Tag: bargain hunting

That’s My Pet: Cat

Did you know that over 60 million cats are owned in the United States, and that 30-37% of American households have a cat? It’s estimated that over 60% of American households have at least one pet.

In this DealDash Blog series we are highlighting different pets, give some basic facts about pet ownership, and hopefully help you make informed decisions about your new furry, feathered, or finned family member.

Today’s pet is the cat. Unlike some more unusual pets, everyone has owned or at least know someone who has owned a cat. However, it’s said that you never own a cat, you just share a home with them, feed them, empty their litter box, and if you’re lucky, occasionally get some affection from them.

I was just joking above, but it’s no laughing matter that a house cat needs it’s owner to survive.  Indoor cats are totally dependent on their owners for all their needs — food, water, medical attention, exercise, shelter, and even companionship. For many people the benefits of cat ownership outweigh the daily grind of chores, but for others, their lifestyles make it impossible, especially for people who like to travel for more than a long weekend.

Before you make the commitment to bringing home a new cat or kitten please keep in mind that they will not only need to be spayed or neutered, they will also need a variety of shots, the suggested core vaccines are feline panleukopenia (distemper), feline viral rhinotracheitis, feline calicivirus, and rabies. In addition to shots it’s also advised that you apply a flea medication to them monthly. If your cat doesn’t ever leave the house or associate with other animals (such as a dog that goes outside to potty) then you might be able to get away with skipping the flea treatments.

Cats are relatively simple in their needs inside the home. Here’s a quick list of things that you will need for you new pet as well as a few bonus options.

  • Food & water bowl
  • Food
  • Litter box, litter, litter scooper
  • Scratching post (optional)
  • Toys (optional)
  • Brush (optional)
  • Cat bed (optional)

I hope that this article has helped you understand a little bit about what is involved in owning a cat or kitten. If you are in the market for cat beds, cat toys, a pet store gift card, or any other pet-related items head on over to DealDash‘s “Other” section and see what they have up for bid today. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

That’s My Pet: Freshwater Fish

 

“Mom, Dad, can I have a pet?” Is this a familiar question in your house? It certainly is in mine, and we are in good company. It’s estimated that over 60% of American households have at least one pet.

In this new DealDash Blog series we will highlight different pets, give some basic facts about pet ownership, and hopefully help you make informed decisions about your new furry, feathered, or finned family member. Let’s get started!

Today’s pet is the Freshwater Fish. As a person who spent a few years working at a pet store, and also as a pet owner I would say one of the best pets to start a younger child out with is a freshwater fish aquarium. You can spend less than $40 to get a basic freshwater fish aquarium going with everything you need, or you can go as big and as fancy as you would like for more money.

 

There are a huge variety of different aquariums that you can get for your first set-up, most people find that the easiest thing to do is to get a kit that is already pre-assembled. However, if you would prefer to pick up the pieces yourself, here are the very basics that are recommended for a freshwater fish aquarium:

  • Fish tank or aquarium
  • Gravel
  • Light source
  • Filter
  • Water conditioner
  • Air pump with airstone
  • Thermometer
  • Fish food
  • Heater (perhaps not needed if you are getting goldfish)
  •  Plants, rocks, decorations (optional)

Other than those items everything else such as a background, live plant, or pirate chest decoration is completely and totally optional and can be added at a later time if you so choose.

The size and type of aquarium that you purchase can determine the type and quantity of fish that you choose to put in your new aquarium. When people first start out with keeping freshwater fish they usually go 1 of 3 ways – Betta fish in a tiny aquarium, community fish in a medium-sized aquarium, or goldfish in a medium to large aquarium. Of course, there are many many many more types of freshwater fish to choose from, but these are the most popular options for beginners.

 

My personal favorite of these 3 options is the community tank. Most people use a 10-29 gallon aquarium for their community tank, and stock it with fish such as Mollies, Guppies, Platys, Tetras, and algae eaters. There are SO many more community fish to choose from, but those are some of the most popular options that should be easy to find in your local pet store.

