That aside, we also checked her out online, and didn’t find one single negative report. Still growing after 13 years, she’s done so well, she now operates out of a separate building (still on her property). Including a coloring page and stickers with an adorable personal letter, Shannon also offers some really cute gift ideas to go along with the letter.

Some of the reviews:

The Internet Patrol reviewed a half dozen or more and cited SantaLetters4Kids their favorite.

The Classy Mommy classified them as a “Hot Find”

The Women’s Forum and The Mommy’s Playbook Forum both included SantaLetters4Kids in a (short) list of favorite Santa letter site (and mentioning how much their children loved them!)

Prices start at $8, and you can save 20% until Dec 4th on orders over $10 with the coupon code: 20PERCENT.

http://santaletters4kids.com/ *

PS-Just saw two other offerings that I thought were really cute, craft kits and personalized ornaments that look like sugar cookies. The crafts start at $3.50 each and she offers an assortment of 6 different crafts for $6.50

Craft kit $4.50

Craft kit $7.50

Ornament, $7.50

Craft kit $3.75

Are YOU a mom with a home business? Email us with some brief details on your business and any coupons or savings you’d like to share with our readers and we’ll blog it for you. We support WAHM’s!

*NOT a paid endorsement or affiliate link.

I love dried cranberries. I’ve worked very hard over the last 18 months to lose weight (total of 49 pounds so far!) and these are one of my not-so-guilty pleasures. They are a little concentrated in the calorie area, but I measure EVERYTHING! After reading that one of few organic foods that are most important critical are dried fruits due to the concentration of pesticides in the drying process, I was really glad to find these cranberries for not too much more (sometimes less!) than the non-organic ones.  Actually, I’ve found that every one of Newman’s Own (they are not paying me for this) products have been good-to-excellent.

What really got me started on dried cranberries and my search for the best deal on the best cranberry is when I started putting a few dried cranberries on my grilled chicken salads along with some toasted almonds and Newman’s Own Raspberry Walnut Dressing. (another favorite!) I discovered that there was a big difference in different brands of dried cranberries, and the difference in Newman’s Own is significant. They have much more flavor and are moist and much more plump than the others I have tried.

I can’t say I’ve tried too many brands of dried cranberries, mainly because most places don’t have that many to choose from, but Newman’s are definitely the best dried cranberries I’ve ever tasted.I know that’s just one opinion, but I’m sure you would agree. If Newman’s ever sent out samples like Kashi did, they would convert many.

Here’s just a few ideas of ways to use them: (besides on salads and straight out of the bag!)

-We put 2-3 T of cranberries in our green beans the last minute or two of cooking, and you’ll never go back to plain green beans.

-Makes a nice touch for Thanksgiving, too.  Add them to your stuffing – or sprinkle them on anything for a pretty red garnish.

-Use them in cookies, quick bread, not-so-quick breads, or anywhere you would use raisins.

-Put a few in your yogurt the night before, and the next morning you have a little extra treat to look forward to!

-Add to your own homemade granola or any bought cereal

-Add them instead of raisins to your homemade Cinnamon-Raisin bread and it can be a gift that won’t soon be forgotten. Throw in a few walnuts and your cranberry-walnut bread will make you famous.

OK, we’ve established that these are the tastiest dried cranberries, organic makes them more healthy, but does their price make them taboo? Not at all! I have searched online, checked the main grocery stores and once again, we’ve found the best deal with the Amazon Subscribe & Save program – which IMO I think is a great deal. However, I probably use more because I have a back stock of them in the pantry….but they’re good for you, so I really enjoy having them on hand.

Best Price Found:

We buy Newman’s Organics Cranberries, Zip Bag, 4-Ounce Bags (Pack of 6)
at Amazon through the Subscribe & Save deal which takes an additional 15%off, making them $2.25/bag delivered-which would be equiv to $2.06/bag if you pay tax in Tennessee like we do. If you aren’t familiar with the Subscribe & Save deal at Amazon, we’ve outlined the main ‘just the facts about Amazon’ AND what to watch out for- in a post and a few things you might want to know ahead of time about the Subscribe & Save ordering to make it clear for you. The first time I used it I admit it was a little confusing, because the item you order gets processed by itself. I ended up with two shipments (my fault) of the same item because I wasn’t sure if it would be covered by the free shipping conditions-and didn’t realize it had checked out separately. If you’re new to the Subscribe & Save, BE SURE to read our Amazon Primer. It’s worth the little extra time to get familiar with the process, you will save money on more than just this one item. FYI- last time we were at Whole Foods, these cranberries were $4.09/bag. Plus tax.

Reviews of Newman’s Own Organic Dried Cranberries by others:

Organic Green & Natural- received an unsolicited box of Newman’s goodies and offered up an honest review of their cranberries and several other Newman’s products…(hello? Newman’s? Are you there? I’ll review anything you want to send me!)  This is a great site you’ll want to bookmark, too.

