CLOSED- Giveaway Post!!! Win $100 credit to Minted.com!

I’m super-duper excited for today’s post.  *Insert girlish squeal here.* Today Minted.com and I are excited to be offering one lucky reader $100 credit to Minted.com.   Yup.  It’s giveaway time!  It’s giveaway time! 

I’ve wanted to say a big “Thank you” to y’all for your support for a long time now.  So when I was contacted about doing a giveaway, I jumped at the chance because it meant that one of you could win something nice.   

This is a one awesome giveaway.  Minted.com is a beautifully curated online store that sells seriously gorgeous stationary and artwork.  I go goo-goo when I scroll through the pages because everything is so lovely and special.   In fact, here are four of my current favorite items…   

    

Hee hee hee!  This Yeti or not Christmas card is uber cute.  (And bonus- they're currently offering 20% off their holiday card selection until 10/6!  Score!)

Ok....So apparently I have Christmas cards on my mind, but how could you not love this partridge in a pear tree card?  (Did you sing the words like I just did?)

We're still struggling to decorate Chuck's new big boy room.  So this poster and this poster totally caught my eye. 

Did you know that they have wedding cards too? A couple of my girlfriends are getting married, so I have weddings on my mind.  This lovely floral chalkboard invitation is just gorgeous. 

Now if you'd like the chance to win $100 credit to Minted.com, here are all the details:

This giveaway is open all readers worldwide.  (Yay!)  Here’s what you could possibly win:

• For US readers: 
• $100 credit
• Free FedEx Ground shipping on everything except art
• For the international readers: 
• $100 credit
• Free international economy shipping on everything except art
• However, you have to pay your own country's duties/customs 

To enter the giveaway

1. Visit Minted.com and find your favorite item from the store. 
2. Visit my FB page and leave a comment on the 9/16 Giveaway post with your favorite item. 

That’s it!  The giveaway will close midnight Thursday (PST) and I’ll announce and contact the winner via Facebook by Friday morning. 

Good luck friends!  

This is a sponsored post.  But all opinions are mine.  I received $100 credit to give to one lucky reader.  I'm super glad that I did. :) 

Make Prehistoric Rock Art with Kids

Some of my fondest memories of History classes were times when teachers assigned projects instead of tests.  In 5th grade my friends and I did a presentation on the first transcontinental railroad.  I still remember wearing costumes and using tea to age our documents.  In 9th grade we shot a soap opera style video featuring King Henry the Eighth's wives.  It was fun to write and film... and even more hilarious to watch.   (Picture bad high school acting mixed with Monty Python style humor.  Yup.  Good times.)  Honestly, I don't remember much else from History classes (ack, sorry previous teachers!) but these projects shine brightly in my memory. They were fun to make and really made history come alive.  Hopefully today's craft will help do that for your kids too!  If they're interested in prehistoric times or art history, then this Prehistoric Rock Art Craft is for them!

Make Prehistoric Rock Art with Kids

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!)

The techniques used to make this rock art is pretty much the same that I used to make this super cute mini Plaster of Paris Christmas village.  So if you liked doing this craft, check that one out too.

Ok. Now let's make some rock art!

4 Easy Bell Crafts for Kids

Right now we're in the middle of packing.  Not going to lie, our apartment is looking like it's inhabited by crazy people.  So my posts for the next month will probably be fewer and the crafts will be much simpler.  This brings me to today's topic:  crafting with bells.   I love the sound of jingle bells.  They remind me of Christmas, the cold, and reindeer.  I know it's July and Christmas is miles away... but you can craft with jingle bells all year round?  Right? Right! Here's how we've crafted with jingle bells:

4 Super Easy Bell Crafts for Kids

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!)

Sweets, Graham cracker Houses, and the Dentist (Eeek!)

So... I've got a confession.

I was looking through some holiday photos and I realized... eek I may have gone a bit  WAY overboard with the sugar.  Yikes.  Apparently I have a tiny HUGE sweet tooth.

On top of the lovely goodies that we ate at parties, hubby and I also devoured sweets at home.  Hrmm... all that sugar.... maybe we're part Elf?  Here's a review of some of our homemade holiday goodies... 

1.  Hubby made us a couple of  homemade cafe mochas.  He mixed 1T cocoa, 1T hot water, and 1 T sugar in a cup.  Then, he added 1 shot of espresso (or double strength coffee) and topped that with with 1/2C of warmed and frothed milk.  Sweet and yurmmy...

Keep on reading to see more sweet goodies...

Wreath Interpretations Exhibit

A couple of days ago, we went into the city to meet up with old friends and see "Wreath Interpretations."  This exhibit showcased Christmas wreaths that were made out of nontraditional materials.  After seeing all the artist's creativity, I definitely left with some ideas for next year's Christmas decorations (note to self- start saving milk caps!)

Now if you're in the city and you've got some time to spare, be sure to check the exhibit out!  It's located on the 3rd floor of the Arsenal Building in Central Park.  It's free (Yes!) and open from 9am-5pm, M-F until January 9th. 

