Archive for Shopping

Red Envelope – Hidden Message Money Clip Review

Posted by Brande on June 2, 2011
in Gift Ideas, Holidays, Jewelry, Shopping, Uncategorized

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Father’s Day is coming! What are you getting for your Dad or Husband? Not sure yet? Well, head over to Red Envelope (www.redenvelope.com) they have lots of great items. Make it even more special and add personalization!

Red Envelope has everything for the garden & grilling dad to the office dad! They not only carry items for Dads, but graduations & weddings too. Don’t forget Father’s Day is fast approaching!

I received the “Hidden Message Money Clip Wallet” (Item #30006492) – shhhh… Don’t tell my husband!

“Surprise him with a secret note tucked into his wallet – a secret shared only by you and your loved one. Our hidden message money clip wallet allows you to engrave a special inscription of love, hope or encouragement on a brushed nickel plated insert. He’ll think of you every day with this handsome bonded leather wallet. Exclusively from RedEnvelope.

optional hidden message may be engraved on a brushed nickel plated insert that measures 2 ¼” x 3 ¼”. Accomodates 5 lines, 25 characters each line
size of engraving changes based on number of characters. more characters will result in smaller engraving
black bonded leather wallet with 3 card slots
brushed nickel-plated money clip (zinc alloy)
money clip may be monogrammed with up to three engraved characters
wallet measures 2 ¾” x 4” “

My Review:

If your husband, father, or whoever is not into a big bulky wallet, this is great for him. This is great for my husband, as it has room to hold cards and the clip is great for any cash that he carries. The money clip on the outside has his initials and the pull out insert (the hidden message) is perfect for just you and him to know about. My husband and I have shopped at Red Envelope in the past and have gotten wonderful items. Many of which have a special message for just us to share. I would recommend this product and most of the Red Envelope products.

Share and Enjoy

{4 comments}

Monkey T-Shirt

Posted by html404 on May 29, 2011
in Shopping

My husband lives in t-shirts, so do I during warmer months of summer. Some t-shirts are worth the money we pay for them and others, well….let’s just say they leave much to be desired.

When T-Shirt Printing came across my inbox, I didn’t know what to expect from it, but I know I did not expect it to wash and wear as well as it has. My husband likes this funny little monkey tee and wears it often. The monkey stamp has held up very well. There are no cracks or breaking even after three months.

Our model in all his glory!

T-Shirt Printing offers not only adult tees and sweatshirts, but kids tees and promo items. They offer personalization and customized items as well.

Prices vary and depend on the size of the order so please visit www.tshirtprinting.net for complete details or a free quote.

Share and Enjoy

{3 comments}

Spaghetti Lifter Review

Posted by Brande on May 23, 2011
in Food and Treats, Shopping

Fissler has over 160 years experience to help you in the kitchen.

Each Fissler product is made from the highest quality materials, including hygienic 18/10 German stainless steel, and goes through its certified quality control system. Through the use of these materials, German manufacturing precision, and unique features, Fissler ensures that each product will offer satisfaction for lifetimes of use.”

Fissler has repeatedly set standards and launched new cooking trends. Numerous international patents, registered designs, and awards document the company’s impressive performance. Their innovations have revolutionized the world of cooking.

If you need a flipper, strainer, whisk, spoon, skimmer. Fissler has them all and more. Their website is http://www.fisslerusa.com/. You can find Fissler products on many online retailers and you can check your state for a store near you.

My Review:

I received the Black Edition Spaghetti Lifter. It’s nice and sturdy. The head and handle are a heavy plastic material, while the middle of the handle is a stainless steel. It lifts spaghetti, so it does it’s job. Although, it’s not perfect for all noodles. You’ll loose elbow and shells through the hole in the center of the lifter. Which I suppose is why they named it a spaghetti lifter and not an elbow lifter. Ha ha ha…. I love kitchen gadgets so, this spaghetti lifter is right up my alley!

