So long 2009

Here we are at the beginning of the year...

Here we are at the end of the year....

Where did 2009 go? Overall it has been a very good year. Thanks to all my blog reader's who've shared the adventure with me. Wishing you all peace, happiness, and prosperity for 2010. I can't wait to see what the new year holds for all of us. Happy New Year!

Recovering from the holidays

Hope everyone is having a great day. Can you believe we are almost finished with another year? We've been traveling to see family and have been busy, busy.

Santa surprised me with a Keurig coffee maker. I actually don't drink coffee, but I love, love, love tea and this machine has been awesome. I am so happy with it. Be sure to check these out if you haven't seen them before.

Well, gotta run for now. I hope to have some fun posts before we end 2009. But today there are errands that have to be done.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Christmas Brunch

Merry Day After Christmas everyone! I thought I'd share pix and the recipes of some of the dishes I made on Christmas morning. These were all a big hit. We had a wonderful Christmas.

The first picture is of a Country Sausage and Grits and Cheese Casserole. I got this recipe a few years ago and it is always a big hit. It is a heavy casserole and very filling. I'm providing a link to a previous post where I shared the recipe.
http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2008/11/brunch-recipes-country-grits-casserole.html



This is another recipe I made called Nutty Orange Coffee Cake and it is a Paula Deen recipe. It is a great sweet to offer along with casseroles. It has an orange glaze over top and it is yummy. There was none of this left. This one gets high marks from me.





One note, I do not own a bundt pan, but I do have an angel food cake pan. I line a cookie sheet w/ foil and use that pan. You'll need to do this because the butter drips through the pan otherwise. Because I used the big angel food cake pan, I used 3 cans of biscuits. They were out of buttermilk, so I used regular canned biscuits and the recipe turned out fine.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/nutty-orange-coffee-cake-recipe/index.html

This next recipe is a new one I decided to try that Kraft Foods sent out in an email earlier in the week. It is called Crustless Bacon and Cheese Quiche. This recipe is another new favorite of mine. It was very easy to make and tasted yummy.

A note on this recipe. It calls for fresh mushrooms and I forgot to buy them. I had a small can of mushrooms in my pantry and the night before I drained them and put them in a paper towel in a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. Then I followed the directions and even though they weren't fresh they were still really good. So this is a recipe you can change in a pinch if you don't have the fresh mushrooms. I also used turkey bacon and it was fine and blended in great.

I will definitely be making this again. I have to say I liked that it has red and green in it. Helped make the table look Christmasy. :) Here is a link to Kraft's website so you can get it.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/crustless-bacon-cheese-quiche-105213.aspx
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/crustless-bacon-cheese-quiche-105213.aspx

Here is the final dish I made. This is a hashbrown casserole. I don't remember where I found this on the Internet. The only difference is I didn't make the corn flake crust that the recipe calls for and it didn't affect the taste. It is a good recipe. I have to say that the next time I make it I will get the cornflakes and put that on top. It would taste good with that crunchy topping.

Hashbrown Potato Casserole
2 lbs. frozen hash browns, Southern style (thawed)1 stick melted butter1 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. pepper1 can cream of chicken soup1 pt. sour cream1/2 c. chopped onions10 oz. pkg. shredded cheddar cheese
TOPPING:1 c. crushed corn flakes3 tbsp. melted butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Arrange in baking dish, 9 x 13 inches. Sprinkle with corn flakes. Top with butter. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

I hope you'll get a chance to try and enjoy these recipes. These would be great with New Year's Day coming up. This worked out well for our family because we didn't have a Christmas lunch, so this filled us up until closer to dinner time.

I hope you are enjoying the holidays. Happy eating, shopping, and being merry!

Packing up the sleigh

Well, we are throw things left and right this morning and packing up the sleigh to head over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house. So, I don't think I'm going to have a chance to post the pix of the holiday decorations on Monument Avenue. Hopefully soon.

