Tag Archive for Giveaway

Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary Contest: What Would You Do With $50,000?

royale kittens contest  Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary Contest: What Would You Do With $50,000?Have your ever dreamed of winning a lottery? I know I have. I have even planned how I would spend the cash, yes you can call me a day dreamer, but right now one very blessed Canadian is about to win $50,000 from Royale, with the Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary contest. What would you do with $50,000?

For me being the practical money saving mom that I am my mind tells me that is quite a nice little nest egg till I find the perfect next adventure. Then there is dental work that I need to get done and it really would take up a nice chunk of change. But I wanted to play after being asked to write this post, so what if impractical me took over, you know the dreamer in all of us? What would I dream of doing with $50,000?

First my absolute favorite car is the Ford Mustang, so when I was asked this post I went to the Ford Canada site and played with the ability to design my dream car, the Ford Mustang GT convertible, when I was done it would of cost me just shy of $36,000. The car was even in red my favorite color for a car.

mustang vert 300x180  Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary Contest: What Would You Do With $50,000?

car perfection

With $14,000 left over there is still much more I would dream of doing. I have wanted a new camera for a very long time, and with a new car I would so need one for all the road trips I would want to take.

Talking of road trips could you imagine putting your child in the car, and hitting the road and driving to Disneyworld, not telling them where they were headed till you hit Florida. That is the type of road trip I would love to take with party of the left over money. After all every girl needs to visit Cinderella’s castle at least once.That sort of road trip would take say $3000.

cinderellascastle1 239x300  Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary Contest: What Would You Do With $50,000?

Then what would I do with the rest, if you know me you know I love exotic Morocco. To me that would be a dream destination. I have dreamed of haggling in the souks, the best spa treatments in a hamam, visiting some of the oldest mosques in the world, and of course camel riding in the Sahara. That sort of trip would take up the rest of the $50,000.

camel riding sahara1 300x199  Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary Contest: What Would You Do With $50,000?

camel riding in the sahara

 

Now with the Royale Golden Kittens 50th Anniversary contest one lucky Canadian will be handed a cool $50,000. Actually, there are also 500 instant-win prizes, and four runner-up prizes as well.

There’s 2 ways that you can win:

  • 60 tickets are located online through royale.ca or the Royal Kittens Facebook Page. Play a game and maybe you’ll get a Royale Golden Kitten ticket! Find a Golden Kitten ticket and enter your PIN code online and you could win one of 500 instant-win prizes, before being entered to win the $50,000 grand-prize or one of four runner-up prizes! The instant win prizes include: Samsung TVs, Samsung Tablets, Samsung Blu-Ray Players, SpaFinder Gift Cards and special Limited Edition ROYALE plush Kittens.

Good luck and what would you do if you were the lucky Canadian?

.*I am participating in the Golden Kittens Blog Tour by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Royale. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Win with Deflate the Elephant and Co-op Cabs

GetAttachment.aspx  Win with Deflate the Elephant and Co op CabsDuring December, the LCBO’s “Deflate the Elephant” campaign is partnering with Co-op Cabs and Cabcom (the advertisements on the top of cabs) in Toronto to encourage people to plan ahead and get home safely. How cool right?

Now every Saturday tilll December 29, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., there will be a small number of specially outfitted Co-op cabs in Toronto with a large lit up elephant sign on the roof. Spot these special cabs, and hop in, passengers will receive $10 off their ride. Also, if someone spots an elephant cab in the city, takes a pic & tweets with the hashtag #TOelephantsighting they have a chance to win a holiday hosting gift basket. I am giving one of these holiday baskets away as well!

Now the basket is valued at $200, and includes so many yummy treats, perfect for holiday entertaining!  The Deflate the Elephant campaign website is are great resource for being the perfect host.  They given have an app that includes a game your guests can play to test if they are too drunk to drive home.

Now to win the basket full of sweet treats on Saturday December 22, you can enter one on two ways:

1. Leave a comment here on my blog and share with me your favorite mocktail drink. Don’t have one check out the recipes on Deflate the Elephant and tell me your favorite pick.

2. On Saturday Dec 22 or till Sunday Dec 23rd tweet me using the hashtag #TOElephantSighting and use @commoncentsmom so I see the tweet tell me how you are being a responsible host.

Contest will close on Sunday December 23rd at 4 am!! Open only to Ontario residents over the age of 18.

 

500 Posts on Common Cents Mom and 12 years.

500 500 Posts on Common Cents Mom and 12 years. 500 posts! That is some pile of writing. This post is my 500th on Common Cents Mom. What a blogging journey this has been so far.

