Kids Clinic at Lowe’s: Race Car

May 25, 2010 By

This Saturday, May 29th from 10:00-11:00am, kids can make a Race Car at Lowe’s Build & Grow Clinic. Check with your local store for participation and be sure to register ahead of time.

Lowe’s runs a great clinic. Not only do your kids get to make the project, but they also receive a free apron, pair of goggles, project-themed patch, and a merit certificate for each project. My son enjoys collecting the patches.

There are so many opportunities for FREE family fun on the weekends, which I love to share with you. If you haven’t yet, subscribe to Moneywise Moms via email or RSS Reader and get the posts delivered to you daily.

Filed Under: Frugal Fun Tagged With: ,

Dollar Store Hurricanes

May 25, 2010 By

There are still bunnies in my house. With the hectic pace of the past few months (seriously, how is May almost over already?), I’ve let the spring decorations go way too long. The pool opens this weekend, so isn’t it technically the beginning of summer? Time to spruce things up a bit!

I first fell in love with Dollar Store Hurricanes when 320 Sycamore made them in the fall, filled with candles and leaves. Then, Tidy Mom showed how to fill them for the holidays with peppermint sticks, ornaments, and candy, tied up with festive red ribbon. And then they were back on the blogs for Easter, filled with Easter candy, eggs, and pretty spring colored glass pebbles.

I’m finally getting around to making some. They couldn’t be easier, and it only takes a few minutes (my kind of project!). You need:

  • Glass candlestick for the base ($1 at Dollar Tree)
  • Vase for hurricane top (these comes in all shapes and sizes for $1)
  • E6000 glue or Gorilla Glue (you can use hot glue, but it won’t be permanent, so if you bump the hurricane at some point, the pieces may separate)
  • Filler–candy, glass pebbles, candle, shells etc.

Take the labels off your glassware. If you have trouble removing the adhesive, try vinegar–it works great! Glue the vase to the candlestick, centering it as best you can. Let this dry thoroughly, then fill with your favorite seasonal items. I shopped my house and found some dollar store moss (another $1) and a bunch of seashells the kids hadn’t stashed away. The girls helped me fill each hurricane, and then I put them way up high where no one could knock them over. (Sorry about the glare in the photo, I don’t get enough natural light in the living room).

For more DIY projects–room redos, crafts, recipes, and more–go to A Soft Place to Land. For all kinds of fun craft projects, see Skip to My Lou, Just a Girl’s Show & Share Day , Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest and Somewhat Simple.

Filed Under: Around the House, Crafts/DIY

Free Museum Admission for Military Families

May 25, 2010 By

From Memorial Day (May 31st) through Labor Day (September 6), military families can get FREE admission at over 600 museums across the country, everything from children’s museums and fine art museums to history and science museums.

Blue Star Families, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts have created the Blue Star Museums program. All active duty service members and their immediate family (up to 5 family members, including spouse, child or sibling) can participate. Check the FAQ for identification requirements and a list of participating museums.

Filed Under: Frugal Fun Tagged With:

Save $10 on $25 Purchase at Office Depot

May 24, 2010 By

Office Depot has released this printable coupon good for $10 off a $25+ purchase. The coupon can be used on paper, select ink & toner, office supplies, technology products, furniture, Copy & Print Services, and more. Valid in-store only, and it expires June 19th. Some Staples stores will accept Office Depot coupons; call your local store to ask if they’ll accept this competitor’s coupon.

Office Depot has several FREE-after-rebate software deals running this week. Check them out at Madame Deals.

Filed Under: Smart Shopping

Meal Plan Monday: Adapting to Gluten-Free

May 24, 2010 By


It’s been one week since I went gluten-free, and so far? I’m hungry. Really hungry. Even though I’m eating way more fruits and vegetables, I don’t feel like I’m gettnig enough fiber, and I don’t feel as full. High fiber foods have been my main way of dealing with my gastro problems up till now, so I’m a little unsure about that part. A big plus that I have found so far, whether or not I turn out to have a sensitivity, is that eating FF is helping me break bad habits–for example, as I’m cleaning up the breakfast dishes, I would normally pop the kids’ extra food in my mouth, but I’m not doing that. I’m not eating brownies and cookies, or mindlessly snacking during the day. I still have a sweet tooth, but I understand that can change as I continue. I hope so, as that’s one of my worst eating habits.

