The Sewing Mom

So, by now you know that my daughter and I have begun the annual late summer ritual of back to school shopping. Our household has not been immune to the recession in this country and so we find it even more important this year to pay attention to who is having sales and make sure we keep track of what we need and what we don’t. I have to tell you how thrilled I am that one store has decided to bring back on of my all time favorite shopping events, the Kmart Bluelight Specials and I am going to be there, ready to shop!

If you’re unfamiliar with the Kmart Bluelight Specials, let me fill you in. I can remember as a kid being with my mom in Kmart and, suddenly, an announcement would come over the store speakers “Blue Light Special in Ladies Shoes” and everyone in the store would make a mad dash to the ladies shoes department to find out what was the quick mark down. You had to rush because a Blue Light Special was only for a limited time (I remember 10-20 minutes), so there was no waiting around if you wanted a good deal on ladies shoes!

Now, to present day, for one day only, July 25, Kmart Bluelight Specials will be taking place throughout the store, throughout the day on just about everything in the store. In fact, there will be over 40 Blue Light Specials taking place over the course of the day. I know that I’m going to be able to find things on our back-to-school shopping list and find those items at excellent prices. So, you know where I’ll be tomorrow!

By the way, feel free to follow at @kmartdealsnnews for updates and more specials.

I only worked a short shift this morning then took me daughter to her orthodontist appointment. Following that we did lunch and then some back to school supply shopping. I’m thrilled with how thrifty we were today!

We managed to get a 5 subject spiral notebook, a package of 6 single subject notebooks, a package of 12 pads of store brand sticky notes, 2 packages of writing pens, a package of loose leaf paper and a multi-colored pack of highlighters, all for only $17! I can only hope that the remaining supplies on the list can be found as inexpensively! I just have to say, I loved shopping at Staples today!

We actually have started the back-to-school shopping process all ready! Yesterday we loaded up on notebooks and construction paper and today my daughter bought a new lightweight jacket at the mall. I know it’s only a small start, but, at least it’s a start. When we got home from our little shopping trip today, I found an interesting brochure that had arrived in today’s mail and it pertained to saving for college. I have to tell you, I’m scared to death that we are not going to be prepared in a few short years when our own daughter heads off to college.

We had very good intentions all those years ago when she was born and we started saving immediately. Unfortunately, since then, several things have happened over the years that have caused us to deflate that college savings and so we are no where near financially prepared. Seriously, there are so many things to consider even beyond tuition and books. Obviously there are living expenses if our daughter moves away from home to attend college. I think it’s important now to start teaching her how to attend college on a low budget!

I can still remember my college roommate and I eating lots and lots of baked potatoes, popcorn and nacho cheese made in a hot pot! We rarely ever ate out, we didn’t have the money to do something that extravagant! I don’t want to be getting those calls on regular basis either, you know the ones, “Mom, send money”. It’s critical that she know how to live on a budget!

I know some parents send their kids off to college with a credit card, but I’m not sure in today’s economy, if that’s a good decision or not. I do like the idea of sending her off with a re-loadable gift card like Sears offers. It’s pretty cool because the student gets a card and the parents also get a card. So, I could add money to the card either online or at a Sears store and then my daughter can use her card to make purchases at either Sears or Kmart. That’s pretty simple and I wouldn’t have to deal with credit card bills. Sears CampusReady program is simple to use and helps kids be ready and parents stay on budget.

Sears CampusReady on Facebook where it can help students and parents get ready for college. There is a 3D program to help design your dorm room. Not only is this a fun program, but think how well it could help decide what will and won’t fit into a dorm room. This can keep all of us from over spending on dorm junk. There is also a “Gift Getter” program that allows a student to list things they’d like to have and friends and family can see their list and consider purchasing those items as gifts for the new student. (I really like that idea!) If you know anyone getting ready to head off to college, I definitely recommend checking out CampusReady on Facebook to help in the planning process.

Emboidered Blocks created by The Sewing Mom

I can’t believe it’s all ready been a year since I created this blocks for my granddaughter’s 2nd birthday.

I used 3 inch squares of cotton fabric and machine pieced them together to create each block.  Before they actually formed the block, I laid them flat on my embroidery sewing machine and embroidered the letters.  After sewing the blocks together, I stuffed them with polyester batting and then hand stitched them closed.

As I’ve said, we were out of town all last week, attending my nephew’s wedding and then visiting family and friends. We spent half of our time staying with family and the other half we were in hotels. Because none of the hotels we stayed in accepted pets, I was forced to board our dog at a local kennel near home for the week. We really missed her, but, I have to say, when we picked her up on Friday, she was so soft and smelled so good, and even her nails had been nicely trimmed!

Seriously, does your dog ever get stinky beyond belief? My daughter is pretty good about giving ours a bath, but sometimes she gets a bit more stinky than I’d like and she reminds me of a fish market! We use an all natural gentle shampoo on her and her fur is usually soft, but I can’t get over how soft she is after being bathed at the kennel and it’s left me wondering just what dog shampoo they use at the kennel. I’d really like to get some of whatever it is!

So, I’ve started doing some research and comparing dog shampoos. One I found on the internet is from Dinovite, it’s called Dogosuds ® and it’s an all natural dog shampoo that contains 100% pure, therapeutic grade essential oils that have natural, healing properties and don’t irritate a dog’s skin. It has no chemicals and no perfumes, after all, who wants a dog that smells like strawberries or coconuts?

If you’re interested in an all natural dog shampoo, you can find Dinovite on the web or follow them on Twitter.