Shopgirl

I know I have been MIA lately. I promised to always have a shopping deal of the week, and I am sorry I haven’t been keeping that up here lately. My husband headed to Iraq and things got a little crazy around here. I am going to try to get back to posting great deals for you all the time again.

So, do you want to know what I have been up to? Ok I will tell…. I learned to sew! I know….who would have ever thought a girl who loves to shop as much as I do would want to make something instead of shopping for it. Well, I have been planning another trip to Disney World (stay tuned for some wonderful details about our trip and a pre-trip report), and I came across all of these beautiful custom made Disney outfits on Ebay and Etsy. Naturally I wanted to buy my daughter about 20 of them for our trip, but here’s the catch they were nearly $300 a piece. I don’t think my husband would have been happy if I spent $6000 on my daughter’s Disney World apparel. So I decided if I wanted her wearing cute Disney Boutique clothes, I would have to learn how to make them myself.

Now I figured it was a long shot, but when I put my mind to something, I am pretty determined. Now for those of you who don’t know, I am an accountant (not a very creative field). I had never touched a sewing machine before in my life. The things I have been making aren’t perfect, but I am pretty happy with them, and my daughter loves them!

Here are a few of the outfits I have made in the past 4 weeks since I bought a sewing machine and embroidery machine.

Now does this mean I am shopping less? NO WAY….. in fact I have to admit I am shopping MORE! Between buying the machines I wanted and needed to complete these outfits (STAY TUNED: My deal of the week will be my embroidery machine and a great discount I found on it), and shopping for fabric and patterns, I am shopping more then ever. I have only been sewing for a month and I have a full sized dresser full of fabric already and a few bags waiting to be unpacked. I never knew how addictive fabric buying could be. There are just so many prints I adore, and don’t even get me started on applique designs for my embroidery machine.

So stay tuned…. I will be bringing back my shopping deals of the week and sharing all the shopping I am doing for my new hobby!

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My goal this weekend is to order the party supplies I need for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I loved the price and quality of the supplies I bought for my daughters birthday from Oriental Trading Company Oriental Trading Company, so I will be shopping from them again for all my holiday supplies. I was very impressed with all the items I purchased for such a low price.

We were having a princess and pirate party, and I loved the collection of dress up items I could purchase in bulk. I was able to buy 12 princess crowns, 12 wands, 100 rings and necklaces, 12 pirate bandannas, 12 swords, 12 eye patches, and all of the balloons, decorations and party supplies I needed for less then $75.

The kids all loved dressing as pirates and princesses during the party, and they had lots of great party favors to take home with them. In this video you can see how great the party looked, and how much fun everyone was having with their pirate and princess accessories.

Time for me to start shopping. Check back soon to hear about the great Thanksgiving and Christmas supplies I find!

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As you all know, I love shopping. I even like grocery shopping. I know from the title of this post, you probably think someone with a cart full of things got in front of me in the express checkout, but that is not the case. Honestly I have had that happen to me many times, and it really doesn’t bother me. Today a very rude lady ruined my quick shopping trip. I stopped in the grocery store on the way home from work this evening with my 3 year old daughter. We grabbed the few items we needed and headed for the checkout.

There were a lot of long lines, but the express checkout didn’t look too bad. I quickly counted the items in my cart. I had 11 items and the little piece of paper I needed to purchase a package of razors for my husband (I hate that they don’t keep them out in the store anymore, it really is a pain to have to get them upfront). With the razors I would have 12 items, so I jumped in the express checkout lane, that was clearly marked 12 items or less.

As the person in front of me is paying, I start adding my items to the counter. I can hear someone behind me mumbling about not being able to read. At this point I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. Then I hear her start talking loudly about how it is an express lane, I thought she might be talking about the cashier being slow. When I heard her implying I had too many items I started counting my items out loud. Soda-1, apples-2, milk-3, ect.

