This year surprise mom with a gift she wants and a card she’ll love all on time!

Here are a few of my customers’ favorites:

Mom look t-shirt.

Mom's favorite sayings greeting card.

Make sure mom’s coffee is just how she likes it with this great coffee mug. And here’s a hint, grab a travel mug for those moms on the go.

Mom's coffee travel mug.

Or customize it with your mom’s name or nickname. These are also perfect for grandmother nicknames, like nana, or nanny, or granny.

Customized travel coffee mug.

Here are a few funny gifts with mom sayings on them. There is a whole series, but here are two of my favorite mom-isms.

M is for mom, not maid mousepad.

Mom's worldly advice magnet.

There will be more to come close to May, but for now enjoy.

Oh, and my husband and I have this discussion every year, I’d like your thoughts: Should a husband buy his wife (and mother of his children) a card and/or gift for Mothers’ Day?

Here are few articles you may also enjoy:

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• How you knew you were becoming your mother (timesunion.com)
• The World’s Most Meaningful Mother’s Day Gifts (prweb.com)
• Tropicana Juicy Rewards You In Time For Mother’s Day!* (theplussizemommy.com)

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In the last two years, I have taken several small steps to become more environmentally friendly. I will be honest, it started as a economic thing. Yes, I’m a bit shallow when it comes to saving money and I’m okay with that.

It started with a digital thermostat in the fall of 2007 I do believe (I suck at keeping track of time, so it could have been summer or winter or even early 2008). We found one at a local hardware store for a decent price. At that time, they were pretty pricey (usually $50+). This one was $20. We figured what the heck.

Hubby is quite the handy man and installed it quickly. After a week or two of playing with the scheduled times, we got it pretty much perfect for us and forgot all about it. Till our next propane bill came. Though we’d only had the thermostat installed for a few weeks of the bill, and for most of the time during the bill we were still adjusting the thermostat, we saw a decrease of $30. The next month we saw a decrease of over $50.

Tickled with the success of the thermostat, I decided to look around at what other green steps I could take to save money. Around that time (probably early 2008 by now), I got a coupon for a free pack of CFLs… compact fluorescent lightbulbs… so I figured, hey what the heck. They were free and if they are better for the environment and save me money, I’ll try them.

I replaced the three most used lights in the house and, once again, forgot all about them. Till the electric bill came out. We saved over $20. Hmm, then I started thinking, we replace lightbulbs a lot in my house. I mean we used to replace light bulbs at least once a month in the majority of the lights we use. And guess what I had replaced all of the other lights already at least once since I put in the new CFLs… hmm, could I save money on lightbulbs AND electric? Let’s see.

So I found some cheap ones (yes, I’m a tightwad and I’m okay with that) and replaced the next most frequently used lights. Sure enough, down came our electric bill some more and no more out of pocket expenses for light bulbs.

Since then I have replaced almost all of our lights with CFLs. The ones that aren’t the energy saving ones are hardly used (closet lights, for example) and haven’t needed to be replaced yet.

Oh and the only CFLs I’ve replaced are two that got broken by accident. None have blown out.

So by now I’m happy with my savings, but I’m also on a roll. What else can I save money on… I mean help save the environment… I decided to take a look at what our family uses. We use a lot of paper products. And I mean a lot. I can’t go eco-friendly on the toilet paper (other than buying eco-friendly versions of it), but what if we used less paper napkins and paper towels?

I started small and bought some clearance cloth napkins. At first the kids were like, “What are we trying to be fancy?”… now I have enough cloth napkins to go through almost an entire week of meals (all bought on clearance thank you) and I do not buy paper napkins unless we are planning on a large party. We used to go through two or three large packs of napkins a month. I’m saving probably $10 a month or more on napkins alone.

But what about paper towels? That’s not as easy… or is it? I started buying bar towels (dish towels that aren’t as fancy, but are better at absorption). They can be re-used until they wear out or get too badly stained. Then guess what? They turn into rags for my cleaning and my hubby’s mechanical work. We used paper towels twice as much as we used napkins, so I don’t want to think about the savings there!

But even with my shallow, tightwadness, I can see that I am doing a lot more than just helping my wallet. I’m helping my planet. So, whether you do it for your own selfishness or because you are trying to save your planet, take some steps to go green.

Here are a few t-shirts and buttons to help motivate you. Or if you are already eco-friendly, you can pass them along to help motivate some friends.

Reducing my carbon footprint reusable grocery tote.

This is an organic one, there is a non-organic one that is a bit cheaper. Either way, you are saving the planet by reusing bags rather than using plastic or paper bags. Plus some stores give you a discount for bringing your own bag.

