INTRODUCING...True Birds!!

Hey fam & friends...you have been asking and waiting and now it is here! For months my girls have been donning my sisters' incredible baby headwear line. And just last night, they launched online after spending the past several months keeping this quiet while placing their irresistible accessory products in the hands of the right buyers/showrooms, magazines and influentials before exposing their idea to the web world.

A quick glance of what the True Birds, http://www.truebirds.com/ web store features

They're in numerous boutiques from Beverly Hills to the N.Y.C., have had some celebrity requests for True Birds from the likes of Mamma Mia's star, Amanda Siegfried as well as the writer of JUNO, Diablo Cody. They also just recently had a request for a meeting with the hair accessory buyer from Henri Bendel which will be held next month.

Kennedy wearing one of her favorites...Red Strawberry Patch

They want to spread a little Christmas Cheer! They're offering a 40% off coupon for all orders until December 31, 2008. This coupon is for our family and friends and their family and friends so feel free to share it!

The coupon code for 40% off

is: HOLIDAY

If you want to get an additional 10% off to get a total of 50% off your entire order its easy! All you have to do is post something about True Birds on your blog and/or facebook, send them the link of your post to truebirds@gmail.com and they'll immediately send you your 50% off coupon for your entire order!

For Christmas Delivery order by Wednesday, December 17th (11:59 PM PST)

*We would love to play Santa for you so we will pay the extra PRIORITY MAIL charge to make sure you get it just in time!

fyi: you enter the coupon code on the page after you enter your credit card information

other fyi: All of our accessories are almost up! For the next couple of days the only items you can purchase through the website are the adult 'soft bands' and 'baby bands' because the others aren't linked for sale yet. If you would like to order others that don't have the link to buy online you can email us your order and phone number and we can do a paypal order via phone. Thanks!

Happy Shopping!!

http://www.truebirds.com/

$2.00 off Goody Ouchless product

I found this coupon on Freebies 4 Moms and thought I would share. I'm stoked, because the clear rubberbands I buy for McKenna are $2.39. I paid $.39 for those today. It expires 12/31/08. http://www.goodycomfort.com/res/pdf/ouchless_coupon.pdf

Free 8x11 photo book from Snapfish until Sunday 11/16

Check out my favorite baby site and read down until you see the offer for the book.

http://babycheapskate.com

This is a great way to scrapbook or Christmas gifts. I'm making mine now!

Knot Heads sold at local ICING stores

Hi Friends! Just wanted to fill you in that Knot Heads are now being sold at select ICING stores across the country. Today we also opened our first kiosk at University Mall in Orem, Utah.

Hope you stop by your local ICING store or hit up the kiosk. There's new colors and patterns too. I've loved doing hip and happy hairdo's of all sorts from easy yet rad updo's to a simple boho twist back. Hope you pick some up soon! Happy Holiday Hair to you:)!

Old Navy fleece

Saturday and Sunday, November 8 and 9th buy fleece scarves and hats for $1.00. Sweet deal for adults and kids. Plus outer wear is 50% off. Great deals.

How to clean your microwave fast and easy

For a fast and easy way to clean your microwave, put a glass of lemon water in the microwave until it boils. It will steam up the microwave and loosen your grime.

Freepeats opens in SLC Monday 9/15

If you haven't heard about Freepeats, check out babycheapskate to learn more and to sign up for a lifetime membership. It is an organization to put baby stuff back to use with others when you are done with it. I'm waiting for one here in Medford, but until then, I will help you find freepeats for yourselves. The open enrollment is only for two weeks and then there is a small fee of $4.95 for a lifetime membership.

Stub Hub

Have a game/event you want to go to but can't afford?! Think again. A couple weekends ago I got Anaheim Angels tickets for $6 each (generally they are $23). What happens is season ticket holders put up their seats for sale if they can't go. So, before you buy another pair of tickets, check out www.stubhub.com first!

When is your bread done?

Two ways to know your bread is done

When you're baking at home, it can be difficult to tell if your bread is done. It may look like it, but here are two ways to know for sure.Unless you have some experience, it's a little tricky to tell when your bread is done. There are two main ways to know for sure.The first method is to use a thermometer. Bread is done baking at 190°F. Just stick a thermometer in the bottom of the loaf to gets its temperature, and if it's at 190 then it's done.The other method for checking done-ness is the old reliable thump test. This method has been used since goodness knows when; definitely since before ready access to probe thermometers. Using oven mitts or pot holders, take the loaf out of the oven and hold it top side down. With the bottom side up and using your index and middle fingers, firmly tap the loaf. If the resulting thud sounds like tapping on a hollow tree, then the bread is done. The thermometer test is a little more cut and dry, while the thump test needs a little bit of practice. The thermometer may be a little easier, but the thump test is very traditional and is definitely worth knowing, especially if you don't have a thermometer handy.