Either the woman didn’t hear me, or she thinks 12 items is breaking the rules. She turned to my 3 year old daughter and said, “Your mommy is teaching you horrible manners, and she can’t read a sign that says express”. Even if I had 13 items (which I did not), she should not have spoken to my daughter that way. I calmly turned around, pointed at the sign that said 12 and reminded her I only had 12 items. She still insisted I was rude, apparently if I have 12 items and someone behind me has 3, I should let them have my place in line. Honestly I have done that before, but I had my daughter with me and was just concerned with getting her home. It really bothered me that someone would speak to another person like that, and that not even the cashier would speak up about it.

So that quick shopping trip was ruined for me, I guess I will have to shop some more to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Now I just need to decide what I can shop for tonight.

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Recently a lot of my shopping has been for my daughter. The weather has been changing, she is constantly growing and has needed lots of clothes, shoes, jackets, and Halloween costumes. I decided this week I was shopping for me, and how could I not shop for me when I found these great deals.

My favorite deal this week is from SmartBargains.com. They have a great shoe sale going on. There are lots of shoes to choose from, and you can get 3 pairs for $99. The sale is such a bargain, I am having a hard time just choosing 3. I am seriously thinking about getting 6 (but I think my husband might start complaining about how many shoes I own again).

Here are some of the great shoes you can choose from:

Kenneth Cole Reaction Party Bella Mary Jane Pump normally retails for $89, just $10 less then what you will pay for 3 pairs of shoes!

Jessica Simpson Elroy Croc Embossed Pump normally retails for $79.

Martinez Valero Socal Stretch Ankle Boot normally sells for $149, more then the $99 you will pay for 3 pairs!

This shoe sale is just way to good for me to pass up. There are over 60 pairs of great designer shoes in the 3 for 99 sale, so I am sure you can find 3 pairs you like too!

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My husband always buys DVDs and video games instead of renting. I still haven’t figured out why he does this, other then he is too lazy to drive the extra 5 minutes to Blockbuster. Once my husband beats a video game (and he usually does this very fast), he never looks at it again. He usually watches a movie once and then it gathers dust. We have both bought seasons of TV shows that we wanted to catch up on, but we rarely go back to watch them a second time.

I had thought of getting rid of some games and movies on EBay before, but that was a lot more work and separate shipments for me, and it didn’t seem worth the small amount of money I could receive. Not to mention some movies never sell and I would have to still pay the listing fees. I would have liked to get some money for the stuff just taking up space on my shelves, but I just never got around to it. Then I discovered SecondSpin.com, a site that buys and sells used DVDs, CDs, and Video Games.

I first sold movies to Second Spin a couple years ago, and every time I realize we are building a large collection of DVDs and games I log onto their site and see how much I can get. If you want to sell movies, games, or music you just visit SecondSpin.com, click sell to us, and search for your product by UPC code or keyword. Second Spin will tell you how much they are paying for that item, and you have the option to add it to a cart, or skip it and search for another product. Not every movie I own is always worth selling at the time, but the price they are paying it based on their inventory and the current demand, so check back later if you don’t like the price on a title. For the most part I have gotten $3-$10 for DVDs and CDs, $15-25 for seasons of TV shows and $15-25 for video games.

I have been putting together a shipment for this week and I have already added $200 to my cart for a few seasons and video games. It is a great way to get a little extra cash for the things you are not using anymore, and it is very easy. After you have added everything to your cart that you wish to sell, you will complete a checkout and will be given instructions for mailing your items. You only have to make 1 shipment, and Second Spin reimburses you for the cost of media mail shipping. Mail your box to Second Spin and you will receive a Paypal payment within 3 days of your box being delivered or a check within 7 days. It couldn’t be any easier or any faster.

I have sold to Second Spin time and time again and have always been pleased. So if you have some DVDs, CDs, or Video Games collecting dust in your house, why not get a little extra cash to help with your holiday shopping? What are you waiting for, visit SecondSpin.com right now and get paid. Don’t forget they have used DVDs, CDs, and Video games for sale for great prices, and they offer a guarantee that their products are in excellent condition and will work flawlessly. You can find many games and movies for the lowest prices around. Check them out today!

