And so goes another month… bring on those May flowers already! Plenty for you to win today, including a trip for two to Tahiti WITH spending money, a fantastic Beauty and a just-in-time fashion giveaway, plus a huge tip on how to be the first one to scoop up the discounted gift card of your choice.

Win $200 in Flowers from 1-800 Flowers – It may not be just in time for Mothers Day, but enter to win $200 in May flowers in celebration of Mother’s Day. Win two Enchanting Tulips Bouquets (vase included) from 1-800-Flowers.com – one for you & one for the recipient of your choice (each valued at $99.99). Click here to see the Enchanting Tulip Bouquet from 1-800 Flowers. To enter, join Coupon Mountain on Facebook, or browse the 1-800 -Flowers deals page & website and answer the following questions in the comments section of the blog post/entry page: In your opinion, what 1-800-Flowers bouquet is the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Everyone who comments will be placed into a random drawing. The contest will end on May 4, 2011; see contest rules on the entry page.

Check Plastic Jungle for discounted 1-800 Flowers Gift Cards now   >>>

Bloomingdale’s Back to Basics Sweepstakes – Have you checked into Bloomingdale’s lately? Here’s your last chance to enter their giveaway, which includes 10 perfectly chosen wardrobe basics from Diane von Furstenburg, James Perse, Citizens of Humanity and more, in your size (worth about $1,600) to get you outfitted. Or click on the Bloomingdale’s SALE banner also on the home page, to get the latest in Women’s, Men’s, Children’s, and more goods on sale (and with a discounted Bloomie’s Gift Card from Plastic Jungle, you’ll increase your savings). Sweepstakes ends May 1, 2011; check the Bloomingdale’s sweepstakes rules for details.

Get a discounted Bloomingdale’s Gift Card now   >>>

Chicken of the Sea Funniest Kids’ Quotes Contest – Win big for the family. Log into Facebook, and look up Chicken of the Sea (or use our link, above). Write up that funny quote from your kids that you repeat to friends making them howl with laughter, because  Chicken of the Sea is giving away a trip to a Disney park for the winning quote, plus runners-up will get $1,000 and $500 respectively. Even better, every Friday during the contest features a random drawing for a Chicken of the Sea prize pack. To enter, submit your short essay on the Facebook entry page of the funny comment or question by June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Starting June 7 at 9 a.m. PDT, get ready to tell all your friends to vote for your funny story once a day because the entries with the most votes will win! Voting ends June 28, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. See Funniest Kids’ Quotes Contest official rules for details.

Get Chicken of the Sea with a discounted Target or discounted Walmart Gift Card now   >>>

Win $300 of Bobbi Brown Makeup – Just let Bobbi Brown in on your beauty secret and you could be chosen (randomly) as one of five winners of a $300+ Bobbi Brown prize pack: Bobbi’s Best Sellers Beauty Kit. Contest ends May 14, 2011; see contest rules for details.

WAIT There are more Bobbi Brown Giveaways — On Tuesday, May 3, 2011, between 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM EST, you could WIN Bobbi’s Secret Gift Bag in a Tweetstakes. Follow @AskBobbiBrown on Twitter and tweet a response to the prompt with the hashtag #BobbisSecret. Four winners will be chosen at random; check the contest rules for details.

Save on Bobbi Brown with a discounted Macy’s or discounted Nordstrom Gift Card now   >>>

Win a Trip to the Billabong Pro in Tahiti – You may not surf, but you may be looking for a free getaway or free honeymoon in Tahiti, or what the heck, both! Here’s your chance. There are FIVE of the grand prizes to be given away: a trip for TWO to Tahiti (to see the Billabong Pro surfing contest) plus $750 spending money. And just for good measure, the folks at Monster Energy drink are also sponsoring 100 of the 1^st Prizes: a cool Billabong backpack. Sweepstakes ends June 30, 2011; see the Monster Energy giveaway’s official rules on the entry page for details.

Get to Tahiti or plan your honeymoon without winning: Get a discounted American Airlines, discounted US Airways, discounted United Airlines, or discounted Southwest Airlines Gift Card now   >>>

DID YOU KNOW?

