Sales for Cyber Monday

Here are some of my favorite deals available right now...

Old Navy and Gap both have 40% off online using code CYBER

Overstock.com has this KitchenAid Cobalt Blue 4.5 quart titlt-head stand mixer for $189 and if you sign up for their emails you can receive 10% off.

The Cricut Explore bundle with 2 month Craft Room subscription is only $219.99 here or you can get the Cricut Expression Holiday bundle with bonus $25 gift card, cartridge, and vinyl 2 pack here for only $169.99

Piperlime has 30% off site wide and an extra 40% off sales items using code CYBERSALE which means you can get Hunter boots for $103.60 and shipping is free.

Amazon has the Little Tikes Gas n Go Mower for only $12.49!

Get 25% off of everything at Modcloth using code CYBERMONDAY starting at 3 pm EST today, November 30th, until 1 pm December 3rd. I love these tapestry boots so much as well as this cardigan.

You can get the KidKraft Retro Kitchen and Refrigerator in pink for $129.99 or in navy for $124.99 at Overstock.com

$5 magazine subscriptions from Amazon- perfect gift for that someone you don't know what to buy!

$79.99 Ray-Ban unisex Tortoise New Wayfarer sunglasses as a doorbuster (you save $50!) or you can get them in black for $84.99

Fiestaware is 50% off at Macys.com so you can get a 5 piece place setting for $27.99 and 10% off using code CYBER. There's free shipping on orders of $50

I'll have more coming up soon!

Cyber Monday at Kohl's on a Sunday // Fisher Price Power Wheels Mustang for a great deal

Earlier last month we decided that Braxton's Christmas gift this year was going to be some sort of car. We usually don't buy him big, expensive gifts but with his birthday four days after Christmas we sort of justified doing it. He'll still get some other gifts to open for both days, which means clothes haha. A friend of mine's daughter got a Hello Kitty car for her birthday last year and every time we go over to their house, Braxton's insistent on playing in the car, so I'm excited to see his face when he sees this under the tree! I'm already thinking of the perfect bow to go on top of it...

I'm pretty set on getting Fisher Price brand because it's more well known, and there are plenty of reviews, compared to other brands. I have been keeping my eye out for a great deal on Power Wheels but I've been missing out. I wasn't about to stand in line at Walmart or Target on Thanksgiving for their sales. Just yesterday, I saw that Amazon had the Mustang, in yellow, for $200 with free shipping, but it sold out so quickly I couldn't get it. I didn't love the color but for $200, who cares?Ugh, I was bummed for sure when I went to buy it and it was gone!

Anyways, as I was just about to give up, and wait for a hopefully good Cyber Monday sale, I got an email from Kohl's that perked up my ears...20% off using code "CYBERTAKE20" and they also are still offering $15 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent. (KOHL'S CASH ENDS TODAY, NOVEMBER 30th) I did a quick search of Power Wheels on their site and saw the blue Mustang for $311.99 and did the math. 20% takes off a full $62.40 off of the price so the total is $249.59 which is awesome! The only downfall was the $40 surcharge for shipping because after that and taxes, my total went back up to $306. Walmart has the same Mustang for $270 after tax so I was torn. Was buying from Kohl's worth it?

I say yes and here's why...

• Ebates.com has 6% cash back from Kohl's - which would be $15 cash back.
• Ibotta gives you $10 back if you spend $100 at Kohls.com using their link. 
• With the $15 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent that meant I would get $75 to spend.
• Kohl's also has their YES2YOU rewards - which gives you 1 point for every dollar you spend and you get $5 on every 100 points. That is 250 points, which is $10 right there. 

That meant I was technically getting $110 off of my price, in the long run, which I think beats the $270 price at Walmart. This deal is great if you actually shop at Kohl's, which I do. I love Kohl's because they have coupons very frequently, and their Kohl's cash is like actual cash there. There is no spending minimum which is perfect because I will be able to redeem the $75 starting tomorrow and that will buy more Christmas gifts. 

Their Cyber Monday 20% off code is good until December 3rd but the earning period for the $15 Kohl's cash ends today so that's why it's better to buy from them today, compared to tomorrow. They have quite a few different Power Wheels, including Jeeps and 4wheelers, so check it out! 

