Buy And Sell Boxes Of Outgrown Kid's Clothes (And Toys) With thredUP

Swapping on thredUP is all about getting great new clothes (and toys!) for your kids while getting rid of stuff they no longer use. Pick up a box of gently used children's clothing or toys when you join today - it's Free to join and you can now earn cashback for your outgrown kids clothes, gently used toys and books on thredUP. Earn up to $10 for every great box you send to another mom. If you have clothing your children have outgrown, thredUp will send you free postage paid boxes and even arrange for them to be picked up - it couldn't be any easier!

 

I'd love to hear about your personal experiences with thredUP.  Leave me a comment below!!  Happy Halloween!

Random Fun & Free Things From Around The Web!

Wow! I have quite the list of random free things to share, of course they are all fun. I wouldn't suggest boring things. :)

SAMPLES

Free Total® Blueberry Pomegranate cereal sample

Free Gain with Febreeze Freshness detergent sample

Free L'Oreal Advanced RevitaLift Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair sample

Wylie Mom's freebie list from last week-many are still available!!!

FACEBOOK

5 FREE 1 Night Movie Rentals from Redbox® & a $5 coupon off (catalina) your next shopping trip at participating Albertson LLC stores when you purchase $25 of P&G products in one transaction Offer valid 07/29/09-08/04/09

$1.00 Off El Monterey Taquitos coupon

David Lowell over at Practical Manifestations has offered a FREE copy of his book,
Abundance and the Secret Law of Attraction, to his Facebook peeps. Check it out!

Free Coach Poppy Pencil Case -print coupon and redeem at a Coach store. :)

MISC.

$1.00 Honey Nut Cheerios eCoupon from Cellfire - new Cellfire coupons came out today!!

Wondering what to do with your old cell phones? Contact Cell Phones For Soldiers. They will send you a bag for cell phone recycling and the money raised will be used to purchase calling cards for American troops! That's a win-win!

Wondering where to take the kids on the cheap tonight? Check out KidsMealDeals. You type in your zip code, and it comes back with a list of places kids eat for free in your area.

Cashbaq has their Entertainment Books for $10 with $10 cash back. That means FREE! Also, you get a $5 sign-up bonus if you're new to Cashbaq. That extra $5 would probably cover the shipping...

Any other fun things to share? E-mail me!! :)

Free Eco-Living Tips For Parents From Ideal-Bite

Get short, sassy eco-living tips delivered Monday through Friday... for free at Ideal Bite. If you haven't yet, please check it out, because Ideal Bite has now added "Mama Bite". Here's a bit of info:

"Hey Mama! We know your type: You always choose to "do the right thing" for Ma Earth, right?
That is, until things like poop became an acceptable topic of conversation. Well, you're in luck. Now you have a free source of green advice for real moms (or baby bumpers!) leading busy lives. 100% mommy focused, 1000% eco-fabulous.

We'll give you the scoop on everything from junk in the trunk (we're talkin' chems in disposable diapers that aren't great for babies, baby daddies, or Mama Earth), to safe alternatives to conventional plastic toys. Ideal Bite delivers easy eco-mommy tips via a short, sassy email each weekday."

In addition to the "Daily Bite" which I receive and the "Mama Bite" which just signed up for. There's also a: Los Angeles Bite, San Francisco Bite, New York City Bite, Seattle Bite, and a Chicago Bite. No Dallas Bite yet....!

It's FREE to sign up! Plus, you'll be entered to win a trip for 4 to Walt Disney World Resort. Just click the banner below to take a peek.

What's Going On In Wylie, Texas This Weekened?

I have just a few fun things to share for this weekend!

#1- Tonight is Ladies Night Out/Customer Appreciation at The Mulberry Bush. The Mulberry Bush is a children & maternity consignment store here in town. Tonight the owner, Ann, is having wine and cheese plus 20-30% off everything.

I have a huge stack of $2 off Dove Visibly Smooth Deodorant coupons that I'm dropping off for Ann to share. The coupons were a gift from Dove with a new pack of deodorant, to share with readers. Yay blogging!

