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Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash: Afterthoughts and Thank Yous

December 20, 2009 6 Comments

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Hey everyone! I want to thank you all so much for linking up at the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash last week! This was my first time to host a big event like this, and I’m so pleased with the way it turned out. A few days before it started I was telling my husband that I had no idea how much participation we’d have, The two weeks leading up to the event I had a lot of things to deal with outside of the blogging world, and I had no time to really promote the event the way I wanted to, so I set a very modest goal in my head. And so I was thrilled with the turn out that we had. At this point, we have a total of over 300 links at the 5 events!

I want to thank Jen, Teresa, Heidi, and Cheryl for agreeing to help me host this event. You guys are fantastic bloggers, and your event posts were incredible! I really appreciate your enthusiasm and the work you put in to this! If all goes well, I’ll try to put the event together again next year, and I’d be thrilled to have all of you back again!

Secondly, thanks to all of the prize sponsors! I really appreciate the opportunity to promote great products and companies. And I’m honored to have folks like you supporting my blog!

To all those who participated in the event, I will be doing the prize drawings shortly. I have a few that will be announced this week, and then there will be more to come over the next couple weeks (for the prizes that have separate giveaway posts). Also, this week I’m doing a Holly Bloggy “After Party” of sorts. That is, I’ll be featuring some ideas from last week’s contributors on my blog, so be on the look out for that, as you may get featured! Thank you all again so much for attending the event and making it a success. Merry Christmas!

-Jerri

Filed Under: Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Memories & Traditions: A Funny Childhood Story

December 18, 2009 6 Comments

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Today is the final day of the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash. And what a great week it’s been! I still have a ton of posts to visit, so if I haven’t been by your blog or responded to your comment yet, you’ll probably see me sometime in the next few days. Also, be sure to stop by here next week to see my final thoughts on the event, as well as some of the winner announcements. And just in case you don’t come by, I want to go ahead and thank everyone for linking up at our events this week!

Our last event is Christmas Memories and Traditions, and it’s being hosted by Cheryl over at Tidy Mom. Of all the events, I had the hardest time deciding what to do for this one. (Post photos? Share a story? Share a tradition? Etc.) Well, in the spirit of being unique, I finally decided to tell a story. When you think back over the years, there are so many cute or funny stories, it’s tough to pick just one to write about.

But after much deliberation, and probably against my better judgement, I’ve decided to tell one of my dad’s favorite memories from when I was a kid at Christmas. And I’ll just tell you beforehand, this will either be the funniest story you’ve heard or the grossest!

To set the stage, my dad is basically an old fashioned guy. He grew up on a farm in a very rural area, and he’s basically a country folk through and through. When I was six my mom and dad built a new house. It was a beautiful brick, country style house, with a big front porch and shutters. It was my parent’s dream home, and we loved it. I had just turned seven when we had our first Christmas in that house, and it was a very exciting time.

On Christmas Eve as I was sleeping, we had gotten a light snow fall. In fact, this was the only year that it’s ever snowed on Christmas at my house. So all in all, it was a picture perfect day.

As you all know, besides getting up and seeing all the presents under the tree and all the stocking stuffers that Santa has left, each kid looks forward to going in the kitchen and seeing the empty glass of milk and the cookie crumbs that Santa left behind, and perhaps a note of thanks from the Jolly Man himself, and remnants of an apple, a carrot, or maybe some lettuce that was left out for Rudolph. I know this always amazed me as a child!

Well, this particular year Santa left something else behind. As I read over the note that Santa had left for me, my dad walked to the back door to look outside. At first, not being aware that it had snowed the evening before, I was thrilled to see the snow on the ground. As I stood there, amazed at the sight of snow on Christmas morning, my dad made the announcement that Santa must have been feeding Rudolph on the back porch, and while Rudolph was eating, he pooped on our back porch! (We actually have this on video tape, and my initial reaction was “Wow!”) And then I walked over to the door to look out, and I noticed that Santa apparantly came in with mud on his feet. (The nerve of that man!) Then to top it off, my dad pointed out that there were some snow tracks that Santa had left on the mat at our backdoor.

(Wow! Real footprints and even reindeer poop! If you ever had any doubt in the existence of Santa, there’s your evidence. Case Closed.)

