Congratulations to Dani Tabet of Houston, TX! She is the winner of our huge year-end giveaway prize-pack worth over $1,000!!! 

And a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to all of our sponsors that contributed to this awesome prize!!

always B designs
BeautiControl by Jill Denson
Crushed Botanicals
Cypress Yoga
Diana Saufley Designs/Willow House
Eye Candy by Candace
Freckles Crafts
Ginny Theriot, REMAX Realty Center, Realtor
Herbalife
Indigo Tea
Initials, Inc by Merry Lynn Guy
Mary Kay by Rochelle Peterson
Painting with a Twist
Simply Cy-Fair
The Bib Shoppe
The Work At Home Woman
 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Thank you for your participation in our HUGE year-end giveaway! We are in the process of verifying our winner and will post the winner as soon as they are completely verified!

Happy New Year!

Stay tuned...

Can you believe that 2011 is almost over??? Simply Cy-Fair is excited to announce this huge year-end giveaway with a grand prize valued at over $1000! We are celebrating with our readers and ringing in the New Year with this exciting opportunity for one of our readers to win this incredible prize pack!

Our incredible sponsors and prizes include:

always B designs

Jewelry Set ($35 Value) – Add these one of a kind creations to your jewelry collection. Included one scrabble tile, one domino, and one bottle cap necklace.
Scrapbook Kit ($25 Value) - Create a family scrapbook album – all supplies included! Perfect for beginners.
Note Card Set ($25 Value) – A perfect way to keep in touch – 3 note card sets (Note for your Teacher, Thank You, and Friends) with matching pens.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

BeautiControl by Jill Denson

White Chocolate Peppermint Instant Manicure & Extreme Repair Hand Crème  and a Customized skin condition analysis and makeover. ($75 Value) - Sugar crystals gently exfoliate dead skin cells and natural oils moisturize hands leaving them silky smooth, Extreme repair hand crème softens and smoothes your hands while providing a barrier against dehydration and future damage. Receive your scientifically personalized skin condition analysis and a Polished You Makeover. Makeover includes a fashion personality analysis as well as determining which colors are your best.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Crushed Botanicals

Whipped Body Soufflé in "Goddess" or "Happy" ($15 Value) - Goddess: Crushed banana powder and lavender essential oils. Happy: Crushed strawberry powder and citrus essential oils. This body cream is whipped into a lush body soufflé and is gorgeous on dry, winter skin and hands. Natural with no artificial fragrance oils.

Website

Cypress Yoga

4 Yoga Classes at Cypress Yoga. ($50 Value) - If you always wanted to try yoga or were looking for a convenient neighborhood studio to deepen your practice,Cypress Yoga is for you!!  Bring your yoga mat and have some fun…Yoga is a wonderful way to increase flexibility and strengthen your body. Practicing yoga takes you on a “mini vacation” allowing you to reduce stress and tension in your everyday life.  It is a perfect addition to your martial arts practice, resistance training, boot camp, running and walking workouts.

Website ~ Facebook

Diana Saufley Designs/Willow House

1/2 hour design consultation ($75 Value) and Gail Pittman Designs Loaf Pan ($32.96 Value) - Dress up your special holiday breads or cakes in the beautiful loaf pan that is dishwasher, freezer, microwave and oven safe up to 350°. (9 1/2” x 5 3/4” x 3” tall; holds 4 cups)

Diana Saufley Designs: Website ~ Facebook
Willow House: Website ~ Facebook

Eye Candy by Candace

Free Session Fee ($75 value) - Natural light custom photographer to capture families, children, newborns,and all of the milestones that are important. Photographer also photographs engagement, high school seniors, and much more.

Website ~ Facebook

Freckles Crafts

$20 Gift Certificate  ($20 Value) - Good toward a purchase from the Freckles Crafts store where you’ll findthe perfect crafts for your kids.

Store ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Ginny Theriot, REMAX Realty Center, Realtor

Free Home Market Analysis and $25 Lowes gift card ($75 Value) – Find out the value of your home & then shop for it too!