Set up a free account with Plastic Jungle (no financial account information required), and then you can set up email notifications for your favorite restaurants or merchants: you’ll be emailed when discounted gift cards or eCODEs from any one of our over 400 merchants come into stock on the site. So, even if there are no discounted United Airlines gift cards available right now, as soon as they come in, you’ll be the first to know!

Enjoy this last weekend of Spring showers and let’s welcome May in with a win! Good luck, and don’t forget to tell us what your favorite sweepstakes are. Perhaps I can respond with more giveaways in your interests.

February saw the Superbowl, the Oscars, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day all packed into a few short weeks. Plus, a few frozen moments across the country kept shoppers inside and online, no doubt.

Many of the usual favorite gift cards showed up in February’s Top Ten, plus a very conspicuous hanger-on at #11, giving hope to all girlfriends, wives, and mothers out there for something a little more than a card.

I’m thinking the bridal business might be busy this year, because TIFFANY & CO came in at #11 on the sales chart. (Right now, there are no discounted Tiffany & Co gift cards for sale on Plastic Jungle. You can set a Tiffany & Co alert to be notified via email when gift cards become available.)

Where did lingerie retailer VICTORIA’S SECRET land during the month for love? Still in the top 50, at #28, but well behind #9, CABELA’S.

10 JCPENNEY

Purchase discount JCPenney Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 14% Off.

9 CABELA’S

Purchase discount Cabela’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently up to 12% off.

8 BARNES & NOBLE

Purchase discount Barnes & Noble Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 9% Off.

7 KOHL’S

Purchase discount Kohl’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 14% Off.

6 MACY’S

Purchase discount Macy’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they come into stock. Set an Alert Now.

5 LOWE’S

Purchase discount Lowe’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% Off.

4 WALMART

Purchase discount Walmart Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 3% Off.

3 BEST BUY

Purchase discount Best Buy Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 6% Off.

2 TARGET

Purchase discount Target Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 3% Off.

1 HOME DEPOT

Purchase discount Home Depot Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% Off.

Ready to ditch your unused gift card and trade up to one of the favorites? You can safely and securely SELL your gift card on Plastic Jungle, with many different payout options.

What’s your favorite gift card of the moment? Something to get ready for spring — sporting goods or travel? Let us know in the comments below.

You might have heard of Covet.com or Gilt Groupe, promising exclusive savings and deals on the hottest apparel, accessories, and even décor and travel. If you’re to believe their hype, you’d think you could pick up a magazine, pick out a few outfits and a weekend getaway, and go online to find it all at 20-80% off. Is this possible?

Well, yes, it could be. Are you ready to shop at a moment’s notice? Do you have disposable income ready to snap up that hot bargain pair of jeans or that all-inclusive resort? Are you obsessive about never paying retail? OK then, let’s talk!

These sites offer good deals, and with a little check-in at Plastic Jungle, you can save even more. Here are some tips:

Get Thee to Covet.com

Covet’s hook is that you take a preference test, they call it the “Stylyzer”, based on the looks you like. They use familiar celebrities with trademarked looks: think Reese Witherspoon’s “Classic Preppy” JCrew looks, or Kate Hudson’s Hippie “Boho” Free People outfits, or Pink’s Urban melodrama via Diesel or Moschino.

After you finish your Stylyzer quiz, you get sale alerts for apparel and accessories that fit your profile. “Shop without Sin” is their tagline. In their sale alerts, you can buy sale or clearance merchandise from all over the web – Nordstrom to Ann Taylor to Zappos and plenty of other merchants whose DISCOUNTED GIFT CARDS you can purchase here on Plastic Jungle.

So: You get an alert for a sale, you jump onto PlasticJungle.com, purchase a discounted eCODE for the merchant with the sale, and wham-O! By the end of the day you’re saving an extra percentage off an item you’re very psyched about that is already on sale. Coordinating merchants include Nordstrom, Zappos, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Banana Republic, and many more.

Try also: Shop It To Me

As “Your Personal Online Shopper”, the Shop It To Me web bot crawls through department store and boutique sites looking for sales on the brands and designers you love. At your request for frequency, they’ll send you a “SaleMail”, an email loaded with items from your faves the minute they go on sale.