We will be on reindeer watch later. We've still got to get the magical reindeer oats ready. And Santas is getting the 7 layer bars I made yesterday. Just hope Santa doesn't run into Old Man Possum who lives somewhere here and shows up to frolick amongst our Christmas lights at night.

Be safe out there if you are doing any last minute shopping. And remember, Santa is watching!

Gingerbread House

Happy Wednesday everyone! Can you believe we are almost to Christmas? I'm excited that we got a lot of things accomplished yesterday, so I think we have things in good shape.

Today I wanted to share with you our gingerbread house creation. Sawyer and I put it together last week. I should say I put it together and he put some of the candy on it. I think next year will be fun because he will be able to help more. Also, I think next year I'm buying candy canes and extra candies to decorate it. I love the idea of lots of candy on it.

One reason I really wanted to try to do a gingerbread house this year is because I've been reading the story, "The Gingerbread Baby" with Sawyer. If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend it. It is a really cute story and can be read year round, but it is especially fun for this time of the year with folks making gingerbread houses and cookies. This is a small book and would make a great stocking stuffer. I've seen it at Barnes and Noble. I actually got our copy after Christmas last year at Ben Franklin.

Some tips I'll share that I found when putting this together. The package says the icing dries fast and it does. I had everything I needed laid out so I could work as fast as I could. Also, because it was really me by myself putting together the walls and the roof, I found it was easier to use my juice glasses to help with supporting the walls as I worked. To be honest, I think it just made me feel better. The icing seemed to dry and be stiff enough that I wasn't having problems with it caving in.

This is definitely going to be a tradition in our house. We had a lot of fun putting it together.

Tomorrow I will have a post featuring the gorgeous decorations from the old homes on Monument Avenue located in Richmond, Virginia.

Well, I'm off to do some baking. Dh wants some 7 layer bars and I'd love to do gingerbread men to go with our gingerbread house. Hope you are having a great Wednesday.

Our lights

Every year dh and I get excited talking about our holiday lights display. And every year it seems we add a little something more to it. We decided a few years ago to do all white lights which we like because we haven't seen many all white lights displays in our area. So, we've looked for different things that will work with our winter wonderland display. Yep, just call us the Griswolds.

We got hit by the big snowstorm here beginning Friday night and into Saturday. DH was sweet enough to go outside to get pictures of our lights so y'all could see them in the snow. The white flecks you see is the snow coming down. I am hoping to get some video up so y'all can see the display and hear the music. We got one of those music machines after Christmas last year so that has been a fun new thing. The neighbors have been great and have enjoyed seeing it. DH hooked up just a few things to the music so only a few special pieces "dance" to the music. We've really enjoyed seeing the lights show at night. A few nights before the snow came, I'd bundle the boys up and sit with them on the porch and watch the lights before dh would get home. It will be a fond memory I'll have from this Christmas.

So, here are some pix of our lights. Hope you enjoy them!

Chris Kringle Cookies

Happy Monday everyone! I am so excited about all of the things I have to share this week. We are now in count down mode until the big day. Dh is off this week, so we will be doing a lot of fun family activities together.





Today I wanted to share these cute cookies that I made last week for Sawyer's preschool class and for our MOPS group. I thought this ideas was so cute I just had to make them.

To make these cookies, you need a star shaped
cookie cutter. You will also need mini marshmallows, white frosting, red food coloring, and mini chocolate chip pieces.

I used the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix to make the cookies. Once you've rolled out and baked your cookies and they've cooled, you'll need to frost and decorate them. I took some of the white frosting and put it in a Ziploc baggie with some of the red food coloring. That is how I got the red frosting for the top of Santa's hat. For the marshmallows, you need to cut them in half. As you can see, one goes on the top of Santa's hat. I found it easiest to cut a small part out of one of the corner's of the Ziploc baggie to pipe the red hat.

