Hot Deal--Hurry Fast!!

Today's Deal For Living Social is a 20 dollar gift card to Amazon for 10.00!! I have bought tons of things on Amazon for Awesome Steals this year!! Including 12 packs of toilet paper for free! (using my swagbucks and they were running an awesome deal!!) I also have bought toys, books, diapers....they really have about anything you want!!

Anyway---just thought I would share! If you want this deal you better hurry up---the quatities are limited!!

Sizzlin Sister Steals

I have 2 hot steals that I wanted to share with you all. Have you ever heard of  Eversave? I heart Eversave! Every day they post awesome coupons that you can purchase! (kind of like Groupon) I bought most of my Christmas presents this past year using Eversave and Groupon!

Who doesn't need (want!) a Personalized Photo calendar, for FREE!?

 (Actually you are making 1.00 because they give you 2.00 just for signing up! This calendar is advertised for 1.00 plus you get half off shipping!)

I have bought several of these personalized Photo Calendars! Go check them out!

When my sister called me about this Eversave, I think my heart skipped a beat. I have been looking for a personalized necklace that I could have my boys name engraved on for a while. So for 12.00 you get 30.00 worth of product!

Isn't this "Birthday Circle" adorable? I love it!!

I love this one, too!!

We have alot of military couples in my SS class whose spouses are deployed--I love this one, too!

A few more reasons I heart Eversave:

1. You can personalize the eversave to the area that you live in!

2. You can get bonus rewards when referring! (help me, people!)

3. You can upload the deals you see on Facebook.

4. Eversave has a great variety of every day items that we all love!!

So, Go checkout these great Steals at Eversave!!

A Sweet Birthday Boy and a simple "How-to" for a Pumpkin Cake......

Today is my sweet Pierson Reese's FIRST birthday! What a joy he has been to our lives. He always wants to be hugged on - and thinks his brother is a Super-Hero! He has been a dream baby since Day One! You can read more about his Birthday Post here on our Family Blog.

Want another way to save money for your family? Try making their birthday cakes! Just like any mom would do- I love making birthday's special for my little ones. I try to put their personality into each one and I try to make unique things for their party decorations. I decided this year to make his cake and it was alot of fun. So since thanksgiving is this week, I thought someone might want to know how to make a "Pumpkin" Cake! (his theme was sweet Lil Pumpkin!)

Bringing a dessert for a Thanksgiving Feast? Try this!

I got the instructions here but I can give it to you in a nutshell.

Ingredients for cake:
2 cake boxes
Eggs
Oil
Water
(Just fix it like a regular ole' cake!)

Cook 2 cakes in this bunt pan and let them cool. (Pretty easy, huh?) Now, lets start making the icing! My High School Home Ec Teacher (aka as the best cake decorator in town!) gave me  her recipe. So here it is!!

Birthday/Wedding Cake Icing:
2 1b bag of Powder Sugar
1 1/2 Crisco (don't go generic)
1 tsp. Lemon Flavoring (she prefers Wilton's)
1 tsp. Almond Flavoring
1/2 cup boiling water (add until you get the best consistency)
*If it becomes to "creamy" when mixing- add a little more powdered sugar!

Here comes the stressful fun part! You will need to color your icing with food coloring. I just bought a box of Wilton's food coloring from walmart in the party section. Then, You will need a icing bag for decorating and a good star tip. (like above) Place the cake upside down on a cake plate and ice the top with your orange icing. Then Place the other cake right side up on top of the icing! The recipe called for a Ice cream cone to use as the stem, however, I didn't have one! So I used a Styrofoam cup! You simply place the cup in the "bunt pan whole." Don't worry if it looks crazy- you will cover it with icing.

Then, You simply star the whole cake. (yes, it took like forever.) I also added some green leaves, some "spriggly" vines and a scare crow sign with "Happy First Birthday Pierson"! There was no way I was gonna attempt to write his name with Icing!

