Because of this avoidance of long lines, I became a huge fan of the kiosk at the post office and I use it regularly. A few months ago, I decided it was time to learn how to print and ship from home.  I was slow to take the time to figure it out, but let me tell you how utterly amazing it is now that I know.  Once I ordered the correct shipping labels, I simply went to USPS.com and clicked on print shipping labels and Voila!  I don’t have a scale, but I do plan on purchasing one.  For now, I just use the Flat Rate Shipping.  I keep those envelopes at my house, but with no charge, they will deliver those to you, as well.

So, yesterday, I had a few gifts I needed to mail.  I pulled up USPS.com and very handily printed my shipping labels.  The names I sent to are people I will probably send to again, so I saved them to my USPS address book, selected Flat Rate Shipping (all the options for insurance, signature, etc are available as well) and printed right at my own desk.  I slapped those babies on my Priority Mail envelopes and they were ready to go.  Next, I drove to the Post Office, where the lines for both the desk and the kiosk were overflowing out the door.  I marched to the package drop, dropped my packages with 3 kids in tow and I was out the door in 60 seconds.

If you have ever stood in that line during Christmas season with kids or no kids even, you know it leaves a LOT to be desired and a lot of wasted time standing.  This is worth the five minutes it might take to print your own shipping labels from home….an amazingly smart move if you have any interest in saving time.  You can take it one step further and arrange for your mail carrier to pick up packages at your doorstep, too.  I haven’t taken this plunge, but am certain my fabulous mailman would be happy to do so. 

I am still in awe at the ease of the task of mailing Christmas packages.  I am not sure why those crazy people stand in that line at the post office in the first place.  The kiosk does it all.  Then, I see those kiosk folks and wonder why in the world they didn’t do it from home!  Figure it out, my friends.  You will love it!

We live in a neighborhood where you walk to a common mailbox to retrieve your mail.  Eleven months out of the year, I avoid the mailbox, the junk mail, the bills like the plague.  However, when December 1st rolls around, I make a trip to the mailbox on a daily basis.  I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARD SEASON!  I love getting fun mail (and not ads) and I love seeing pictures of my friends and their growing famlies.  What is not to love about receiving Christmas cards?

Write Away has five style options for Christmas cards.

A photo card with three pictures…

This photo card can be used for a horizontal or vertical picture…

You can have your picture digitally printed or, order your cards now (my plan) ahead of the rush and attach your own photo.  We, of course, haven’t had a photo taken, yet.  This is a great option for us, so we can get our cards ordered and not worry about being frantic over a picture.

Non-photo card…

All the designs are interchangeable among each style of card.  So, these designs are available in the other styles, as well.  What I love about these cards, is that while they aren’t photo cards, you can attach your photo on the back side of the card.  The back side of the card is made of solid polka dots, so the picture is framed perfectly with cute paper.

And, if you don’t care for pictures, you can always create your own with these cute cards.  Each person on the card is completely customizeable with so many choices for each character.

Finally, my favorite part about custom cards from Write Away is that most cards have the option of customizing your Christmas greeting.  If you want a verse, a saying or just a “Merry Christmas”, Write Away is the way to go!  Check out all the cute choices of Christmas cards at Write Away and see all pretty designs.  Please don’t forget to select “Penny Sampler” as your wonderful Write Away rep!

I am SO EXCITED!  I LOVE, LOVE paper products, as you might already know.  I consider myself close to expert on what paper products are out there, as I do a large amount of paper purchasing on the web.  Wait, I do all of it on the Internet!  They, I mean WE, have SO many cute things….notepads, flat cards, fold-over cards, placemats, gift stickers, gift cards, calendars, holiday cards, wine tags.  Ladies, the list goes on and on.  The day I received my samples in the mail, I was on Cloud 9.  “A kid in a candy store” doesn’t even come close.  So, I have been diligently working on my samples and getting organized for my first official party…at my house!  I had no idea I would be selling darling paper products at my own house!

So, please go check out the Writeaway site.  You can order directly off the site, or you can email me and order from me.  Either way, I get the credit.  Just make sure when you check-out, you click “Penny Sampler” as your rep.  Even if you order from the Internet, I can help you with anything at all!  Right now, our Christmas Cards are in high demand.  Order yours now!