Once you've got the hat completed, you'll need to take some of the white frosting and ice the bottom of the cookie. I used white tube icing for this and piped it on and then used a spreader to smooth out the frosting. Once you've frosted the cookies, you then add the halved marshmallows on top. Finally, you'll need to add a dab of frosting to each of the chocolate pieces to get them to stick for Santa's eyes.

Wouldn't these be cute to make with your kids to leave out for Santa? I'm sure he would definitely put you on the nice list. :)

Be sure to stop by tomorrow so you can see our Christmas decorations.

Have a great Monday. Be safe out there!

New Winner

Since I have not heard from the winner of the Wilton Give Away, I've drawn another name.


Here are your random numbers:

1 Timestamp: 2009-12-18 02:58:13 UTC

Paula said...
That's a great prize. I'm hoping to do a little baking this weekend.

December 8, 2009 5:13 AM

Congratulations Paula! You are now the winner of the Wilton goodies!

Grrr the digital camera

I've been wanting to show some of the beautiful decorations we got to see recently and I can't find the digital camera. It is somewhere around here. Probably under some wrapping paper and bows.

I'm in the midst of Christmas chaos right now, so hopefully tonight I'll be able to find the camera to get up a post.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Quick tip for holiday shopping

I'm slammed today with needing to get some cookies baked for a gift for tomorrow, so I wanted to share a quick tip today. Tomorrow I'll have some Christmas decorations to share with you.

Today I was in Target and they have the best little gloves sets for $1.50 They come in combos like Winter White and Black or Tan and Winter White and I believe Pink and Black. I bought some of these because they make a great gift for the mail carrier. I always leave something for our mail carrier at the holidays because she does such a great job for us. So, she will get these along with some other goodies.

I have not yet had a chance to send out the emails to the prize winners. If they want to shoot me one with their contact info, that would be great. So the dead line for getting back with me will be extended.

UPDATE: If you have won a giveaway, please email me. Some of you don't have a way for me to contact you. Shannon, you are one I'm having trouble finding an email address for. Thanks y'all, I really want to get the ball rolling to get your contact info. to the sponsors.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Santa's Good list aka the give away winners

Ho, Ho, Ho. Today I feel like Santa because I get to announce the winner's of the contests from last week. First, I'd like to thank all of the wonderful blogger's who participated in last week's cookie carnival. If you missed it, be sure to go back and look at last week's posts. There are some really cool cookie recipes. What I love about the recipes is there is a little something for everyone. From the experience baker, to those who don't have a lot of time and want to grab a box of mix and go. I am hopeful that the Cookie Blog Carnival will become an annual event. You can never have enough cookie recipes in my opinion.

I also want to thank the generous sponsors who offered up some fabulous prizes. Who doesn't love to get some great goodies for the holidays? Wilton, Huggies, and ELF have all been great folks to work with. I was pleased to work with them because they all have products I personally use and love. Things I'd recommend to my friends and family. So if you aren't familiar with any of them, be sure to check them out.

So without further ado, here are the winners...

Giveaway#1 Elf Makeup

Here are your random numbers:

8
Timestamp: 2009-12-14 17:15:09 UTC

Misty said...
I left a comment of Jens blog

December 9, 2009 12:35 PM

Give Away #2 (TWO WINNERS)Huggies

Winner #1 is ...
Here are your random numbers:

18 Timestamp: 2009-12-14 17:26:17 UTC

Shannon said...
I commented here:

http://mimisbabiesgifts.blogspot.com/2009/12/favorite-cookie-recipe-blog-carnival.html

Shannon said...
We love making cookies with boxed cake mixes too! They make the cookies so moist and easy to prepare! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

December 12, 2009 8:11 PM

December 13, 2009 12:32 PM

Winner #2 is...