You can get a starter tip set from Michaels! Use  your 40 percent off coupon!

If your child wants a certain character cake, they are so very easy. You just star them in and outline! We have a party store in town that lets you "rent" the pan for 3 dollars! (beats 25-30 dollars for a birthday cake!)

I made this Cake for Evan's 2nd Birthday.

I forgot to mention the enormous amount of clean up you will have in your kitchen.  But it's so worth it, right? Have a great Thanksgiving! Will be doing some fun Christmas crafts this week- check back for a neat idea on Children's Keepsake ornaments!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pierson Reese. Linking up to some of these great parties.

I Heart Shutterfly

I have always loved shutterfly's products. They have quality products for great prices! I have ordered MANY things from them- but my favorite products are their scrapbooks and wall calendars! I am really looking forward to checking out their beautifully designed Christmas Cards this year!
Take a look at these Christmas Cards!

I love the colors of brown/red/and white together- with black and white pictures! So modern and classic at the same time. I could just see the sweet faces of my boys in that card!

Now who wouldn't love to have your own Christmas Tags printed? Check them out here.

My favorite product is their wall calendars! I got one of these for a Christmas present last year and I have enjoyed it so much!!

Shutterfly's products are great quality, wonderfully priced and quick shipping- why not use them this year? ESPECIALLY if you are a blogger- Blog about shutterfly and receive 50 Christmas cards for free- Click here to find out more!

Click here to see more Sizzlin' Sister Savingz Tipz!

Sizzlin' Sister Money-Savingz Tipz

Meet My Sister Jennifer. We are 2 1/2 years apart. I have been married 7 1/2 years and have 2 kids and she has been married 6 months and doesn't even have a dog. We don't have alot in common- yet we have everything in common. If you could see the texts, emails and phone conversations between us these days....you would read and hear words like "groupon", "southern savers", "printable coupons", "ebates" and "rite aid." (Fun conversations, huh?)

I am not really sure when it happened, but the "money saving bug" has definitely bitten us. We love to find ways to save money and we love to call each other or skype to catch each other up on the deals for that day. SO- I thought that instead of keeping it between the two of us- we would start sharing things here at my new blog. We might even start taking turns doing the posts--thats if I let her.=) (I still have the older-sis-rights,ha)

ok. So I hardly ever post twice in one day- but I had to let you in on this one before they are all gone! So ready for a great savings tip that we both have recently rushed to Target for in the last 24 hrs?...drum roll, please.

If you go to Target's website, you will see on the left hand side bar a link to push for printable coupons. You will see different categories and in the "apparel" link- there will be a coupon for 10 dollars off 3 sleepwear items. The coupon doesn't exclude clearance items. SO- in alot of Target stores right now, you will find tons of flannel pajamas and even some summer pajamas for 50 to 75 percent off.
We both found 3 different pairs and paid somewhere around 90 some cents total. (I will say if you live in my area- the clearance is a little slim-but you may find something!) Also- it is still an awesome deal if you want to buy 3 different Regular priced Pajamas for yourself or for Christmas Presents and use your 10 dollars off!!

One more quick tip to help you MAKE money while you start your Christmas shopping online. Yes, you read that right, MAKE money. You even get 5 dollars just for signing up! If you shop through a website called, Ebates, you can get a check sent right to your mailbox- or paid to you through pay-pal. Lets say you want to get this great pajama deal that I told you about earlier at Target.com- You would first go to Ebates, find the target website, and push the link. Since you shopped through the Ebates website, they will give you a certain percentage back. You have to check it out!! Jen and I have really been excited over the money that we have made by shopping online!

Look for more Sizzlin' Sister Money-Savingz Tipz-- Black Friday is right around the corner and we can't wait! Now go get you some warm flannel pajamas! Hurry, before they are gone!

A little bit of Krylon goes a Long Way

 I loved this Toscana coffee table once I first saw it in my Pottery Barn catalog (that I dream about ordering from one day).