Share and Enjoy

{No comments}

CLOSED ProFlowers Review & Giveaway

Posted by Brande on April 29, 2011
in Coupons, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Holidays, Shopping, Uncategorized

Winner of Week 2 Scott Naturals 4-Week Test Drive Giveaway is……….

Ashley!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Ashley! #45 as chosen by Random.org.

Thanks to all who entered and ProFlowers.com for providing this great prize package!

After a gloomy, snowy and cold winter there’s nothing better than beautiful fragrant flowers on the table. The “Garden Bouquet” welcomed me when I got home other day.

The “Garden Bouquet” consisted of the following flowers.

“Item Description:

6 Orange Roses
3 Purple Roses
6 Orange Alstroemeria
1 Purple Hydrangea
3 Purple Alstroemeria
6 Coculus (greens)
Item #30050061

Who doesn’t dream of a garden like this? Blooming with roses, alstroemeria and hydrangea, this is the most gorgeous way to welcome spring into your home.”

http://products.proflowers.com/flowers/Gar den-Bouquet-30050061

When ordering from ProFlowers you can choose a vase of your choice (for an additional cost. But check out the coupon page there’s a link below)

The care instructions read – “Your flowers have been cut and shipped fresh from the fields. Follow these simple care instructions and enjoy the long-lasting beauty of the world’s finest flowers as they bloom before your eyes.”

My Review:

These flowers are beautiful (I’m staring at them right now)! I love purple & orange so this arrangement was perfect for me!

The flowers arrived in a well packed box on my front porch.

Just remember, when they come out of the box and packaging. They will seem squished, however give them some time and they will perk up. ProFlowers also put oasis (the green floral foam) and a baggie on the end of the flowers to keep them watered while they are in transit. They have been in the house for almost 5 days and they are still beautiful as the day they arrived! You need to make sure you read the care instructions to make them last.

Mother’s Day is Coming!!!

You can order ProFlowers today and have them delivered for Mother’s Day. Then, it’s all done and you won’t forget! http://www.proflowers.com/mothers-day-flowers-mdf

ProFlowers Coupons!

ProFlowers also has a coupon page!! I love coupons & promo codes. You can find your coupon on this link. http://www.proflowerscoupons.com, A few of the coupons are 20% off, free vase, free weekday delivery and other. Of course, provisions apply.

ProFlowers are on Facebook

You can also find ProFlowers on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ProFlowers). As a thank you, you will receive20% off your order if you friend them on Facebook!

Not only cut flowers!

How about chocolate cover strawberries? a potted plant? Maybe a wreath?

ProFlowers has my vote for Mother’s Day!

Giveaway!!

Enter to win a $50 Gift Card to ProFlowers!

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what product you would get from ProFlowers.

Extra Entries (Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry:Follow Faith and Family Reviews On Twitter

1 Entry: Follow ProFlowers on Twitter.

1 Entry:Like/Friend Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

1 Entry: Like ProFlowers and leave a comment on their wall saying what flowers you would like to get.

2 Entries: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Google Friend Connect (on the our right side bar).

2 Entries: Tweet about this giveaway. Up to three tweets per day. Include a separate comment for each and your tweet url with your comment. You may write your own tweet or use this one:

Enter to win a $50 gift card to ProFlowers!! http://bit.ly/kjaZmZ @faithfamilyrevw! Please share!

5 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back this post.

1 Entry: For every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

Details:

This giveaway will run from April 29th, 2011 to May 8th, 2011 at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. ProFlowers will send one winner their prize. Winner will be contacted via email on or before May 8th, 2011 and will be asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winners will have 48 hours to send me their e-mail at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). Please note: This giveaway is offered to USA only.

Thanks and have fun!

Share and Enjoy

{75 comments}

bareMinerals Review

Posted by Brande on April 20, 2011
in Girl Stuff, Organic, Personal Care Products, Shopping

About the Product and Leslie Blodgett (Creator)

“We’re on a mission to change the way woman feel about their skin.”

