 different products available, there is surely something for everyone on your holiday shopping list this year. They offer photo throws, custom designs, fleece, sports themed, seasonal, wall hangings, inspirational and even military themed blankets with personalization available on nearly all their products. US and Canadian shipping and handing prices range from $7.99 to $16.99 but they will ship anywhere in the world with pre-approval.

How to order: You can get your own personalized throw or wall hanging via their website at Keepsakes-Etc or call toll free 1-888-815-3455 for some great gift ideas.

They also sell personalized monogrammed hand bags at Simply-Bags.com. SURPRISE: they are giving away a Patent Leather Handbag on their blog. Hurry, the giveaway ends 11/15.

*This product was provided at no charge by Keepsakes-Etc for the purpose of this review. No other compensation has been provided for this review. All opinions written in this post are my honest thoughts and impressions of this product. This is a truthful report of my personal experience with Keepsakes-Etc.*

Twitter Party Schedule

2009-11-05T22:05:00.003-06:00

There are quite a few Twitter Parties on the horizon I don't want any of you to miss. You will get tons of great information and meet some great people. There is the bonus of some pretty amazing prizes attached to the parties too. With any luck, I'll see you at the party! Good luck and happy tweeting!

Time To Play Sitewarming Twitter Party
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Time: 9 p.m. - 10 p.m. EST
Location: #HotToys
Host: @ResourcefulMom
Prize: 14 of the hottest toys (see the rsvp link for the full list of toys)
Follow: @ResourcefulMom, @JimSilver, @TheToyGuy
RSVP for extra entries.

Zhu Zhu Pets™/MomSelect Twitter Party
Date: Monday, November 9, 2009
Time: 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. EST
Location: #ZhuZhuPets
Host: @MomTalkRadio (Maria Bailey, Founder of MomSelect)
Prize: 25 Zhu Zhu Hamsters plus habitrail pieces and accessories
Follow: @ResourcefulMom, @MomSelectAmy, @MomSelectMary and @MomSelectValika
RSVP for extra entries.

Women on Their Way/MomSelect Twitter Party

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Time: 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. EST
Location: #WOTW
Host: @MomTalkRadio (Maria Bailey, Founder of MomSelect and seasoned traveler)
Prize: Wyndam Rewards Points, a week long travel certificates from EVRentals.com, and a FLIP camera.
Follow: @MomTalkRadio, @AlysonAdventure, @ResourcefulMom and @KimOrlando
RSVP for extra entries to win the FLIP camera.

Amy is the Resourceful Mom and hosts many of the Sitewarming Parties I attend. This is what her Twitter Party calendar looks like for the next several weeks. Either subscribe to her blog, Resourceful Mommy, or check back often to make sure you don't miss a single party invite!

Perfect Pairs Sweepstakes

2009-11-05T21:40:00.003-06:00

Embrace Dinner.com has launched the new "Perfect Pairs" sweepstakes to compliment Tyson's new Heat N Eat entree's. Prizes include $100 Walmart Gift Cards, Netflix DVD rentals, new dinnerware/cookware, and other wonderful prizes that will come in very handy on date night!

Complete an entry form every day to increase your odds of winning the weekly draw. Every week the contest resets which increases your chances of winning.

The sweeps runs till the end of December. Don't forget to bookmark this site and enter daily!

http://embracedinner.com/SpecialOffers/PerfectPairs.aspx

Good luck!

WW-Optimus Prime In the Making

2009-11-04T11:49:00.005-06:00

Cut various boxes to size and try on before painting.

Lay out everything and mark how you imagine the paint scheme.

Prime and paint. If you just paint, the cardboard soaks up too much paint and the color still isn't as vibrant as it should be.

Glue the finishing touches into place and enjoy the oohhs and aahhs.

All about the BBQ Sauce

2009-11-03T12:36:00.003-06:00

I like short simple easy recipes. I thought BBQ sauce was complicated so I never bothered, especially when I can buy the stuff for $1 on sale at the grocery store! After watching Bobby, The Neely's, and Sunny whip up sauce after sauce in no time flat with ingredients I already have in the pantry, I suddenly found myself moved to make my own BBQ sauce.

