BRENDA'S THIS & THAT
HOME, CRAFTS, & SHOPPING SITES
BRENDA'S THIS & THAT
HOME, CRAFTS, & SHOPPING SITES
PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU FIND ANY LINKS THAT DON'T WORK OR ANY THAT TAKE YOU TO A SITE OTHER THAN WHAT I HAVE DESCRIBED. THANKS.
REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU LEAVE MY SITE THE AUTHORS, WEBMASTERS, COMPANIES, OR ORGANIZATIONS SPONSORING EACH OF THESE SITES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN CONTENT.
1-800Flowers
(Order flowers online.)
The
Activity Cupboard (crafts)
Adventurous
Traveler Bookstore
Amazon.com
(The most frequented site for books, they also offer music, videos, electronics
and much more.)
American
Table Manners (understanding formal table settings and more)
Apartments.com
(free nationwide apartment search)
B.
Smith With Style (decorating, crafts, gardening, recipes)
BargainDog
(shopping bot)
Bargain
Outfitters (low prices on name brands)
Ben
& Jerry’s (games, crafts, etc.)
Benjamin
Moore (The designer section has detailed instructions and
pictures for the most popular
painting effects. There is also a section on
color selection, tips on paint
problems and a project of the month.)
Berit’s
Best Sites For Kids (hundreds of links to sites with a variety of subjects
like games, crafts, sports, music, stories, holidays, art, science, math,
history, space, animals and internet safety)
Best
Book Buys (helps you search for books, including textbooks, and
compare prices at dozens of
online stores)
Best
Deal Magazines (Order magazines at big discounts.)
The
Better Business Bureau Online
Better
Homes & Gardens Crafts Page
Better
Homes & Gardens Online (many articles on a variety of subjects:
building and decorating, recipes
and crafts, including kids’ crafts)
Big
Planet Mall (Go through this shopping portal before going directly
to
an online store and you can get discounts at some
of your favorite online
stores.)
Big
Words.com (Buy books at a savings from a company that buys
directly from publishers. The
selection is huge and they also sell used
books. Shipping is free
and they even pay the shipping on books they
buy back from you.)
BiggerBetterBargains
(This site belongs to Sue Goldstein, founder of the
Underground Shopper.)
Birdfeeder
Plans at About.com (many free plans using differerent types of materials)
Birding/Birdwatching
at About.com (lots of links to information including identification,
backyard birds, where to go birdwatching, plans for birdhouses and feeders,
clipart, much more)
BookCloseOuts.com
(good selection, including out-of-print books, with
reasonable prices)
Books
For Cooks (This site offers thousands of cookbooks in 140
categories, many with sample
recipes to try before you buy. Most books
are sold at a discount.)
Books@Random
(Buy books online from Random House.)
BookSearch
(To find out-of-print or hard to find books, fill out their
search form. A network
of over 1,000 stores and collectors will be checked and you’ll be notified
of price, condition, etc.)
Bottomdollar.com
(Shopping Bot)
*BRENDA'S
THIS & THAT FREE STUFF*
*BRENDA'S
THIS & THAT HOUSEHOLD HINTS*
Buy
It On The Web (a place to find those "As Seen On TV" products)
Campbell’s
Soup Community Shop (collectibles, kitchen items and toys
with the Campbell’s theme)
The
Candleman’s Free Candlemaking Course
Candles,
Candles, and More Candles’ Free Candle Making Projects
Cardweb.Com
(one-stop shopping for information on credit cards)
The
Carol Duvall Show index (hundreds of craft projects) If the link
doesn’t work, try this link to Home
and Garden Television’s homepage
and look for "Crafts and Collectibles", or Carol Duvall.
Then when you get to the main Carol Duvall page, look for the index to
her shows.
Carpoint
(Get lots of information to help make decisions on buying new or used cars.
Select the type of car, then find out what you need to know. Includes images
of cars which can be manipulated to show the exterior and interior from
different angles.)
CatalogCity
(Order from, or request thousands of catalogs all from this
single site. This simplifies shopping by allowing
you to shop from different companies without having to change sites.)
CatalogLink
(Find a big variety of catalogs that you can get for FREE by ordering them
online instead of being charged anywhere from the $1 - $5 that those “catalog
magazines” charge you.)
CatalogSavings
(an easy way to order catalogs online and get savings
certificates to use on
your orders)
Charlie
the Tuna collectibles (in the “Store” section)
Coats
& Clark (free patterns and tips for sewing, quilting, knitting
and
crocheting, with new things added monthly)
CollectionsEtc.
