It’s that time of year again – time for Portable North Pole! If you’ve got a child, niece, nephew, grandchild – you name it – you simply must check it out.

Portable North Pole (PNP) is a free video message from Santa for kids (and adults). It brings the magic of Christmas to a computer near you! Users can have Santa say their child’s name, open a book with their child’s photo, trace the route from the North Pole to their child’s home and let them know what Santa will be putting under the tree at Christmas. All with a few mouse clicks!

The video is magnificent. Your children will honestly believe that Santa is talking directly to them, I promise. I raced through the process with Ryder’s details, and less than 5 minutes later I had a fun, personalized message from St. Nick himself - irrefutable evidence that there is a Santa Claus! I love that there are different messages tailored to children of all ages – even grownups – making it fun and relevant for everyone in your family.

Want to check out Ryder’s video? Click here – I promise, you’ll be inspired to create your own.

The best part? It’s completely FREE. You can have the message delivered directly to a recipient or to your own inbox for sharing. It’s definitely a must-do!

Click here to create a PNP message from Santa.

Note: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.

I’ve decided to take a break from my Summer Beauty & Fashion Event to let y’all know about a neat little freebie that I think you’ll love – and give you a chance to win, too!

Now who doesn’t love seeing those little promotional tabs on cereal boxes? I sure do! And since our house is packed with cereal fans, I always check to see if I can get extra bang for my buck. Well, for a limited time, here’s a neat little promo that has summer written all over it!

Our good friends at Life Made Delicious would like to offer you a FREE limited edition beach towel, featuring iconic characters and patterns, when you purchase a specially marked box of participating General Mills cereals. Then, simply look for the code printed on the inside of your cereal box (looks like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX) and enter the code at www.lifemadedelicious.ca/freetowel.

You can have fun choosing the design that tickles your fancy, or you have the option of donating your towel to a deserving child through the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation (LOVE that!).

Here are the featured designs:

I don’t know about you, but I can always use some Lucky Charms!

As a Life Made Delicious Connector, I have the awesome privilege of offering a sweet prize to one lucky reader. The General Mills giveaway pack is valued at approximately $50 and includes three (3), 60” x 30” limited edition General Mills beach towels!

To enter, find your favourite easy summer recipe at Life Made Delicious and leave a comment here, telling us what it is.

You can also qualify for extra entries! Remember, you must leave a separate comment for each. You can:

(1) Follow my blog, Listen to Lena!
(2) “Like” Listen to Lena! on Facebook
(3) NEW Follow Listen to Lena! on Twitter
(4) “Like” Life Made Delicious on Facebook
(5) Follow Life Made Delicious on Twitter
(6) Tweet daily: Please use this General Mills Giveaway Tweet.

I’ll draw for a winner on August 7th. Good luck everybody!

Nice little freebie! If you’ve got a Wal-Mart Canada Photo Centre near you, enter code BRAG to receive a FREE 4×4 Brag Book (26 pages, value $10). The offer is only valid on in-person pick up orders, and expires on Saturday, July 9th.

They’ve got a Canada-themed book which I think would be perfect for capturing your July 1st memories! And the price is right – FREE!

Click here to visit Wal-Mart Photo Centre.

EDIT: Redeem Your Coupon TODAY Peeps!

It’s no surprise that Cheerios + Chocolate is a winning combination. In fact, Ryder – who regularly shuns every breakfast cereal imaginable in favour of his beloved O’s – literally fell off his chair when I placed a bowl of the chocolatey goodness in front of him.

(In case you’re wondering, one of the perks of being a Life Made Delicious Connector is advanced enjoyment of General Mills treats – therefore we’ve been enjoying Chocolate Cheerios chez Lena for the last few weeks!)

Just a few reasons your mouth should be watering:

- Naturally flavoured with real cocoa, whole grains, and only 9g of sugar per serving
- Is a source of fibre and is low in fat
- Tastes Delicious!!! (of course)

Want to try them for yourself? Of course you do! For a limited time, try Chocolate Cheerios for FREE through WebSaver.ca. You’ll have to sign up for a free account and choose at least three (3) coupons (won’t be difficult, I’m sure!)

Then, for ONE DAY ONLY – June 21st, 2011 – everyone will be able to redeem their coupon for a free box of Chocolate Cheerios.

And, don’t forget to check out Life Made Delicious for easy recipes your whole family will love.

I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

If you just logged on to your computer and are wondering what to have for breakfast, quick! Take a trip to your nearest Subway restaurant, where you can enjoy a FREE breakfast including a Ham and Cheese Egg Muffin Melt and 12oz of Seattle’s Best Coffee. Promo runs today only from 7am to 10am.

Enjoy!

It seems like every single day, there’s a new reason to “Like” a page on Facebook.

Free shampoo. Free gum. (Another) free chance at winning an iPad 2… .

