Frozen theme party tips & tricks

Two weeks ago, our family threw a Disney Frozen theme birthday party for our daughter. As you know Frozen is the new craze among little girls these days as if every girl out there can relate to Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, right? Right. And wouldn't you know, every Frozen commodity out there is of course, high priced let alone that they are impossible to find unless you're willing to pay big bucks. 

So the cheapskate that I am, I had to be creative and had to plan way in advance. It helped to know that as soon as our family saw the Frozen movie on New Year's day, my daughter was resolved that she's going to have a Frozen party for her next birthday. The biggest obstacle was finding a Frozen dress that didn't cost an arm and a leg which was near impossible to accomplish due to supply and demand. Most places have them sold out, and if you find one, they were usually over a hundred bucks from people who were lucky to have purchased them before and are now selling them on Ebay. 

Luckily for me with time in my hands, I bought my daughter's Frozen Queen Elsa costume through Amazon.com but being sold and shipped from China which took 30 days to arrive. However displeased I am with the turnaround time, I was happy with the price. 

I came to find out that the Frozen theme pinatas were selling between $30-40, but with some creativity, I found a way to make a custom pinata for 10 bucks. I got a birthday cupcake pinata for $8 at Zurchers that had "1st Birthday" on it which I was able to easily remove and in a color that's in keeping with the Frozen colors--light and baby blues. I printed some of the characters that I downloaded off Google Images, cut them in cirles and glued them around the pinata to turn my rather plain birthday cupcake pinata into a Frozen theme pinata. Below is the actual photo of the pinata. 
 

 

As for the cake, I bought an edible Frozen cake topper on Ebay for $5 that I have a local grocer bakery put on a $8 dollar cake instead of ordering a custom Frozen cake from them for $25+.

 

Lastly, I wanted to share how I turned my biggest purchased Frozen theme party item into a profit. You'll get a kickout of this. I finished off our Frozen theme décor by adding a Queen Elsa and Princess Anna lifesize standup. I have an Amazon Prime membership so the 2-day shipping was free, however, it did cost me $38.50 to buy it. A lot of money for a few hours of use, right? But remember, I'm cheap so buying such an item seems ridiculous. I wouldn't have bought it had I not have a plan.

Here's my thought process. I know for a fact that there would be mothers locally like me who will be throwing a Frozen birthday party for their daughters. Just as there'll be those like me who would not want to throw away $40. So, I posted the standup for rent or sale at our local free online classifieds. The renters deposit $30 with me when they pick up the standup and I give them their $20 back when they return the item in the same condition as when they picked it up. This way, the full cost is covered if they decide not to bother and return the item, or if the item got destroyed at their party. But if they do return the item in the same condition, it will have only cost them $10 to have it at their party so it's definitely a win-win! Not only am I making money, I am helping other mothers out there too.

Right now, I have an outstanding offer to buy the item on Tuesday when she gets back in town from vacation while I have another mother who wants to rent it for their party this Saturday so I thought why not have her rent it before Tuesday's pick up? I will make $40 which more than offsets the price I bought this item for, and it cost me nothing having it at my daughter's party 2 weeks ago. I am one happy momma!

FREE OFFER:

We did a Frozen bingo game at our party that I'd be happy to share the e-file with you for printing. I also have the template that I used for the Frozen birthday invitations we sent out. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to send these to you totally free of charge.

Utah Air Show

I just found out earlier today when I went to pick up my government CAC ID card at Fort Douglas that the Utah Hill Air Force Base will be having their Open House Air Show this weekend, June 28-29th. The Utah AFB is only holding this event every other year due to budget cuts so don't miss it this year. It's Free admission and Free parking to the public. If you're like me who has 3 sons, this is definitely a show to watch. I know my boys will love it! And maybe even Ayana.

Some pointers if you have young kids like me: bring some ear plugs, light camping chairs because there are no chairs provided, lots of sunscreen, umbrella or have your kids wear hats as there is no shade to be found in the open field. And water, water, water unless you want to pay big bucks at the concession stands.

If you would like to come, email or message me if you'd like our families to go together. Hubby will be working that day so it'll just be me and the 4 kids (fun!).

