Debt Diva-Making Christmas in July Frugal & Fabulous

The Debt Diva is having a Christmas in July giveaway from July 27 through July 30. Each day features a new topic and The Debt Diva wants to know what hints, tips, and tricks you have up your sleeve when planning your Christmas holiday. Submit one awesome tip and walk away with a $100 Visa gift card; a present anyone can use!

Today's topic: Frugal & Fabulous Gift Ideas.

My tip: everyone loves a gift basket and what better basket than one everyone can use? I clip coupons and watch for sales throughout the year and stock up on cleaning supplies. I purchase a cleaning caddy

and load it up with cleaning supplies. If you're feeling particularly sassy, you can also decorate those caddies with a hot glue gun and some beads or sew a padded handle grip with a Velcro closure to make the caddy attractive, eye-catching and personalized. Yes, my craft skills are limited but I brought in the big guns: my 12 year-old daughter. My daughter and I had a blast blinging out that boring caddy. We used a bunch of craft beads and crystals I had in my craft cupboard. Because I shopped sales and used my coupons, for under $25 we had a personalized present with products everyone can use; cleaning supplies, paper towels, sponges and even a bright-colored feather duster I found at the dollar store.

Before wrapping, I enclosed the following note:

Washing windows, mopping floors,
cleaning cupboards, all those chores.
You pick the day and without complaint
I'll help you clean without restraint.

My mother loved her "Maid-for-a-Day" Caddy. She cashed in a few weeks later and we spent an entire day together purging her "to do" list. She actually asked for another caddy for Mother's Day.

If you'd like a chance to enter the Debt Diva Christmas in July giveaway, just follow the Debt Diva on Twitter and watch her site; each day at 10am a new question will be posted for you to answer. You can submit your response via Twitter, the Debt Diva Facebook page, your own blog, or the Debt Diva site. Winning $100 Visa card would be frugal living at its finest.

Winner Announcement: NotNeutral Giveaway

Winner number 202:

first-time-mommy said... 202

I tweeted this @detroitmommy

detroit.mommy (at) gmail (dot) com
July 25, 2009 10:14 AM

Congratulations Detroit Mommy, I'm emailing your for your information.

**CLOSED**GIVEAWAY: Shannon's Custom Creations

I can't craft my way out of a box. I start out with the best intentions, but I am one of those unfortunate souls born without a craft (or a math) gene. But I adore anything handmade and have the utmost appreciation and awe of those that can make something gorgeous with their own two hands.

Enter Shannon's Custom Creations. Shannon's Custom Creations is a family-owned and operated company based in London, Ontario. Shannon is a stay-at-home mom of 3 who started out selling her wares via online classifieds. With a combination of precision machinery, good old-fashioned craftsmanship, and hand-painting, Shannon offers some awesome home decorations at unbeatable prices.



Shannon sent me these hand-painted letters for my daughter, Danielle. I had no idea what she was going to send me and when I opened the package all I could think of was "Wow, she's either a stalker or she's psychic!" She managed to match my daughter's room decor almost perfectly.



My daughter's room is done in a flower/butterfly theme and each letter has hand-painted flowers, butterflies, and cat-tails and is hung on a pink ribbon. I was impressed by the care and detail Shannon put into each individual letter. No two are exactly alike but they all compliment each other.

Not only can you choose any one of the great themes Shannon offers for your individual letters like Jungle Animals, Mighty Machines, or Princess Fairies (to name only a few), you can also further customize each design personally by picking your base color from the rainbow of choices offered as well as your favorite font from 15 different samples. Not into ribbons? Then choose the recessed pins option for a floating look. Each letter is finished with a durable clear coat to keep your creation looking beautiful for years.

Besides individual letters, Shannon also makes script names or words:


Or how about a custom sign for your house?



Best part is, one of you reading this is going to get a chance to win your favorite, free! Shannon has offered one lucky reader $50 credit to her online store. Right now, Shannon is having a grand-opening sale; everything is now 50% off her already reasonable prices. That's quite a deal.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Shannon's Custom Creations and tell me one thing you're going to buy with your $50 winnings or which one of the themes is your favorite? (1 entry, leave 1 comment).

Extra Credit:

1) Follow my blog (left sidebar) or take credit if you already do (1 entry, leave one comment.

2) Tweet the giveaway, can be done daily if you're feeling sassy (1 entry, leave one comment daily with your tweet url).

Easy tweet you can copy & paste:

Shannon's Custom Creations giveaway; deck out your decor. $50 to buy your favorite hand-painted happiness. Ends 8/9 http://454.me/oc146/

3) Blog it. It doesn't have to be long or wordy but link to the giveaway and Shannon's Custom Creations. (3 entries, leave 3 comments with your blog url).