“In developing a skincare line, we championed our expertise in minerals and their ability to energize skin cells in an entirely different way than conventionally done before. We use only the finest quality ingredients in our products – the purest, most beneficial minerals from the earth – to give you the results you desire without the use of harsh chemicals, preservatives or irritants.”

“It all began when Leslie Blodgett, Creator of bareMinerals, sought out a visionary in the field of organic agriculture with over four decades of experience. This farmer had unearthed a complex blend of essentials through a unique process, these minerals yield a densely rich concentrate capable of extraordinary skin-renewing benefits.”

“Clinical studies further validated the transformative efficacy of this soil: Faster cell renewal, reduced pore size, increased luminosity, softer, smoother, younger-looking skin. Today, this rare soil is our proprietary, 100% pure RareMinerals ActiveSoil Complex and the miracle ingredient in our groundbreaking bareMinerals skincare line. For the past decade, we’ve perfected the bareMinerals skincare formulas to combine the very best nature with science and modern technology so you can experience extraordinary results. Help prevent, treat, and protect with bareMinerals skincare – the all-in-one solutions to your skin’s needs.”

The product I received was the Skin Renewing Trio, 30 day Try Me Kit. The kit included a purifying facial cleanser, firming eye treatment, and purely nourishig facial moisturizer (combination skin).

Purifying Facial Cleanser: “This deep cleansing, hydrating formula removes makeup, dissolves impurities, and re-balances skin for a softer more luminous complexion.” The ingredients include pineapple, lychee & guava fruit enzymes, avacado oil, and pomegranate extract.

Firming Eye Treatment: “Restore firmness and reduce puffiness around the eye area with this breakthrough treatment to reveal younger looking eyes. The ingredients include vitamin E, soybean & sunflower seed oil and roman chamomile flower.

Purely Nourishig Moisturizer (combination skin): “Hydrate skin with this lightweight, yet remarkably effective moisturizer for iproved firmness, elasticity, radiance and skin texture”. Ingrediants include honeysuckle, rooibos (red tea), green tea, chamomile, coffee, licorice, vitamins A, B5, and E.

My Review

Just a background on my face. My chin, forehead and nose are more oily than my cheeks.

I’m always leary about trying new facial products. I had a bad experience with a very abrasive product. I’m old fashion when it comes to facial products. I normally use the blue tub of paste that starts with an “N” to deep clean my face.

I’ve been activity using the bareMineral products instead of my own now for about a week. I followed the directions on each bottle saying to cleanse or apply morning and at night. I found the bareMinerals purifying facial cleanser worked well on making my pore smaller and cleaned my face well. The firming eye treatment also worked well, my skin felt a little tighter in that area. And the purely nourishing moisturizer, I love it on my cheeks. However, I did notice that since my nose, chin, and forehead are normally oily. It seemed to make them look more oily than usual. But, still a great product.

The product box showed the ingredients, however the product bottles did not. Maybe it is because they are a trial sizes.

bareMineral products are available at QVC. I went on the QVC site to see what other products bareMinerals have and my search returned 155 products! And people seem to love all their products! Lots of 4 & 5 star ratings! To purchase these or any other bareMineral products you can call QVC at 1-888-345-5788 or visit www.qvc.com/bareescentuals

Share and Enjoy

{9 comments}

Yanni – “Truth Of Touch” CD Review

Posted by Brande on April 11, 2011
in Downloads, DVDs & CDs, Music, Shopping

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review as a member of One2One Network. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Yanni’s Back! It’s been over 8 years since Yanni has released an original composition. Yanni’s new CD Truth of Touch is available now! In addition, Yanni also started his US tour in March.

Truth of Touch has 15 amazing tracks. Your melodious journey begins with CD entitled Truth of Touch. The only thing missing from this track is a tall glass of ice water with a lemon and someone rubbing my feet. As you continue on your Yanni trip, Vertigo is a faster up tempo song and will take your mind to dancing fountains. Yanni also incorporated a few tracks with vocals including Can’t Wait and Secret.

