Family — Page 25

uDraw Your City Kids Art Contest – Win $10,000 & More!

Do your kids love art?

I was a little artist as soon as I could hold a crayon. I remember my mom taking college courses when I was really young, and how much I loved drawing along side her while she did her projects for Art Appreciation classes. So it makes me really proud that my nephews are little art lovers too – I might not be so great at helping them with their math homework but I can definitely jump in when it’s coloring time! And the oldest one is super excited to enter the new uDraw Your City Contest!

uDraw Your City Contest

If your kids are creative too – help them enter the amazing uDraw Your City Art Contest today! One lucky winner will be chosen – and will win a $10,000 cash prize for their family, plus another $10,000 as a donation to their school’s art program! So amazing, right?

What Does Your City or Community Mean to You?

That’s the question that uDraw wants you to answer with your artwork. Read more…

Creativity and imagination can be found in every city, town, and community all over the world. Everyone can be an artist – no matter who you are or where you come from! We want you to embrace that creativity and artistic inspiration to show us “What your city, your town, or your community means to you.”

A few Details:

This contest is open nationwide, for kids ages 6-17.
The entry period lasts from September 1st to October 31st – so hurry and get YOUR families entry’s in!
Entries can be submitted online or by mail.

More about uDraw

In addition to the Grand Prize, another Runner Up will receive a uDraw Studio Tablet, uDraw GameTablet games, and an HD TV so you can turn your television into an art studio! Have you seen the uDraw tablet yet? It is a super cool accessory for the Nintendo Wii, that allows your kids to use a little drawing tool on the tablet to create their own artwork right on the screen! We don’t have it yet, but I’ve seen it at a friends house, and it is really awesome. It’s on my Christmas list — {I’m saving up those Swagbucks for Amazon certificates to get it almost free!} – and I am 100% sure that the kids will flip when they see it.

Enter to win today!

To enter and see official rules, visit WorldofDraw.com. You can upload the image online to enter, or print out a submission form to mail it in. Either way – Good luck!! If you do enter, I’d love to see YOUR child’s artwork – feel free to stop by on Facebook to share a picture on my wall!

{Disclosure:I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of THQ and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 18, 2011 Filed Under: Contests | No Comments

Busy Mom Solution: Easy Peasy Birthday Party Planning!

Where a Kid can be a Kid!

What kid doesn’t LOVE Chuck E. Cheese, right? So what better way to throw a birthday party than to celebrate at your local Chuck E. Cheese – You don’t have to set up, clean up, or entertain a bunch of wild kids – it’s all done for you! You’re happy, the kids are happy – Totally a Busy Mom Solution!

Why Kids LOVE Chuck E. Cheese Birthdays….

Special Online Deals!

Set up Birthday Party Reservations online at Chuck E. Cheese and you’ll get some really sweet bonus freebies for a limited time – so even if the party is a few months away, this is a GREAT time to reserve it, so you get the bonus freebies!!

Kids Birthday Parties – Click Here to reserve YOUR Kid’s Special Day before it’s too late!

What you’ll get:

A full TWO HOURS of fun at Chuck E. Cheese!
Ticket Blaster experience – that’s the one shown in the video above!
Book a Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Party online and get 20 Free Tokens!
Get another 100 BONUS tokens at a reserved Birthday party Friday or Sunday!

What are you waiting for?

It’s totally FREE to set up your reservation – no hassle of cleaning the house, setting up decorations and games, cleaning up the mess afterwards – and the kids will have a blast!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 18, 2011 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | No Comments

Santas Coming! 10 Tips to Get Ready for the Holidays…

Let me just throw this out here…. I. Love. Christmas. Like, reeeaaallly love Christmas. As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is over, the Christmas Tree goes up. We have a 25 foot wall in the garage, lined with shelves filled floor to ceiling with boxes of Christmas decorations. Yep, we’re that kind of family.

My Favorite Part of My Favorite Movie:

When this movie came out, everyone told me that Buddy the elf must be my twin brother, lol. And it’s true, I’m so much like this. And like Buddy says later – “Santa is coming!! There’s so much to do!!”

Top 10 Holiday Planning Tips:

1. Make lists! Get a notebook, and make a few master lists. Your first is Christmas Cards – make a list of everyone you want to send them to, and start getting addresses. So many of us wait until the last minute, and this becomes a stress-inducing chore instead of a fun way to keep in touch.

2. Now make a Christmas Shopping List too. Write down all of the people you’ll want to buy gifts for – from friends and family, to teachers and coworkers. Do they need holiday cards with their gifts too? Then add ’em to your first list!

3. Take Pictures! Getting professional pictures done is great, but if you can’t afford it – Don’t worry. Trust me, you can still get amazing photos on your own. Check out How to photograph holidays and special occasions and Tips for Capturing Great Family Photos for some great tips and advice on getting great pic’s for this years holiday cards. It’s all about capturing that special moment to share with friends and family!

4. Choose your cards! There are some amazing options for Festive Christmas Cards to be found online – and yes, you can wait until the last minute, and order them with express shipping to get them in time. But you can save a ton by preparing early, and ordering them sooner. Plus, getting them by early November gives you enough time to add a personal message to each one too – which is the best part!