Reducing my carbon footprint reusable mug.

In the same line, you can use your own mug when you go to get your coffee… or really save money and bring your actual coffee from home! (Egads, what a concept!)

This is one of my favorites. My hubby thought of the idea and he’s a genius. Really, he is. Grab a mouse pad or magnet so you can see this inspiration daily.

Green the way to go mousepad.

Okay, one more (though there are plenty more available at my store EFTees (that’s Earth Friendly Tees).

Earth day Kenyan proverb magnet.

If you have kids (or may want to have kids one day), grab one of these to remind you of why you are making these choices. It’s not for us, we’ll not live to see the benefit. But our children will. And our grandchildren will. If not for the planet, or your wallet, do it for them.

If you really, really want to be eco-conscious, visit my EFTees at Skreened instead. They are very eco-friendly, even their packaging. The selection isn’t as big, but that’s ’cause they are super picky about who their suppliers are.

Oh, and the steps I told you about earlier, those aren’t the only ones I’ve taken. They are just the first steps, which are usually the most difficult. If you can take those steps, you’ll start seeing the difference and start thinking with a new mindset.

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I have goals. And plans. And lists. (lots and lots of lists.)

Yes, I have OCD and I admitted that many, many years ago.

However, I took a long look back on 2009 over December. I thought about what I wanted to do and how I should tackle all of those things.

While I’m not anticipating I will take the world by storm, I do hope to venture into some areas I have yet to enter. I have lots of plans and lists to (hopefully) make them happen. I’m trying to work out a work schedule that will allow me to keep all my plates spinning. Last year I felt like a plate spinner who just kept getting thrown new plates and eventually all of them just crashed down around my feet.

This year, I’m going to start with more focus and not just determination.

So, I’m back to square one in one sense, but it’s also just the beginning!

No related posts.

It wasn’t easy, let me tell you.

However, once again, I succeeded (or at least I think I succeeded). Here are my choices for great gardening gifts for men.  Well, they could be for women too…

Dirty hoe gardening t-shirt.

Funny 'Play bud' magazine gardening magnet.

Witty garden t-shirt: Tomato snob.

Green thumb gardener t-shirt.

I still play in the dirt gardener t-shirt.

Finally, this one isn’t quite a masculine gardening gift, but it was too funny to pass up.

Very, very funny gardening coffee / tea mug.

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It’s time for a reality check for both our government and those failing businesses.

New plan: I pay my debt, you pay yours!

No Bailout! is our most popular (and one of my favorites) anti-bailout t-shirts and bumper stickers. It’s simple and straight-forward. We have to pay our own debts, why the heck can’t businesses pay theirs?

Government Bailouts

One of our newest anti-bailout t-shirts is Stop Government Bailouts. With a big red stop sign in the middle, there is no mistaking that you are against government bailouts.

It's in the bailouts.

This no bailout t-shirt design is also an anti-Obama t-shirt. If you are upset with President Obama and his bailouts, these t-shirts and bumper stickers are for you. This design comes with a blue background and white letters for stickers and magnets. For t-shirts, the letters are blue with no background coloring.

Check out our shops (links above) for more anti-bailout t-shirts and bumper stickers. If the government bailouts continue, so will our anti-bailout t-shirts.

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Because moms like guys that sparkle too.

First, we have a Twilight mom t-shirt. While Twilight may have started as a passion with teenage girls, several moms jumped on the train as well. Red, pink and white hearts make up this design. In the middle, written in red: Twilight Mom, because we like guys that sparkle too.

Awesome Twilight quotes

Next we have a Twilight quote t-shirt design, filled with quotes from the movie and the book series. The quotes, in black, red, pink and green, form a square surrounding the word Twilight in the middle.

Quotes from Twilight include:
Stupid shiny Volvo owner, I’m only afraid of losing you, When you can live forever, what do you live for, Stupid lamb, Sick, masochistic lion, You are exactly my brand of heroine, If I could dream, it would be about you, Look after my heart, I’ve left it with you, Do I dazzle you?, What if I’m the bad guy, Hold on tight, spidermonkey, I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist, and, of course, And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.

Twilight: the book, the movie, the obsession

Our final Twilight t-shirt design is one of our favorites. Twilight Obsession has a full moon surrounded with dusky clouds. Twilight, in blue, is written above the moon. Below the moon, also in blue, are the phrases: the book, the movie, the obsession.

For tons of other Twilight t-shirts and gifts (and more to come with the release of New Moon this fall!), check out Wit & Whimsy’s Twilight section.

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