MelissaStuff

Love, Love, Love the Christmas stuff at Mardel. Picking up some adorable  stuff for next year.

Lots of great deals...make sure you check the dollar spot, clothes and toys as well.

Get two Degree Clinical Strength for the price of one after this gift card and sale.

I know we just finished up Christmas, but it's a good time to stock up for Valentine's, birthdays, etc. In fact, in January and February we have three birthdays in our family and another two in our extended family. So when I saw this sale at Toys'R'Us, I knew it was a good idea to pick up a couple. The Wii games are on sale and you get an additional 40% off your second game. My boys have been begging for the LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars . . . but it's $39.99 regularly. Definitely outside of our budget. However, right now it's on sale for $19.99 and then since we got 40% off the second one, I chose a JumpStart game that is educational and has great reviews for teaching littles about math and reading. I had them shipped to the store so I didn't have to pay shipping. And I had purchased the $10 for $20 at Toys'R'Us deal on Google Offers recently. In the end, I paid just $14.62 for BOTH of the games. They also had Color Wonder for Buy One, Ge

Disney is back at it today - FREE Shipping on their latest styles with the code NEWSHIP at checkout.

Children's Place is offering the lowest prices of the year on their clearance. All kinds of fun, cute stuff. This is a great time to get the necessities - unders, socks, basic shirts, even shoes at a significant discount. Get another 15% off when you use the code U4F2011 at checkout.

Wow! I haven't seen this good of a deal on any of these Cricut machines . This one is the one that cuts shapes out of fondant, icing, etc. so you can make your cakes look as good as your scrapbook pages. Pay just $78.83 for this Cricut Cake Personal Machine and get FREE shipping at Amazon.

If your kiddoes got Leapster goodies for Christmas, here's a good sale to stock up on the ancillary pieces - more games, cases, chargers, etc. The prices begin at $3.75.

Disney is back again with FREE Shipping on all of its new items . Use the code SHIPNEW at checkout to take advantage of this deal.

Love me some DownEast and they're having a great sale today - 50% off their clearance merchandise . ADORABLE. Seriously. Use the code NEWYEAR50 to get the additional discount.

I am excited to be able to tell you that the ScoreBig deal is back and even better! Now you can get $40 worth of tickets to any major sporting event or concert . . . even the circus, for just $11. And the deal gets even better when you go to the ScoreBig website and enter the amount you want to pay for those tickets. I’ve gotten Dallas Cowboy tickets for as low as $20 each. That means this $11 purchase could possibly buy you TWO tickets to a Dallas Cowboy game. See you there! If you’re a returning Plum District customer , please use this link to make your purchase.

  $28 for a $20 Starbucks Gift Card and 2 Fandango Movie Tickets You couldn’t find a gift more perfect for me than this deal – I could drink Starbucks at least once a day every day. And the movies are a perfect escape for this crazy, harried mom. With Fandango , the tickets are good for any movie at any time in any theater that accepts Fandango . (And my birthday is next week . . . hint, hint. ) I’ll let you know if I figure out a way to make this deal even better. If you’re a returning Plum District customer , please use this link to make your purchase.

We are working at doing all of the house maintenance that it’s easy to let slip by as days and months and years pass. One of those is painting. We still have the original contractor grade paint job in the main living areas of our home. It’s about eight years old and VERY lived in. Think scuffed, scratched, worn, raggedy . . . and just downright nasty in places. Today I went to buy a 5 gallon bucket of paint. I walked into Home Depot and found that it cost about $120 for Behr. Ugh! However, they are discontinuing the Martha Stewart Living paint collection. One gallon of the Martha Stewart Living paint started at $12, so it was much smarter for me to get several gallons of this nicer paint than to get the 5 gallon. Whatever, they have available is all they have available, though, so realize you won’t be able to go back and get another can of the same paint several months from now! But otherwise, it’s a GREAT deal on paint.

