Archive for the ‘Give-Away / Contest’ Category

Want to win a $100, $200, or even $300 Gift Certificate to Vision Forum?

You have until December 3rd to hustle over and enter the drawing at any – or all – of the SIX blogs listed below. (Yep, that’s a total of $3,600 in Gift Cards!)

Then you can click on over to Vision Forum and check out their huge array of Christian Books – homeschool resources, parenting support, marriage builders… Plus DVDs, toys, costumes, activities, and SO much more. What would you do with $100, $200, or $300 to spend?

Generation Cedar

Raising Olives

Life in a Shoe

Smockity Frocks

The Modest Mom

Our exciting Rafflecopter experiment continues – we picked a winner for the Tropical Traditions laundry soap giveaway!

Using random.org, Rafflecopter picked:

#13 Marlana, who “Like”d As For My House on Facebook

I’ve already emailed Marlana, who has 3 days to respond. Otherwise we’ll have to pick a new winner.

Thank you all for entering, and congratulations to Marlana!

I recently had the opportunity to test out the Laundry Detergent from Tropical Traditions.

Their information describes it as follows:

• Powdered Laundry Detergent is safe and effective at ALL temperatures on whites, permanent press, bright colors, pastels, prints, and delicates in hard or soft water. (Not suitable for Silk or Wool)
• Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent is non-toxic, environmentally safe and contains no phosphates.
• Powdered Laundry Detergent cleans and safely bleaches your clothes with the added power of Oxygen Bleach Destainer and Deodorizer.
• With our Laundry Detergent there are no harmful by-products upon decomposition.
• Powdered Laundry Detergent dissolves as completely as liquid detergents and rinses away completely leaving no residue in your clothes.
• Powdered Laundry Detergent costs less to use than commercial liquid detergents and costs no more to use than commercial powdered household laundry detergents.
• Powdered Laundry Detergent contains no dyes, perfumes, fillers or phosphates.

It looks just like any other laundry powder. It does, in fact, dissolve easily and well even in cold water. No cloying perfume scent. All good so far…

And?

The clothes are very clean.

I think my favorite part is how easily and thoroughly it rinses out. Doing the wash by hand I am far more aware of this consideration than I would be with a washing machine!

Want to try it? Tropical Traditions has a free gift for you through their Referral Program:

If you are a new customer, as an As For My House reader you will receive a complimentary copy of the book Virgin Coconut Oil: How it has changed people’s lives and how it can change yours! by Brian and Marianita Shilhavy with your order. This book is filled with testimonies and research showing how healthy coconut oil is, and it also includes over 85 recipes showing how one can incorporate coconut into their diet.

Just select “Referred by a friend” when asked, and in the box that says “How did you hear of us?” enter my Sponsor ID number: 5689476.

…and be sure to come back and share your results!

Want to win it??

Check out my cool new Rafflecopter giveaway form, below!

Please note that some entries require making a blog post to qualify, but only entries that are entered in the Reafflecopter form will be actual contest entries. This is something new for us, so I want to make sure nobody misses out.
.

I received this product free from Tropical Traditions; I was not obligated to write a review, nor compensated in any other way for this review. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone.
I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop.

Read the rest of this entry »

Random.org gave us #46 as our winner for the costume of her choice for the Anytime Costumes Giveaway!

And that comment was:

Rachel B. says:
September 18, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Shared on FB

I’ve already emailed Rachel, and we hope she’ll enjoy her prize!

Thanks to all of you who participated, as well. If nobody enters, sponsors don’t want to donate cool stuff…

Woohoo! More fun for YOU and me!

For those of you who missed the season’s First Giveaway, Anytime Costumes has generously agreed to host a second one here at As For My House!

We had a bit of a sad turn with our review products this time, unfortunately.

R.T. wants to dress up as Captain America. We can tell whose kid he is, right? Anyhow, we’d already gotten him a basic Cap costume (see my Life on the Road post), but needed the accessories.

We ordered the gloves, and the all-important shield (choosing the adult size, which is too big, but fun, over the child size, which seemed puny).

Unfortunately, UPS wasn’t kind to the shield (which, in their defense, is a big, flimsy curve of plastic, packed in a wide but flat-ish box – just begging to be squished). Although it’s still just peachy with the kids (as you can see in the photo), it was a big disappointment to Wolf, who wanted it to hang on the wall with his Cap artwork and collectibles.

I emailed the contact I have there, and she was very apologetic. She said that they would file a claim with UPS for the damage, and that had I been a “regular” customer they would have immediately refunded my payment.