(They have many great items for the home at unbelievable prices--
furniture, lamps, collectibles, garden accents, clocks and more.
Make sure you check out the “Sales and Specials” area.)
The
Complaint Station (You can complain about issues related to
companies or their products, or read what has been
posted by others who have had similar problems.)
Consumer
Information About Telephone-Related Issues (This very
informative page provided by the FCC contains information
about your
rights when having to deal with telemarketers, found
near the bottom of
the page in the section entitled “Unsolicited Telephone
Marketing Calls
And Faxes”. You’ll also find tips for getting
the best phone service and
much more.)
Consumer
Sentinel (Submit your complaints about e-commerce businesses to this
site which is a joint effort of the Federal Trade Commission, state Attorney
Generals and other law enforcement agencies to pursue internet fraud.)
Consumer.Gov
(resource for consumer information, including lots of
helpful information on fraud)
ConsumerReports.org
(the online version of the magazine)
Cooking
For The Birds at About.com (suet recipes, etc.)
CoolSavings.com
(coupons)
Country
Sampler Decorating Ideas
Couponfeast
(Get coupons to print out for restaurants and other
businesses in your area by entering
your zip code.)
Craft
Central Station’s 101 Gift Basket Ideas (wonderful tips for putting
together great baskets, with
most using themes, such as for the golfer, the
babysitter, the crafter, the
gardener, the skier, the expectant parents, etc.)
Crafter’s
Community (projects for adults and children)
Crafters
Network Top 100 Craft Sites List
Deal
Catcher (monitors more than 350 online retailers and points you to
online sales, discounts and coupons)
Dealz
Connection (freebie listings, plus info on where to find free shipping,
rebates, buyer ratings for online merchants, and bargains at local stores)
DiscountMagazines.com
(This is another place to order magazines at a big discount. The last time
I looked there were many well known ones at $5.95 for a one year subscription.)
Disney’s
Family.Com (crafts, e-cards, stories, outdoor activities, costume
making, games, education resources,
recipes, parenting info, travel tips and info)
The
Dollar Stretcher (You won’t believe how many money saving articles
you will find here.)
Easy
Steps To Flower Arranging
ebates
(a shopping portal with links to over 400 popular online merchants and
rebates for each purchase)
eBay
(the popular online auction site)
Eco-Friendly
Alternatives to Commercial Cleaners and Other
Household
Products (Save money by using these recipes for homemade household
cleaners.)
Ed
Wallace’s Inside Automotive (Find new car reviews, and if you happen
to live in North Texas or surrounding areas, you can find information about
buying new and used cars, or about leasing.)
eFollett
(For college textbooks, use this site to look up your school,
department and course number,
and all books needed for your class will be listed. Get used and
new books at a better price than campus store prices. There are 600
partner schools involved, and the company will buy books back from you,
too.)
eHow
(“how to do just about anything”)
Enchanted
Learning’s craft page (many craft projects for children)
Epinions
(product reviews and price comparisons)
eSmarts
(a variety of coupons and discounts)
Everything4Less
(online shopping and coupons)
Fallon.com
(inexpensive gift items)
Family
Corner Christmas Crafts (many wonderful projects)
Fight
Back (David Horowitz’s site with information on consumer
protection, scams, etc.)
findtutorials.com
(There are links here to thousands of tutorials in dozens of categories
such as crafts and hobbies, arts and humanities, home and garden, food
and cooking, automotive, style and grace, travel and more.)
Floral
Care And Giving (You’ll find plenty of advice about taking care of,
and selecting flowers, plus flower arranging and more.)
FreePatterns.com
(over 1,000 free patterns for crochet, cross stitch, knitting, plastic
canvas, quilting, more)
Frugal
Family Network’s Top Frugal Sites
The
Frugal Life (money saving tips and advice)
Frugal
Living Favorite Tips at About.com
Frugal
Moms (forums, tips, articles on cooking, crafts, decorating,
gardening, holidays)
Funerals:
A Consumer Guide (information from the Federal Trade
Commission)
FurnitureFind.com
(a leading online furniture source)
Gadget
Guy (reviews of almost 200 helpful tools and hardware items)
Gadget
Universe (all kinds of interesting and useful gadgets, some of which
are very reasonably priced)
GasPriceWatch
(Find the best gasoline and heating oil prices in your area of the U.S.or
Canada.)