You might have noticed that there weren’t very many posts today – there was a couple of good reasons. 1. My kids are home. 2. My husband is off this week. 3. We are doing an entire list of home improvement projects. 4. In my downtime, I actually went and did some bargain shopping of my own. But I want to share what I did find. Lots of places have their Christmas stuff already 50% off. Here’s a list of the places I ran into today: Kroger Albertson’s CVS Walgreens Walmart Target Home Depot This is a great time to grab some of the things that don’t get on sale very often – large yard decorations, beautiful wreaths and both indoor/outdoor lights are good choices. Many of these stores will continue clearance out their holiday merchandise, and I’ll try to let you know when they do. Have you found any good deals while you were out shopping and returning stuff?

If you did, you would have noticed they talked about one of my favorite worthy causes – Reece’s Rainbow ! There was a lengthy story about a family from Utah who recently traveled all the way to the Ukraine to adopt a little 4 year old girl with Down’s Syndrome. If you didn’t catch it on tv, you can get some of the coverage on ABC’s website. video platform video management video solutions video player I was also interested to see that they mentioned another local adoption/orphan care ministry from the Ukraine – Bible Orphan Ministries . Bible Orphan Ministries is run by people who were once orphans themselves. They visit these orphanages and asylums to bring love and hope to these children. And they also try to meet their physical needs. Oranges, balls, clothes, mattresses . . . just the basic necessities of life that are not readily available to these forgotten precious little ones. Being thousands of miles away, we obviously can’t donate those items directly. (Although if we

Beginning today, all Walmart stores will be offering 50% off certain candy, seasonal decorations and toys. On December 30, select seasonal items will drop to 75% off. In the meantime, Walmart online will be offering their biggest clearance event of the year. There are no rain checks; prices last until the items are sold out.

There’s good news. Today is Gift Card Exchange Day . You can trade your unwanted gift cards for cash or for Amazon credit. Visit this website and enter the information for your card. You will receive bids on your card and then you can decide if it’s worth trading in.

Half-Price Books is easily one of my favorite stores to begin with. I love books. I love discounted books. I love reusing stuff that could have easily been thrown away and treated as trash. And today they will have 20% off everything in the store. This sale is good December 26 – 30.

This year as Christmas has approached, I have found myself thinking of Mary. Being the mom of three boys, I think it’s easier for me to put myself in her place . . . and yet, who can imagine what that was really like? I grew up in a very conservative group of believers who eschewed any focus on Mary in order to counteract what they saw as “worship” of Mary by Catholics and Episcopals and some other more liturgical beliefs. But you can’t deny Mary had an experience that no one before her and no one after her will ever have. She had a unique relationship with Jesus. She was his mom. Think about the facts as real life and not some story in a book you’ve heard a million times. Mary was barely a teenager. She had never had sex. An angel appeared to her and told her she was having a baby. Mary is pregnant in a society that KILLS unwed mothers. Mary may have only barely known Joseph as their engagement was likely arranged . . . and he was probably much older. She had to go to this m

Do you remember Cliff?   Last Christmas, he was one of the worthy causes that I posted about here on MelissaStuff last Christmas. People all over helped raise money so this little boy could find a mommy and a daddy who would be able to bring him home so that he could celebrate this Christmas in his own bed in his own house with presents under the tree for him. In June, his parents brought him home thanks in large part to the money that was raised last Christmas. He know has a host of brothers and a mommy and daddy who can’t get enough kisses and hugs. And now it is time for us to look towards helping another child get home to his own family. This is Xander . . . Don’t you just want to scoop him up and tickle him until he belly laughs. And if you’re OCD like me, you might also  want to make sure he gets a hoodie with sports or skateboards or animals – you know something ALL boy, instead of pink flowers. But we can’t. At least not right this minute. But you can help thi

  I know some of you are buying a DS for someone on your list. But what fun is it to have a new gaming system without very many games to play on the system? And yet who wants to pay a whole bunch more for games when they’ve already shelled out the cost of the DS itself? Here’s a possible solution . . . Walmart is offering 2 DS games (choose from about 70 options) and a great traveling case to hold all the DS games for just $30 . Shipping is FREE with a purchase of $45 or more. Unfortunately, it will not arrive by Christmas Day but if you are having Christmas late with a certain part of the family or can save these for an upcoming birthday, Valentine’s Day or some other holiday, then this is a deal to jump on.