It seems nearly every meal lately has included a homemade BBQ sauce. Some are spicy. Some are sweet. Some are tangy but it must be delicious since hubby eats the left overs without a remix. This is highly unusual unless it's REALLY good the first time around!

My base recipe for homemade BBQ sauce.

ketchup or tomato paste-huge squirt or about 4 ounces
mustard-little squirt
brown sugar
cider vinegar
red pepper flakes
ground paprika
garlic powder
dash of salt
honey or sorghum-optional
minced onion-optional
ground cayenne-optional
strawberry preserves-optional

You noticed there's no measurements? Different measurements of the ingredients change the flavor of the BBQ sauce. We like sweet, spicy, and tangy sauces so this method works well for me.

BBQ tips I learned the hard way!

The top four ingredients determine the consistency of the sauce.
Use more cider vinegar or mustard for a tangy sauce.
Add water or apple juice to thin it to a marinade consistency.
Add honey, sorghum, or preserves to naturally and subtly sweeten the sauce.
A little brown sugar goes a long way.
Ground paprika and cayenne add instant heat but heat from red pepper flakes will slowly increase, especially after heating.
Heating sauce over med low till bubbly will slightly thicken the sauce.
Heating it is not necessary as long as you whisk it all together well.
Start with small amounts of spices, taste as you go adding various spices till you get the flavor you like.
You can add just about anything to a BBQ sauce and it still taste like a BBQ sauce so use what is already in your pantry.

Here's plenty of BBQ recipes from the folks at Food Network in case you need a more structured recipe. How do you like your BBQ sauce???

Division Playoff Game #2

2009-11-02T18:26:00.002-06:00

Keep up our team's scores and stats here or here.

Weekend Wrap Up

2009-11-02T14:29:00.005-06:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. We had our share of ups and downs this weekend. For those of you unaware, J-Man has come down with the seasonal flu. We've kept him hydrated and the fever under control so I anticipate a full recovery in a few days. His illness hampered part of our plans on Halloween but we ended up having a great day.

Our day started with a late arrival to the tailgate party. I wanted J-Man to get as much rest as possible since we still had trick or treating to do later. We had so much fun watching the big game with our friends and neighbors. Our school's second division play off game ended in success. Friday, the KCC Bearcats are headed to the Alerus Center in Grand Forks to face Stephen-Argyle. No more watching the football game in the freezing cold! WOO HOO!!! School will dismiss early so everyone who wants can attend the game. With any luck, everyone in my house will be well, otherwise we'll have to follow the game on the radio. ;(

I'm dying to find out where our neighbor, Nancy, got her fun football glasses!

After the game, I put the finishing touches on costumes and everyone got ready for trick or treating. We ditched the Halloween party, again to give J-Man some extra rest time but we still had a blast begging for candy at all the neighbor's houses.

All the costumes except for Wild Man's were homemade. Optimus Prime was simply a bunch of different boxes painted and glued together with openings cut for the head and arms. I made it to work with his snow suit so he would stay warm and toasty during the cold night air. J-Man had a hard time moving in it and quickly lost patience with it. Next year we'll go for a sewn or assembled costume like a Super Secret Spy, Ninja, or even a Professional Chef. Hubby's costume was the easiest. It took less than five minutes. He was a "Nudist on Strike!" Sorry for the bad picture, it was taken with hub's cell phone! The neighbors L.O.V.E.D. his costume so much the kids scored extra candy because of it! My husband-What a nut!

What was your weekend like???

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T19:57:00.004-05:00

I know I've been MIA for the last several days but don't worry, I haven't gone anywhere. My hands are full working on J-Man's Optimus Prime costume for Halloween, reading a couple of books I've been dying to get into as well as fighting a terrible migraine the last two days. Thankfully the latter is gone and tomorrow the finishing touches will be put on Optimus Prime for his big debut tomorrow night. I'll be sure to share photos of our exciting day and J-Man's labor-some costume!

