Small Town Saver

For spring cleaning!

My latest Bzz-kit from BuzzAgent just arrived!  I was so excited to get this in time to do some heavy-duty spring cleaning!

In my kit I recieved:

• 4 oz. Glade Limited Edition Spring Collection Jar Candle in Sparkle of Spring scent
• Glade Scented Oil Refill in Crisp Waters Scent
• Pledge Lemon Clean aerosol spray
• 20 oz. bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer with Extend-A-Clean
• Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel Kit with dispenser and gel discs
• Mega-savings coupon booklet with coupons for SC Johnson products to share with my friends and family!
• The Smart & Easy Spring Cleaning BzzGuide!

I was probably most excited to see the bathroom cleaning products, as my bathrooms need a good, deep scrubbing in a major way!

I am NOT going to post before pics, but I WILL post after pics of my bathtubs, furniture, etc. after I use these awesome products while spring cleaning!

I hope you check out these products the next time you’re out shopping–especially the new Spring Collection glade products!  They are so pretty and they smell great!

Disclaimer:  I received these products as part of being a BzzAgent.  All opinions are expressly my own.

Subway art seems to be all the rage around the blogosphere these days, and I’m lovin’ it!  Especially FREE Subway art! You know I’m all about re-purposing things around your home, and using inexpensive things to make a big impact.

I’m really loving this Valentine Subway Art that Jessica at Craftily Ever made!  I plan on making this an 8 x 10 photo and framing it for some quick, easy, and *inexpensive* Valentine’s Day art! Go check out her blog and see how to score this art for yourself!

Good enough is good enough for now.

I’ve been making a concerted effort to tell myself this over and over every day.

How often do we feel pressured to do everything “perfect” during the holiday season only to end up making ourselves and everyone around us miserable? This year, I’ve decided I’m going to let myself have a “less-than-perfect” house. I’m going to slow down a bit…

With this year has come the realization that my kids are growing up fast. Now, they are still young, but this year I have two that are in school and my youngest is already four months past his first birthday. Where is the time going?
I don’t want my memories of special times like Christmas to be about me pulling my hair out because the house didn’t look perfect or because the baby pulled yet ANOTHER ornament off the tree and broke it.

I took some time to reflect on this a couple of days ago…as a child, what are my memories of the Christmas season?
Making cookies…singing carols with my siblings and practicing for our church Christmas program…driving around looking at Christmas light displays…having joy out of watching the younger kids get so excited…getting so excited when the first snowflakes started to fall…cozying up with my family in the evenings watching a Christmas movie…and so much more!

Notice what I don’t remember…a spotless house? Not sure… A perfectly planned Christmas activity by my mom each minute of the day? Nope! A perfectly trimmed tree? You gotta be kidding! There were too many kids for that!

I want my kids to have that same feeling of a fun yet peaceful Christmas that I remember. I want to just slow down and just be.  Be open to God’s gentle reminders of what this time of year is about and why we should all slow down and reflect on it. It is too easy to get caught up in the gift buying and deal-seeking and everything else that comes along with the holiday.

I’ve decided the best gift I can give myself and my family this year is a calm and gentle spirit. To take every opportunity I can to remind my children why we celebrate, how the gifts are just secondary..how the best gift of all came from God so long ago in the form of a baby who would become Savior to all who trust and believe in Him!

How are you planning on saving your sanity this Christmas?  Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Hautelook is a daily deal site that has some pretty cool events going on right now. The daily deal is reversible shift dresses for babies for $18, originally $52.

There is also a deal on Lulu handbags and accessories; I saw some nice purses for as low as $9 and a very cute bow scarf for $4 that was originally $48.

I’ve had these two framed art pieces for a few years now.  They have hung on my living room walls, and now they are in my bedroom. However, since I redid the color scheme of my bedroom to red and chocolate brown, the greenish background didn’t go quite so well. I’ve been meaning to change them for quite a while and finally got around to doing it.  I purchased some very nice scrapbooking paper at a dollar store that complemented my bedroom colors, and they actually fit perfectly into the frame without any trimming at all.

Here is the before pic:

Basically, I had to inspect the back to see how (and if) I would be able to take it apart and remove the paper behind that medallion to change it. I changed the paper, and after previewing it, decided I liked the look better without the medallion so I set those aside to use on a later project.  And here is the final look:

It actually looks like real fabric in the frame!  The whole project took me about 20 minutes to do and I love the difference it made in my room!  Oh, and it also cost me $1.00!  The scrapbook paper was $0.50/sheet.

Frugal and fun decorating!  I love it!

Right now, Kohls.com has some awesome deals in their clearance section which when combined with codes make some very cheap items! For instance, these Sonoma Life + Style textaline placemats are on clearance for $2.39.

After promo codes, they are only $1.91 each!  I grabbed some to make placemat pillows out of because the colors complement my decor nicely.

To get in on these great deals, use code FREECCDEC for free shipping and NEXTORDER20 to get 20% off your order as well.

Thanks MoneySavingMom!

If you liked the deal I shared yesterday, then you’ll be excited about this too.  Use code F102785 to get $10 off any order of $10 or more (before shipping.)

I used it to score myself this very cute bag and paid only $5.99 shipping + tax after the discount code.  It is normally $20.  Merry Christmas to me!
The code is valid through 12/31/2010.  Happy shopping!

This is VERY exciting news–I love this store and my mom and sisters do too!  Right now you can sign up for a Bath & Body Works Rewards card and get a free item each month!  It’s called the LUV BBW club.  I’m guessing the free items will be travel-sized but we’ll see!  I just ordered a Christmas gift from Bath and Body Works online yesterday!  Can’t wait to get this card in the mail!