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Talk To Me Tuesday: Best of MeckMom – Chatterbox Giveaway

MeckMom — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:14:14 +0000

It seems hard to believe, but it’s been almost four years since I started my first MeckMom blog. A friend of mine had asked me to teach a women’s class on family-friendly organization so I ran around my house snapping photos of my ideas. After the class, several of the women asked me to email the pictures to them so they could remember the solutions we had discussed. I, of course, was too lazy to write down all those email addresses so I opted for the next best thing – a blog.

To be honest, I never really expected anyone to read it – and I’m pretty sure that, at the beginning, very few were. But thanks to the prodding of my super-supportive husband and my ever-enthusiastic sister, Mindy, I kept posting. Now, several years later, there are loads of you out there. Some of you have been around for years and a bunch more pop in for the first time every day. It’s that last group I’m trying to help out with today’s post. I know it can be a bit difficult to know where to start when you first happen upon my blog. So my goal is to create a ‘best of MeckMom’ post that can hang out at the top of my blog and give new readers a great introduction to the MeckMom way of doing things.

For today’s Talk To Me Tuesday post I’m asking for your help to find the best MeckMom posts of the past 3 and a half years. Which MeckMom idea have you tried at your house? Were there any posts that jumped out at you as a particularly helpful or creative? If you were going to recommend MeckMom to a friend which post would you mention? I know it seems like I’m begging for compliments here but I’m really not. I’d just like to create a great little quick-reference list for new readers to enjoy. Additionally, your feedback will really help me know which type of posts you guys would like to see more of in the future.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but your feedback is really important to me. So even if you’ve never sent in a comment before, I hope you’ll add your vote to this post. Remember, it doesn’t have to be your all-time favorite, just a quick note about a post that has helped you make your everyday life a little easier. As a little incentive, I’m offering the winning commenter a MeckMom exclusive – a great new conversation game I’ve created called Chatterbox. I’ll be posting more about Chatterbox later this week but trust me, you’ll want to get in on this giveaway. How’s that for a teaser?

The giveaway will be open all week and the winner will be chosen at random next Tuesday (Oct 11th) at midnight CST. I’ll contact the winner via email and post the winner’s comment name here. Good luck, everyone! As always, to those of you who comment, thanks for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed (but please feel free to keep commenting).

And the winner (randomly chosen by the iPhone app, iChoose) is… #21– Mikelle! Thank you so much for all your feedback. I loved reading all the comments this week! It’s so fun for me to know that you guys are actually getting something helpful from all my ramblings. I’ll be creating the Reader’s Favorites page with all the links soon. Congrats on your big win, Mikelle. I’ll be contacting you via email today.

Talk To Me Tuesday: Clutter Busting – Campus Quilt Giveaway

MeckMom — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:49:28 +0000

My husband and I agree on almost everything – restaurants, movies, music, politics – you name it and we generally see eye to eye. When it comes to clutter, however, we’re just not on the same page. I’m a compulsive purger by nature. My husband, on the other hand, loves to hang on to everything. He has trunks full of old college text books, containers of miscellaneous items from his high school days, and an entire drawer full of old t-shirts he knows he’ll never wear again. He sees all these random things as memories and therefore can’t be convinced to part with them. To me, they’re just big, heavy piles of stuff that take up valuable space in our house.

I’d pretty much resigned myself to living with my husband’s hoarding habits when I got a great email from a clutter-busting company called Campus Quilts (perhaps you heard about them on the Today show or Rachel Ray). They’ve come up with a great solution for t-shirt stockpilers like my husband.

In a nutshell, the experts at Campus Quilt Co. specialize in taking your treasured t-shirts and transforming them into fun, functional, and durable memory quilts. They sent me a quilt kit to sample and I must say I’m really impressed with their process. The kit contained detailed instructions so I can get the exact colors and layout I want, as well as all the materials I will need to ship my shirts back to their facility (the shipping was even pre-paid for me). Their turn-around is generally only two to three weeks, so my Ohio State T-shirt memory quilt should arrive just in time for football season – go Buckeyes!

The whole solution is such a win-win for me. He gets to hang on to his favorite shirts from his alma mater and I get to free up a bunch of space in our closet. It’s too bad they can’t make quilts out of old engineering text books. I could really use the extra space in my basement. Oh well, I guess you can’t win them all.

So here’s the great news, Campus Quilt Company has generously offered to give away a Quilt Kit and a $150 gift card to one lucky MeckMom reader. The winner will receive a $150 gift card and a quilt kit with order form, layout guide, fabric swatch card, bag to mail the clothing, and a pre-paid UPS mailing label. You’ll get to choose your own layout, quilt details, and colors. They’ll even email you multiple times throughout the process to let you know the status of your order and to give you peace of mind that your treasured t’s are in good hands.

A memory quilt like this would make a great Christmas gift! In fact, you should hop on over to their site to check out their sample quilts and read their customer testimonials. They’re customer service ratings are really impressive. Here are a two sample quilts from their site to give you a few ideas on how you could put the gift card to good use.