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I have been late to work 5 times in the past month because I have over slept. I am guilty of hitting snooze without even realizing I did it. I moved my alarm clock to the other side of the room to make myself get out of bed. The problem with moving the alarm clock was a couple days I just didn’t hear it. I have had a lot of ear infections in the past couple of years, and I think it might be effecting my hearing, or at least my hearing when I am asleep.

I knew my boss was going to start noticing soon if I kept coming in late, so it is time to find something else to help me wake up. I just found the cutest alarm clock. It is called Clocky, and it is a mobile alarm clock. Clocky gives you one chance to get up. But if you snooze, Clocky will jump off your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide, beeping all the while. You’ll have to get out of bed to silence his alarm. This sounds like the solution to my problem. The alarm will start off by my ears, but force me to get out of bed to turn it off. Clocky can jump 3 feet in the air and is designed to move quickly on carpet or wood floors. Clocky comes in a variety of colors, I am ordering the light blue.

I think this would work great for your teenagers who fight you when it is time to get up for school in the morning. Let Clocky spend the time making them get out of bed instead of trying to do it yourself. Plus it would be entertaining to watch them try to chase down Clocky.

Clocky retails for $80, but I found a great deal at Buy.com! Buy.com has clocky on sale for $48.99 and they are offering a $15 mail in rebate, making Clocky’s final price $33.99. Pick yours up now, the sale ends November 3rd.

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After returning from my Disney World vacation, I was very excited to make a photo album with all of our great pictures. When I was on the Disney Photo Pass website ordering my photo pass CD, I had looked at the Disney PhotoPass albums you could create with your pictures. I really liked the backgrounds and borders, but after paying $125 for the PhotoPass CD, I didn’t want to spend another $80-100 designing a small photo book. My mom and sister went to Disney World with us, and I wanted to make a copy for each of them. If I spent $425 or more dollars on photos and photo albums from our vacation, I think my husband would kill me.

I had used Shutterfly before, and liked the quality of my albums, so I decided Shutterfly’s much less expensive albums would work just fine, and they offered a discount on additional copies. I started designing my album, and I just was “not that into it”. Don’t get me wrong, Shutterfly’s albums are nice. I loved the baby photo albums I had made on their site, but after seeing all the Disney borders and backgrounds on the PhotoPass website, nothing seemed to look good with my pictures. I wanted some Mickey Mouse backgrounds, and I wasn’t even finding solid color choices that fit the theme of my photos.

At this point I was seriously contemplating using the PhotoPass photo albums, and hoping my husband didn’t notice how much they cost. I decided to double check with a few other photography websites and see if I could find some generic backgrounds I liked. I checked all the sites I had heard of before: Snapfish, Kodak, and Walmart photos. Nothing on any of these sites jumped out at me. All of them had good prices, but it just didn’t have that “Disney” feel.

In a last ditch effort to avoid paying the high prices from PhotoPass, I did a web search and found a site that rated all the different photo sites. This site had a 5 star rating system the considered quality, prices, ease of use, options, ect. There was a 5 star site I had never heard of before called Picaboo. I decided I would go see what their backgrounds were like. I instantly found a theme I liked better then any of the other sites I had looked at, it still wasn’t Disney, but it seemed to “fit” my pictures better.

I started to make my picture book on Picaboo, and soon discovered they have a free Background Community with almost 15,000 user created backgrounds. I searched for Disney on the background community and quickly found 117 backgrounds including great pictures of the Tree of Life and Cinderella’s castle, as well as some standard Mickey Scrap book pages. A lot of the backgrounds I found were more impressive then the backgrounds on the PhotoPass website. There is also far more page layouts on Picaboo then PhotoPass. I was so excited that I found this site. I have so much design control for my photo book, and I think it is really turning out great.

