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{May 14} How I Got These Freebies!

Want to know how I got THESE freebies?

{I hope that this daily update is helping you to learn some new tips on how to get your own mailbox filled with free stuff every day!}

This is how I got THESE freebies in my mail on May 14th:

  • Purex Samples: Found this offer in my daily email from Women Freebies. Sign up for their daily email so you don’t miss out. Each day you get a quick update of new freebies, giveaways, and coupons, all targeted towards the ladies!
  • Clean & Clear Sample: I found this free offer in a daily email update from FreeFlys. I don’t know if this one is still available, but I know they have a great Victoria’s Secret sample today. Sign up for their daily email too to stay updated!
  • All You: I cannot use strong enough words to recommend this one!! This magazine is filled with what we all love… Frugal, healthy, and fast recipes, easy DIY projects, fun tips, great articles, and COUPONS. This is one of the VERY few magazines I’ll pay for! {as you may know, I use TradePub to get most of my mag’s free. Mostly business types, but sign up to get notified when they have good ones like Cosmo or Family Circle!} Anyway, there are loads of deals to be found to get All You ALMOST free, which is what I watch for, although this time I had to buy it because my subscription ran out and I couldn’t wait!! But it is so full of free coupons you have to get it! There are always deals too on Amazon if you want to get it now: All You Subscription.
  • Stashbusting box: This is such an amazingly fun idea! If you love crafts, and you love funny, you have to check out Aunt Peaches!! {Plus, her tagline is “Making Sunshine on a Shoestring” which I love!} She decided to thin out some of her overflow of supplies, and give away a few, “Stashbusting Boxes O’ Fun” to her readers. Check out the rest of what was in mine…

So awesome and random! I love it. I felt like a little kid opening birthday presents, as I pulled each new item out of the box. My 4 year old nephew was there, saying, “Oooooohhhhh. That was in rweaaaaly cool.” and “That is soooo pretty.” That’s why him and I get along.

Here are some of the fun items, and some ideas for them:

  • Garland: This is that foil garland, on a wire strand. The colors are great. I’m doing a Hawaiian Luau themed party for my little girls first birthday in late July. We’ll have it outside with the pool and bbq, and I’m super excited to start putting together decorations… This stuff will be added to my supplies for that!
  • Rhinestones: I use to have a ring with a giant stone on it, when people asked if it was real, I told them it was a real rhinestone, and came from a real rhinoceros. Not relevant, but I wanted to tell the story. Anyway, there are several boxes of these, and I think I’ll use them in a new scrapbook I’ve been working on, with lotsa bling in it.
  • Paper Flowers Kit: I was super exicted for this! For centerpieces at little ones bday, I want to use branches painted white or silver, and make tropical colored paper flowers to wire on to them. {cooler looking than it sounds, promise!} So I’m loving this.
  • Candy Tins: These could make super fun little gifts for the nephews! I’ll paint and decorate the outside, really fun, and add little toys, candy, stickers, etc inside. Then, these can be a “bribe” supply, to pull out when needed. Yep, I do that.

And there is so darn much more! Taper candles, vellum envelopes I just adore, bag of random ribbon, baggie of adorable foam valentine hearts, giant strand of heart beaded garland, and more!

I’m going to attempt to come up with at least one amazing project featuring some of these goodies to share with you this week. I mean, if I took some of my supplies, and sent them out into the world, I’d want to see a picture of what they grew up to become. So I feel it’s only right to share a picture so the super amazing Aunt Peaches can see it!

I hope you guys all had a great weekend, and had some sunshine! I’ll be back later today with some new freebie posts for ya!

Free Trade and Professional Magazines

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{Easy Entry} Win a Cricut Anniversary Edition!!

Enter to win this {SUPER AMAZING} prize from facecrafts!

FaveCrafts Cricut Sweepstakes

All you have to do to win is sign up for their free craft newsletter… which is something you will want to do anyway! It’s filled with fun new project ideas and tips, plus cool giveaways like this one.

I’ve been soooo longing to get a Cricut, so I was pretty excited to see this giveaway in the newsletter. My family assures me that I do not actually need more craft supplies/tools/accessories, but they are so wrong. This sweet little machine is a definite NEED item :)

Have you won anything cool lately? I’ve been so busy I haven’t been entering as much as I used to… But I did log in for the really fun live event called, “Lets Create Live” from ilovetocreate earlier this week, and won a fun prize package for answering a question correctly in the chat!

They asked what game show host is also an avid crafter, knitter, and crothet queen, and has her own line of books and products…. Vanna White of course! My mom has some of her books, so I knew right away.

If you win in this giveaway let me know! Then I can be incredibly jealous, but congratulate you :) Good Luck!

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Great Collection of FREE Easter Printables

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love that it is the first “Spring” holiday, I am excited to buy my little girl her first fluffy little Easter dress, I love decorating eggs… It’s just such a pretty, bright, and cheerful holiday! One of my favorite blogs, Living Locurto did a post with a ton of really fun, FREE Easter printables. There are printables for cards, crafts, and treat packaging. Plus, sign up for her email subscription and get a FREE printable gift! She has the funnest stuff, you’ll just love it.