Today we had to travel over 80 miles back to Fargo for yet another doctor's appointment over hubby's back. A few weeks ago his back started hurting again after some seemingly simple act of sneezing while bending over to tie his shoes. We thought he pulled a muscle. After visiting with the doc today, it appears he may have re-herniated his disc but we won't know for sure till another MRI is done. So much for getting back to normal! At least we have a plan so forward motion is better than no motion at all! ;)

We've got a full Halloween Day planned. Our high school football playoff game starts tomorrow at 2pm with a tailgate party kicking off at noon. (YES, they won last week's big game 42 to ZIP!) Soon after the game, the city's annual Halloween party begins at 5:30 with trick-or-treating getting under way as soon as dark hits. Whew that's a lot going on!

As I mentioned J-Man will be Optimus Prime while Wild Man will transform into a fearless tiger. Unless we put something together pretty quickly, hubby and I will just schlep the kids from place to place as an excited but tired 'mom and dad'!

What's everyone else dressing up as for the big day??? Are YOU dressing up with your kids?

If you haven't put together any costumes yet, don't worry-I've got you covered. Check out this great link for quickie costumes! My favorite is the "Pot Head" costume: kitchen pot on top of your head! ;)) Have Fun and be safe!

Make Time for CHANGE with Frigidaire & Jennifer Garner

2009-10-26T16:30:00.005-05:00

Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner have teamed up to Make Time For Change to support Save the Children's CHANGE program (Creating Healthy, Active, and Nurturing Growing Up Environments). The goal is simple: get nutritious snacks to the many United States children who live in poverty and encourage a healthier lifestyle.

Soon our clocks fall back an hour giving us an extra hour every day. Frigidaire's and Jennifer's challenge to every mother across the country: What will you do with the extra hour every day???

Every day you pledge your time, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children's CHANGE program. Frigidaire will also donate $100 to the cause for every new Frigidaire Professional double wall oven sold now until December 31st. Additionally, each day you pledge, Frigidaire will enter you for a chance to win one of their Professional double wall ovens guaranteed to save you even more time! This sounds like a win-win for you AND the millions of children who live in poverty! Make you pledge today and help the children who need it the most.

This is an uncompensated endorsement. I have not received any payments or gifts for this post. Thanks to Frigidaire and Mom Select for featuring this opportunity which allowed me to bring it to you.

Friday Night are High School Football Nights

2009-10-22T15:13:00.006-05:00

If you are looking for a fun fall activity to do with the family, may I suggest a high school football game? Whether your kids are in diapers, elementary, middle school or college, they will enjoy the atmosphere. There is so much fun to be had at the game. Homecoming. Pep band. Playing the rival team. Food. Let's not forget the food!

Some communities organize tailgate parties around the weekly games. Hamburgers, brats, hot dogs, soda, french fries. There's just something about stadium food. mmmm! I don't know what it is about a greasy hot dog, a bag of popcorn and a fountain Coke on a cool night at the big game but it seems to warm me from the inside out!

The cost usually isn't too bad either. Entry into our local game is $5 per adult with $3 per student and little kids are FREE! Not bad if you ask me! If you eat before you head out to the game, you'll have a fun frugal night supporting your local high school athletics.

My local Bearcats team begin division playoffs this Saturday. We are undefeated in regular season play so we're aiming for the State Championship. Game starts at 7pm, playoff admission is $6 for adults and $3 for students. If you happen to be in the Hallock area, help cheer on our team. You'll be in for an exciting game! Maybe I'll even see you there! ;)

Wordless Wednesday - Town's Newest Visitors

2009-10-21T08:32:00.003-05:00

I snapped these while hubby and I were driving to the library after lunch the other day! Needless to say we were surprised by the new visitors in town!