Here are your random numbers:

27 Timestamp: 2009-12-14 17:29:43 UTC

carafit said...
Waffle cookies look like my new favorite!https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7928721315005689080&postID=6848003873292994880&page=1&token=1260731706515_AIe9_BEowWND6MkW54mrpurT9J0aOa3HjfUIpMyQJjvgwNQr__xC9PsTePDW6pTeX6JPfzFfQJYOLLuebfNOZWZEAikoWgQEQcHkssqO4Bc6LnLJkYeU8Z9U3tkQF-m9Ysu-ZEHXCt_NWWueGmck4I9C6aTCP9sIJI5MfiK7qHhETIG3h4ANxJRTxjkQqV8zzwqd0Oi5aNHRzzOcV4rSax0vn4SjhvmVZ8oIrgY2nVk8jebuTWBSE0lPPSIzgIo8UekynujKYSJ-

December 13, 2009 2:16 PM

Give Away #3 - Wilton

Here are your random numbers:

10 Timestamp: 2009-12-14 17:34:33 UTC

Tessy said...
I went & checked out the Waffle Cookies and that was such a unique idea on a cookie. I'd post a link but I had to wait on blog approval so I hope this do. Thanks for the chance to win.

December 9, 2009 12:40 PM

Congratulations to all the winners! You will be getting an email from me requesting your contact information. You will have until Wednesday to get back with me. If I don't hear from you I will draw another name.

Have a Happy Monday everyone!

It's all in the mix

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you've enjoyed getting to know some great bloggers and seeing their wonderful cookie recipes this week during the Cookie Blog Carnival. There has been such a wide range and variety of recipes. I'm sure something everyone will love.

Today's recipe is offered by Charissa from the Mimi's Babies Blog. http://mimisbabiesgifts.blogspot.com/2009/12/favorite-cookie-recipe-blog-carnival.html Her recipe really speaks to me as a busy mom. She has made Cake Mix cookies. She says this is a great recipe for busy mom's on the go.

What I love about this recipe is that it has simple ingredients that would be easy to let a small child help you. This is one that I could see me letting my three year old help pour the ingredients into the bowl.

So be sure to go over and check out this recipe.

Sweet Give Aways!


Giveaway #1 - Elf Makeup - http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-1-elf-make-up.html

Giveaway#2- Huggies (2 winners) Each winner will receive a coupon for a free pack of Huggies, as well as a $10 Wal Mart gift card. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-2-huggies.html

Giveaway #3 - Wilton has offered up a ton of fabulous baking supplies. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-3-wilton.html

Visions of sugar plums...or cookies

Happy Thursday everyone. It is another exciting day here with our week long Cookie Blog Carnival. It has been great to see all of the yummy treats everyone is preparing in their kitchens. So many unique and different recipes.

Our first blogger today is Amanda from the Best Momma on the Block Blog. Isn't that a cute blog name? Amanda is a Twitter buddy of mine. You can find her on Twitter @caffeinated_mom Today she is making Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies. They sound like something that would be on Santa's naughty list, don't they? So you know they have to be good. LOL http://thebestmomontheblock.blogspot.com

The second blogger I'm featuring today is Iris from the Mama Says Blogging Team. She has a cream cheese Rugelach recipe she is doing. Ok, I've never had a rugelach before, so I am intrigued and can't wait to see this. I'm a sucker for recipes with cream cheese. So mosey on over and check this one out too. http://mamasays.us/blog/

Sweet Giveaways

Giveaway #1 - Elf Makeup - http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-1-elf-make-up.html

Giveaway#2- Huggies (2 winners) Each winner will receive a coupon for a free pack of Huggies, as well as a $10 Wal Mart gift card. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-2-huggies.html

Giveaway #3 - Wilton has offered up a ton of fabulous baking supplies. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-3-wilton.html

Happy Baking everyone!

Sweet & Chewy

Well it is hard to believe that it is already Wednesday. Where are the days going? Have you started to panic yet that Christmas is two and a half weeks away?

Today I'm happy to introduce you to two great girls who are sharing recipes. Our first blogger today is Jen from the Thrifty Northwest Mom blog. Jenn is my Twitter buddy. If you aren't following her you need to be. She is always sending out great stuff.

