How much I just love ann page!!

So as most of you know I love supporting the small business owner. I am all about the little guy and try and stay away from mass chains and box stores (I do have a bit of a Target, Sephora, and Starbucks habit, but I digress) and try to stick to the one on one feel. I like to know my money goes to someone who put love and care into what I received and I like to know they have a face too!

When I find I store/person I like I become a loyal costumer until the end! I will return and return and return until they stop selling things (if they ever do)!! At the same end if I find the person/employees to be rude, snobby, unprofessional, and over all (as my grandmother would say) "Not OUR kind of people" I put them on my DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH list.

Recently I found a site I just love and adore! The products are great! The prices are great! The variety is OUTSTANDING! And the owner is such a doll!!

ann page is my newest favorite store! I had been looking for the perfect cheer bag for my daughter and all I knew was that it had to be purple with her name in lime green! I had looked around and nothing was clicking so I decided to contact this site (knowing it was not on their website) just to see. Virgina (the owner) took the time to find bags for me and gave me a variety of styles to chose from! She was patient while I decided what I wanted and how I wanted it to look (name, embroidery style etc etc) and was also able to make a purple decal with my daughters name for the existing lime green Girl Scout water bottle she had (it tied both her activities into one bottle! She only had a text with the picture of the water bottle to go by and the name fit perfect and looked like it was there to begin with when I put it on!!! I was so impressed!

My products came quickly and in great quality (even better than I expected from the pictures!)

Here is a picture with a happy cheerleader right after she got her new bag! I loved that it was still cute and little girlish but being perfect for her cheering and keeping her looking cool for the older girls (even the flowers on the handle are lime green!)!!!

And here is her water bottle after I put the decal on!!!

 So basically I just have to say I love this store!! If you have never ordered from them this is a great chance to!! She is having a sample sale right now on her blog and the prices are UNBELIEVABLE!!! I just warn you that once you do get your first order in there is no going back!! YOU WILL BE HOOKED!!

My daughter loved her water bottle so much she asked me "Mom you HAVE to tell me how you did that so I can do that for my kids!!" at 6 she is an ann pageaholic too!! I have the cutest ann page tumbler!! I also have great note pad too (that I won off her facebook page.)!! If you are interested in the sample sale I would go quick before I buy everything up!!

I would like to also mention that this blog entry is of my own free will and is in no way associated with ann page (I just love this site so much I wanted to share it with you all of you!) and they have no knowledge of me writing it :)

So I am just wondering who your favorite sites, stores, and business are and why I should check them out!!!

Frugal gardening in small spaces

I received this great guest post from LueChaKin Naturals and would love you all to read it and check out her page! Growing your own produce is a great way to save money so you can have it for the fun stuff!!!


 
Over the years I continue to learn new ways to save money while enjoying my love for gardening. Since most of my past ten years were spent in apartments or small houses with a small yard, I also learned a few ways to enjoy my hobby in small - and even smaller - spaces.

Two basic money savers may seem obvious, but then I've been told I'm good at stating the obvious. First, always grow from seeds rather than purchasing seedlings. Second, always compost. Even if you live in an apartment, you can set up a small composting system or even worm-composting system inside or on a balcony. Use that compost in your potted plants, or make compost “tea” to fertilize even hydroponic plants.

Six of my favorite money and space saving tips:

1. Egg cartons plus old oven pans make excellent seedling trays. Cut the egg cartons in half, remove any flaps if desires, and fill each groove with potting soil. Plant a seed to the recommended depth and water from below (a.k.a. fill the tray with water). The egg cartons readily soak up the water. By the time your plants are ready to go in a larger pot or the soil, the egg cartons will easily pull apart from sitting moist for a while, and what remains with each individual plant can simply go in the ground to disintegrate.

2. Make your own fertilizers and pesticides. Everything your plants need to thrive and be bug-free can be made from regular household items.