Other sale sites, such as Rue La La, Gilt Groupe and HauteLook (more designer clothing and haute travel), or Zulily (moms and kids gear), or One King’s Lane (amazing home décor), have awesome sales “boutiques” that sell items direct from the designers. You need to sign up, and there are no personal profiles to select specific brands, but the savings are substantial and come right to your email inbox. (Super Shopper Hint: these sites are amazing for introducing you to new brands.)

Remember, if you have a favorite brand, such as Armani Exchange, Coach, Victoria’s Secret, Ann Taylor, even Burberry (or a hundred more merchants), you can always check Plastic Jungle for discount gift cards. If none are in stock, set an alert so that when one does come into stock, Plastic Jungle will automatically email you so that you can snap it up to get up to 35% off.

Friday Gift Card Giveaways 2/18/2011

We Junglers are a savvy shopping bunch. We’re also big-time travelers. And eaters… we love to dine out! And just like everyone else, we love a good deal. So what happens when an entire office is constantly trolling the web for the best deals? You get a ton of juicy scoop on the best deals and discounts from a huge spectrum of retailers, airlines, hotel chains, and restaurants.

In fact, if you have a question about any retailer, airline, hotel chain, restaurant chain, it’s a good bet we could come up with an answer for you. Just ask your question in the comments section of the blog, and we’ll get the info to you, or at least start a discussion on the topic. One of the biggest questions we get is “How do I check the balance on my gift card?” The answer is that every retailer is different, but if you check our “Gift Card Balance” blog posts, you’ll find answers for the most traded gift cards on Plastic Jungle, including Walmart, Home Depot, Target, and Gap Brands.

Plus with all that web-hopping, we’re bound to come across a few eye-popping big-ticket sweepstakes and giveaways too good to keep to ourselves.

Here’s our weekly installment of Friday Gift Card Giveaways.

PopSugar’s FreshGuide City Ultimate Sweepstakes: Fashionistas know Rachel Zoe and The Zoe Report for cutting edge style, and you’re in for a taste of that with this sweepstakes win. Win airfare for two, plus three nights in Miami at the very cool Gansevoort Hotel, right in the heart of Miami Beach. The sweepstakes ends March 18, 2011. Be 18 to enter, and see contest rules for details.

If you’re following Rachel Zoe style and need a few new things for spring, check out Plastic Jungle’s discounted Bon-Ton Department Store Gift Cards, discounted Boscov’s Department Store Gift Cards, discounted Claire’s Gift Cards, discounted Macy’s Gift Cards, discounted JCrew Gift Cards and much, much more in the way of style on sale.

And now for something completely different (told you we are a diverse bunch!):

Cabela’s 50 Years, 50 Trucks Sweepstakes:  Celebrating 50 years as The World’s Foremost Outfitter, outdoors retailer Cabela’s is happy to be giving away quite a few of the items that makes them famous. You could win prizes including one of 50 Chevy Trucks, one of 50 $500 Visa Gift Cards, win a walleye fishing trip for two, one of 50 elite rod and reel sets, and much more. You can make Cabela’s purchases to win, but you don’t have to: just submit your name and contact information for a free sweepstakes entry. Giveaway ends December 31, 2011, and you must be 21 years old to enter. See Cabela’s sweepstakes rules for details.

Win one of 50 Chevy Trucks in Cabela's fantastic sweepstakes.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on a new rod and reel, get a discounted Cabela’s Gift Card or eGift Card (eCODE) here on Plastic Jungle. At time of writing, get up to 12% off a Cabela’s Gift Card (eCODE) for use today!

The Classic DVF Wrap Dress for this Spring

Bloomingdale’s Diane von Furstenberg $5000 Giveaway:  Now’s your time to enter to win a $5,000 DVF (Diane von Furstenberg) home and fashion gift pack on Bloomingdales.com. In celebration of launching DVF’s exquisite Home collection at Bloomingdale’s, the two have paired up to give shoppers a chance at winning fashionable DVF merchandise, including a DVF wrap dress, DVF sunglasses, a DVF bedding ensemble, plus DVF shoes, DVF sunglasses and more. This fashion sweepstakes ends March 9, 2011; see Bloomingdale’s DVF Giveaway Rules on the entry form for details.

Discounted Bloomingdale’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle  >>

Fashion Mash-up: Check out Rachel Zoe’s interview with Diane von Furstenberg on The Zoe Report.