Website

Herbalife

Herbalife Quickstart Weight Loss Program ($102 Value) - Get on the path to good health with this easy-to-follow program! Combining cutting-edge science with delicious shakes and snacks, the basic Quickstart program can help you achieve healthy weight management and Cellular Nutrition. Program includes Formula 1 Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix (750g), Formula 2 Multivitamin Complex, Formula 3 Cell Activator®, & Herbal Tea Concentrate (50g). 

Indigo Tea

Custom Logo Design ($250 Value) - Help your customers remember you - have a distinctive, memorable logo that conveys not just your business name, but what your business is really about.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Initials, Inc by Merry Lynn Guy

Medium Sassy 180 Bag with sassy sash ($45 Value) – Look sassy with this versatile bag on your shoulder!

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Mary Kay by Rochelle Peterson

Limited Edition Mary Kay Miniature Fragrance Collection ($32 Value) - Presented in a luxurious keepsake box that features a vintage, filigree look, experience Mary Kay fine fragrances: Journey, Bella Belara, Belara, Velocity, and Thinking of You Eau de Parfums.

Website ~ Facebook

  

Painting with a Twist

Gift Certificate ($45 Value) - It's a little bit of paint, a little bit of wine and a whole lot of fun! Uncork you inner artist as a local artist walks you step-by-step to the completion of a masterpiece! Think it's not for you, haven't picked up a brush since grade school - No Worries! No experience required, really! The "Twist" is BYO (your favorite wine or beverage of choice). Gift certificate is valid at the Cypress studio and good towards any of our paint pARTies!

Website ~ Facebook

Simply Cy-Fair

Ad Space Package ($80 Value) – Get advertised on the best resource for families in the Cy-Fair area! Includes one month side bar ad, one month newsletter ad, one premium business listing, one premium job listing, and a dedicated blog post.
Poke the Box by Seth Godin ($15 Value) – Enjoy this book by the legendary Seth Godin courtesy of Simply Cy-Fair.
Leadership 2DVD Set ($40 Value) – Learn valuable leadership skills with these training DVDs courtesy of Simply Cy-Fair.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

The Bib Shoppe

Toddler Dress Bib for Girls, Flowers ($16 Value) - Bibs that look like dresses! This bib is made with toweling, a 100% cotton coordinating frilly yoke and a Velcro closure. Great for home or restaurant wear. Washes beautifully. These bibs truly are the talk of the town! Designed for and by The Bib Shoppe.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook

The Work At Home Woman

Blogging Success: Tips for Creating Content, Getting Traffic and Monetizing Your Blog ($37 Value) - This 44-page e-book is jam-packed with tons of practical, actionable tips on how to create killer content, increase traffic to your blog and most importantly, make money from it! Within this guide, I’ve decreased the learning curve by sharing bite-sized tips that are easy to learn and easy to implement. In this one guide, you’ll have access to all of my research, best and most effective tools and tips to becoming a successful monetized blogger. In addition to all of these tips, you’ll get the inside scoop from some ultra successful women bloggers. They will tell you their best secrets for creating content, getting traffic and monetization strategies.

Website ~ Book ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

 

How to enter to win this HUGE prize-pack worth over $1000 (Mandatory Entry): Let us know which of these prizes you are most excited about winning by leaving a comment below.

You can earn extra entries by doing the following and leaving another comment for each thing you do:
1. Like Simply Cy-Fair on Facebook
2. Follow Simply Cy-Fair on Twitter
3. Like/follow any of the contributors to this awesome giveaway. You may leave a separate comment for each company you follow.
4. Subscribe to our Simply Cy-Fair newsletter.
5. Become a Simply Cy-Fair registered user - ALL registered users automatically get one entry into EVERY giveaway we host!
6. Tweet or FB post about this giveaway (you can do this once per day, leave a comment each time): HUGE New Year’s #Giveaway on @SimplyCyFair - enter to #win $1000 Prize Pack: http://bit.ly/scKTdX

This giveaway will close at 5p.m. on December 31, 2011. Winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

NOTE: If the winner does not live in the Cy-Fair, Texas area, they will forfeit the prizes that require on-location winners, such as consults. A second winner will be chosen for those prizes (BeautiControl, Cypress Yoga, Diana Saufley Designs/Willow House, Eye Candy by Candice, Ginny Theriot/Realtor, and Painting with a Twist). 