Obviously being just seven years old, I was just amazed. My mother, on the other hand, was not impressed. I can still hear her irritated voice saying to my dad, “You better go out there and clean that mess off!” And my brother was fifteen at the time, so his reaction was to laugh and mess with me, suggesting that I should take the reindeer poop for show-and-tell, because quote: “I bet they ain’t got none!” (Yeah…I wasn’t up for that! Somehow the new doll that Santa had brought seemed like a more appropriate show-and-tell item.)

To this day, my dad still tells this story. In fact, for years he’s been telling all the grandkids, nieces, and nephews about the year that Rudolph pooped on the porch, and he had to clean up after him. (Some are amazed, some giggle, and some just say, “Really?”)

(Now in case your wondering about the origins of the reindeer poop, here’s what actually happened: We had several acres of property, and we had cows and goats at different times while we lived in that house. The previous summer, we had two goats. My dad, being the crazy—and I do mean crazy!—-person that he is, went out to our barn and got some goat poop and actually put it out on the porch..just to try to amaze me and see my reaction. Talk about the Magic and Spirit of Christmas! (And I definitely have to give him credit for being creative!) And looking back, I completely understand why my mom was less than thrilled about this! In fact, she’d probably die knowing that I’m telling this story.)

Well, that’s my Christmas Memory. I’m not sure if you’ll laugh, cry, gag, or call me strange! But whatever your reaction, you can’t deny that my story is unique. Either way, thanks for stopping by and reading! I look forward to reading about your favorite memories and traditions over at Tidy Mom.

-Jerri


Filed Under: Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Recipes: My Famous Chess Cake and Other Holiday Favorites

December 16, 2009 22 Comments
It’s Recipe Day at the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash. Be sure to link up below and leave a comment so you can be eligible for all the prizes we’re giving away! The linky will be up through next Friday. I can’t wait to everyone’s recipes!

Since I’m hosting today, it would be improper for me to hold back and not share the recipe that is most near and dear to my heart! So today I’m sharing my famous chess cake!

My mom used to make this every year around Christmas time, and it was always so good! It’s actually a perfect dessert for any occasion, but I still associate it with Christmas to this day, and of all the desserts I make, this one is definitely the most requested!

Today I’m also featuring some photos and links of some of my family’s favorite holiday appetizers and desserts! Hope you enjoy!

Don’t forget to stop by Tidy Mom tomorrow for the Holly Bloggy Christmas Memories and Traditions event!


Recipe for Chess Cake:
Ingredients:
For Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 stick margarine (softened or melted)

For Icing:
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick margarine (softened or melted)
2 eggs
1 box powdered sugar

Directions: For cake – Mix together the cake mix, eggs, and margarine. Press into a 9×13 inch pan. For icing, cream together cream cheese, margarine, eggs, and sugar. Pour over cake mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy!


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And Here Are Some More Of Our Holiday Favorites:

Creamy Salsa Dip

Black Bean Spirals

Sausage Balls

Crunchy Cheese Crisps

Christmas Pinwheels

Sour Cream Pound Cake (hubby’s fave)

Egg Custard Pie (Dad’s Fave)

Congealed Salad (aka – That Green Stuff)

Cake Mix Cookies

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Thanks so much for stopping by my party!
Merry Christmas!

-Jerri

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I’m linking this post up at Blessed with Grace, 11th Heaven’s Homemaking, and Beauty and Bedlam.


Filed Under: Christmas, desserts, Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Crafts: Beaded Mouse Ornaments

December 15, 2009 12 Comments
For day 3 of the Holly Bloggy we are sharing crafts! If you have a Christmas craft to share, be sure to link up over at Heidi’s blog: Blue Eyed Blessings. And don’t forget to come back here tomorrow to share your Christmas recipes!

I’ve had a lot going on at our house in the last few weeks, and I didn’t have the time to make anything new, but I really wanted to post something for the event, so I decided to share these beaded mouse ornaments that I made a while back.

As you know I have a big collection of mouse ornaments. Well, when I found a mouse ornament kit at Wal-Mart I just had to have it! Today I’ll be posting a tutorial on how to make your own mice ornaments. Please keep in mind that craft instruction is not my forte, and on top of that I have no photos of the mouse making process…..however I will try my best to make my instructions as clear and easy to follow as possible.

