Eating for Two, Sleeping for Two, Shopping for Two
Willow Tree Toys is where I buy the majority of my two boys toys at holidays. They have a great selection of good quality toys and very reasonable prices. Once you get on their mailing list, they frequently send notice of when they are having sales. Last month I ordered a box full of future gift giving toys for 50% off. And this month they are offering 60% off new items!
My favorites are:
Haba Blossom Rattle , Haba Mixed Food Basket, Waldorf Doll Ole and the Lacing Tree
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom has teamed up with Tawra and Jill from Living on a Dime to have a blowout sale on their money saving e-books. They are giving away 17 of their most popular books for $17.
That’s $1/book, which is an unbelievable deal. If you bought them all separately they would cost you $75! Many of you are already Money Saving Mom fans, so you know that she doesn’t put her books on sale often. You also probably know that Crystal is a grocery savings expert, her blog is exceptional so you already know her book will be too. So get it while you can.
Here are the 17 books you’ll receive:
I’ve been a big fan of La Mere maternity bra since I first tried it over two years ago and it seems like the Shopping for Two readers have been fond of it too. I wore mine for about 16 months straight and really loved it. It was supportive and yet very elegant and I might even say, a bit sexy too with all that black lace. Oprah has raved about this bra in her baby shows too. The only thing that held me back from buying more than one was the price. It was always right around $60 which was the high end of my bra budget. But guess what? figleaves.com
is having a sale of up to 70% off everything storewide! So the La Mere maternity bra
is down to $31! At that price, pick up at least three. If I were pregnant or still nursing I certainly would. You can read my full La Mere bra review here.
Update: Unfortunately Figleaves doesn’t carry this bra any longer, but you can find the Elle Macpherson Intimates La Mere maternity bra
I thought I would share with you today a few places where I regularly go to save money. Where are your favorite places to go that save you money?
About a year ago, we made the switch to using Seventh Generation diapers exclusively when we use disposables. I just like how incredibly soft they are, how they don’t use bleach which can be harmful to babies, and how devoid they are of commercial cartoon characters. The only downside is that they can be expensive, but by using Diapers.com, they are only a penny or two more expensive than other cheapers brands. Diapers.com not only is cheap, but if you order over $50 worth, shipping is free and even though I choose Ground delivery my order ALWAYS shows up at my doorstop the very next day! Incredible. You have to give them a try.
I admittedly don’t use coupons as much as I used to because over the years our eating habits have changed so that the products we buy don’t usually have coupons. But when I do need a name brand product I always check coupons.com to see if they have a coupon. They send you a list of new coupons each week and it’s so easy to print them out and bring them to the store with you. Save on Groceries - Download the CouponBar and never miss another offer!
I had heard of Sierra Trading Post from a friend a while back, but came upon it again recently when Soulemama bought her kids socks through them. I immediately had to go and order my boys some SmartWools sock and boiled wool slippers too and now I’m addicted. I’ve bought quite a few Christmas presents from them and love the bargains I’m getting. Plus they e-mail you special coupons to save an additional 30%+!
Before I buy anything online, I always do a quick online coupon search. It takes seconds and frequently I’ll find a 20% off code or free shipping code. It’s worth it. CoolSavings has a nice list of online coupons along with grocery store coupons too. Sign up for the e-mails so you can keep up on all the sales.
I’d love to hear where you go to save money.
Now is the time of year when families across the world get out their cameras to attempt to take the perfect holiday photo. It’s always a struggle, isn’t it? To get everyone facing the camera, smiling, to get the lighting right, to not have red eye? It’s enough to get to you give up on the whole concept of making up holiday cards in the first place. But don’t despair, here are 10 simple steps to getting your family photos looking great.
There is absolutely no use trying to take pictures when the family is crabby and hungry, it is only going to be asking for trouble. So try picture taking after breakfast or after naptime. Everyone should be relatively happy, well rested, clean and full from a hearty breakfast or snack.
Turning off the flash on your camera will do two things. It will eliminate red eye and will give your faces a more natural look. This will mean that you will either have to go outside or stand by a window. Before you take your photo, search out the lightest room in your house, open all the window coverings and hold your photo session there. If the photo still comes out too dark or fuzzy it is time to head outside.
I spend my entire childhood being told to stand facing the sun when I had my picture taken. Its a miracle that I even have my eyesight for all of the squinting I did. This is not only unpleasant for the person getting their picture taken, but I’ve found that pictures taken in full sun either come out overexposed or with funky shadows. So I’ve discovered that standing in full shade is the best spot. Because you are outside, it is light enough where you don’t need a flash, yet the solid shade provides an even tone over your face to result in a beautiful picture.
When babies are too young to sit up by themselves, it can be challenging to find a good spot to prop them up. Try lining their removable infant car seat with your favorite blanket and place it outside in full shade. This will give them a nice seat to sit in and give them a pretty background too.
If the main subject of your holiday card is your little one, make sure you bend down to get at their level. Doing this will really help capture their true facial expressions and help engage the viewer. That said….
If your baby is very tiny, try laying them down on the ground and shooting from directly above them. Place something near them to illustrate just how tiny and precious they are. Or decorate their surrounding with some seasonal decor.
Have you ever noticed the cute backgrounds they use in the parenting magazines? Why not hang up a festive piece of wrapping paper on a brightly lit wall and have your little one sit or stand in front of that? Or if you are taking a family photo, why not use a holiday bed sheet strung on a clothesline for a background like this?
Why battle for the perfect ‘festive’ themed photo when you have a perfect family beach photo from June? Remember your friends and family want to see you happy and smiling in your card and they won’t mind a bit if your photo is six months old.
If the colors just aren’t right in your photo, use your photo editor to convert the photo to black and white. While many professional photographers might not agree, to use amateurs a lot of photo sins can be erased once you take out the color.
Go for a photo collage card. If you somehow can’t manage to get a photo of everyone looking handsome and happy at one time, try a photo collage card to get everyone’s smiling face into one page.
Now, where should you order your holiday photos? Snapfish (where you can get November Promotion 15% off holiday cards + 50 FREE 4×6 prints to new customers!) and Tiny Prints are my two favorites. To see a round up of all the online photo card prices, check out The Mother Load.
How about you, do you have any holiday photo taking tips? Or care to link to your holiday card photo?
