Something in this picture is on sale. Can you find it?

WOW! DaySpring is offering 25% off EVERYTHING this weekend only with the code MEMORIAL25.

This coupon can’t be combined with other coupons, but CAN be used on anything in the store, including clearance items. AND you’ll get free shipping on orders over $50.

Here are some of my favorite items/best deals to check out.

Lisa Leonard jewelry
Not only are does DaySpring offer a beautiful faith collection of Lisa’s designs, but y’all, they have several of her top selling gold pieces. You won’t find them cheaper than with this coupon.

The Gold Connected Hearts Necklace is another favorite of mine. It’s regularly $44, but with the coupon, it’s just $33. I love how dainty this necklace is. I wear it every week.

The Gold Chevron Necklace necklace is regularly $56, but with this coupon, it’s just $42. I have this necklace and was surprised by the weight of it. It is really beautiful. I get compliments on it every time I wear it.

The clearance section

Pretty pillow on sale… bubble-blowing girl not included

You know a favorite section of the DaySpring site is the clearance sale. With an additional 25% off, you really can’t beat the prices. Much of the Redeemed collection is on clearance and there are some awesome deals with this coupon. DaySpring offered a coupon for Mom Creative readers last month, so if you missed that (or you wish you had bought more), here’s your chance.  A few of my favorites include:

Redeemed – He Has Made Everything – 16×16 Pillow: I love this sweet throw pillow. It’s regular price is  $24.99, its on sale for $9.99 and with the coupon its just $7.49.

Redeemed-My Hope Is in You-Perpetual Wooden Calendar: This is one of my favorite items in the Redeemed collection. It is solid wood and beautiful. I can’t get over this price! Regular price: $49.99, with the sale it’s $19.99 and with the coupon it’s just $14.99.

Redeemed – His Eye Is on the Sparrow-Wooden Birdhouse: This birdhouse was on my mantle all spring. I love the colors – and the verse. Its regular price is $19.99, but it’s on sale: $9.99 and with the 25% off coupon it’s just $7.49.

Redeemed – Fullness of Joy – Message Board: I love little chalkboards. You can’t beat the price on this one. I think this would be an especially fun teacher gift. The regular price is $14.99, it’s on sale for $5.99 and with the coupon its just $4.49.

There are also tons of other great deals on tote bags, journals, cards, mugs and more, so be sure to poke around the clearance section.

Monthly specials
You can also find several great deals in the monthly specials.

For instance, the Jesus Calling devotional + calendar is regularly $24.99, marked down to $12.99 and with the coupon is just $9.36.

Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts Photo Gift Book is one of my favorite books to give to people. It is just stunning, easy to read and digest and really, really perfect. It is regularly $14.99, marked down to $10.99 and with the coupon is just $8.24. This is one that anyone in your life would love – even if they have read Ann’s book!

If you have teen girls in your life, they need to read Emily P. Freeman’s Graceful ($7.49 with coupon) and Annie F. Downs’ Perfectly Unique ($6 with coupon).  Both are cheaper than on Amazon!

I hope you are able to find some great deals for you and for those on your gift list. Taking advantage of sales like this is a great way make sure you don’t overspend on birthdays and during the holidays.

Y’all! Totsy is having a CRAZY blowout sale right now that you must check out.

I scored smocked dresses for $9! Shoes for $5! Organizers for $4! I could have spent a boatload, but needed to keep to our budget.

I can’t get over the prices. Everything is marked up to 90% off – home goods, kids clothes, toys, books, womens clothes and accessories, and more.

YEOW!

And, it is organized so well. Everything is by style and size. So, you need size 10 shoes, just click on that sale. Easy shopping.

Hope you are able to score some great deals.

Disclosure: referral link used.

If you have yet to order from York Photo, this deal is your chance!

All new members can get a free photo mug ($9.99 value) for free with the code MYMUG. New members will also receive 40 free prints.

This would make a great gift for Father’s Day – and you can’t beat the price. (Shipping is $5.99)

This offer is available through June 15, but order by May 31 to guarantee for Father’s Day.If you don’t need a Father’s Day gift, you could also take advantage of this for a birthday gift, Grandparent’s Day gift or even just for you.

Disclosure: compensated affiliate links used

Gosh, I’m looking forward to the long weekend – and its only Thursday! We don’t have any big plans, but lots of little ones. In addition to playing outside, baking and doing crafts with the kids, here’s what is on my list.

