Referral Program Results

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd give you an update on how the referral program went.

I asked fans to refer 10 or more of their friends to Bisou Bisou Beads and have their friend comment saying who sent them. I posed the link in several different places around Facebook and within 48 hours, I had almost 300 NEW FANS! Of course, a few of them unliked me later because the number did go down :( but about 5 of my new fans made purchases so that evens it all out! There were 15 referral program participants and 12 of them won a pendant of their choice. One AMAZING fan referred over 30 friends. :D

It was a great success and I'm so thrilled to have so many new fans at Bisou Bisou Beads! Right now, I have 583 fabulous fans and I'm planning on hosting a HUGE giveaway when I reach 1000. I haven't worked out all of the details yet but there will be another referral program with more prizes soon!

Facebook Referral Program

Want to win a Scrabble pendant? All you need to do is visit my Facebook fan page, "like" it if you aren't already a fan, and refer 10 new fans to the page. To refer a fan, share the link with them and ask them to "like" the page; after they like it, have them comment saying that you referred them. Once there are 10 comments with your name, you win a pendant!

I've already had 5 lucky winners from referring friends and you could be next! Good luck and get sharing!! (The direct link to my fan page is www.facebook.com/bisoubisoubeads)

New Auburn and Alabama Football Jewelry Designs

Hey y'all! I just wanted to share with you that I have lots of new Auburn and Alabama football inspired Scrabble and bottle cap pendants! I can make other football teams, too.

Visit and "like" my Facebook page to see all of the new photos!

Summer Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe

I've gotten really tired of my typical brown bag lunch, a ham and cheese sandwich, so today I decided to try something different. After much thinking, I decided we had all the fixings for chicken salad. My recipe is not traditional by any means, and it just eyeballed most of the amounts but I think I can give you the gist of it!

-cooked chicken, shredded (I used some Tyson precooked chicken in a bag)

-5 cherries, cut into 8ths (some recipes call for grapes, I had cherries)

-light mayo (enough to stick it together, cause I hate mayo)

-mustard (just a dime size amount)

-thyme (a little sprinkled on top)

-almond pieces (the recipes online call for walnuts but almonds are my favorite)

Mix it all up in a bowl and spread on some whole wheat bread. I topped mine with baby spinach leaves and sliced tomato with a little salt. Pretty healthy, uses lots of fresh summer ingredients, and tasty!

Mark Makeup ♥

Hey ladies! I just thought I'd share with y'all that in addition to making jewelry, I'm also a Mark Makeup representative! Mark is a line of makeup and fashion for teens and 20-somethings (or anyone really!) made by Avon. There're new products added every month and they are at great prices! If you'd be interested in learning more about Mark, like out my Facebook fan page for the latest updates and sales. You can also see all of the products for sale at my eBoutique!

Finally made the coupon binder!

I posted a week or so ago about making a coupon binder. I tried to do it but I'm sooo organized that I was having trouble getting it exactly right so I gave up on it for a while. Today I tried it again and this time, I found a YouTube video where a lady showed how she made her coupon binder and what she included in it. I got some great ideas and modified them for my own.

I included a "good prices" list found at Pinching Your Pennies (click on PYP Price List to download the list), sections for the main stores I go to, and a section with categories of manufacturer coupons. Within each of the store sections, I included a copy of the coupon policy for each store, a sheet protector for this week's ad, a paper clip to hold together the coupons I know I'll be using there, and a few baseball card holders for coupons that are from that store but I might not use on this shopping trip. Within the manufacturer coupon section, I found a list of categories and made 21 dividers with several (2-4) baseball card holders for each division. I also included categories for restaurants and retail stores in the back.

If you're interested in making your own coupon binder, it's pretty easy. Here's what you'll need:

• Large binder (mine is 2" but that might be too small)
• Page dividers (I used 21, the ones with pockets on them are good)
• Sheet protectors (for large coupons, coupon policies, store ads, coupon inserts, etc)
• Baseball card holders (mine came from Target; I got 60 and used about 55 of them)
• List of coupon categories (can be found online, modify for what you buy)
• Other considerations: good sales price list, coupon policy for the stores you shop at (in case a cashier needs clarification on something lol), coupon inserts from the newspaper, folder, pen, paper clips (to hold the coupons you plan on using on this shopping trip), scissors, extra sheet protectors and baseball card holders

Happy couponing!