Congratulations goes out to Melissa and Jill, winners of The Peaceful Housewife e-book of Natural Household Cleaner Recipes! Jill also won the $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate to Texadelphia sponsored by Simply Cy-Fair!

Thank you for participating!

Be on the lookout for the launch of Simply Cy-Fair's HUGE Year-end giveaway worth over $500 coming very soon!

As a frugal-minded person, I am always looking for creative ways to save money on household products that I use frequently. If you search on Google (or Swag Bucks) for homemade anything these days, it seems that someone out there has already come up with a way to make it themselves. When this opportunity for review and giveaway came across my desk, I jumped at the chance to try it out! I’m a pretty practical girl, so this is the kind of thing I love to get my hands on. 

The Peaceful Housewife offers handmade natural household products for sale on her website. So for all of you who would like to use natural products, but don’t want to make them yourself, this is a great place for you to purchase homemade soaps, detergents, cleaning solutions, and more.

For those of us that are DIY inclined, she also offers this fantastic e-book full of recipes to make our own! You can order The Peaceful Housewife: Natural Household Cleaner Recipes e-book for only $3.00. That’s less than a bottle of some of those toxic household cleaners you might be buying now. The Peaceful Housewife has offered to give away TWO copies of her e-book to two lucky Simply Cy-Fair readers. See the end of this post for how to enter!
 

The book includes recipes and instructions for 20 household products with variations for some of them. I decided to pick two recipes from the book to try: Fabric Softener because I was in the middle of doing laundry when I sat down to review this e-book, and glass cleaner after noticing how grimy my windows were looking. ;-)

Fabric Softener:
I had all of the ingredients on hand already to make this fabric softener: water, vinegar and baking soda. I followed her directions just as she wrote them and it came out wonderfully. I will admit that I did have one mishap with a volcano-like eruption (which my 13 year old found quite amusing), but that was completely my fault! She warns in the instructions to mix slowly, and I got a little carried away momentarily. This recipe was very simple and was very quick to put together. It also costs almost nothing. You can get a gallon of white distilled vinegar for about $3 and a box of baking soda for less than $1 – then both can be used to make multiple recipes.
You can use the fabric softener in your washer or on a washcloth in the dryer as a ‘dryer sheet’. I tried it both ways and preferred the washer use even though I noticed very little static in my dryer after using the ‘sheet’ method. My clothes came out super soft, and I didn’t worry when using it on my children’s clothes which I don’t use softener products on normally. This recipe does have the option to use essential oils for fragrance, but I chose not to use them as I didn’t have any on hand and I don’t care for a lot of fragrance in my clothes. My clothes came out smelling clean and fresh despite the ‘unscented’ version.

Glass Cleaner:
This recipe was simple as well and only uses vinegar, water and rubbing alcohol. My windows were super smudgy with hand prints and smears now that we have condensation on the windows in the morning – boys can’t resist keeping their hands out of it! I did have to spray one of the windows a second time because of some extra stickiness, and I was worried that the window would look streaky, but no! Once it completely dried, it was clean and streak-free! All for mere pennies and no toxins! You can see the 'BEFORE' and 'AFTER' below!

I would highly recommend this e-book. I noticed several other tips she included, many of which I already employ in my regular laundry and cleaning routines. so I KNOW they work.  This is a great resource for families with small children, allergies, a tight budget, and a desire to 'go green'. 

This review was performed and written by April Pearson, Simply Cy-Fair Deals Guru.

Now on to the giveaway!

The Peaceful Housewife, Jenny Deramo, is offering an e-book to two lucky Simply Cy-Fair readers PLUS one of those winners will also win a $25 Restaurant.comgift certificate* to Texadelphia sponsored by Simply Cy-Fair!

How to win a copy of The Peaceful Housewife Natural Household Cleaner Recipes: Visit http://www.thepeacefuldousewife.com and leave a comment on this page below and tell me if you already make your own household cleaners and which ones. Or if you don’t, that’s ok, just tell me so!

