Where did I go?

A few people have asked me if I have stopped blogging or just dropped off the face of the planet. No, I did not do either. I got very caught up in Swap-Bot and have been using the time to really feel out the site and participate. I wanted to be able to give an accurate review of the experience and let you all know what it is all about! So here goes.

I joined Swap Bot mid May. I found a button on a random blog and boy am I glad! I have completed 49 swaps since joining and am signed up for several others currently. It has become one of my favorite places online. Swapping has given me some "ME" time. Here is how the bot works.

First you have to be a member. This is the easy part. Just go to www.swap-bot.com and register. Then you get to fill out your profile. Make sure you fill it with things that apply to you! This is how people will be able to tailor swaps to fit you. If you like the color pink, make sure you say so. If you simply detest orchids, put it down. If you are allergic to anything, be sure to include this also. List the crafts that you enjoy as well as creating a wishlist of items you would love to have. Be sure to include some small, light, and flat items that are easily shipped in an envelope.

Next, go to the find swaps button at the top of the page. You are now ready to find a swap. There are usually several newbie friendly swaps that are easy. I recommend joining one of those just to get the idea of how a swap works. Also, check out the forums! They are a wealth of information and the experienced swappers are usually pretty willing to explain things to newbies if you don't understand something. There is also a one on one trading forum where newbies can gain ratings through private swaps with experienced swappers so you can join more swaps.

I have to say I am very excited to have found swap-bot! I get to sit down and focus on something for me. I put together my swaps and take great pride in the creations. I have also decided to dive into a few crafts that I have never even heard of before. You never know, you may just find that you are more creative than you give yourself credit for!

I am addicted! (and a small giveaway)

And the winner is......
Number #13
Roosterruler! Congrats!

Erin H said...

Roosterruler sent me a PM on SB

To swap-bot! My goodness, the artistic talent and creativity is just outrageous!!!! Because of this new-found love, I will send one of my lucky readers a "random envie" of goodies, similar to the ones you might receive on swap-bot. Of course, this is to spread the word and convince you to join as well :) A word of warning, if you do join, and you don't send to your partner, you will be flogged for eternity for being a flaker! But none of my readers would ever do that, would they? Anyhow, on to the giveaway!

To Enter: Just leave a comment. Yes, that is it. Any comment will do but it would be great if you would pop on over to swap-bot and take a looksy around and comment about it here.

EXTRA ENTRY: Join swap-bot and private message me there telling me it is an entry into the giveaway. I am aprettykitty84 clicking this link will take you directly to my profile. If you are already a member, you can message me too for an extra entry!

I will leave the contest open for a week, closing it on 6/15/2010 at 6 pm EDT.

US only, 18+, I was not influenced nor am I getting compensated for this post.

Thank you!

I want to take a moment and thank everyone for entering my first giveaway! There were 277 VALID entries, 2 were after the cutoff time. The winner was number 95. A total of 71 google friend connect followers in a little less than a month! Thank you!

My First Giveaway! Digital photo keychain and Betty Crocker Warm Delights!

And the winner is......
#95

throuthehaze said...

follow on twitter @throuthehaze
throuthehaze at gmail dot com

May 22, 2010 1:40 PM

To celebrate having 15 Google Friend Connect followers, I am hosting my very first, of many I hope, giveaway! I decided to giveaway something that I love.

A Coby digital photo keychain and a package of Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis in Molten Chocolate Cake.





I chose the photo keychain because I love having pictures with me of my girls so I can show them off. This keychain is perfect for that! It holds up to 60 pictures. It includes the USB cord to connect directly to your computer to easily load the pictures onto the keychain.






The Betty Crocker Warm Delights are one of my favorite sweet tooth snacks. I top them with ice cream right out of the microwave and oh they are SO good! One lucky winner will WIN a package of the molten Chocolate cake flavor.

Here is how to enter to WIN!

