Shop Sears Brands for the Holidays plus $100 Gift Card Giveaway!

Christmas came a little early for us this year when Sears offered to send me a gift card to shop at their stores as well as one to giveaway. Sears exclusively carries a number of quality, budget-friendly brands that are perfect for holiday shopping lists. When I think of Sears brands, Craftsman, Kenmore and Lands' End are the names that immediately come to mind. I was unaware of some of their other exclusive brands like Apostrophe and Sofia Vergara, who offer stylish women's clothing.

From the moment I found out about the $200 gift card, I have been thinking about what I might buy with it. With the long list of exclusive brands shown above, I have lots and lots of options. The question is, do I buy a few smaller items or do I use it towards the purchase a single big ticket item?  I have put together a wishlist that has a few things from clothing to appliances.

My husband is a very loyal Craftsman tool user. All of his tools, including power tools, are Craftsman and he will not use anything else. And he is not alone as Craftsman is ranked by men as the No. 1 brand in America for overall quality. So I thought it might be nice to get him a power tool that he needs to put under the tree. With the freak October snowstorm we had this year, a lot of huge tree branches came down on our property. There are even some snapped branches dangling from trees in our front yard. It looks like one tree we will have to cut down completely. My husband realized that it would be a good idea for him to have a chainsaw to cut down the branches and trees and then cut them up to drag into the woods. He has been eyeballing one like this Craftsman 4 hp 18" Electric Chain Saw which is on sale for $99 online. If I was to get this for him this Christmas he would be thrilled!

I hardly ever buy anything for myself since having kids. However I did recently receive some cute, dressier outfits to wear and I am in need of something nice to wear over them. I love the design of this Apostrophe Women's Ruffle-Trim Cardigan currently on sale for just $19.99. This cardigan is regularly priced at $50.00 so this is a great deal. In addition to purple it also comes in heather, black and sand. As much as I love the purple color, I've added the black one to my wishlist. Black is just more versatile and will go with all of my new outfits.

I of course have to add something for the boys onto my Sears wishlist. This Christmas I may have gone a little crazy with the toy and video game purchases. In fact, I have not bought them a single item of clothing, which is not typical for me. My oldest could certainly use some pajamas and the Joe Boxer brand has some cute sets at low prices. He has shown a fascination with army related things lately. Just the other day we were eating dinner at a Chipotle and a group of soldiers in army fatigues walked in. He could not take his eyes off of them. So I thought this camouflage style Joe Boxer Boy's 2-Piece Mock Layer Shirt and Pant Pajama Set would be great for him.

Then I thought, maybe the best thing to do with the gift card would be to use it towards a purchase for the house, which in reality is for me too. Our dishwasher has not worked well in years. Once I became a stay at home mom back in 2007, it suddenly stopped getting the dishes clean. Often times things come out dirty and have to be rewashed. And forget glasses, they never come clean at all. I am sure a large part of the issue is our hard well water. But I also think that our dishwasher just can't handle the increased usage as it gets run at a minimum of twice a day. I have been dreaming of getting a new dishwasher for years, but since the current one technically still works, my husband has denied that wish. We have a Kenmore refrigerator that we have been very happy with and I have been looking at their dishwashers the past few nights. Kenmore is the number one player in the appliance industry and more people buy Kenmore than any other brand. Couple that with our past experiences and I feel good about buying their appliances going forward. The Kenmore line has several dishwashers in the $400 range, like this Kenmore 24" Built-In Dishwasher. While $400 is not chump change, it is certainly more affordable than some of the higher end models. The gift card obviously doesn't cover the entire cost, but it certainly makes it more affordable for us. Now I just need to convince my hubby that this is the way to go. Having a more efficient dishwasher will certainly save us money in the long run.

Now that I have my wishlist and some ideas of what I would like, I just need to sit down with my husband to make a final decision on what we should buy with our gift card. Ultimately it will probably come down to  a battle of the Craftsman Chainsaw versus the Kenmore Dishwasher. I'll have to keep you posted on who emerges victorious. Who are you rooting for? What are some of your favorite Sears brands?

Giveaway 
One (1) winner will receive a $100 Sears gift card that may be redeemed in store or online. Please use Rafflecopter entry form below.

This giveaway is open to legal residents of the United States, 18+ only and will end on December 22 at 12:01am EST. No P.O. Boxes. One winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Prize fulfillment is the responsibility of the sponsoring company. This blog and its author are not responsible for giveaway prizes that are lost in transit or damaged. This blog is also not responsible if a sponsor/company does not send prize(s). Naturally, I will communicate with said company(s) several times, and make every effort to resolve the issue. Good luck! 

I received a Sears gift card in exchange for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  Contains some affiliate links.

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