We welcomed August with a pineapple, a symbol of welcome, or perhaps not, as we discussed in the original post. Let’s see who won the drawing for the First Friday Freebie and welcomed it into their home –
Eva
from New Franklin, Missouri!
This shabby little bit of metal décor from Hobby Lobby will liven up Eva’s walls, that is, if her daughter doesn’t latch onto it for her own room. I’m told she’s enjoying a pineapple craze at the moment. Do teenagers do that?
Congratulations and enjoy, Eva – whichever one of you ends up with it!
Eva has entered to win multiple times as one of my faithful subscribers. She commented as instructed when she received her email on the first Friday of the month. That’s all it took to enter her name into the drawing.
Freebies are my way of reaching out to more folks who might enjoy the various stories, recipes and more here at Midwest Storyteller. Seriously now, would you want one of your friends to miss an episode of my Life with Smuffy? Why not share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest so they’ll be able to subscribe? Subscribing is every bit as free as the freebie!
Freebies happen every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and the free gifts they’ve won.
The August drawing is coming on up Friday, September
6th.
A
winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on
the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post.
An
important thing to remember is that should your name be drawn as the winner,
you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email
often in the days following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the
prize from being offered to someone else.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on September 6th,
2019.
Leave
a comment! On a desktop computer, scroll
back up under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
I’ve heard for
years that the pineapple is a symbol, especially in Hawaiian culture, used to
give one’s guests a hearty “Welcome!” A
pineapple in your entry hall or used in your tablescape can indicate more than
just a liking for tropical décor.
Recently, however, a friend told me of another custom. It seems that when you’ve had house guests and enjoyed their company for just about as long as you can stand it, you leave a pineapple in their room. It’s meant to imply, more or less, “Here’s a lovely parting gift, because it’s time for you to go!”
The latter is a fabulous idea as a mannerly way to avoid conflict or hurt feelings. Of course, it does little good and merely provides a nutritious snack if your house guests haven’t heard of the custom. I promise that this month’s First Friday Freebie is meant to welcome you to Midwest Storyteller and to invite you to stay as long as you like!
This pineapple from Hobby Lobby, at 10 inches tall and 5 inches wide, will be a great addition various styles of décor, including farmhouse styles, due to its neutral color and weathered appearance. A shabby bit of metal art that sits close to the wall or nestles into the back of a bookshelf, it’s a great way to welcome guests to your home. It’s shown in the photo above hanging on my fence, so it could also welcome guests to your back yard.
I suppose you
could let it make a sudden appearance on the nightstand should you have some
guests who linger a bit long, but I’ll leave that up to you.
To enter to win
the metal pineapple décor, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on
this post, saying, “I welcome First Friday Freebies!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, August 2nd, 2019!
Important: Once you’ve entered,
you MUST keep checking the email address you used to subscribe or you may not
know you’ve won and have to forfeit your free gift.
All my Freebies
occur on the First Friday of each month and last for one day only, so share
with all your friends and family TODAY through social media, send them the link
in an email or just plain tell them, “Hey!
It’s Freebie Day!”
Good intentions
will not help you enter to win before midnight tonight so you had better navigate
to the comment section now before you forget!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Use the Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest icons on this page to help you share with
friends.
See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “I welcome First Friday Freebies!”
I send Freebies to any winner who lives within the continental United States. For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Enjoy this last full month of summer and prepare yourself! I have a couple of things I’d like to tell you about my Life With Smuffy.
My last First Friday Freebie was a small thing reminding us to enjoy the small things. Let’s meet July’s winner –
Elise
from Sterling, Illinois!
This 6”X6” bit of wood and metal décor with metal lettering will perch on Elise’s shelf or hang on the wall.
I know you’ll find
the perfect spot for it, Elise. I’m so
glad you entered to win!
Congratulations!
All Elise had to do was to become one of my faithful subscribers (which she was already) and comment as directed when she received her email on the first Friday of the month. Then, POOF, just like that, her name entered into the drawing for the Freebie.
It’s
that simple, folks! Why not share
Midwest Storyteller with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Pinterest so they’ll be able to subscribe and do the same? Subscribing is every bit as free as the
freebie!
Freebies happen every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and the free gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller. To see July’s original Freebie offer, click here.
The August drawing is coming on up Friday,
August 2nd.
