iMommies

Welcome to the 2008 Ultimate Blog Party, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!

5 Minutes for Mom is throwing the BIGGEST party on the web this week.  It’s the 2008 Ultimate Blog Party, and everyone’s invited!  To top it off, iMommies was recently given this Great Site award from the Ultimate Blog Party hostesses! 

Ahem, well this is such an honor and a surprise.  First of all, I’d like to thank the Academy … oops, wrong award.  Please bear with me, as I don’t have the appropriate speech notes … I know I can find the words somewhere in this keyboard … just a minute … ahhh yes!  Here they are:

To Susan and Janice: Thank you for allowing iMommies to join the list of amazing blogs attending this awesome party!  And a special thank you for inviting readers!  The door prizes are FABULOUS!  (Er - this is an online party, so I guess these would be window prizes…nevertheless, the prizes are fantastic!)  Thanks again for having such a wonderful website that allows moms the opportunity to showcase their websites, businesses, and talents!

To All Party Guests: If you’ve stopped here as part of the Ultimate Blog Party festivities, thank you for coming!  Make yourself comfortable, and feel free to peruse some of our articles or chat with other readers.  As a thank you for stopping by, please leave a comment below.  At the end of the party, we’ll randomly draw a winning name for a $25 gift certificate to PlumParty.com! 

(If you’ve not yet received your invitation to join the ‘08 Ultimate Blog Party, click HERE…of course, you’re invited!) 

Whether you’re a reader or have your own blog, 5 Minutes for Mom has invited YOU to participate in all of the fun, including the door (window) prizes!  There are over 150 prizes, including my personal favorites:

1.) Twelve (12) Children’s Hair Bows from Simply Sweet Bowtique
2.) $25 Gift Card to My Mommy’s Bracelets or Baby Girl Bracelets
3.) PINK Legos (I love these!)

Be sure to check out all of the amazing websites participating in the Ultimate Blog Party! 
(As of tonight, there are over 1,100 attendees!)

For those of you who missed out on last weekend’s Entertainment Book/Restaurant.com promotion, here’s a combination that comes very close.  This is really one of my favorite deals of the year, so far…as a friend of ours would say, “It’s the savings that keeps on saving!”.

Entertainment Books vary by state to ensure the savings offers are valid in your area, and they include discounts for virtually every type of business…restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, hair and nail salons, shopping malls, movie theaters, hotels, dry cleaners, and many more.  With the Entertainment Book, you’ll save hundreds of dollars throughout the rest of the year on establishments you’ll frequent anyway.

With Restaurant.com, you can select a participating restaurant in your area, then purchase a $25 gift certificate to that restaurant, for only $5.

After all is said and done, you’ll have paid $6.49 for a $25 restaurant gift certificate and hundreds of dollars in Entertainment Book coupon savings at many of your local businesses.  If you prefer not to pay anything for these items, you’ll also have the opportunity to very easily earn an extra $20 check AND a $10 Target gift card (or more).  Hmm…earn $23.51, or more, for all of that?  Sure! 

To make the most of all involved promotions, follow the steps below.

Read more »

I’ve mentioned before that I love parties, and a really good party involves several personalized finishing touches.  Obviously, any celebration should be fun, inviting, and entertaining, but if you like to go above and beyond the fundamentals, candy bars can be a really simple and creative way to add those personalized details.

First of all, there are actual businesses out there who do this, and charge a fee, and I, by no means, intend to deter from their business.  If you’re short on time, and have the extra money to spend, you could certainly order labels from one of the many home businesses that offer this.

Second, there are online tools that allow users to create wrappers online, but they leave little room for creativity, and generally require that you use their pre-formatted designs, inserting only text variances.

On the other hand, if you have a creative streak, prefer to save money, and have a little extra time, creating your own labels is a very viable alternative.  The actual label creation takes very little time, and the process of wrapping each candy bar can be done while watching a movie (or two) - and you can even recruit other members from your circle of family or friends to help!

Read more »

These Valentine’s Day cards with free tokens to Chuck E. Cheese can be printed last-minute, and “dressed up” by matting on colorful construction paper, and decorating with candy, ribbons, etc.

Read more »

Each Friday, A Healthy Balance highlights a list of freebies for readers to enjoy.  I’ve joined their Freebie Friday a few times, and though I’m a little late this time, it’s good every day of the week, and still worth mentioning.

Register with the Party City website to receive a free one-year subscription to Disney’s Family Fun magazine.  Family Fun publishes 10 issues each year, filled with great ideas for all kinds of…hmmm…family fun!

Read more »

Here’s a fairly low-budget option for planning an all-American Super Bowl party this Sunday.  Feed a group of 20 (or more, depending on appetites), for about $30.  (I know, I know…you COULD do much better than this with some planning ahead, but if you haven’t had time to stock up or prepare, this is pretty inexpensive for last-minute shopping, and it even includes beverages!)  

Menu (Serves 20+):
Hot Dogs with Chili, Cheese, & Onion
Potato Chips
Crackers
Canned Pepsi (& Pepsi Varieties)

Read more »

Four iMommies readers were randomly selected, from the list of entrants, to each receive a free pair of tickets to attend the opening Rock-n-Tot events in Cleveland, OH and Washington, DC!

The winners are…

Cleveland, OH:
Tammy
Shannon

Washington, DC:
Emily
Melissa

Read more »

If you haven’t been drowned from the Target Pepsi deal, here’s another from CVS.  Unlike Target, this is only a super-deal once (or once per CVS card), but the sale allows you to stock up on nine 12-packs of Pepsi products, for as little as $11 total.   

Read more »

Through January 19th, purchase 12-packs of canned Pepsi products for as little as $1.20 each at Target or SuperTarget…no limit.   Stock up now for your Super Bowl parties! 

Read more »

Receive a free subscription to Homemade Magazine, featuring recipes contributed by…WalMart shoppers :) 

Read more »