Jen is sharing a recipe for Molasses Sugar Cookies. I can't wait to give this one a try. Recipes like this always seem so comforting to me. And with having a big sweet tooth, a good sugar cookie recipe is right up my alley. So check out Jenn's blog at http://www.thriftynorthwestmom.com/

Our second blogger today is Shonda from The Knowlton Nest blog. Shonda and I went to high school together and we cheered together. I'm so glad for things like Facebook because it has helped us reconnect. Don't you just love when that happens?

Shonda is sharing a recipe called MGM cookies. They are a oatmeal roll out cookie with frosting. She got this recipe from her grandma. You know if you get a recipe from a grandma or a nanna it is going to be good. A good oatmeal cookie recipe just screams "homemade" to me. So be sure to check out this recipe on Shonda's site. http://www.jsknowlton.blogspot.com/

Sweet Give Aways!

Don't forget to visit these links for our 3 giveaways this week in celebration of the Cookie Blog Carnival. We have some great prizes you won't want to miss. A big thanks to our awesome sponsors!

Give Away #1 - ELF Cosmetics Gift Set http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-1-elf-make-up.html

Give Away #2 - Huggies (2 winners) Each winner receives a coupon for a free pack of diapers, as well as a $10 Wal Mart Gift Card. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-2-huggies.html

Give Away #3 - Wilton has offered a ton of a ton of baking supplies. You will love this stuff. Seriously. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-3-wilton.html

Mmmm, can you smell the cookies baking?

I'm so excited to share with you the first two bloggers who are featuring cookie/bar recipes today. These ladies have baked up some yummy treats that I know you'll love to check out.

Bridget from the Bake at 350 Blog has shared a Cranberry Almond Bars recipe. The pictures she takes of her food make my mouth water all over my laptop. So just be warned. LOL http://www.bakeat350.blogspot.com


Jamie from the Cool Crafty Mom Blog is featuring a fabulous cookie recipe. She is making a waffle turtle cookie. I'm in heaven! So be sure to check it out. http://www.coolcraftymom.com/

Sweet Give Aways!

Don't forget to visit these links for our 3 giveaways this week in celebration of the Cookie Blog Carnival. We have some great prizes. A big thanks to our awesome sponsors!

Give Away #1 - Elf Cosmetics Gift Set http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-1-elf-make-up.html

Give Away #2 - Huggies (2 Winners) Each winner receives a coupon for a free pack of diapers and a $10 Wal Mart Gift Card. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-2-huggies.html

Give Away #3 - Wilton has offered a ton of baking supplies. You will love this stuff. Seriously. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/sweet-give-away-3-wilton.html

Sweet Give Away #3 - Wilton

Our sweet give away number three for the Cookie Blog Carnival is sponsored by the good folks at Wilton. Did you know that this week is Cookie Exchange week? Wilton has some wonderful information available on their website that gives great information about cookie exchanges, as well as decorating cookies.

I know when I've purchased Wilton products in the past, they've been great tools to use for my baking needs. Their metal cookie cutters make it easy to cut out your cookie shapes with a clean look.

Wilton has generously offered a number of baking goodies for one lucky winner. The winner will receive the following: 1 pack of 50 parchment sheets, 1 treat box kit snowflake w/ 3 ct sticks, 1 Green Cookie Icing, 1 box of Gingerbread boy mix, 1 Red Cookie Scoop, 1 Tree and Present Trio Cookie Cutter, 1 XMAS 3 piece colored metal cookie cutter set.

Can you believe all of that cookie baking goodness? How can you enter to win?

1.)You may leave one comment on each of the blogger's websites who are participating in the Cookie Blog Carnival to gain an entries. Once you leave a comment on their blog, come back here and leave a comment with a link to your comment.

2.)Follow me on Twitter. @chiccraftychick Once you are following, come back here and leave a comment.