A
winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on
the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post.
An important thing to remember is that should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll be needing to check your email often in the days following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on August 2nd,
2019.
Enjoying
the Freebies? Leave a comment! If you’re on your computer, scroll back up
under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
Smuffy’s latest adventure, “A Studebaker in the Hand is Not Worth Two in the Bush” got a lot of attention! I’m glad so many of you enjoyed it. The incident reminds me of the time we went to pick up some new living room furniture… Stay tuned, for Smuffy, quite literally, is “on a roll”!
We’ve been in celebration mode around here and midnight approaches as I type this post. Independence Day is big stuff in our family. Not only is it the birthday of the Good Ole’ USA – it’s Smuffy’s birthday as well. I’m afraid the announcement of July’s First Friday Freebie has only existed in the recesses of my mind due to all the other things at the top of my list.
Now that the fireworks ash has settled, let’s take a look at July’s Freebie –
Everyone loves a little word art these days and this bit of wood and metal is just the thing to remind us that the smallest things in life that bring us the most joy. When we lose the ability to appreciate a baby’s cooing, a flaming sunset, the purring of a kitten or the idea of winning a gift we can keep for ourselves or give away to bless someone else, we likely have become obsessed with things that don’t really matter in the long run.
This 6”X6” wooden reverse box-top is deep enough to sit on a shelf without toppling if you choose not to hang it on the wall and the raised metal lettering is eye-catching and stylish for anyone’s décor. I left the corner protectors on for this photo, but you get the idea.
All my Freebies
occur on the First Friday of each month and last for one day only, so share
with all your friends and family TODAY through social media, that dinosaur of a
thing called email or that rarely used technique of communicating called
conversation.
Good intentions
will not help you enter to win before midnight tonight so you had better
navigate to the comment section now and do that before you forget!
To enter to win
the wood and metal reverse box-top décor, all you need to do is “Leave a
Comment” on this post, saying, “I enjoy the little freebies!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, June 5th, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are great ways to share First Friday Freebies
with your friends. They won’t know if
you don’t tell them!
Subscribers win every single month! See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “I enjoy the little freebies!”
I send First Friday Freebies out to any winner who lives within the continental United States. For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Freebies last one
day only! Enter now so you don’t forget!
I’m always excited to see who wins my monthly giveaway. Let’s meet June’s winner of the First Friday Freebie –
Francine
from Boonville, Missouri!
Congratulations, Francine!
I know you’ll find plenty of things to do with these fancy, tasseled, copper paper clips and all six rolls of that nifty color-coordinated washi tape.
The fun
paper clips are from Paige
Evans’ line
called Pink
Paislee. They are just the type of thing I love to
use as a bookmark for favorite spots in a recipe book, planner or anything else
I want to make a quick grab for.
The washi tape by Pebbles at pebblesinc.com and all the colors and patterns go great with the tassled paper clips. If you’re new to the washi tape scene, you can find out more about it in the original Freebie post here.
You
can enter to win every month on the first Friday. Share Midwest Storyteller with all your
friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest (or be old fashioned about
it and just tell them)! Subscribers
receive an email on the first Friday each month reminding them to leave a
comment that will enter their name in the drawing.
Check out my Freebies pageto see the winners and the gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller.
Don’t dawdle! The next drawing happens on Friday, July 5th. With the holiday, you’re bound to forget, so subscribe now and you’ll receive an email reminder.
Only
SUBSCRIBERS can win!
A
winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before
midnight on the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in
the post. See the recently revised rules
below.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on July 5th.
Enjoying
the Freebies? Leave a comment! If you’re on your computer, scroll back up
under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
June is when those
of us in the Midwest can truly feel that summer has arrived. Even though the official first day is a few
weeks away, the First Friday Freebie is here today, right on schedule!
I hope you’ve been
spreading the word about my monthly freebies by sharing with all your friends
and family through social media, that dinosaur of a thing called email and that
nearly out of style thing known as actually speaking to people.
Some of you have
good intentions, but forget to enter to win before midnight on the first Friday
of the month and you know what that means – you increase the odds that the
freebie may go to my sister, Donna, the subscriber who never forgets!
Let’s take a look at June’s free gift (and remember, I’ll send it anywhere in the continental United States)
Don’t you just
love to fancy things up for no reason at all?