Chocolate Chip Crunchies

I made these great cookies tonight and wanted to share the recipe with you. It's from Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, which is a good book so far! The original recipe was HUGE so I halved it to make it more manageable. Here's the altered version. Just double the ingredients if you want more.

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies 1/2 cup butter (1 stick melted) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1 beaten egg (beat with fork) 1 1/4 cups flour (not sifted) 1 cups crushed corn flakes 1 cups chocolate chips Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add soda, salt, vanilla and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add flour and stir it in. Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly. Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern (the same method as peanut butter cookies). Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack until they're completely cool. (The rack is important -- it makes them crisp).

Notes: My oven cooks hot so I did it at 350 for 10 minutes, checking after 8. Also, 1 cup of chocolate chips is A LOT, so you might want to use 3/4 of a cup instead. I also used parchment paper on the cookie sheet rather than greasing it and I just pressed them with my fingers rather than using a fork. Mine made exactly 36 cookies.

Couponing!

Lately I've been on this couponing kick. That TLC show "Extreme Couponing" has gotten to me! A couple weeks ago, we saved over $50 between Target and Publix. Not too shabby for a first attempt. :)

Tonight, we saved $7 at the book store (could have been $17 had I gone yesterday and used the coupon that is now expired :( ) and we also saved $17 at Publix between coupons and sales. :)

So... I decided to make a coupon binder! I have one of those little 4x6 expandable organizers but I've got so many types of coupons, they won't all fit anymore. Tomorrow, I'm going to get some baseball card holders and dividers and make a proper notebook. I printed out a list of 40 categories to include and I'm going to get to sorting!

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Stuff to know about couponing:

• Some stores double coupons up to $1 total (the coupon can be up to $.50 and still double)
• Some stores let you use store and manufacturer coupons (this is called stacking)
• Match coupons with sales to get the best prices
• Items usually go on sale every 3-4 months, so stock up when you have a coupon and a sale
• Buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper to get duplicate coupons
• Print coupons online; most sites let you print two
• Only use coupons on products you'd normally buy- buying something just because you have a coupon for it is NOT saving money!
• Go online to read your store's coupon policy

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Couponing resources:

• The Krazy Coupon Lady My go-to site for finding coupons
• Couponing Guide for Beginners
• How to Start a Coupon Binder
• Krazy Coupon Lady Facebook Updates on the best deals daily

Comment Settings Changed

A while back, I was getting lots of spammy comments that had links to inappropriate websites in them so I limited comments to blog followers only. I decided to change it back where anyone can comment but I have to verify that the comment is appropriate first. That said, please be respectful and don't post spammy, inappropriate things. :)

Back to Blogging and a Trip to Earth Fare

Back to Blogging!

Hello again, everyone! It's been months since I updated this blog, so if you're still following me, you're awesome! :)

I have a really tough time coming up with something jewelry related to post daily so I've decided to change it up a bit. I am still going to post some jewelry updates but I'm going to post other things too- whatever I feel like posting! I've been cooking lots of new things lately so I'll probably post come recipes. I also really loving finding great deals and using coupons so I'm sure I'll share the deals that I find with you, too!

One of the things that inspired me to get back to the blog was my friend Kathleen who just made her own blog. One of her first posts was about her recent shopping trip to the local Earth Fare healthy grocery store and she told me about this great coupon deal they're offering right now. With any $10 purchase, you can get a whole chicken, baby carrots, and mashed potatoes for free! All you have to do is sign up on the Welcome Home page and print out the coupon.

So... dinner tonight will be our freebies plus some sliced tomatoes and Australian white cheddar cheese I found. I can't wait to try that cheese! :) I'm going to try my hand at cooking a whole chicken tonight using Kathleen's recipe of lemons and rosemary. I'm also going to make some garlic thyme carrots. Wish me luck!