Adapting my usual recipes has been pretty easy. I found GF soy sauce to use in my Pineapple Pork recipe and for this week’s fish. Last week’s Mexican Breakfast Casserole was a big hit with all of us, and I had the leftovers for lunch.

Sunday–Beef Tacos with taco shells, tomato, lettuce, black beans, rice

Monday–Asian Fish in a Packet, which is a complete meal with veggies and brown rice

Tuesday–Broccoli Pie (I bought a GF pancake mix to substitute for the Bisquick), salad

Wednesday--Garlic & Thyme Chicken in the crockpot (look for that recipe later this week), quinoa pilaf, salad

Thursday–Turkey & Parmesan Pasta (I found rice pasta at Trader Joe’s, and make sure your beef bouillon is GF), green beans

Friday–Chicken, Peppers and Potatoes, frozen peas (this was on last week’s plan but we had some sort of crazy night so we haven’t had it yet)

Saturday–BBQing with neighbors. I bought flank steak, so we’ll have it with grilled peppers, mushrooms and onions–yum!

For more meal plans, see the big linky at I’m an Organizing Junkie. For more Gluten-Free Meal Plans, there’s one hosted by Celiacs in the House this week. To join us next week, see the rules at Gluten-Free Goodness.

Today’s the last day to enter to win a $25 Grocery Gift Card to the store of your choice! I’m picking the winner tonight at 10:00pm.

Filed Under: GF, Home Cooking, Meal Planning, Recipes

Free Busch Gardens Tickets for FL and VA Residents

May 22, 2010 By

PreschoolPass
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is offering FREE Preschool Passes to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of their Sesame Street Forest of Fun (a mini-version of Sesame Place). It provides unlimited free admission to Busch Gardens for Virginia residents who are 5 years old or younger through September 6, 2010. Register here for your free Preschool Pass, and you can print your e-ticket right away or save the confirmation email to print it later. Kids one-day tickets are normally $51.95 for ages 3-9 (2 and under are free), so this is considerable savings. Thanks, Tammy, for the email.

For parents accompanying your little ones to the park, you can purchase a Fun Pass for $61.95 (same price as a one-day ticket) that gives you unlimited admission through September 6th. You’ll see that option after you register for the Preschool Passes, or you can buy one here.

Florida residents have the same deal at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, but the Preschool Pass runs through all of 2010 because of the better climate.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Finding Local Deals on Activities

May 22, 2010 By

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of Groupon, a site that offers a daily deal in major cities on activities like spas, restaurants, tours, and more. Each day, a different offer is featured (and the deals are different for each city), at a 50% or more discount. If you choose to purchase the deal, you’ll know by midnight if the deal reached its minimum number of buyers, and it usually does. If not, the deal is canceled and your credit card is not charged. Readers reported on Facebook that they’ve purchased half-price memberships to the local science museum and got a Cheerios-encrusted minivan detailed for just $50.


Now the daily deal concept is growing, with a focus on kids! I was excited to meet Jamie, owner of Certifikid, which is a similar deals site that caters to businesses and events for kids in the DC area. The site launches this Monday, May 24th, and when you sign up, you’ll receive a daily email letting you know about the day’s deal. Expect to see deals on local birthday party entertainment, summer camps, and local photographers.

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Moneywise Moms!

Filed Under: Smart Shopping Tagged With: ,

Easy Meal Ideas with Bisquick

May 22, 2010 By

Bisquick

Click the banner above to sign up to receive the Bisquick Newsletter through email. They have some very simple recipes that can save you on those really busy nights. That’s where I found my Broccoli Pie recipe; and if I can’t get Bisquick really cheap with coupons/sales, I just use flour with a pinch of baking powder as an alternative. I’ve made that recipe with ham instead of chicken or even without any meat as a vegetarian dinner.