To enter to win, you simply have to leave a comment on this post with your favorite clutter busting tip. It doesn’t have to be related to closets. It could be on any clutter-related area. The giveaway will be open all week and the winner will be chosen at random next Tuesday (Sept 8th) at midnight CST. I’ll contact the winner via email and post the winner’s comment name here. Good luck, everyone! I can’t wait to read all your clutter-busting solutions. As always, for those of you who comment, thanks for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed.

And the winner (chosen randomly by the iPhone app iChoose) is…Commenter #8, Mindy. Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your gift card. I’ll be contacting you via email tonight. If I don’t receive a response within 72 hours another winner will be chosen. Thanks for playing, everyone!

P-Touch Labeler Giveaway – Key to Kitchen Organization

MeckMom — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:28:09 +0000

I hate emptying the dishwasher. It seems like such a tedious task to me. A few months ago I decided to put an end to this daily annoyance by making dishwasher-emptying a designated kid job. The solution had both good and bad results. Although I loved having the dishes put away everyday, I hated wasting time searching for misplaced stuff. For some reason, my kids just couldn’t manage to remember my organizational system. Potato peelers would end up with the measuring cups and spatulas would be shoved back behind the mixing bowls.

Not one to give up on my new-found dishwasher freedom, I decided to simplify the task. I pulled out my labeler and went to work. I labeled everything from the inside of the drawers to the shelves in the cupboards. In areas where multiple things are stacked together (like the pots & pans cupboard) I placed labels on top of each other to show which items go on top.

When the kids came home from school I gave them a little walk-through on the new system and followed it with a pop quiz. I pulled out a bunch random kitchen items and asked them to use the labels to figure out where everything should go. It took them a few attempts, but they figured it out eventually and managed to earn their ice cream cone prize.

I’ll admit it, my cupboards look a little OCD at first glance but it can’t tell you what a difference it has made in my kitchen. My kids (and husband) are TONS better at putting things in the right locations and I never have to waste time digging through my drawers. It’s not perfect system – but it’s a huge improvement.

Want to try this idea in your own house? Well, I’ve got the perfect tool for you – a brand new Brother P-touch 1010 Labeler for one lucky commenter. I gave the P-touch 1280 (pictured at right) a try earlier this year and I’m a big fan. I had been using a Dymo handheld for a few years but the P-touch was much easier to work with and produced a much better label. If you’re in the market for a new labeler, I definitely recommend giving the p-touch series a try.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below and tell me what you’re dying to label. I’ll choose a winner at random at midnight on Friday night (April 10th) and post the results here. The shipping is free. Thanks everyone. Good luck and happy labeling. Just thought I’d pass it on.

*This giveaway is now closed.

AND THE WINNER (randomly chosen by the iPhone app iChoose) IS COMMENTER #10, DEE. Thank you to all of you who participated. I’m thrilled to see that you all love labeling as much as I do. More great giveaways to come soon.

$50 Target Gift Card, Anyone?

MeckMom — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:38:07 +0000

My little ten month-old son has had a nasty cold for almost two weeks; complete with constant fevers, a cough, and a stuffy nose. So, when a strange rash appeared a few days ago I decided to give his pediatrician’s office a call. They were busy – as always – and promised me someone would be calling me soon. Five hours later, the rash was getting worse and I still hadn’t heard back from the nurse. Thankfully, I had another option. I called Nurse On Call. It’s a 24/7 medical help line, available through my husband’s company. In a matter of minutes, I was able to speak to a friendly, experienced Registered Nurse about my son’s condition. She listened patiently to my situation, answered all my questions, gave me home-treatment advice, and told me what to watch for in the future. She also sent a fax to my son’s doctor reporting everything we’d discussed so he could be kept in the loop. Thanks to her advice, I was able to help my son while saving the time and expense of a trip to the doctor’s office or urgent care.

I love Nurse On Call! I use it all the time. It’s such a great, mom-friendly service. I’ve used it for everything from advice on my daughter’s ear ache to questions about what medicines were safe to take during pregnancy. It’s a fantastic resource.

My husband’s company (Employers Health Network) sells Nurse On Call and other network services to businesses nationwide to help them reduce health care costs. Nurse On Call has received such rave reviews from their members that they are now considering offering it to individuals and families as well. EHN would like to glean a little market feedback to determine how they will proceed with this new line of service. Since the vast majority of my readers are budget-savvy Moms (always on the lookout for simple ways to save time and money) they thought you’d be the perfect market research group.

Each reader who submits a survey will be automatically entered to win a $50 Target gift card (the winner will be drawn randomly). As an added bonus, if your friend is chosen as the winner and she has listed your name in the referral area, you both win a $50 Target gift card! If the winning reader does not have a referral name listed, she wins both cards. Yep, that’s $100 just for filling out a simple survey. Just think of the fun shopping spree you could have. This survey was developed by my husband for his company and I can promise you there are no strings attached. They simply want to get valuable feedback from their key market demographic – busy moms like you.