The Mulberry Bush, 800 Park Blvd Suite B, Wylie, Texas 75098, 972-941-8107

#2- Clean Up-Green Up is happening right now!!! Today the hours are 1-6pm and Saturday 8am - 4pm. It will be behind City Hall on Centennial Drive (near Walmart on Highway 78).

Please bring your: Trash, Brush, Appliances, Electronics, Cardboard, Scrap Metal, and Tires. Document Shredding will be available Saturday only (from 8-12 ONLY).

Please no household hazardous waste (paint, oil, batteries, light bulbs, antifreeze, etc...). Identification will be required (water bill or Drivers Licence). For more information, contact the city of Wylie Parks Department at 972-442-8195 or e-mail parks@wylie texas.gov, or click here.

#3- Wylie Farmers Market!!!! I noticed a sign for this last night as we were strolling down Ballard Street. The Farmers Market will be held the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, starting in May through the summer.

Hours are 7am - 1pm and it will feature fresh fruit, vegetables, bedding plants & flowers, handmade crafts, Texas food, etc. Look for it downtown, in the empty lot between Quick Response Computers and the Farmers Insurance building.

For more info (including participating) call Contact Ellie Hughes at 972-429-1437 or click here.

Have something fun to share , please let me know!! :)

Free Shopping Tote From Earthbound Farm

This is the last chance for this one! The first 10,000 people each week to take the "Sustain Yourself, Sustain the Planet Pledge" in April will receive this cute reusable shopping tote. Since this is the last week in April, you need to hurry!

Sustain Yourself, Sustain the Planet Pledge

Thanks Earthbound Farm!! And thanks to Freebies 4 Mom for the reminder.

Celebrate "Earth Day" Monday Through Friday!

Sign up with Ideal Bite for eco-living tips, emailed Monday through Friday. All sorts of topics are covered-travel, wine, clothes....etc. It's cooler than you might think. :) Happy Earth Day!!

Vote Earth-Don't Forget Earth Hour Tonight!!

Turn off lights, TV's, computers (oh no!!!!), etc. tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 your local time. Check out the official Earth Hour page here. You can already check out pictures from around the world as others celebrate Earth Hour. Cool!

Enter To Win Tickets To Disney's "Earth"!!!

I've been receiving e-mails from Ideal Bite for about a year now, and they are pretty cool. They send you daily (or weekly) eco-friendly tips.

On a side note, Earth Hour is Saturday the 28th. Turn off lights, computers, TV's, etc for an hour. 8:30 to 9:30 local time. Click here for more info. Thanks Irene!!

It's Time For Clean Up Green Up In Wylie, Texas

It's that time of year again, folks! Clean Up Green Up!



It will be held February 4-7, 2009. Wednesday through Friday from 1pm to 5pm and Saturday 8am-4pm. It will be behind City Hall on Centennial Drive (near Walmart on Highway 78).

Please bring your: Trash, Brush, Appliances, Electronics, Cardboard, Scrap Metal, and Tires. Document Shredding will be available Saturday only (from 9-12 ONLY). Please no household hazardous waste (paint, oil, batteries, light bulbs, antifreeze, etc...).

Identification will be required, no pick-ups available for this event.

For more information, contact the city of Wylie Parks Department at 972-442-8195 or e-mail parks@wylie texas.gov. Also, click here for the Wylie News article.

Sign Petiton To Keep Second Hand Clothes Legal

"Our letters are making a difference! On Jan. 8th the CPSC revised its position to exclude thrift and consignment stores. Keep the heat on Congress as the CPSC rulemaking is still underway".

Visit the Make Second Hand Kids' Clothes Legal site for more info. This is so important! Not only do so many American families depend on second hand baby/kids items to clothe their children and provide them with toys, but think of the impact on the planet if this law is left untranslated or unmodified. All outgrown clothes and toys will be thrown away, as in the trash that's headed for a landfill.......?? That's totally unacceptable!!

Thanks!! :)

Free Thanksgiving eCards

Although not appropriate for all occasions....ecards are cute, save paper and stamps ($)!! Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion for an ecard!!

