Arts Cow

Monday, June 29, 2009

Alright, first off, I know I said that I was going to take a break for awhile and reconfigure this blog, but I just couldn't stay away.

There is this great site called ArtsCow.com. They are a digital photo print site and they have some fantastic deals on gifts. If you sign up for the newsletter, you will be notified of all these great deals. They usually run a few a month.

The items are made in Hong Kong, so it takes awhile to receive them (about a week or two) but the prices are great.

The promotion that is going right now are custom recycle shopping bags. I think that I am going to get a few of these.
This promotion is for a limited time and only 300 will be available per day. Please place your order now to avoid disappointment. Custom photo recycle bag $4.99/each with free shipping. Order now!

Coupon code: RECYCLEBAG499
Expires on: 07/20/2009

http://www.artscow.com/diy/recycle

P.S: Checkout codes are also applicable to Custom Recycle Bag (Two Sides) at only $6.99/each and free shipping.

They also have a Customized Leather Coin Purse with a limit of 100 per day. They are $7.99 each with free shipping.

Coupon code: COINPURSE799
Expires on: 7/15/2009


http://www.artscow.com/Create/ShowProduct.aspx?ProductId=437


And lastly, another promotion is a Custom Photo Bucket Handbag. It is $17.99, with free shipping and each addition bag is $22.99.

Checkout Code: BBAG1799
Expires on: July 14, 2009
http://www.artscow.com/diy/Bucket



This is a great site and the items are really nice. I ordered a glass cloth and a photo book from them a few months ago.

Update!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Hello, all my faithful readers. I am sorry that I haven't written all week. This has been a bad week for me, and I haven't had a chance to bring you any special deals or reviews, or even any of my crazy ramblings.

I am going to take some time off from the blog. I have family and friends visiting and I want to devote some time to them. I am also going to restructure this blog, so that I can make it a little more organized. I want to set up some regular blog days and have specific topics I write about on those days. I hope this works for you. If you have any suggestions on what you would like me to write about, let me know.

Change

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Today, my son asked me why I had so many different colors of nail polish. I told him it was because I get bored very easily. It is the same reason why I have so many purses among other things. I love change. I crave it. I need to it.

As long as I can remember, I have always needed to change things. When I was younger, I use to change my hair color, all the time. I had tons of shoes, and I would paint my room and redecorate on a regular basis.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy certain things to stay the same. I love routine. You need a routine to keep things in order, but change keeps things exciting. Now that I am older, my changes are a little more subtle, nail polish, new recipes, favorite movies and music, and various other things. That is why the "things I'm into" changes.

Change is a good thing. I think that it keeps us on out toes and makes our lives a little less mundane. It also keeps things more interesting and reminds us that it is fun to be different and daring every once in awhile.

So, try it this week. Shake things up and do something different, something daring, something that is going to make your family say "Wow, that was fun!"

Free Recycling Crafts Ebook

Saturday, June 13, 2009

I am going to make this a short and sweet blog. Thanks to Common Sense With Money for passing this along, there is a free ebook available to download. Fave Crafts has put together this ebook that has a collection of 42 garden crafts. There are 4 Sections.

Section 1: Flower Pots

Learn how to decorate your very own clay flower pots for spring!

Section 2: Plant Stakes

These decorative plant stakes will brin your garden to life.

Section 3: Watering Cans

Turn an ordinary watering can into a sentimental keepsake you will want to save forever.

Section 4: Garden Decorations

Decorate your garden with everything from some cute clay turtles to floral vegetable storage crates.

Enjoy!

Homemade Father's Day Gifts

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

In my email today I received three great Father's Day gift ideas from Michael's The Knack newsletter, that your children can make for dad. They are all very cute and each is for a certain age range. Each has step by step directions, an approximate craft time and materials list.

Daddy's Toolbox Helper - Age 3-5 - Show dad what a good helper you can be by giving this toolbox full of chores you can do!