5. Make a Holiday Baking List! There will be TONS of great sales coming up over the next couple of months, and you can match them up with coupons from sites like Coupons.com or RedPlum to save a TON of money. You’ll almost always find coupons for cake mixes, frosting, and cookie mixes. So make a list of everything you’ll need, and start stocking up when your local store has some great deals. Hate clipping coupons? Use my new favorite, SavingsStar, to load digital coupons right onto your store loyalty cards! {Check out my favorite cookie recipe – Peek-a-Boo Cookies!}

6. Start Shopping! Yes – I know it’s not even Halloween yet, lol. But starting early gives you a chance to find the best deals, and get gifts you know they’ll love – instead of overspending at the last minute just to get it finished up! Some tips – Sign up for email updates from sites like Totsy, Zulily or HomeSav to find some totally unique items at HUGE discounts! I watch these all year, and buy great stuff to hide away for birthdays and holidays – you can find kids toys at up to 70-90% off. Wow, right?

7. Yep – another list! List all of the events you want to attend, and set dates for all of your own holiday entertaining and parties. But – make sure not to overextend yourself! Leave some “family” time, at home too, for things like baking cookies and watching movies!

8. Give back to your community. There are so many people in need, and while they of course need your assistance all year long, it takes on extra importance during the holiday season. Imagine being a parent who doesn’t have the resources to get your child a holiday gift, a winter coat, or prepare a Christmas dinner. Heartbreaking. Find out how you can help by visiting sites like Toys for Tots and Coats for Kids. Or check out VolunteerMatch.org to get connected with other local groups who need your help!

9. Another list! Are you a crafty type? If you plan on making gifts for the holidays, you definitely need to get started now – so figure out what you’d like to make, and make a supply list. Make sure to pick up some fun stuff that the kids can make too – they LOVE giving handmade gifts! For some fun ideas check out Handmade Christmas Gifts and 100 Christmas Gifts to Make. And get some great coupons to save at Michaels Crafts.

10. Finally – relax! The holidays are a time for family, celebration, and appreciating what you have. Don’t get too caught up in the frenzy of more, more, more – {unless you’re talking about glitter or tinsel!} – start planning now, use these tips to save bunches of cash, and enjoy the season!

{Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the Storkie holiday blogging program. I received compensation for my participation. All opinions are 100% mine.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 17, 2011 Filed Under: Holidays, Busy Mom Solution | 4 Comments

Totsy – Not just for kids! Check out my Busy Mom Solution Outfit

Yes, Totsy has some of the stinkin’ cutest fashions and accessories for babies and kids – but they also have great selections for moms too! Totsy is known as the best place to find great designer brand outfits for kiddo’s ages newborn to 7 – all at prices up to 80% off. But every day you’ll also find some of the most amazing new designers offering moms and moms-to-be their best new pieces at HUGE discounts! I’m absolutely in LOVE with this dress from the Junior Dress Event today… How perfect would this be with leggings and boots this winter? Still comfy, but much better than sweats, right? {Remember my No More Frump Mom Challenge?} And there are a ton of similar options all at deep discounts.

More About Totsy:

Totsy offers moms on-the-go and moms-to-be access to brand-specific sales, up to 80% off retail, just for them and kids ages 0-7.

For kids you’ll find prenatal care products, baby gear, travel accessories, bedding and bath, children’s clothing, toys, DVDs, and educational materials. For moms you’ll find amazing designer fashions, handbags, and accessories – plus great options in home decor too! Totsy promises only the best in quality and designer brands.

Check it out today and find some new favorites for your family!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 16, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping | No Comments

Frugal Mom Solution: Aeropostale – Cool Clothes, Cool Prices!

Huge Savings for the whole family at Aeropostale!

If you have a kid over the age of 7 or 8, I’m sure you’ve probably heard of Aeropostale! From Grade School to High School it’s one of the most popular clothing retailers – I know first hand, since I used to work there doing Fashion Merchandising a couple of years ago. We’d have lines around the entire store sometimes during busy seasons like Back-to-School and the Holidays – it was the busiest store in the mall by far!

Why Aeropostale is great for frugal moms:

Even though Aero’s targeted customer is your teen’s, there are great options for the rest of the family too! Check out the deals right now on mens t shirts and henleys – most of them are over half off! And there are enough different styles to find something for every guy – loud graphics, trendy designs, or simple basics. There are also tons of great styles for moms too – I wore it head to toe when I worked there – and even found some layering pieces and accessories to wear while I was pregnant!

Great Fashion – Great Deals!

They update their selection non-stop, with full new collections almost once a month, so you’ll always find the perfect piece that’s right on trend. You can find great deals on amazing stuff like this perfect Aeropostale Hooded Peacoat for Half Off for you, graphic tees for the kids starting at $9 bucks, and tons of seriously cute cold weather accessories at big discounts too!

Take $25 off your purchase of $100 or more when you enter promo code 25OFF100 at checkout.

What are you waiting for?