Here are a few of my favorites:

These little Easter cupcake toppers are too cute! I love this idea, and have been looking for just the right toppers to use for my little girls first birthday this summer.

I love ideas like this… What a quick and easy way to personalize the goodies in the kid’s Easter baskets! Very fun.

The little tissue paper pom-pom tails here make me smile :) I plan on making some of these with the kids! Just adorable.

Visit her site for more fun ideas!

All of these ideas came from the wonderful list from Amy over at Living Locurto… I don’t even begin to try and claim these fun designs as my own! So go check out her list for the rest of the ideas, and leave her a comment thanking her for putting together such a great list!! I’ve used these for projects here in our home, and had so much fun with them – so I knew I had to share them with you guys too!

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{Printable} Recipe Cards

I LOVE printables. I just discovered this idea a few months ago… I had no idea that there were so many amazing FREE things that were available for me to print and create with!

While I am an {extremely!} crafty person, I am not skilled with design on the computer, so I have no idea how to make fun printables myself. But I will start sharing some of my favorites here on Sunshine and Sippy Cups with you guys.

I’m always on the look out for new crafts that don’t cost very much, and using printables is a great way to do that! There are so many different types, and ways to use them, and SO many things you can do with them… All for the price of a few sheets of printer paper. Love it.

Today I’m going to share some fun recipe card printables that I found on the Tip Nut website. If you haven’t checked this site out yet, you’re missing out! Subscribe to her emails, you’ll LOVE all of the amazing stuff she sends out. I’m a BIG fan. She has a whole list of printable recipe cards here. There are a ton of styles to choose from…

I really love the modern, simple design of this recipe card from Messy Vegetarian Cook. Plus, it’s red, so it matches my kitchen :)

This one is really fun too, but there is more work involved in making these cards. They are actually printed on old paper grocery bags! There are step-by-step instructions over at Crafting a Green World, which is another AMAZING site that you will love too. I think that this could be a fun idea to add family recipes to a scrapbook or photo album.

Check out all of the other designs on the list over on the Tip Nut website. And leave her a comment telling her how awesome she is for putting this big collection of links together!

Let me know what you think, and if you have any other crafty ideas for using these!

Grocery Coupon Network

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Over 10 NEW Coupons for Michaels Craft Store!

Oh how I love Michaels….

This weekend they have a great big ol’ sale going on, plus they have 10 NEW coupons you can print out and use too!! I haven’t seen this many coupons from them in a long time, so it’s a great weekend to stock up.

Here are a few examples of what you’ll find:

40% off one regular price baking item

40% off entire purchase of Scrapbook Storage

15% off ALL books and magazines

50% off on your entire regular price purchase of Artist Canvas, Paper Pads, and open stock paper

 And as always, a 40% off one Regular Price item coupon too! So go over to Michaels right now and print off your coupons!! 

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Fun at the Park

Get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

The weather is finally getting nicer, so get out and enjoy it…

Going to the park is an easy way to get the kiddo’s out of the house, away from the video games, and breathing some fresh air. It also has the added bonus of encouraging some physical activity, so they wear themselves out enough to be ready for nap time – which is always my favorite time of day!

But after a few trips to the same ol’ park, you’ll probably hear the dreaded phrase, “Mom, I’m bored!” Here are a few fun ideas to try to change things up:

*If you’re park has a sandbox, bring along some summer beach toys like a shovel and a bucket. Buy some dollar store toys, bury them in the sand, and let the kids “dig for treasure“. Extra points for mom if she remembers to bring her little pirates an eye patch or sword!

*Play some games! Remember “Mother May I?” For a reminder of how to play see Instructions Here. Another fun one from when I was a kid is really simple, “Red Light, Green Light“. The kids line up a ways away from you, and when you yell GREEN LIGHT, they start running towards you. But once you shout RED LIGHT, they have to stop… The last one to stop has to go back to the starting point!

*Give each kid a paper bag and a list for a scavenger hunt. List easy to find stuff like pinecones and bird feathers, and let them race to see who can find everything first. Another great way to tire them out! 

*Let the kids gather rocks to use for some cute craft projects later. Check out Martha Stewarts Crafts for Kids for some amazing ideas!

*Don’t let baby miss out on the fun. Even though my baby girl is too little to sit on the swings by herself, she LOVES to ride in the baby carrier while I swing us both. Its a little workout for mom – I forgot how much work swinging was! – and a fun new experience for baby.

*Bring some toys… Sidewalk chalk can lead to lots of fun games. Football or basketball have obvious uses. Or even bring a board game to play while sitting in the shade with a little one who’s running out of energy.

*Speaking of sitting in the shade, when was the last time you had a picnic? It doesn’t have to be fancy… If nothing else, grab a bucket from KFC and take it with you! Kids love to do things that are out of the ordinary, so eating lunch outside will entertain them.

What else does your family do at the park to keep the kids entertained? Share you ideas here!

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