My goal is this.  Since my lovely sister has stepped back from her “Wynne’s-day” writing, I will make Wednesday’s “Write-Away” day.  Every week I will showcase one of my favorite products…there are just so many!  Here’s to cute paper products…

When I contacted Tommie, at Oh My Gluestick, she was wonderful to work with.  I found a card I liked and she worked with me on customizing it and “Voila!!”  Her cards are darling…even beyond the Sock Monkey theme.  The best part was that she sent me the PDF and I had it printed myself.  No worrying about shipping and arriving on time…especially since I was already running late with getting the invitations out. You just order from her Etsy shop and a couple days later, your design is in your inbox.  What a breeze!  It just might have been my easiest invitations, yet.  Not only does she make cute invitations, but all the accessories to go along with a great party…party hats, thank-you notes and more!

More exciting to me is that Oh My Gluestick is based in the Houston, Texas area.  On September 11, 18, and 25th, she will be at Arts in the Park in The Woodlands, Creekside with all her cute things.  If you are local, come out and support her and all the local artists!

Just because I worked hard on my Sock Monkey cake, inspired by Oh My Gluestick, I am sharing it with you here…

The things I make myself do!  I can appreciate a good challenge, but sometimes things are just out of my reach.  This one was borderline, but I feel a sense of accomplishment.  At least it’s identifiable…right?

Whether the market is crashing, the sky is falling or all the other “Doomsday” theories out there, I am TRYING to tighten up.  My husband would laugh or even scoff, but I am thrifty on several fronts.  I buy most of my clothes at Target, I play The Grocery Game and I do try to buy things on sale.  However, when it comes to house decor and my facial products and chemical peels, there’s just no way to cut corners.  We all have our vices, right?   

Being the on-line shopper that I am, I always look for free shipping…and it is usually SO easy to find.  My latest trick, however, saves even more than shipping!  Anytime I order on-line, when I get to the last page that asks for coupon codes, I minimize my page and Google the coupon codes for that company.  Once I find it, I cut and paste it to the code box and VOILA!  Money saved!  For instance, I bought a few swimming suits from Lands End a few weeks ago. (A cute giraffe top and ruched swim mini…I love it!)  I Googled, “Lands End Coupon Code” and I ended up receiving 40% off my bathing suits (seriously?) PLUS free shipping!  I saved $80 simply by taking two extra minutes to look for coupon codes.  Just now, I ordered a few cute things for the boys at Boden for our upcoming beach trip (Lord, please keep the oil away from western Florida!).  When I Googled “Boden Coupon Code” I came up with 15% off my order PLUS free shipping!  How can you lose on that?

I don’t have to drag my 3 toots to the store with me just to save on shipping. For me, it was WORTH the shipping to not have to do that!  These days, however, those Coupon Codes can add up really quickly and save you a lot of money…just for taking a moment to look for them.  The day I ordered those bathing suits from Lands End, I ordered from two other companies online.  In total, I saved $190 that I was “OK” with spending… 

There are many many coupon code sites, so I couldn’t begin to list my favorites.  Many sites rank the success of each code or publish when it was last used successfully.  I have yet to have a code not work for me by following the recommendations on the site.  Who couldn’t use an extra $200 in their pocket? 

For the record, I’ll keep that in cash, so “You-know-who” doesn’t know how much I saved.  Then, I can use it on the next “must have” for my house or new “age-defying” treatment for my face…Fantastico!

They have really great ideas for how to gift these bags…to grandparents, bridesmaids, friends.  Such a great way to capture a moment and make the memory last by printing it on a bag.  I think my favorites are the coin purse and cosmetic bags.  I know our grandparents would love to have one of these.  Mother’s Day, Birthday, Christmas…every occasion would scream for one of these.

Darling picture on a cosmetic bag…

Two cutie boys on a wristlet…

Fabulous idea for a Bridesmaid’s gift!

I love these bags.  They are so cute and a perfect gift for someone who has it all!  Who wouldn’t want a picture of your cutie-pies on a bag to carry with them everywhere they go?  You might check out the give-aways today….you might like it!