MANDATORY ENTRY
BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENTS OR I CANNOT CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!!!!! You can encrypt it like this aprettykitty84 {at} yahoo {dot} com
Leave a comment below telling me what you want to see on my blog!

Extra Entries (Leave a comment for each you complete)

1. Become a follower on Google Friend Connect (if you are already a follower, just say so in a comment)

2. Follow me on twitter (include your Twitter username in your comment, if you already follow, say so in the comment)

3. Follow Cheap Peeps on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall saying you entered the giveaway.

4. Link up this contest on Mr. Linky, be sure to link to that post! (2 entries, leave 2 comments!)

5. Tweet about this giveaway! Post a link to your tweet. (Clicking the timestamp will give you a link for a specific tweet.) (Can be done once a day!!! Leave a comment for each tweet!)

6. Post this giveaway on your Facebook profile. Leave a link to your profile. (Can be done once a day, leave a comment for each post!)

7. Subscribe to my blog

8. Put my button in your blog roll (2 entries, leave 2 comments)

9. Blog about this giveaway (5 entries, leave 5 comments)

This giveaway will run from May 13, 2010 until June 3, 2010 6:00 PM EDT at which time I will use random.org to choose a winning comment. Open to US Residents 18+ only!

I was not paid of influenced in any way by the companies mentioned in this giveaway. These are all my own opinions and the items being given away were purchased by me, not given to me for review.

Trying my hand at being crafty

So I just joined this swapping site, Swap-Bot and I am totally loving it! So far I have received tons of cute little crafty things, cards, etc. They have these TAG games where you 'tag' someone and they send you something and you post something else to offer. I offered a handmade personalized bookmark in one of my tags thinking it seems simple enough if they pick that. Well, the person that tagged me chose the bookmark. I thought here we go! So I sat down tonight to brainstorm and figure out how to make this bookmark. It took me about 1 1/2 hours but this is what I came up with. Her name is Amy and she likes the colors orange and purple and the Princess Diaries books. The colors are a little washed out from my flash (sorry about that), but what do you think about the finished product?

Quickie Giveaway! 1 FREE package of Pull Ups! 24 hrs.

And the winner is...................
#7

Vivobello said...

My daughters butt would like these!

May 24, 2010 11:15 PM

You won a coupon for FREE pack of Pull Ups and a $2.00 off coupon!

All other entrants, I will send you an email asking for your address so I can get your $2.00 off coupons in the mail!

Thank you everyone for participating!

I have a coupon for a FREE jumbo package of Pull Ups training pants. I want to pass this on to one lucky reader! The winner will also get 2 $2.00 off coupons for Pull Ups. 5 runner ups will each get 2 $2.00 off coupons for Pull Ups training pants. The coupons expire June 30 so there is plenty of time to use them!

Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so I can email you if you win! Leave a separate comment for each entry!

Quickie giveaway entry:
~Just leave a comment below!

Extra entries:
~Follow me on twitter @aprettykitty84 (button on left)
~Tweet this: "Enter to #win a #free package of Pull Ups in this #giveaway http://tinyurl.com/3ytbvxt ! "
~Like Cheap Peeps on FB (button on right)
~Enter my other giveaways! (1 entry for each giveaway)
~Make this your Facebook status "Enter to #win a #free package of Pull Ups in this #giveaway http://tinyurl.com/3ytbvxt!"
~Follow me on Google Friend Connect
~Spread the word about my blog and/or giveaways! (5 entries, use Mc Linky, blog about it, email friends-cc me at aprettykitty84@yahoo.com)
~Put my button on your blog (3 entries)

This giveaway will run for only 24 hours, get in on it before it's over! It will end on 5/24/2010 at 11:59 pm.

Giveaway! Michael Aram Forest Leaf 4x6 Frame

And the winner is.........
#3

Hannah said...

