Christmas Cards by Shutterfly

I confess, I haven't sent out Christmas cards in years. So long, in fact, that I can't remember when the last time was! I don't even give them out in person! Don't get me wrong - I always mean to. I just never get around to it! With a little one that seems to change every day, I find my desire to send some cards out this year to be even stronger! I was excited when I saw an advertisement for Shutterfly's blogger special - in exchange for writing a post about their photo cards, I will receive 50 cards free! I don't know about you, but this fits my budget perfectly!

As I have never ordered from Shutterfly before, I headed over to check out their selection of Christmas cards. I've seen numerous deals for photo cards for free or next-to-nothing, but I never really found any I wanted to pay the shipping for. That changed when I got to Shutterfly's site! They have page after page of card designs! There are options available for one photo, or if a photo collage is your taste, they have quite a few of those, too! It's so easy to customize your design choice with your family's names, and then drop your photo into your card. The cards are printed on cardstock, which appeals to me, as I've received bent photo cards from friends and family more than once. If you prefer photo paper, they have that option, too.


After making six different cards, this is the one I finally chose (except it will have our names and my own children on it, of course!). I liked so many of the designs, it was hard to only pick one! Shutterfly also has many other items you can customize with your photos - what grandparent wouldn't like a mug or calendar featuring their precious grandchildren?

If you haven't gotten started on your cards yet, you can click here and use the code ZP9A-4N4K-TWWZ-EUC5C5 to get 10 cards free - just pay shipping and handling, which starts at $5.99. Hurry, because this code only lasts through December 8th!


* I am receiving photo cards from Snapfish in exchange for writing this post; however, the opinions expressed are all mine.

KT Tunstall Review

*Note: This is disc is not Christian music. I have not received a physical copy of the disc yet, so I cannot attest to the contents of the lyrics, but I did not notice anything offensive to me during my limited listening (1 1/2 times through).

Thanks to the One2One Network, I was able to review KT Tunstall's newest album, Tiger Suit. I was excited about this opportunity, because I already like KT Tunstall. I've been hooked since I first heard "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree." This new album is pretty easy to listen to, with songs ranging from mellow to peppy. Even the more mellow songs are still upbeat. My favorite two are the opening song, "Uummannaq" and "(Still A) Weirdo".

The One2One site had this to say about the album:

Tiger Suit heralds the beginning of a new musical adventure for KT. Organic instrumentation is blended with dance-friendly textures, the results of which she has dubbed “Nature Techno” to encapsulate the album’s collision of raw, upfront rootsiness and sleek electronic textures.

I can definitely see myself listening to this disc on a lazy Saturday afternoon, putzing around the house, and I look forward to listening to it some more!


*Please also note: These are my own honest opinions. The only compensation I received for this review was a digital copy of the cd mentioned.

A Bushel of Free Ebooks For You!

Photo courtesy of Dreamstime

I have come across a lot of free ebooks recently. In fact, so many, I decided to consolidate them into one place. I have sorted them into a few categories for you - enjoy! I should have more to post pretty soon!

**Please note - some of these links may expire. If you come across one that does not work for you, please let me know.**

Gifts (or Goodies For Yourself!)
Soaps and Bath & Body Products, by I'm a Frugal Girl, is filled with recipes developed and tested by a gal who used to have a successful handmade body product business.

Gifts in a Jar Recipes & Ideas, by I'm a Frugal Girl - more tried and true recipes!

Check out Bugabong.com for all kinds of free ebooks, including 504 Bath & Beauty Recipes

Cookbooks

Smart School Time Recipes by One Frugal Foodie - full of healthy recipes for kids and grown-ups alike!

Sunmaid has five different recipe ebooks on their site, including two from Gooseberry Patch. You can request to have three of these sent to you in print form (the option will come up when you click on the ebook cover).

Speaking of Gooseberry Patch, they have several downloadable freebies on their site, including two chapters of a "Circle of Friends" cookbook. This looks like something that will be added to as time goes on, so check back!

Pillsbury emailed me a link to an ebook entitled Your Birthday Takes the Cake. It's full of dessert recipes.

Betty Crocker recently sent me a link to their Birthday Parties ebook. It has recipes for all kinds of cute cakes, along with other party food, too.

Check out Molly Green Fresh for all kinds of recipes using fresh produce, and bonus household tips.

Is someone in your family gluten intolerant? Then the Back to School With Jules ebook is for you! This book not only has recipes in it, but also helps parents communicate with their child's school while dealing with a gluten sensitivity. **Make sure to enter "b2s" as the coupon code to get this book for free!**

Bugabong.com has tons of recipe ebooks, all for free - including 65 Tried and True Traditional Amish Recipes.

Educational

Here are four free ebooks from The Old Schoolhouse:

• If you are new to homeschooling or still weighing your options, check out Homeschool 101.
• Try their Sensational Sunflowers unit study. This might be a fun "back to school" break.
• Dr. Ruth Beechick authored Writing Essays, and co-authored Integrating Concrete Math into Everyday Life.
• Is your child starting high school? Thinking about how to put your child's records together for college applications? Get Into College may help!

For three free coloring books, go here and scroll down to the end of the post. Dan's Doodles are sure to keep kids of many ages busy!