Recently, as I gathered with several friends, I mentioned having used
washi tape. Several eyebrows went up and
I discovered that I sat in the midst of a bunch of people who, for the most
part, had never heard of the stuff.
Well, what can I say? Washi tape
just makes your day a little happier!
What really sends it over the top is a set of copper-colored paper clips
with (yes!) tassles and what really
lifts the soul is that the whole thing is color-coordinated in bright summer
shades!
Can I help it if I’ve
always been tickled pink over the small things?
These fun paper clips are from Paige Evans’ line called Pink Paislee. They are just the type of thing I love to use as a bookmark for favorite spots in a recipe book, planner or anything else I want to make a quick grab for.
Now about washi tape – like sour cream, you can’t really fall in love with it until you try it, because why would you try a thing with a name like that? This pack of washi tape by Pebbles at pebblesinc.com has six rolls of coordinating narrow tape! Washi tape is unusual in that it sticks well, but comes off when you want it to. Totally unlike the adhesive on the typical sticky note, it seems more permanent to the touch. Yet, with gentle persuasion, it will even lift right off most surfaces, even paper, allowing you to rearrange things easily. It’s a great way to highlight a special day or week in your planner. I recently used the ½” size to tape a long list to a cabinet door, framing the list with the cute pattern around all four sides. Then, when I got ready to take the list down, I simply lifted off the whole thing without leaving any icky residue and walked straight over and taped it neatly onto another surface as it still had plenty of adhesive left. That makes it great for those things on the refrigerator that tend to wave in the breeze and look messy.
Washi tape comes
in all patterns and sizes and is great for taping tags onto gift bags or just
jazzing up something for the kids. It gets
heavy use on school lockers as a great way to express oneself without leaving
gooey stuff behind.
Washi tape is just
plain fun. Washi tape with coordinating
tassled paper clips is more fun!
Both these items are a Tuesday Morning find, a store that draws me through its doors like a moth to a flame with it’s varied selections of home goods, personal care items, décor, outdoor living, pets supplies, arts, crafts and more.
You can’t spend
all your days outdoors in the summer sun, so why not have a little fun during
your indoor time?
To enter to win
the whimsical paper lips and washi tape set, all you need to do is “Leave
a Comment” on this post, saying, “Color my summer fun!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, June 7th, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Share this post with your friends through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. They won’t know if you don’t tell them!
Subscribers win every single month! See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page. This will include, of course, at least three photos of my sister, Donna. (This contest is not rigged.)
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “Color my summer fun!”
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Freebies last one day only! Enter now so you don’t forget! If that happens, you’re giving Donna even greater odds of becoming like Jeopardy James!
We’ll never be able to say that it doesn’t pay to try, try and try again. Let’s meet (again) the latest winner of my First Friday Freebie –
Donna
from Bunceton, Missouri!
I
would like to start out by saying (“scout’s honor” if I had been any sort of
scout, but I wasn’t, so you’ll have to take me at my word) that this monthly
drawing is not rigged. Perhaps you’ve
noticed that Donna has now won the First Friday Freebie three times. Perhaps you
didn’t notice, and in that case, I’m sorry I brought the whole thing up.
The
other thing that maybe some of you know and many of you don’t is that Donna is
also my sister! There is nothing in the
rules that says that my relatives can’t enter to win, but this is getting
ridiculous! No matter how I adjust my
poker face, or display the backs of the little slips of paper with entries
written on them, Smuffy’s hand just randomly snatches Donna’s name out every so
often as though by some magnetic force.
Anyway,
congratulations, Donna!
I hope you enjoy your set of handcrafted, up-cycled, sparkly gift bags and I hope they bring joy to whomever you bless when you give them away with gifts inside.
The gift bags were an art project of mine. If you’d like to see how I take store merchandizing bags and turn them into beautiful gift bags, click here. To see the original freebie offer, click here.
To all my readers, I’d like you to climb on board the “Stop Donna Express”! I can only think of one way to stop my sister from becoming like one of those Jeopardy contestants who just can’t seem to go home and that is if YOU lower her odds by entering to win and share Midwest Storyteller with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest (or be old fashioned about it and tell them to subscribe so they’ll be able do the same. Subscribers receive an email on the first Friday each month reminding them to leave a comment that will enter their name in the drawing.