Vienna Springs Black Friday // Small Business Friday deal

So Laura, the owner of Vienna Springs, and I got together to offer my followers a discount code for her shop. While she doesn't have anything in stock currently, she restocks usually on Wednesdays, and you will be able to use this code for upcoming purchases! I'm giving away one 20% off coupon to @kittyparm and everyone else will get to use THANKS10 for 10% off. What's awesome is that these slings are never on sale so I hope everyone takes advantage of it in time for the holidays! 

xx, 

Crystal.

Deals today...Chicco Nextfit for super cheap!

So a friend of mine showed this to me last night and it's too good to not show everyone else. Chicco Nextfit is on basically a super sale at Target. Only one color is on sale, it's Gravity, but who cares about color when you could be getting a $280 car seat for close to $100. Last night one person, who works for Target, got the car seat for $97! Here's what you do...

• Put the carseat in your cart, but you have to do store pickup.
• Use promo code TGTST8DR for $5 off
• Join Target Baby alerts for an additional 10% off (you will get text messages)
• Use your Target REDcard for an extra 5% off
• Your total will be around $179, not including tax.
• When you go to pick up the car seat, they will do a price adjustment because the Nextfit is $209 in store, and they will take another $70 off of your total.
• The car seat, before tax, will then only cost you $109!
• Don't forget to use Ebates for an extra 2.5% cash back

I'm not calculating tax, only because it's so different from state to state but it's still an awesome car seat for an awesome price. This will only be going for a limited time so jump on it!

More deals today:

Dr. Martens kids are on sale today on Zulily. 

My favorite boutique for Ava's headbands has a flash sale going on for some cute headbands. Headwraps are $5, our favorite chiffon bow headbands are only $3.95, and a few Christmas lace rompers are left in stock for only $8.95. Hurry and order, they won't last long! 

For the love of baby wearing // Vienna Sling Share

I got to take part in a sling share thanks to Mary at Light Sleeper, Heavy Dreamer. The ring sling is passed along to different moms across the country and it was donated by Vienna Springs. The purpose of it is to spread the baby wearing love around, and in the end it will be donated to a mom in need. How awesome is that? Make sure you keep up with the sling share on Mary's blog as well as on Instagram using #viennaslingshare. Here is my baby wearing journey, along with a little about the time we had with Vienna Springs Huckleberry. 

When I first became a mom with my son Braxton, baby wearing wasn't really on my agenda. I didn't know anything about it besides randomly seeing people using those Baby Bjorn carriers...even back then I thought to myself how uncomfortable they looked for both mom and baby so I steered clear of them. When I was pregnant with my second, Ava, I was introduced to the world of baby wearing by some friends. That's when I saw that there was so much more out there than those awful Bjorns. 

When Ava was born I realized that if I wanted to get anything done with two kids, I was going to have to wear her. Baby wearing really is a necessity when you have more than one child. Luckily Ava loved being close to me, and being worn. I started out by wrapping, because somehow ring slings intimidated me. The thing with wrapping is it can be time consuming compared to a ring sling where you just have to basically throw it over your shoulder, put baby in, and go.

Wearing Ava for the first time at 5 days old...excuse the tiredness, you know how it goes. 

I finally decided to buy a Sakura Bloom ring sling when Ava was around 7 months old, and I remember the first time I put her in it I was kicking myself that I didn't do it sooner. It was much easier than I had ever imagined. It may sound silly but because of the sling, I gained friendships with other like minded ladies from all over the world. There really was a community of moms out there that came together out of the love for using these slings. 

Mother's Day 2014 with my plum Sakura Bloom.

 Because of that community I got to participate in the Vienna Sling Share, which is such a great idea. Instead of doing it for profit, or for personal gain, it's purpose was to break in a brand new sling for a deserving mama at the end. It's nice to know that there are people out there that still do nice stuff for others. Ring slings can be expensive, and I know that some people look over them because of the price, but they really are worth it. 

Ava's little keepsake shelf, print by The Printed Palette. 