Check out the selection at Aeropostale.com today, or stop into your local store – you’ll find clothes that the kids will actually think are “cool” at prices that YOU will think are cool! Love it!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 16, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping | No Comments

Rafflecopter: Postcardly Prize Package #giveaway!!

Introducing – Postcardly.com!

This is such a super-cool new site, and I just KNOW that you guys are going to love it! What it does is allow you to take any of those amazing pictures you have stored in your computer, have them printed onto a postcard with just a few clicks of the mouse, and then automatically mailed out to anyone in the world! Awesome, right?

“We wanted to find an easier way to get pictures to our relatives that aren’t on email or Facebook,” says Tom Marshall, co-founder of the Seattle start-up. “People love getting the pictures they can hold in their hands, but printing and mailing pictures is a pain. But email is easy, and using Postcardly is just like using your email.”

This gives you an easy way to stay in touch with friends or family who don’t use computers. And even if they do – how fun would it be to find something like this in your mailbox, instead of just bills and junk mail?

How Does it work?

When people sign up, they create Postcardly email addresses that correspond to physical mailing addresses. It’s a one-time set up. After that, when you email grandma at, for example, grandma@postcardly.com, your grandma gets a postcard mailed to her house. You attach a photo to an email the way you normally would — then they print and mail your postcard with your attached photo on the front, and your words on the back. Easy peasy – and imagine how quickly you can turn into grandma’s favorite, right?

Fun Facts:

You can send postcards from anywhere that you have email access – meaning you can also send them right from your phone too! Love that.
There’s no app, nothing to download, no commitment.
They have a great free trial – send your first 3 postcards totally free! They know you’ll love it once you try it.
They have some great packages you can get, and all prices include the postage too!

I can’t wait to try it!

Postcardly.com is giving me a free package, so that I can try out their service, and share my thoughts with you guys. It is SO easy to set up, super easy to use, and I can’t WAIT until people get the first postcards that I sent out! {I had one sent to myself too, so that I could show you guys the quality when I get it. So stay tuned!}

What I love most:

Abby’s doesn’t get to see her Grandpa as often as I’d like, and he’s getting ready to move even farther away next month! I am absolutely lovin’ that when I snap a cute pic of her on my phone, with just a quick email, I can have Postcardly.com send it as a postcard to him! This is just such an amazing idea. Instead of heading to Hallmark to get overpriced holiday and birthday cards, picking up stamps, and then remembering to get them in the mail – I can snap pic’s, add a personal message, and have them mailed for me. I KNOW that friends and family would MUCH rather get cute pic’s of the kids than a card from the store anyway!

Win it!

One lucky winner will WIN a full package of 10 Postcardly postcards! Use the Rafflecopter Entry Form for your chance to win – and remember to come back once a day for your BONUS daily Tweet entry!

Love the frugal tips and giveaways here? Then share some love and give me a vote today! All you do is click the pic, and you’ll see my profile! If you like it, click the big pink heart to vote – easy peasy! If you LOVE it, you can vote daily until the end of the month too! Thanks guys – You rock!

[Read more…]

Posted by Meagan Paullin on October 16, 2011 Filed Under: Giveaways | 2 Comments

Ready for the Best Halloween Ever? Check out CostumeDiscounters.com!

The most important part of celebrating Halloween is the costume – don’t settle for cheap-o, boring, over-priced costumes this year. Get something amazing to impress your friends today at CostumeDiscounters.com!

Are you ready for Halloween yet?

I was SOOO excited to get Abby’s new Halloween costume from CostumeDiscounters.com!! They let us pick our favorite to review, and I tell ya, it was tough to choose – they have super adorable costumes!! You can find something for everyone in your family, from infant Halloween costumes to fun get-up’s for mom and dad – and you can even find some of the cutest costumes I’ve ever seen for your dog. The doggy dinosaur is so great, totally want to get that.

Abby’s first time Trick-or-Treating this year!

Last year she was just a few months old, so we stayed at home – I live in Washington state, and it’s coooold on Halloween here! But this year she’s big enough to go our trick-or-treating with her cousins, and she’s going to LOVE it!

Little Pinkie Poodle!

This little stinker would NOT hold still for pictures at all — she was running around the kitchen, chasing the dog, barking like a puppy! So funny. This is the Pinkie Poodle Costume, and it is just perfect on her. We got our puppy when she was just a baby, and they are the best of friends – she even shares her snacks with him. Her third word was dog. She loves her doggy – and she LOVES dressing up like one too! She seriously had so much fun- love it.

Great Quality

Most Halloween costumes are made so cheap – really flimsy material, and terrible construction. I get it, they’re only made to wear one night, so they don’t need to be really sturdy. BUT – if I paid $30 bucks for a regular outfit for Abby, I’d expect her to wear it for a few months, right? So when I buy a costume, I always look for better quality. And I was super impressed with the quality here – it’s a really thick material, well made, and the details are all amazingly cute! Plus – there are loads of great sale-prices costumes too, as low as $10 bucks!

Halloween is only a few weeks away!

Does your family already have costumes – if so, what are you going to be? If you DON’T have anything yet, make sure to check out CostumeDiscounters.com! Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite! {Oh yeah, and get some AWESOME Halloween coupons for Michaels too – check it out below!}