I entered your very first giveaway!

aigcanada7 at hotmail dot com

May 22, 2010 4:14 PM

I will send you an email!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I have a quick giveaway for everyone today! This one will last from today, May 21 until May 28, 2010 at 6 PM EDT.

WIN IT! A Michael Aram Forest Leaf 4x6 photo frame valued at $69. You can see the frame and zoom in to see the detail HERE.

MANDATORY ENTRY
Leave a comment below telling me what you will use the frame for!

BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENTS OR I CANNOT CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!!!!! You can encrypt it like this aprettykitty84 {at} yahoo {dot} com

Extra Entries (Leave a comment for each you complete)
1. Become a follower on Google Friend Connect (if you are already a follower, just say so in a comment)

2. Follow me on twitter (include your Twitter username in your comment, if you already follow, say so in the comment) -- LINK ON THE LEFT

3. Follow Cheap Peeps on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall saying you entered the giveaway. --LINK ON THE RIGHT

4. Link up this contest on Mr. Linky, be sure to link to that post! (2 entries, leave 2 comments!)

5. Tweet about this giveaway! Post a link to your tweet. (Clicking the timestamp will give you a link for a specific tweet.) (Can be done once a day!!! Leave a comment for each tweet!)-- You can use the 'Share this on twitter on the left for this entry'

6. Post this giveaway on your Facebook profile. Leave a link to your profile. (Can be done once a day, leave a comment for each post!)-- You can use the 'Share this on Facebook on the left for this entry'

7. Subscribe to my blog

8. Put my button in your blog roll (2 entries, leave 2 comments)-- leave a link to where I can see it!

9. Blog about this giveaway (5 entries, leave 5 comments)-- leave a link to where I can see it!

10. Enter another giveaway on my blog! (1 entry for each giveaway!)

This giveaway will run from May 21, 2010 until May 28, 2010 6:00 PM EDT at which time I will use random.org to choose a winning comment. Open to US Residents 18+ only!

I was not paid of influenced in any way by the companies mentioned in this giveaway. These are all my own opinions and the items being given away were purchased by me, not given to me for review.

FREE ice cream!

Who doesn't love free stuff? Who doesn't love FREE ICE CREAM!?!?! From 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday, May 22, ALL Wal Mart stores will be holding a FREE ice cream social! Samples of ice cream and toppings will be available to try. Some items will be available only at Wal mart. Here are a few of the tasty treats available to try

• Breyers® All Natural Grasshopper Pie Ice Cream
• Breyers® All Natural Vanilla Caramel Brownie Ice Cream
• Blue Bunny® Strawberry-Banana All Natural Frozen Yogurt
• Hershey’s® Chocolate Syrup
• Reddi-wip® Original

Stop in at your local Wal Mart with the family and enjoy a nice cool treat on them!

HURRY! Free limeade sparkler at Taco Bell

Print your coupon HERE for a FREE limeade sparkler at Taco Bell. There are only 500,000 prints available so HURRY before they are gone! Cool off today with this tasty treat!!!

Giveaway Ideas! Help!!!

I would like to thank all my followers!!! I love doing giveaways and would like to continue. I need ideas!!! What would you like to see? Would you like me to feature YOUR creations, from Etsy, or a personal shop? Let me know what you want and I will try my best to do it!!!

If you would like your item(s), services, or Etsy shop featured on my blog, send me an email via the Contact Me page. I would be honored to host a giveaway for you!

ChristyNelson.net craft of the month

I won a monthly craft pack and some other goodies from KraftyKash and I got the bucket of items today. I was excited to get started on my craft for the month. Included in the packet was a small twig wreath, 3 small circle mirrors, lots of styrofoam beads in red, yellow, and green, floral wire, and 2 leather straps.

The rules are that you must use at least SOME of each material, and any other materials as needed. It is not required that you use ALL of the materials provided. You can only make one craft per packet for submission to the contest.

