Deal Dash Archives - Page 39 of 80

Learning About Fine Jewelry Metals with DealDash

Do you know much about fine jewelry and the metals it’s made out of? I knew absolutely nothing until my husband and I were shopping for rings. Let’s learn more with a little help from DealDash.

I found the differences between yellow gold, white gold, pink gold, and platinum fascinating. It’s a little tricky, but let me tell you how they make the different colors of gold, and what the different “K” (karat) numbers mean. Let me just make it simple by telling you about the basics behind alloys. 24 karat gold is 100% pure gold which is far too soft to hold up to the everyday wear of a wedding band. So how do we make rings that we can wear? With alloys! Alloys are created by mixing different metals together to create a stronger version of itself.

14k gold is extremely durable, and it contains 58% pure gold. 18k gold is also very strong but is also richer in color since it contains 75% pure gold, this makes it the more precious, and also the more expensive option. In the case of yellow gold the remainder is a mix of equal parts silver and copper with a small amount of zinc. Making rose gold is really very similar – like yellow gold, rose gold is alloyed with silver, copper and zinc. However, the ratio is shifted to incorporate more copper and less silver, resulting in a warmer hue. Palladium white gold is the same deal – except it’s a mix of pure gold, copper, silver, and palladium.

Platinum is a completely different story. It may look very similar to palladium white gold, but it’s really nothing alike. Jewelry that’s made out of platinum is significantly more expensive that jewelry made of of gold, because platinum is about 30 times more rare than gold. And while gold is made with maybe 50-75% gold and the rest out of alloy metals, platinum is usually much more pure, averaging about 90-95% purity, which really drives up the price.

Personally, my husband and I opted for our rings to be made out of platinum. The main reason being is that is such a strong metal, and through it may develop a patina over time, it’s very easy to clean off with jewelry cleaner, or even just some warm soapy water.

Even though our wedding rings are platinum, most of my other jewelry is made out of different colors of 14 & 18 karat gold. I personally wouldn’t go to the expense of having all of my regular jewelry be platinum!

If you’re in the market to do a little jewelry shopping, why not see what DealDash has to offer? DealDash often has ear rings, necklaces, bracelets, jewelry boxes, and even Zales gift cards available for auction. And don’t forget, if you are bidding on an item and you don’t end up winning, you can always Buy It Now (BIN) and get all of your bids back. This is especially useful in the case of gift cards, since DealDash even provides free shipping! Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

$50 Zales Gift Cards

Cooking a Winter Stew with DealDash

I don’t know about you, but I know that my family eats differently in winter than in summer. Let’s take a peek at a wintery meal we can prepare with help from DealDash .

My family eats a lot of soups and stews during the cold and wintery months. It seems to be a common theme in cooking magazines, as well as with people I know. Not only are they filling, moderately healthy (depending on what you add), they are also something that you can make with just items that you have on hand in the freezer and pantry. That means if it’s cold and snowing outside you won’t have to leave your cozy little nest of a home to go to the supermarket.

One of my favorite kitchen items in the winter is my crock pot/slow cooker. I actually have 3 crock pots of different sizes – a huge one that can accommodate a roast, a medium one that’s great for a stew or for soup, and a smaller one that can be for a gravy or fondue. I get a lot of use out of these in the winter months, if you don’t already have a crock pot (or three!) check them out on DealDash, here.

Hamilton Beach 5-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

If you are just getting started with using a slow cooker, you might be interested in a simple stew recipe:

Simple Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped

How do you do it? Simple!

Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

That’s it! And really, one of the great things about a stew like this is if you are missing an ingredient, such as the celery or the carrots you can always exclude that item, or even swap it for a different item such as peas. Personally, since I am allergic to fish and seafood I exclude the Worcestershire sauce and add in a splash of soy sauce instead. It’s delicious!

Hamilton Beach 70950 SaladXpress Counter-top Food Processor Electric w/Cones KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, Apple Green T-Fal Initiatives 18-Piece Nonstick Inside and Out Cookware Set

I hope this article has encouraged you to try to make a simple winter stew with your slow cooker. If you’re interested in getting some items to help you with cooking at home head on over to DealDash. DealDash has food processors, stand mixers, cookware, and plenty of other items that you can use. Check out the Kitchen & Appliances category and I’m sure that you’ll find something that you can use to make your kitchen better. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Here in Massachusetts we are gearing up for our very first snow of the season! It’s coming remarkably late in the year, it was a beautiful 60 degrees on Christmas Eve. Let’s think about snow…

When you think about snow, what is the first thing that you think of? Well, if you’re a grown up, you are probably thinking about snow removal. No fun! We will get to that later, but for now, let’s think like kids. And how do kids feel about snow? They love it! If it’s a lighter snow they get to go out and play, and if it’s a heavier snow they even get to skip going to school. What kid doesn’t love a snow day?