Globe
Corner Bookstore (more than 8,000 travel titles)
Haley’sHints
(The site's primary purpose is to sell a book of household hints by the
same name, but a few really good free ones can be found here to entice
you to buy the book.)
Hancock
Fabrics Free Online Craft and Sewing Projects
Holidays
On the Net (Find information on all the holidays, plus crafts,
e-cards, items to buy, a calendar
listing the holidays for this year, links to other holiday sites and more.)
HomeAnd
Garden Television (decorating, gardening, remodeling, crafts
and entertainment)
HotCoupons
(coupons over the internet)
Idea
Forest Art & Crafts (Click on projects.)
The
Imagination Factory (Get many craft ideas to make using items you
would normally throw away.)
Impower’s
Catalog and Magazine Request Center (Choose from
hundreds of FREE catalogs and
magazines, including many specialty
and hard-to-find publications.)
ImproveNet
(Use their database to find contractors, architects and
designers in your area. Get
advice, view projects, order books and even
houseplans.)
Internet
Scambusters (Don’t be taken advantage of by unethical people. This
is a very interesting, helpful site with a lot of information you should
read pertaining to internet fraud and scams, online counterfeit items,
viruses, urban legends and much more.)
iVillage
(Areas of the site include Home and Garden, Health, Parenting
and more.)
Kids
Domain Christmas Crafts (They have so many really great, fun crafts
for the holidays.)
Kids
Domain miscellaneous crafts (a huge amount of great projects)
Kids
Eat Free (Click on a state for a listing of restaurants with “Kids
Eat Free” programs.)
Kidstuff
(Look for the Craft link.)
Kindercrafts
(fun
craft projects for preschool - elementary ages)
Kitchen
etc. (kitchen items)
Ladies
Home Journal Interactive Decorating (Look for "Furniture Arranger"
on the home page menu. Use your dimensions and their grapics of furniture.)
Leanin’
Tree (Shop for greeting cards and an assortment of gifts featuring
authentic Western, wildlife, Native American and humorous images.)
Learn2.com
(Click on “Free Learning”, then choose a category. Just what the
name suggests, this unique site has “Learn To’s” and "How To’s" on everything
imaginable, from how to boil an egg to how to burp a baby; from how to
sell your car to how to serve as best man; from how to calculate tips to
how to weatherize your home.)
Lifetips
(practical tips on a large variety of subjects)
LowerMyBills
(Compare rates in your area for long distance and wireless phone service,
internet service, utilities, credit cards, home and car loans, homeowners’
and auto insurance.)
LillianVernon
Online (Shop online or request a catalog.)
Magazine
Deals Online (big discounts on magazine subscriptions)
MakeStuff.com
(This site has many miscellaneous craft projects for adults and children,
plus specific holiday craft pages.)
MarshmallowPeeps
(lots of Easter crafts, decorating ideas and recipes)
Michaels
Arts and Crafts Stores’ website (Find ideas, tips, projects and fun,
including children’s activities. Find your closest Michaels store
and see the Crafts Calendar page for upcoming in-store activities.)
MJDesigns
(Get great craft ideas and tips.)
Mom’s
Network Free Notepads (several cute designs to print out to use for
grocery lists, etc.)
MrGadget.Com
(descriptions and reviews of all kinds of products)
My
Beauty Center (very reasonable prices)
My
ParenTime’s FREE Printable Checklists & Charts for Families
(You have to check this out. They have a HUGE
amount of checklists
and charts to print out for many uses in these areas:
birth, babysitters,
basal body temperature, medication, exercise, children’s
vaccinations,
vacation, emergency supplies, grocery lists, change
of address,
house cleaning, moving day, music and video
checklists, vehicle
maintainance, weekly meal planner, plus many more
in the categories of
Children and Education, Fun, Special Occasions, Business
and Finance,
the Intenet, and more.)
mySimon
(shopping bot)
National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Thinking of buying a car? Find
auto safety informaton, including crash test ratings.)
New
Bargains (a variety of discounted merchandise)
The
New Homemaker (advice for doing things around the home)
Organized
Home (an abundance of useful informaton for organizing and
cleaning, including money saving tips)
Organized
Home’s Home and Family Organizer (This is great. They
have a lot of FREE printable forms so that you can
make your own
organizer. Choose just what you need from lined
blank pages, to-do lists,
calendars, telephone and address pages, holiday organizer,
party
planner, price page, menu form, grocery list, travel
planners and more.)