Here are a couple of my favorites from the exhibit:

(Psst- Wanna see what else we did in the city that day?  You can find other photos from our trip on my Instagram.)

Keep reading to see more wreaths!

Review of 2013

Happy 2014! 

Before starting this post, I just wanted to say a big thank you for visiting this blog.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thank you for joining in our family's daily adventures and thank you for appreciating my crafts.  Honestly, blogging wouldn't be as fun without you.  Your support really means the world to me. 

Ok, ok, enough mushy stuff.  Ahem, now onto today's post.

Since I enjoyed last year's 2012 review post, I put together something similar together for 2013.  Looking back, I'm amazed by how many crafts I made (oy vey- thanks hubby for being so supportive!) and how much Chuck has grown.  My baby is gone.... he's a little boy now.  Sheesh, time just flew by.   

Are you ready to grab hold onto 2014?  Hope your New Year is off to a good start!  

 January


Memorable events: Choosing to try new things and attending a wedding
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with cornstarch paint
Favorite craft:  Dying flowers rainbow colors


February
 
Memorable event: Attending this bridal shower
Favorite kid activity:  Making bubble snakes
Favorite craft:  Whale Tissue Box Holder



March

Memorable event:  Selling goods at the craft fair
Favorite kid activity:  Feeding birds outside
Favorite craft: Sumo Plastic Bottle Bowling Pins


 April

Memorable events:  Attending a Mehndi ceremony and wedding ceremony
Favorite kid activity:  Blowing humongous bubbles with Chuck
Favorite crafts: Tattooing a banana and Painting an umbrella 


May
 
Memorable events:  Attending a lovely wedding and hanging out with Aussie family  (in DC and NYC)
Favorite kid activity:  Attending a niece's birthday party
Favorite crafts:  Good Night, Bonne Nuit Pillow Cases


June

Memorable event:  Visiting Colonial Williamsburg (1 and 2)
Favorite kid activities:  Making cornstarch paint and Grass Egg Heads
Favorite crafts:  Making a Mosaic Styrofoam Picture Frame  and painting a galaxy umbrella


July

Memorable event:  Reflecting on faith and crafting
Favorite kid activity:  Visiting The Children's Museum
Favorite crafts:  Painting a rainbow fan


August
 
Memorable event:  Having a house guest and being part of a craft e-zine
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with toys
Favorite crafts:  Tattooing bananas and Orange peel canola candle

September


Memorable events:  Visiting the zoo and Maker Faire (1 and  2)
Favorite kid activities: Blowing up balloons with baking soda and Cardboard spaceship toy
Favorite craft: Making crystal flowers


October
 
Memorable events:  Visiting Lancaster and Baltimore
Favorite kid activity: Celebrating Halloween!
Favorite craft: Making a tulle mask


November

Memorable event:  Thanksgiving!
Favorite kid activity:  Craft stick dominoes
Favorite craft:  Heart stenciled shoes and Making roses out of autumn leaves


December

 

Memorable event:  Christmas!
Favorite kid activity:  Playing with Chuck in the snow
Favorite crafts: Hiding a jump drive in a rubber toy and Making reindeer antlers

Light Painting with a Flashlight

Hubby and I love seeing things glow in the dark. We've taken photos with glow sticks (and then cut them up to see what was inside- muah ha ha), made our Christmas lights look like different shapes, and even made glow-in-the dark chalk.

This past Christmas our uncle gave us his old tripod (Thanks Tito Ric!), so hubby wanted to try light painting.  We basically just waved around a flashlight in the air to make lovely "drawings" in the dark.

Christmas Photos

Warning!  This post contains a lot of photos!  But, I figure it's ok since Christmas only happens once a year.  

This year we went to two family get-togethers.  We had lunch at one aunt's place and dinner at a cousin's house.  Fortunately for us, both houses were only 5 minutes apart.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with family and stuffing ourselves silly.  Here are some photos from our Christmas adventure:

(Thanks hubby for taking most of these while I played with the kids!)

Hubby, Chuck, and I wearing our Christmas headbands, ready to party (thanks Tito Ric for the photo!)

Click below to see more photos...

Making different shaped marshmallows

Merry Belated Christmas!  How was your holiday?  Good, I hope. Ours was filled with family, food, and a ton of fun.   Chuck really loved playing with all of his older cousins.  I'll upload some photos from the day's event a little later on. 

Until then, I thought I'd share this neat food trick that I learned from here.  Did you know that you can make your marshmallows into different shapes?  Well, you can.... and it's super easy to do.

Aren't these heart shaped marshmallows lovely?

Keep on reading to make your own fun shaped marshmallows...

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a merry, merry Christmas.

May your homes be filled with love, joy, and peace this holiday season.  

And in case you need a little extra holiday cheer, here are some goofy photos of Chuck and me wearing a lovely Santa/Gnome beard.  (I just cut out a beard shape from felt and hot glued elastic to both sides.)

Happy Holidays!  (And happy crafting!)