3.)Tweet the following: Come see how the cookie crumbles on the Chic Crafty Chick blog's Cookie Carnival. Win great prizes! http://tinyurl.com/q2ogwx

This giveaway will run from Tuesday, December 8th through midnight EST on Sunday, December 13th. The winner be announced here on Monday, December 14th.
(NOTE: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately)

Sweet Give Away #2 - Huggies

As I've mentioned here on my blog, I've been a huge fan of Huggies since I had my first son three years ago. They've made my life so much easier and with this giveaway, they are going to help make things easier for you too.

Huggies is sponsoring an awesome giveaway for TWO lucky winners. Two winners will each receive a coupon for a free pack of Huggies, as well as a gift card for $10 to Wal Mart. You can swing buy Wal Mart to get your free diapers and some supplies to bake some cookies.

How can you enter to win? You have a number of ways to gain enteries.

1.)You may leave one comment on each of the blogger's websites who are participating in the Cookie Blog Carnival to gain an entries. Once you leave a comment on their blog, come back here and leave a comment with a link to your comment.

2.)Follow me on Twitter. @chiccraftychick Once you are following, come back here and leave a comment.

3.)Tweet the following: Come see how the cookie crumbles on the Chic Crafty Chick blog's Cookie Carnival. Win great prizes! http://tinyurl.com/q2ogwx

This giveaway will run from Tuesday, December 8th through midnight EST on Sunday, December 13th. The winner be announced here on Monday, December 14th.
(NOTE: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately)

Sweet Give Away #1 - ELF Make Up

Our first giveaway for the Cookie Blog Carnival is sponsored by Elf (Eyes, Lips, Face) makeup. Elf is giving away to one lucky winner one of their super cute lip gloss gift sets. Elf was kind enough to send me one of these a few weeks ago and I have to tell you I've loved these little lip glosses. They don't take up a lot of space and can easily fit in your pocket or small purse when you are on the go. I've even put one in my car in one of my cup holders so I can grab and dab.

The pretty sparkles in these lip glosses make them the perfect thing to make your lips glitter. With Mistletoe all around, your lips need to be prepared. And then there is also New Year's Eve coming up, your lips will twinkle when the ball drops.

So, how do you enter to win? You have a number of chances to win.

1.)You may leave one comment on each of the blogger's websites who are participating in the Cookie Blog Carnival to gain an entries. Once you leave a comment on their blog, come back here and leave a comment with a link to your comment.

2.)Follow me on Twitter. @chiccraftychick Once you are following, come back here and leave a comment.

3.)Tweet the following: Come see how the cookie crumbles on the Chic Crafty Chick blog's Cookie Carnival. Win great prizes! http://tinyurl.com/q2ogwx

This giveaway will run from Tuesday, December 8th through midnight EST on Sunday, December 13th. The winner be announced here on Monday, December 14th.
(NOTE: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately)

Cookie Blog Carnival

Well, today is the kick off of the Cookie Blog Carnival and I thought I'd explain about all the festivities. As hostess, I want to ask you to grab a glass of eggnog as I explain about all the fun.

Every year for the past eight years, I have participated in a neighborhood cookie exchange. It is one of the things that I look forward to every holiday season. I love to bake, so it gives me a chance to try out new recipes, as well as socialize with my neighbors.

I decided that I wanted to share that experience here on my blog to bring this holiday tradition to more folks. So the idea of the Cookie Blog Carnival was born. I contacted bloggers that I either read their blogs, and/or follow and tweet with them on Twitter to see if they would want to participate. Many of the girls were on board so I knew this had to be an idea that was worth exploring. So for the last few weeks I've been in contact with these great ladies in preparation for the festivities.

Starting tomorrow, there will be different blogger's I'll be introducing to you each day. They will be posting their favorite cookie recipes on their blogs. There will be different folks each day, so you'll want to make sure you stop by to see what the latest and greatest will be. I know you are going to love getting to know some great bloggers, as well as find out some wonderful new recipes to try this holiday season.