Here is my masterpiece.
It is a tiny red bird made out of 2 red styrofoam beads, a small bit of floral wire for a beak, secured to the wreath with floral wire. I used one of the little mirrors as a base for my "nest" and used 3 yellow styrofoam beads for eggs. I wrapped some of the green wrapper from the florist wire around the eggs to make it look like moss. All of it is placed into the twig wreath and I used a leather strap to hang it up.

It took about 10 minutes to make once I figured out what I wanted to make.

Head on over to Christy Nelson for yourself and check out the monthly contest, and get a craft packet of your own!

Got Flip Flops?

One day only! Old Navy is having a sale on classic flip flops Saturday, May 22. They will be $1.00 a pair, limit of 5 pairs per customer. Get your flip flop shopping done for summer! Remember, these would make great additions to gift baskets, birthday gifts, college students, and GREAT donations to military personnel as shower shoes!

Recipe: Banana Boats

We made these awesome little treats, banana boats, at Girl Scout camp over the campfire.

Ingredients:
Bananas
Chocolate (bars, chips, candy melts)
Aluminum foil
Plastic spoon
Campfire grate

Take a banana and peel back only one part of the peel, do not detach. Take a plastic spoon and make a trench down the exposed part of the banana, it does not have to be very deep, just enough to put the chocolate in. Lay a few pieces, 3 or 4, of chocolate in the trench. Replace the banana skin. Wrap the banana in foil and lay on the campfire grate. Let the banana get warm on one side before turning. Cook until desired mushiness. Unwrap, peel back the one piece of banana skin and dig in.

All the moms decided these would also be good with marshmallows, peanut butter chips, nuts, and many other toppings, use your imagination and make them your own creation!

I made it!

Well, I made it through the mommy and me girl scout camping trip. We actually had a ton of fun! The girls loved it, there were no scaredy cats!!! All the moms were great as well, we had a lot of good conversation and some laughs as well. It was a great break from the usual hustle and bustle of being a mom.

We arrived at camp around 3 pm, we left right after school got out. First, the girls had to carry their own bags from the cars to the tents and get buddies. And by tents, I mean cabin-like tents. They are permanent fixtures and have cots!!! Plus one right there!! After the girls got their things into the tents, we made our beds and got bug spray on. We checked out the greenies, a.k.a. pit toilets, which were not as bad as all the moms expected!

Now we are ready to go on our first hike! We get to the edge of the woods near the start of the trail and it goes straight down. This hill is steep! We are all holding on to trees as we go slowly down the hill trying to keep our footing. We see some deer tracks and raccoon tracks but didn't catch any animals. The trails were muddy so we didn't do as much hiking as was planned. We also made a stop at the wishing tree and the troll bridge. The we had to go back UP this hill. That was an adventure all its own. We all made it!!!


We headed back to camp for dinner. The girls roasted hot dogs over the fire for the moms and themselves, We let the girls play for a little bit while the adults chatted and Fiona managed to fall in the mud! She had it everywhere! Then we had s'mores and banana boats. Oh my!!!!! Banana boats are my new favorite campfire food! I posted the recipe! We ended the night with some not so scary stories and singing.




The night was uneventful, no girls screaming and no critters getting into the cabins. In the morning we helped ourselves to cereal and donut holes while warming up by the fire. The it was time for a troop picture!

Then it was time for the girls to clean the greenies. Surprisingly, they were very willing and seemed to have fun doing it. Fiona even volunteered, and later did, to clean our bathroom at home! The girls did a couple crafts and that was pretty much it.

Fiona can't wait to do it again, and I am willing to do it again! We had a lot of fun and I would encourage anyone that has to opportunity to go on a girl scout camping trip, to go!