Father's Day Tie Card - Age 3-5 - Does your dad wear a tie? Make him a special Father's Day tie card to let him know which kind of tie you like!

Dad's Apron - Age 6-8 - Show dad he's king not just for the day, but always with this special King of the Grill apron.

Have fun and send me pictures of any completed projects.


Redbox Codes

Thanks to Nicole's Nickels, I have a list of Redbox codes that I am passing on to you. Make sure you write these down and keep in your wallet or phone. I am not sure when they expire.

DEVRY6268
DVDATWAG (Walgreens only)
DVDONME
BREAKROOM
SPSTA61
M3ZZHQG
4CJQR2T
MDRMTHG
CONTROL
2FR2RKL
M3R5GWQ
WALGREENS (Walgreens only)
REDBOX (New customers)
THANK-YOU
GETRDONE
YESPLEASE
BRINGITON
RABBIT

If you don't know what Redbox is, it is a kiosk where you can rent movies for $1.00, per night. They are outside or inside some stores and restaurants like Walgreens, Albertsons and McDonald's. You can choose a movie online or right at the kiosk. Pick up your movie and then return it when done.

What I'm "Into" Right Now

Monday, June 8, 2009

I have been trying to write some reviews, at least one a week, but that is not really working they way I wanted, so I decided to write about things that I am "into" right now.

This list changes all the time, so I may make this a regular thing. Maybe every month or so. We'll see. Here is the list:

Twitter - I am totally into Twitter right now. I know it is crazy, but it is so much fun. I love reading the updates on my friends, and I will admit, some celebrities.

The Impulsive Buy - This is a review blog. They mainly review new foods, but it varies from day to day. I read it everyday. I enjoy finding out about new products and the writers are extremely witty and sometimes it is just a riot to read.

Sweepstakes - I have been an avid sweepstaker for about ten years. I have won trips, TV's, movies, music, books, lots of things. My involvement in sweeps, vary. It usually depends on what is going on in my life and if I have the time. Here are three daily sweeps that I enter.
Bar S, Country Crock and Honey Nut Cheerios. You can click on each to enter. Make sure you read the rules before entering and good luck. If you win anything, let me know.

BeautyTicket.com - I have blogged about e.l.f. cosmetics and you know how much I love them, but Beauty Ticket is a great site to buy cosmetics also. They sell high end brands like Lola, Pixie, Pout and Smashbox for as much as 85% off the retail price. Their prices are amazing.

Taco Tuesday - Every Tuesday, my family goes to Del Taco for Taco Tuesday. The Del Taco near my house has tacos, 3 for $1.19. This is our "eat out night" and it is an extremely inexpensive meal out also. We even treat ourselves to "Happy Hour" at Sonic before, where we get 1/2 price drinks.

Books on tape - I guess it would be considered ebooks, since technically, I listen to them on my computer. I have a hard time finding the time to sit down and read a book. So, I started listening to books while I am working on the computer, which is all the time. This has given me back an appreciation for books.

Reading with my son - I have found time to read with my son. He is 8 years old and an excellent reader. We go back and forth with me reading one chapter and he reading the other. We are currently reading the "Schooling Around" series by Australian author Andy Griffiths. These are such fun books. I have really enjoyed spending time with my son and the books are great too. I find myself not wanting to put the books down and can't wait for the next evening so we can continue.

The Sun - I am so excited to see the sun. There are a lot of reasons for this. Summer is coming. My son is in his last week of school. We have family and friends visiting this summer. I get to swim. We live in an HOA and have a community pool. It is really nice to be able to go swimming and spend some time with the neighbors.

That is it for now. I am quite sure I will doing this again. What are you "into"? Let me know.




Why You Should Sign Up For Newsletters

Saturday, June 6, 2009

"I don't want all that crap in my inbox, besides, I don't have time to read it." That is what everyone always tells me about newsletters. I am going to tell you why you should sign up for these newsletters.

