Best Blog Opportunity Right Now!

Good evening fellow bloggers!  I just signed up for a great giveaway opp.  This is for a Father's Day Fishing Package.  I try not to spend much on these because, well, I coupon because I can't afford not too.  If you understand...  Anyway...only $5 for 3 links.  1 Facebook, 1 Twitter, and one of your choice.  Pretty good deal considering this is going to be a huge thing!

The Main Hostess is going to be...

Featured on TLC Extreme Couponing on June 11th!!!  

Sign-ups will be going until June 1st... better hurry!  Only 20 spots left!

Sign-up Form

Just released Button:

http://www.coupongirlsla.com/2012/05/coupongirlsla-ultimate-fathers-day-giveaway-fishing-package/" target="_blank">http://emptynesterreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/fishing_20-1.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="272" />

Don't forget to tell them Housewife Survival Guide sent you ;)

Goodnight... sweet blogging dreams!

Free Blogger Opp!!

 I happened upon this amazing blogger opportunity on the Bloggers Cafe facebook group:

A Step2 My Clubhouse Giveaway Event! Brought to you by Goodnight Mommy Boutique

2 Free Links, Additional Links $2 each, Backlinks are $3

Sign-up Form

Limited to 100 Bloggers so hurry to get signed up!  The top 10 bloggers will be invited to tour the Step 2 factory :D 

Friday Flash Giveaway!!!!

2 lucky readers will win Pearl Mountain's Image Converter Software by 5 pm today!  

See the product review here: Image Converter Software Review

What is this Product?  What does it do?  Keep reading!

"Product Description

PearlMountain Image Converter is a photo converter as well as batch image converter, which helps you convert images to other formats, resize, rotate, crop, add watermark, apply effects and add border to thousands of images at a time. Some of the highlighted features include: 
•    Convert thousands of files at once in batch mode.
•    Supports the most popular image formats: BMP, JPEG, TIFF, RAW, PNG, GIF, TGA, and PSD, and almost all image formats.
•    Save operations that you usually use as profiles and bring convenience to you in the future.
•    Convert between many different image file formats.
•    Resize image for any different use, such as for web, e-mail, photo printing,Facebook, MySpace, mobile phone, ipod/ipad/iphone, etc.
•    Add image and text watermark for Image Copyright Protection
•    Adjust image brightness, contrast and saturation in batch to make your images look more special.
•    Apply border to images.
•    Crop photos, removing unwanted areas."

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Good Taste Gift Basket Event Button

Event button is now available.  Don't laugh... I'm not a photo editing genius or button creator.  So please put this in your sidebar for promotion period now through 6/15.  Thanks for all your hard work, bloggers :D

Free Blogger Opp with Optional Paid Links

Housewife Survival Guide has teamed up with

In Good Taste and Domino Engineering to bring you a wonderful Blogger Opportunity. 

The Grand Prize will be a $100 Gift Basket from In Good Taste full of yummy, handmade confections.  

Second place prize to be announced at the end of the sign up period.  

There will be a $25 gift basket as a referral prize to the blogger with the most referral sign-ups.

The Giveaway will run from 5/16-6/15 and you will receive HTML codes and RC codes by email prior to it going live.  I don't require you to be up at 1am to post this to your blog.  However, anyone who does not post within 36 hours of release date, will be removed from the RC.  

Any questions/comments/suggestions should be sent to lindseymkeathley@gmail.com. 

Please fill out the sign-up form and submit payment if you want any additional entries.  The only free entry is for Facebook links.

Sign-up Form

:D Thanks and Happy Blogging :D

Pearl Mountain Image Converter Product Review

Pearl Mountain Image Converter is a very straight forward and user-friendly program.  This software allows the user to convert an image from and to so many different formats!

For Example: Have you ever had that dreaded situation of having a png image that you have to have as a jpg in order to upload it?  Or even to view it on your computer?  Pearl Mountain Image Converter takes all the hard work and online searches out of that equation.  With this software, I know I will never worry about "save as" or finding a program online to convert.

But wait!  It does more than that!  You can resize, crop, watermark, and correct brightness, contrast, hue, and sharpness.  Need to add a border?  Need to quickly rename all the adjustments you just made to an image?  This Image Converter does all of that. Better yet, this program can do this in batch to save you time on doing it one image at a time!