That was nice, but the problem was that I didn’t want my money back (literally or figuratively) – I wanted that shield. Which, she said, is sold out for the season, along with the child sized one.

She offered to send me something else to review, but I was at a bit of a loss… They didn’t have anything else we needed for Halloween, and in the midst of moving I wasn’t feeling up for picking out a kids’ costume for general dress-up use to add to the possessions to be moved.

In the end, we got a pair of pink fairy wings, which will probably be what Jewel wears for her Wasp costume (we’re having a hard time getting any traction on that one!).

But enough about my saga – here’s the good news for you:

WIN YOUR OWN!

One lucky As For My House reader will win a costume of their choice from Anytime Costumes (up to a $50 value)!

Sorry, but you must have a USA mailing address for this giveaway. Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Head on over to Anytime Costumes and leave a comment here telling me what you would pick if you won. (You can change your mind later, don’t worry!)

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following (and if you already like/subscribe/follow (as relevant), that counts, too – just let me know):

2. Become a Facebook Fan of Anytime Costumes. Then you can Facebook NetworkedBlogs Follow As For My House, and/or become a Facebook Fan of As For My House on our brand new page! (You can do each of those three for a separate entry!)

3. Follow Tiffany and Anytime Costumes on Twitter.

4. Subscribe to As For My House in your favorite feed reader, or by email. (Current subscribers count, too!)

5. and 6. Post this giveaway to your Facebook wall (leave your Facebook name), or Tweet about it (and leave the link)! Each may be done daily for extra entries.

In addition to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like sharing on Facebook, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends 9/25/11 at 11:59pm (Central), or more likely some time around 5 am the following morning when I log in again.

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected.

** Comments are now closed! Look for the winner to be announced in a separate post, shortly! **
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Our previously drawn winner did not claim her prize, so we re-random.org “drew” … #27!

I’ve emailed Kelly D., and now she has 48 hours to respond and claim the costume of her choice.

Congratulations, Kelly.

Random.org decreed that the winner of the costume of their choice from AnytimeCostumes.com was…

Comment #15, which was Ladytink.

I’ve already emailed her, and she has 48 hours to claim her prize!

Stay tuned, as there will be two more costume giveaways in the next couple of months…

I was thinking of keeping this all to myself, but I guess you deserve to know about it, too.

Just click the image above to go visit Hallee the Homemaker, and you can enter to win an AMAZING prize package, including a grain mill and tons of goodies!

What a blessing this would be…

We are so thankful for our friends at AnytimeCostumes.com!

Last year, Jewel was able to review a lovely Princess Costume from them.

We just got this fun “Plus Size Hercules” costume for Nick! (He doesn’t want to be “Hercules”, just liked the gladiator look)

This is our first experience ordering Plus Size costume, and it did have its wrinkles. As I have found with any large sized clothes, sometimes they are simply extrapolated from the smaller size pattern, and the results miss a few key elements.

In this case, two noticeable things: The costume has some upper-arm bands that close with velcro, but would barely go around Nick’s arms (and popped off if he flexed!). And it had wrist bracers that were supposed to fit snugly, with a stretchy lyrca panel to allow them to slide on over your hands — Except that they were huge, and he could have worn them as upper-arm bands (you’ll notice their lack in the photo).

The costume itself was very well put together, from both an artistic and a construction standpoint. The shin guards were very clever, and the studded headband was a nice touch. (That’s one of Wolf’s collector swords, not a costume accessory)

We’ve had similar fit problems with some of the accessory pieces even on Jewel’s costumes over the years, so I didn’t find it particularly distressing. A one-size-fits-all solution just never is… but as a starting point, it sure gives me a lot of relief from both planning and sewing!

WIN YOUR OWN!

One lucky As For My House reader will win a costume of their choice from Anytime Costumes (up to a $50 value)!

Sorry, but you must have a USA mailing address for this giveaway. Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Head on over to Anytime Costumes and leave a comment here telling me what you would pick if you won. (You can change your mind later, don’t worry!)

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following:

2. Become a Facebook Fan of Anytime Costumes, and Facebook NetworkedBlogs Follow As For My House.

3. Follow Tiffany and Anytime Costumes on Twitter.

4. Subscribe to As For My House in your favorite feed reader, or by email. (Current subscribers count, too!)

5. and 6. Post this giveaway to your Facebook wall (leave your Facebook name), or Tweet about it (and leave the link)! Each may be done daily for extra entries.

In addition to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like sharing on Facebook, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends 8/7/11 at 11:59pm (Central), or more likely some time around 5 am the following morning when I log in again.