To create your own photo book: you create a free account with Picaboo, download the free software, do all the editing you want, or let the software automatically fill a book with your pictures. When you are finished, you upload your book to the Picaboo site where you can share it digitally with friends and family for free, or order a copy of an album for yourself. The software has been very easy to use, and I am having a lot of fun playing with it.

The prices on Picaboo are great too. They have photo books beginning at $9.99 for a medium sized soft cover album, and from $29.99 for large hardcover albums. They have more editing options then any other photo website I have seen. I especially love that I can make my own backgrounds for any page I want. I found a great discount code that you can use to Buy 1 book, get 1 free through November 14th. Enter code NOVBG at checkout to receive the discount. I am hurrying and trying to finish my Disney album before the 31st and if time permits I am going to make a few more albums to give as Christmas gifts this year.

I will post an update later this week and show off my completed photo book. I just wanted to tell you about this great site while you still had time to make your own album and take advantage of the discount code. If you need to make a photo album, you just can’t beat the prices and all of the great options for the photo books on Picaboo. Check out Picaboo today, you can make an online album for free, or order great books for yourself and to give as gifts!

Check back soon to view my album and for a full product review.

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If you, like me, were a child of the 80’s I’m sure you had a Teddy Ruxpin doll, or at least wanted one. To be Teddy and Cabbage Patch Dolls were the “it” toys of the decade. Now that I think back to it Teddy was kind of lame (he was just a bear with a tape player in his butt), but when I was a kid I thought Teddy was the coolest, and thought my parent’s were the coolest for getting him for me. I think my memories of Teddy are why I like the TJ Bearytales bear so much.

TJ would put Teddy to shame. TJ reminds me a lot of Teddy, but much more modern. Instead of tapes he uses cartridges and his stories are a lot better. When TJ tells a story his face is very animated, his ears twitch and his head moves based on the charcter who is talking. He is a great story teller and one of my daughter’s favorite toys. I’m sure in twenty some years, when my daughter has a child of her own, there will be another bear that puts TJ to shame, but for now he is an unbelivabe toy. Check out my video review to see Teddy in action ! Teddy would make a GREAT Christmas gift for your little one!

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I have been sick with an awful cold and ear infection all week. This was the first time I had been sick this fall, and I quickly discovered I hadn’t replenished my cold medicine supply. So even though it it probably my least favorite type of shopping, I knew it was time to go shopping for over the counter medicine. I found some good deals at drugstore.com. If you have never shopped at drugstore.com before you can take $5 off $30 or $10 off $50, and you get free shipping on all orders over $25. This first time customer discount is a great way to save while stocking up on your cold medicine for fall and winter. Drugstore.com also does not charge sales tax, so there is another instant savings for you as well.

I may be an expert in a lot of things when it comes to shopping, but I have always been intimidated by the cold medicine aisle. There are so many choices, so how will I know what works? That is also why I like drugstore.com, because I can read user reviews and ratings before I buy. I personally love that I don’t have to go digging through the aisles at my local drug store any more. I can find great prices and research the medicines without driving to the store.

Here are some great values I picked up this week, and remember with the $5-$10 coupon you get an even better value.

First up, I needed something to help prevent colds this year. I have always felt like Airborne has done a good job at keeping me healthy. Airborne was on sale for $4.49 (A $3.00 savings from my local drugstore).

My husband’s favorite cold medicine has always been Dayquil and Nyquil. Drugstore.com’s price is pretty much the same as my local drug store $11.99 for the 2, but the sales tax savings is great, and it helped me get to my minimum order for a discount code or free shipping.

They also had great prices on cold relief supplies I needed like vapor rub and cough drops.

So if like me, you need stock up your cold medicine supply before illness hits this winter, check out drugstore.com and you will save yourself time and money!

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I loved that my daughter had my love for shopping! A few nights after our shopping trip I was shopping online when my daughter asked what I was doing. I showed her what I was looking at, and she asked if we could shop for her. I tried to show her a toy website, but all she wanted to look at were clothes. She was making all the choices, and doing a pretty good job of picking matching tops and bottoms. [Read more →]

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