After Christmas Round Up

So I'm still recovering from Christmas. My house looks like two little tornados have gone through. But I have to say that for our family this Christmas has been the best so far.  Both kids are finally old enough to play with toys and to see their little faces on Christmas morning was priceless.

Last year our family started a tradition where the grandparents and aunts showed up for brunch.  We continued that tradition this year and it has worked great for us.  This year they all showed up later which worked well because the kids actually slept in and didn't get up until 8:30.  I wanted to give you a link to a post I did last year that has all of the brunch recipes I  made.  I highly recommend them.  It was a lot of work for Christmas morning, but by making this it kept everyone filled until dinner.  Christmas Brunch Recipes

I recieved an Ipod touch for Christmas from dh and was completely floored.  I wasn't expecting it at all. To be honest, I didn't even know much about them but so far I'm loving it. I love the ability to be out and about and can get on the Internet to check something if I want.  Yesterday we went to visit my grandfather who lives 4 hours away one way.  We love visiting family, but hate the drive.  When my two year old got fussy on the last hour of the ride home, I was able to pull out the Ipod and play the Angry Birds game so he could watch.  It kept him quiet for a while and got us farther down the road.  Trying to play Angry Birds from the front seat so he could see it in the back was a challenge, but it saved my sanity from a screaming kid. LOL

I will post pix of Christmas morning (when I can find the camera).  We are now getting ready for our family New Year's Eve party. I'll hopefully be blogging more about that tomorrow.

So, what are you up to these days between Christmas and New Year's?  Do you shop the after Christmas sales?  What was your favorite Christmas present. Leave me a comment and let me know.

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

Gingerbread Wishes

Today is the last post I'll be doing until next week.  We are ready to get down and celebrate Christmas with our family.  They are calling for the potential of a crazy snow storm hitting here later Christmas day, or into Sunday.  We are hoping it waits until after Christmas so it won't mess up our plans. 

Below are two pictures from the Gingerbread Jubilee since I promised to post pictures.  The Gingerbread House we made out of a large washing machine box.  We used Tyvak (stuff they wrap houses in) and spray painted it brown.  Then we used plates to make the roof and then decorate it with candy we made out of sparkly foam sheets which I cut in circles. DH took those light up candy canes and had them on the front of the house which was cool so we had them lit for pictures. If you ever need to make one of these and have any questions, please feel free to email me.  If I can save you some time with some tips, I'm happy to do so.  Everyone loved the house and the church is going to try to save it for next year.

I hope that each of you who reads my blog has a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.  I hope that you feel the peace that one small baby born in a manager brought to this troubled earth so long ago.

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

Crafty Cricut Presents

Today I wanted to share some gifts I recently gave where I used my Cricut die cut machine.  I bought what is known as a deep cut blade for my Cricut machine so I could cut vellum letters out.  Then I was able to peel and stick them onto these really cool buckets I got at Target.  I used the Storybook Cricut Cartridge for the letters.  I love monograms and I thought it would be really cool to give a monogrammed gift.  I think personalizing gifts is a great thing if you can do it. 

Hope you enjoy seeing some of my Christmas preparations. And I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

The winner of the Candy Land giveaway was comment #4 from:

LoveCubed said...


tweeted



http://twitter.com/Beckybeitzel/status/17366576625876992



hiccupapparel at yahoo dot com



December 21, 2010 6:51 PM

Candy Land

Today I'm excited to share with you about a party I had recently with the mom's in my MOPS group.  I was approached by MyBlogSpark and Hasbro and asked if I'd like to host a Candy Land party and I said yes immediately.  Candy Land was my favorite game growing up.  I love the colorful board and all of the really cool cards.  So I knew this would be fun.

We had a mom's night out with my MOPS group and we all came together to play Candy Land. The party was such fun because we all either wore our pjs or we wore our favorite sports teams sweatshirt.  The point was to party in comfort!  When everyone heard we would be playing Candy Land, they were excited. 