Super Cheap Firewood Near Parker, Texas

Hey there local readers!! Anyone live close to Southfork Ranch????

Condren Tree Service has a GREAT deal on firewood. It's $40 a pick-up load. You have to stack/load it yourself so bring gloves. And, you can only fill up the bed, level to "the top". So, you might need to load neatly.....but it's only $40!!!!!! Sure beats those $80 "stacks" you find all over town.

Condren Tree Service is located on Parker Road in Allen (technically) and is about 1/2 mile west of Southfork Ranch, on the north side of the road.

It's pretty "eco-friendly" too, since it's a tree service (the trees needed to be cut down and removed anyway)....and it's a lot of wood. At least for the wood needs of someone living in the "warm" Dallas area. We still have lots left from last years load. :)

My Random Sunday Sweeps

I only found one in the paper with the coupons, but I could have missed something! Today, I found a Windex/Weather Channel sweepstakes. Grand Prize is $15K for eco-friendly lighting for your home. I don't think my home would quite need $15K to upgrade my lights.....those would be some exciting lights for my little house!! Haha! First Place prize is a $50 check (and a $50 environmental donation) and Second Place winners will get Windex and CFL bulbs.

Click here to Enter the Weather Channel/Windex Sweepstakes!!

Looking for more Sweeps???? Here are some from Good Housekeeping, just click Here, Here and Here.

Don't receive Good Housekeeping yet? This month you can get a free subscription from the Kroger family of stores with the purchase of $20 in participating products in a single transaction. A catalina will print out after your purchase. I found a great list of info here at My Penny Pile. No reason for me to re-type all of that! :) Offer ends October 11, 2008

See any good sweeps?? Leave me a comment!

Recyling Facts

I went to the WFAA's (Channel 8 here in Dallas) Project Green Summit last night. The keynote speaker was Ed Begley, Jr. Hubby I and loved seeing Ed!!!!! We watch Living With Ed all the time. Although, I'm more of an "Ed" and he's more of a "Rachelle".

Anyway, here's some fun facts that were on the outside of my "made from corn" waste bag for the car. Courtesy of Half Price Books.

1. Recycle your aluminum cans. If 250 people recycled 1 can a day we would save the energy equivalent of 1,750 - 3,500 gallons of gas. That's just 250 people!!

2. Recycle your plastic. Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR, most of them being thrown away. Bottled water is something of the past in our house, since water comes out of the faucet for "free".

3. Recycle your glass. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours. WOW!

4. Recycle your newspaper. If everyone is the U.S. would recycle 1/10 of their newspaper we would save approximatley 25 million trees a year.

So, Please Recycle!!!!!!! Here's even something fun......click HERE to enter the Living With Ed sweepstakes. It's for a trip to Hollywood to spend the day with Ed. Yay!!

P.S. Sorry for the mini vacation from blogging. I turned 33 on Monday and have been relaxing with my family. Hubby was off, etc. :)

Free Packing for Shipping

What's all that "trash" you ask? It's all the plastic from the newspaper, diaper packs, TP, paper towels, torn store bags, okay you get the idea.

I bag them up and use them for eBay packing for items such as this. They work AWESOME!!!! So much better than newspaper and cheaper than peanuts. Like I would ever buy packing peanuts, haha! Of course I love that fact that I'm reusing "trash".

In my pantry, I have 2 plastic bags hung. One is for "good" plastic bags. Bags with no holes, that would work for kitty box duty or trash can liners, etc. All other "trash" plastic goes in the other bag as long as it's clean (dry, no food!!).

I have yet to have an item broken in shipment and even get comments on my "great packing". I just toss the bags (bottom picture) in my eBay packing box in the garage. I use these faster that I can "make" them most of the time. And that includes reusing all of my mom's plastic as well!!

Even if you don't ship a lot, keep this in mind for when you do need to ship!

Be sure to read this post for ideas for free shipping boxes!!

Three Cheers for Recycling!