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected.

** Comments are now closed. Look for the winner to be announced soon! **

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Having been covering my hair for awhile now, I am beginning to run across other situations that had never occurred to me as “issues” before.

Like swimming.

We don’t go swimming much… Public beaches and water-parks are just too immodest for any of us to feel comfortable.

But I do want the children to learn to swim… For safety when they may be near water (fishing, boating, etc.), or even the occasional time we may want to go swimming – in a quiet “swimming hole,” at a friend’s house, who knows?

Jewel had some lessons last year through the local public pool, and I was excited to see that this year we were in time to sign her up for lessons at the base pool. When we went for registration, we learned that they also have “Mommy/Daddy & Me” lessons for R.T.’s age.

Hmmmm.

Suddenly my “it doesn’t matter” solution of just wearing a bandanna headcovering when we were near the water (something I could easily care for if it happened to get wet) didn’t seem to get the job done. A soaked bandanna is clearly not going to stay put when I’m swishing around in the pool with R.T.

I was delighted to find Princess Modest Swimwear. An Israeli company, they provide modest swimwear with an eye towards traditional Jewish modesty requirements – including headcoverings.

I picked out this one, “Aqua and Black”, which goes with the makeshift swim outfit I am wearing this season. (Swimwear, yeah, that’s got to be an entire separate post, don’t you think?)

It is essentially an ordinary lycra swim cap in the base color, with a black triangle “bandanna” of peachskin microfiber (the quick-drying stuff that men’s swim suits are often made of) sewn along one edge. You can then wrap and tie it in a variety of ways.

Looks cute, dries quickly, and it’s even SPF 50+.

My only concern was one that is, while of course not “unique,” certainly one that most of you needn’t worry about – it’s One Size Fits All.

As I explained to someone recently (someone else who sold clothing items, who should have known better!), being tall makes a lot of difference in everything. Someone who is six feet tall is simply proportionately bigger in every respect than someone who is five feet tall. So, while of course everyone is shaped differently, overall the taller person will tend to have a bigger shoe size, a bigger wrist measurement for bracelets, and – yeah – a bigger hat size. (And on top of that I do have quite a bit of hair).

I exchanged a few emails and a phone call with Galia, the owner of Princess Modest Swimwear, who proved knowledgeable and very sweet. She described the fit, said that it was roomier than last year’s, and suggested I check out the photos of the woman in the purple suit on the website, who had very big hair. In the end, though, she didn’t want me to purchase it if I was going to wind up unhappy.

Given all that, I decided to purchase it, with the clearly stated intention that I would take the chance, give her feedback on the fit either way, and pass it on to bless someone else if it turned out not to fit. That’s where you come it – skip down to the bottom if you can’t wait!

The magic of Google allowed me to find a lycra swim cap in an XL size (in a cute coordinating print, even), which is working out very well for actual pool usage. (Heads-up if you go on such a search – sites that have swim caps also often carry advertisements for swim suits, and not modest ones, either!)

I can certainly see, though, that if I was going to be spending the day with Wolf and Jewel while they fished (not my thing), or similarly “hanging out” in a possibly-wet-but-not-swimming setting, it would be nice to have the additional “scarf” piece to reduce the possibly dorky I’M A SWIM CAP look.

Maybe Galia will take pity on me,
and offer an XL size next year!

BUY IT!

Order your own stylish Swim Head Covering directly from Princess Modest Swimwear.

As of today (disclaimer just in case someone digs this up later) they sell for $14, with Free Shipping in Israel, or $5 Shipping anywhere else in the world.

WIN IT!

One lucky As For My House reader will win their own Aqua/Black Swim Head Covering

This is the one that I ordered to check out. It has only been tried on, never worn out of the house or around water…

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment here letting me know what you currently do (or don’t do!) about headcovering in the water.

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each).

Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following.

2. Become a Facebook Fan of Princess Modest Swimwear.

3. Subscribe to As For My House in your favorite feed reader, or by email. (Current subscribers count, too!)

4. and 5. Post this giveaway to your Facebook wall (leave your Facebook name), or Tweet about it (and leave the link)! Each may be done daily for extra entries.

In additon to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like sharing on Facebook, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends 7/11/2011 at 11:59pm (Central), or more likely some time the following morning when I log in again. (If you can still leave a comment, you can still enter).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. I will ship to your U.S. mailing address only. You may choose to pay the difference if you would like insurance, or shipping to anywhere else – Canada, Costa Rica, or wherever!

** This giveaway is now closed. Look for the winner to be announced in a separate post. **

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