Wheat Thins Crunch Den College Basketball Tournament Giveaway: About 200,000 people like Wheat Thins on Facebook, and they already know about this fantastic March Madness giveaway! Don’t wait for your chance to win a trip for four to Las Vegas for the April 1-5, 2011 round of NCAA tournament games (during the NCAA Final Four tournament). The prize includes airfare and hotel, and a viewing party of the games from The Palms Hardwood Suite (which should be seen to be believed). Just “like” Wheat Thins on Facebook (log in or sign up to Facebook) to enter. The giveaway ends March 7, 2011 and you must be 21 to enter; see Wheat Thins contest rules for details.

Get a discount on Wheat Thins with discounted Target Gift Cards and discounted Walmart Gift Cards.

We at Plastic Jungle have our eyes and ears open for all kinds of giveaways, but if you know of a good one, we’d love to hear about it!

Happy (hopefully three-day) weekend!

If you’ve recently taken advantage of our sweet discounts off apparel retailers’ gift cards (at time of writing, save up to 14% on American Apparel Gift Cards, 14% on Kohl’s Gift Cards, 11% on The Limited Gift Cards, 10% on bebe Gift Cards, 18% on Lucky Brand Denim Gift Cards, plus a very limited supply of Bloomingdale’s Gift Cards and Macy’s Gift Cards ) you likely have your eye on something to purchase.

Have you considered what’s showing for Spring/Summer ‘11? We’ve got a shopping guide ready for you. Spring 2011 lines popped a few trends to the forefront:

Color Blocking: Check out W magazine’s bold accessories showing. Color is strong, contrasting, and makes a statement. Consider these choices from JCrew Collection: vivid pencil skirt, textured and rich leather pocket shirt, royal blue silk shirt and the duchesse short.

White?: Or is it Chalk? Pastel? Whatever you call it, it’s pale, chic, and just barely on the white spectrum. Take a look at Anthropologie’s riff on the trend with their Cloud Art Dress and Draped Denim Dress. Check the palette on JCrew’s washed crepe Nanene dress – nuances of color as well as one or two deep, rich tones.

Hemlines: Harper’s Bazaar shows long and billowy for the fresh weather.

Harper's Bazaar Billowing Skirts

Glam Disco-Era Looks: Palazzo Pants (tips on wearing the blousy style at WhatEmmaDid.com) and Pajama Dressing. Editors at Elle magazine give tips on coordinating the baggy style with slim pieces.

Minimal White: StyleCaster and Christina Gregoire, among other blogging fashionistas, think Minimal White is the new “little black”.

Bohemian Chic: Consider this trend an extension on its long-running favor, with lace on your backpocket or pocketbook. Check out Lucky Brand Denim’s clever paisley block prints. Editors at W magazine don’t want you to travel style-less and put together a few trendy travel pieces for you.

–>>Get a Lucky Brand Gift Card at 18% off!

Quick Reference: As a whole, we’re happy to refer to the TallGirlTale’s Take on Nordstrom’s list of top 10 Spring Fashions. And the Shopping Girl’s fave must-read, Lucky Magazine, is favoring all of us with a list of Lucky Magazine’s list of Spring Trends on Sale.

Follow WWD on Facebook or Twitter for the latest on NY Fashion Week

Don’t Forget Fall! It’s doubtful the media will let you forget this is Fashion Week for Fall 2011. Here’s a little peek on Tom Ford and the new minimal shows trending right now from the New York Times Fashion pages. And don’t forget to take a peek at notes from the deep-in-the-trenches trend followers at WWD (formerly Women’s Wear Daily) – go straight to WWD.com/Eyescoop to find out what the retail buyers are seeing (and looking to put on the racks).

Need cash for your new picks? Don’t forget that if you have an unused or partially used gift card you’d like to swap, Plastic Jungle is the web’s largest secure gift card exchange site. There are tons of Gift Card Exchange Options on Plastic Jungle for those looking to cash in on unused gift cards.

I have a feeling the best-selling (and favorite) retail fashion pieces for Spring and Summer 2011 will fall in the chambray Palazzo Pants category, along with lacey white blouses and printed structured dresses. What’s your next piece to buy? And what are your favorite collections? Let us know with your comments, below.