I will be MIA until Saturday afternoon

I just wanted to give all my readers a heads up that I will be gone from now until Saturday afternoon. I am going on a Mommy and Me overnight camping trip with Fiona. Wish me luck! Tonight I am sure I will be inundated with tons of high pitched squealing and giggles. The only thing I am really hoping NOT to happen: getting my shoes wet. Like soaking wet. I cannot stand squishy shoes or wet socks. Yeah, that is probably the least of my worries but I am hoping it doesn't happen. I am hoping that Fiona has a great time and enjoys her first camping experience. Granted we are going to be in platform tents with little cots but the little girls are going to be doing the cooking and they will get to see what it is like to spend the night with nature. I am sure I will have tons of pictures to post when we get back so look forward to seeing them!!!!

Until tomorrow!

I have won!

For those that are a little apprehensive about entering contests and giveaways, check out my "Things I Have Won" page here on the blog. I just started it on May 9th, and already I have won 3 giveaways! It is great!!!!!! Of course I will post pictures of the items when I receive them as well. Just remember, you can't win if you don't enter!!! You can enter more than 30 times with my current giveaway! Just wanted to let you all know that "real" people DO win these giveaways! :)

Good Morning online deals!

First, I have reached 15 Google Friend Connect followers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HUGE step in the right direction!!! Look for my first giveaway later today, I still have to take pictures of it. To tide you over, here are a couple online deals.

Linens-N-Things has .99 cent shipping until May 18. Use code MAYSHIP99 at checkout to get the discount.

Snapfish has 120 prints for $10. Just use code MOM2010 at checkout. This is a great way to print all your Mother's Day pictures and kid's school field trip pictures!

That's it for this morning, I have a hungry little girl demanding her oatmeal! Look for the giveaway later on today!!!!!

WIN this very cute Zebra tutu!!!

Win this awesomely adorable Zebra Tutu from Posh Trendy Blog. Click HERE to enter!!!

Who would be interested....

In weight loss tips, tricks, motivation, groups, etc? I am thinking of adding a "Weight Loss Wednesday" special blog post each week. I am thinking we could use it to hold ourselves accountable to someone, as motivation, and to share exercise and recipe tips. What do you think? Would you participate?

I will personally use the entries to blog about my current weight, how much I lost/gained in the past week, what my meal plans are, what I am planning on doing for exercise the following week, etc.

What do you all think about this? I am somewhat apprehensive, because I am embarrassed about my weight. Knowing that potentially hundreds of people will see the number, my actual weight, but then again, that number and knowing that all those people might see it, makes me all the more motivated to see that number DROP!

FREE kids admission to the Zoo May 15!!!!

Tomorrow, May 12 is Zoo day at Kroger and Scott's. 3% of all sales will be donated to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Also, if you bring your Kroger or Scott's receipt dated May 12 to the zoo on May 15, you will get FREE child's admission!!! This is a great way to "try" the zoo! Adult admission is just $13.00 and parking is FREE! Kroger has some awesome sales in store for this special event. Go here to see the ad!

Comfort cookbook giveaway

Win a signed copy of the new cookbook, Comfort here. Remember, you can't win if you don't enter. Ends May 14.

A personal friend

Helping out a friend with her blog :)

An AWESOME toddler bundle giveaway!

Win a bundle of toddler goodies from Knitting and Sundries! Go here to enter. Included in the giveaway is TWO Cranium preschool games, Polar Bear ABC and Puppy Pals Bingo. Also Guess How Much I Love you by Sam McBratney and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. These are great books to read to your kids! And the games look like they would be super fun for pre school children! The only way to win is to enter! Head on over, the giveaway ends May 20.

WIN a flat iron!!!

Win a Hana Professional 1" Flat Iron Pink Edition from misikko. Enter for your chance to win! You can't win if you don't enter! Ends 5/21/2010.

Pamper youself with a FREE sample from Spa Naturals

Click here to get a free sample from Spa Naturals. The kit includes a 1.25 oz. Orange Ginger Facial Cleanser Bar, .25 oz. Citrus Mint Facial Scrub and .25. oz Cucumber Aloe Facial Moisturizer -- all in a reusable organza bag with a coupon for yet another great South of France Spa Naturals offer. Perfect for a mini spa night to relax after a hard day.