You can earn extra entries by doing the following and leave another comment for each thing you do:

1. Like Simply Cy-Fair on Facebook
2. Follow Simply Cy-Fair on Twitter
3. Like The Peaceful Housewife page on Facebook
4. Follow The Peaceful Housewife on Twitter
5. Subscribe to our Simply Cy-Fair newsletter
6. Become a registered user - ALL registered users automatically get one entry into EVERY giveaway we host!
7. Tweet or FB post about this giveaway (you can do this once per day, leave a comment each time): New #Giveaway at @SimplyCyFair - enter to #win @PeacefulWife e-book  + $25 Restaurant.com!  2 Winners!  http://bit.ly/sgPzLS

This giveaway will close at noon on December 18, 2011. Winners will be announced shortly thereafter.

*This $25 Restaurant.comgift certificate is valid on a minimum $40 purchase at Texadelphia. For more information on how Restaurant.com gift certificates work, see this post on Deals That Make Cents. 

Congratulations Stephanie D.! You are the winner of the $25 Mary Kay giveaway! 

Stay tuned for our next giveaway where we will have 2 winners!

Here is a perfect giveaway with the holidays approaching! Rachael Taylor has just begun her journey as a Mary Kay consultant. She invited me over to try some of Mary Kay’s top-selling items for my review. And she is generously offering a $25 gift certificate to one of our Simply Cy-Fair readers! See below for how to enter.

Review of Mary Kay products:

The first collection she let me try was the TimeWise® Miracle Set®. This set includes four products – the 3-in-1 cleanser, age-fighting moisturizer, day solution with SPF 25, and night solution. While I have only tested this on the back of my hand, I loved how much softer and smoother my skin felt and looked after using all of the products. According to the Mary Kay brochure, a dermatologist’s 12-week clinical study showed panelists had the following results: 83% had a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles, up to 25% improvement in skin elasticity, 100% had softer, more supple skin, and 46% improvement in more even skin tone. You can order the full-size TimeWise® Miracle Set® for $90, or you can order a TimeWise® Trial Miracle Set® 30-day set for only $44.

The next two sets Rachael let me try were the Satin Lips® Set and the Satin Hands®. Wow! I loved both of these sets! The Satin Lips starts with a gentle exfoliating scrub that you rub on your lips, then wipe off. Then you follow it up with a cool moisturizing lip balm. I tried one of the new Limited-Edition lip balm flavors – Vanilla Berry – and I liked the fruity flavor. I think this set would make a great stocking stuffer. The Satin Hands collection I had tried before and have always liked it. It has an exfoliating hand scrub and a wonderful moisturizing lotion. It leaves your hands feeling so incredibly soft. The Satin Lips® Set retails for $18, the limited-edition lip balm set (3) is $15, and you can pick up a Satin Hands® Pampering set for $34, which comes in a fragrance free or peach scent.

Overall, I must say that I am very impressed with Mary Kay. They have a respectable "God first, Family second, Work third" policy for their consultants; their products are high-quality; and the one-on-one time I received from Rachael is something you don’t get from too many companies anymore. I would highly recommend women and men of all ages to sit down one-on-one with Rachael to determine what is best for their skin, as your skin changes over time. Whether you are looking for teen acne solutions or anti-aging products, Mary Kay seems to offer something for everyone. Rachael can even put together a cute gift basket for someone you find hard to shop for.

Rachael Taylor will provide the winner with a $25 gift certificate to spend with her on the Mary Kay products you choose. She will be more than happy to meet with you and help you decide what products are best for you. If you, as the winner, decide to book a Mary Kay party with Rachael, she will give you an additional $10 to spend! She also offers great gift ideas for teachers, loved ones, or that hard-to-buy-for relative. Rachael is a resident of Cypress, and she can be reached by phone at (512)393-8897 or email rjones81709@marykay.com if you would like to contact her for a consultation or make a purchase. She has also just started her facebook page, so you can reach her there as well.

Reviewed by April Pearson, Simply Cy-Fair Deals Guru

How to win a $25 Mary Kay gift certificate: Go to MaryKay.com and tell us below which product you are interested in trying - or which is already your favorite!

Extra entries: You can up your chances of winning by doing any of the following. One comment per extra entry is required to be counted as an entry. Even if you are already like us, follow us, are registered or subscribe just leave a comment letting us know - you get another entry!

