We’ve been testing out the new AT&T SL82218 cordless phone system at our house for about two weeks. I love the sleek design and the large blue lighted display (I’m almost 40 and I need that extra little lighting feature!) The voicemail system has an alert that beeps quietly (no obnoxious beeping to drive you crazy) to let you know you have a voicemail message waiting. I especially like this feature, because it reminds me to check our voicemail when I get in for the day, which is something I’m not so great about doing.

The AT&T SL82218 is a dual-handset cordless answering system using DECT 6.0 digital technology, which has been in use for a number of years in Europe. DECT 6.0 technology is a newly available frequency band that provides improved range without needing to boost the power. The sound quality on these new DECT models is superior to existing 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz models on the market and enables the user to talk anywhere in their home or office without interference from a wireless network. With state-of-the-art antenna technology for maximum clarity and range, the phone has been proven to provide an additional 45 percent of open field talk range and a 15 percent better in-home calling range than its competitors.

Some other features of this new phone/answering system from AT&T include:

50 name/number directory

Call transfer

Headset compatible

Wireless-network friendly

50 name/number caller ID history

Intercom

Conferencing (for multi-handset systems)

Savvy Housewife has a new AT&T SL82218 (retail value $69.99) to give away to one lucky reader! Simply visit AT&T’s online store, take a look around, and come back to this post and leave a comment about which of their products appeals to you. A random winner will be chosen from all eligible comments left by midnight Wednesday, October 15 (U.S. addresses only.)

I wanted to frame two favorite black and white family photographs, but inexpensively, for our hall bathroom, which I just recently painted a pale ice blue

So, where to start? I looked several places for plain black frames, from Target to TJ Maxx. I couldn’t find quite what I was looking for, which was a wide black wood frame with a white matte. Finally one day I was buying some cleaning supplies at Dollar General and I couldn’t believe it. I found 11 x 14 frames for $6 each!

I’d seen several very creative bloggers, such as The Nester, use scrapbook paper in non-traditional ways, so when I spotted a chic pack of black and white scrapbook paper at Target for $6, I snagged it. You can buy individual sheets for next to nothing at craft stores such as Michaels.

The 5 x 7 prints, which I centered on black and white polka dot scrapbook paper, were less than $3 total.

Are you with me? Here’s the breakdown:

2 11×14 black frames, Dollar General, $12

Pack of black and white scrapbook paper, Target, $6

2 5 x7 black and white prints, ordered online from Target’s photo center, $2.98

Here are the supplies (pardon the mysterious glare on the photographs.)

And here’s the finished product (I am no professional photographer, so I think the end result is much cuter in real life):

And one more:

Does your preschooler use you as a human tissue? Has your car been Cheeto’d one too many times with orange, sticky fingers?

Wet Ones® Wipes recently introduced a new and convenient Car Canister dispenser which fits perfectly in car cupholders and asked me to test them out. I love this product! In fact, it’s such a great idea I am sure a mom must have invented it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck in the car and my girls have shouted from the back seat, “Mommy, my hands are messy!,” with no water or soap in sight and I end up rummaging through my glove compartment box for some drive thru napkins.

Germs quickly spread from one snotty nosed kid to the next and with cold season just around the corner, it’s good to know that Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes kill up to 99.9% of germs. Wet Ones® Wipes are also available in handy singles and travel packs which make them an essential toss in for every kid’s backpack, lunch box, and mom’s purse.

Wet Ones® Hands and Face Wipes are inviting everyone to participate in the Go Places. Cleaner. Photo Contest. Participants will have the opportunity to win the Grand Prize of a portable GPS System and a $500 gift card for gas! While you’re there, download a 75 cent coupon off Wet Ones products.

Enter the sweepstakes by visiting www.wetones.com through September 5, 2008 and uploading a photo of yourself, family, or friends with a Wet Ones® product. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, three 1st prize winners will be given a satellite radio (1 year subscription) and a $250 gift card for gas, and eight 2nd prize winners will be given a $100 gift card for gas.

Our house was built in 1968 and is your standard brick ranch. We still have the original Colonial blue tile wall trim in our hall bathroom. One of the first things we did was replace the blue toilet and sink with new white ones. I told my husband there was no way I was peeing in a blue toilet. Yeah, call me a potty snob.