My blogging journey began with a journal on MSN  many years ago and then moved to Zanga where I started my first real blog , then to Blogger to Cheaper then Cheap and Simply Hollie and then I created Common Cents Mom almost 5 years ago. So that averages out to just over 2 posts a week, for 5 years and that is just on this blog. My first blog post ever was written some 12 years ago on December the 5th, 2000. Rachel was 2, and we were living in Hamilton and I had just gotten a computer for my new apartment there.

What a journey it has been.

Blogging has seen me parenting in the open, with everyone having a view to my life.

In my blog posts I have written about leaving Mormonism, life as a christian and then embracing Islam, parenting, family, and even tragic events like a deadly fire that took us from our home, moving across the country, my daughter’s diagnosis with special needs, and the direct effects of bullying.

I have also tried to share some tips that have helped me over the years. I was a mom on welfare when this journey all began, trying to raise my daughter. Who knew that 10 years later I would have a full time job in a field known as Social Media. Not me.

Blogging has blessed me with so many opportunities and has brought so many people into my life that I am blessed to call friends. I wish I could express my gratitude properly in words but they are lacking tonight as I write because what a journey it has been!

I have been blessed with great mentors to learn from, blessed with friendships that will last forever, great relationships with so many and I have had the chance to partner and work with some amazing people on this journey. To each I say Thank you!

For each of you who read my posts, comment and share in our lives, thank you.

To say say thank you for stopping by and reading I am hosting a special giveaway on this post!

It is my way of saying Thanks.

Leave me a comment on this post and tell me what would you like to read here going forward.

What can you win?

A $100 Visa Gift Card

I will draw a winner on my real birthday Christmas Day

Clubhouse Flavourful Recipe Mixes Review and Giveaway

A couple of weeks back I was delighted when a box of Clubhouse Recipe Mixes arrived at my house. Talk about perfect timing, with the start of fall I find myself in my kitchen more and more especially since my teen has taken to wanting to try new recipes. Part of the box included Clubhouse Flavourful Recipe Mixes-great new mixes to try.

clubhouse flavorful mix Clubhouse Flavourful Recipe Mixes Review and Giveaway

 

The New Club House Flavourful Recipe Mixes include the following:

  • Flavourful Creamy Parmesan Chicken Penne
  • Flavourful Herbes de Provence Roasted Chicken
  • Flavourful Hickory BBQ Ribs Recipe Mix
  • Flavourful Lemon Ginger Beef Stir-fry Recipe Mix
  • Flavourful Lemon Thyme Pork Recipe Mix
  • Flavourful Tuscan Chicken Recipe Mix

042 Clubhouse Flavourful Recipe Mixes Review and Giveaway

Making the sweet potato vegetable bake

So far we have tried the Lemon Ginger Beef Stirfry. Rachel made the stir fry last night, and it was so good I forgot to grab  picture of her creation! We also used the Provence Roasted Chicken when roasting a whole chicken with sweet potatoes, carrots and onions. It was oh so good. Now as we prepare for thanksgiving we are planning on using this great Lemon Ginger Sweet Potato vegetable bake.

club house gravy 25 less salt Clubhouse Flavourful Recipe Mixes Review and Giveaway

There are also Gravy Mixes with 25% less salt and Flavourful Recipe Mixes that have no trans fat, no artificial colours or flavours and no added MSG! Great for thanksgving right?

On ClubHouse.ca  you will soon be finding a ‘buy 2 Club House gravies, and you get one Club House Flavourful Recipe Mix for FREE’ coupon. I’ll be getting one of those, we use the gravies a lot, especially this season! WE love the gravy for thanksgiving leftovers especially.

Now need an excuse to try Club House Recipe Mixes? Want to win some? One reader is going to get a Club House Prize Pack (that is about a month’s supply of mixes), and a $50 gift card!

To Enter,simply fill out the form, remember I want to know your favorite mix, and what recipe you might want to try.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

* I am participating in the Club House Flavourful Recipe Mixes Blog Tour by Mom Central Canada on behalf of McCormick. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

Win a Family Pass to the Exculsive Screening of ParaNorman

Have kids?Like movies?

There is  new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA.  These are the same people that brought us Academy Award-nominated “Coraline.”

“ParaNorman” is,the company’s second stop-motion animated feature to be made in 3D. In “ParaNorman,” a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call?

Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

 

There is a special exclusive showing on August 4th at 10 am at the at SilverCity Yonge & Eglinton in Toronto.

Want to go? Want to bring the family? I am giving away 5 family passes here on my blog.

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The Great Canadian Blogger Bash –Party On.