Canned Biscuit Apple Tart

2009-10-20T09:33:00.007-05:00

I found a great deal on canned biscuits last week. Three cans of 10 biscuits for $.99. I prefer to make biscuits from scratch but, I couldn't pass up such a great deal. Plus they are great for a quick side dishes. Last night I made a yummy apple tart with a can of biscuits and some apples my super hubby harvested from our apple tree. Our apples aren't very large, slightly bigger than golf balls but they are firm and not overly sweet. Since I did not plant the apple tree, I am not sure what type it is but they are perfect for Wild Man's little hands. We had so many apples this year, I am now faced with using them before they go bad. Applesauce, apple butter and apple jelly are on my list but then again, I may use them all for this tasty apply tart! ;)

Ingredients
1 can of biscuit dough (10 small biscuits)-room temperature
apples-chopped into bite sized pieces with or without skin
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
dash of salt
5 pats of butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray pie pan with non-stick spray. Spread 5 of the biscuits to cover the bottom of the pie pan. Add chopped apples to cover dough with 2" depth. Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and a dash of salt over apples. Space 5 pats of butter evenly around the apples. Spread out the remaining 5 biscuits over the butter and apples. Dust with cinnamon sugar. Bake approximately 30 minutes. Allow to cool, slice and serve.

Printer Friendly Recipe (click to print recipe without graphic or banners)

Next time, I will make this in cute cupcake tins for individual sized servings. Maybe even for Thanksgiving dinner. YUMMM!

Linked to Foodie Friday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tackle It Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Monday and Tightwad Tuesday.

Deluxe Prize Pack: Where the Wild Things Are Giveaway

2009-10-17T16:23:00.013-05:00

The highly anticipated movie Where the Wild Things Are hit the theaters Friday, October 16th. Although I have not had the opportunity to see the exciting new film, it is certainly on my family's list of must see movies! In the meantime, I have a very special announcement.

On Monday, October 19th, IMAX is launching a special promotion EXCLUSIVELY for their Facebook fans to celebrate the release of the new movie. Every day next week, two lucky fans will win a Where the Wild Things Are prize pack! That's 10 winners!

Prize pack includes: Where the Wild Things Are poster, book and two IMAX movie tickets.
How to Enter: Become an IMAX Facebook fan. On Monday, directions will be posted to their wall on how to add the Where the Wild Things Are crown to your profile picture. Simply comment on their wall for an entry into their exclusive Facebook fan contest. Good luck!

Just for you, my loyal readers, a special opportunity to win a Where the Wild Things Are Deluxe Prize Pack including:

Adult (L or XL) Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt
Childs (L) Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt
Where the Wild Things Are Crown
An EXCLUSIVE Where the Wild Things Are IMAX movie poster
2 IMAX movie tickets

You must do BOTH to enter for the Deluxe Prize Pack:

Become a IMAX Facebook Fan at http://facebook.com/IMAX
Complete the entry form.

The contest ends October 23rd, 11:59 EST and is open to all legal US residents ages 18 or older.

Want more chances to win Where the Wild Things Are prizes? Join the Twitter Party!

When: Monday, October 19th, from 9 - 10 pm EST
Where: Twitter hashtag #IMAXWildThings (I use TweetGrid for Twitter parties. Just be sure to enter @resourcefulmom as the party hostess so you don't miss a chance to win some fabulous prizes)
Prizes: Movie tickets and more!

*This giveaway opportunity is brought to you courtesy of Momfluence!

Popcorn Helps Our Scouts & The Community

2009-10-16T10:20:00.006-05:00

Help scouts give back to the community!

Boy and Cub Scouts annual Popcorn Sale is in full swing! This fundraiser is the biggest event each year for our boys. Cub Scouts sell popcorn to family, friends, neighbors, parent's coworkers, and now online. 70% of each sales goes directly to scouting. Every year the pack dedicates the money earned from popcorn sales to a new goal.

We have seen a significant rise in numbers of boys who've joined scouts but many cannot afford the uniforms, handbooks, or fees for events like day camp. With this in mind, our pack chose to raise money to pay for uniforms, handbooks, and local scouting events for the many boys who cannot afford it. With the money left over, the boys would like to do something special during the holiday season for the wonderful ladies and gents at the local senior's center plus a family who lost everything during a recent fire.