I'm sure there are more comprehensive image editing programs out there, but what I like about this, is the simplicity.  You don't have to juggle layers and all the other overwhelming image editing junk.  Absolutely ideal for my blog.  I have added this software as one of my top blogger utilities.

 Just a quick file format change, resize, rename and save.... upload to blog...done :D

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Framed Silhouette Pictures...Enter to Win!!

Baby Costcutters along with co-host Donna's Deals and More have teamed up with a wonderful group of bloggers to offer you this great keepsake! You can enter to win a hand cut silhouette from ICutYouOut.com in an oval picture frame.

Tina from Baby Costcutters has the pleasure of meeting Mr. Keith Donaldson at a Festival a few weeks ago. Keith is a very talented man who has the rare gift of being able to hand cut out silhouettes by looking at you from the side!

This is what Tina had to say about her silhouette, "A few weekends ago I was at the Loxley Strawberry Festival and met a very talented man named Keith Donaldson. I sat down with my 19-month-old son in my lap as Mr. Donaldson view him from the side and cut out his silhouette within about 2 minutes!! I was very impressed with his talent and now have a wonderful keepsake I will cherish forever!"

The winner of this giveaway will need to upload or email a picture to Mr. Donaldson of the silhouette person you would like. The picture needs to be from the side angle, eye level, with the person not smiling. If you do not want to wait to win this giveaway you can upload your picture and order right on his website ICutYouOut.com

Giveaway starts on May 14 at 12:01AM est and ends May 26 at 11:59PM. Open to the US residents only; must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Enter to win below! Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: Tina at Baby Costcutters did received a free silhouette to complete this review however all opinion are her own. Baby Costcutters nor any blog participating in this giveaway is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.

Mommy Loves Savings 4,000 Fan Celebration

I Have Joined up with Mommy Loves Saving to give you this great giveaway



Mommy Loves Saving was started 15 months ago.  The blog was started as a way to share deals and not as way to make money.  With everyone struggling and trying to save on everything  it was a way to  pass along tips and deals.  And  never thought that in 15 short months the page would have  4000 fans!

  To thank all of you Mommy Loves Saving is having a giveaway for a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card!  

The giveaway will start Sunday May 6 at 12:01 EST and end May 12, 2012 at 11:59 EST winners will be announced on Mothers Day.

Giveaway is open to US and must be 18 years or older

Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the sent email or another winner will be chosen.  

Good luck and happy savings!


"Like" Mommy Loves Saving's Facebook page and tell them Housewife Survival Guide sent you :D

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Mother's Day Giveaway 2012

"Mother's Day... a time for warm thoughts and fond memories, for expressing the feelings and words that often go unspoken, for letting those special people in our lives know that they are loved and appreciated - always."

Great mothers deserve a treat on their special day! I Heart Giveaways, together with other awesome bloggers, is hosting a brand new giveaway especially made for moms. Seven lucky winners will be randomly chosen to win these exciting prizes:

• $320 Paypal Cash
• Avon Cosmetics *Imported*
• Red & Black Tiger Dichroic Glass Pendant
• Belleza Box Massage Kit
• Coupon Binders
• Pirate Party Games Pack
• Ravishing Rose 6 Pair Earring Set

 

Click here to see the images and value of the prizes listed above. Note: All items will be shipped to the winner within one to three weeks after the end date of this giveaway. Non-cash items are not convertible to any form of money.

What are you waiting for? Enter on the rafflecopter below for a chance to win! Mother's Day Giveaway will accept entries until May 18, 2012. Open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway This giveaway is brought to you by:

