Winner of Pillsbury Doughboy Giveaway

A winner was picked for the Pillsbury Doughboy Giveaway!

The winner is edmontonjb! 

Also anyone who followed my on twitter and left their twitter ids, I follow you back.

Be sure to check out my You Can Make This Holiday Giveaway for craft patterns!

Make a Healthy Cracker House This Year

I'd love to say this idea was all mine but that would be lying. I got the idea from a Parenting Magazine. (At the moment I can't remember which one and I can't check as I don't own it. )

Instead of a Gingerbread house full of icing and candy, make a healthier version. So I bought some crackers, cream cheese and assorted dried fruits and vegetables, fruit leather and corn nuts and got to work. I could have also used nuts but I am bringing this to a school so I figured I'd better not. You can use fresh vegetables too.

There is no RIGHT way to do this, be creative! My crackers were short so I did a short double house. If anyone else has done something similar, please let me know!

Why not try making one of your own this weekend?

GIVEAWAY: You Can Make This Holiday Gift Pack

Entry Deadline Extended

With the holidays just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to showcase some quick and easy gift ideas you can give to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and oh yes…even your family! You can enter to win eBooks from www.YouCanMakeThis.com and learn some fun new techniques, tips, and ideas not only for the people on your list, but also creative ways to decorate your home!

You Can Make This has created a free download for some fun gift tags. Each of them coordinate with ideas found as part of the DIY Gift Giving Series videos that can be found at www.youcanmakethis.com/blog , as well as designs and patterns found at www.SWAKembroidery.com and www.YouCanMakeThis.com.

You can also enter to win hundreds of dollars in gift certificates just for watching the videos that are part of the DIY Gift Giving Series and answering a question on the You Can Make This blog!

To Enter the Giveaway:  

(Leave all entries as SEPARATE comments to be counted as seperate entries)

Leave a comment on this post. Make sure there is a way I can contact you. Either leave your email address or make sure your profile has a link to your email or your website has an easy to find link to contact you. (1 entry)

Optional:

1. Follow this blog with Google Friend Connect and leave another comment stating such. (if you already follow, just leave a comment)
2. Follow me on twitter (@callista83) and leave another comment with your twitter id. (Again, current followers, leave a comment too)
3. Whether you follow me on twitter or not, post the following message to your account and leave a comment with a LINK to that tweet. (only the first time will count):

"Enter to win You Can Make This Holiday Pack @callista83. Open Worldwide till Dec. 26/09 http://bit.ly/73WriF"

Getting Kids to Bed (and to Stay in Bed) on Christmas Eve

Telling your kids that Santa (or La Befana or the Magi or whoever) won't come unless they are asleep only does a little good because if the children are all excited (and who wouldn't be?) then settling down for a long winter's nap is not as easy as it looks. Here are some tips:

• Tire them out. Play outside or take them to an indoor play area and wear them out. Play games, read stories, do last minute decorating, sing carols, whatever you can think of. The more tired they are, the better they will sleep. If they are tired enough, they will fall asleep, even though they are anxious and excited.
• Have a hearty dinner and make sure it's something your kids will eat (even if it's Macaroni and Cheese or Peanut Butter sandwiches) and then follow that with a bath. 
• If you put out cookies and milk and carrots or something similar do it before the next tip.
  
• After that, change into pajamas and watch a Christmas video followed by some Christmas stories. Doing quiet things before bed will help wind them down a bit. This will only work if they have been tired out first.
• Put them to bed the way you normally do and remind them that they are not to come out of their rooms until the sun comes up (at least.) Put on soothing music (perhaps Christmas carols without words) and turn off lights in the rooms near their room and stay quiet. If they think others are awake and partying they won't go to bed. Either be quiet till they fall asleep or go to another room further away. 
  

Well I hope that helps, have a good holiday!