So it’s no surprise that many of us “Like” 100 pages or more on Facebook. My question: do you continue to “Like” someone’s page after you’ve collected the freebie – or do you quietly say thank you and hit unlike? Perhaps you hide them from your news feed? On the flip side, are you now a fan for life? Or… do you ignore the call of freebies altogether?

I’m curious how people handle the overflowing number of opportunities to swap a free product for a like. As for me… well, if the freebie is awesome enough, and I theoretically already like a company (with or without the official FB stamp of approval), I’m more likely to add them to my list of pages.

How about y’all? Does a Facebook freebie float your boat?

You may have noticed that I’ve got a sweet new sponsor – SweetMommyDeals.com! They’re the newest daily deal provider that you should have on your radar – especially since they cater to fabulous (and frugal) mommies in the Greater Toronto Area.

Now it’s no secret that I’m happy to blog deals from different sources – and the thing I love about daily deal sites is that (most of them) have the consumer in mind. SweetMommyDeals is just one of the sites I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with, and I’m happy to share the following info with my readers:

- SweetMommyDeals is a daily deal website and an online community of moms who seek exciting products, services, activities or experiences for their children (0-12 years old), families or even themselves. They work together with online and local merchants to provide a fantastic “mom deal” everyday of 40-100% off and offer these for a limited time to GTA communities.

- It’s free to sign up! And, during the months of April and May. SweetMommyDeals will donate $1 for every sign up to Three to Be - a phenomenal charity in support of the treatment and therapy of children’s neurological disorders. Click here to read more about Three to Be’s story, mission and how you can get involved.

- Plus, you simply must “Like” them on Facebook – when they reach 1,000 fans, they’ll be giving away Diapers for a WHOLE YEAR to one lucky winner! They currently have 781 fans… let’s try to see if they can give away the load of diapers this week!

Now today they’ve offered their very first deal, and it’s a sweet one:

HIGHLIGHTS:

• $2 Gift Certificate can be used on any product in the store
• Can be used at any location within Canada
• Serving ice cream since 1945; Premium ice cream and cakes
• Shakes, blasts, sundaes, hand-rolled waffle cones and more

Grab yours before they’re gone! Click here to visit SweetMommyDeals.com.

It’s FREE Taco Week at Taco Bell!

I haven’t enjoyed a TB taco in… oh, I don’t know how long. I guess one of the main concerns I’ve always had is the quality of “beef” in their beef tacos. That, and many times fast food = not so good food. Well, it looks like Taco Bell is ready to school me:

“You could say there’s been a lot of talk about our beef quality lately – and we thought we’d set the record straight and let Canadians taste our amazing beef tacos” says Dan Howe, Chief Marketing Officer for Yum! Restaurants Canada, which owns the Taco Bell brand in Canada.

Taco Bell’s Free Taco Week is a genuine opportunity to share the key facts about Taco Bell beef quality: the company starts with real ground beef and simmers it with it’s “not-so-secret” signature recipe of seasonings, spices, water, and other ingredients to provide Taco Bell’s signature taste and texture. For exact details on the signature recipe and more info on Taco Bell quality, visit www.tacobell.ca.

To score a free taco, all you have to do is visit any Taco Bell in Canada between the dates of April 7th and 13th during the hours of 3pm to 6pm.

My husband is a huge fan of tacos and I have no doubt he’ll be popping in a few times on his way home from work for a pre-dinner snack.

Click here to find a Taco Bell near you.

Sure we do! And, if you’ve got a No Frills grocery store close by, you can get them for… FREE!

This week, the No Frills Ontario flyer advertises Ziploc sandwich bags (100′s) and freezer bags (15′s and 20′s) for just $2 – a savings of $1.67 off their regular price.

(It’s also their $1, $2, $3 Sale – they’re got some awesome name brands on sale for cheeeap!)

Visit Right at Home and you’ll find a coupon for $4 off when you buy any two (2) Ziploc brand products… making the bags absolutely free. To access the coupon, you’ll need to create a free profile and be connected to a printer.

Now there has been some concern about No Frills not accepting printed coupons, but I did some research and made a few calls. You should know:

It is No Frills policy to accept manufacturer’s coupons, including those printed on the Internet. However, from time to time, a location is hit with an influx of fraudulent coupons (easy to fake if they’re printed from a computer) and will temporarily disallow Internet coupons for a specific product. BUT, No Frills cannot turn away a printed coupon for a product that is not currently under scrutiny.

I received this information from the No Frills Customer Service line this morning. The rep then transferred me to my local store so that I could confirm the location was accepting Ziploc printed coupons – I was told they were. I took down the name of the person I spoke to and printed 5 coupons :) That’s 10 bags free for me!