Jen can doing anything.  Big blogs, little blogs, red blogs, blue blogs…kidding.  Can you tell I have little Dr Seuss lovers?  I love what she has done for Penelope’s Pitstop and I want her to get all the credit and kudos she deserves.  This is my review of her on her site…

“It is amazing to me that every time Jen touches my blog she makes it bigger and better. I recently wanted to expand Penelope’s Pitstop, which Jen originally designed, to accommodate Product Reviews and Giveaways and allow it to have a more professional look. Jen moved me over to WordPress and it turned Penelope’s Pitstop upside down. I absolutely love what she has done to my site. I receive comments on a daily basis from perfect strangers telling me just how cute my site is. Once again, she turned my rambling thoughts into everything I wanted and more. As I have worked with Jen over the past couple years, I have grown to love her work AND her. I love that she allows me to “mess” with and sometimes mess up my site. Slowly but surely I am learning to manage my site via WordPress, but she is always there to patiently back me up and give me the support I need to make my blog a success. Penelope’s Pitstop has been successful in a large part due to the image it portrays…the look that Jen has given it has made Penelope’s Pitstop what it is today. Thank you so so much, Jen!”

She is awesome.  Should you have any web design needs, I would HIGHLY recommend Jen at Blue Yonder Design.  Just go check out her gallery…she has a wide variety of styles and ideas.  Coupled with your ideas, you are guaranteed to have an amazing design when she is finished with you!

Anybody have a little boy (or girl) that stashes things like crayons in their pockets?  Unfortunately, I found out mine did just that when I opened the dryer yesterday and everything was coated with red crayon.  It looked like there had been a major injury in the dryer.  I was so upset- it was my whites and Khakis…all the kids school uniforms.  I was in tears thinking of buying all new uniforms after church today.

I got on the Internet and Google sent me to a website www.thriftyfun.com.  Apparently I am not the only one who has experienced this.  There was a recipe that I want to share that was on that website that included lots of comments on how it worked.  I was skeptical, but figured I had nothing to lose.  I only wish I had taken pictures to show how amazingly it worked.

Recipe:

1 c Tide

1 c Oxiclean liquid

1/2 c Borax

1 c Shout or Spray and Wash

1 c Vinegar

 Fill washtub with hot water.  Add recipe.  Add clothes.  Let agitate for a minute or two to make sure it is all mix up.  Let sit overnight…at least 6 hours.  Drain tub.  Wash load as usual.  

I was stunned when I took the clothes out!  Gone!!! There were a couple light yellow spots on a couple white shirts which I soaked in Borax and Oxiclean again for about 30 minutes, then washed. A whole load of whites that I thought would be trash is back in business!  I was so amazed at this, I had to share it.  Put this in an important place!  I wonder if it would also help when lipstick gets run through the wash? Done that before, too.  I wish I had tried it.

The list is growing quickly every day.  Go see what all the fuss is about and if you have a business of your own, get listed now!

We found a fun website just for the girls in your house!  Go to Fashion Playtes and let your fashionista get started designing her own wardrobe.  It is so easy to do.  You have a choice of multiple garment types…tops, dresses, leggings, jackets and even a bag.  You select the garment, then the fabric.  From that point it is all embellishment.  You click and drag each button, appliqué etc. onto the garment. There is a price tag in the corner that clearly shows you how much your garment will cost as you add your choices.  Once you have the garment the way you want it, you can save it to your collection.  Your daughter can design away and you can go in later to her collections and make orders for the ones that you like.  What a fun surprise for your daughter to open a present and see an outfit she designed herself!

This is a remarkable invention.  If they had this when I was a younger, I would have gone nuts!  You literally create an outfit of your choice on-line and have the option of actually having it made and mailed to you to wear!  So many clothing pieces to choose from and the optional designs are endless.  Even better, there is an option to have your own label made and sewn in the clothes.  How awesome is that?  I already bought a gift certificate for my niece for Christmas.  If you are looking for something different and unique for your young daughter, niece, granddaughter this is the place to shop!  Can’t wait for you to check it out!  Enjoy!  Thanks, Wynne!  Click the link to start shopping!  A great idea for a gift certificate…