Written By Mama

Archive for December, 2012

A great way to fight the winter blues is with a colorful, stylish winter hat that keeps you cozy warm. Check out the fantastic selection from Yak Apparel and read Pandora’s Deals review to see which hat she fell in love with! Let me tell you, she sure looks adorable in her new hat! Then be sure to follow Yak on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to be the first to hear about all of their awesome new products and promotions! They’ve always got some great discounts.

We’re in the countdown now y’all. Do you realize this is the night most kids all around the world have waited for – and it will officially be the longest day of the year for us mommies and daddies.
Want to see how much longer you have to wait until you kick your kids to bed? Then you really should check out NORAD!

Not only can you track Santa’s journey but they also have other activities! Let your kids play some games while you prep the dinner, get the house ready and even wrap those last minute presents.

Just so you know, he’s on his way to the Philippines – only 12 more hours till bed time! Yay!

This post is NOT a sponsored post. I just thought it would be fun to track Santa Please view my Full Disclosure.

There are so many things in life that can spark a memory – some good & some bad. Since Cody passed, my memories are triggered by the most random things. A street sign. A smell. A sound. A voice. Today I was sitting here thinking about Christmas traditions and how I’m going to do it different next year. That’s when I remembered Christmas 2009. It was mine and Cody’s second Christmas together. Cody bought me everything I wanted – I didn’t know at the time though. I was so impatient to see what I got that we decided early on in December that we could each open one gift early…like 10 days early LOL. I got the knife set I wanted! He got the X-Box game he wanted!

Then the next day we decided we could each open one more gift. This went on for 2 more days. Then finally we said screw it. We opened all our gifts almost a week before Christmas! As a kid we had a tradition, on Christmas Eve, all the kids got to open one gift. It was a gift that the parents chose and then we had to go to bed. So Cody and I adopted that tradition, except for Christmas 2009. By the time Christmas Eve got there, we had nothing left to open – seriously. Christmas morning came and again, there was nothing – I think that’s the year I stopped believing in Santa (I was 20 years old, BTW).

Since that year, we decided to do it by the books – absolutely no presents will be opened until Christmas Day. With the exception of one on Christmas Eve. We only got to share two more Christmases with that tradition, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. This year, I have held to that tradition. Next year…well next year I will be starting a new tradition with Landon. We will find the way we want to celebrate the holidays, without it being too painful. But for now, we will celebrate it the way Cody and I did.

I’m on a roll this week with crafts…okay this is only my second craft, but it’s a big deal LOL.

This is a tutorial on how to make mini yarn wreaths. They can be ornaments for your Christmas Tree, gift tags or decorations for around the house (like hanging from the mantle!). This craft was really cheap, I spend less than $10 and you can probably get it cheaper, depending on the yarn. The great thing about these is you can make them any color you want to match your decor! I know pink trees are all the rage this year

What you need:

• Yarn – you will need about 4-5ft of yarn for each wreath.
• Shower Curtain Rings – make sure they’re the ones that can open and close.
• Scissors
• Embellishments - I used little presents but you can use anything that the Dollar Tree carries (they also had mini drums). You can use ribbon to make bows or anything else really. *optional*
• Glue gun & glue *optional*

Directions:

• Open the shower curtain rings and hook the presents on the clasp area. If you’re using something that isn’t able to be threaded on, you will need to glue it on at the end – I’ll provide an optional step for that.

• Start wrapping the shower curtain rings with the yarn. You will want to wrap it tight and make sure the rings are covered completely.

• When you’re totally done wrapping the yarn around the shower curtain rings, make sure there is some extra yarn at the end to make loops to hang them. Tie the end of the yarn to the yarn-covered ring so it makes a loop. 
• *Optional Setp* if you can’t attach the embellishments on your shower curtain rings with string, you will need to glue them on the finished product. Pick a spot that you want your decorations and glue it! Make sure you press firmly and let it dry on a flat surface, completely, before hanging it.

Without any embellishments

With an embellishment

That’s it! Hang them on your tree or anywhere you want. If you make these, feel free to post them on my Facebook Wall or Tweet the pictures to me! I would love to see them and share them!

I’m not gonna lie, I almost forgot about Wordless Wednesday today. Well I remembered it last night before bed. Not this morning though.
Anyways, today’s Wordless Wednesday post is Landon helping me do crafts. I am so excited he’s old enough to do this fun stuff with me, now

I mean seriously, what’s not to love about your little one finally growing up and being fun
You can find the recipe/directions to those Apple Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments HERE.

Make sure you check out my previous Wordless Wednesday posts and come back next week to see what I have to share!

This is the Ultimate Cooking
Giveaway!!!

I’m so stoked to be part of this giveaway! I hope one of my readers wins!

If you want to be the King or Queen of your Kitchen then this is one HOT
HOT Giveaway you must enter. Enter for your chance to win a Ninja 3N1
Cooking System, a Custom Apron from Mailpix and a $25.00 Giftcard from
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You can cook a complete meal in matter of minutes with this little
machine. From baking, to roasting, to slow cooking the Ninja 3n1 Cooking
System is the fastest and best way to cook delicious and healthy meals for
your family, but wait you have to cook in style so we are throwing in a
custom apron from Mailpix to help you look your very best as you cook your
family favorites meals. Oh and you will need groceries to cook with huh?
Yep that’s why we are throwing in a $25.00 GiftCard to Peapod so you can
grab your groceries on us. Be sure to enter this giveaway and tell your
friends all about it. Winner will be announced on Christmas!!! Enter the
Ultimate Cooking Giveaway Now!!!!