Setting up your aquarium can be a easy or complicated as you would like to make it, depending on what look you are trying to achieve. Here are the basic steps:

  • Put your aquarium on whatever surface that you will be keeping it on long term, be it an actual aquarium stand, a dresser, table, desk, etc.
  • Rinse your gravel and put it in the aquarium sloping it a little bit up towards the back
  • Treat your tap water with a water conditioner and add it to the aquarium, leaving a few inches unfilled at the top
  • Install your heater, filter, and thermometer
  • Add any decorations that you would like
  • Finish filling the water to the top
  • Plug in heater and filter
  • Wait 24-48 hours before adding any fish

 

As a general rule you can add about 1″ of (Full Grown fish length) per gallon of water. For instance if you have a 10 gallon aquarium you can add 10 fish that will be 1″ long when they are full grown. Don’t be fooled by the size the fish are when you buy them, make sure that you do your research to see how big your fish will be when they are full grown.

I hope that this article has helped you understand a little bit about setting up a freshwater fish aquarium. If you are in the market for an aquarium, pet store gift card, or any other pet-related items head on over to DealDash‘s “Other” section and see what they have up for bid today. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

All-Season Gardening with Gardman and DealDash

Do you know what can help make a great summer even better? Awesome outdoor gardening items from Gardman!

Do you have a garden or a small greenhouse in your yard? Gardman has a super selection of different outdoor gardening products – there’s the Four Tier Mini Greenhouse, the Walk-In 4X6 Greenhouse, the R700 5-Shelf Steel Frame Greenhouse, and finally the  Foldaway R616 Garden Kneeler Seat for when you’re feeling like you need a little comfort. I’ve seen for myself that their greenhouses are durable, hold up to the elements, are easy to put together, and can grow amazing amounts of plants and flowers in a relatively small space.

If you’re interested in the background of Gardman, Gardman USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gardman Ltd., the UK’s leading supplier of lawn and garden, and wild bird care products. They are known for innovative and high quality products without breaking the bank to buy them. Gardman USA has established itself as one of the key suppliers to the independent garden center trade. Gardman closely follows the design trends in Europe but keeps an eye toward American tastes. Gardman USA also follows market trends in Australia, China, and the UK for inspiration on new product development.

 

If you’re just starting to get the idea that you would like to get a greenhouse, might I suggest that you start with the Gardman Four Tier Mini Greenhouse? It’s great because you can see if you like having a greenhouse in your garden, but it really doesn’t take up that much space at all, pretty much any size garden can accommodate this multi-tier mini greenhouse. You can put the Gardman Four Tier Mini Greenhouse on a deck, patio, or balcony. It has a sturdy, tubular steel frame and a removable, clear plastic cover with full length roll up zippered access. Inside, there are shelves for pots and seed trays. You can propagate your seeds while adding a little decoration to your garden with this  multi-tier mini greenhouse.

 

If you have moved past the mini greenhouse stage and are ready for something a little bigger, the Walk-In 4X6 Greenhouse with shelving might be right up your alley. This greenhouse offers plenty of space for pots and gardening tools and comes with multiple open shelves.Design-wise it has a heavy-duty reinforced cover and a roll-up door. Pegs and guy ropes are included for additional stability. No tools are required for assembly of this unique structure. In addition to that, Gardman even offers a 1 year warranty on this greenhouse!

 

If you’re ready to take the plunge into owning a greenhouse, DealDash offers a variety of Gardman greenhouses for your bidding pleasure. You can set your Bid Buddy and get one of these great products for a fraction of the cost! If you don’t happen to win the auction, though, you can still be a winner by using BIN (Buy it Now). When you BIN you get the product that you wanted, all of your bids back, free shipping, and keep all of the bids that you won as being the highest bidder. Good luck and happy bidding everyone.

Makia Clothing has Invaded DealDash!

Makia Clothing has Invaded DealDash! And we LOVE it!

