Buy a tea kettle? For fifteen minutes’ use? I think not!   I went to our local Goodwill, but even the used ones were over $9. That’s just too much for a one-time prop, in my opinion. So sonny-boy and i made our own.  Here’s what we did:

1. I drew a tea kettle on a piece of paper (actually, I taped a few pieces of paper together, and drew the kettle on there). I made it the approximate size of a real tea kettle.
2. My son cut out the template.
3. Hubby placed the template on some wood he had left over from a previous project (thin, lightweight plywood), and cut it out with his scroll saw.
4. My son painted the handle black.
5. When the black paint was dry, I used some spray-on glue and aluminum foil to make the bottom part of the tea kettle silver (I suppose you could use silver paint, but we don’t have any, and I wasn’t going to buy any….
6. We used Gorilla glue to glue a wooden block to the back (along the bottom) so that the kettle stands up.

That’s it.  And it’s sooooooo cute! My son took it to class yesterday, and his teacher LOVES it!

Register with Proctor & Gamble to receive samples of Head & Shoulders, Metamucil and coupons for products like Aussie, Crest Whitestrips, and Tide.

$20 rebate when you purchase $50 worth of Olay facial moisturizers or cleansers. Just download, complete, and mail the form to them along with original cash register receipt(s). All purchases must be made no later than August 9, and the form must be postdated no later than August 23.

Free Sample of Playtex Gentle Glide

Free Slim Down Samples (such as Total & Special K cereals, herbal tea, vitamins, etc).

Free Lip Item from Bath & Body Works with ANY purchase (printable coupon)

Join Kraft’s “First Taste” group to taste their newest products before anyone else. Registration is free, and benefits include samples and coupons galore.

There are ways, though, to make your energy bills be a little lower.

If your indoor winter temperature is tolerable, just brave the cold and wear sweaters around the house.   You can even don a lightweight winter hat, to keep your body heat trapped.

If you do use your central heat or furnace,  make sure that the temperature in your house does not fluctuate more than 10%.   Making it fluctuate more is less efficient.  In other words, keeping your home at a constant 65 degrees is more efficient than having the temperature fluctuate between 55 and 65, because it takes more energy to heat the house back up from 55 to 65, than it would have taken to maintain a constant temperature.   The same is true for using the air conditioner during summer months: going from 80 degrees to 72 degrees is less efficient than it is to maintain a constant temperature.

To determine just how efficient your house is at retaining and maintaining the heating or cooling, call your local utilities company.  Many utilities companies have contracts with energy efficiency companies that will provide free home diagnostics, checking your home for drafts, air leaks, and insulation.   In most cases, they will provide (free of charge) gaskets, caulking, and seals that will improve the efficiency of your home.  For many areas in California and Texas, the service provider is Winegard Energy.

Stacking coupons is a pretty easy to understand concept.  When you stack your coupons, you  combine the value  of your coupons with other coupons or discounts, in order to boost your overall savings.

Stack your coupon with an in-store sale. For this technique, you need to browse through your store’s weekly advertisement, to see what products they have on sale.   While you look through the ad, have your coupons handy, to see if you have coupons for the items that are on sale.    For example, if your grocery store has Honey Bunches of Oats cereal on sale $2 per box, and you have some coupons that are $1 off each box, you’ll pay only $1 per box.

Stack your coupon by shopping on double- or triple-coupon days. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area where stores multiply the face value of a coupon, by all means, take advantage of it!

Stack your coupon with a rebate. Sometimes, manufacturers will offer money-back rebates on some of their products.  An example of this would be if Schick is offereing a $5 rebate on their new $6 razors, and you have a $2 off coupon.  For your purchase, you could use your $2 off coupon for your $6 purchase.  You’d then use your rebate form and receipt to send to the company for your $5 rebate.  In the end, you will have made a profit of $1 for buying that razor.

Stack your coupon with another coupon. Yes, you can use more than one coupon per transaction in certain circumstances.  The general rule in using coupons is that the buyer is limited to one coupon per UPC code.  Take for example, a coupon that is an offer for “buy one get one free.”  In this case, if you have two coupons that both say “buy one, get one free,” and you purchase the required two products, they will both be free.   This technique can also be used if your store is running a “buy one, get one” in-store sale.

Free sterling silver jewelry – remarkably beautiful rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, all FREE (you pay only shipping). The pieces change several times each day. You could do your Christmas shopping here, for free!

Free online greeting cards – send a card to a friend or loved one. 1000s to choose from, for virtually any sentiment or occasion.

FREE baby stuff – from the premier destination for prenatal moms and their families to sign up for free product samples from top advertisers marketing to mothers/mothers-to-be and their family members.

Free social network for moms only – a cyber haven for moms to connect with other moms. No men or kids allowed.

Free Twilight package – get all 4 books in the Twilight series + a movie gift card (doesn’t indicate if the books are paperback or hard back… but they’re free, so does it really matter??)

Free Clorox disinfecting wipes

• 16 gig Ipod Touch
• Free Wedding Photography package (valued over $4,000)
• $5,000
• Harley Road King or $50,000
• $1,000 computer career scholarship
• $1,500 DVD shopping spree
• $5,000 prize, given away each HOUR

Please go to the sweepstakes page to enter for any or all of these sweeps.

As always, if you find a link that’s no longer active, OR if you found an online sweepstakes that I can run in a future post, please contact me.