Everyone who came had a great time playing the game.  We had a bunch of heavy appetizers and of course I had to make mini cupcakes in honor of the cupcake card on the board. Some of the mom's were so funny and said they were doing mini cupcake "shots". We are a wild bunch. LOL

MyBlogSpark was kind enough to send enough copies of Candy Land that every mom got to take one home. 

It was nice to take a break, spend time with friends and play a fun game.  I highly recommend if you don't have a copy of Candy Land go and buy one now.  This would be a great thing to do on Christmas day with your family together.  Or if you are busy that day, our family has a New Year's Eve get together where we play games and Candy Land would be a great game for that.  Who doesn't love getting to pick their own Gingerbread Man game piece?  And of course it makes a great gift with Christmas coming.

Here is a shot of the ladies playing. We didn't take many pictures since we were in our pjs. :)

I'm excited that MyBlogSpark and Hasbro is offering you a chance to win a copy of Candy Land.  You have 5 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end at noon Wednesday, December 22nd.  The winner will have 24 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name. CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

1.) Who would you give Candy Land to, or who will you play the game with if you win?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.

4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

5.)Tweet the following: The winning is sweet with @chiccraftychick and Hasbro.  Win a FREE copy of Candy Land.http://bit.ly/dSBd3s #myblogspark

(Disclaimer: I was sent a prize pack from MyBlogSpark and Hasbro to host the Candy Land Party.)

Santa's Sweat Shop

So I feel like I'm working in Santa's sweat shop here getting ready for our big Gingerbread Jubilee event at my church.  We have been making Gingerbread houses of all sizes.  Here is a kit I bought at Michael's and put together.  I love these kits and they have been pretty easy to figure out.

Hopefully on Thursday I'll get a chance to post pictures of the giant gingerbread house my husband and I have created for the event. It looks so awesome. I'll also give tips on how we made it in case you ever find yourself in need to make yourself a giant gingerbread house. LOL

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

Catch ya later

Gotta run out this morning, but I'll be posting a picture of one of the Gingerbread Houses we've made for the Gingerbread Jubilee. 

Corky's Boots Please Santa

Have you seen Corky's boots?  I had never heard of these until I recently saw them at a local craft show.  And now I'm in love with them.  They are the cutest, funkiest rain boots I've seen.  I'm in love with both of these styles.  As you can see they come in many different colors and I think the cowboy boots are just fabulous.  I would actually wear them out in the snow too with those thick socks that are so soft and yummy.  They also sell some that look like Mary Janes and a number of other choices too.

So if anyone wants to send me some Corky's to review on my blog, get in touch with me. :)  I'm not sure if Santa is going to know to get me a pair and what size.  LOL 

Corky's also sells flip flops and other types of shoes. They've got a great website to check out all their eye candy.  If you are doing a warm vacation soon, you might want to check out their website.  I recently saw some of their flips flops on sale at Charming Charlie.  http://www.corkysfootwear.com/

So, that is one cool find I've discovered recently.  What is on your wish list for Santa this year?

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway. Lawry's Holiday Meal Help

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

Lawry's Holiday Meal Help

I had hoped to get a post up yesterday, but I'm sure just like many of you time was not my friend and it didn't happen.  I love this time of the year, but this week and next week are the two craziest for me.  I have something going on every day and every evening.  I've made sure that the week before Christmas we don't over pack our schedule so we can actually breath and enjoy things.  DH has been such a good sport since I'm outta here and he has the kids while I'm attending different things.

With all of this craziness going on, the thought of what to make for dinner has been something that I haven't wanted to deal with.  The folks at MyBlogSpark and Lawry's sent me a wonderful pack of goodies a few weeks ago to try and I've just had a chance this week to dig in. 

