The Latest Freebie Winner!

It’s time to meet my most recent winner of the First Friday Freebie. The delay is my fault – I dove into heavy editing and barely came up for air. I even took an informal vow to do nothing else till I hit “send” on this manuscript, even promising myself I wouldn’t take down Christmas décor until it happened.  Fruity Pebbles changed my mind for me when she began crawling and pulling up to things. Christmas had to go for the benefit of her safety and my sanity. She’s now as busy as I am.

Still, there’s a Freebie every month. Check out the First Friday Freebie rules below. You’ll find out how simple it is to enter to win.  This is a special monthly gift for my email subscribers only.

Let’s meet January’s winner –

Freebie Winner January 2025  https://midweststoryteller.com/

Christine from Boonville, Missouri.

Christine is shown here with “Weekly Schemes” organizational pad and pen set. She’s a natural organizer, so this will help keep her on track.

As an email subscriber, Christine enters often. She did have to comment as directed in the freebie post on the day it arrived in her inbox.  I require this tiny bit of effort each month in order to prevent spam and make sure you’re on your toes and paying attention. 

I send freebies anywhere in the continental U. S., so don’t think you’re too far away to enter.

If you’d like to see other past winners and their gifts check it out here on my Freebies! page.

You can see the original First Friday Freebie offer for the one Christine won here. 

If you’re reading this and haven’t become an email subscriber yet, please do that today.  Hopefully, my freebies, not to mention the stories, recipes and other great content, have enticed you to do that.   

NOTE:  Subscribe with an email you intend to keep and check the week after the drawings.  This is my only means of notifying winners.  If it isn’t up to date, you may not get your gift!

We live in a life filled with gadgets and you’ll find that this blog can have a different appearance depending on whether you are on your computer, tablet or smartphone.  You can easily navigate in the menu under “CONTACT”, fill in your email and hit “SUBSCRIBE”.  Confirm your subscription when the email arrives.  If you’ve don’t receive a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”. 

Subscribers get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.  You’ll also receive encouragement, healthy recipes, short stories, lots of laughs and updates on the books I write.

Again, comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win. 

Freebies enable me to reach more people.  I count on you to share them with your friends and family.  When you share on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, X, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free. 

On February 7th, you’ll see the new Freebie.  Enter to win that day.  A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight CST.  Then, check your email in the days following. 

Smartphone reminders help.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

Subscribers, be ready to enter to win on Friday, February 7th, 2025.

Here we are in February, the month of love!  What do you love doing in February? Do you avoid the push toward commercializing the idea of saying, “I Love You” or do you jump in with both feet and make homemade Valentines? Leave a comment and let me know.  Even though we should focus on showing love to others every month of the year, I think February serves as a nice reminder to pour it on extra thick! I’ll have mine with chocolate.

June Has Arrived and So Has Its Freebie!

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)

June 2019 Freebie www.midweststoryteller.com

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!