When Sweepstakes Go Wrong

Every once in a while, there will be a sweepstakes that is executed unethically or unfairly.  For example, recently Styleforfree.com had a contest sponsored by Kara Janx where you could win a $50 gift certificate.  The winners were quite upset that they received a photocopied piece of paper with what was basically a 50% off coupon.  A winner wrote about how tacky and unprofessional Kara Janx handled the giveaway.  You can read about on her blog.

The Contest Queen wrote about the huge fiasco that was the Nissan Hypercube contest.  They were to give away 50 cars to winners who designed the best webpages.  However, most of "winners" ended up being friends and family of the judges.

I have my own experience participating in a shady contest...   Continue reading here.

Win a $500 Wal-Mart GC

Several mom-blogs are giving away $500 gift certificates to Wal-Mart.

They are showing off Wal-Mart's new bedroom collection for kids and teens called Your Zone.  I don't have any kids myself, but my favorite item is the rolling desk.

To win, all you need to do is comment on their blogs.  Each blog has multiple ways to enter, so multiply that by 7 and that's a lot of chances to win! 

Three Different Directions expires Sept. 8.

As They Grow Up expires Sept. 9.

On the Go Mommy expires Sept. 9.


A Happy Hippy Mom expires September 10.

Crafty Mama of 4 expires September 10.


Organize with Sandy expires Sept. 10.

Mom Knows It All expires Sept. 10.

I hope I haven't missed any.  These are just the ones I found out about on Twitter.  If I am missing any, please let me know!

I Heart Cosmetics giveaway ending today

 Sarah over at I Heart Cosmetics blog is giving away a bunch of makeup:

1. 1 Mac Cosmetics eyeshadow pot or pan whatever you want - your choice on colour as long as it is a current in stock one!
2. 3 Barry M dazzle dusts - your choice of colours
3. 2 Barry M nail paints - your choice of colours
4. 1 Boots Botanics soothing eye makeup remover

Enter here.

Tweet-A-Prize

If you haven't noticed by now, I love entering contests and sweepstakes. Once you win, it becomes addictive. I enter a variety of ways including through Twitter, blogs, and websites. I have not won as many times from one site as I have from Tweet-A-Prize. They have a different sponsor every week, and a different prize almost every day! I have won 3 times from them so far.

My first win from Tweet-A-Prize was Prize #16-2, which was 2 "Chick Flick" DVD's. My second win was Prize #20-3 which was 2 Raw/Vegan DVD's from the sponsor Tonya Kay at KayosMarket.com. My third, and biggest win from Tweet-A-Prize so far was Prize #22-4 which was the BIG prize of the week, a Yasmena Flapper Wristlet from the sponsor GoodToBeYou.com, where they sell it for $54!



Every week, they have several prizes and give away one each day. At the end of the week, they have a BIG prize that you can win too! Last week they gave away Guitar Hero 5 everyday, with the BIG prize being a Nintendo Wii! I really wanted to win that Wii, but I didn't! Oh well.

The next 2 weeks they will be giving away Blink-182 prizes. Here is the list:

• FOUR autographed copies of Blink 182’s “Greatest Hits”.
• THREE smokin’ hot Blink 182 T-Shirts.
• ONE $50 TicketMaster GiftCard (catch the tour YOURSELF!)
• ONE $50 iTunes GiftCard (snag your favorite Blink 182 songs on iTunes!)
• ONE $150 TicketMaster GiftCard
• ONE $150 iTunes GiftCard

To enter, you need to be a member of Twitter and follow @tweetaprize. When they post a contest, you just have to retweet the prize announcement. If you don't know how to do that, they make it really easy and have a green "retweet" button on TweetAPrize.com.

The second step to enter is to wait for the quiz question and answer it correctly. At the end of the day they pick a random winner who has retweeted and answered the question correctly.

Lockerz Invitations

A couple of weeks ago I posted about Swagbucks. I recently found out about a site that is similar to Swagbucks in that you earn points which you can redeem for prizes. This site is not a search engine, however. You earn points by answering the daily poll, by playing a game, and referring your friends. The site is still in private beta, but will go public in October. They will be adding more ways to earn points as they get closer to launch, but if you join now you can start accumulating points.

The prizes range from Marc Jacobs handbags, BCBGirls & Jessica Simpson shoes and House of Harlow jewelry, to LCD TV's, iPods, video games, and an EOS Rebel T1i camera. They even have a Piaggio Fly 150 moped scooter, if you can accumulate enough points. They are going to be adding four times as many prizes in 3-4 weeks.

The site is called Lockerz.

Since Lockerz is still in beta, you will need an invitation to join. If you would like an invitation, please leave a comment with your email address and I will send you one. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, you can also email invitemelockerz@gmail.com

Tarte Cosmetics 40% off Sale

If you haven't already heard, Tarte Cosmetics is having a 40% off Friends & Family Sale through August 24. Use code FF09 at checkout to receive your discount. They also have their Toolbox Brow Know-How Eyebrow Kit on sale for $4. The brow kit is not eligible for the 40% off, but if that is all you are ordering, then you can use the 30% off code and get it for $2.80 + $5 shipping. To get the 30% off code, just sign up for their email newsletter and you should get it right away in your inbox. Sephora sells the brow kit for $18 with an original price of $32, so it is still a deal. Unfortunately though, Tarte is out of stock of the new Femme Fatale palette. I think it looks so pretty!

Urban Decay Sales!

Urban Decay is having a 30% off Friends & Family sale. Enter the code FNFF1 at checkout to receive your discount. This goes until August 20th. You get free shipping if you spend at least $50.

HauteLook also has an Urban Decay sale, today only! They feature different designer boutiques every day. All their Urban Decay items are 50% off today! To join HauteLook, click here!