Lots of people write about adding them to their salads and such, but didn’t find any other reviews aside from Amazon’s. If you have a review on your site, or would like to submit one, leave your website address in a comment. Thanks! If you know of a brand you like better, or know where there is a better price, please tell!

Well, as you can imagine, like potato chips, I couldn’t just look at just ONE link! I found several new sites that I either want to network with or buy something from. Here are some of my favorite finds (so far):

Diaper Daisy- I haven’t priced around yet, but I love these diapers. OK, I know I don’t have any babies, but I have twin grandsons that are still in diapers and know how much disposible diapers cost. In addition, with the move towards going green, disposables are becoming an endangered species. My daughter is as efficient as she is frugal, and in the tug of war between frugal and efficient, disposables have won hands down. However, with prices only going up, finding a diaper that is as convenient as it’s disposable counterpart, this could be a good alternative. The best part of Diaper Daisy is their offering of a trial package that lets you sample several different types for a $9.95 rental fee, along with great pricing if you keep the package. I love that idea! Check out all the details here..

Flourish Enrichment is another site that shows a lot of promise. Most homeschooling families have trouble incorporating two main elements into their curriculum: Art and Science (experiments). When you are buying for a large group, the cost of all the supplies isn’t an issue, but for one or two students it’s a different story. Flourish offers really unique art projects with everything you need for around $5. Finally!

Peanut Butter and Pickles Reviews is a must go-to if you are a mompreneur. Offering reviews for the cost of a sample product, this is a great site. If you’re NOT a mompreneur, it’s still a great site to go to for winning samples of products simply for giving  your opinion. This site is growing fast, but it’s still at that stage that you have a REALLY good chance of winning some cool stuff.

Foundation Studio caught my eye with a great blog design that I LOVE! I know, am I going to change my blog design AGAIN? Some women like shoes, some like clothes, some like furniture…well, I like blog design shopping! I really like that Foundation Studio… 1) is run my a mom just like us (ok, maybe she’s a little more creative…) and 2) she lists her prices. Think about it, as an online entrepreneur we don’t have to spend as much on our personal appearance (in theory) as someone working an outside job, but our blog appearance is our calling card…so we should look good, don’t you think?

There’s more, but that’s all for today. Check it out for yourself at:  The Mom Mogul, Friday Link Love

You can’t lose taking some time posting your link and finding some new ‘link-love’ in your life!

See the updated version at: http://mommaschoice.com/2009/08/29/update-on-best-printerink-deals/

I’m back, finally. Still trying to get my bearings after the whirlwind of the wedding of our oldest son. It’s the second of our children to marry, Rachael being the first to marry in 2000, and it was definitely different to watch a son get married than a daughter….at least for me! It was all so very wonderful, and it’s always easier when they aren’t moving far away and will still be living close by.

Anyway! I wanted to share a terrific deal on a printer that our family is about to buy for the third time because we all love this printer so much. Initially, I did the research for a good photo printer for my future (at the time) daughter-in-law, and found this HP D7460 Photosmart Printer and she absolutely loved it. I needed a color printer too, since my Canon finally wore out after 6 years (!). I was positive I would purchase another Canon after the great experience I’ve had with them, but this HP was stacking up as the better deal.

When I look for a printer, or anything else for that matter, I research things to death. I guess it’s just my nature. One of the most important factors in choosing a printer, however, is the cost of the ink that it requires. Once we bought a Lexmark for $40 thinking we had a great buy, only to discover that the ink cartridges cost more than the printer itself…every other month! Learning fast, now I look for a printer in reverse-finding the cheapest cartridges and then matching it with the printer.

Cnet is a great source of reviews, as is Amazon, so reading reviews is my favorite source of product knowledge. Consumer Reports and Consumer Search all had good things to say about this printer, so when I found an incredible deal on the ink for it (averaged $4/cartridge)……… I was sold.

Office Max initially had the best price on the HP D7460, but they discontinued it online. They did mention you might be able to find it in store for the $99 price, but I like things delivered (we live in a somewhat remote area). Amazon still has the best price online, even though it’s gone up from $115 to $129 since I purchased mine.

Now, my daughter is going to buy one, too. She does a lot of pictures and since she doesn’t have a computer (on purpose) she likes the fact she can put her digital camera’s card into the printer and print pictures directly from the touch screen. The pictures are amazing quality, and with the price of this ink, she’ll save over her usual cost of having them printed at Walmart.

We even printed 200 COLOR program for the wedding, AND printed several pictures, and a myriad of other items in the last month or more, and we have seen no indication of any of the ink cartridges running low. I really LOVE this printer!

I’ll tell you, I do get a small (very small) commission from my affiliate links on these, but I have to support my blogging hobby somehow! Let me know if you have another photo printer in this price range that you like better, share the deals!

I’ll post the ink deal in the next post….it’s getting late. Good night!