My Favs 2011 Part 1

I've been seeing tons of videos and blog posts on "end of year reviews". I thought it would be fun to do some myself. Don't worry - I know I'm flaky with my blog so I already wrote all my posts and they are set up to post everyday the rest of the year! YaY! :D

MY 2011 Favorites Part 1

Girl Stuff- Due to something that happened last year, this year I renewed myself. I certainly didn't want to be self centered but children & hubbies alike enjoy you the most when you put the me in Mommy. (i heard that somewhere) So I spent some of this year remembering myself and "rediscovering" me. My husband has enjoyed this greatly. ;) anyhow I have always loved "girl" products. I just do. I can't help myself. When I was in high school I think 50% of my money earned went to beauty. The smell of a nail salon soothed my weary teenage soul! While it wouldn't be wise use of our money to do most of what I did as a teenager, I did use coupons and rewards to stock up my lonely beauty supply. Pictured here are my favorite finds of the year. Most of these I've used since Feb. If any look unused it's because I've bought another of it.

• Ulta Professional foundation brush
• Ulta medium powder brush
• Ulta smudge brush
• Victoria's Secret kabuki brush
• Victoria's Secret bronzing powder (sun goddess)
• Ulta lipsticks 134 & 138
• Lady Speedstick Stainguard (daringly fresh) ~ I've used this brand since middle school
• OPI mermaid tears ~ most used, most complimented nail polish I've ever had
• Juicy Couture ~ I got this bottle for Christmas 2 years ago and I just finished it last month
• Physicians Formula smoky hazel eyes
• Almay bright eyes - i've gone through tons of these (um ok 2, but that's a lot!)
• Mary Kay eyeliner bronze
• Almay smart shade smart balance 100 - my favorite foundation of all time

so now the homeschooling world knows (or at least those that subscribe to my blog LoL) - it's true - I love girl products!!

In the Kitchen-

I've had these babies for 3 years now! They are called spoonulas (in case you didn't know) and I've found it to be completely true! They do work as a spoon and a spatula. In fact, I do not own any spoons (cooking) or spatulas! I just have these and I love them! I've use these things for everything - they've frosted every single cake made in the past 3 years, stirred countless soups, stews, sauteed countless veggies, and so and so on, you get it!

In the Mommy World - I became an Amazon Mom. This is probably my favorite "mom" find of the year. Where I moved to is 30 minutes from "town" and there is not a nearby BJs. So I found Amazon Mom. I love it. I subscribed to Pampers Cruisers and Babyganics wipes. The diapers come once a month and last 5 weeks. The diapers come once every other month and last exactly until the next shipment. When your an amazon mom and you subscribe these products become $37.75/160 diapers and $15.19/400 organic wipes! They are affordable, I'm never out, and I never have to remember any while in the store! I really enjoy my Amazon Mom membership. It's defiantly my best Mommy find of the year! :)

Good Finds

Staples has been rocking these past two weeks. A fellow homeschooler informed me that you can sign up for their Teachers Rewards card. With this card the 1 cent specials that usually have a limit of 2 - 10 become 25 and sometimes the .25 deals limit doubles as well! So far Office Max and Office Depot school specials hasn't impressed me so I've only gone to Staples.

Last week's special:

4(24pk)Crayola Crayons .99, 25 3prong folders .01, 8(8ct)pencils .01

Total Spent: $4.50

This week's special:25 (4oz)glue bottles .01, 2(100ct) index cards .25, 2 (10ct)Bic mechanical pencils .25

Total Spent: $1.31

Last week when I went to Wal-Mart sometime later I seen their Crayola crayons were .25! So I had to look at the price of everything else I bought at Staples and it still saved me around $3 to buy the materials at Staples (which is closer to us than Wal-Mart).

This week's special the mechanical pencils aren't pictured in their packs because as soon as I got home my husband broke into them! He seemed very pleased with me buying him mechanical pencils.

I'm looking forward to more Staples deals! & maybe Office Max & Office Depot stepping up their game :)

Good Finds

Well tomorrow is our big day! Our first day of Kindergarten! I just wanted to post on some awesome finds before all the school posts start. I have found each of these places to be great money saving resources:

Books A Million:
We only go here a few times a year b/c it's located in a mall that is about 30 - 40 minutes away. Following Charlotte Mason's artist/picture study, I picked two artists (one for each half of the year) to study. There were a few to choose from at Books A Million all for $4.97. I picked two and just spent yesterday going through all pics. in Van Gogh I wanted the boys to study and laminated them. I chose about 27 pictures and there were plenty I passed! Not bad when I see what some what some of the prices are for the like on Ebay!

Borders:

One of my favorite places! I bought all three books on clearance for $3.97 each! They are for Zack (my 3yo) so he won't feel left out when Chris (my k) is doing his "paper work". I never heard of Gakken workbooks before but they are awesome! In addition to the amazing clearance section Borders never ceases to have, they send out coupons for 33% - 40% off regular priced items in email. This is how I bought the Melissa & Doug latches. I didn't realize until my last trip that Borders has a wealth of Lauri Toys and Melissa & Doug products that you are allowed to use your coupon with! These products link in great w/Charlotte Mason & Maria Montessori's ideas!

Dollar Tree:

This is a very small Dollar Tree trip. I've seen these items at our Wal-Mart (prices vary according to location :) for around $1.97 - $2.97. The Dollar Tree is another of my top favs.! I've found amazing deals for school, learning activities, crafts, floss, lipstick, eyeshadow, etc. There are things I never buy there though like food, almost none of their toys, or products like shampoo, lotion, etc.

In addition, BJ's is another great place. They are a wholesale club here that seriously rocks! I don't have any pics. but we recently bought this laminator for under $22 and the refill packs of 50 are $6.99 regular there!

Well that's all my Good Finds for now! Can't wait for tomorrow!!