First of all, don't think of it as crap or spam. It's not. They are very informative and helpful on keeping you up to date on products and services that you use. When signing up for newsletters, open another email account. You should have an extra email account for freebies and such anyway. Nobody, likes spam and extra emails, and when you are trying to get through the important stuff, you don't want to go through emails that you can look at later. You can have the newsletters sent to the 'other' email address and go through them when you have time.

When signing up for newsletters, make sure that they are something that you want info on. Usually, you can look at a sample newsletter. The best newsletters to sign up for are vacations, stores, food, restaurants, services and recipes.

Signing up for these types of newsletters brings you a lot of information, bargains, deals, coupons, rebates and freebies. I am always getting lots of coupons, freebies, and great deals sent weekly to my email. I don't have to hunt around for them. They are there when I get on my computer.

Newsletters are an excellent way to save money and stay on a budget. Last year, my family was able to take a wonderful trip to Ireland, because I signed up for Sceptre Tours newsletter. Some grocery stores have newsletters, so you can check the ads and plan your meals and shopping trips. Certain products and restaurants will send coupons with their newsletters. You will be notified of company changes, new products, store openings, samples and sweepstakes.

So, next time you are asked to sign up for a newsletter, think about all the info you are missing out on, and go ahead and sign up. If you find, you don't like it, you can always unsubscribe.

My soapbox for the day

Sometimes, I feel the need to stand up on my soapbox and vent about things that bother me. Today, is one of those days. You really don't have to read this if you don't want to. It is just me compaining.

Anyway, I was reading through some entertainment articles and it got me thinking. Why are some of these people 'celebrities'. They don't do anything. They are 'famous' (I use the term loosely) for being rich. They are certain people out there that are 'celebrities' because they have money, or their parents have money and they are in the limelight. Now, I'm not going to name any names, (not that I have a lot of people who read this blog, but I still don't want hate mail because I called someone's celebrity status ridiculous or useless, which I do believe in a lot of cases).

I just find the whole thing to be sad. We are going to have an entire generation of kids that look up to these people and think that if you are wealthy, then you can be a celebrity, and that you need to have money to be someone. This is ridiculous and I will say it again, sad.

It is bad enough that kids are made to feel inferior if they don't have the right clothes, backpack, shoes, notebook, pencil, whatever. But, now we have so-called celebrities that kids look up to because they have money, making it harder and harder to raise your kids with the values that money isn't everything and you can live a fabulous life without having to spend an arm and a leg, or by throwing your money around.

Well, that is the end of my rant. I am just sad that 'celebrities' don't have to have any talent anymore. They can simply be famous for their wealth.

$0.99 Iced Coffee at 7-Eleven

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

For the entire month of June, 7-Eleven will be selling their medium iced coffee in two flavors French Vanilla and Mocha for $0.99. So move over Starbucks and McDonald's, that is one heck of a deal.

Free Beach Towel at Build A Bear

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

At Build A Bear June 6 - June 14, you can get a FREE Beach Towel with a purchase of $20 or more. You can also get a virtual gift for your furry friend at buildabearville.com. These are while supplies last.

Summer Reading Programs

There are some great reward programs that will get your kids reading this Summer. I am lucky. My son LOVES to read. I really don't have to work to hard to get him to read. These reward programs are a great incentive to get your kids to read or to reward your readers.

Chuck E Cheese will give your child 10 FREE tokens if they fill the printable calendar up with 2 weeks of reading. ( I am not sure how many of htese your child can turn in.)

Scholastic Summer Reading Program allows your kids and their friends to earn points to enter sweepstakes or they can earn points for charity. All you do is log on to the website and track your minutes, take quizzes and other fun activities.

Barnes & Noble is for Grades 1 - 6. If your child reads 8 books this Summer, they can earn a FREE book. All you need to do is download the form from their site. My son did this last year. They have some great books available to receive.

Also, check out your local library. They may have some fun activities set up this Summer to encourage reading.