Ten Tips for Being Fashionable on a Budget

by Janis Brett Elspas

MommyBlogExpert.blogspot.com

Pictured at left here I am with my four kids and dear hubbie (my men are wearing Gap Jeans) competing in a costume contest.

10 Tips for Moms

to Dress Well 

Without Breaking the Bank

When TwitterMoms & Gap Outlet announced this opportunity to blog, I just had to participate, so here is my advice on being fashionable and frugal, too.

1. If you have teen girls or daughters living at home in their early 20s, why not borrow from one another's closets?

2. Buy clothes that are stylish without being too faddish. That way, you'll be able to get maybe seasons out of an outfit.

3. DON'T buy clothes just because they are on sale or you've found a great deal. If you bring them home, but never wear them it is like throwing money in the trash.

4. Organize your closet so you can easily see everything you have. You will be amazed at the outfits that you can assemble if you have an overview of your closet.

5. Shop at thrift stores and also buy vintage. I avoid big city stores like these and instead seek out similar shops in small towns away from major metro areas whenever our family goes on road trips.

6. Purchase clothing that's classic at the end of the season either at retail stores or to save even bigger, shop the factory outlets on holiday weekends to find seasonal clearance items.

7. Borrow from your boyfriend's, hubby's or teen son's closet to find some great accessories and shirts.

8. Subscribe to free store e-newsletters of stores that you like to get advance notice and first pick at special sales events.  Get an extra 15% OFF w/ the TwitterMoms Special Discount -- Look to the right top of this blogpost above under the header and click on the Gap Outlet Widget to access & print an actual coupon, good now thru 5/24/2010, that you can click on and use to save money at their Gap stores.

9. Always comparison shop. Often you can buy the same thing online for less than in the store. You might even save more by comparing the same item sold on two different sites, if one these online retailers offers free shipping.

10. If you live in a city that is large enough to have a garment district such as L.A., New York, San Francisco, Chicago and other metropolitan areas, get to know what stores sell direct to the public because in many cases you'll end up paying a fraction of what the same item would cost in a standard retail store.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Gap Outlet blogging program to be eligible to win a $20 gift card.  For more information on how you can participate, click here.  See more tips for being fashionable on a shoestring on the discussion page on TwitterMoms.com

WIN Enlightened Chocolate GIVEAWAY - Decadent Cooking w/ Less Fat & Calories - CONTEST

WIN a copy of Enlightened Chocolate

A Decadent Cookbook of 200 recipes that are Lower in Fat & Calories 

Entering this MommyBlogExpert Giveaway is E-A-S-Y

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Additional Contest Rules:  Only U.S. legal residents eligible to win.  One prize to be awarded.  Limit of one main contest entry (required), with optional extra entries limited as described above.  Each giveaway entrant should leave a total of ONE comment on this blogpost.  Contest runs now through May 20, 2010 at 12 a.m. PST.  Winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email.

After entering to win this contest by leaving a comment below, be sure to check out the other MommyBlogExpert giveaways currently offered here

FTC Disclosure: MommyBlogExpert received the book Enlightened Chocolate for review.  For this MommyBlogExpert giveaway contest Enlightened Chocolate is providing the prize.  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post or giveaway contest.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.   

From My Mama's Kitchen GIVEAWAY - Food for the Soul, Recipes for the Living CONTEST

WIN a copy of From My Mama's Kitchen

A Book About the Nine Moms Who Raised Johnny Tan
 

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To be eligible to win From My Mama's Kitchen which was recently reviewed on MommyBlogExpert, just complete the 2 simple required steps below.  

For Required (MAIN) Entry:

1. Follow @MommyBlogExpert on Twitter 

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2. Leave a comment below mentioning a special moment you remember from spending time in the kitchen with your mom
Note: Leave a single comment after you've done both the above steps. Limit of one main entry per contestant.  In your comment post, include your answer to the #2 step above, as well as include contact info (email, Twitter, and/or Facebook) so we can contact you if you win.

For EXTRA (optional) Entries to Win: 

Do any or all of the steps below to earn extra chances to win.  The first 2 extra entry types below are limited to one of each type per person for the duration of the contest.  But, you can earn an additional entry each and every time you do the last Extra Entry type and retweet the message below about this contest.

Note:  If you do any or all of the extra (optional entries), remember that you have already left a comment for the required main entry.  So please don't leave additional comments for each extra entry you do as we can easily identify you and tabulate the extra entries your extra entries earned once you've completed the required (main) entry, including relevant contact info

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• RT exactly the following message (after the colon):  From My Mama's Kitchen Book GIVEAWAY Food 4 Soul, Recipes 4 Life http://tinyurl.com/258p323 #contest #moms RT to WIN

Additional Contest Rules:  Only U.S. legal residents eligible to win.  One prize to be awarded.  Limit of one main contest entry (required), with optional extra entries limited as described above.  Each giveaway entrant should leave a total of ONE comment on this blogpost.  Contest runs now through May 19, 2010 at 12 a.m. PST.  Winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email.