My Review:

I know of Yanni but never really sat down and listened to his music. I’m sure I’ve heard his music in various places and didn’t realize it was Yanni. After listening to his new CD Truth of Touch, Yanni has another fan. His music in this collection was beautiful! Each song has it’s own story, as your mind wanders through the calming tones. I will keep telling people about Yanni and his new CD Truth of Touch.

His CD or download is available now at his website, www.yanni.com or in stores now. Yanni also started a US tour in March.

Share and Enjoy

{No comments}

Homemade Convenience Foods Book Review

Posted by Brande on March 23, 2011
in Books, Ebooks, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Shopping

Here’s an eye opener. According to Marcia Washburn’s book, “Research shows that by age 45, the average woman has spent 50,000 hours in the kitchen. That figures up to 3124 days of her waking hours feeding and cleaning up after those she loves!” Cough, gasp… EXCUSE ME! I love to cook, but I’m with Marcia.

Here’s what Marcia’s website site www.marciawashburn.com says about her new book, Homemade Convenienve Foods.

“Homemade Convenience Foods is not once-a-month cooking or frozen pizzas or carry-out burgers, but a simple method that even never-cooked-much-before college kids and newlyweds can easily learn to implement.

The Homemade Convenience Foods system is perfect for busy homeschool moms, those who work away from home, and empty-nesters who need motivation to cook for just one or two people.

Homemade Convenience Foods even teaches you how to avoid those last-minute grocery runs that cost you so much time and money. With this system, you will always have the ingredients on hand to prepare at least a dozen different menus. Even drop-in guests won’t faze you.”

About Marcia and Why She Wrote This Book

“Three home-based businesses, church and community activities, homeschooling, and the growing appetites of five boys forced me to learn shortcuts in the kitchen. By trial and error, I developed a system that allows me to serve inexpensive, good tasting, nutritious food in fifteen minutes or less without spending a whole weekend cooking each month. This was not gourmet food, just hardy meals to fill those “eating machines” grazing through my kitchen.”

About Homemade Convenience Foods

Marcia has developed a method that will stock your freezer, cupboard and refrigerator. As well as giving you a list of the equipment needed, which is very few items. She also includes a few tips along the way.

My Review

We all have those days that we stand in the kitchen or stare into the freezer (I’m famous for that one) wondering what I am going to feed everyone. I’m definitely trying this out. Marcia includes yummy recipes in her book. I’m not talking tacos and hamburgers. She has recipes for goulash, chili, quick beef stroganoff, and others. I already started my list for my next grocery trip. I already do a few things she suggests. I buy ground meat, cook and freeze it. It works great for tomato sauce. I don’t want to giveaway all her methods, tips or tricks.

Go to her website at http://www.marciawashburn.com and buy Homemade Convenience Foods. It’s only $5.95 for print and e-book (add $2.00 for S/H for print editions). Also, don’t forget wedding, baby showers, birthdays for friends and relatives! Everyone could use this book. It makes a great addition to my cookbook collection.

Share and Enjoy

{7 comments}

Costume Discounters Review

Posted by Brande on March 18, 2011
in Children's Clothing, Family Stuff, Fashion, Seasonal Stuff, Shopping

Have your kids picked out their Halloween costume yet? No!? Halloween is only 7 months away! Well, let Costume Discounters help out the whole family! They have an extensive collection of costumes, including Easter, mascots, infants, and plus size.

My Review:

I received a Girls XS (3T-4T) Deluxe Toddler Alice in Wonderland costume for my daughter.