I painted the walls a pale yellow and now eight years later I’m so tired of the yellow and blue scheme. Recently (five months ago, cough) I bought a gallon of very pale blue paint for the walls and I’ve been on the hunt for a new valance as I’m also sick of our shabby chic yellow and blue valance which now seems very 1998. I am keeping our shower curtain, though, which is an elegant white damask. I’m also keeping most of our silver accessories. Our cabinets are white with brushed silver knobs. I hate our vanity counter top, which is that faux ugly white marble with baby blue veins, but it’s staying for now.

I’m thinking the new bathroom scheme will be pale blue and black with silver accessories. I might frame a few of our favorite black and white family vacation pics in black frames with white mattes.

I’ve been searching for a valance that was more elegant in a black and white scheme but not toile as it’s in the shabby chic genre that I’m trying to move away from. I’d thought about trying the brown and blue color scheme that is popular, but I keep gravitating toward black and white.

I found this valance on ebay today and thought, “This is IT!” There are actually three listed and I only need one, so perhaps if I was super crafty girl, and I’m not, I could think of some way to reuse the other two valances.

What do ya’ll think? You may hate it, but I think it will look really nice. The window is small and it needs a punch of something, especially against the pale blue solid walls. Oh, and the floor is white tile.

I love the tassels and the fact that the wall in the background of this photo from ebay is almost identical to the color of our accent tile. And look how tres chic it looks. I think I may have made my decision by writing this post. Vive le tassels!

Do you have difficulty making simple home decor decisions or is it just me? Sometimes I dream of building a home, but I’m afraid I’d never be able to decide on anything. I need a decorating fairy godmother.

Jodene, who commented “I bring my own bags to the grocery store and now, this past week actually, I bring them to all the stores including the mall.  It’s a bit hard to remember all the time but I am getting much better at it,” is the winner. Thanks to everyone who entered.

These hip organic totes from SKN with mod fruit and vegetable prints are great for shopping trips, library runs, and any type you want to ditch that oh so yesterday plastic shopping bag habit.

I’ve got the SKN bag in the lemon design and love it. They’ve gotten a lot of media buzz, having been featured, among other places, in Health and Town and Country magazines as well as on trend watching blogs such as She FInds, Mom Finds, Style.com, The Eco Modernist (and of course Savvy Housewife!)

SKN bags are:

• 12″wide x 16″high x 6″deep
• Made of 100% sturdy unbleached cotton
• Are gusseted, fold flat, and hold up to 40 lbs.
• Machine washable on cold (drip dry)

For every order you place, SKN will plant a tree through American Forests. Founded in 1875, American Forests is the United States’ oldest non-profit citizen’s conservation organization. They are a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator in the benefits of trees and forests.

Here’s your chance to win a great organic designer reusable tote from SKN. Simply leave a comment on this post telling me one step you’ve made to be eco-friendly. For two chances, leave a comment and subcribe to the Savvy Housewife RSS Feed. Savvy Housewife will select a random winner from all eligible comments left by midnight Monday, August 18.

Adrienne Gordon, who commented, “the Squeeze & Clean Floor Cleaner because we have four different types of floor,” is the winner. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Weiman Products sent me a few more of their handy and easy to use cleaning wipes in two different formulas: wood and granite. I love the wood cleaning wipes and, as you can see, so does my 6-year-old. Huzzah!

Yes, sometimes being a savvy housewife means mastering the fine art of delegation.

The Weiman furniture wipes are great for my daughter to use because I don’t have to supervise her spraying a hard to manage cleaner. As far as the granite wipes, although I don’t have granite countertops (a woman can dream), they can be used on several surfaces. Out of all the Weiman handy cleaners in wipe form, however, my favorite is definitely the furniture wipes.

Weiman Furniture Wipes:

• Feature Weiman’s lemon oil furniture polish
• Clean dust, dirt, grime, and smoke residue
• Contain UVX-15 sunscreen, which protects wood from the damaging effects of the sun

Weiman Granite Wipes:

• Are great for everyday cleaning
• Remove grease and grime from sealed granite, marble, quartz, and most stone surfaces
• Are safe to use on a multitude of surfaces such as Corian, ceramic, chrome, fiberglass, auto interiors, laminated plastics, and patio furniture

Weiman is offering Savvy Housewife readers a prize pack of their cleaning wipes line, as well as products from their Perfect Planet line, eco-friendly cleaners with the EPA’s Design for the Environment seal of approval. To enter, simply visit the Weiman website, take a look around at their many great cleaning products, and come back to this post and leave a comment about which of their products you would find most useful. A random winner will be chosen from all eligible comments left by midnight Sunday, July 27.