Thanks to St. Eve's Kids and TwitterMoms for the post idea. They are also hosting a contest if you get there soon and share your own 5 ideas for getting and keeping kids in bed on Christmas you might be able to win.

More about St. Eve's Kids and Drama U:

This year, celebrate the holidays in style with St. Eve Kids – a comfortably cute line of children’s sleepwear, loungewear and underwear. While parents will rejoice at the unseasonably affordable prices of St. Eve Kids, children will welcome the warmth of the plush fabrics and age-appropriate patterns.

A winter wonderland of maidens in snow globes, penguins parading, and bold and bright animal prints are just a few of the trend-right girls’ prints. Sports of all sorts and a fun favorite, dinosaurs, are features of the boys’ bold prints. Glittery, shaped buttons and other embellishments make bedtime a treat. Boys and girls alike will welcome a whole new world of playmates thanks to St. Eve Kid’s DramaU™ characters featured on the St. Eve Kid’s apparel. Meet Molly, Tommy, Tammy, Frankie, Johnny, Tweet, Shirley, Lulu, Peggy, Marky and Suzie - the bubbly characters, exclusive to St. Eve Kids, pop up on garments and make the perfect pals for kids bursting with personality and attitude.

Saving Time and Money During the Holidays

The holiday season is fast approaching. Are you ready?

I don't claim to be on top of things. I only have a few gifts bought and my house isn't even clean let alone decorated. However I have learned a few things here and there over the years.

Saving Money and Time

• Don't wait till the last minute. I mean it! Sometimes you mean to start shopping early but something comes up and you need to use that money for something else or you just forget or any number of other reasons. Don't let yourself give excuses. Pick something up with each paycheck starting in September.
• Put some thought into it. If you think about what to give your family and friends before you are in the store, you'll save time AND money. Last minute shoppers not only miss out on sales but also end up buying whatever is left instead of what their friend really wanted.
• Consider hand-made gifts. I can see you rolling your eyes you know. It doesn't have to be something knitted or drawn or cut and pasted although it can if that's what you are into. How about an offer to help someone with their scrapbooking? Perhaps homemade snacks or desserts. Coupons or gift certificates to do something for someone are good too. At the very least the gifts from your kids to others can be homemade instead of giving them your money so they can buy a gift for you.
• Designate a cleaning weekend BEFORE you want to do decorations. If you'd like to put up decorations next weekend, then this weekend clean the house. Tidy things up and make room for decorations. If you have kids, get them to help you as much as possible.
• If you are in charge of holiday dinner, get planning. What are you going to make? What ingredients do you need? What's already on hand? Make a shopping list and shop EARLY so that if you forget something, you aren't stuck last minute with no stores open. While you are there, stock up on basic household food essentials so you don't have to run to the store during the rush.
• Do you do cards? If the rest of your family doesn't do cards and aren't too old fashioned, try e-cards. If not, buy a large stack of cards, include a photo and sign your names. Address and fill envelopes and mass stamp and mail them.
  

Gift Ideas

• Gift Cards. Only give these to people who will use them right away. Many have inactivity fees. These are good for young people and those who are really hard to shop for. Don't forget some fast food places and coffee places have them too. These are especially good for teenagers.
• Electronic Picture Frame with slideshow of pictures. You can load them with pictures so they can unwrap, plug in (or put in batteries) and watch.
• Offer to pay for professional photos or buy a gift certificate for it. Many families never get around to picture taking because of money or it just gets put off. Help them with it.
• Books. As far as I'm concerned, books are a great gift. It can be hard though to pick the right one. If you don't know the person well, give a book store gift card. Maybe you can try chatting books casually one day and get some ideas. Check out book blogs for reviews and Buy Books for the Holidays.
• Appeal to the technical side. Cameras, laptops, computer software and more would be great gifts for many people. Check out Staples Holiday Savings.

Well I hope I've helped some. Have a great holiday season.

Would you like more Tips for Saving Time and Money from TwitterMoms?

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