When we got the sling in the mail, I instantly opened it and put Ava in. She was so sleepy already but I just couldn't wait, and neither could she since she fell right asleep in it. The color, Huckleberry, was seriously the perfect choice for the sling share. It was rich but subtle at the same time, so it works well for everyone...even me with my bright red hair. We were fourth on the list to get the sling and it was already super soft. I have never had a silk sling, only a pure and a simple linen by Sakura Bloom, but it felt amazing. It was pretty much love at first wear. Vienna Springs really makes a great sling, I'm telling you. 

 We got the sling just in time for Halloween and it came in handy! Ava and I put on our kitten ears and did some trick or treating with Braxton around our small neighborhood before putting on the real costumes and going out for the night. Ava's costume was a little too poofy to wear in the sling but it was still fun. I don't see our baby wearing journey going for much longer, considering she's becoming very independent now, but I have cherished these moments. I'm so grateful that I have had something to help me through these "mom of two moments" and that I haven't had to rely on getting flustered with strollers or feeling helpless. My advice to any new parent is wear them, and don't be intimidated, because it will make your life so much easier. 

Mooshka dolls for less

When I first saw Mooshka dolls last year I instantly fell in love with them. Ava has quite a few, and they are also on her Christmas list. I love how cute they are but they're also very soft which is a huge bonus. There are different lines of these dolls and they are Fairytale, Fairytale minis, Fairytale Pets, Fairytale Pets mini, Girls, Sing Around the Rosie, Goodnight Starlight, and Tots. You can find them at a few different stores (Target, Toys R Us, and even Walmart now) for all sorts of different prices. Target even has a sale going on right now which is great, but they don't have many options of the dolls available.

 The thing that annoys me with Target's "sale" is that, from what I can tell, they have changed their "original prices" to make them lower, to beat Amazon's prices. I have been looking into these since last week and Target's prices last week, for original prices - not sale prices, were almost $10 more. It doesn't make much of a difference but it's the first thing I noticed today.

If you want the best deal for almost any of the Mooshka dolls, go through Amazon. The Mooshka Girl dolls Dasha, Myra, and Sonia are only $10.98, Ina is $9.34, and Nessa is only $8.49 when they're all originally $17.99 and they all either qualify for free Prime shipping or free shipping over $35. 

You can find their Tots dolls for a bargain as well. Misha, Karia, and Deava are all $7.98 while Zana is $8.50, instead of $12.99 

*Target have a few tot dolls for $6.79 as a promotion but not the full line, and if you're planning on purchasing online, they don't have any in stock online as of right now. 

The Fairytale dolls Fairy Ina, Princess Palia, Mermaid Sonia, and Ballerina Casia are all $16.99 each compared to $19.99 at both Amazon and Target. 

Mooshka Goodnight Starlight dolls Dasha and Jessa are both under $25 when they're usually $29.99 

You can also find Sing Around The Rosie-Lera for $16.98 compared to $26.99 (Sing Around the Rosie dolls seem to be selling out fast) and at Walmart, Fairytale mini dolls* as well as the Fairytale mini pets are at a decent price. *The mini dolls and pets are not completely soft. 

These deals are good as of this morning...

Pictures taken from Facebook and Walmart.com

The best Black Friday deals so far...

I'm a casual Black Friday shopper for the most part. I don't plan our meals around shopping or anything, I always go to stores that are opening later in the night, where we aren't rushing dinner, just because I don't think it's fair to anyone. What I do plan though is where will be the best place for me to go, obviously. I go through countless Black Friday ads and weigh the pros and cons. Thanks to blackfriday.com I can get prepared with plenty of time beforehand. Not very many ads are out just yet but here are some of my favorites so far...check back because I'll be adding more as they come out! While they aren't exclusive deals, these are some of the best, and I've weeded them out and compared them to other prices and stores.


Kohl's: opening at 6 pm Thursday
Kohl's is offering $15 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent (they usually offer $10 for every $50)

• Fisher Price toys: 50% off 
• Playskool toys: 50% off
• Mega Bloks first builder's tub: $24.99 (originally $49.99)
• All bedding sets will be 50-70% off - I love their LC by Lauren Conrad line 
• KitchenAid mixers: Their Artisan 5 qt. stand mixer will be $299.99* (originally $449.99) The Classic stand mixer will be $199.99* (originally $349.99) Their Pro 600 stand mixer will be $399.99*(originally $549.99) And all of them have an additional 10% off *After $50 mail in rebate. 

