More Cameo Giveaways

A few more of these giveaways have popped into my google reader and here they are, for you, my readers:

Little Miss Momma

Kara's Party Ideas

Brown Paper Packages

eighteen25

So- go to these sites, enter, and win!

Merry Christmas to Me!

I failed to mention the Christmas present that my hubs and I bought for me......a new computer!! The computer I am currently working on is a dinosaur and will run fine for a time and then slows down majorly. My hbs has been reinstalling windows to "fix" this, but I decided it would probably be best in the long run to invest in a new one. We did some researching and decided an all-in-one would fit my needs (also, it is touch screen, which is super fun to play with.) We bought this Dell and it should be here by January 4th according to the shipping confirmation I just got. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Slhouette Cameo Giveaways!

I've been a bad blogger and have slacked off during this holiday season. I've worked on some projects, but in my rush, failed to take pictures before I gave them as gifts. To make up for this, I am sharing links to Silhouette Cameo Giveaways from the blogs I subsribe to. I LOVE my machine and would love one of you to win one. Here are the giveaways in no particular order:

Skip to My Lou

My Repurposed Life

Craftaholics Anonymous

Crap I've Made

Tater Tots & Jello

I Heart Naptime

All Things Thrifty

House of Hepworths

The Idea Room

Good Luck to you, and if you win, please let me know so I can share in your joy!

Glass Etching

I decided to be nice and add an extra gift to go along with the peppermint bark I made for my co-workers, so they are all getting jars to hold the bark! And not just any jars, PERSONALIZED jars! Man, I must really like them.

I have yet to attempt glass etching, but thought this would be a great project to try out this technique. Here are the tools you will need:
- stencil of some kind (I used a vinyl stencil I made on my Silhouette)
- bottle of Armour Etch
- foam brush
- rubber gloves
- glass container of your choice

I went to my closest Hobby Lobby during one of their 50% off glass sales (which, if you didn't know, run pretty much every other week) and purchased 5 smallish glass jars with lids (priced at $3.79 each normally, with the sale were only $1.90 each). Also, I had a 40% off coupon which I used to purchase the Armour Etch. I got a small bottle which cost $8.99 normally, so with the coupon was $5.40. The gloves, foam brush, and vinyl for the stencil are things that I already had lying around the house.

To get started, I created my stencils on my Silhouette, and stuck them to the jars. Sticking vinyl to round objects is not the easiest thing to do, which is why I cut my stencil into 3 seperate pieces. This allowed me to lign up the words better. I would highly recommend doing this.

Then, with the foam brush, I dabbed on a thick coat of the Armour Etch cream, and waited 5 whole minutes (as per the printed instructions on the bottle), then rinsed them off thoroughly under running water.

Here is one of the finished jars:

This is a fairly easy project to take on and there are SO many options for what you can make. I have a couple more gift ideas in the works, and hope the recipients love them!

Silhouette Cameo Sale!!

I got really giddy when I opened up the latest e-mail I received from OhMyCrafts. They are running a 25% off your entire order over $50 sale right now. That means, you can be the proud owner of a Cameo for just $202.49, plus, they offer free shipping on any order over $75 (double score!!). Just enter coupon code JINGLE25 at checkout. The Cameo retails at $300, so this is a FANTASTIC deal (and the cheapest I've seen it!) The coupon is good through Christmas Eve, but if you were thinking about getting a Cameo, this would make a great gift to yourself this year!

Peppermint Bark!

This year as a Christmas gift to my co-workers, I decided to make peppermint bark. I saw the cutest take on it over at Baked by Rachel:

How genius to make peppermint bark in silicone molds! I've never made bark before, but it looked easy enough, so I decided to attempt it. Its chocolate....how bad could it turn out anyway, right? I ended up going with silicone molds I found on sale at JoAnn's since that is what I could find, and they were so adorable! I bought 2 since I new I would be making several batches and it would save on time.

I followed this recipe from Rachel's blog (step-by step instructions can be found at the link to her blog above...I omitted the vegetable oil and had great results)

Ingredients:
10oz bag milk or dark chocolate chips
10oz white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp peppermint extract, divided
crushed candy canes or peppermint candies.
Directions:
In a small to medium sized bowl add milk or dark chocolate. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir well after each 30 seconds. When fully melted, add 1/4 tsp peppermint extract. Stir well.
Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, divide chocolate among mold cavities. Sprinkle with crushed candies. Chill for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate has set.
Repeat process with white chocolate. Remove from molds after fully hardened. Store in the fridge.

Here is how they turned out:

So cute! To me, peppermint speaks of this time of year, and this is one of my favorite treats. Hopefully, my co-workers enjoy it as much as I do, and if not, I still enjoyed making it for them anyways.

Zulily

Zulily is a flash sale sight, similar to Rue La La, Ideeli, etc. that is geared towards moms and children. Occasionally they have fun housewares as well. I receive their emails, but I have yet to purchase anything but am really tempted to buy this awesome hat as it brings to mind Luna Lovegood, from Harry Potter (yes I am a dork, and I don't care who knows it.)

The hat is only $8.99 and the thing I love about Zulily is that they have 8-10 different stores featured each day and you can shop from each of these and only pay 1 shipping fee (!). If you would like to purchase this hat, you may follow this link: Critter Hats. You will have to sign up to receive their daily e-mails, but they do have some really cool things each day, and I love looking at all the cool things I can get for our future children, or for our friends awesome rugrats!

I've Been Busy, I Swear!

I have been busy whipping up some Christmas presents and haven't wanted to post them here, since the recipient's read my blog, so I apologize for not letting you in on the fun. I will post after the holidays, I promise.

I am a crazy person, and ordered my camera, and then decided to research it. A friend of mine has it and loves it, but the more reviews I read, the more wary I was about it. So many people have had issues and I decided I would rather invest in a camera that won't have to be repaired several times. I ordered the Nikon P300 and it arrived yesterday. I am SO glad I ordered this one as it has received several awards for being a best all around point and shoot camera, and it takes fabulout photos! Again, I've been busy and I will post pics soon.

Thank you all for being patient!