Here’s what you need to make one mouse:

23 clear, round beads (4 mm)

3 clear “star” beads (20 mm)

1 clear “star” bead (10 mm)

2 red “star” beads (10 mm)

1 round bead (10 or 12 mm)

1 pipe cleaner

1 piece of string

String one 4mm bead on the pipe cleaner. Loop the end of the pipe cleaner around the bead so that the beads don’t fall off. Add one of the red star beads. Add 10 more round beads. Bend the pipe cleaner, making a 90 degree angle. Add the three clear star beads (20mm), followed by the 10mm clear star bead, and then the red star bead. Add the 10mm round bead.

At this point you’ve made the mouse tail, body, and head. Next add 6 more 4mm beads, and loop the pipe clear around so that it looks like an ear. Twist the pipe cleaner around itself. Then add 6 more beads. Loop the pipe cleaner around again to make the second ear. Then twist the pipe cleaner around itself again, so that it’s tight and the beads won’t fall off. If you have excess pipe cleaner, use wire cutters to remove it. Then take your string; loop it through the mouse ears and tie it in a knot. Finally bend the tail into your desired shape/position.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you tomorrow for the Christmas Recipe Party!

-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, crafts, Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Tree Event

December 14, 2009 10 Comments

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Today is Day 2 of the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash, and we are sharing trees! If you have a Christmas Tree to share with us, be sure to link up over at A Baby Changes Everything. (And I’m also linking up to the tree event at Thrifty Decor Chick.
This year we moved our tree from the living room to the kitchen. We have a large eat-in kitchen, and I was able to place the tree in front of this china cabinet, positioned in between the actual kitchen and the dining area.

Now allow me to introduce my assistants: This is Rebel. Actually this picture was taken before the decorating got started. Rebel loves the Christmas tree skirt, and although he knows he’s not allowed on the counter, when I placed the skirt and some other things up on the counter it was just too tempting for him. I walked in and caught him taking a nap on it. (I think he was under the impression that I placed the skirt up there just for him. lol.)

And here’s Dixie Belle. She supervised the decorating, though she’s generally more of a “hands-on” worker. She and Rebel are also our resident taste testers, and apparantly fake trees are pretty delicious!


And here she is inspecting the final product:

I pretty much used the same ornaments as last year, except for a couple of new ones I got, but I did make a couple of changes. The star from last year doesn’t light up anymore, so I’m going to have to pick up a new one. In the mean time, I decided to top the tree with this big blue bow-thingy. (It was either that or some poinsetta sprigs….and the poinsettas just didn’t match very well.)


Another addition to this year’s tree is some garland. I bought a bunch of garland on sale last year. If you came by and saw my home tour post the other day, I’m sure you’ll remember the garland over my kitchen cabinets. The same kind is on our tree. It’s very bright and rainbow colored. Very festive!


Here’s some of our ornaments: The first one is the “Cookie Doe,” made of minature cooking utensils. I just love him!


Having grown up in the 80s, I’m a huge Care Bears fan:

I have a huge collection of mice ornaments. The mouse with the box of candy is one of my favorites.

This is a vintage Snoopy & Woodstock ornament. We had a bunch of these on our tree when I was growing up, and last year they were given to me. Not really sure how old they are. The last copyright date on it says 1965, but I’m thinking they were purchased in the 70s.

More mice….(and obviously I have a thing with fake candy and dessert items.)

Rainbow Brite, Twink, and Starlight:

A Gingerbread cookie ornament. I love these! His body is an ice cream sandwich!

Another one of my favorite mice ornaments:

….And more tree pictures:


Thanks so much for stopping by to see my tree! Hope to see you here on Thursday for the recipe linky!

-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash: Homemade Gifts

December 14, 2009 13 Comments

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Welcome to Day 1 of the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash! Today Jen at Tater Tots & Jello is hosting our Homemade Gifts Event! So head on over to Jen’s place and link up. We can’t wait to see your homemade gift ideas!

Also, don’t forget to stop by A Baby Changes Everything tomorrow as Teresa hosts our Christmas Tree event!


For my Homemade Gift post I’m sharing the Christmas Candy Boxes I made last year. I just love making Christmas candy, but I admit it can be a hassle sometimes. Fortunately I was able to select a “menu” of items that weren’t too difficult to make and easy to multitask and make together.

I basically spent an entire evening making and baking everything—that’s not too bad considering the amount of stuff I made, and considering that I did it all by myself. And in all, I believe I spent about $20 on all the ingredients, plus 6 containers. (And I had a lot of candy left over…probably enough to do 3-4 more boxes if I’d wanted.) So it’s an awesome value for the money and time I put into it.