The deluxe costume comes with dress with attached pinafore, ruffle trim petticoat, and headband with a teal blue bow. The dress is 100% Polyester in a beautiful teal blue color. The attached pinafore has a silver edged ruffle with a lovely picture of Alice holding a cup of tea on one side and glittery tea cups on the other. The bow has a plastic piece in the center with a picture of Alice on it. The petticoat that goes under the dress is 100% Olefin. The dress and petticoat both have velcro closures. The headband is plastic, but has a good strectch that seems like it won’t break easily. The entire outfit needs to be hand washed separately in cold water, line dried, and cool iron (if needed).

We are heading to see a certain mouseland this year. This costume will be perfect for our trip. If you’ve been down there in the past few years you’ll notice the little girls in their princess outfits. Those outfits in the parks are VERY expensive. My advice is to buy your princess, fairy, or pirate outfit from Costume Discounters before you head out the door on vacation. Here’s a link to the princess costumes.

These opinions are my own.

Editor’s Note: We do not endorse all of the costumes found on this site to be family-friendly.

Share and Enjoy

{One comment}

Please Mum

Posted by html404 on March 11, 2011
in SALES, Shopping

I don’t know if you have ever heard of Please Mum, but it is a Canadian children’s clothing line. As a Canadian, I am rather biased I will admit, but they do have quality clothing. A friend of mine gave me a couple of outfits from Please Mum when our first son was born nine years ago and these pieces of clothing are still in mint shape after four boys….and they were second hand to begin with. They wash and wear well on little ones. I will try to scrounge up the outfits and take photos of them…but we are slightly unorganized around here (that is an understatement!) so forgive me if I cannot get the photos up today…it might take a little work to unearth them.

Anyhoo….Please Mum has a spring sale (50-70% off) going on right now that you might be interested in, so take a look and tell me what you think.

Additionally, their new Dressy collection is at 25% off and they are a company who gives back.

and tops are only $4.99!

Share and Enjoy

{2 comments}

Getting the Best Deals from the Brands We Love

Posted by html404 on March 5, 2011
in Shopping

Over the years I have come to love certain brands. These are my favorite brands that I have come to know and trust, usually because of the quality of their products. The thing is some of these brands a expensive. So here are a few of my tips on getting the best deal from the brands we love:

1.) Shop clearance. This is a no brainer for most frugal moms, but those who are just learning to penny pinch may not automatically think clearance when they have been use to an income that allowed them to purchase their favorite brands regardless of price.

2.) Take advantage of end-of-season sales. I have been known to shop for next winter now or for Christmas gifts right after Christmas for next year’s gifts.

3.) Join mailing lists. We receive $10 off a $10 purchase post cards from some companies. Or $5.00 or a percentage off. Each promo is different for individual stores.

4.) Sign up for store emails. Places like JoAnn’s will take email coupons and coupons from their mail flyer. E-newsletters also alert you to current sales or special offers.

5.) Watch for sales and use coupons too. If you are a couponer, using your coupons on sale items will give you an even greater discount at the grocery store.

6.) Buy used. In the day and age of families only having one or two children, thrift stores and garage sales are excellent places to buy brand name items. This is especially true for clothing, but small appliances and kitchen items may be found this way too.

Shopping Online

7.) Wait for free shipping offers. Companies like Land’s End offer free shipping several times a year, so wait to make your purchases until that offer is in your inbox.

8.) Join a rewards/buyers group. These groups are free and allow you to earn points (or in some cases cash) so you can use your points/cash to buy other things. They may even offer a referral code so when your friends sign up you can earn too. Examples: Zulily and Gilt for online clothing stores.

9.) Promo codes. As Brande mentioned in our Thrifty Thursday post, doing a google search for promo codes for the brands you love is another way to save money. Often e-newsletters will also include promo codes for online shopping – another benefit to signing up for e-lists.

10.) Buy used. In the day and age of families only having one or two children, thrift stores and garage sales are excellent places to buy brand name items. This is especially true for clothing, but small appliances and kitchen items may be found this way too.

We do not have to pay full price for brands we love. With a little bit of creativity and self discipline we can buy the brands we love and trust by using the tips above.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms Kroger CartBuster blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”