TGCBB2012SM The Great Canadian Blogger Bash   Party On.

Let’s get this party started Canadian style, eh! My friends  Whispered Inspirations, Mom vs. the Boys, Positively Pampered Patty, Good Girl Gone Green and Kat’s Confessions are our wonderful hostesses for this blog hop that celebrates everything Canadian, Canada Day and our wonderful array of Canadian bloggers.

So some interesting facts about me and Canada:

  • I am proud to say I am a 10th generation Canadian. Some of my family members were some of the very first settlers who traveled to Canada
  • I am the first in my family to change religions..we have such an array to learn from in this great land and we can learn from each other’s faiths.
  • I have attended 2 Canadian universities: Dalhousie and the University of Manitoba. One East, one west! Can you guess what my degrees are in.
  • I am proud to say since Canada became a country every generation of my family has had a military connection of some sort. So proud of my cousin who is currently serving, and the service of my mom, grandfathers, great, great great and great great great great great. All served on behalf of Canada.
  • I have travelled coast to coast, seen the southern tip of Canada and have been as far north as Flin Flon, Manitoba.

Now of some of my favorite facts about Canada:

  • The east coast of Canada was settled by Vikings around the year A.D. 1000. Archaeological evidence of a settlement has been found at L’anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. My family were one of the first settlers in nearby Carbonear.
  • Hockey (our national game) has been around since 1877, after Canada became a nation.
  • Ottawa was NOT always Ottawa, originally named Bytown after John By.
  • Canada contains 9% of the world’s renewable water supply. That is a huge amount of water.

Now since this blog hop is about celebrating Canada, Canadian bloggers and all things Canadian I wanted to do a small giveaway to the largest Athletic store chain in Canada: Sportcheck. I have a $25 gift car I will be sending one of you. If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you know one of my goals for this year is getting fit, so for me it seemed like a good match for my giveaway.

Are you ready to win?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Blogoversary to Me and Giveaway

Four years ago today I registered the domain name Common Cents Mom.

I took on the name Common Cents Mom because I had become a frugal, deal hunting mom, while getting a full-time job and raising my daughter solo style.

As I think of the last 4 years and how much I have grown I know I am more then blessed.I am thankful for my community of readers and friends.So I wanted to do a very special giveway.

Since today is my 4th Blogoversary I have decided with the help of She’s Connected to give away 4 $25 gift cards. One for each year of my blog. I decided to go with Gift Cards from brands I know and love every day. So I got one from Old Navy, one from The Gap, one from Joe Fresh and one from Indigo Books.

Please do enter and I want you thank each of you who has come and read here over the years.

As well if you are reading before the 12th do pop over to my other giveaway where I am giving away 2 signed copies of Gail Vazoxlade’s newest book.

 

 

 

 

 
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Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

2642841727 084242f23e Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

Look at my braces! © by valentinapowers

Are you a mom who has a teen who needs braces? or maybe you are like me and you do?

Personally since I was young I have hated my mouth. But I have been too afraid to go to the dentist to get the work done, after all who wants to have a metal mouth?

When I was young we could never afford the expensive work, and well the cost of dental work can be scary especially when you have teens in the house so I was actually excited when I saw that Invisalign Teen were giving away a full treatment with the value of $7000 to a lucky Canadian.

Why do teens want it,instead of the good old metal mouth? Why do moms love it?

It fits teens’ busy lives
Invisalign aligners are comfortable and durable (they are made of plastic), so it’s easy for teens to continue the activities they currently enjoy (like playing sports or musical instruments) which might otherwise be challenging or uncomfortable, wearing traditional metal braces.

They looks great.
Invisalign’s near-invisibility is still one of the most popular features for teens; treatment is very inconspicuous, making it easier for teens to “fit in” without calling attention to their orthodontic treatment.

They can remove them.
Since teens can take the aligners out to brush and floss, they can maintain normal, healthy hygiene during treatment. No more gross, gunky braces to worry about!
They can eat what they want – no “forbidden” foods.

It’s comfortable.
Invisalign Teen aligners are made of lightweight plastic that is custom-fitted to each patient’s teeth.
There are no wires or uncomfortable metal brackets poking or scratching their mouths or gums.

Sounds great right? To enter to win the treatment you enter here

Contest Banner Option3 300x146 Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

Now for my blog readers Invisalign Teen is giving one reader a cute outdoor sports chair. All you have to do is leave a comment. Remember you have to be Canadian to enter.This giveaway ends November 17th, at 11:00 pm EST.

So leave a comment and dont forget to go and enter on the main site as well.