Giveaway open to US & Canadian residents. Giveaway ends on Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 11:59 pm EST. Make sure you leave separate comments for each individual entry you're due, I have poor math skills so you can't rely on me to credit your entries. Winner will be contacted by email for their information and will coordinate directly with Shannon's Custom Creations for fulfillment of their winnings. Please leave me a way to contact you if your email is not visible in your blogger profile. Winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email before I pull a do-over.

Giveaway Goodies Around the Blogosphere

Stop by The Dirty Shirt and enter for a chance to win a Sprint HTC Snap mobile phone worth $399.99. Deadline: 8/5

Jolly Mom has a fantastic Flor Rug giveaway going on. Deadline: 8/10

Ritz Crackerfuls is sponsoring $100 Visa gift card giveaways on a few different blogs:
Notes from the Trenches - Deadline: 8/16
Jenny on the Spot - Deadline: 8/16
Tuppence - Deadline: 8/16
Southern Hospitality - Deadline: 8/16
A Girl & A Boy - Deadline: 8/16
Blogher Reviews by Little Ol' Me - Deadline: 8/16
Quadville's Favorites - Deadline: 8/16
FiddleDeeDee Reviews - Deadline: 8/16


Barking Mad is giving away a Keurig (be still my heart)as well as a 3-month supply of K-Cups and a $50 Visa gift card. The deadline has been extended to August 1.


Stop by Prissy Green and enter to win your choice of Flor rug. I'd adore a Flor rug for my floor, wouldn't you? Deadline: 8/9.


Jolly Mom has a Sprint HTC Snap cell phone giveaway. Deadline: 8/14

Ready..Set...Go...CollegeReady with Sears

It’s nearly time again; time to begin those back-to-school shopping trips. I have three older sons; two have graduated from college and the last one is in his final year. In May I watched my second oldest walk across stage and accept his diploma. Four years of hard work and sacrifice paid off; he’s now a college graduate and is currently setting up house in New Orleans to begin a teaching job with Teach for America.

For all my sons, there was no college slush-fund. Each one of them enrolled with scholarships and student loans. Each of them also held a part-time job while in college to help with expenses. The two oldest left Cleveland to attend different colleges in Chicago where they learned valuable life skills like how to travel on the “L” without getting hopelessly lost, the underwear fairy doesn’t magically put fresh boxers in your drawers while you sleep, and Ramen Noodles can be their own food group. I can’t tell you how many times I received the dreaded “Hey Mom, can you put money into my account?” phone calls these past eight years. Don’t get me wrong, the two oldest boys learned the art of frugality; buying products on sale, learning how to trim their own hair with a pair of scissors, and packing two wash loads into one dryer to save the extra $3.00 to dry two loads. But money is tight when you’re a college student paying for college on your own.

But Sears is making the college experience a little easier on families. Sears CampusReady has reloadable gift cards that you purchase for both you and your college scholar. Parents can load funds onto the gift card online or in the student shop at their local Sears or Kmart stores. Your little Phi Beta Kappa can then spend to their card’s content online, in stores, or by phone. You can only purchase these reloadable cards in stores, but they’re capable of being funded online at any time, a great convenience for busy parents.

Sears also has a Facebook application for parents and students; CampusReady on Facebook. Design your dorm room with the Sears 3D Dorm Designer application and see your room in all it’s glory before you even step foot on campus. Create a wish list with the Sears Gift Getter application and share it with your friends and family; drop the hint and let them know what essentials you’re still lacking for your dream dorm room. Have some fun with the Roommate Match-Up; take the quiz and see what you and your new cohabiter have in common…or don’t. And then be sure to check out http://www.sears.com/campus and see how Sears can make the college transition a whole lot easier on students and parents.

Pert Plus for Men Winners

The grand prize of all 4 of the Pert Plus products for Men goes to Kathy Pease, entry 117:

kathy pease said... 117
following pert on twitter klp1965


Two runners-up get a bottle of Pert Plus for Men 3-in-1:

Jennifer said... 46
I would like my boys to try the Pert Plus 3 in 1!!
jls_wss2003 at yahoo dot com

and

masonsgranny59 said... 151
PERT 3 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner plus Body Wash

Congratulations winners, I'm sending you emails for your information.

**CLOSED**GIVEAWAY: Chex Mix Bars-3 Winners

We’re a snack-loving family. All three of my sons, my daughter and my husband descend on my kitchen after grocery-shopping day like a swarm of locusts, leaving empty boxes and chip bags in their wake. Everyone has their favorites which is why my grocery shopping bill runs about $250 weekly. It’s tough to find one snack that everyone in the house enjoys. We go through a gross ton of cereal in our house. Not only do we eat it for breakfast, but everyone loves a bowl in the evening after dinner, before bed. Snack bars are also a big hit; they’re portable for those on-the-go breakfasts when I hit the snooze button one too many times…again..and they’re great for lunches. But what about a combination of both, with a little extra sweetness mixed in?

