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I know it’s a little early to be talking about halloween costumes but I’ve been anticipating Halloween ever since I discovered that Daddy and I were pregnant. Daddy and I feel that once you grow up, holidays get boring. When children are in the picture, it’s like enjoying childhood all over again. I probably mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again. Daddy and I would occasionally shop for our little one(s) years before Jayden. If we saw something cute, we’d pick it up.

We have accumulated bins of children’s clothing aka “the baby stash”. In those bins are a few Halloween costumes. We have a choice between a pumpkin and a chili pepper. The pumpkin costume will be too large for Jayden by October, but the chili pepper costume should fit just right. Since we already have a costume for him, we’re going to put it to some use, however I can’t stop obsessing over other kids costumes that I have seen. I have a thing for lions. If there is a lion on it, Jayden has to have it, especially if “ROAR” is written on it. Saying “ROAR” like how Cedric The Entertainer said it on one of his stand ups cracks me up. So Jayden just may be a chili pepper and a lion this Halloween, maybe even a Tootsie Roll, lol. Ok maybe we’ll save the Tootsie Roll for next year.

Right now is a good time to shop for Halloween costumes. Since the season is over, they’re on super sale. During the Halloween season sometimes they are marked above retail simply because the demand is high. Right now costumes are marked over 50% off at BuyCostumes.com. You don’t want to miss out!

Last month, I won a Mama Mio The Smoothie Spa-at-Home Kit from one of Due Maternity’s weekly giveaways! I meant to blog about it but had a bajillion other things on my plate. Although I’m late, I still want to share my prize as well as encourage you all to enter Due Maternity’s giveaways. You can win! The Moisturizing Shower Cream is lightly scented and leaves my skin feeling soft. The Supersmooth Body Buff helps keep my skin exfoliated. I use this in areas where I broke out during the pregnancy, my back in particular. I had some major bacne going on. The O-Mega Body Oil is aromatherapy to my nose. I rubbed this on my belly during the pregnancy and I still continue to do so. The picture to the left is of me at 36 weeks pregnant posing with my Mama Mio The Smoothie Spa-at-Home Kit. I was holding it backwards and didn’t realize it! I got a good laugh at myself. I can’t believe I did that! I’m wearing a Spring Baby tee, which is one of my favorite maternity tees. Hopefully I’ll get to wear it again. See, Daddy and I were both cursed with winter birthdays, so we want our kids to be able to enjoy their birthdays in warm weather. That way we can all go out and celebrate outside instead of hiding in from the cold.

Due Maternity is having a Memorial Day Weekend Sale! If you’re shopping around for Maternity Clothes, now is the chance to take advantage! I miss wearing maternity wear! *cries*

Note: Discount coupons of any kind are not valid for items in the Due Outlet section. Check out Look Who’s Preggo where you can create little preggy dolls with your face on them. See how you, your friends, or family members would look preggy! Try your luck at winning a Skip Hop diaper bag from Due Maternity, there is hope!

Typically, when you think of Avery shipping Labels, what uses for them usually come to mind? Of course, they are used as those pieces of paper that you slap on packages when you ship them at the the post office. But did you know that there are many other uses for shipping labels as well?

Here are some examples of what we have done with our shipping labels:
- Used them as shipping labels of course!
- Labeled rubber maid bins with them.
- When I was a consultant for The Body Shop, I created a template with my contact info on them. Then I printed, cut, and stuck them on my seasonal catalogs.
- Instead of writing out over 50 baby shower invitations, I created a template with the RSVP info, printed, cut, and stuck them on top of the blank fields. Of course when I write out all of the Thank You cards, it won’t be as easy since I want to write something personal to each person.

These are the ways that we have used regular ‘ol shipping labels, so imagine what could be done with generic Avery labels of different sizes. I have a project in mind. When we move into our new place this summer, I’ll get to do my “belated” nesting. To organize storage drawers I can label each drawer with 1″ circle Avery labels.

Here is an example of some labels that I designed for Jayden’s future nursery, using 1″ circle Avery label templates. We’re going with a jungle theme, so I used the colors from the nursery bedding and created these sample labels in Adobe Photoshop. I love how they came out. I can’t wait to see what they look like on print.

Now you see the power of Avery labels, so where can you find them? When it comes to Avery labels or office supplies in general, I’ve found that it is best to shop around online and conduct price comparisons. I have gone to many office supply stores to be let down at the sight of outrageous prices, therefore I don’t even bother buying from them. Worldlabel.com specializes in inkjet and Laser labels at wholesale prices. For example, the 1″ circle Avery adhesive labels that I plan on using to label Jayden’s nursery drawers start at $32.95 per 6,300 labels at Worldlabel.com in comparison to $58.70 at competing office supply stores. If you’re worried about shipping cost, standard shipping for 6,300 circle Avery adhesive labels is only $5, so which route would you choose? Hopefully the frugal one.

As many of you who have been keeping up with us as of recent may know, we received a TON of clothes for Jayden at our baby shower. It’s now a month later, and those clothes are still sitting in the original bags we received them in. Why? Because we have nowhere to put them! Mommy’s 26,104,295 pairs of jeans, 519,173,390,266 shirts, and 102,612,843,074,914 pairs of shoes take up every inch of space in every single closet and dresser we have. And those numbers are NOT an exaggeration!

So last week I decided to look for a nice dresser just for Jayden (that means hands off Mommy!) on Craigslist. After only a few minutes of searching, I found a really nice one for only $30! No, it wasn’t falling apart and yes, it still had all its drawers. It didn’t look too bad from the picture that was included in the ad, but as we all know, pictures can be deceiving.

So after getting in contact with the couple selling the dresser, Mommy and I headed over their way today to check it out. When I was finally able to see the dresser, my mouth dropped; it was perfect! It looked practically brand new! The dresser was definitely worth more than just $30, so I knew there had to be a catch. Dead rodent superglued to one of the drawers? Stinky poo aroma? Nope, all the drawers were clean and the dresser smelled just fine. So what could it be? That question was answered once I handed the money over to the guy:

Guy: (turns to wife) (in a questionable voice) $30 Hon?
Guy’s Wife: (in a oops-I-think-I-underpriced-the-dresser-a-bit-too-much voice) …yes…
Guy: (in a how-in-the-hell-could-you-have-sold-the-dresser-for-so-cheap voice) …ok…

Ohhh, I see now! *evil Bowser grin*

Needless to say, I skedaddled out of there (with dresser in tow!) before they decided to up the price on us; and before it turned into Wrestlemania in there between the guy and his wife!

So, we just got back home with the dresser and we’re going to go ahead and put all of Jayden’s clothes in it tonight. I’m going to monitor Mommy because knowing her, she’ll try to take over that dresser too! I found some similar dressers on Target.com (here, here, and here) that cost between $150 to $340, so now I feel even better about our deal on the dresser!

Lesson learned for the day: love Craigslist!