Shredding Meat

Here is a quick tip for shredding meat. Use your hand mixer. If it's a huge piece of meat, break it up a little and put your hand mixer in and let it do the work. No need to get two forks out and shred. I never thought my mixer would be used for more than baking. Let me know how it works for you.

Children's Place sale now 50% off sale price

If you haven't heard yet, the 50% off sale price has finally come. Now is the time to hit up the children's place. Plus make sure you have signed up for the birthday club. You get coupons year round and extra coupons for the months of your children's birthday. Also, they give you a card to use each time and once you spend $75 you get $10. Let me know what you find.

Fresh Green Onions

Next time you buy green onions, save the bottoms(the white part) and plant them. Within weeks, you will have your own fresh green onions. I just read about it before we left to Utah and now my green onions are 4 and 5 inches tall. Happy Gardening!

Children's Place Monster Sale

The sale has started. 30% off the lowest price on a bunch of things. I didn't have a lot of luck with boys but girls had a good selection. Things ranged from $3.99 up to about $12.99 then add the 30% off. I'm cheap so I bought the $5.99 and under stuff. I ended up with 10 tops, 3 shorts, 1 skirt and a pair of jeans for $60 which average $4 an item. Good luck, let me know how you pan out. Here is a code for an additional 15% off your online order FA78.

Battery Use and Care Tips

• Keep batteries in a dry place at normal room temperature. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. This will not make them last longer. Most batteries will provide dependable long life even after five years of storage in these conditions.
• Keep battery contact surfaces and battery compartment contacts clean by rubbing them with a clean pencil eraser or a rough cloth each time you replace batteries.
• Remove batteries from a device when it is not expected to be in use for several months.
• Removed batteries from equipment while it is being powered by household (AC) current.
• Extreme temperatures reduce battery performance. Avoid putting battery-powered devices in very warm place.

Courtesy Duracell and Costco Household Almanac

Old Navy starts slashing summer prices

I guess Old Navy has started slashing prices on their summer stuff. Their big sale hasn't happen yet but I guess you can get stuff up to 50% off. Check out their clearance racks and see what you can find.

Did you drop your phone in Water?

With summertime here, if you drop your phone in water, remove the battery and put your phone in a bowl of rice immediately. The rice is suppose to pull the liquid out of the phone. If it happens to you, let me know if this works. They say it does. Happy Summer!

Ready for this?! Knot Heads, a hair accessory, launched just in time to pull your hair back in fun, flirty, edgy, classy and pretty much whatever other fun ways you can think of for your hair for this Summer season. I use these little beauty treats almost daily to whip my hair into a fantastic bun or perfect pony that stays in all day. I even take a nap on it, reshape it with a fast 1/2 second hand mold then I go to the gym with the same 1-time made do. They're great on kids too!

def: {Knot.Heads}
Knot Heads are a patent pending hair accessory made of strong yet bendable wire wrapped in the hippest patterns and colors. These bendable hair accessories replace rubber bands, bobby pins, barrettes and the dreaded claw! Forget having to deal with your hair tearing out as you remove a rubber band or having an errant bobby pin jabbing into your skull. Knot Heads are reusable and washable. Truly they are an all-in-one hair accessory.

I wanted to spread the good news cheer of this product by offering readers of Em's Tips a 15% discount on their purchase/s of Knot Heads at http://www.knotheads.com/. Enter: 'emstips' at the end of your 'google checkout' when purchasing. Make sure to use 'google checkout', not 'pay pal' to recieve the discount.

Check out the website at: http://www.knotheads.com/ and comment to let me know how you use or would use a Knot Head!

$5 off Pampers at Target

Here is a great coupon for all who buy Pampers. Get $5 off when you purchase a thing of diapers and wipes. Target coupon

Chuck E Cheese Coupon

If you register with Chuck e Cheese's, you get a coupon emailed for buy 40 tokens for $10 and get 60 tokens free. When this coupon is emailed to you, you can print it out as many times as you want, but once you exit the screen, you can't print it again. It's good for 1 month after you receive the coupon. When I took it to my local chuck e cheese, they said that I could use the same coupon as many times as I wanted in 1 transaction. I purchased a ton of tokens and now have them for those days that I just don't know what to do with the kids."

I found this on a website and thought of all you Chuck E Cheese goer's. Hope you take advantage of this one! I just signed up and maybe will be able to use it before it expires.

Dyson Animal DC17

Lately I hear more and more people who are not satisfied with their Dyson Vacuumn. I still hear people that love them, so I want to know what you think.

