Architecture of a Mom: June 2013

Menu Planning Monday 2013-07-01

3:31:00 PM

Saving By Design: Shopping with All You at Bi-Lo #ad #lifeforless #pmedia

5:00:00 AM

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and All You, but all my opinions are my own. #lifeforless #pmedia http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

I've been couponing pretty regularly for almost a decade. And do you know what a big secret to saving during big couponing events is? It's having coupons that not everyone has. Pretty much everyone in your local store can have this week's coupons. They probably can print out some coupons off the internet. But not everyone realizes what my secret weapon is: All You magazine.

All You has great articles on ways to save money--as well as fun frugal crafts and yummy recipes. I have been a reader of this awesome magazine for some time, and it has always been worth my while. The thing that was inconvenient about the magazine was, until the last couple of months, the only retail outlet that sold All You was Walmart. Well, all that has changed, and I am very excited. You see, I rarely go to Walmart. But now, there are a lot more stores that have All You available, and I am totally doing a happy dance about it!

But how do you save money with All You? Let me give you the perfect example with this month's issue of All You. I piled the family into my car and headed to my local Bi-Lo.

Yes, Bi-Lo is one of the great stores where you can now buy All You! We were really excited to find those magazines, although my oldest wasn't looking so excited here!

I found the All You issues right at the checkout stands without any problems, but if you can't find the latest issue, but sure to ask a manager where they keep All You.

Then learn about all the ways to save that are throughout the magazine! Here are a couple of items that caught my eye right away (highlighted by arrows):

Coupons: Every issue has loads of coupons. You can find a list of coupons right by the table of contents, with the values for each brand of coupon and the page numbers. The folks at All You want to make it easy. I found several coupons for items we use.
Articles: I paged through and found an interesting article about apps that save you money. After doing a little bit of learning, I found some more savings through an app for my shopping trip!

So, back to the shopping trip at Bi-Lo. The priority for this shopping trip was to get ready for potty training the twins with some special treats and to get one necessity that we were running low on: paper towels. My girls and I found several items that we usually buy that had coupons in this month's issue of All You.

My twins were pretty excited about those coupons...or maybe they know the M&Ms are for them...or maybe it was the fun grocery cart. I can't decide. :-) Here's the rundown on what we got:

Sparkle Paper Towels (do you know how many we go through? It's ridiculous!)
M&Ms (a perfect treat for the successes of potty training)
Mars Ice Cream Novelties & Newton's Cookies...well, we needed treats for the rest of us!
And the bonus item: Koolaid Jammers. There wasn't a coupon for this, but we found savings through an app that we learned about in this month's issue of All You!

The amount saved via All You through a single shopping trip? More than $4! And we paired the savings directly from All You with some amazing sales to save even more! We more than recouped the purchase price of All You with this single shopping trip. And beyond the simple coupon savings, I now have learned about some new saving tools with apps that are now a part of my savings playbook!

Do you want to pick up your very own copy of this month's issue of All You? You can find all the stores that carry All You at this site: www.allyou.com\value. You definitely want to try this magazine out!

P.S. This is a sponsored post brought to you via Pollinate Media and All You. I was compensated for this post, but I only share items that I love! I read and use All You every month.

Sometimes I link up at the following places: 504 Main, A Diamond in the Stuff, Alderberry Hill, At the Picket Fence, Beyond the Picket Fence, Cherished Bliss, Classy Clutter, C.R.A.F.T., Craft-o-maniac, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Eat at Home, Finding Fabulous, Gingersnap Crafts, Glued to My Crafts, Home Stories A to Z, House of Hepworths, House of Rose, I Heart Naptime, Lil Luna, Live Laugh Rowe, Made in a Day, My Favorite Finds, Not Just a Housewife, One Creative Mommy, Organizing Junkie, Semi Homemade Mom, Serenity Now, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Six Sisters Stuff, So You Think You're Crafty, Someday Crafts, Sugarbee Crafts, Tatertots & Jello, The 36th Avenue, The Frugal Girls, The Grant Life, The Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Today's Creative Blog, Uncommon Designs, and Under the Table and Dreaming.

Creative Outlets

Ombre Origami Fish Art

8:24:00 PM

Culinary Creativity

Grilled Plum and Herbal Tea Popsicles

8:11:00 PM

Menu Planning

Menu Planning Monday 2013-06-24

8:04:00 PM

Creative Outlets

DIY Boba Fett Star Wars Graphic Tee

9:13:00 PM

Do you have a Star Wars fan in my house? I do. My husband. So when I got a Silhouette Portrait a few months back, and he learned you could cut heat transfer vinyl with it, well, he started making broad hints that he wanted a Star Wars Tee. To be specific, he wanted a Boba Fett graphic tee. So, because he's an awesome dad, and Father's Day was coming up...and because I love him (grin)...I set out to make a Boba Fett T-Shirt.

You'll need a black t-shirt, green heat transfer vinyl, red heat transfer vinyl, an iron, and your computer with a Silhouette Portrait or Cameo.

First, I searched online for images of Boba Fett. I was specifically looking for one that was relatively simple. I have learned that the Silhouette Studio program works best with simple images. I also only wanted a two-color image, with the color of the t-shirt being the other color.

I took the image I found and ran the trace function on the Silhouette Studio. However, to get all the elements to trace, the threshold was such that it was a very complex image. So I went through and cleaned and modified the image to be two basic color regions, with very simple shapes.

Then came the important part: I flipped the image horizontally: I selected all the elements of the image, then I right clicked and selected "flip horizontally." This is important for any image that isn't symmetrical with heat-transfer vinyl.

Then pull off to the side the portion that will be red vinyl (off the region that will be cut on your screen). Using the cutting settings for heat transfer vinyl, use the silhouette to cut the green vinyl. Be sure to follow the instructions for which side to have down during the cutting process; the heat transfer vinyl I have instructs you to place the shiny side down. Hit undo to move the part that will be red vinyl back to the cutting area and move the other portions off. Then cut the red vinyl. Weed out the extra vinyl for both colors.

Research the instructions for your brand of vinyl for the heat setting for your iron, as well as the time you need to press the hot iron down on the vinyl. I have found that different brands have different recommendations.

I first ironed down the red, and then I ironed down the green. The advantage to a simple image means that it is pretty easy to line up the two layers.

I was so excited about how good this looked...I could hardly wait to give it to my husband. Good thing I finished this the day before Father's Day.

And guess what..he loved it! Do you have a Star Wars fan of your own who might want this? I think I'm going to have more orders from my husband for more Star Wars clothing.

Enjoy!

Sometimes I link up at the following places: 504 Main, A Diamond in the Stuff, Alderberry Hill, At the Picket Fence, Beyond the Picket Fence, Cherished Bliss, Classy Clutter, C.R.A.F.T., Craft-o-maniac, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Eat at Home, Finding Fabulous, Gingersnap Crafts, Glued to My Crafts, Home Stories A to Z, House of Hepworths, House of Rose, I Heart Naptime, Lil Luna, Live Laugh Rowe, Made in a Day, My Favorite Finds, Not Just a Housewife, One Creative Mommy, Organizing Junkie, Semi Homemade Mom, Serenity Now, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Six Sisters Stuff, So You Think You're Crafty, Someday Crafts, Sugarbee Crafts, Tatertots & Jello, The 36th Avenue, The Cards We Drew, The Frugal Girls, The Grant Life, The Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Today's Creative Blog, Uncommon Designs, and Under the Table and Dreaming.