Have you seen all of the new Makia Clothing products that have been showing up on DealDash lately? There are a HUGE number of awesome Makia Clothing gear available, let me show you – starting with hats, we have the Makia Cap in Asphalt gray, Navy blue, and my personal favorite, the Makia Rooibos Tea Calypso Cap, which is a burnt sienna type of color.

 

 

Other than hats there are also backpacks and bags available – my favorite is the Sailor Bag in black and pink, but there is also a Duffle Bag and a backpack, both available in denim.

 

 

Makia is a clothing company that was founded in 2001 and based out of Helsinki, Finland. They offer a great variety of clothing, including both men’s and women’s styles, as well as gender-neutral items such as the hats and bags above, but they also offer scarves and wallets which we will hopefully be seeing on DealDash  soon!

Makia Clothing loves sports, they were actually a sponsor of the first ever Winter Olympic Team Zimbabwe last year! Makia provided the outfits for team Zimbabwe. In addition to winter sports, they also love racing! As a Southern girl transplanted up North I appreciate racing as much as the next girl! The Makia Racing Team was founded in 2012, and their star driver is Kimi Raikkonen, who drives for team Ferrari. They have come out with a line of racing gear such as hats, hoodies, and tee shirts. If we’re lucky maybe DealDash will start having Makia Racing gear available as well!

In addition to sports the folks at Makia Clothing love beer! Makia’s newest collection is actually inspired by it! They love beer so much that they decided to dedicate their whole spring-summer 2015 collection around it. They went on a multi-country expedition to get to know their muse a little better, and I have to say it was a success!

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Makia Clothing a little better. Go get out there and try to win some, you will be glad you did! Good luck everyone!

 

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Tonfisk Design Elevates Style for the Kitchen

Tonfisk Design is an awesome company from Finland that really knows their way around the kitchen…With style!

Translated from Swedish, Tonfisk actually means “tuna fish”, which might sound a little strange, but when you see their products you will forget their quirky name and enjoy the clean elegant style that the Finnish are known for. You might wonder who makes all of these interesting products – the main designer is Brian Keaney, however the company has taken products into production from several different Finnish designers.

Tonfisk

Tonfisk Design has a lot of interesting and different things to explore, one of my favorites is actually an extendable flower vase – perfect for when someone brings you flowers that are just too short or tall for any vases you have. It’s made of two parts, the lower part is made of porcelain and the upper part is made of laminated oak or walnut. The upper part can be raised or lowered to fit your flower’s height and still look great. This flower vase from Tonfisk Designs is called KasVu, in case you would like to do a little more research on it.

Another Tonfisk Designs favorite of mine is the “WARM” collection. WARM is a tea and coffee set that combines ceramic teacups and teapots with bracelets of laminated bent wood. Held on by friction, the wood acts as a handle and also insulates your tea or coffee. Since its launch in 1998 WARM tea and coffee set has become a ‘mini classic’ of Finnish and Scandinavian design.

Tonfisk WARM

If you’re like me you want to be sure that it’s easy to clean all of your kitchen items. You might ask yourself, “Can I use a dishwasher with these products?” The answer is YES! You can wash these products in the dish washer. All of the Tonfisk Design products are tested and certified for safety and have a food safe and durable glaze. You can also clean the wooden parts with a wet cloth. However, afterwards you should dry the parts at room temperature with good air circulation. The wooden parts are waterproof in normal use, however you should definitely avoid leaving the wooden parts in water and getting soaked, though. If this should happen, remove the handles from the water and leave them to dry on a table for a day or so. The handles should return to their original shape.

If you like  the products from Tonfisk Design that I have shown you, there are many more to explore, and DealDash will be offering them soon. The best part about winning these items from DealDash is that instead of ordering them directly from Finland, DealDash ships it to us for free! Saving on shipping alone makes me loyal to DealDash. It’s so fun to be able to try products that aren’t as easily available in America. Good luck everyone, and Happy Bidding!