1. Like Simply Cy-Fair on Facebook
2. Follow Simply Cy-Fair on Twitter
3. Like Rachael Taylor's Mary Kay Beauty Consultant page on Facebook
4. Subscribe to our Simply Cy-Fair newsletter
5. Become a registered user - ALL registered users automatically get one entry into EVERY giveaway we host!
6. Tweet or FB post about this giveaway (you can do this once per day, leave a comment each time): New #Giveaway at @SimplyCyFair - enter to #win a $25 Mary Kay Gift Certificate! http://bit.ly/vD6mYX

Enter by commenting below! If you don't see the comment box, just click on the 'Comments' link. That's it - good luck to everyone - and be sure to spread the word that giveaways are back at Simply Cy-Fair!

Giveaway closes on 12/4 at 12 noon and a winner will be announced that day.

Congratulations to Sus, the winner of our one year membership to ABCmouse.com!
 

Our next giveaway will be up shortly...
 

This is an excited giveaway! You could win a year membership to ABCmouse.com, worth $79! (scroll down for giveaway details)

Review of ABCmouse.com's yearly membership for kids: 

This was a great product to review - especially as a former elementary school teacher. I was highly impressed with the site itself and all that it offers.

Here's what the site is about: " ABCmouse.com is a global education initiative of Age of Learning, Inc. Our goal is to help children build a strong foundation for future academic success by providing a comprehensive and engaging online curriculum to greatly assist early learners to succeed in pre-k, kindergarten, and early elementary school programs. ABCmouse.com is subscription-based, with no advertising, pop-up ads, or links to other sites. Children can learn and explore with their parents, or on their own (depending on age and ability), in a safe and secure online educational environment. We named our site ABCmouse.com because here children can learn important educational basics (often referred to as "the ABC's") through the use of a computer mouse. At ABCmouse.com, the computer mouse comes to life as ABC Mouse, who serves as our site ambassador and guide to early learners everywhere."

And, they're right on target. Geared towards young learners, the site allows kids to learn not only computer skills, but academic skills as well. From Math to colors to the alphabet to Reading, the wide variety of fun and engaging tasks draws kids in. There are six academic levels with over 150 activities at each level.

When April's kids Amber (5) and James (almost 4) had a chance to use the site under our review membership, they each got to create an account (along with the parent account April created so that she can track their progress - a definite plus). Then, when they got their time to explore, they couldn't have been more excited. Here's what they had to say about the site:

Amber said, "It's great! I love it. I like that you can have fun and read and do puzzles and make your own room. You can also pick your own furniture and buy things with tickets. It's so much fun."

James navigated pretty well, but needed more help. He really enjoyed it as well.

And, April, their mom, liked that it was easy for Amber to navigate without a lot of help because all links 'speak'. "I liked how many different activities there are to choose from. I don't feel like we even scratched the surface and we did a lot! Especially like the built-in timer function."

It's easy to see that there's something for everyone, and it's hard to cover all of the great things about the site in such a short review. The only thing that might deter people from joining is the cost - $79 a year isn't a lot to most people, but for the kids that are struggling in low-income schools whose parents don't have the money to provide extra supplements like this, it'd be a stretch. However, they do have a school and teacher program, so low-income schools could consider adding this to their in-school activity time, which would help reach those kids who couldn't afford to bring it home or don't own a computer.

Reviewed by Angela Bickford, Simply Cy-Fair Publisher & April Pearson, Simply Cy-Fair Deals Guru

How to win the ABCmouse.com membership: Just comment below telling us what you think of this giveaway!

Extra entries: You can up your chances of winning by doing any of the following. One comment per extra entry is required to be counted as an entry.

1. Like Simply Cy-Fair on Facebook
2. Follow Simply Cy-Fair on Twitter
3. Like ABCmouse on Facebook
4. Subscribe to our newsletter
5. Become a registered user - ALL registered users automatically get one entry into EVERY giveaway we host!
6. Tweet or FB post about this giveaway (you can do this once per day): New #Giveaway at @SimplyCyFair - enter to #win a year's membership for your kids to ABCmouse.com! http://bit.ly/w11cXB

Enter by commenting below! If you don't see the comment box, just click on the 'Comments' link. That's it - good luck to everyone - and be sure to spread the word about our giveaways!

Giveaway closes on 11/20 at 12 noon and a winner will be announced that day.

Congratulations to Becky and Deanna, who both won a parenting seminar of their choice from Proactive Parenting!

The next giveaway will be up shortly...