Tired, literally, of sleeping on a squeaky wheel of a mattress, Savvy Dad and I went on a mission Sunday afternoon—a mission to find, and bring home, a good quality mattress, at an affordable price.

After doing a search on the Internet for mattress companies, I was pleased to discover the SleepWell Mattress Outlet, which had an endorsement from money manager guru Dave Ramsey himself.

SleepWell touts famous names, minor flaws, and major savings and it did not disappoint. On the outside, the actual store wasn’t much to look at (low overhead, Savvy Dad reminded me), but as we walked in and surveyed the selection, we were very impressed. We were also trying to shop with a 3 and 6-year-old, so we had little time, and patience, to spare. We cut to the chase and got down to the business of lying down on the job…the job of finding the perfect mattress.

Savvy Dad quickly found a mattress to his liking. I liked it, too, but the selling point was when the salesperson told me it was a latex core mattress, which meant it was hypoallergenic. Savvy Dad has terrible allergy problems, so we were sold.

SleepWell Mattress Outlet specializes in selling quality factory-second mattresses from major bedding manufacturers, like Serta and Sealy. These could be overstocks, close-outs, freight damaged, mismatched, or pieces that are blemished or have stitching flaws.

We bought a gorgeous Sealy latex core queen size mattress with no detectable flaws at all. We paid $900 for it, which was half of the original $1,800 price. It is worth every penny and the salesperson told us it should last 15 to 20 years. It’s so comfortable, it’s like sleeping on a giant soft, yet firm, marshmallow. It’s such an upgrade from our sad, sagging excuse of a mattress that was well past it’s prime after a decade, that I felt like I was sleeping in a luxury hotel suite, and not our master bedroom.

As you can see, Savvy Dad doesn’t like the new mattress. Ignore the gift bag stash and digital scales peeking out from under the bed.

So, Savvy Housewife gives SleepWell Mattress Outlet a thumbs up. Visit their website to see if there is a location near you.

Sobering thought while our old mattress and box springs were being hauled off by a delivery service, independent of SleepWell: “Our girls were conceived on that mattress!” God speed old girl, God speed.

I can think of a hundred more things I’d rather do than scrub the bathtub. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it and around my house that someone would be moi. (Savvy Dad does 75 percent of the cooking, so I can’t complain.)

Thanks to Mom Central I had the chance to review the new Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber from SC Johnson, which makes several household cleaning brands we have all grown up with, from Windex to Pledge. The scrubber is actually made from a heavy duty foam type substance with an easy-to-grip handle. The back of the cleaning pads attach to the scrubber. Each pad contains tiny scrubbing fibers and concentrated Scrubbing Bubbles® formula to cut through soap scum on tile, tub and shower surfaces, and even shower doors. For those hard to reach corners and tight spots, you can detach the scrubbing pad. I actually used mine to wipe out the bathroom sink once I’d finished cleaning the shower and tub.

We have one shower slash tub in our house (yes you read that right…apparently homeowners in 1968 didn’t really want the master bath treatment) so it gets a lot of use which equals a lot of soap scum. I really liked the fact that I could toss the scrubbing pad once I was done with it. No sponge or scrub brush to sit and breed unwanted microscopic bath buddies.

So, while the new Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber doesn’t make the physical act of scrubbing the tub and shower fun, it does make it quick and easy, which is a bonus in my busy mom handbook.

Click here for a coupon for $2.75 off your in-store purchase of the Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber, which is a great deal since it retails for around $5.

I love WallCandy Arts and I wasn’t surprised when I found out that two moms founded the company. It’s a fabulous product and, frankly, one of those I wish I’d thought of first.

WallCandy Arts is a fun line of reusable wall stickers and wall art for an innovative, no fuss way to decorate every room in your house. The sets come in a faux “paint can” and feature easy peel and stick application. Once installed, WallCandy can be effortlessly rearranged or removed and used again without marring your walls. As their website states, “WallCandy is savvy design for the design savvy.”