3. If you want a lot of house plants or larger ones, look for those that grow fast and easily divide or give cuttings. Jade plants can roots easily. New home-grown houseplants also make great gifts.

4. Grow your own kitchen herbs. Fresh herbs taste better, and you'll save lots compared to the cost of buying fresh or dried herbs. Focus on the ones you use most often. If you have enough room outside to grow extra, dry or freeze fresh herbs for winter time use.

5. Grow veggies and other plants with a high value. If yellow onions sell at the grocery store for $0.49/lb, grow those $2.99/lb organic kohlrabi instead.

6. Save time by learning to mulch your garden beds. Maintain healthy soil, suppress weeds, and save water with free to cheap materials like cardboard and straw. Rich, healthy soil means that you can grow significantly more in a small area than with traditional rows. The so-called "square foot gardening" method is a great place to start. I typically grow full-sized, happy plants only a couple inches apart thanks to rich soil.

Lastly, if you have at least a small yard and you live in an area that allows them, keep a couple chickens. Not only are they great at keeping pesky bugs out of your yard, they'll also provide you with delicious eggs. Once you've had your own, home-grown eggs, you'll never look at store bought again. As an additional plus, the straw used for their bedding and the bird droppings make an excellent addition to your mulches and compost. I found my chickens to be my easiest animals to take care of – and that includes my fiancee.

Of course endless other ways save money and time in the garden. For more gardening information, please check out my blog at luechakin.wordpress.com or share your tips right here!


Additional resources:

Make your own fertilizers http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/nyerges44.html

Square Foot Gardening http://www.squarefootgardening.org/

What do I do with all my Amazon credits from crowdtap, swagbucks, suoer points etc etc...

How many of you have a super smart, beautiful, talented, and frugal cousin... Raise your hand now!!!

Well if you could see me both my hands are way up in the air!! Today my cousin Theresa shared a brilliant idea on her FB wall!!

As you save up all those credits what do you do with them...

A)Buy the kids (more) toys (they won't use)

B)Buy your dad (yest another) tie

C) get the hubby another object for hiss obsession (I meant hobby)

Or D) BUY YOUR SELF SOME CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!

Here is a great shop on Amazon that my cousin so wonderfully pointed out and I would love to share with you!

The $15 Store

The store has cute clothes and accessories for just... You guessed it $15!!! What a deal! At those prices (plus using your credits) there is no reason to feel guilty about getting something for yourself!!

Some of my favorite things from the store are:

This is just a small sampling of what they have to offer but at these prices you can't go wrong!!

Thanks T!!!

Angel Food Update!!

So one week in to Angel Food and here is my update!!

I started with some things in my freezer to begin with so somethings we had to eat right away (honey BBQ wings included... so painful for me.. NOT!!!) for lunch that day because I could not fit it all in my freezer!

I spent $140 and was hoping it would last a whole month ($35 a week) I think if we were a family of two it would but as it seems it will not (that would have been nice!!) so next time I will double (looking at the menu it will be about $200 so only $50 a week still isn't bad at all) and it will be good!!

So what I ordered:

The one thing I was disappointing in was the roasting chicken was small (perfect size for two) so I roasted it and then took it a part and will make a pot pie today!

The food quality was very good and I will be ordering again for September!!! I highly recommend this service!! I like that it gave me a chance to be creative!

With the fruit and veggie box I got I cut up the fruits and veggies and put them in snack bags and voila! Healthy school snacks on the cheap! I was concerned about the head of cabbage... Didn't feel like making coleslaw so I grabbed the tofu in my fridge and made cabbage, onion, and tofu soup! I gave it an oriental kick and froze it in single serve portions for lunches this fall/winter!!

Over all it has been a hit and not one complaint yet!! Meat was good quality (Not the best but better than I expected for what I paid) and the kids loved all the stuff in the after school box!!

The Kennedy family gives it 8 thumbs up!!

