Hello Hump Day! It sure is starting to feel like spring again {after our teaser in March}. I apologize for the non-post yesterday…I received some news from my doctor that sidelined me for the rest of the day. Someday, when I have enough courage {and more information}, I will fill you in more!
In any case, it is finally time to share with you my couponing for the week {after my little couponing sidebar on Monday}.
I am really excited for what I got this week to donate to PAVE {People Against a Violent Environment}. After talking with Jamie, one of the executives that run PAVE, I had a list of some of the things that they could really use. One of those things was individually wrapped pieces of candy. They use the candy as rewards for the kids during sessions. I do not normally purchase candy {Graham and I would eat the entire bag in one sitting, otherwise}, so I was excited for the couponing challenge.
Luckily, Easter candy was on sale and I had a couple coupons, so I ended up getting them quite a bit of candy. The best part is that it is actually spring themed {there is no mention of the Easter bunny anywhere on the candy}, so the kids will not know the difference!
She also mentioned the need for office supplies. They have a VERY small budget for the entire year. It certainly is not a lot to cover office supplies for an organization that can have up to twenty+ people using their services at one time! Luckily, I always take advantage of 100% back reward items at Staples, Office Max, and Office Depot.
Here is the haul that I gathered for PAVE this week. Even sweeter than the candy deal, was the total cost for all of this loot.
I paid a total of $6.77!
Everything was completely free except the candy and Kool-Aid, but they were obviously pretty close to free.
I got the toothpaste for free at Walgreens, all of the office supplies were free from Office Depot, and I got the rest at Target.
I cannot wait to give PAVE the box of goodies!
Now, onto my exciting announcement {haha, I made you read the entire post to find it out}. Earlier this week I received an email from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine – West Street Story {meaning, I was} accepted to be on their Home and Garden Advisory board! I will be able to give my feedback on upcoming magazine issues and other things. I am very excited and cannot wait to share more here for you!
And, to try and fit as ... much … as possible into this post, I also have a gardening tip for you today!
This was my first year with double blooming tulips and hyacinths in my flower bed next to the garage. Given the bulbs are blooming for the first time, I wanted to make sure I did whatever I could to help them survive their first year and come back stronger next year.
I learned that once the flower blooms start to fade on your perennials, you are supposed to cut the blooms off, but only to the first set of leaves. Apparently the leaves are what store the fuel for the bulb. Therefore, if you let the leaves receive all the nutrients now {rather than some of those nutrients going towards fading blooms}, they can provide more to the bulb as it prepares itself for winter. And since the blooms are fading, your flower bed will look neater without them anyways.
I had no problem clipping the blooms to display in the kitchen. The blooms make me happy! {side note: I got the fun little grey mug that they are displayed in at an antique shop for just a couple of bucks!}
What you see in the pictures is the last of my hyacinth blooms, but I have plenty of the double blooming tulips left…I have been replacing the flowers about once a week. Soon my peonies will be blooming as well, so I cannot wait!
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