Everyone liked them so much that I’ll be doing it again this year (except with different treats). Here are the recipes I included in last year’s Christmas Candy Boxes:

–Rocky Road Candy

–Cake Mix Cookies

–Rice Krispy Treats

-Chess Cake (Recipe will be posted here on Thursday for the Christmas Recipe Event!)

I started with these lovely plastic containers. I got these at Wal-Mart for $1 each! And then I just lined them with red tissue paper I had on hand.


Before stuffing the containers, I made all my sweets so I could get an idea of how to divide it all out equally. Here’s my dining room table covered with all the goodies:

Put the goodies and the festive containers together, and you have a lovely package that’s perfect for gift giving!

For my assortments, I included 3-4 pieces of chess cake, 4 pieces of Rocky Road Candy, 3 Rice Krispy Treats, and 6-8 Cake Mix Cookies.


After dividing out all the goodies, I finished the project, placing name tags and bows on top of the containers.

-Jerri

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I’m also sharing this post for TMTT at Blessed with Grace, TT at Beauty and Bedlam, Newlywed’s Holiday Treat Week and WFMW at We Are That Family.

Filed Under: Christmas, cookies and candy, desserts, Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash Starts Tomorrow!

December 13, 2009 1 Comment
Hello everyone! I just want to remind everyone that the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash starts tomorrow! I hope you’ll all join us for a week of Christmas festivities, friends, fun, and a cup of good cheer!

We’ll be kicking off our event with Homemade Gifts over at Tater Tots and Jello. Jen will have her post up late tonight so you guys can start linking up! And in addition to the prizes I’m giving away this week for the entire event, Jen is offering a prize to the participants who link up at her site for the Homemade Gift Event!

In case this is your first time here or just in case you need a reminder, here is our schedule for the week:

Monday, Dec. 14 – Homemade Gifts – The best Christmas gifts come from the heart. Whether you sew, bake, paint, or glue, a homemade gift is always special and unique to those who recieve it. Come join us over at Tater Tots and Jello and share something that you’ve made, or share something that someone made for you.

Tuesday, Dec. 15 – Christmas Trees – It’s so amazing to see all the different decorating styles people have out there. And we can’t wait to see yours! Share some photos of your Christmas tree. Do you have a special theme? A favorite ornament? Post your link at A Baby Changes Everything.

Wednesday, Dec. 16 – Christmas Crafts – Christmas is a wonderful time for crafty people to show off their skills. Do you make your own Christmas decorations? Ornaments? Cards? Scrapbooks? Gingerbread Houses? Something else? Come on over to Blue Eyed Blessings and share your creations with us!

Thursday, Dec. 17 – Christmas Recipes – Food and the Holidays go hand in hand. Come and share your favorite Christmas recipes over at Simply Sweet Home. Whether it’s an appetizer, a dessert, a drink, a side, or the main course, I’m sure we’ll all be hungry for seconds!

Friday, Dec. 18 – Christmas Memories & Traditions – We all have our favorite Christmas stories, from the sweet and sentimental to the unforgettably funny. Tell us your favorite Christmas memory. Or tell us about a favorite Christmas Tradition that your family has. Then link up over at Tidy Mom.

Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!: Thanks to all the sponsors we have offering prizes!

Here are some of the prizes you could win :

-$50 Christmas Surprise Pack – from Teresa at A Baby Changes Everything. Surprise pack will include a number of miscellaneous Christmas items that you’ll just love.

-Purple Trail Membership – Purple Trail is offering one basic membership worth $15. Purple Trail is an ecard & evite website. They also feature a lot party planning articles and a whole bunch of great stuff.

-Magazine Subscription – One person will win a one year subsciption to ONE of the following popular magazines: Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Traditional Homes, and Parents.

-The Busy Mom Prize Pack – This is a prize pack that I’m offering. You’ll get a special “Mom’s Planning” calendar, a notepad, lotion, and other goodies!

-Christmas Cookie Cutters* – One person will win a set of Christmas cookie cutters from Cheapcookiecutters.com.

-Rock Candy Vintage Jewelry* – One person will win a necklace worth $15 from Rock Candy Vintage.

-Relish Menu Planning Membership* – One person will win a one-year membership to Relish! Menu Planning Website. (Review coming soon.)

-Craft Bundle* – 2 people will win a Craft Bundle from You Can Make This.