I let my girls loose in their bedrooms with several sheets from the Flutterflies collection (which comes with 130 reusable vinyl butterflies in pink, green, blue, and brown and retails for $50) and they went wild. First of all, being a tad of a control freak, this was tough for me to just walk away and let them have at it with their butterflies. I just told them they could put them on the walls above their beds. They loved them. Both my girls are crazy about butterflies (Barbie Mariposa anyone?) and they were practically jumping up and down over their new butterfly wall art. I also liked the fact that we could easily camoflauge a few nail holes and minor wall dings with our new tres cute butterflies.

Wallcandy art is safe for walls and a fun way to add a punch of color to your child’s room, playroom, bathroom, wherever.

Check out their website for the Decorate a Room section and go crazy decorating your own virtual room.

My other favorites from Wallcandy Arts are the new swank Rococo chalkboard design (how fun would that be in a utility room or mudroom for messages) and DottiLicious.

And now for the finished masterpieces (so easy a 6 and 3-year-old did it!):

:

My mom is truly a personal shopper for me (lucky me.) She will call me from a store to let me know about a great bargain she has found for me or the girls.

Today she e-mailed me to let me know that Publix has a $5 coupon in this week’s sales flier, good if you spend $35 or more on groceries now through July 16. This is a tempting deal to me, as I do the majority of my grocery shopping at Publix and I can spend $35 faster than you can say, “What’s for dinner?”

Kroger is also running a tempting deal.

Now through July 31, if you buy $300, $600 or $1,200 worth of Kroger gift cards, you get an extra 10% added to the value (that’s $30, $60, or $120.) The offer applies to in-store purchases only of new Kroger gift cards, and does not include re-loads on existing gift cards and cannot be combined with any other discount or offer. This offer is limited to per household.

So what do you think? I think the Publix deal, although tempting, would just encourage me to spend money to save money since it is for a limited time offer. But then again…I’m such a sucker for marketing and I do love Publix.

With two dogs who together weigh in at 100 plus pounds and two kids under the age of 6 running rampant, our house has experienced a wide spectrum of smells, many of them not so appealing. What? Your house smells like roses, fresh baked cookies, and sunshine all the time?

I remember when Febreze first came on the market with their original line of spray bottles. Now Febreze offers Febreze Candles, which have a special inner core that eliminates odors while spreading a clean scent through the air that isn’t too overpowering. The PR rep who contacted me about reviewing some of the new Febreze products noted that because I’m a mom, she was sure I was familiar with Febreze products. Oh yes. Translation. I’m sure your house has been smelly on occasion. Thankfully no children in my house are in diapers. I finally ditched our Diaper Champ last year. But still, two kids plus two dogs equals odors galore, whether they’re wearing diapers or not. (Did you know there are diapers for toy dog breeds? But I digress.)

Febreze Fabric Refresher in the familiar spray bottles features a new lineup, including Febreze Allergen Reducer, which reduces up to 75% of allergens from cats, dogs, and dust mites that can become airborne from fabrics. And it is safe to use around your family pet, too.

Do you use Febreze products? Have you tried their new line of candles?

I don’t know about you, but I always thoroughly rinse my dishes before I load them into the dishwasher.

Cascade Complete was ranked number one for the second year in a row by a top consumer product guide.  Savvy Housewife was asked to pit Cascade Complete against Electrasaol in a kitchen smack down and found that Cascade Complete left dishes free of any debris with no pre-rinsing required! I tend to buy store brands, but I’ll definitely buy Cascade Complete when it’s on sale. Hey, I’m all about “on sale.”

Now if Savvy Housewife could only find someone to load and empty the dishwasher for her, that would be golden. (She’s not trusting her 6 and 3-year-old to do it just yet.)

The Cascade Complete website features dishwasher tips, which begs the question, “Are you anal retentive about the way your dishwasher is loaded?” I tend to be very OCD about the “proper” (in my book) way to load dishes. Everything must go in a certain place in order to maximize the full load capacity, while my husband tends to just place things in a haphazard manner that drives me nuts.

So, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever washed in your dishwasher? I’ve actually washed baseball caps (I read that tip once upon a time) and a baby potty seat. No actual dishes or dishwashers were harmed in the experimental dishwasher rounds and no dishes were washed with the potty.