Visit the official website to check out what you can and cannot bring inside the Utah Hill Air Force Base.

Huggies Pull-Ups Training Pants $3 coupon

I'm not a big coupon-er. I don't have the time to cut coupons nor I like the idea of carrying coupons every time I go to the store. But once in awhile when the discount is good, say 30% or more, I do like to use them or when I'm shopping online, I do search for coupon codes to use for discounts or free shipping. Here's one that I've been using at the store for awhile now that's worth sharing:

If you ever find yourself needing an online code or in-store coupon, feel free to email or text me (if you have my number of course) as I am really, really good at finding them and I don't mind helping a friend or someone.

Note: I was not compensated for this post in any way.

Top job sites and boards

Recently, I was given a project at work to research on different job websites or boards out there as my company will be hiring tech people for full time, contract and temp work soon. My list is not inclusive. My research is still ongoing but I thought it will be a great service to share this list to those who are currently looking for a job. 

Feel free to comment or suggest any other job sites that you have used successfully in the past. In turn, you'll be helping me too :)

This list is not in any order.

1. Tweetmyjobs.com - a free service that connects job seekers with job openings. TweetMyJobs is affiliated with the National Career Development Association as well as the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.
2. LinkUp.com – a job search engine that gives you the ability to search more than 20,000 company websites from a single location. A search under technology in a specific area code, for example, could be a good start for finding tech jobs in your area.
3. Indeed.com – a job search engine that enables users to find jobs posted on thousands of company career sites and job boards. Indeed has been recognized by Time magazine, PC Magazine and PC World for its capabilities.
4. SimplyHired.com – a job search engine that allows searches by title, category, company, location and so on. You can save your searches for future reference and set up e-mail alerts to notify you when new jobs are posted.
5. CareerBuilder.com - dedicated job site that allows you to search for job openings by location or job category (i.e. engineering, finance, information technology, etc.). Employers are able to search the site for candidates as well. So having a resume ready at a moment’s notice is important.
6. Monster.com - a premier provider of employment solutions. You can search for jobs as well as post your resume for employers to find. Monster has several online communities that offer support and information in targeted job categories such as InsideTech for the technology industry and ManagerLink for management and leadership development.
7. Dice.com - one of the larger job boards, and lists mostly technical positions. There is a focus here on all types of technical openings - regular, full time, part time and contract work are all listed here.
8. SmartBrief.com - an organization specializing in industry and function-focused electronic newsletters, also offers the opportunity to post jobs and look for jobs. Jobs are organized in industry job boards that are further parsed. If you have a very targeted search, for example a position specifically in telecommunications, SmartBrief has job boards in that particular industry, in this example, CTAM and CTIA.
9. LinkedIn.com - gives you the ability to search for jobs, and, if you're an employer, the opportunity to search for candidates. LinkedIn recently added a resume builder tool that allows you to import your profile into one of several template options and then customize it.
10. Jobs.Mashable.com - provides listings for the latest social media and web job opportunities. It’s easy to search, and it not only provides full-time positions but sometimes harder to find contract, temporary and internship opportunities. You can subscribe to job listings via RSS, as well.

Note: I was not compensated for this post in any way.

Finally my own blog print in this (tech) world!

I finally found a blog name that I like--I think it's clever and fun so I think I'm going to keep this one and start to consistently blog here. The name is also fitting for a full time working mom of 4 kids like me--I need everyone to constantly cut me some [s]lack. My family name happens to be Lack so how appropriate!

The next step to this blogging journey is to find the perfect blog site design. If I don't find one of those downloadable designs that I like, I may have to take a stab at creating my own. With my knowledge of html, I'm hoping it will be a piece of cake but wish me luck just the same if it comes down to it.

My purpose of creating this blog is to have a place where I can share anything worth sharing. I mean anything under the sun--thoughts, ideas, products, reviews, recipes, how-to's, coupons, giveaways among others. I would feel accomplished if I can be the eyes and ears out there of someone I know. If I happen to blog about something that you don't agree on, promise me you won't judge?

I welcome suggestions or comments to any of my blog post, even those that differ and disagree with mine. I won't judge either, I promise.