–$25 Gift Card* – Coleman’s is offering a $25 gift card. (More details coming about this prize.)

How to Win: Each time you link up at a Holly Bloggy event and leave a comment at the host blog, you’ll be entered in the drawings for each of the prizes above. However, prizes designated with a * will have a separate review/giveaway post with additional entries available, so if you have your heart set on one of the *prizes, you should see the giveaway post for that item. Giveaway links are always posted at the top of my blog.

Please take a button for your blog. (Button codes can be found in my sidebar.) To say thanks for proudly promoting our event, everyone who has the HBCB button in their sidebar will be eligible for additional entries in all of this month’s giveaways!

And now for your listening pleasure, here’s the song that inspired the name of our event. “Rudolph & The Island of Misfit Toys” was always one of my favorite Christmas movies growing up, and I adored the music! As I began thinking of names for the event, “Holly Jolly Christmas Bash” just kept coming to my mind, and thanks to my witty husband, it evolved into the “Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash.”

Have a great week!

-Jerri

Filed Under: Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Cheap Cookie Cutters Review and Giveaway

December 11, 2009 81 Comments

As my loyal readers know, this blog isn’t call Simply Sweet Home for nothing. Yes, we do love our desserts around here, especially cookies!

Recently I had the chance to try out some new cookie cutters from Cheap Cookie Cutters. I got a mini Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and three Christmas Cookie Cutters. My set included a Christmas Tree, Stocking, and Angel.

These were great! They shipped quickly to my house. And I was immediately pleased by their size and condition. Previously I’ve bought a set of hard plastic cookie cutters, and I have to that these are a lot better than those. They cut better, and the shapes come out very nicely. (Much better than those old plastic cutters I have!)

As I looked through the Cheap Cookie Cutters website I found a lot of noteworthy cookie cutters to tell my baking and blogging friends about. For instance, the site has an entire section of Disney Cookie Cutters, including Mickey, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet.

They also have alphabet & number cutters and even United States Cookie Cutters. What a great–and not to mention, a yummy–way for kids to learn.

And there are so many other great cookie cutters to be found at this website. Also, if you go there now and put in the coupon code 10off at checkout, you get 10% off your purchase! So head on over there right now and pick up what you need for Christmas baking, or pick up something for your baking friends.


Giveaway: One Simply Sweet Home Reader will win a set of Christmas Cookie Cutters like the one shown above worth $11.99. To win, visit Cheap Cookie Cutters and then come back here and tell us your favorite cookie cutter or cookie cutter set.

Giveaway Closed. Thanks for entering!

-Jerri


Filed Under: Giveaways, product review, Sponsors

Christmas Tour

December 11, 2009 17 Comments
It’s that time of year again! As Lucy would say, time to “deck them halls and all that stuff!” This year I’m happy to be participating in Christmas Tours over at Southern Hospitality, Hooked on Houses, and The Nester.

As you look through the post you’ll notice there’s no tree…..I got so carried away with the pictures that I decided not to put any tree pictures here. But for the record, I do have a tree and will be featuring it in a separate post later on. By the way, if you’re one the ladies sharing your trees and decor, don’t forget to stop by A Baby Changes Everything on Tuesday and link up your Christmas Tree post for the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash. (And link up at our other events too. Go here for more details.)

To begin our 2nd annual holiday tour, we have a very special treat! This is photo of our house decked out with real “Alabama Snow!” Isn’t it glorious?

For some reason, I find it nearly impossible to get a good pictures of Christmas lights, regardless of the outside lighting or camera settings, but I did my best!



We begin our tour in the living room where I have a couple of displays and items to share, starting with our 3 snowmen here. When you go through this entire post, you’ll probably think that I’m obsessed with snowmen….but actually most of them were gifts. Over the years I seem to have acquired quite a collection! (And I must admit, they are quite cute!)


The snow village…..


Last year I decorated the entertainment center in blue and silver, but this year I went with red and gold. I just love these cone shaped trees! I wish I had a whole forest of them!


This village is an easy one piece set up. I have an entire box of villages out in our storage building…but it takes so much time to set up. Maybe one day I’ll put them out, but for now I’m loving this one…

The stockings were hung on the China cabinet with care…..

A couple of cute pieces.


Last year’s dining room centerpiece is now at the top of the China Cabinet.


Kitty Cat Stockings…..

Last year this wreath was adorned in mice ornaments, but this year to keep with the red & gold theme, I decided to just add some gold accents and ornaments that came off a predecorated Christmas tree.