The Coffee Chic | Chic Foodie | The Frugal Free Gal | The Penny Hoarder | Mommy's Memorandum | Simple Savings for ATL Moms | Pinay Green Mommy | Crunchy Fluff | A Mommy's Ramblings | In My Bag | Donna's Deals and More | The NYC Talon | Capri's Coupons | SavingformyFamily | Housewife Survival Guide | Mom Spark | Cny's Extreme Couponing | Coupon Queen of Texas | Baby Costcutters | Feeling Frugal | Zoes Printable Coupons | The Frugal Connection | Hands Full of Life | This Mommy Saves Money | Coupon Hauls | Juliana's Bits & Pieces | Couponista Queen | Filipino Food Recipes With Pictures | Africa's Blog | Happy Home and Family | Fashion and Shopping Blog | Shengkayful's Fashion and Lifestyle | Coupon Kid Shavon | My Frugal Life | Money Saving Secrets Blog | Free Makeup Samples | High Tea | Chaos is Bliss | Frugal-Shopping | Bargain Shopper Mom | Rona's Fun Designs | voiceBoks | Bay Area Mommy | Slow Cooking Made Easy | Family Makeover Maven | Military Wives Saving | A Songbird Takes Flight| Love2EncourageYou

Personalized Gifts from BecauseITriedIt

Personalized Gifts for Anyone, Anytime from Because I Tried It

A great tool for those framed prints of what was going on "This Day in History".  I've always loved those Birthday Chronicles you see framed in nurseries.  I filled out my girls' baby books with what was popular, what was in the news, the price of a stamp, the price of a gallon of milk, etc.  But to have it in a newspaper format to print on the paper of your choosing?!  That's just great!

I filled out the order form for my Husband's birthday and it let me choose the headline!  Hahahaha!  Of course I made note of my hairy hubby with "A Bear Child Was Born!" Shhhhh! He hasn't seen it yet ;) They emailed me the file within 24 hours, but it took me a week to print it because I kept forgetting to buy a new ink cartridge for my printer.

There is a personal message from the President at that time with mention of the birth flower within the message.  Music hits from that year, world headlines, celebrities that share that birthday, Academy Awards, prices for certain items, sports, and Chinese Zodiac all combine to make a complete Birthday Chronicle.

Things I would change about this product:  Send as JPEG instead of PDF for more functionality in the way it is printed.  Mine printed small and didn't fit to page.  As an image, this option would have automatically popped up on my printer.  A splash or two of color would make it even more special.  More like a newspaper, with the washed out images.

Overall, these are perfect for a very low- cost, personalized gift for a loved one.  Just print on special paper and frame!

BecauseITriedIt offers FREE items often.  To learn more about these offers and to find out when they are available, follow them at:

Newsletter
Twitter
Facebook
Google+



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Angela's Crafts Mini Tote and Soap...

ANGELA'S CRAFTS MINI TOTE & SOAP GIVEAWAY

www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/angelascrafts

Thegiveawaytree, Housewife Survival Guide and a group of bloggers are bringing you a mini tote and soap giveaway sponsored by Angela's Crafts. Angela specializes in handmade soap; she says she uses essential oils, aromatherapy scents and nutrients to lock in moisture and leave your skin feeling silky smooth! She offers bar soaps, bath bombs, milk baths and bath salts.To learn more information about Angela's Crafts, visit her blog: www.angelascrafts.com  One lucky reader will win a mini tote filled with a face cloth, (1) 3.5 (approx. weight) bar of handmade all natural vegan soap-Egyptian Musk or your choice (Value $6.00), (1) Single use packet of Sweet Pea Bath Salt (Value $1.00), (1) Single use packet of Lilac Bath Milk (Value $2.00), (1) Hand Knit 100% Prima Cotton Facecloth (Value $3.00), (1) Re-usable Canvas Mini Tote Bag (Value $3.00). This giveaway has a retail value of $15.00


*Disclaimer*By entering to win this prize, you understand that Angela's Carfts is solely responsible for providing and shipping the prize being offered (mini tote bag and soaps) and thegiveawaytree and participating bloggers are not in any way responsible for providing a substitute nor cash prize of any kind should the sponsor fail to fulfill their prize obligation. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of prize. This promotion is in no way associated, sponsored or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter or any other social media network. It is each entrant's responsibility to read all terms, conditions and official rules associated with this promotion.

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How to find lost money...

Yesterday was a bit of a depressing day for me, so I was a little out of sorts and busy feeling sorry for myself.  Welllll....don't handle important items or cash when in this frame of mind!  I paid the babysitter and he had to break a 20 and bring me back a 10. I was sitting at my desk and just sat the 10 right there between myself and the monitor. 