Math Galaxy has a free worksheet supplement you can download - while not really an ebook, it still might be interesting to you!

One more freebie that is not necessarily an ebook is the Spanish Fun Activity Calendar from Flip Flop Learning. Your children can enjoy learning a word per day, which will string together into a sentence at the end of the week!

Other Categories

Three more great freebies from The Old Schoolhouse:

• Time Flies, by Deborah Wuehler, may have been written with homeschooling mothers in mind, but I think it is a great reminder for mothers of all kinds to make the most of their time with their children.
• A Baby Shower For Jesus, also by Deborah Wuehler, deals with discontent and disappointment. It's a great resource for those of us who make things stretch out of necessity, rather than simple fun and frugality.
• Fiesta of Freebies is full of four months of Jamin's freebie emails, sorted out into categories. Note that some of the links may expire.

Have you ever heard of The FlyLady? She helps many people stay clean and organized. I have used her methods several times (though I'm not right now!), and find them to be very helpful - I can do anything for 15 minutes! You can find her free control journals here - the holiday one in particular is very helpful, I think!

Random Thoughts on Pet Ownership

When your dog comes to you at 7 am, frantically signally that he wants to go outside, you should NOT get up, kick him out of your room, then flop back down on the bed in hopes that the baby will not wake up 2 minutes later (trust me, she will).


What awaited me when I got up 15 minutes later was a nasty smell coming from the area of the dining room table. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the dog was feeling a bit under the weather and truly could not wait to get outside. He found relief on the area rug. Thankfully, I made a trip to the Yankee Candle store yesterday, and had a yummy smelling candle to light. I am also thankful that the pet stain and odor spray did its job in both removing the stain easily and dispatching with the horrible smell. Following a trip out to the garbage can with the mess itself tied up in a plastic bag, my home now once again smells nice. I think poor Hunter will be spending some quality time outside today, just in case!

Made-By-Me Monday

I submit to you today one of the two Roman shades I made for Super Girl's bedroom. I will not tell you what was hanging there before [***cough - black bed sheets - cough***]. We have lived in this house four years now, and I failed the one time I attempted to hang curtain rods in her room. My defense is that I did not have a good enough drill at that time. I plead the Fifth when asked about the time passed since then.

Since I am working on moving Little Miss into Super Girl's room, I needed to put something on the windows that would be safely out of reach of the crib. I began with the Roman shade tutorial at What's New?, and this VERY LARGE set of curtains (this is just one panel - it was as long as the twin bed!).


I bought them (and a matching valance set) at a church sale for $2, just for the yards and yards of crocheted cotton trim attached to them. My thoughts for the fabric was to use it as lining for clothing. I realized there was enough to use for these shades. I removed the ruffles, cut up the fabric, sewed the panels together, and added some panels of printed material. I also added sequined trim along the bottom, which I scored for 10 cents a yard. The end result was this, times two:


Super Girl is thrilled with them, and I think they turned out pretty well, too. I used some variegated purple thread to sew them, and I like the touch it adds. However, I think they still need something - like a valance. I still have enough of the printed fabric to make a valance for each side - I think I'll make a set. And, I still have the ruffles, both really long valances, and all that crocheted cotton trim to use for other projects!

If you have a project you'd like to share, post a link in the comments. Sorry - I haven't set the linky up yet!

Tuesday Tag-Along

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Tag-Along blog hop, hosted by Twee Poppets Review and Giveaway! This is a great way to discover new blogs while increasing the number of followers for your own blog. Please feel free to grab the TTA button for your blogroll to help bring more bloggers to this blog hop!

Without further ado...
Here's how it works:

* Create a new Tuesday Tag-Along blog post. Include the Tuesday Tag-Along button. (You are also welcome to copy and paste these instructions in their entirety, or any portion of this Tuesday Tag-Along blog post!)
* Add your blog name and the URL of your TTA post to the MckLinky below.
* Follow Twee Poppets, the hostess blog listed in the first slot. Twee Poppets will follow you back! (Note: If you want Twee Poppets to follow you back, you MUST leave her a comment saying that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog!)
* If you can, please follow the blogs in the three slots before you (e.g., if you're number 20, follow numbers 19, 18, and 17). This is not mandatory, but it will help ensure that everyone who signs up gets a few new followers!
* Follow as many other blogs as you want. The more you follow, the more that will follow you back! Be sure to tell them that you're following from Tuesday Tag-Along! You may also want to leave a link to your blog so they can return your follow more easily.
* When you get a new follower through Tuesday Tag-Along, be sure to follow them back! It's just common courtesy. :)

The weekly Tuesday Tag-Along MckLinky opens every Monday night at 8:59pm Pacific Standard Time (that's 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time), and the TTA blog post will be posted well in advance of that time. The MckLinky will be open to add your blog until 11:59pm Tuesday night. You then have all week long to visit blogs and return follows!

There is a new list every week. The link you enter one week will not carry over to the next week's MckLinky. Please link up again each week to join in the fun!

WINNER!!! - Yo Plait Simply... Go-Gurt Prize Pack

According to Random.org, the winner for the Simply... Go-Gurt prize pack was...


#3, Eunice B.!

Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who entered!