*Disclosure – I am participating in the Invisalign Teen program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Align Technology, Inc. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

 

Celebrating A Very Modern Eid with modernEid

014 Celebrating A Very Modern Eid with modernEid

modernEid decorations

Very hard for me to beleive that  Eid-al-Adha is  just a few weeks away so it is time to start planning how my daughter and I will celebrate it. We have not been Muslim long so each Eid is a new experience. Well thanks to modernEid we have decided to have a dessert party and invite a few friends over. It should be a great evening of sisterhood. I am actually really looking forward to it, now to find the perfect cupcake recipes.

This is also my first time not having to make decorations which always look like a child made them. The sleek lines of modernEid are such a blessing, and will make the night look all grown up.

I came across the wonderful  modernEID decorations orginally through American Muslim Mom who is running a very special campaign and contest.  When asked if I wanted to participate I had to go to the site and check them out, I was more than impressed! I love the colors and the lines as I mentioned.

I received my sample package in the mail late yesterday and here’s what it I got:

  • Decorative bunting
  • Decorative print
  • Gift box
  • 1 dozen mini cupcake frosting liners
  • 1 dozen cupcake liners
  • Candy bags
  • Gift tags
  • 2” round stickers

I am very excited to use them in our new home for our dessert night. What excited me more was finding out modernEid is a very eco-friendly company and all the paper products are printed on 100% recycled paper, and each year they also as a company choose to give part of their profits to charity.

You can find out more about modernEid on Facebook and modernEid on Twitter including updates and information about special offers.

Now for the contest details:

 Celebrating A Very Modern Eid with modernEid Celebrating A Very Modern Eid with modernEid

The Blog Contest Prize: an Eid Party Kit (a $25 value) in the winner’s choice of design. The party kit includes:

  • Decorative print
  • Decorative bunting
  • Table runner
  • Buffet labels
  • Dessert picks
Here’s How to Enter:
1. Simply respond to this post telling me which modernEid Eid Party Kit theme design you like best; or tell me what you consider a modern Eid celebration – is it having access to more Eid decorations, or decorating with a classic, modern edge (instead of garishly loud, tacky decorations)? I really want to know what you think!
2. For an extra entry like Common Cents Mom and modernEid on Facebook

You must be over 18 years of age to participate in the contest. Shipping is available in the U.S. and Canada only. Also, the winner can only win 1 prize across all blogs (but feel free to enter everyone’s contest. The review and giveaway deadline is Wednesday, October 28, 2011 (11:59 p.m. PST).

Also, a grand prize winner at American Muslim Mom (based on ALL of the comments collectively) will receive a $50 gift certificate. Feel free to comment on these other blogs to increase your chances of winning:

This Little Life of Mine

MarocMama

Muslimahs Working at Home

*I received products to review and use in the creation of this post. I am writing this as a part of a collaboration with American Muslim Mom Media Network. All opinions and reviews are my own.

Menu Monday and a Giveaway

mpm button1 Menu Monday and a Giveaway  This week was a great week of learning new things. Last Tuesday I was invited to take part in a TweetUp ( a meet up of those who are on Twitter) that was being hosted by Tenderflake. We learned how to make pocket pies and I was glad to see that they do offer pastry shells that are not lard based but are made with vegetable oil( so they are halal). You have to look for the blue box, they are the healthier and halal option.

We made several different pocket pies. My favorite were the chocolate/ banana ones. It was a great opportunity to see the many ways you can use the pie shells. As we left we each were given coupons so we could pick up some shells when we were home and play. When I saw my coupons I asked James who heads up the Social Media team for Maple Leaf Foods if I could get some to share, and the answer was an immediate yes.

So I am giving coupons to 2 of you. You will receive coupons for Free Product. Each of you will receive 3 coupons.

What do you have to do to get the coupons:

1. Simply leave a comment telling me your favorite pie filling.

For an extra entry you can like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. If you do either of these simply let me know in the comments.

I will use random.org to decide who gets the coupons next Monday, May 19th. This giveaway is open only to Canadian residents.

So now what is on the menu here this week:

Monday- Breakfast for Dinner- Pancakes, sliced tomatoes.

Tuesday- Chili Pie and a garden salad

Wednesday- Skillet Black beans and rice

Thursday-Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Quinoa ( I add a bit of lemon to this recipe)

Friday-Leftovers

Saturday-Shrimp Toastadas

Sunday- Harissa Chicken and Rice ( we are taking this to a potluck)

That is what is cooking here this week. Don’t forget to share you favorite pie filling for the giveaway. As well if you are looking to save on your grocery bill you might want to read my other post today about Extreme Couponing. Now I am off to Organizing Junkie to see what is cooking this week.