My favorites:

The Light Butter Microwave Popcorn is the BEST popcorn I've ever eaten. I normally don't go for the stuff but OMGosh it is the BEST microwave popcorn I've ever put into my mouth.

15 pack box costs $35.95 with over $25 going back to the pack. It's got fewer calories and lower sodium than the standard microwavable popcorn but trust me, it's big on taste!!!

The Cheesiest 3 Way Tin is another delicious choice! It's got 2 bags of cheddar cheese flavored popcorn PLUS one bag of white cheddar. I devour it first every year!

The 21 ounce tin costs $37.95 with over $20 remaining with the scouts.

Finally if popcorn is not your thing, you can send some to a military soldier overseas. A Silver Donation of $25 or a Gold Donation of $40 will send popcorn to our military personnel overseas.

Still if none of these choices appeal to you, there's SOOOOO many other flavors to choose from. Trail mix, chocolate, caramel, toffee, nuts, and of course plain popping corn.

Every purchase made from this blog will help my son's Cub Scout Pack 76 raise money for their goals.

*If for some reason you are not directed to the page supporting Joey W. please enter J-Man's scout ID 3992313 so your purchase will help his pack instead of the national scouting fund.

Thank you for supporting scouting.

Happy Blogiversery To Me!

2009-10-14T12:05:00.003-05:00

Today is my 1 year blogiversery! I can hardly believe I've been blogging for a year now! Strange how time flies. I've been blessed by so many great opportunities since my blogging journey started. Met so many friendly and wonderfully creative people. Read so many heartwarming and touching stories. It's hard to believe how blogging has truly changed my life. I've learned so many new things through blogging. Endless recipes, how to sew, even cleaning tips. I've vastly improved my computer skills. Creating HTML and building my own graphics (like the one above). I never would have thought I could do anything like this! The power of blogging!

Thank you, dear readers, for the supportive comments over the past year. It's eye opening to see how comments from strangers and unseen friends can vastly improve you confidence and uplift your spirit. I don't consider myself an outgoing person. I love sharing pieces of my life with the universe but rarely venture to interact with other bloggers. I enjoy reading what everyone else writes but never comment thinking "Who'd want to hear from little ole me?". Well, I'm slowly getting over this, commenting more and more. Hopefully I can pay it forward and give back to the blogiverse that's given so much to me!

Stay tuned over the next few days for a couple of fun giveaways!

Create Your Own Graphics for FREE

2009-10-14T10:32:00.006-05:00

I create my own graphic buttons, designed my own blog, create newsletters for print, and customize photos with text and other graphics. It's not a business, just a hobby. This feeds my creative soul but my inner frugalista cringes at the price tag some companies charge just to gain access to their software or graphics. This is why I use FREE graphics and software exclusively.

Unless you're a professional making back the money you're investing in your business then, why spend it?

Here are a few of my free resources you may find useful when feeding your creative soul!

This is an excellent font site with over 9,000 free fonts to download. The download is easy and fast.

Find the font you like either by browsing in alphabetical order, categories, or even search with specific keywords.
Click the download button or link. You may need to unzip the file after it downloads but it's automatically unzipped on my computer.
Click the Start button in the lower left corner and search for "Fonts". Double click to open the folder.
With the Fonts folder open and your downloaded font file opened, drag the new True Type Font file to the Fonts folder. Depending upon your security settings you may have to give special permission for you computer to install the new font.

A great site for editing software, manipulating layers and creating your own graphics is Paint.net. Their site gives you a brief history on how it was created as well as what the future plans are for the site. They even have a forum for anyone who wants or needs to use it. This is what I used until my computer crashed a few weeks ago. When I got it back, the tech has removed it and installed Corel Paint Shop Pro which seems to work just as well. I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet.

My FREE blog background as well as some FABULOUS secrets to enhance my blog came from these fabulous ladies. The Cutest Blog On The Block has buttons, banners, blinkies and more for Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter, and MySpace. Drooling over their site is giving me the itch to refresh my blog! They are truly talented.