Since our garage sale did so well last Saturday, we decided to leave everything set up in the garage and open up on more morning. So Saturday morning we are going to do it again. Whatever is left we will box up and donate.

I’m also going to complete a couple DIY projects. I think I can maybe even tackle these during the garage sale, if it isn’t too busy:

• Spray paint this mirror that I got at Goodwill for our mantle. (Did you see it on Instagram?) I have been looking for one like it for MONTHS and was so excited when I found one this week. It was only $14.99. YEOW!
• Finish the chicken wire frame that I started for Adeline’s room. The frame is painted – I just need to attach the chicken wire.
• Spray paint and attach the hardware for a dresser that I have painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint. I can’t wait to share it with y’all. I got the dresser for $20 at Goodwill and I can’t believe how amazing it looks. (You can see a few previews on Instagram.)

Angie and I are going to film the video announcement for the next Bloom book club study. The book we are reading is a new favorite of mine. Can’t wait to share!

I’m also going to do some sewing. It’s my sister’s baby shower next weekend, so I have a few things I want to sew for that. I also am adding a skirt to a vintage Sesame Street outfit for Adeline’s birthday, so hope to do that too.

And lastly, we are going to paint the kitchen.

So yes, plenty to do in three days! Ha!

Memorial Day weekend also means lots of big sales. I will be sure to post a little over the weekend, so don’t forget to check in.

What are your weekend plans?

I watched this video yesterday and was incredibly touched by Zach’s story in so many ways.

As a mother.
As someone who works at a Children’s hospital.
As a sister.
As a Christian.
As a person.

This morning I got choked up telling Matthew about it this morning.

Take 20 minutes to watch this video. You will be so blessed.

This is HOT!

Zulily has a Costco membership deal available today. I have never seen this before and it is a GREAT deal!

The cost on Zulily for a membership is $55 (value $105). You can become a new member or upgrade your existing Gold Star or Business Membership with this limited deal. In addition to your membership, you’ll also receive more than $50 worth of coupon savings including:

• free rotisserie chicken
• free 48-pack of batteries
• free 35 count case of Kirkland Signature™ water
• and more

We have a Sam’s membership right now because it is more convenient to our new home, but were Costco members for years. A membership is definitely a worthwhile investment!

A few other sales worth checking out:

iPlay swim: These are the nicest swimming suits. I love that the baby suits have swim diapers built into them. (The above suit on Adeline last spring in Hilton Head is iPlay.)

Happy Baby/Happy Bellies food pouches and snacks: Adeline LOVES pouches and I ordered several packs yesterday.

Insect Lore: They have a variety of these kits, including the butterfly garden Elias got at Easter. Both of our kids LOVED this.

Plus many, many more sales that I didn’t mention including home items, cute summer women’s clothes (I buy for me all the time from Zulily) and kids clothes (baby through tween sizes).

Happy shopping!

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2013 If you are new to The Mom Creative, welcome. I hope you will stay awhile. I’m Jessica – wife to Matthew, mom to Elias, a silly and spirited four-year-old, and Adeline, a spunky one-year-old. I’m also a marketing professional, savvy deal finder, photo lover and memory keeper trying to juggle it all.

Each Tuesday, I share my most recent spread as well as host a linky for readers to link up their pictures/layouts. Some links are affiliate links.

Gosh, I was so close to being caught up and then bam! I’m behind again. With the rummage sale, a soccer game and two parties last weekend, there was no time for working on Project Life. (I did get the quickest scrapbook ever completed, so that’s something, right?)

I’m not frustrated though. With Memorial Day weekend coming up, I should be able to get back on track.

Last week I shared a peak at a few samples from some of the core kits hitting Hobby Lobby. My friend Angie was able to swing by the store on Friday and they still had a holiday core kit, so she picked it up for me. Yay! It is really cute and I am excited to incorporate some of the cards into my album. The only downside is that the cards have a cream base, and I prefer for cards in my album to have a white base. I’ll definitely still use them in my album, but thought I’d mention it because I know that I am not the only one with that preference.

Also, a few weeks ago I asked if anyone had suggestions for organizing Project Life cards. While the core kit boxes are pretty and store well, I really like for my cards to stand up for easy flipping.

Someone suggested these plastic dividers that are meant for the Raskog cart. When I was in Salt Lake, Lisa, Melissa and I went to Ikea, I bought a few.

