The Sewing Mom

This post brought to you by dealnews. All opinions are 100% mine.

I do a lot of shopping online.  I don’t like fight traffic and crowds at stores, so online shopping suits me just fine.  However, I don’t like the amount of time that can be sucked out of my day when trying to comparison shop, especially when I’m trying to find the best deal.

If I know exactly the item I want and where to get it, I can be done within minutes.  Unfortunately, that’s not typically the case.  For example, I know I want to purchase some new luggage for my husband.  I don’t know what brand, although I have a few top contenders, and I never know who has the best deal.  Seriously, everyone from department stores to warehouse clubs sell luggage, so I need help to save time and money.

Thankfully, I was just introduced to  dealnews, an online service that does all the time consuming legwork for me.  They find the best deals and put the information into one neat, concise website.  Plus, if you’re looking for a particular item, you can set up an email alert.  dealnews will send you an email as soon as the deal is available, even if you are looking for a specific deal at a specific store.  That’s pretty cool in my opinion.

So anyway, I visited dealnews and in their search box, I simply typed “luggage”and in a flash, I had several deals to choose from.  I chose the American Tourister deal and I really like that it tells you exactly what retailer is selling it at the “deal” price and even gives a couple of options that may be at a similar price.  I was thrilled with the result so took a screen shot to share with you what I saw, and by the way, this was listed under clothing deals.

Try out dealnews if you’re in the market for some online shopping and come back and let me know what you were shopping for and if you found their site to be useful.

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I get older, I’ve come to learn that some things in life just can’t be helped.  This is definitely true when it comes to having to take prescription medications.  I was diagnosed a few years ago with high cholesterol.  My doctor and I worked together to try other way ways to bring my bad cholesterol down through diet, natural supplements and exercise.  While it did reduce that bad number by a small amount, it wasn’t enough.  My doctor determined that I have hereditary high cholesterol and the only way to manage it is by doing all the things I all ready mentioned, plus take a daily medication.

I take my little pill every day and I think the worst part is knowing how much I have to pay every month for that little bottle of pills.  I have prescription coverage in my health insurance and I am still paying around $600 a year just for that one medication.  I can’t imagine having to cover the entire expense with no insurance.  If I couldn’t afford that medication I would be at a much higher risk of heart attack or even heart failure.  That’s pretty scary.

I think it’s wonderful that Walgreens is offering a special discount for its Walgreens Prescription Savings Club.  An annual family membership is only $35 a year and it covers everyone in your immediate family, including your spouse and even dependents up to age 22.  Amazingly, it even covers prescription medications for your pets!  I don’t know any health insurance that does that!  Oh, and if you’re still single, you can get an individual membership for only $20 year.

Benefits of membership include savings on brand name and generic medicines, discounts on flue shots, nebulizers and diabetic supplies.  You also earn bonuses whenever you purchase Walgreens brand products or Walgreens photofinishing services.

I know many people that can benefit from this program and I’m glad to know Walgreens is reaching out to help.  We can all support Walgreens in their effort by “liking” Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter.

This post brought to you by Triad Retail Media. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever walked into you own home and notice that it didn’t smell so very nice?  What about when the trash has been forgotten and it has become pretty smelly?  Or what about after you’ve cooked a lovely dinner of fish and broccoli, now those are some odors that take time to dissipate!

I try very hard to keep the trash bin free of smelly items, but sometimes, it’s difficult, particularly with kitchen trash.  I do find it helpful to utilize home scents, whether it’s candles, mists or even diffusers.  Honestly, I prefer the new Glade® Expressions™ oil diffuser because it’s so easy to use and the fragrance is long lasting, in fact, it can last up to 30 days and doesn’t even require electricity like many other brands do.

I also like to use the new Glade® Expressions™ fragrance mist which is also long lasting and designed to fit in with any room decor. The mist is refillable which helps the environment while making your home smell pretty!

Both products come with a satisfaction guarantee , if you don’t like it, just fill out form at http://bit.ly/xMScbO send in the UPC and the receipt and you’ll get your money back.  Both products also currently have an available coupon at http://bit.ly/zus6F5 to save $1.50 when purchasing at Walmart, so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of Walmart’s low pricing and to try out either or both of these great products.  The most difficult thing you’ll have to do is decide on the fragrance:

Pineapple & Mangosteen

Cotton & Italian Mandarin (only available in Fragrance Mist form)

Fuji Apple & Cardamom

Spice Lavender & Juniper Berry

This post brought to you by Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever planted flower bulbs?  I have and they have the best payoff of anything I’ve ever planted!  Our previous home up north had a small tree in the front yard outlined by brick and bark mulch at the bottom.  It was so incredibly boring, so I planted a circle of daffodils and a larger circle of tulips around the base of the tree.  Every spring, sometimes while there was still snow on the ground, I would find them growing up out of the ground and before I knew it, breaking into beautiful yellow and red flowers.  It was like an annual gift I had given to myself!

I haven’t yet planted any bulbs here in Texas for a couple of reasons.  Obviously, the weather here is quite different and I haven’t been too sure about what types of bulbs are best to plant here.  Also, we have a gazillion squirrels and rabbits here and I don’t want them stealing my bulbs!

Good news!  I learned to visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more and to use their Garden Guru tool to find what bulbs are right for planting in my area.  It’s super easy to use, just choose your country, then your area, pick the type of bulb and then check the planting guide  that shows how to plant your bulbs.  This is a screenshot of my personalized planting guide if I choose to plant hyacinths.

If you’ve never planted bulbs, its super simple.  Seriously, it’s digging a small hole, dropping in the bulb and covering the hole up with dirt.  Done!  You can visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more information and watch videos for great ideas using bulbs. I personally enjoyed Marcy’s idea for growing bulbs in pots as her sons science project, great idea!  Although, Evelyn reminded me that daffodils are pretty animal tolerant, in other words, they’re not tasty to critters.

Bulbs make great gifts too.  My mom was given an amaryllis bulb ijn a pot several years ago and every year, that amaryllis blooms beautifully for all of us to enjoy.

If the ease of planting bulbs isn’t enough to entice you, how about a contest at Curbside Chaos that is paying $5,000 for a yard makeover! Just like bulb planting, it’s easy to enter, just submit a photo of your yard! The lucky winner will get the yard makeover plus a visit from Taniya Nayak (@TaniyaNayak on Twitter)who will provide the winner with tips for updating their yard along with ways to incorporate bulbs into the landscaping.

Plus, because the contest is an effort to educate people on the beauty of bulbs, for every share on Twitter, “Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.” will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together – the nation’s leading nonprofit, working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.

If you think you’ve never seen a flower that came from a bulb, think again.  Just look up at my blog header, those are tulips, my favorite flower.  Yes, tulips come from bulbs!

Merry Christmas Animations provided by MySpaceGraphicsandAnimations.net

To all my friends, family and loyal blog viewers, I want to wish you all the very best for today and everyday. May the Lord be with you and comfort you when you are in need and may you find strength in his love.

Merry Christmas!