Another site I couldn't blog without is Photobucket. If you write your own HTML, it's a MUST HAVE! Plus it saves valuable memory space on my computer by storing all my blog buttons and images online.

Kim at Blue Ridge Mountain is where I got my free floral images. I used her free images to create my sidebar buttons and header. Along with freebies, she has so many more images available for purchase and it seems she's having a Retirement Sale ending on December 1st.

Don't forget the Ghost Train is in town for the month of October. There's hundreds of ghoolish freebies waiting for you out there!!!!

Apple Walnut Stuft Pork Chops

2009-10-13T11:53:00.010-05:00

A few weeks ago hubster asked for some pork chops at the grocery meat counter. We didn't notice till we got home they were VERY thick (maybe 2" thick???). I've always wanted to make stuffed pork chops but the dish always appeared complicated plus I could never remember to pick up chops thick enough. Hubby's mistake turned into my new cooking opportunity.

Stuffed pork chops was much easier to make than I imagined. This makes a large amount of stuffing; I ended up freezing half the stuffing to use later. And I certainly have plans for this deliciously yummy stuffing. This has a sweet and savory taste making a wonderful base for so many other things: mix in scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos, use in stuffed peppers, Thanksgiving turkey stuffing, on a warm croissant topped with melted cheddar or even in fried pie.

Ingredients

2 medium apples - peeled and diced
1 lb maple flavored ground sausage - browned
1 1/2 c raisins
1 1/2 c crushed or finely chopped walnuts
1 c herb flavored bread crumbs for stuffing
1/4 c apple juice

Directions
Mix all the above ingredients till bread crumbs are moist. Butterfly thick pork chops and pan fry with a little EVOO and salt till done. Approximately 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Place desired amount of stuffing mixture on each pork chop. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe (click to print only the recipe without any images, headers, or sidebar images)

Visit these sites for more fabulous recipes:

Talk To Me Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays and Tackle It Tuesdays.

I Heart Excited Faces

2009-10-12T10:51:00.003-05:00

While visiting with Manic Mother, I found a new fun photography contest I thought I'd join in. I Heart Faces has a new theme each week. The photo can be new or old, enhanced or left as is. Anyone who has a picture to share is welcome to join in. Amateurs, hobbyist, even professionals. This week's theme is 'Excited' so I'm excited to share my entry with you!

Wild Man was certainly 'excited' to ride the fire truck earlier this year at the Heritage Festival.

Hand Soap - Semi Homemade Style

2009-10-12T09:58:00.005-05:00

Last week I shared this idea with the readers of Make It From Scratch where I contribute every Monday. This week, I thought I'd share it with all my readers who may not have seen it.

We traveled quite a bit last summer for hubby's doctor's visits. We stayed overnight at various hotels because hubby couldn't physically handle the long road trip back home. Thankfully he's better and we're no longer traveling so much but it's left me with a rather large collection of hotel soaps. What to do with them???

Here's a nifty little project you can do with hotel soaps or any bar soap bits you have lying around the house.

Grate soap bits with a cheese grater into a glass dish or double boiler.
Add boiling water and stir till all the soap is melted.
Add optional scented oil.
Allow to cool overnight in a glass dish.
Stir well.
Transfer to soap pump with a spoon and large funnel.

I used one grated hotel soap bar and a half pint of boiling water. If the consistency is too thick for your needs, place the glass dish back in a pot of boiling water to re-melt the soap. Mix more boiling water, allow to cool, and stir when cooled.

It literally takes less than ten minutes and the kids can be great help with this project!

It's that simple to have your own hand soap, semi homemade!

Contest and Giveaway Links

2009-10-09T08:33:00.003-05:00

I've had an insufferable migraine the past few days. Now I'm feeling much better and have stumbled on several contests and giveaways you might enjoy entering! Good luck!!!

Win $200 Best Buy Gift Cards

Blogher and Samsung is offering $200 Best Buy GC for 8 winners through 8 different blogs. The first four bloggers have been posted.