This morning, we wanted to go get some garden plants so I went to get the 10 and it was gone. We interrogated the kids, which led nowhere, searched the entire house, went through pockets, cleaned out my purse (yikes), and still no sign of the mysteriously disappeared 10. 
Guess who started feeling sorry for herself again? That's right...this pouty girl! So I turn to my husband and tell him "I don't feel right buying up a bunch of plants for the garden today when I just threw away $10!" Of course I was kinda pouting.  Until I had an Ah Ha moment:

Instead of finding that $10, let's find a different $10! (If only I had a picture of the facial expressions of my hubs and kids lol.) I explained that I had a $1 bill unaccounted for in my wallet and a handful of change. We had a lotto scratchy worth $2, and hubs said he had $1 in his wallet. The kids robbed change from my piggy bank and off the counter. Then I grabbed the change from the top of the dryer. In the end, we had $10.30.

Moral of the story....
After stressing and pouting, we all joined forces while having a fun spare change scavenger hunt, and found the $10. Sure, it wasn't the same $10, but it eased the mood and now when/if we find the it, we will come out ahead :) Don't sweat the small stuff....enjoy your family and have fun!

P.S. We got a lot of tomatoes planted today :)

FREE BLOGGER EVENT :D

FREE BLOGGER EVENT: Get Fit! - Health Awareness

*Sign Ups Open*

"I am proud to announce the Get Fit! Health Awareness blogger event!

This giveaway will begin on July 1st and run until July 15th @ 12:01am. 

This is FREE/optional blogger event.

The only thing that is asked of you is to make a blog post sharing this event.

The first link is free and if you choose to have a 2nd link, the fee will be $2.

The Giveaway will be open to the US and will include products to encourage healthy living, exercising, and getting fit!

To sign up for this event, click here!"

*I am posting this from A Delicious Obsession

Xperience Days and To Sew With Love are at it again :D Lucky You!

I teamed up with To Sew With Love and Xperience Days, the leading provider of unique gift experiences,  to bring you this exciting giveaway!
Looking for a unique gift for that special someone? Well, you're in luck!  Xperience Days is giving away one (1) $50 Gift Certificate redeemable against any of the gift experiences in their site!
To enter, just fill up the Rafflecopter form below. Follow the instructions carefully. If your mandatory entries are void, all other entries will be void.
This giveaway will end on May 4, 11:59 PM EST. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How do you learn to decorate?

I'm on a mission to get some decor in my home. We bought our house 1 year ago and I haven't hung up anything! I am begging for help! I haven't the slightest idea how to make it look good. I have ideas but can't envision it or don't know how to go about it. Stay tuned for pictures of my walls...coming tomorrow.

To Sew With Love and SV Soaps

To Sew With Love is having a giveaway where one of you could win a $25 Gift Certificate to SV Soaps. V. Soaps offers luxurious handmade spa quality gourmet soaps that looks as heavenly as it smells. Your skin will thank you for pampering yourself with these fabulous handmade products.

This giveaway is open worldwide, 18+. For a chance to win, enter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's Hump Day!

What are your plans for the weekend?  I'm going to have another very busy weekend, and need to find time to get the garden planted.  So.... I think we are going to have a garden party...literally.  Drinks, planting, and grilling.  Sounds so fun...I can't wait!!! The more the merrier, so if you are in the Central, IL area BYOB and shovel, and covered dish :D

I also want to take a moment to say thanks to my online community:

As Housewife Survival Guide is gaining more followers on this blog, the facebook page, and on twitter, I wanted to take a moment to thank all the people who are supporting me in this endeavor/hobby.  Also, the blogging mamas I am meeting and becoming friends with are such an invaluable resource to me as I learn to blog efficiently.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!  Also, let's see if Housewife Survival Guide can get over 100 follows/ likes by this weekend?  Think we can do it?

Follow @HWSurvivalGuide



Love you all...

Free Touchscreen Cleaning Wipes!

Free touchscreen cleaning wipes!  They are reusable, too....just keep them in the resealable pouch.  Great to have in your purse or car to wipe the makeup, grease, fingerprints, and yuckies off your phone/tablet's screen.

CLICK HERE and request your free sample.

Costumes for all shapes and sizes REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!