And one of the other exciting pieces of this Cookie Blog Carnival is our three wonderful sponsors. I'm excited to share with you that the Wilton company has offered to sponsor our event this year. This is such a great partnership because this week is Cookie Exchange week. You can find out details about it on Wilton's website.

Another one of our sponsors is ELF makeup which I've shared with my blogger readers in recent weeks. Elf makeup is a great idea for a stocking stuffer or to give yourself a merry makeover for the holidays. And if you haven't heard, ELF makeup is now available in Target. Right now ELF has some great holiday gift sets reasonably priced. Some are even under ten dollars. One lucky person is going to win a gift set.

And our final sponsor I'm excited to share with you is Huggies. I almost did a back flip when I find out the Huggies folks were on board with sponsoring this event. Ever since my first son Sawyer was born premature, I have been a Huggies user. We started out with the tiny preemie diapers in the hospital and have graduated through the sizes. When I was going through such a stressful time being a new mom, I have to say that using Huggies products meant I had one less thing to worry about.

In order to give everyone ample time to get into the Cookie Blog Carnival spirit, I'm going to have the giveaways start tomorrow with our first cookie recipes post. So be sure to check back here tomorrow when the fun begins!

Happy Baking!

ELF Make Up Winner..

And the winner of the Elf is...


Here are your random numbers:

1 Timestamp: 2009-12-07 04:15:54 UTC

The first comment was left by:

christin said...
I am so excited these will now be at target!! I would love to try their eyeshadows as well:) Thanks!
christinbanda at yahoo dot com

December 1, 2009 12:20 PM

Congratulations Christin! Please be on the look out for my email. I wish I could stop by with balloons and a bouquet of flowers and big check like the Publisher's Clearing House folks, but hey we are all on a budget these days. :)

Will be updating later...

I want to get things all ready for the Cookie Blog Carnival, as well as announce the winner of the Elf giveaway so I'll be posting later today. Be sure to check out all the details. There are great recipes and prizes. It is going to be a great week. Come bake with us!

It all began here two years ago...

Well, I'm very excited about today. Two special things are happening for my blog. First, as you can see by the handy dandy logo to the left, I have been bestowed the honor of being picked as the Featured Blogger by the Blog Roller gals http://www.media.theblogrollers.com/. I was so excited when I received the email about this. Now I know how Ralphie's father felt when he received his "major award". I hate to disappoint, but there won't be any "soft glow of electric sex" on this blog. Boy would that be a change of direction for this blog. LOL

I want to thank the Blogger Roller gals for this nice surprise. I'd better thank them quick before Kanye shows up and tries to take over my acceptance post.

The second special thing for me today is that today marks the two year anniversary of my blog. It is hard to believe that two years ago I decided to take the plunge and start writing a blog. If you go back in my archives, my first post was a picture I posted of a Christmas album I bought at Wal Mart. Two years later that album is still not finished, but my blog marches on.

What I've loved about blogging has been using this blog as a way to express my creativity. It has provided me the opportunity to learn how to do new things. I also love how this blog has given me the opportunity to "meet" other mom's who blog. It empowered me at a time where I felt powerless. It has been a great journey and for those of you who have been reading my blog, thanks for joining me for the ride. So, everyone raise your glasses of champagne in celebration of my blogiversary. Clink, clink.

In celebration fo my blogiversary, don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway. It runs through Sunday.http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/happy-blogiversary-to-me-giveaway-for.html

Also, next week is my Cookie Blog Carnival and let me tell you there are going to be some mouth watering cookie recipes and fabulous prizes. Just the thing you need to put some Ho, ho, ho in your holiday!

Things are in the works

I missed blogging yesterday because I had to run the kids to some appointments (Christmas, very top secret, can't share now) so by the time we got home things were crazy and I was worn out. I told someone yesterday that being the mother of two boys under the age of 4 makes momma want to ask Santa for a flask sometimes. LOL But these two little guys are so sweet and the sweet hugs and kisses make it all worth it.

