Thanksgiving Outfit (Embroidered Shirt & Feather Hair Clip)

When I started planning Harlow's Thanksgiving outfit, I looked for teepee designs.  Colin's family has Native American ancestry, and it's pretty neat to think about my daughter having that in her family history.  I love teepees and Indian images.  I found this teepee design from Planet Appliqué.

I embroidered the design on the yellow fabric then cut the fabric in a circle and stitched that on a onesie using my sewing machine.  I left the edges to fray a bit.  I like that I can use a seam ripper to remove the circle and use for a different project when she outgrows this onesie.

The font for Harlow's name is a font that comes on my embroidery machine.

I glued some craft feathers to the circle using fabric glue (you could also hand stitch them on).

I made a matching bow by gluing (with E-6000 glue) craft feathers to a hair clip.

I love both the shirt and clip so much that she will probably be sporting both well past Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a great week celebrating Thanksgiving!

Snag An Affordable Hotel

There are two apps I use when looking for an affordable place to stay on vacation.

The first app is Hotel Tonight.  You need a smartphone to use this site, but it's easy to use and has saved me a lot of money! AND I have a coupon below for you!

The first time I used Hotel Tonight, I was looking for a hotel room in Los Angeles.  Colin and I went to California for my friend's wedding, and we had one night to stay in LA and wanted to be in the middle of lots of tourists sites to squeeze in all we could in walking distance.

We stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd.  The first ever Academy Awards was held in this hotel!  Marilyn Monroe lived here for two years and had her first magazine shoot here.  Clark Gable had a penthouse here!  You can't get anymore Hollywood than this hotel!  It was beautiful, in the center of lots of tourist spots, and generally just pretty cool.

A room through a booking website rents for about $300.  Using the Hotel Tonight app, we paid $99!

Another time I went to Dallas for work and needed a cheap hotel since my boutique (meaning me) was footing the bill.  Using Hotel Tonight, I paid $35 to stay The Sheraton Dallas Hotel by the Galleria, another really nice hotel in a desirable part of town.  Rooms start at $150 without the app.

You need to be a bit flexible to use this app.  A limited list of hotels is offered, and you can only book up to a few days in advance.  I think it's worth flying by the seat of your pants to use this app (and that's coming from a planner and non-procrastinator…love to save money, y'all!).

When you download the Hotel Tonight app, use promo code MSTANTON and you'll get $25 off your first hotel booking!

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The second app is Airbnb.  You don't have to have a smartphone for this.  You can head on over to their website.

I haven't used Airbnb yet, but I have created wish lists of places I want to visit!  We're wanting to take a little trip to Memphis sometime soon since it's just a couple hours away.  We love Memphis.  My other wish list is places to stay in Paris.  It's my lifelong dream to visit Paris!

Airbnb is different, because you're not staying in a hotel.  You're staying in people's homes!  Sometimes people have an extra space in their home to rent out, and sometimes they have an entire house or apartment available.  You can read reviews on the space from past renters.  It's great, because it's usually much more affordable than a hotel, it offers a larger space, and you can learn about great spots to visit from the locals you're renting from!  

I'd love to hear if you use Airbnb and have any tips!

If you're new to Airbnb, head on over to the app or website, and use promo code MSTANTON107 to get a $20 credit!

Do you have other apps or websites you use to book your travel plans?  Let me know, because I'm all about a good deal!

Get Paid to Shop (for items you already buy!)

There are two apps I've been using for the last few months that PAY me for items I buy when I shop.  I upload a picture of my receipt, and they pay me for items.
That's it!  Easy.  FREE!

Don't have a smartphone?  You can use their websites!

The first app is Checkout 51.

This app is a bit limited in rebate selection.  You select which items you have bought and upload your receipt.

When you reach $20, you can cash out!  The cash back per item is about any where from 25 cents per item to $1.00 per item.  Little by little it adds up, though.  Each month they also have a $500 drawing if you have a grocery receipt over $60.

The next app (and my favorite) is ibotta.

You can search rebates by category or store.  I shop most frequently at Kroger, so here's what it looks like when I look for rebates.

I use the app the lazy way.  I shop for what I need and then come back and see if anything I bought has a rebate offer.  Most rebates are only 20 cents, but it adds up!

You could make a lot more money if you looked at the app before you went shopping and used that to influence what you bought.  Going to buy spaghetti sauce?  See if there's a rebate offered for a certain brand, and then buy that brand.  I would only do it that way if it wasn't going to be more expensive in the end, of course.

I've been able to make money on items before when I've found the item on sale, plus used a coupon, then gotten a rebate on ibotta!

You can get a check or gift cards or paypal cash on ibotta.

If you click my referral link (here: https://ibotta.com/r/hn5gba), I'll get a $4 referral credit, and you get $1 credit after your first rebate.  BUT I got an email from ibotta telling me that if you start using the app now, you'll get a $10 Welcome Bonus after your first rebate!!! I'm not sure how long they're offering that discount, so I'd run and sign up!

Once you sign up, you'll get a referral code that you can share with your friends!

Yay for rebates!

I know Walmart has a rebate app; are there any more out there I should know about?  I'm going to use my rebate money to help with Christmas shopping!

Colin's Birthday: Pool Party & Butterbeer Cupcakes

What better way to celebrate my husband's birthday than with an indoor pool party and Harry Potter inspired cupcakes?!  Yes, it was for adults (and our baby) :)

We had the pleasure of swimming at the new pool at the University of Central Arkansas.  We played basketball and climbed a rock wall that falls into the pool.  If you live near UCA and are wanting to host a pool party, I recommend using this aquatic center!

Instead of having a cake, we have cupcakes-- butterbeer cupcakes!  If you have never read or seen Harry Potter, then you may not know anything about butterbeer.  It's a drink in the books/movies.  I found a recipe for butterbeer cupcakes and knew I had to make them, since Colin is a Harry Potter fan.

The cupcakes were soooo good!  I found the recipe here.

While it may have seemed like a party for a kid, all of us adults had a great time!