A Year of Slow Cooking reviewed the french door styled Samsung refrigerator.
Nikas Culinaria reviewed the Samsung stainless steel range/oven.
Fluid Pudding got the Samsung dishwasher to review.
The Life of Suz put Samsung's washer/dryer combo to the test.

Green Kitchen Tools

Joy the Baker is giving away some great Green Kitchen Tools.

More Blogher Giveaways

Check out the Blogher Special Offers Group for more fabulous giveaways including tons of $100 gift cards to various vendors.

Win a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera at The Juice on Blogher.

Win $5,000 at Divine Caroline

#win5000

Make a Proclamation and be entered to win $5,000 to pursue your dream! Enter daily and bring friends to increase your chances of winning. There are weekly prizes too. No purchase necessary.

View >>

While you're there, be sure to Chit Chat for a chance at $200. See the right side bar to enter on four different articles.

So, anyone else find any great giveaways???

Silliest Kid Photo Contest

2009-10-07T12:30:00.004-05:00

Check out my entry for the Silliest Kid Photo Contest at 5 Minutes for Mom. There's $1,000 up for grabs (courtesy of Hasbro) so be sure to enter before 10/19. Finalists will be selected and posted on October 22nd. Voting closes November 5th.

This would definitely come in handy during the holidays!!! Wish me luck!

This was taken earlier this summer after a day outside finished off with roasted marshmallows! Can someone say "sugar high"?????

Wordless Wednesday-The View From 3 Feet

2009-10-07T11:41:00.004-05:00

My 3 year old took over the camera when I wasn't looking. This is a view of his world.

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go for more Wordless Wednesday posts.

Dinner in a Flash Challenge

2009-10-06T07:55:00.004-05:00

As a busy mom with an equally busy family, it's a challenge is to get a nutritious dinner on the table in the brief time when everyone's schedule allows you to come together as a family. For us, today's schedule is particularly hectic.

School 8am - 3pm
Taekwondo 3:30pm - 4:45pm
Scout meeting 6:30pm - 7:30pm

By the time we get home from shuttling kids everywhere, there will be less than an hour to eat dinner as a family before some of us are off to the next activity. I am so THANKFUL (A) this is not a daily occurrence and (B) I'm a SAHM so I can get started on dinner earlier than when I worked outside the home. Not wanting to spend my day in the kitchen, I have a few strategies to help the busiest moms get dinner on the table in no time flat!

Crockpot is my miracle appliance! Even if you forget to thaw something the night before, you can cook many frozen meats in the crockpot on low heat anywhere from 8 to 10 hours. Toss in a couple of cups of liquid (water, juice, tea, wine, etc), salt, pepper, maybe a cream of something soup and a clove or two of garlic. Whaa laa! A perfect main course is waiting for you when you get home. Heat some frozen veggies and use some of your crockpot liquid to cook up a bit of rice for a wonderfully healthy flavorful dinner in no time flat.
Go Italian! Most pasta's cook in under 10 minutes. While the pasta's cooking warm a jar pasta sauce or canned diced tomatoes with chiles and some frozen cooked shrimp or other cooked meat. Drain your pasta, toss it all together and garnish with some shredded cheese and chopped fresh herbs. Toast white or wheat bread, smear with a bit of flavored butter and enjoy.
Utilize leftovers & seasoning packs! Shred left over meat from the night before and add taco, burrito, sloppy joe or other seasoning packs for fast meal. Turn a side salad into a main course by topping with the flavored meat. Stretch your meat leftovers by mixing in cooked rice or mashed beans.

Tonight's dinner in a flash challenge will be met with shredded leftover steak over yummy pasta and sauce!

Head over to Twittermoms to read other dinner in a flash strategies and enter to win a Samsung refrigerator.

Free Coupons - Is It REALLY Free?

2009-10-04T21:52:00.004-05:00

The coupon process VERY simply stated:

Vendors issue coupons for their products.
Consumers use these coupons to purchase the vendor's product from the retailer.
The retailer sends the coupons to the vendor.
Vendor sends the retailer a check for the value of the coupons.