MyBlogSpark.com sent me three boxes of the new Chex Mix Bars to try, Turtle flavored. With my daughter home from school and two sons home from college, we flew through three boxes in a week flat. I came home one day to find a my daughter and son playing Xbox with a pile of Turtle Chex Mix wrappers on the living room table, they claimed “the dogs” ate them but we all know better. I sincerely doubt the dogs even got a whiff.

Chex mix bars combine Chex cereal, pretzels, and peanuts with ingredients like caramel and chocolate. I like the fact that a bar is only 130 calories and 8 grams of whole grains, making it the perfect Weight Watchers snack when I come home from work and I‘m looking to unwind. One Turtle Chex Mix Bar is only 2 Weight Watchers points. The Turtle Chex Mix Bars were a little sticky; I recommend keeping it in the wrapper while you snack.

MyBlogSpark has offered three lucky readers the chance to each win two boxes of new Chex Mix Bars, so you can try them yourself.

Mandatory Entry:

Tell me how you like to unwind after a rough day or what you like to do to indulge yourself. Is there a certain food you reserve just for those times when you need a pick-me-up (everyone needs a chocolate hug once in a while). (1 entry, leave 1 comment).

Extra Credit:

1) Follow my blog, or take credit if you already do (left sidebar: 1 entry, leave 1 comment).

2) Tweet the giveaway, can be done once daily. (1 entry, leave 1 daily comment with your Twitter ID or tweet url).

Easy tweet you can use:

Chex Mix Bars giveaway; 3 winners get some scrumptious snacks http://tinyurl.com/lmter8

US residents only. This giveaway will end on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. I'll draw three winners via random.org and notify them via email. Winners have 48 hours to respond before I pull a do-over. Please leave me a way to contact you if your email address is not visible in your Blogger profile.

Winner Announcement: Shoffee.com

and the winner is:

womenwhowinenter said... 229

2 - I'm following @Shoffee_Joe on Twitter! I'm @sweepstakesgirl. --Michelle, blogattoday[-at]gmaildotcom

Congratulations, I'm sending you an email now for your information.

Giveaway Goodies

Conversations with Moms is hosting a great July giveaway sponsored by CSN.com! The winner will select between three area rugs from CSN.com. This giveaway ends July 25, 2009 so don’t miss out on your opportunity for a chance to choose a great new area rug for your home.

The Dirty Shirt has a giveaway for a copy of Corel Home Office, software any home can use. Deadline: July 30.

Staples - OXO Winner

The winner is:

tina said... 242

i follow thanks eaglesforjack@gmail.com
July 12, 2009 4:12 AM

Sending you an email now for your information. Thanks everyone for all the entries.

**CLOSED**GIVEAWAY: Not boring, Not plain, NotNeutral

What do you look for when you're decorating your home? I'm probably an interior designer's nightmare. I tend to gravitate toward those things that are a little funky and the brighter and bolder the better. I mix styles: country and modern and Victorian and mission-style furniture. I especially like those things that make me smile and I was smiling large when I took a look at the home decor items being offered from Accent Furniture Direct's NotNeutral Collection of decorating items.


NotNeutral is a design company that creates design-oriented lifestyle products based on past and current projects by Rios Clementi Hale Studios. Signature pattern and color have become a NotNeutral trademark. Bold, colorful and innovative describe NotNeutral designs. They're patterned for consumers who love color, pattern and versatility...just like me.


And maybe one of you! Accent Furniture Direct has offered one lucky reader the chance to snag the item of their choice (up to $50) from their NotNeutral collection home decor line of items.

Mandatory Entry:

Click over to the NotNeutral Collection Home Decor site and peruse their line of great decorating items. Pick your favorite and leave me a comment telling me which item (under $50) you'll be choosing.

Extra Credit:

1) Follow my blog or take credit if you already do (left sidebar: 1 entry, leave 1 comment).
2) Tweet the giveaway, daily if you're in the mood (1 entry, leave one comment with your twitter id or tweet url).
Easy tweet you can use:

Not boring, not plain, NotNeutral giveaway: Win $50 to spend at the NotNeutral Home Decor site http://454.me/b1oar/

3) Blog it. It doesn't have to be long or wordy but it should link to this giveaway and the NotNeutral collection site. (3 entries, leave 3 comments with your post url).

US residents only. Giveaway will end on Sunday, July 26, 2009 @ 11:59pm EST. I will draw the winner using the randomizer and notify him/her via email. Please leave me a way besides smoke signals to contact you if your email address is not visible in your blogger profile. Accent Furniture Direct will coordinate with the winner to ship their item of choice to them directly; I'm just the middle-man.