The Ninja^® Cooking System

• Heats from the bottom and the sides at the same time
• Cook meats up to 50%* faster than in a conventional oven
• Fast and healthy one pot meals in 30 minutes or less

There is only one mandatory entry and all
others are extras!! But trust me you will want to get them all.

This is a sponsored giveaway, please be advised that Written By Mama is not responsible for shipping the product!

So last night, a friend was telling me about this website where you can put Santa into your Christmas pictures. This website is so cool! Not only can you “catch” Santa putting presents under the tree, you can also catch him on your roof, in your yard and stuffing your stockings!

Imagine the look of wonder and surprise when a child receives a photo of Santa and Rudolph caught in the act in his or her very own home. iCaughtSanta.com is a unique website that helps visitors create those memorable keepsake photos.

In three simple steps, seriously it’s 3 steps, anyone can upload a holiday photo, add Santa Claus and print it as proof. Once you have paid for your order, you can also share it via Facebook and Twitter. Last-minute shopper? You can purchase Gift Cards and eGift Certificates for loved ones with children, making iCaughtSanta.com a great gift idea even if you don’t have kids yourself.

Let me tell you, I don’t think it even took me 10 minutes to do this. It’s so quick, your child will never know you are the one behind it. They’ll really think you caught Santa. There are tons of different poses to choose from, too. So you can really personalize it how YOU want it.

Yup, that’s my tree with Santa. He certainly looks surprised that I’m snapping pictures. But com’on who wouldn’t take pictures if they caught Santa in their house?!

Did you know it’s only $9.99 to do this? Then, you can download it to your computer, share it on your social media sites or have it printed at Walgreens! You just have it sent over via iCaughtSanta.com!
They also have a special for Written By Mama readers – only $7.50 to catch Santa this holiday season! You can shop now.

A few fun features include White, Black and Hispanic Santas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

For a very limited time, iCaughtSanta.com is hosting a giveaway for an iPad! There are 2 chances for YOU to win!
* iPad Giveaway 1: Free to Enter – anyone who shares our contest page (via Rafflecopter) is eligible
* iPad Giveaway 2: Photo Contest – Anyone who creates a photo can submit it and ask friends to vote for it.

Here’s the fun part…iCaughtSanta.com is letting me giveaway 5 free codes to make your own Christmas Memory. That means 5 people will get to “catch” Santa, his reindeer or both this holiday!

This giveaway is not for an iPad. This giveaway is for your own picture of Santa in your house.

You can enter via the Giveaway Tools below. By entering you are confirming you are 18 years of age or older. This giveaway is live from now until Friday, December 21st at 2pm EST. The winner will only have 24 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen in their place. With Christmas on Tuesday, we want to make sure you get to print your picture in time

…

Found this posted on The Learning Tower’s Blog as part of their ’25 Days Of December’
And because I not only want to win something from them, I also want to start doing more crafts with Landon. He’s at that age where he enjoys doing stuff. So I took a chance and we actually had fun!

Ingredients:

- 1c. Apple Sauce
- 3/4c. Ground Cinnamon**
- Wax Paper
- Medium Sized Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters
- Straw
- Ribbon
- Cookie Sheet
- Parchment Paper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 250* Mix together applesauce & cinnamon in the bowl until it’s a dough like consistency. You know it’s there when it’s similar to Roll Out Cookie Dough.
2. Place dough on wax paper & roll with rolling pin. Roll dough to 1/4-1/2in thick.

3. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Then, using the straw, punch out a little hole at the top of each cut-out. This will be so you can string the ribbon.

4. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Then place the cut-outs on the tray. Put on middle rack of oven for about 1 hour, flipping every 15-20 minutes. They’re done when you lightly press the middle, and they’re not soft anymore.

5. Let cool completely, then thread with ribbon.

Tips:

- The original recipe called for equal amounts of applesauce and ground cinnamon. I however didn’t use as much cinnamon. I recommend starting out with probably a half a cup, then adding more as you need, until the dough is just right.
- I flipped the ornaments so they cooked evenly on both sides.
- You can make these for any holiday or event. So use any cookie cutter you have!

Alternate Drying Method:

Instead of putting them in the oven, you can leave them out on parchment paper for 2-3 days. I recommend flipping every 12 hours or so, that way they can evenly dry out on each side.

Everyone’s final product will look different, so play around with it until you’re happy with the final outcome! Feel free to share pictures of your finished ornaments on my Facebook page!

Today we woke up and found Stass on grandma’s shelf drinking her vintage Coca-Cola! Okay, well I’m not sure if it’s vintage…
Anyways, can you believe he drank 2 sodas and was getting ready to pop open another when we found him?! I really don’t think my mom is going to be happy. She has a huge collection of Coca-Cola stuff.

He should also know, his teeth are going to rot out with all the junk he eats and drinks. Tsk, tsk Stass.

Make sure you check out my previous Elf on the Shelf posts. Looking for new ideas to hide your elf? Feel free to follow my Elf on the Shelf board on Pinterest!

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There is only one mandatory entry and all others are extras!! But trust me you will want to get them all.