A freebie offer appears the first Friday of every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and their free gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller.
June’s drawing is right around the corner – June 7th, to be exact. Donna is bound to enter, but the question is, will you?
Here we are again
at the first Friday of the month. I hope
you’ve told all your friends about First Friday Freebies so they can enter to
win today’s drawing.
Sometimes, when I’m on a creative binge, I like to give away my latest creations. Remember the sparkly, repurposed gift bags I crafted out of shopping bags?
Today I’m giving
away this set of three gift bags with coordinating tissues. The winner will receive “Congrats”, “Best
Wishes” and “Happy Birthday” bags with die-cut designs and jeweled
embellishments.
I hope you enjoy my handiwork and are encouraged to try some similar rescue/recycle projects of your own. If you have any creative ideas for the “accumulated treasures” we all seem to have around the house, I’d love it if you’d share your ideas in the comments and please feel free to send any photos of your creations you’d like to share with me to barb@midweststoryteller.com
If you’d like to see how I made the bags and get ideas on how you can do similar projects on your own or with the kids (and whether or not you have a die cutting machine), check out my post here.
To enter to win the
gift bag set, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post,
saying, “Draw my name from the bag!”
You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, May 3rd, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Your friends will
want to enter to win, too. Share this
post with them through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. They won’t know if you don’t tell them!
Subscribers win every single month! See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “Draw my name from the bag!”
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Freebies only last
a day! Enter now so you don’t forget!
I’m excited to meet the latest winner of my First Friday Freebie and to introduce you to –
Margie
from Farmington, West Virginia!
I’ve seen Margie’s name pop up in the entries before and this time her persistence paid off when she won the floral metal art wall hook from Hobby Lobby.
Congratulations,
Margie! I hope it finds a great place in
your home to add a little cheer.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here.
A freebie offer appears the first Friday of every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and their free gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller.
Subscribe now and you’ll be notified via email of May’s drawing. You never know what I might be giving away.
The
next First Friday Freebie drawing will be on Friday, May 3, 2019 and only
SUBSCRIBERS can win!
A
winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before
midnight on the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in
the post. See the recently revised rules
below.
Be sure to take a moment make yourself familiar with the Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on May 3rd.
“Share”,
“like” and “pin” this post! You’re friends will want to know about First
Friday Freebies, too!
Enjoying
the Freebies? Leave a comment! If you’re on your computer, scroll back up
under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
I
think I feel a Smuffy story coming on!
One of those might be wonderful with some Gluten-free Sourdough
Pancakes. Now, which one to do first…
April showers, as the old saying goes, bring May flowers, and I’m offering you an early bouquet with this flowery First Friday Freebie!
This metal art wall hook from Hobby Lobby is just the thing to set the tone for warmer weather in your home. Subtle shades of pinks and yellows, along with green leaves give this rustic hook a bit of “happy”. It’ll be the perfect place to hang a fun tote bag, basket, scarf, or serve as a catcher for that jacket you can’t wait to stop wearing. It measures 12 inches tall and 8 ½ inches wide.
I do love a great Hobby Lobby find and this one is cute, cute, cute!
To enter to win the
flowery wall hook, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this
post, saying, “Bring on the spring thing!”
You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, April 5th,
2019!
First Friday Freebies happen every month for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so already.
Share this post
with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest
so they can enter to win, too!
Subscribers win every single month! My “Freebies”page has past freebies. Take a look at all the free gifts and the wonderful people who’ve been winning them.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “Bring on the spring thing!”
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Subscribing is
simple and FREE, but don’t forget to go immediately to your email to confirm
your subscription or it will not go through.
If you do not receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email
me and let me know at barb@midweststoryteller.com
The clock is
ticking! Enter now so you don’t forget
to do that before midnight tonight!
I hope we all get to enjoy many more glorious spring days! Phoebe June and I spent some time outside working and playing before this last round of rain. Would you care to guess which one of us worked and which one of us played? She’s enjoying spring as much as I am, except for being irritated at her humans for not spending entire days outside with her. She lets us know, loud and clear, what she thinks of our disobedience. Sometimes it’s just a mere glance, but even that is enough to convey the message in her eyes as, “You nitwit!” She shares her opinions on my Phoebe June page.
Thoughts? Questions? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment.