When you think about playing in the snow, they first thing that comes to my mind, as a parent, is warm snow gear. If your kids old snow gear doesn’t fit anymore, or if they didn’t receive any new snow gear this year for Christmas, you might want to head on over to DealDash and check out their gift card section, here. DealDash has quite a large selection of gift cards, and there are plenty of cards available to stores that carry all manner of snow gear such as snowsuits, boots, hats, gloves, etc. Some cards that you might want to check out are Sears, Target, Wal*Mart, or even Cabela’s Sports if you are looking to get some higher quality snow gear for an older kid or teen who likes to snowboard or ski.

Alright, let’s talk about the less fun side of snow – snow removal. Snow removal can be as difficult and backbreaking or as easy as you want it to be, you just have to have the right tools for the job. If it’s a very light dusting of snow, and you just want to shovel your walk so it’s easier and safer for your family and others to walk on, just use a shovel, no problem. If it’s a mid-level snow, and the classic shovel is a bit too backbreaking for your taste, how about getting a snow pusher? They are similar to a shovel, except they have a long flat blade that you can just push the snow out of the way like a human snow-dozer. Of course, for the heaviest snow you are going to need to pull out all of the stops and use your snow blower! The good news is, DealDash has all of these snow removal products and more. Check out the Home, Garden, & Tools section here and check out all of the great products that are up for auction to make your life easier for you.

Well, I’m off to organize my snow tools, then relax with a hot tea, and check out the auctions. See you on DealDash everyone! Good luck and happy bidding.

Beating the Holiday Bulge with DealDash

Did you or a family member overindulge a little too much this holiday season? Maybe it’s time to trim down with a little help from DealDash.

There are a couple of different ways that you can accomplish this, diet and exercise, and of course the best course of action is to use both in conjunction. It will make you look better and feel better, too.

For starters, you might want to start with some light stretching and mild exercise using something like an exercise ball. You can get an exercise ball on DealDash by following this link here. If you would like to try something a little more difficult once you have mastered the exercise ball, how about trying one of the new compact sized elliptical trainers? They are small enough to store in a closet, but they provide a lot of the features the full sized elliptical trainers provide such as strides per minute, total number of strides, exercise time and calories burned while you exercise. You can find an auction for a compact elliptical trainer on DealDash here.

Next up is trying to eat right and get all of your nutrients and try to keep the calories low. A great way to do this would be to try and replace breakfast or lunch with a delicious, healthy smoothie. It’s possible to make a smoothie with a plain classic blender, but its much easier and faster to use something like a Magic Bullet. The Nutribullet Magic Bullet is a blender that is designed to be used as a space saving replacement for other appliances such as a blender, food processor, and electric juicer. The Magic Bullet is compact in size and consists of an electric blender base with a number of attachments. Here is a list of the attachments:

screw-on blade attachment
two mixing cups, one short and one tall
two handled cups, called by the manufacturer “Party Mugs”, which can be used to blend individual drinks
lids for the cups, intended for storing foods
an instruction manual which also contains a recipe book

If you’d like to try and slim down with smoothies, DealDash can help you with Nutribullet auctions here.

Of course, when you use diet and exercise together you will see results much faster than just doing one or the other. Start small, go easy, and build your way up to health and fitness with a little help from DealDash. Good luck and happy bidding everyone!

What Will We Do With All of These Presents?

Let’s face it, as wonderful as Christmas is, the aftermath can be a mess! What are you going to do with all of your extra stuff? Let DealDash help.

First off, if you hosted your family’s Christmas celebration, I bet you have a lot of food left. So let’s talk about food storage first. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like it when my foods are stored sharing containers in the fridge. The flavors and smells kind of meld together and I just don’t care for it. So when I am hosting people in my home I make sure that I have plenty of extra food storage containers handy and ready to go. If you are in need of food storage containers check out DealDash’s Kitchen & Appliances section, there are a few different options that come up frequently for auction. I personally prefer the glass ones, but they do tend to be a bit more expensive than their plastic counterparts, and also get very hot to touch after you have heated them in the microwave.

Rubbermaid 40-Piece Food Storage Set Pyrex Premium Glass Lids Storage Container Set (Set of 3)

How about all of those new DVDs, Blu-Rays, books, and video games that you or your kid’s might have gotten for Christmas? You might need to expand your entertainment storage a little bit by getting a new bookshelf or cabinet so you can display your new items. DealDash has a ton of different options, try browsing the Home & Office category on DealDash. I know that one of my husband’s biggest complaints is that we have too many DVDs and books just randomly stashed around the family room and kid’s playroom. That problem is easily solved by getting one of these great storage units.

Systembuild 9 Cube Storage - Resort Cherry South Shore Storage Cabinet Sauder O'Sullivan Multimedia Storage Tower

Lastly, and probably the most prolific if you have younger children – toy storage! The Toys, Kids, & Baby section on DealDash has a ton, of course! There are different toy storage options for both boys, girls, and also in neutral colors. At my house we have one of each of these options – it’s a great way to be able to organize the toys that specifically belong to either my son or daughter, and then the neutral bins I store the toys that they like to share together, such as the Legos and other building toys, art supplies, puzzles, and other things.

Delta Children Disney Mickey Mouse Toy Organizer Disney Multi-Bin Toy Organizer Tot Tutors Toy Organizer

I hope that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas together and got everything that you were wishing for! Good luck and happy bidding everyone.