The contest will be open for two weeks, ending at midnight CST on March 4th. The winner or winners will be announced here and contacted via email. Good luck, everyone. Remember, the more people you email about this post, the greater your chances of winning. Just click the little green “share this” link below the survey, then choose the email tab in the pop-up window. Thanks, in advance, for passing it on.

**This giveaway is now closed.**

AND THE RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNER IS … Survey number 103! I can’t release your name because it was not provided on the form, but I will be contacting you via email today. Congratulations on your big win! I hope you and your referring friend have tons of fun at Target.

For additional information about EHN please visit their informative website.

Talk to Me Tuesday: Enrichment Ideas Giveaway

MeckMom — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:29:32 +0000

After two years hanging out with the 5 year-olds in Primary each Sunday I’ve got a new calling. I’m now heading up Enrichment with the women in Relief Society. It’s been several years since I’ve hosted an Enrichment meeting and the program has changed a bit. So, for today’s Talk To Me Tuesday post I’m asking for your input. For those LDS women out there reading this, I could really use your help. What Enrichment activities, dinners, mini-meetings have you had that were really successful? What fun strategies do your RS leaders use to meet the needs of a wide variety of women? Any tip, idea, website, or strategy that would make the next few years of my life – and new calling – a little easier would be greatly appreciated.

If fact, I’m so anxious to get your feedback that I’ve decided to offer a little giveaway as well. The winning commenter will get their own fabulous full set of Scripture Mastery stickers in the color of their choice. You can check out the new color options by clicking here. Commenting will be open until Sunday night at midnight. At that point a commenter will be chosen at random and be contacted via email. The shipping is on me, so if you’ve got an idea to share I hope you’ll enter the giveaway by adding it to the comments below. Thanks, everyone. I can’t wait so see what you pass on.

And the winner (randomly chosen by the iPhone app, iChoose) is… #3 – Untypically Jia! Thank you so much for all your feedback. I loved reading all the comments this week. I can’t wait to make the Enrichment plan for the year. Congrats on your big win, Jia. I’ll be contacting you via email today.

This giveaway in now closed. However, if you’d like to share more Enrichment ideas please keep commenting!!! Thanks for passing it on.

Great Gap Coupon – Good Through Sunday

MeckMom — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:32:05 +0000

Check it out…two posts in one day. I almost feel like a real blogger now.

I’ve always been a big fan of the Gap, especially when it comes to adorable winter wear for my kids. There’s just something so endearing about seeing my kids in a cozy new sweater or fuzzy pair of Christmas PJs. If you’re a fan too, you might want to check out this great coupon offer. Not only does it offer 30% off of everything in the store, but 5% of everything you purchase will be donated to a great charity called Dress for Success. It’s a win-win.

The offer is only good in Gap stores or at Gap.com through tomorrow so it’s time to start shopping! Click the image to the left to view the online coupon code or print the in-store coupon. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Announcing the Wanda Witch Clever Clue Giveaway

MeckMom — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:19:56 +0000

Hey everyone. Happy October! It’s my favorite month of the year and to celebrate I’ve decided to kick things off with a fun and fabulous giveaway.

Loads of you took on the Wanda Witch party last year and from what I’ve heard – you had a blast. Judging from the emails I’ve been receiving in the past two weeks there will be many more Wandas coming out of the woodwork this Halloween. I wish you all the best of luck and hope you’ll comment on your successes here.

This year, I’ve received several emails from you Wanda’s out there asking for more clue and challenge ideas. Rather than post only my own, I thought it would be fun to throw the challenge back to you. Several of you daring readers have hosted the party and many more are giving it a go this year. My hope is that you’ll share your favorite clues and challenge ideas in the comments area of this post. If you have attended a Wanda Witch party and enjoyed a particluar clue or challenge, I’d love your feedback too. My goal is to create a big clue/challenge idea bank that future Wandas can draw from and enjoy.

As an incentive, I’ve got a great witchy giveaway for one lucky commenter. My incredibly-talented friend Alison has generously donated some fabulous Halloween decor from her popular Etsy shop. This be’witching’ hand-made letter set is perfect for your Halloween mantle or table. The letters are beautifully crafted – like all of Alison’s creations – and are loaded with trendy accents and finishes. The tallest letter is about 11″ high and roughly 7″ wide. For a full description and more pictures click this link to Alison’s Etsy Shop. Click here to visit her new website and see more of her crafty creations. She has several of her products listed, but she’s great with custom orders if you don’t see exactly what you’re looking for.

The shipping is on me so if you’ve hosted, attended, or are planning your own Wanda Witch party, just leave a brief description of your favorite clue or challenge idea. You’ll automatically be entered to win the giveaway. The contest will be open until midnight two weeks from today (deadline: October 15th, 2008). Just thought I’d pass it on.

*For those of you that are still trying to protect your identity, feel free to leave your witch alias in the comments area. As long as your email address works, I will be able to contact you when you win. Thanks everyone!

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!