  $10 for $20 at Old Navy I just used a voucher just like this to buy THREE gifts for my husband! Old Navy is running some GREAT sales, and it really helps you stretch this Groupon . If you are a previous Groupon customer , please use this link to make your purchase.

$15 for $30 in Products from Kidzies (+ FREE Shipping ) Plum District has this fun offer today – I was able to get a coozie for each of my boys with their names on it. (I am never able to pick up the cups with their names on it in the store; after all, I’m looking for a Riley, Colt and Weston.) They were just $6 each. Super excited about it because we have found lately that I am having a hard time keeping all three boys cups separate and with all the sickness, I’d prefer to minimize the germ sharing when possible. And I still had enough credit left to get a personalized, neoprene pencil bag for my oldest. Now that we’re pulling him out of the kindergarten he was in and doing some real life skills learning with his retired-principal Poppa for a semester, he needs different school supplies than what he had at the beginning of the year. Shipping is FREE, but not guaranteed in time for Christmas. If you are a returning Plum District customer , please use this link so that Mel

  I’ve heard about Elf on a Shelf for several years, but just couldn’t bring myself to spend $30 on it, no matter how cute the idea. But right now Amazon has this super cute Christopher Pop-in-Kins Elf for just $11.19 . And it also qualifies for FREE shipping with a $25 purchase or an Amazon Prime shipping or an Amazon Mom Program account.

With all the deals I bring you, there are inevitably some issues. Companies don’t always hold up their end of the bargain, and I do my best to let you know when that is true and to help you get it rectified. So, in the effort to fully disclose everything I know about some of the companies I post about, I want you to know that SaveMore is having some serious customer service issues. Items aren’t arriving. Emails, phone calls and Facebook posts have been ignored. Some of the stores that are supposed to be fulfilling orders have simply shut down and disappeared overnight. In all fairness, I have bought no less than 20 different vouchers from SaveMore and have yet to have an issue that was not rectified. I have had some issues – including a site that couldn’t get it’s stuff together and kept sending me the wrong item and another site that charged shipping that made the “deal” not so good anymore. Both times my money was refunded, although it did take a bit to get a response from Sa

Listen up, dads, brothers, husbands, boyfriends . . . please don’t randomly run to Michael’s or even worse Walmart and try to grab some stickers, adhesive, or paper as a gift for your scrapbook-loving relative. You know you don’t know how it works or what we do and you’ll inevitably get something we already have, we don’t want, or we can’t use. For $22.50 you can let us pick out our own scrapbook supplies – $50 worth and get it shipped for FREE! Just use the code WEDNESDAY25 at checkout. This is a super easy way to make us smile and feel like you thought about us. But hurry, today’s the last day this deal is available.

Barnes & Noble Last-minute gift: $21 for both a Barnes & Noble eGift Card and a Restaurant.com Gift Card + $10 in Save Rewards just for you! Eversave has a fun deal for you last minute shoppers. Did you forget someone on the list? Have too hard a time finding the ‘right’ gift? Here’s a quick and easy solution. For $21 you get a $15 Barnes & Noble Gift card, a $50 Restaurant.com credit, and $10 in Save Rewards to use on your next purchase! If you aren’t clear on what Restaurant.com is or how it works, check out this post on Restaurant.com vouchers . But even if you don’t ever use the Restaurant.com certificate, this is still $25 worth of product for just $15! In fact, if you still need a gift for me – I would LOVE this deal. LOL And while you’re there, there are some other great deals available too.