After entering to win this contest by leaving a comment below, be sure to check out the other MommyBlogExpert giveaways currently offered here

FTC Disclosure: MommyBlogExpert received the book From My Mama's Kitchen for review.  For this MommyBlogExpert giveaway contest From My Mama's Kitchen is providing the prize.  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post or giveaway contest.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.   

Mother's Day is Not Just Today, It's Every Day

Mothers Day

Gift Ideas for Celebrating Year Round

MBE partnered with included brands, post contains affiliate links

Whew, what a Mother's Day this year's was.  By noon, I'd already had so much activity, I had wished I could go back to bed. But, LOL, I did survive the day with enough residual energy to write about today.

Daddy was working all day today, so I was up early this morning driving in pajamas to take the two boys to join their friends for a paint ball outing with our synagogue's youth group.  By 8 am I was home again, met by my triplet daughters who were arguing in the kitchen about who was going to make lunch for me on this special day.  The bickering -- no surprise -- persisted until Dad came home from work this evening.   After finally getting the kids to bed, I still managed to call and talk to my own mom to say, "I love you," as well as to finish and publish this blogpost.

The holiday that celebrates all mothers may officially be today (and over in some parts of the U.S. by now), but I don't think too many  moms would disagree with me that Mother's Day for us is really every day.  What's more is that just about all of us, I'm willing to bet, wouldn't want to have it any other way.  Here is the first in a series of posts spotlighting MommyBlogExpert 's 2010 picks for gifts that mothers everywhere will love any day of the year not just for Mother's Day.  Other posts in the weeks to come will showcase things moms and kids can enjoy together to make more memories both indoors and outside.

What mommy doesn't wish she could spend more quality time with her kids?  Here are but a few of the many great gift ideas that will truly engage mom and the whole family, starting in the heart of the home: the kitchen...a place where almost everyone has at least a special memory or two of spending time with mom.

Create some more happy moments with your own kids year-round with any of these novel ideas

• Kuhn Rikon Cookie & Cupcake Decorating Set
• Bean Appetit
• Naturally Nora
• Soups - A Kosher Collection
• From My Mama's Kitchen
• Handstand Kids Chinese Cookbook
• Enlightened Chocolate

Kuhn Rikon Cookie & Cupcake Decorating set, made in Switzerland, comes 5  plastic, washable decorating bottles & caps in 2 different sizes, 5 stainless-steel decorating tips, 1 Frosting Spatula. is the perfect starter kit for the mom who likes to cook with her kids.  This product comes boxed with all the tools needed to beautify cookies, cupcakes, and other decorative foods that are perfectly sized for moms and children to have fun creating together.  Directions for use are included.  Available at FactoryDirect2You  and other specialty and online retailers.  $25

Baketivity 31 piece Kids Set

 

Bean Appetit: Hip & Healthy Ways to Have Fun With Food, by Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen, makes it fun and healthy for moms and their kids to play with their food -- together!  Based on some of the most popular items from Bean Sprouts, the authors' healthy kids' cafe and cooking school.  With its unique Bean Appetit Flour Blend that incorporates wheat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, wheat germ, and flax meal, to its Pot Sticker Pinwheels made with pot sticker wrappers, chicken, avocado, veggies, and herbs, it's no wonder that this book received the 2010 Mom's Choice Award.  $14.99

 

The Naturally Nora line of all natural cake, frosting, and brownie mixes are the brain child of mom Nora Schultz, mom of two and former Campbell Soup Company executive.  These all contain no transfats or artificial ingredients. The Naturally Nora Sunny Yellow Cake Mix, for example, contains only 8 ingredients which is only half the things that go into a similar box of Betty Crocker's cake mix.  But healthy doesn't necessarily have to be boring because Nora's assortment is not only better for kids it comes in fun and colorful varieties such as Alot'a Dots and all the brand's offerings are kosher.  Naturally Nora comes in packaging that utilizes recycled materials and vegetable-based inks and is available in a growing number of stores. 