**CLOSED**GIVEAWAY: Pert Plus for Men-3 winners

I recently had the opportunity to try the new Pert Plus line for men. Well, not me. I enlisted the help of my four guinea pigs: my husband and three sons.



When I grocery shop, I usually pick up a bottle of fruity-smelling shampoo for my daughter and I. My husband usually buys a bottle of plain-smelling shampoo for himself and my sons. On those occasions when he's run out, he's borrowed mine and claimed he smelled like a fruit salad all day. My middle sons love body wash. Now that they're in their 20's, they usually pick up a bottle themselves.


Now they have the best of all worlds. Pert Plus has a new 3-in-1 product specifically designed for the men in your life. No fruit-smelling foo-foo shampoo here. The 3-in-1 is shampoo, conditioner and body wash all in one product; talk about a money-saver! My son Andrew has the wildest hair imaginable. If he doesn't use a conditioner on his hair, he reminds us of Albert Einstein; it sticks up all over his head and he then also has a problem with static electricity. He's been using the 3-in-1 product for two weeks now and declares it a winner. All my sons and my husband agree the scent is a fresh, clean, masculine aroma.

Pert Plus for Men also comes in other varieties: Thickening, Daily Dandruff, and Deep Cleansing which is my husband's favorite. He works in the heat all day and usually comes home with his hair plastered to his head with sweat. He says it really does a great job making his hair feel clean without a girly-scent. My oldest son James says the Pert Plus for Men Daily Dandruff shampoo works better than the expensive shampoo he was using and doesn't leave his hair feeling greasy. It's gentle enough for everyday use and strong enough to take care his dandruff flakes. It also doesn't have that mediciney-scent many dandruff shampoos have; just a clean, light, manly smell.

Pert Plus for Men has offered three lucky readers the chance to try their products for free. The Grand Prize winner will receive the complete line of all 4 Pert Plus for Men products: 3-in-1, Daily Dandruff, Thickening, and Deep Cleansing. Two Runners-up will receive a bottle of the 3-in-1 Shampoo/Conditioner/Body Wash.

Mandatory Entry:

Click over to the Pert Plus website and tell me which of the four Pert Plus for Men products you'd like to try for your husband, sons, significant other or yourself. (1 entry, leave 1 comment).

Extra Credit:

1) Follow my blog or take credit if you already do (left sidebar: 1 entry, leave 1 comment).

2) Follow Pert Plus on Twitter (1 entry, leave 1 comment with your twitter ID).

3) Follow Pert Plus on Facebook (1 entry, leave 1 comment with your Facebook name/ID)

4) Tweet the giveaway, can be done daily (1 entry, leave 1 comment daily with your Twitter ID or tweet url).
Easy tweet you can use:

Pert Plus for Men giveaway. 3 winners get haircare designed with men in mind http://454.me/237b/


US residents only. Giveaway ends on Monday, July 20, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. I'll draw the winners via Random.org and notify them via email. Winners have 48 hours to respond with shipping information before I redraw a new winner. Prize will be shipped directly to the winners from Pert Plus; I'm just the middle-man. Please leave me a way to contact you if your email address is not visible in your Blogger profile.

Fun in the Sun

Capri Sun Sunrise is sponsoring a great giveaway on a few different blogs. Win a $250 Visa Card, that would surely open your eyes.

Therapeutic, Extra Special Reviews by the Mom Jen. Deadline: 7/8

Butterviews-Because I said so. Deadline: 7/8

A Work of Art: Reviews. Deadline: 7/9

Beth Nixon Reviews. Deadline 7/8.

All Thumbs Reviews. Deadline: 7/8

Petroville. Deadline: 7/8

Mayhew Review. Deadline: 7/8

BonggaMom Finds. Deadline: 7/8

Giveaway Round-Up for July

Stop by Beauty & Personal Grooming for a chance to win the IQ Derma Clear Remedy Acne System. If you don't win, you can also use the special Beauty & Personal Grooming coupon code GETCLEAR30 for 30% off your total order and free shipping. What a deal! Deadline: 7/16

MomStart has a giveaway for a gift certificate to Fancy Fortune Cookies; pick your favorite for free. Deadline: 7/27.

Capture those summer memories with a Flip Camcorder courtesy of Lever 2000 at Mom Fuse. Deadline: 7/6

Riding With No Hands has a giveaway for those of us that Battle the Bug; Kleenex and a $50 Visa Card. Deadline:7/14

Rubbermaid Winner

The Randomizer has spoken and the winner is:


Doug said... 454

https://twitter.com/dnreer/status/2394057431
TWEET!
June 29, 2009 5:53 PM

Congratulations Doug, sending you an email for your shipping information.