The Dyson Animal retail from anywhere on sale from $399 to $549 on Dyson's website. The latest review I got was last night on the Dyson Animal.

"The Dyson vacuum is NOT all its cracked up to be if your in the market for a new vacuum call your local vacuum repair shop they'll tell you how bad they are and ask them which ones they recommend for your needs. The Dyson pet vacuum doesn't pick up all the hair as it claims in the advertisements save yourself the $500. Our band busted after 3 uses and not many shops can fix them so bed bath and beyond let us return it and gave us a new one which was the newer model and its not really any better." Thanks Amy.

I've heard if you use a Dyson it voids most carpet warranties if you have them. Tish, maybe you can expand more on that.

Let us know what you think. We have family that loves them and family that doesn't. I don't have one, and have only used one once.

Carter's PJ's Target Sale

These are my favorite PJ's for the summer. At Target right now, it's a four piece set, two tops and two shorts, not the pants for $10. They are regularly $12.99 so it's a savings of $3.00 I bought a set for each of my kids last month and went back today for more. They are great and I love the quality of Carter's. Plus, if you check your clearance, you may be able to find the two sets for $9.08 just different designs. If you're like me, the design doesn't matter for PJ's and for an additional savings, I'm all over that. If you like the short and tees PJ's now is the time to stock up.

Babies R Us $5 off $25

Babycheapskate has the coupon is you want it. It's good until Sunday, June 8th.

Coupons Galore

Check out this article, on the right hand side are a bunch of places that offer coupons Galore. Thanks Karina for thinking of me. http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/pf/goodbye_retail/index.htm?cnn=yes

Friday Only $10 off $30 at Walgreens

I found this coupon on http://babycheapskate.com/ I wasn't able to get the link, but go to Baby Cheapskate and the link to the coupon is there. The coupon is good for Friday, May 30th only. Get $10 off your $30 purchase.

No Bare Pages Scrapbook Store

For those that live in Medford, No Bare Pages at the Shops at Exit 24 is going out of business. All their remaining inventory is 40% off. It's a great little store and now is the time to stock up.

Thanks for the tip Nicole.

Dryer Balls

I saw the ad on TV for the Dryer Balls sometime ago. I was at Walmart a month ago and thought, $10 I'll give these a try. They are suppose to make my clothes fluffier and eliminate dryer sheets. My thinking two boxes of dryer sheets is $10. After a month of using the balls, I use my dryer sheets with the balls. I think it helps a little with the drying time, but without a dryer sheet my clothes are STATIC. I wouldn't spend the money again, but I hope that I can save you ten dollars to put towards your KONE.

Spray N Wash Max with Resolve

This is a new product from Spray n Wash. On the ad it claims to take out all stains, even set in stains. I thought, with a money back guarantee, I'd try a $3 bottle. I usually use Shout as I think it does better than Spray n wash regular strength. When I went to WalMart, the Spray N Wash Max with Resolve had a green tag (like seen on the picture) for a free bottle with mail-in. Even better, I bought the bottle and took it to the test. Dirty Kids clothes. I had some set in stains and every stain came out. I just washed a white shirt that had set in grease from the car, each stain came out. Check this stuff out, you can use on colored and it rocks. Read the directions, as it says not to leave on a stain longer than five minutes before you wash. I'm sure it would pull the color out with the strong stuff it has in it.

The Kone

The Dirt Devil Kone rocks. For every Mother with little kids, this is a must. No more pulling out the vacuum or broom when the cereal spills. This thing pick ups the mess in seconds. It is a wonder tool. I had seen these about a year ago and wish I would've gotten one then. They are compact, sit on the counter and are charged, ready to use whenever you are. I use many multiple times daily. I got mine for Mother's Day and it has been well used this past week. I use it to clean up the highchair after meals and around the floor of the table. They run about $40 in most stores. If you have Linens N Things, get the 20% coupon in the Sunday paper and save $8 making the Kone only $32. I think you'll love it as much as we do. Plus it's so easy to clean out. You twist open and pull off the filter and dump.

Piddle Pads

I found these Piddle Pads by kiddopotamus in a magazine and thought, these will be perfect for Kenna who just potty trained. Why wash the whole car seat if there is an accident? I bought two, one for each kid. We finally had an accident and it worked, just like it should. It held all the urine in the pad. I recommend these to everyone with kids, newborns to toddlers. Advice is to make sure the pad is correctly in place before you strap your child in. I could see the potential of urine leaking if the front isn't up around the buckle. These rock and are about $6-8. I wish I would have bought these before and saved me for washing the car seat all those other times.

This review is for Sandy who is always stuck in traffic with her 3 year old Kennedy. They work and well worth the money.