Soup - A Kosher Collection by Pam Reiss, not only features easy how-tos for the basics, such as classic Chicken Soup, but also guides novice cooks in making extraordinary specialties like Strawberry Sambuca Soup and many other exotic recipes that evoke memories of her world travels.  In Soup, which also features some stunning photographs, she draws from her on-the-job experience with the family catering business, offering varied menu of soup course choices ranging from Pear Soup with Feta, Pecans, and Balsamic Reduction, to a homemade Bread and Tomato Soup that you and your kids can cook up and enjoy eating together.  In fact, all the recipes found within this cookbook sound equally good and healthy and are certain to delight anyone who loves good, hearty soups so this has appeal reaching far beyond only those of us who eat strictly kosher.   So I plan on making one new Reiss recipe weekly with my kids taking turns cooking with me.  With 125 different recipes including 51 vegetarian, 36 dairy, 4 fish, and 34 meat soups, we'll be trying new soups for years and you can expect to see some more posts on my family's reactions to some of these in the months ahead.  Available on Amazon.   M. Evans and Company, Softcover, $24.95

From My Mama's Kitchen, by Johnny Tan, is another book rooted in family cultural history. What's different about it is that it's not a cookbook as there are just a few recipes at the back of its pages like the Praline Yam Casserole that I am going to have to make for my family.  Mostly, it is a book about lessons for living so this might be fun for moms to read aloud to older kids or have them read it to you.  This is the Tan's collage of recollections of wisdom received from his nine "moms," beginning with the one who adopted him at birth in Malaysia and raised him on Nonya dishes --a fusion cuisine that blends two distinct cultures: Malays and the Chinese of Malaysia.  The remembrances progress with other mother-like figures who cross Tan's path after coming to the U.S., beginning with his Southern Belle "mom," who served as a host family for foreign university students, and continuing with a variety of others ranging from his foster Italian "mom," Cajun "mom," and German "mom" to his Texan Earthly "mom" and several others. 

Handstand Kids Chinese Cookbook, by Yvette Garfield, is a fun and educational book that teaches children about Chinese culture and includes recipes to make some related ethnic dishes.  Illustrated with a cast of characters that also appear in Garfield's Italian cookbook for kids, it intertwines a vocabulary section where various kitchen tools and common ingredients are pictured and spelled out in both English and Chinese characters.  Each recipe included in the spiral bound book is rated 1, 2, 3, or 4 sets of chopsticks to indicate level of difficulty, with "1 set of chopsticks" meaning that kids can do most of the steps involved by themselves and "4 sets of chopsticks" signifying that an adult needs to help with the entire recipe.

This book, which comes packaged in a cute giant Chinese take out box, also includes a set of plastic reusable chop sticks for your child. Suited for kids, ages 3 - 12, my own tween daughters loved making the Belly Full of Beef and Broccoli and also eating this tasty dish; our family looks forward to cooking up some of the other healthy Chinese entrees soon.  Available direct from Handstand Kids as well as at specialty stores and major booksellers.  Handstand Kids, Hardcover Spiral-Bound, $25

Enlightened Chocolate, by Camilla Saulsbury, is a fabulous cookbook for chocolate fans of all ages.  This arrived to my desk with post-it-notes from the book's publicist marking some of the fun recipes moms and kids will might enjoy whipping up together.  Just a few of the yummy recipes to tempt your family's taste buds are Jumbo Brownie Rounds (a brownie & cookie in one), Dark Chocolate Panini made with a crusty store-bought peasant bread, and two childhood classics that kids & adults will both adore: Chocolate Pudding and Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream.  Lest you think this cookbook is only for making unhealthy sweets, I want to assure you that the desserts all have lower calories and less fat than their typical counterparts do.  Even better, there is a whole section on savory chocolate ideas such as Black Bean Soup which has canned pumpkin as well as unsweetened, non-Dutch process cocoa power blended into it.  The recipes toward the end of the book are among my favorites, also calling for cocoa powder including Baked Beans and 4-Bean Salad.  I have a feeling these dishes are going to be as enjoyable to cook with my kids as they are for us to eat, so I look forward to testing some of them out and will get back to you later with the results.  From Cumberland House Publishing, Hardcover, $22.95

FTC Disclosure:  For this gift idea blogpost, Mommy Blog Expert received the products from companies mentioned for test, review and/or to giveaway to this blog's readers.  MommyBlogExpert was neither paid nor received other compensation from any company mentioned in this post.

Mother's Day Bonding for Tweens Teens

Crafts

Mom and Daughter: Bake, Craft Together

Mother's Day is traditionally the time when kids make arts and crafts at school to surprise their moms on the big day. As a mom of triplets (almost 13) and big brother one year older, like many other mommies, I've accumulated quite a collection of gifts made with love by my kids.

But, just because the children are older, doesn't mean that we can't make something fun together here at home. So, while the cupcakes are baking on Mother's Day, my girls, their friends, their friends' moms, and I will make these cute cupcake cards. Individual paper cupcakes can easily be turned into refrigerator magnets) for a special lady of their choice.

Shush.... my girls are going to craft cards for their grandmother (who is also my own mother).

Whether your kids are toddlers or teens, you're never too young or too old to make do something artsy craftsy.  Best of all, making something for a special mom helps bond you with your children.  I'm anticipating that tweens, teens, and their moms are really going to enjoy spending some quality time together.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main  page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.