The City of Wylie has recently decided to change "trash companies". When I read all the information, the only exciting difference I noticed was that recycling would now be picked up weekly. It is currently every other week, and that is sometimes not often enough.

Well, today my new cans arrived. We can now recycle #1, #2, AND #3, #4, #5 and #7 plastics!!!!! That's reason for celebration in my book. I know....it will be a small party. I accept the fact that I find really lame things fun and exciting. :)

Only 3 Percent?

According to Nokia, only 3 percent of "unwanted" cell phones are recycled. Come on people, I know we can do better than that!

Click right here to learn more. If you type in your zip code at the top of the page, you'll be given a list of local cell phone recyclers. The closest location to me was an Office Depot.

I'll have to admit, I've never recycled an old cell phone. But, I've never thrown one away either! Every cell phone I've even owned is here. They are all scattered throughout the house in the kids toy baskets, beats paying $10 for a toy phone.

Thanks to Earth 911 for the information.

Another Free CFL Bulb

These things are awesome!! Save some "green" and the planet at the same time. We have really seen a difference on our electric bill after we started using them exclusively.

The Million Lights Project is where you'll request your bulb and learn more about CFL bulbs and the good you can do by making the switch.

Thanks!!!!

Recycling - Batteries, Paint & More!

Need to clean out the garage? Ever wonder where to recycle a battery, motor oil or a paint can? Wonder no more!! Head over to Earth 911. It's a fun eco-information site. Recycling, alternative fuel vehicles, composting, green shopping, etc. I personally think the entire website is useful and awesome, but I know everyone isn't an environmental geek like me.

So anyway, under recycling, you can type in batteries (or paint or whatever) and your zip code. Then you will have a list of everyplace in your area to recycle your item. Cool huh? My brother, Mason, could have used this on Saturday, we had just discussed where to recycle batteries. :)

Once I had looked up battery recycling, on the side bar popped up a list of "clean up/green up" events in my area for the next year. Seems to be a one stop shop for a lot of "green living" information.

I was lead to Earth 911 by reading my daily eco-living tips from Ideal Bite. There is a cute green box on the left of my blog to sign up. It's free of course!!

Laundry Day

Here's what laundry day looks like around here. No dryer! Well, I take that back, I dry socks, underwear, pjs, towels and sheets in the dryer. We have no clothes line and our HOA prohibits one.....so this is the best I can do. First I wash everything inside out in COLD. Then it's hung.

Here's the top 2 reasons why I hang dry clothes:

1. It keeps them looking great. No shrinking, minimal fading. They just look "new" no matter how many times my kids wear them. Ever notice how yucky a Ralph Lauren Polo collar looks after about 3 trips in the dryer, and you paid how much for it???? Hang them to dry! Also, I resell clothes on eBay and there are people who will pay a premium for line dried clothes. They just look so much better. No more lost bids for me.

2. It's takes no electricity to hang dry clothes (unless I run the fan in the utility). That means better for the environment (less carbon emissions, etc) and a lower bill for you! I love green things I can do that are easy!! To estimate your energy consumption for different appliances in your home go here. To read more about "vampire energy" go here. Did you know that a plasma TV turned OFF costs you $13.25 a month just to sit "turned off" in standby mode. What is you had 2 of these (I have none, boo hoo) that would be $26.50 a month just to plug in a TV. Okay, I'll step down from my energy soap box. But I will say this....in the above example, use a power strip. You'll notice the difference with your first electric bill. Okay, now I'm done.

The whole process of hand drying clothes takes no extra time. Most of the clothes are already inside out when thrown into the laundry basket. I just pull them straight from the washer to hang them, once dry they go straight to the closet. I would have hung them from the dryer anyway. See? No extra work, I just changed up the order of doing things. I hung the metal shelves myself (with a little help from my step-dad), and they added so much storage space to my small laundry room. They are also perfect for hang drying clothes. See it's a win/win/win...

I've only been doing this about a year, as far as being 100% committed to doing it with the kids laundry. I've been gradually hang drying my clothes and hubby has started to do his. :) My green habits are contagious. What change can you make today?