Please read the review before entering Rafflecopter giveaway below :D  Thanks!


Wholesale Costume Club has such a HUGE selection of costumes! Seriously, if you can't find what you are looking for on their website, then it doesn't exist. What I found to be even more exciting.... Costumes for Plus Sizes!

 I have a couple really close friends that have expressed their issues with finding costumes that fit them and still look good. So frustrating to the point that they don't dress up to take their kids trick or treating anymore. Sure, some people think it's immature, but Hey! Some of us enjoy this time of year and love stepping outside of our typical roles and into something more fun/scary/silly/sexy.

I received this cheerleader costume for my best friend to try out.  My first impression upon receiving this was that of sheer amazement.  Maybe I didn't read the description closely, or I'm just used to the crap at the big retail stores, but this came with not just the dress, but the ribbons for pigtails, pom poms, and the knee socks!  

The only con is that the costume we tried was really thin material and felt like the cheap costumes from the big chain stores.  However, it was an all inclusive package so the thin material was easily overlooked.  Still looked great on Jess: 

Our household skips adult costumes some years because of the expense of buying the peripheral items to go with.  From my experience, the costumes at Wholesale Costume Club include these items for the same great price :D  That's just fantastic.  Go over to their site and take a look around at the Other Costumes.  Especially if you are a Plus Size beauty....

Python Printables Review and FREE COUPON!!!

Hosting a birthday party? Baby shower? Slumber party? Movie trivia night? or a Pirate Party???

Being host/hostess is hard work.  When I had my daughter's 2nd birthday pirate party, it was difficult to find games or activities at an affordable price and not full of junk that would go to waste.

I hadn't heard of Python Printable Games before doing this review so I am super pumped about sharing this with you all.

They carry a wide range of printable party games to choose from.  You select, pay, and then download the pdf files to your computer.  YOU GET TO KEEP THEM FOREVER!  So if you decide to purchase a party pack rather than individual games, you have more options and can use others at a later time if they don't fit the current party.

Want to know something even better?  Not only are the games for kids/teens....they have adult ones too!  Drinking games, Sexy Scavenger Hunts, and trivia games for different occasions/themes.

Here is a sample of the artwork:

The quality of all the printables is excellent!  I can blow up the posters, signs, and placemats without losing image quality!

Check out what a $19.95 Pirate Printables party pack included:

1. Balloon Pirate Craft for Kids
2. Facebook Pirate Language Game (for teens and up)
3. Pirate Mad Libs (all ages would have fun with this one)
4. Pirate Newlywed Questions
5. Pirate Placemat
6. Pirate Poster
7. Pirate Party Icebreaker (great for all ages...encourages a meet and greet among all the guests)
8. Printable Treasure Map Templates for Kids Crafts
9. H-ARRR-ible Pirate Jokes
10. Survival of the Fittest Party Game (kind of like guesstures or charades)
11. Pirate Nature Scavenger Hunt (can customize for your yard or park you are in)
12. Pin the Parrot on the Pirate Game (this file is great! Includes full color and black and white so you can have the kids color it for an extra activity.  I could see myself laminating this to keep forever)
13. Shoot the Boot Drinking Card Game (for adults obviously)
14. Pirate Trivi-ARRR

That's one impressive pack for only $19.95 and it's yours FOREVER!

Sorry, no pics of the kiddos enjoying the Pirate Printables, camera batteries dead and the children have robbed me of all AA batteries for their toys :(

What my kids loved the most:

The maps were a huge hit!  We used them in combination with the scavenger hunt so they could find the items on their cards easier.  The mad libs was a riot!  My 6 year old got to laughing so hard she nearly peed her pants!  And for some quiet time with mommy, we did the Balloon craft sans balloon.  We taped construction paper together for a bigger canvas and I let them assemble their pirates using their imaginations and the provided printables. Even though we didn't get a chance to use them all, I know we will soon.  Since I get to keep the pdf files forever, we can have Pirate Fun any time the kids request it!

25% off everything at Python Printables 

Coupon Code: HOUSEWIFESURVIVAL25 

Don't forget to show your appreciation by following Housewife Survival Guide on here, facebook, networked blogs,  blogfrog, twitter, etc ;)

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.