Toy Sale this weekend!

If you're still needing to do some Christmas shopping, here's an opportunity to buy gently used toys. One Week Boutique is having a smaller-scaled sale at the Mattis Free United Methodist Church here in Champaign on November 20th from 8am-5pm. If you've never been to one of their sales, it's amazing how many items they can pull together. I have a party to go to this Saturday, but I will definitely be making my way over there to see what they have to offer.

For more detailed information click here. Good luck shopping!

Our Day Off

WOW! It's been over a week since I've posted last, sorry about that! I know there are some dedicated readers out there. Thanks for hanging in with me.

My family and I had a great Christmas, though we had two sick little boys off and on through the weekend, we're slowly getting better. It's rough having sick kids.

Well, it has snowed here in Central Illinois and in Champaign we got a little over 6 inches. (At least those are my calculations from our backyard deck!). The boys are thrilled to see the snow pile up, and I am too!

This morning my husband and I took the boys sledding, and even though it was bitter cold out with the wind and snow, we decided to take the boys sledding. We wanted to say we took the boys sledding at least ONCE this winter. So we'll see if we head out again to do it later this winter.

Here's a fun video of Jason and Silas on the sled:

After we sled down the hill a couple times, we as parents, decided it would be best if we can back at a warmer time. So, we convinced the boys that they could build a snowman in our back yard instead of sledding. Here is a before picture of the snowman that Zechariah and I built:

And here is the after picture (a couple hours later):


I found it quite hilarious how the snowman's smile turned upside down when his eye fell out!

Hope you're enjoying the snow wherever you're at!

Free Shipping Day

Free Shipping Day is Today! 743 participating merchants are offering free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve. Check out more stores by clicking this link.

For those of you who have waited to shop for Christmas, today is your day where you could get free shipping delivered by Christmas Eve. So if you haven't gotten all of your gifts, I suggest starting here and see what you can find!

Free Christmas Music

In the mood for some free Christmas music? Check out this free album on iTunes. There are some pretty good artists on this album, so I wouldn't wait to download it. Here is the complete list:

O Come All Ye Faithful – Amy Grant
The First Noel – David Archuleta
Silent Night – Sarah McLachlan
Carol of the Bells/Jingle Bells – Barry Manilow
It Snowed – Meaghan Smith
Above the Northern Lights – Manheim Steamroller
Baby It’s Cold Outside – Lady Antebellum
We Three Kings – Toby Keith
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Rascal Flatts
Silent Night – Wynonna
12 Days of Christmas – Mexicani Marimba Band
We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Weezer
A Snowflake Fell (and It Felt Like a Kiss) – Glasvegas
Another Christmas Song – Stephen Colbert
Greensleeves – Vince Guaraldi
Dream a Dream – Charlotte Church
The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act 2: Character Dances – Kirov Orchestra & Valery Gergiev
Angels We Have Heard on High – Aretha Franklin
O Holy Night – Musiq Soulchild
Auld Lang Syne – The Lonesome Travelers

Word to the wise - You will need to have iTunes already downloaded to your computer in order for you to access it.

Puzzle Christmas Tree Ornaments

Do you need some easy craft ideas for your kids to make? Try this craft! It's super easy and kids who enjoy using glue will get a kick out of them.

All you need for this craft project is:

-Sturdy cardboard
-Puzzle Pieces
-Glue
-Scissors
-Decorative embellishments (i.e. sequences, ribbon, stars, etc.)

We have an ornament on our Christmas tree from my mother-in-law just like these, the only thing is that she bought hers from a craft fair.

Step 1: Cut out a base from the cardboard for your tree.

Step 2: Use puzzle pieces to cover that cardboard. We used an end piece to form the trunk of the tree. We also had 3 layers of pieces so that you could no longer see the cardboard underneath the pieces.

Step 3: Embelish your tree with whatever you have available. We are going to use beads and sequences.

Step 4: Attach a ribbon at the top so that you can hang your ornament on the tree!

I'd love to hear or even see your results! :)

New Salvation Army Store

If you haven't heard already, there is a new Salvation Army store in town!  Yup, my husband discovered it a couple weeks ago when he went to the laundromat for me.  It is located at 109 W. John St. here in Champaign.  So, today was the first time that I actually went inside.  I was surprised at how organized and clean the store was!!  I asked an employee where they got all their nice shelving and racks, and they said that they got them from the Steve & Barry's store that went out of business awhile back.  I was just really impressed with the whole setup of the store.  And of course, if you know me well, you know that I can't just walk into a thrift store without finding something.  Here's what I ended up with:

VTech Thomas the Tank Engine Laptop: $4.50 (retails for $18.00) (Christmas gift!!)

Wooden Frame: $0.50 (Christmas gift!!)

Photo Album: $0.75

Mini Christmas Lights: $2.50 (and they all work!!)

I have to say for $8.50, that's a steal!  So if you're in the neighborhood, I highly recommend that you stop by their store and support them.  

Salvation Army Finds

Our local Salvation Army store out behind the mall has been updated and remodeled!  If you live in Champaign, I suggest you check it out.  It looks like they got alot of their cabinets and shelving from one of the big clothing stores that went out of business.  

This was the first time I'd been in there since they've remodeled, and here's what I came out with:

We scored some Bob the Builder birthday decorations for our little Silas who will be turning 2 in February.  Book = $1, Hat = $1, Balloons = $0.50, Banner = $0.25.

The Photo Album isn't as nice on the outside as it is on the inside.  It was $2.50, and has lots of pages where I can store some free photos! :)

Here are some cute shelves that I will find a nice spot for in our bedroom ($3 each):

And these black corner shelves were only $1 each, so I'm going to paint them white and also find a spot for them, and put candles on:

And last but not least, I got this 7.5 foot Christmas tree for only $10!!  It's currently in our garage airing out, because it kinda smells like someone's attic.  My mother-in-law suggested hanging little cute packages of air freshners in the tree when we bring it inside.  Any suggestions on how to get that attic smell out of a Christmas tree?

Overall, I'm quite pleased with out findings at the local Salvation Army store.

FujiFilm: 50 Free Photo Cards!

Okay, so truthfully, I've known about this deal for a couple of days now, and wanted to make sure if was legit before I put it on my blog as well.  

Get 50 free 4x8 or 5x7 photo cards including free shipping when you type in the coupon code "freebies4mom-1109" in the checkout lane.  If you need more details, go to Freebies4mom's blog to read more about it.  My order totaled out to be $39.50, and then I typed in the code and it came out to $0.00!! 

Great idea for Christmas cards!  Thanks Freebies4mom!!

Amazon: Cheap Scrapbooking Paper

I was reading the usual blogs that I read every day, and here's a great deal I found from FrugalFreebiesandDeals:

Head over to Amazon now to find some super cheap Scrapbooking paper!  If you're into scrapbooking or know of someone who is, this might make a cheap Christmas gift.  There are multiple options, 12 sheet packs starting at $0.30 each!  

Check it out here.