 $399 dollars?? I knew that coffee table would never end up in this "decorating-with-just-a-handful-of-pennies" woman's house! So the first place I started looking was Craigslist. I really can't explain the addiction love I have for Craigslist! Not only do I get to shop in my pj's while my boys nap- but I get to negotiate all through email. I don't have a problem with trying to negotiate a deal when I can't see them- its when I'm in person when I get a little nervous!

 If we had a few thrift stores and even more than 1 Goodwill in this little town of "Mayberry" I might could shop there- but since I'm stuck with one Goodwill and 1 thrift store (with higher prices than a retail store) my best luck is good ole' Craigslist.

Once I saw this coffee table located in Goldsboro for 30 bucks I knew it was just what I was looking for!

Just wasn't happy with the price- so at the agreement of 20 dollars- we had a deal! Just so happens that this Pottery-barn-look-alike was only located in the next neighborhood over! It was so heavy that me and the kind man had to huff and puff to get it to the van. He even told me that he purchased her in Germany when he was stationed there. I didn't have the heart to tell him that within a few days his beloved piece would be spray-painted a classic black.

So I got to work and used Krylon spray paint in black satin and a clear-protective gloss finish to protect the table from all of the potential scratches that my boy's cars will make! (hey, it makes a good train table) 

Here She is after 1 coat of spray paint:

And Here she is after 2 coats of spray paint and a coat of clear protective gloss spray paint---

I love the details at the bottom...the legs and the heavy shelf to hold these green baskets (I already had) to store the remotes, magazines and books in!

I  had most of these items already- but I did find a cute fall-orange bird cage in the dollar section at Michaels (thanks to my friend Julie)- and the globe was another 1.88 find from Goodwill! (look for a cutie in the background!)

A few days later I stumbled upon 2 end tables at our Goodwill. I thought they might be a good make-over, but since I am still new at this whole makeover-your-furniture thing.....I just wasn't sure. When I got home, I kicked myself for not getting them because I knew they would look perfect with my newly painted coffee table. So I did what any good wife would do- and I begged my husband to go back the next day. (And what a good husband he is!) For only 8 bucks a piece, He really couldn't disagree.

It wasn't until I got home, that I realized that these two beauties were made from one of the best furniture companies around..Broyhill!

Yes, they were scratched up and even looked like someone took a hammer and made knicks in some places on the top, but hey- that gives it character!ha

A little Krylon spray paint in Satin Black and they took on a whole different look!

Sorry the picture is a little blurry- But here you go- Its a work in progress- but thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill a handful of pennies is what I needed to finish this project! 

 

Check back by in a few days- you just might see another "Penny" makeover from a great find that I stumbled into today!

Disclaimer: Don't tell Evan you saw him in his Cars- big-boy-underwear- -He will one day Kill me for this. We are potty-training this week!

I heart Wooden Toys!

UPDATE: SO SORRY- but its sold out=(

What better way to decorate your children's rooms and play rooms then with wooden organic toys? I have a thing for wooden vintage toys. I love to put them on their bookcases or up on a shelf. And most of the time they end of in the toy box with all the other piles of toys. 
Great deal today on these toys from Wild Dill- a great way to decorate your nest with a handful of pennies- or wrap it up and give it as a present! Heres how it works: Go Here- http://eversave.com/share/fJr7 ....There is  a deal that allows you to get 35 dollars worth of Wild Dill Toys for 12- but WAIT- it gets better. You get 2 dollars just for signing up- and if you enter BRANDCATION in the promo code- it takes 5 more bucks off. Then you get 35 dollars of toys (or clothes- lots of other things) for 5 dollars! OH- it gets even better-  you can get 15% off when checking out at Wild Dill with the code 15off. Thanks to my sis for sharing this great deal with me!                  
If you decide to do it- share it with others and receive even more rewards!