Target: opening at 6 pm Thursday
Target gift cards will be 10% off from 6 am-12 pm on Friday. They are offering early access to deals for one day only today (the 10th) along with a pre-sale on November 26th. You will also be able to use Cartwheel for extra Black Friday deals and if you're a REDcard holder you will still get an extra 5% off your purchase - Everyone needs to have a REDcard, I'm serious. We have it as a debit card, so no interest, and we always get free shipping on top of the 5% off.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/11/10/6512651/target-announces-biggest-most.html?sp=/100/773/385/#storylink=cpy

• Target will also have KitchenAid's Classic stand mixer for $199.99 but it won't have Kohl's extra 10% off, as well as their Kohl's cash. 
• Britax Marathon G4 convertible car seat: $180 (originally $259.99)
• Little Tikes trampoline: $39.99 (originally $59.99) I'm actually thinking of getting this for Braxton!
• $10 girl's and toddler girl's boots
• $5 kids' and toddlers' 2 piece pajama sets
• This Audi 6V ride on toy will be $129 which saves you $60
• All picture frames will be 50% off 
• All single roll holiday wrapping paper will be buy 1 get 1 free on Saturday - great deal! 

AC Moore: opening at 5 am Friday
Make sure you grab AC Moore's printed ad for additional coupons (60% off any one regular priced item and 40% off your total regular priced purchase)

• Wilton Recipe Right 3 pc. cookie trays: $6.99 (originally $19.99)
• Winter floral will be 50% off - perfect time to get stuff to decorate with, I'm getting stuff to decorate our wreath!

JCPenney: opening at 5 pm Thursday
JCPenney is offering $20 bonus cash for every $75 spent. They're giving out a free $10 off $10 coupon which is nice, and 1 in every 100 coupons will give you $100.

Their KitchenAid mixer deals are like the others seen, but Kohl's seems to have the "best" deal so far on them.

I'm not too in love with much of anything here...and they open at 5 pm on Thanksgiving, which is pretty lame. Checking out their ad, I wanted to point out that they have Carter's baby clothes for 50% off...that is not a great deal really. Considering that Carter's themselves have their clothes for 50% off along with extra coupons, and other stores often have Carter's for sale like that as well.

Change is good...

Picture: forbes.com

So you know how they say, "do what you love, love what you do"? Well, if I'm being honest, I don't completely love blogging. Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of blogging, but it got to a point where I was running out of things to talk about before. I wanted to share our life, but at the same time I didn't want to bore people; and of course I want people to be intrigued with what I'm writing about. Part of my hiatus was because I didn't want to take time away from my family for something I was unsure about. On my blogging break I was trying to figure out the right way to do this, while keeping it fun for me, and worthwhile. I came up with a couple ideas that I really love, that I'm pretty passionate about, and it's something that I'm pretty good at. 

Brian, my husband, likes to joke about how "cheap" I am. I'm all about saving money because as a stay at home mom, with only one household income, I don't have the luxury of buying everything and anything. (but ugh, how I wish!) While I may be cheap, I still like nice things, and that sometimes gets in the way. I'll admit it, I'm a total brand snob...I can't help it. Saving money on things we normally buy anyways is really exciting for me. I wanted to start blogging about some easy money saving tips along with deals (even some exclusive deals!) that will get you nice things for less. I also want to share some of our favorite brands on here, with reviews and giveaways, here and there.

Coming up, in the next couple of weeks, I am getting things together for a fun relaunch! I will also be posting Black Friday deals along with Small Business Saturday deals (some exclusive deals you'll only find from my blog) here and there before the official "relaunch". I also have a couple fun giveaways lined up that will be perfect for the holidays!

A relaunch

So yes, I have definitely been on a long hiatus from blogging, I'm saying I was on a summer break because the weather was nice and I was enjoying spending quality time with my family. Now though I have the blogging bug again and I'm currently working on a really fun relaunch, with some exciting changes. There are a few things I'm setting up now and will be talking about more in a couple of days. Anyways, I look forward to starting on here again and I hope you are too!

Check out my "Contact" page if you would like to collaborate on anything! I'm always up for new things...

xx,
Crystal.