FREE Feminine Products

I don't know about you all but I hate paying for feminine products. Toilet paper too. They are expensive!!! This week there are LOTS of FREE or very very cheap liners, tampons, and pads. Here are the deals:

CVS
U Kotex $4.99
Get $4.99 Extra Care Bucks
FREE!!! If you use a coupon, they are actually PAYING you to take the product from the store!!! There is a limit of 1 offer per CVS card.

Carefree liners
$1.00
There are coupons for $1.00 off any Carefree making these FREE!!!

Stayfree liners
$1.00
There are coupons for $1.00 off any Stayfree making these also FREE!!!

Kotex liners
$1.00
There are coupons for $1.50 off any 2 Kotex making these just $.25 a pack!


If you don't use these products, consider getting them anyway and donating them to a women's shelter. They are always in need of these items!

Win a Starbucks gift card!

Starbucks Contest Give Away

Win a gorgeous homemade tote bag

I love the look of this homemade tote. How could I NOT? It has the bird from my blog on it. Jenna at I Got the Notion handmade this cute bag for her first blog giveaway. The tote has plenty of pockets and is fully lined. Perfect for an everyday bag, diaper bag, or even a chic book bag. Win it here!

Birthday Parties on the Cheap

Who doesn't like throwing a great party for their child's birthday? Everyone wants their kids to have great, memorable birthdays but they don't have to be expensive! Here are some tips on having a fun AND affordable party.

-Get goody bag items on clearance after holidays.
This year after Easter I got cute little flip flops filled with jellybeans for Fiona's party for $.25 each!
-Make your own cake.
A cake mix and tub of icing costs around $3.00, they can be free or close to it with coupons. Kids don't really care what the cake looks like, as long as they get to eat some!
-Print your own or make your own invitations and decor
You can find TONS of FREE printable birthday invitations and decor online. Also, before hand delivering your invites, make sure that the gas spent is cheaper than the stamp it would cost to mail the invite.
-Create your own photo books for your child to show off the past year
Many photo printing sites offer free prints when you sign up and they frequently have promotional codes out for free prints. Get an inexpensive photo book and WA-LA! A cheap photo flip book.
-Play silly games
Save money and some house damage, don't buy a pinata. Play simple games that don't require materials or ones that use materials you already have. Duck duck goose, tag, three legged races, etc.
-Shop the Dollar Tree!
The Dollar Tree has AWESOME party supplies for a buck each. Plates, napkins, cutlery, all a dollar. They even have helium balloons.
-Shop clearance sales all year long for gifts
Everytime you go to the store, quickly browse the clearance section. New items are added all the time and sometimes deeper discounts are taken since your previous trip. Shop all year long and stash items in a "gift closet" or tote. When a birthday comes along, shop the gift closet!

I hope these tips help you when planning your next birthday party! Do you have any tips for saving money on birthday parties? Please share!!!

Where to be a Cheap Peep in the Fort

Couponing is a popular subject on the web these days. You can find tons of blogs and websites dedicated to finding the best weekly deals at CVS, Walgreens, and many other stores. What there aren't many of are websites that showcase the local bargain shops. I wrote this article on the best thrift/resale shops in Fort Wayne. Read it here. Where do you find your best bargains at? I would love to hear your feedback, even if you don't live in Fort Wayne.

Don't forget that it is garage sale season! Here is a calendar that has many association sales for Fort Wayne. If you have any to add, please let me know the name of the association, a major intersection, and the date/time of the sale. Here is the calendar.

Easy Peasy contest!

Want to win a $50 Chili's gift card just like I did? It's simple! Upload a short video here telling Chili's why you don't want to cook tonight! I uploaded my video last night and won this morning. Not very many entrants so your chances of winning are HIGH!

My new Blog Button!

What do you think?