Y’all! They are perfect. Moreover, they are about $3.

I am using one bin for patterned journaling cards and one for solid cards + past kit cards. The system is working really well for me.

Just thought I would pass along the tip in case anyone else was planning a trip to Ikea. These are worth picking up!

Project Life posts worth checking out
If you haven’t signed up for the to check out the Phone Photography Project class, don’t miss it. It is going to be incredible + have tons of tips and inspiration for you to kick up your phone photos a few notches. Plus, it’s on sale for a limited time.

I love how bright Amy’s layout was last week. Plus, she put it together totally with digital freebies.

This layout by Gretchen is pretty perfect. Love the design symmetry.

Joyful Whimsy’s spread was so fun. I love how much she fit into a two-page spread + all the journaling she incorporated directly on the photos.

Did you see that Becky Higgins added a store locator to her site? I was so excited to see so many big box and mom and pop retailers carrying Project Life.

Your turn to link up! Also, just a friendly reminder to please remember to link back to The Mom Creative in your posts. Thank you!

This weekend Elias had his end-of-season soccer party.

I offered earlier last week to put together a little photo book for the coach. Just something simple, with a few photos of her coaching + some words.

And then, I forgot about it until about 3 hours before the party. I quickly sent some photos to Walgreens, picked them up and then whipped together a photo book in less than 15 minutes.

It turned our darling and the coach and all the team parents loved it.

I made a video of the process, as well as me sharing a few tips for putting together a quick scrapbook. (My apologies that I am wearing no make-up – ha! Just sharing life with you as it happens!)

Subscribers, click here to view the video.

I hope this encourages you that creating a photo book does not have to be fancy. Photos + words are all it takes to let someone know that you care, or even just to document your own family’s story.

Note: I have been working hard on my YouTube channel – check it out. I’m really excited about all the new and organized content. While you’re there, be sure to subscribe. 

Are you a dishcloth person or a paper towel person in the kitchen?

Growing up, we were a dishcloth family. I remember the kitchen sink often filled with bleach water and dishcloths.

Once I got out on my own, I favored spraying down the counters with cleaner (lately Honest Co. cleaner) and wiping them with paper towels. There are only a few household products that I am SUPER brand loyal to and Bounty paper towel is one of them. My mom only ever bought Bounty and when I moved out I tried a few other bands and frankly, they all paled in comparison.

So now Bounty is all I buy. I love the Select-A-Size with a passion. Plus Bounty is durable and a little bit goes a long way.

So when Bounty contacted me to try their new Duratowel, I happily said yes. DuraTowel is by far the thickest paper towel I have ever used. It’s crazy! What’s even cooler is that it is the only paper towel clinically proven to leave surfaces 3X cleaner than a used dishcloth.

The only downside is that it does not come in select-a-size. (Personally, I don’t see why all paper towel isn’t select a size. It reduces so much waste.)

Bounty sent me a dishcloth to use for three days in my kitchen. I then had to send it back to them and they tested it for bacteria. This was gross to me because I KNEW that dishcloth was going to be nasty. A clean kitchen has an ATP score of between 150-300. (Adenosine triphosphate or ATP is a molecule present in all animal, vegetable, bacterial, yeast and mold cells.)

Are you ready for what my score was?

You’re not.

I wasn’t.

15,591!

Y’all. Y’ALL! That is SOOOOO nasty. And it wasn’t even like I wiped up a spot where meat had been sitting or something.

I think I will stick to using my Bounty in the kitchen. The DuraTowel is a bit more expensive than regular Bounty paper towel, but it is so thick that you don’t use quite as much. (Unless you are my kids who want to use paper towels for everything.)

Definitely look for Bounty DuraTowel next time you are at the store. Recently I was at Target and they were offering a free DuraTowel roll with any bulk Bounty purchase. I saw a similar offer at Kroger too, so keep your eyes peeled!

Do you use paper towel or dishcloths in your kitchen?

Disclosure: This is the third post in a series sponsored by P&G. My love affair with Bounty goes back to my childhood.

So Adeline and I made a quicky video sharing some of the pieces from 3 of the 4 Project Life core kits now available at Hobby Lobby.

Even if you don’t do Project Life, the video is worth watching to see Miss Chatty. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Also, please ignore my kids’ massive toy mess behind me. Real life.

Have you gotten any of the kits available at Hobby Lobby?