The
Original Tipping Page (tips on tipping)
Overstock.com
(deals on closeouts)
Owl’s
House (books, music and magazines for kids sold at discounts)
The
Pampered Chef (You’ll find a very nice variety of cookware,
cooking utensils and gadgets,
stoneware, serving accessories, cookbooks, including a children’s cookbook,and
more. If interested, email me and I will put you in touch with a
helpful consultant who would appreciate your order.)
PitterPatter
(crafts for children)
PlanetFeedback
(Use this site to contact companies that you do business
with. Your messages with complaints, compliments,
suggestions, or
questions will be forwarded to the proper place.)
Powell’sBooks
(enormous collection of new and used, rare and limited)
PriceGrabber.com
(a shopping bot with online merchant ratings)
Priceline.com:
Cars (information to help you get the best deal on new cars)
Printfree.com
(Create and print FREE greeting cards, calendars, signs,
and flyers using their graphics and your own text.)
Printsville
(This site from HP has lots of easy project ideas to use by printing things
directly from their site such as photo frames, cards, iron-on transfers
for clothing, craft ideas, kids’ projects, seasonal projects and more.
Choose a category, and on each page don’t forget to use the pull down menu
near the top of the pages labeled “go to section”.)
Pumpkin
Nook’s Pumpkin Carving (instructions, tips and links to other sites
with patterns)
RepairClinic.com
(The site offers do-it-yourselfers easy to understand
advice about how to diagnose and make repairs on appliances,
and sells
parts.)
Repair.Net
(source for repair information for home products, autos and
more.)
Room-By-Room
On The Web (Get decorating advice and toolbox projects. Print
out decorating guides and graph paper.)
SafetyAlerts.com
(This site lists product and food recalls, has safety information, and
many interesting health articles. You can sign up for their newsletters
and they will send a message each time there has been a recall of a product
that was distributed to your state.)
SalesCircular.com
(In addition to finding the best prices for things in your area, you can
also find rebate listings that can make things free.)
SalesHound.com
(In addition to finding the best prices for things in your
area, you can also find rebate listings that can make
things free.)
Savvy
Student ("saving students mone"y)
ScamHound
(information on Internet scams and fraud)
ScamWatch
(information on Internet scams and fraud)
Schoenhof’s
Foreign Books (largest selection in North America)
Sewdoll
(beading, doll sculpting, embroidery, lacemaking, quilting)
The
Sharper Image (the company known for cool gadgets)
Shipping
Only (inexpensive items with the cost of shipping included)
Shower
Ideas (baby and bridal shower tips)
Smart
Source(Pick the coupons you want and they will mail them to you.)
So
You Wanna (advice and tips on how to do all kinds of things)
Soap
Recipes from Soap Delicatessen
Stitchguide.com
(Learn the stitches for different types of needlework.)
teeware
(Get free online tranfer designs to print out for tee shirts. Easy
instructions are included.)
Total
Home Network (home decorating, building, remodeling)
Traditional
Home Designer Finder (Look for the link on this page. Get information
on major design styles and how to create them. Locate designers in
your area, view photos of their work and get lists of their typical prices.)
Ultimate
Internet Wedding Guide
Unclaimed
Baggage Center (Oprah Winfrey has called this site, “one of the country’s
best kept shopping secrets”. The majority of the items you can
buy are from unclaimed airline
passengers’ baggage, with the balance
being lost and unclaimed cargo.)
U.S.
Postal Service Stamps Information Page (Learn about stamp
collecting and stamps that are
available from the Postal Service. You can even order online. Also
view the stamp archives, including special category
stamps.)
Val-Pak
(online coupons for businesses in your area)
ValuPage
(Enter your zip code and choose a store in your area. View
products offered each week and check off the products
you plan to buy.
Print out the page and have the cashier scan it. You
will then be issued
“Value Bucks” that you can have deducted from the
grocery bill or use
them on your next shopping trip. The site also
has links to other sites
with offers, coupons, recipes, etc.)
Wonderfully
Wacky (unique gifts)
WordsWorth
(books at a 10 - 30% discount)
Yard
Sale Search (Find yard sales in your area and get tips on how to
have your own successful yard sale.)
Your
New House/Michael Holigan
(Click on “TV Show”. Find
household hints such as carpet stain removal and “recipes”to
use for
pest control rather than poisons. Also, get
tips for buying, building,
remodeling homes.)