So I reviewed this PSORENT for Psoriasis gotta tell you I am not a fan! It made the skin area very itchy and overall I think it was poor quality... Because of this I would rather not give to much product info out of respect to the company :) I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

BabyBond Review and Giveaway!!!

I love this product!! It is perfect for nay nursing mom (or anyone about to nurse!!) I hate seeing babies covered up! It is just so unnatural an suffocating looking!! If you agree with me BabyBond is perfect for you!!

They have three styles and I think they explain them best! BabyBond Original is worn with shirts that are accessible to nurse from the top and has a built-in burpcloth and matching pouch storage pouch. BabyBond Flex is worn with shirts that are accessible to nurse from the top and has a removable burpcloth and matching pouch storage pouch. BabyBond Couture is adjustable and can be worn with shirts that are accessible to nurse from the top or the bottom. It rolls up into itself to store. BabyBond is machine washable, 100% cotton, and made in USA. I am totally digging this product and completely indorse it!! And you could win one!! Go to http://www.babybondnursing.com/ and then come back and comment on this blog post telling me the style and color you would want and your email!!! One lucky winner will receive a BabyBond!! Winner will be picked by Random.com on 9/16/2011!!! Good Luck!




Sponsored by Tomoson.com I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

WAHM Wednesday!!! (On Thursday!!)

OK so I have been slacking on the blog, page, and WAHM Wednesday... I am going to get better I promise!!

I am doing something different this week though... Instead of highlighting one WAHM I would like to do a HUGE shout out to all those helping me raise money for March of Dimes!!

If you haven't heard yet I am doing a fund raiser in October! Along with all these great sponsors I will be giving away two baskets full of great donated items!!! And if you do not win a basket never fear!! One extra basket will be raffled off and all proceeds go to March of Dimes!!

For those of you who do not know I have two children. With both my children I went into labor at 20 weeks!! Thanks to medical advancements (and a lot of patient Drs and support family) I was able to deliver my son full term!! My daughter was not so easy... My littlest pea was born two months early!! Due to a paper work mishap she never went to NICU... She was sent to the hospital at 6 weeks with failure to thrive! they thought she would be brain dead at best!! We went through DNA testing and genetics testing to see if she had any disabilities along with (or causing her) failure to thrive but none came back.

Flash forward 6 years and she is a healthy, active, sweet, and smart 6 year old cheerleading Girl Scout! At this point the only thing we are still working with for specialists are speech therapists!!!

So as you can see March of Dimes is a charity close to my heart!! And I want to thank the sponsors who have already stepped up to help!! I am still looking for donations (baskets, diaper bags, wipes etc etc and anything for mom too!!) If you are interested (or know someone who may be) please let me know!!

Now on to the great people who are stepping up to help!!

Just Catch It!
http://www.facebook.com/JustCatchIt

Sweetie Peas Botuique
https://www.facebook.com/sweetiepeasboutique?ref=ts

My Sleeping Beauty
http://www.facebook.com/mysleepingbeautycrafts?ref=ts

Sonrisa Jewelry and Design
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sonrisa-Jewelry-and-Design/172743866123016

Not your Average Couponing Grandma
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Your-Average-Couponing-Grandma/187240907998862?ref=ts

Bris Bargain Blog
http://www.facebook.com/brisbargainblog?ref=ts

The Blushing Violet Jewlry
http://www.facebook.com/theblushingviolet

It's a WanderfulLife
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-a-Wanderful-Life/174151142603002?ref=ts

Unique BOWtique
http://www.facebook.com/evelipg6?ref=ts

Robyn Dunbar Scentsy Indepedent Consultant
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robyn-Dunbaugh-Scentsy-Independent-Consultant/221727727840279

If I forgot anyone it was completely uintentional and I have had bad Mommy brain lately!! Please let me know and I will add you ASAP!!!

You all Rock!! Thanks so much!!

Please go check out their pages and show some love!! Can't wait for this great event to take place!!!