I know it seems like a lot of effort for plastic bags, but I went through the extra steps so that I could blog this deal with peace of mind that readers should not be turned away for redeeming the coupon. Don’t forget: if your local No Frills is sold out, you can grab a flyer and price match the deal (and use the coupons) at Wal-Mart.

Special thanks to Tammi over at My Organized Chaos - she gave me the heads up about this awesome little promo!

If you’re a new customer to Picaboo, enter coupon code FREECC for a FREE(-ish) Classic Custom Photobook (you’ll just have to pay shipping, which is between $10-12 CDN). The Custom Photobooks normally retail for $40 (with a large hardcover), and based on several reviews, they’re supposed of excellent quality and are overall very beautifully done.

Simply design your book using Picaboo’s free software, and use the coupon code when you order your 8.5″ x 11″ Classic Custom book by March 22nd. The total cost of your book (including up to 20 pages) will be deducted from your order total. If you add more than 20 pages, the extra page cost will be $0.99 per page.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner… what a perfect gift!

Click here to visit Picaboo.

Reader Ellie performed a Random Act of Chocolate (ROAC) by letting me know this freebie was back!

For a limited time, grab your coupon for a FREE full-sized chocolate bar from the Mars family of goodies (Mars, Snickers, M&Ms, Twix, Bounty, Dove, Maltesers or 3 Musketeers).

You must order at least 2 coupons at a time from save.ca, so find another fab coupon and you’re good to go! Click here to request your coupons.

I can’t believe I forgot to blog this awesome freebie sooner, but for those who love Ronnie’s delicious brew as much as I do, chances are you’ve already seen the drive thru at least once!

(My husband just looked over my shoulder, read the post title and bolted out the door.)

This week, February 28th to March 6th, enjoy a FREE small coffee from McDonald’s! Their Premium Roast coffee is made with 100 per cent Arabica beans that are hand-picked and fire-roasted for a full-bodied flavour. It’s my very favourite coffee-to-go – try it once and you’ll be hooked too :)

The delicious freebie is limited to one per person, per visit. Enjoy!

Okay, obviously, if losing weight is NOT one of your New Year’s resolutions, and you live in the Greater Toronto Area, you should be all over this one:

Today’s FabFind is FREE Half-Dozen Original Glazed Doughnuts at Krispy Kreme!

The deal is available at the following locations:

Harbord St Doughnut Café | 215 Harbord St (647) 351-8911
Mississauga Hot Doughnut Factory | 5920 Mavis Rd (905) 826-2166

Click here to grab today’s FabFind freebie.

p.s. Just over 9000 available at 7:00am – Hurry!

I’ve heard of Mabel’s Labels… who’s Oliver?

Well, now you can get to know him better – today’s Peachy Buy deal of the day is a FREE Sample Pack of Oliver’s Labels.

(Technically, you have to pay a $1.50 shipping fee, so it’s not a true freebie. But I think it’s a nice and inexpensive way to sample the products before you purchase a larger pack.)

The Sample Pack includes: 5 Original Labels, 5 Mini Labels, 5 Stick-eez Clothing Labels and 2 Shoe Labels. Not too shabby! You can purchase up to two (2) per household and must redeem by March 7, 2011 (watch the calendar on this one – pretty quick expiry).

If you’ve got a little one, this is a sweet little dealio! The deal is on for the next three (3) days, but limited quantities are available.

Click here to purchase today’s Peachy Buy.

Ho Ho Ho!

FabFind is in the Christmas spirit – and raffling off TWENTY (20) pairs of FREE Gondola Suite tickets to see Leafs vs. Capitals on April 5th at the ACC (Value $590)!

LOVE today’s write up:

“We asked our office chimp, George, to plan our holiday party this year. We gave him a healthy budget. We told him he was not allowed to hire stripping Santas. And we made it clear that we wanted the event to be festive. So what does the chimp do with our credit card? He goes out and buys a suite for a Leafs game and tells us that he’s giving away the tickets. For free. When we asked if we were at least getting eggnog, he said, “No, you’re getting Ovechkin.” Fair enough.

So there you have it, the sweetest gift a chimp can muster: 20 pairs of free Leafs tickets. Since a whole lotta people want these tickets and we only have a limited amount to give, we’ve decided the fairest thing to do is allow everyone to claim a free lottery ticket and let the puck fall where it may. At 9 pm tonight, we will be randomly selecting and announcing 20 lottery numbers. If you hear your number, you are officially entitled to shed tears of joy. If you come up empty, we expect you’ll arrive at our office at 1 am and attempt to pelt us with waffles. Such is life when you’re a giver.

On behalf of everyone at FabFind, we’d like to thank you for being an amazing customer. We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. Peace, love, and prosperity. Now go get your free lottery ticket!”

Click here to grab your lottery ticket – hurry! Only about 9000 left at 7:45am. Thanks FabFind!