*Disclosure: This banner is served by MySavings, of which I am an affiliate.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Friday Finds

May 21, 2010 By

I spent a little time this week paring down my Google Reader, but there are still about 150 blogs in there–everything from cooking to parenting to blogging to frugality to crafting. Sometimes I post these links on my Facebook page, but you might miss the highlights. So each Friday, I’ll give you some good “finds,” be they deals or articles to read. This week:

  • Old Navy has Flip Flops on sale for just $1.00 tomorrow (Saturday) only. MrsMoneysaver also tells you how to get Old Navy coupons at their FB page.
  • Remember that every week you can see a sneak peek of this Sunday’s coupon inserts at Sunday Coupon Preview.
  • You can register for a FREE Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Chick Fil A, thanks to Moms Need to Know. 
  • There’s a 25% off printable coupon for Stride Rite and their Outlet Stores, good from May 27-31. This is good news for me, because I was headed to the outlet for my son’s extra-wide shoes anyway. Thanks for the heads up, Baby Cheapskate.
  • If you have a Blogger blog, learn how to code it for Numbered Comments over at Mommy Moment. This is SO helpful when you do a giveaway (I used to count them out manually!).
  • This Grilled Chicken Spinach Pesto Pasta looks like something my kids would love, from $5 Dinners.

And as a reminder,I have a bunch of great giveaways running right now–if you haven’t yet, enter to win a 1-year subscription to All You Magazine or a set of 100 Photo Postcards. The newest is for a $25 Grocery GC to the store of your choice!

    Filed Under: Uncategorized

    Eat Better America Sweepstakes & Giveaway

    May 21, 2010 By
    Many of you are familiar with Eat Better America because of their printable coupons, but they offer lots of healthy eating strategies as well. Right now, they’re encouraging us to healthify our dinners by reducing fat and calories, using whole grains, and reducing sodium.

    When you pledge to healthify your dinner, you are entered to win a $1,500 Grocery Sweepstakes. I made the pledge, and I hope you will do the same. After you pledge, you’ll receive 2 free PDF downloads called Healthy Home Cooking and a Healthify my Dinner Starter Kit. The Starter Kit includes 4 weeks of recipes with shopping lists–and the recipes sound great, like Three-Cheese Manicotti and Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry. Plus, 90 instant winners will receive $100 gift cards to local supermarkets (I didn’t win, but hopefully one of you will!).

    On top of that, one MoneywiseMoms reader will win a $25 Grocery Gift Card to the store of their choice! You have several ways to enter the giveaway:
    Mandatory Entry:  Visit Eat Better America and make your pledge, then leave a comment below letting me know you did.
    For more entries, complete any (or all) of the following, then leave a separate comment for EACH entry:
    Giveaway ends Monday, May 24th at 10:00pm EST, and I will choose the winner using Random.org. If you are reading this post in an email subscription, you’ll need to click over to Moneywise Moms to leave comments at the bottom of the post.

    **This giveaway is closed. The winner is #62, Amanda Y.

     
    Disclosure: General Mills is providing the prize for this giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own, and I received no compensation.
    Filed Under: Giveaways, Home Cooking

    Square Foot Garden Update–Critters?

    May 21, 2010 By

    I was upset to see this out the window this morning:

    Something has been here, digging and disturbing things. It doesn’t look like anything was uprooted or taken, though I don’t’ know how those tiny green onions will handle the trauma. I’ll go back out later and check it out. I’m really hoping it wasn’t a cat, because ewww.

    If you’re thinking about starting a Square Foot Garden, it’s not too late in the season! Warmer soil means yummy things like basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Read my post Building the Square Foot Garden. And remember that your local Home Depot is offering a FREE Eco-Gardening Workshop on June 3rd.


    *Disclosure: This banner/link is served by Logical Media, of which I am an affiliate.

    Filed Under: SFG
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