Printable Clipboard Calendar

So... yeah... we're already halfway through February. And I just took down last years calendar. Oops. I finally got tired of not having one so I made one up in photoshop and printed it out. It was super cheap and I didn't even have to leave the house! And guess what? I made a printable version for anyone else who's late to the party! Or anyone who wants a calendar with a nice, clean look.

And yes, I included January even though it's over. I always use last years calendar to transfer over important dates so I wanted to make sure I had a January page to mark them all down on.

I wanted to keep it simple but fun so I just used different pretty colors for the fonts each month.

Hedgehog Pillows

Throw pillows are one of my favorite ways to mix things up around the house. They're great for when a space starts to feel blah and you need a quick & affordable facelift. And at least for me... that happens a lot in the winter! Everything can feel a bit dreary and after being cooped up in the same four walls for a few weeks I start itching for a change. It's amazing what a lift a new color or pattern can give a room. And I think a set of hedgehog pillows like these ones I made for my sister-in-law just might fit the bill!

I've made owl pillows before (see the tutorial here) and used the same technique to whip up these little cuties. I love that these pillows have more fun and personality than the ordinary throw pillows I typically go with.

And I especially love that these are actually removable pillow cases! One of my favorite ways to save money with accent pillow is to keep using the same pillows and just replace the covers.

Boyz Be Cute

Just popping in today with some more pics of the cutie patooties that are my boys. Enjoy!

We found Big Brother laying in the middle of the kitchen floor looking at his Bible.

The faces of Baby Brother. Note the dimple. Be still my heart.

Doing Cartwheels & a $1,000 Target GiftCard® Giveaway!

If you guys are like me, you're always on the hunt for ways to save money on the things you need. I've never been much of a couponer because it seems like such a time commitment and it's hard to find coupons for the things I buy, but I got to try out Target's new Cartwheel app and it was different.
It's like having 700 coupons built-in to your phone, ready to go for in-store shopping.

The app can be used on most mobile devices, or you can use a computer to print out your deals ahead of time (your bar code is always the same though, so as long as you set keep your deals updated in your account you can just print the barcode once and keep it in your purse). You can set up an account using your Target login, or if you use Facebook you can share the deals with friends and see what they are saving on as well.

And I loved that there were so many coupons for Up & Up products (their store label, which is generally cheaper to begin with). The thing I wasn't thrilled about was that you have a limited number of "spots" on your account, which is how many coupons your allowed to "have" at a time. When you set up your account you get 10 spots, which means out of the 700 coupons you can only pick 10 to use at a time. You can change your list at anytime, though, to use different coupons, and the coupons you have can be stacked with any other discounts and coupons in the store and can be used over and over again until it expires (for example I bought frozen corn this week. I could use the Cartwheel coupon on up to four bags at a time, and I could do that up to six times per day). The app is nice because you can update your list while you're shopping. You also earn "badges" while you shop and each badge adds another spot to your list. I actually earned two badges on my first trip (one for making my first purchase and one for saving over $10) so I can now hold 12 coupons on my list.

One of the really cool things about the app is that you can scan any bar code in the store to see if there is a deal on that item. It's great for if you don't have time to browse the coupons ahead of time. You can just scan they things you're planning to buy anyway and see if there is a coupon you can add to your list! You can also search by collections on the app, so if you're planning to buy baby things, for example, you can browse the baby category and see what deals there are.

For my trip I looked through the deals ahead of time to see what I should keep my eyes open for, and found out Giada De Laurentiis cookware was 40% off! Which mean this 10 piece set would have been just around $80!

I didn't need a whole set, but I have been looking for things to replace some of our nonstick pieces (I have a few cast iron & ceramic pans) and have been hunting for a stainless skillet to add to my collection. So this happy little guy made it home with us:

This was my total Cartwheel haul:

• Giada Skillet (40% off)
• garbage bags (10% off)
• aluminum foil (5% off)
• razors (10% off)
• organic frozen corn (5% off)

It originally would have cost $73.95, but I saved $21.83 with the Cartwheel app so in the end it was under $53!

 Moose hat helpers.

And now it's time for you guys to have some fun (and maybe break in your own Cartwheel account!) with a Target shopping spree!!! One lucky person will win a $1,000 Target GiftCard® and all you have to do is leave a comment answering this question (rules below):

What is your favorite tip for saving money on the things you need to buy?

Sweepstakes Rules:



No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.



The Official Rules are available here.


This sweepstakes runs from 1/30 - 2/28.


Be sure to visit the Target Cartwheel brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!