Lately I've been blessed with an abundance of free coupons. I get them through various programs like Vocalpoint, Kraft, and General Mills new program Pssst. Usually, I place the items in the cart with my regular grocery purchases and during checkout separate them by coupon, price match, and normal purchase to make it easier for the cashier. A happy cashier usually results in a price question swinging my way! Usually with the kids and husband in tow, I don't pay close attention to how the free coupons are processed. I mean, FREE means FREE right? You should get the price the store charges for the product credited back from the grocery bill. WRONG! It all depends on the stores coupon policy.

I discovered this when I made a special trip to my local grocery store to use a few of my free coupons before they expired. I was alone and picked up a Diet Dr. Pepper and some M&M's along with my "free" items. What can I say, I was alone and pampering myself a bit! It was during check out when I noticed it. The cashier scanned my products as usual then she entered a coupon value lower than what I was charged. She entered the store's maximum reimbursement price listed in the coupon's fine print. Since the product was priced $1.50 higher than the vendor's maximum reimbursement, I was left owing the difference. A FREE coupon does NOT always mean FREE! Thinking she made a mistake, I asked about it. This is the store's coupon policy. I was stunned.

The next time, I went to a different grocery store. Used a few more of my free coupons. This time my purchase was free but the purchase price was below the fine print store's reimbursement value so I'm not sure if there policy is "FREE means FREE" OR if it's "FREE as long as we get reimbursed for it." This store scanned everything, products and coupons, so I'm pretty confident they coupon back the entire value of the product. I've worked at retailers where "FREE means FREE", even if the store takes a loss so I am surprised at this.

Needless to say, I will no longer shop at my local grocery store. The regular price of groceries are routinely marked up somewhere between 25% to 50% over other stores twenty minutes down the road. Forget competing with a chain store like Walmart, Hugos, or SuperOne! Because of this markup my free coupons are not really free so I'll gladly take my business to someone who will honor the "FREE means FREE" coupon policy!

My question to you, dear readers, "Should stores honor FREE coupons for their full retail price? Even if it means they won't receive a full reimbursement from the vendor?"

Join the Cub Scout Trail

2009-10-03T20:32:00.005-05:00

Scouting is FUN! We even have our own handshake!

J-Man's been in Cub Scouts since he was a first grader. As a Tiger Cub, you start small. Crafts. Games. Helping with community service projects organized by older scouts. Fewer achievements are required to complete the Tiger Trail. The older your scout gets, the more achievements he'll be required to complete.

Completing achievements & earning new patches is pretty easy too. Lots of everyday activities you do with your child can earn them new patches. Riding a bike with the proper safety gear. Helping in the kitchen. Playing an organized sport (like baseball, football, tennis or golf). Opening doors for someone at the grocery store. Playing games with the family. Nothing overly complicated. The only requirement is he does his best. You, the parent, sign off on it in their handbook and turn it into the Den Leader. The Den Leader orders the patch from the Cub Master and it's presented during the next monthly pack meeting for everyone to witness and celebrate.

Simple.

Parental involvement is vital with cub scouts. Den meetings, Day camping trips. Workshops. Field trips. Pack Meetings. Parental participation is a KEY factor in all successful scouting experiences. Many times there's an opportunity for both parents, siblings, AND scout to learn a new skill. Total fun for the whole family!
Now J-Man is a third grader and a Bear Cub. He's having more fun than ever! Hubbster is his Den Leader AND Pack Cub Master so we are very involved in the scouting adventure.

As a matter of fact, we just got back from the Great Alaskan Gold Rush earlier today. The boys learned how to safely cut wood and properly start a fire. They also experienced Archery and BB gun safety. The boys even learned about first aid. From Tiger to Wolf to Bear, a great time was had by all!...even us grown ups! ;)

Your Cub Scout trail starts here!

Want to learn more about scouting or find your local pack? Click here to get started. Live in Northwestern Minnesota and want to join? Click here to learn about the Northern Lights District. Still have questions? Email or leave a comment. I'll see what I can do to answer them quickly and accurately!