Giveaway Info.
If you missed my post on Tuesday, be sure to check it out. This week is my blog's 2 year anniversary and I'm getting to give you a gift. Some great Elf gift polish! So be sure to go and enter that contest for your chance to win. http://chiccraftychick.blogspot.com/2009/12/happy-blogiversary-to-me-giveaway-for.html

Upcoming Holiday Event
In case you missed the nifty little button I put at the top of my blog, next week I will be hosting a Cookie Blog Carnival here on my blog. For the last eight years, I've participated in a neighborhood cookie exchange. It is a great way to celebrate the holidays with my neighbors and to catch up with everyone. So, at this time of the year I'm always on the look out for great cookie recipes. I thought it would be fun to partner up with some great bloggers to find some new recipes and just bring that fun cookie exchange feel to the blogging community. So be sure to follow the blog all next week for not only great recipes, but great prizes as well. Yep folks, we've got sponsors for this little shin dig. Huggies, Elf Cosmetics, and Wilton Cakes are all on board to sponsor. You've got a chance to win some great things. So be sure to remember to come back and check out the celebration.

Well, we are out the door in a few minutes. A crazy day lies ahead. Have a great day in your neck of the woods!

Happy Blogiversary to me! Giveaway for you!

Happy Tuesday everyone. Those darn kids got in the way of my blogging yesterday. How dare them. Can't they just feed and change themselves? LOL

I had a great time going Black Friday shopping with my sister. We found some great deals and that is always nice. I had some spending money from my birthday so that made it fun. The only sad thing that happened is that I had one of my purchases lost/stolen. The reason I threw in stolen is that at one point before we were going to leave the mall, this lady was a bit aggressive and shoved her way through the tiny space where my sister and I were looking at some skirts. I usually never put my bags down, but I had put one of them down. I was so sad when I got back to my parents house to discover it missing. It was a really cute silver top I'd gotten on sale at Ann Taylor. It was really different from anything I own and I was looking forward to wearing it. At least it was just one item that was missing and I did get it for 1/2 off.

So my advice is keep everything close to you while you are out shopping. I'd hate for you to have that happen to you.

Now on to more cheerful things. This week is the two year anniversary of my blog. I'm so excited. I started it December 4th. I wanted to have a way to do something fun and creative after having my first son. So I entered the world of blogging.

As a way to celebrate my blog's anniversary, I'm hosting a give away. I've mentioned recently in some posts that one of my favorite new finds is Elf cosmetics that are now being sold in Target. They are such a great, inexpensive way to get glam. Well, the good folks at Elf said they would love to send me some of their products for me to try and to give away. So to celebrate my blogs anniversary, I'm giving away one of their super cute nail polish gift sets. I'll also have another one of their products to give away next week.

I love these sets because they come in these pretty pink round containers. The set I'm giving away is the "favorites" set. These little sets are a great price at only $6. They would make perfect stocking stuffers, especially great for filling that bottom part of the stocking that is so odd shaped. You know the one that "Santa" always stuck the apple & orange in to fill it. LOL

To Enter this Giveaway:

You will have 5 opportunities to enter this giveaway. Please post a separate comment for each entry. The contest will run from December 1st until midnight EST, December 5th. I will announce the winner Monday, December 7th.

1) Which ELF product would you most like to try?

2) Follow me on Twitter @chiccraftychick

3) Tweet about this giveaway by tweeting the following...

Woo Hoo Chic Crafty Chick Blog is turning 2. Win some Elf makeup just for you! @chiccraftychick http://tinyurl.com/q2ogwx Ho, Ho, Holidays!

Come back here and post a link to your tweet. You may tweet once per day for an extra entry.

4) Subscribe to my blog.

5) Follow @askelf on Twitter

Be sure to leave a separate comment so that your entries will count.

Also, check out Elf's website. They have extended their Cyber Monday minerals sale through today. I'm sure you can find all kinds of goodies for those who have been nice. And naughty. :)