I have to admit I was excited about this package for a few reasons. I knew that our schedule was going to be busy and having some new dinner recipe choices were just what I needed.  And the fact that I didn't have to plan everything out made it so easy.  They sent me four of their new seasoning packets to try.  The new flavors are Asian Beef and Broccoli, Chimichurri Burrito Casserole, Mediterranean Sun dried Tomato and Garlic Chicken, and Tuscan Style Chicken Marsala with Garlic and Basil.  This week we tried the Asian Style Beef and Broccoli and the Chimichurri Burrito Casserole.  My husband and I really liked the Chimichurri Burrito Casserole.  As soon as he walked in the door from work he said, "Something smells good".  I was wondering if it would be too spicy, but it wasn't at all. It had great flavor and the packet said it feeds eight, so we had left overs which is a nice plus. 

I have to admit I was not a fan of the Asian Style Beef and Broccoli. I made that one last night. I actually found that one to be spicier than I liked.  If you are someone who likes spicy foods you might want to give it a try. I'm a big baby when it comes to spicy food. 

I can't wait to try the two chicken dishes since we like chicken dishes.  With the cold weather, I'm thinking some hot bread will be a perfect choice to go with these recipes.

So with all the busy shopping, wrapping, and all the other things going on in your life, check out the new seasoning packets from Lawry's. When you look on the packet, it will tell you the ingredients you'll need to make the dish. I love that because it is like having a quick grocery list right there with you so you don't forget anything. I'd look for them in the seasoning aisle.

I love it that you guys are going to have the chance to win one of these prize packs. Guys, this prize pack is awesome.  The marinating tray was a ginormous pyrex dish which is going to come in handy, along with the four Lawry's Seasoning Packets.   You have 4 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end on Sunday, December 12th at 12:00 a.m. EST The winner will have 48 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name.

1.) Which of the four Lawry's Seasoning Packets would you like to try?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.


4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

Thanks so much for Lawry's and MyBlogSpark for hosting this giveaway. And for help making my dinner choices a little easier during such a busy time.

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

Give Away Update

I am really slammed today, so I'm going to post the information on my latest give away later today.

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

Give Away

I'm crazy busy today, but I wanted to let you know that I'm going to post a give away post tomorrow and you'll want to make sure you don't miss it. It is only going to be for 24 hours, so be sure to check back!

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

Happy Monday

It is a crazy morning here at my house.  We got a touch of snow over the weekend and since it is so cold, the kids are getting cabin fever.  The two phrases I've been yelling the most are, "Santa is watching!" and also "We do not throw the baby Jesus!"  We got the kids a Little People nativity set.  I really love it and recommend it.  With being made out of plastic, I don't have to worry about tiny pieces breaking off as the pieces sail through the air. 

So, that is a quick blurb about what is going on here.  I hope to have more time to blog tomorrow. I've got a great giveaway coming up.  Something to help you with meal planning during the holidays.  Who wants to think about food when there are so many other things like shopping, decorating, wrapping, etc. going on?

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

Winner

The winner of the General Mills cereal & movie tickets giveaway was comment #6 by Lindsay.  Congratulations!

Holiday Bazaar

I have been busy this week and my schedule won't get any better until that week before Christmas.  But it is nice to be busy with things you are looking forward to and like to do. If you are just getting here, I've got a great giveaway ending tomorrow so be sure to check it out General Mills Cereal & Movie Tickets Give Away

I am dancing a happy jig this morning because my favorite local holiday shopping Bazaar starts today.  I can't wait to go.  And this year I'm going with a friend who I've never been with, so I'm excited about that too.  I look forward to this every year because I find really unique items there.  Also, there is one vendor who always has beautiful jewelry that is reasonably priced.  Tomorrow I'll have to post about what cool things I find.

So, that is a quick update from here.  They say we may have a chance for flurries on Sunday.  Don't know if I'm ready for that yet. 

Do you have any local holiday shopping events that you attend each year?  Leave me a comment and let me know. I love hearing about other folks festivities.

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