Okay, I’ve seen this floating around since November and kept thinking I’m not spending $200 on any one present so that’s not going to do me any good. And then today I actually read it. It’s $200 period. Pay a bill . Put your gas or groceries on the card . Put the rest of your gift purchases on this card – and for many of you that will easily add up to $200. When you hit $200 they’ll send you an email telling you how to get your $20 gift card. Super easy and totally FREE just for doing things I’m going to have to do anyway. Not only that, but if you don’t happen to hit the $200 mark, it doesn’t cost you anything to have signed up . So you can go ahead and enroll in the program, just in case you spend $200. Good thing I finally read the silly thing!

If you’ve been reading MelissaStuff long enough, you’ll know I’m a big fan of BabyLegs . I think every baby should have several pairs. They’re adorable on itty bitty babies to keep legs warm when they’re wearing onesies. They’re great for protecting the knees of crawling babies. And when your babies legs outgrow them, they work perfectly to add “long sleeves” to short sleeve shirts in the winter. Right now, BabyLegs is having a CRAZY sale right now – get 75% off a $75 order . That means you get $75 worth of product for just $18.75 ! Just use the code JOLLY75 at checkout. If your order total equals more than $30 at checkout after all discounts, you’ll also receive FREE shipping . Orders under $30 will be $3.95 for shipping.

  $10 for $20 at Old Navy I just used the last one of these that I got to buy THREE gifts for my husband! Old Navy is running some GREAT sales, and it really helps you stretch this Groupon .

If you’re still looking for some last minute gifts – here’s a good one. This Little Tikes Turn ‘n’ Spin Trike is on sale at Walmart for just $29.99 plus $.97 in shipping. Guaranteed arrival on or before December 24.

Walmart has several LEGO Star Wars bundles on sale right now. These can be so expensive! And you can have them shipped to the store for FREE or pay $.97 and have it delivered to your door.

  4 Day Cruise for 2 (including 2 additional hotel nights) Carnival Cruise Today's Save:$569 for a four-day Carnival cruise, plus a two-night hotel stay This is a legit deal through Eversave and one of the best deals I’ve seen on a cruise. It’s only 3 nights, but you can add additional nights for $100 each, so that’s only an additional $50 each. This deal doesn’t work for us but I want to keep an eye out and see if I can score one of these the next time we’re ready to go on vacation.

Use the code JOY to get most $25 gift certificates for just $1 I’ve posted about Restaurant.com before – we use them frequently but you do have to know that it isn’t a traditional “gift certificate.” It is basically a high value coupon. It may say $25 off 2 adult entrees or $25 off a purchase of $50 or more. But still for a $1 you’ll get a high value in savings. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them. They usually sell for $10 and then they will randomly offer 70% or 80% off making them $2 or $3, but I’ve never seen $1!

  $25 for $25 Target Gift Card plus $50 Restaurant.com Credit If you are shopping at Target this holiday season, then this is an easy way to get $50 from Restaurant.com . Please remember that Restaurant.com “credit” is really just a discount on your meal. But we still buy and use them; I’m just not sure if it’s truly a $50 value as it seems to imply.

  $10 for $20 at Bar-B-Cutie! Our family eats barbecue from Bar-b-Cutie more often than we do anywhere else. The food is good. The restaurant is clean. The service is quick. There isn’t a good reason to NOT eat there.

  Walmart has this Lego City Marina on sale for $29 and $.97 shipping. That makes a total of $29.97; the retail price is usually around $49.99, so that’s almost 50% off.

  Totsy has a Stride Rite going today. If you picked up the Plum District voucher recently for half-price, then you will start with about a 75% discount. Stride Rite shoes run about $40 on average. The shoes on Totsy today are running about $19 – $25. If you have the $30 voucher that you paid $15 (or even less if you had a promo code) then you’re getting an incredible deal!