A couple of Hallmark special animals…..


And some Hallmark Sock Monkeys…..

Moving On To The Kitchen……..


After Christmas last year I bought some new garland and balls to put over the cabinets. It really adds a lot of color….and fun to the room. (Note all the snowmen items hanging from the drawers above and the snow men towels hanging on the stove below…not to mention a couple of snowmen on the counter.)


I saw so many glass containers filled with Christmas balls last year on the tours that I decided to do a few of my own.


The “Kitchen Tree”

If any of you are in to antiques or “country kitchen stuff,” I got these out of the Lakeside Catalog. (Note once again, the snowmen.)


My stepmom painted this plate for us two Christmas’s ago.

Some close up pictures of the garland and balls over our other two cabinets….


….And the following two pieces actually don’t go together. One is a card hold and the other is just an ornament. I couldn’t find a good place to put the ornaments, so I hung them here….so that’s the story behind that. (But at least they both feature snowmen, and they’re both from Hallmark…okay, maybe this looks a little weird…)

More Christmas Balls in glass containers. (I told you I liked the idea!)

And the kitchen table decked out in what else….snow men!
This Christmas Tree plate is one of my favorite pieces. My husband bought it for me 2 years ago.

….And more snowmen.

….And even S’more Snowmen!

Thanks for stopping by for my Home Tour. Don’t forget to come by next week for the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash! We’ll have some great events and great prizes to give away!

Have a Merry Christmas!

-Jerri
Filed Under: Christmas, decorating

Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash (Dec 14-18)

December 8, 2009 4 Comments
The Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash is less than a week away! I hope you’ll all join us for a week of Christmas festivities, friends, fun, and a cup of good cheer!

Please look over our schedule of events and put them on your calendar. We look forward to seeing your posts!

Monday, Dec. 14 – Homemade Gifts – The best Christmas gifts come from the heart. Whether you sew, bake, paint, or glue, a homemade gift is always special and unique to those who recieve it. Come join us over at Tater Tots and Jello and share something that you’ve made, or share something that someone made for you.

Tuesday, Dec. 15 – Christmas Trees – It’s so amazing to see all the different decorating styles people have out there. And we can’t wait to see yours! Share some photos of your Christmas tree. Do you have a special theme? A favorite ornament? Post your link at A Baby Changes Everything.

Wednesday, Dec. 16 – Christmas Crafts – Christmas is a wonderful time for crafty people to show off their skills. Do you make your own Christmas decorations? Ornaments? Cards? Scrapbooks? Gingerbread Houses? Something else? Come on over to Blue Eyed Blessings and share your creations with us!

Thursday, Dec. 17 – Christmas Recipes – Food and the Holidays go hand in hand. Come and share your favorite Christmas recipes over at Simply Sweet Home. Whether it’s an appetizer, a dessert, a drink, a side, or the main course, I’m sure we’ll all be hungry for seconds!

Friday, Dec. 18 – Christmas Memories & Traditions – We all have our favorite Christmas stories, from the sweet and sentimental to the unforgettably funny. Tell us your favorite Christmas memory. Or tell us about a favorite Christmas Tradition that your family has. Then link up over at Tidy Mom.

Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!: We’ll have several great prizes up for grabs at the Holly Bloggy! To qualify for the prize drawings, you must link up to our event(s) and leave a comment at the host blogs. Each time you do this you get an entry. (So for example, if you participate in Monday’s event only, that’s one entry. If you participate all 5 days, that’s five entries.) At the end of the week, entries from all 5 events will be put together, and I’ll do drawings for all the prizes.

Here are some of the prizes you could win :

-$50 Christmas Surprise Pack – from Teresa at A Baby Changes Everything. Surprise pack will include a number of miscellaneous Christmas items that you’ll just love.

-Purple Trail Membership – Purple Trail is offering one basic membership worth $15. Purple Trail is an ecard & evite website. They also feature a lot party planning articles and a whole bunch of great stuff.

Magazine Subscription – One person will win a one year subsciption to ONE of the following popular magazines: Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Traditional Homes, and Parents.

-Christmas Cookie Cutters* – One person will win a set of Christmas cookie cutters from Cheapcookiecutters.com. (Review coming soon.)

-Rock Candy Vintage Jewelry* – One person will win a necklace worth $15 from Rock Candy Vintage.

-Relish Menu Planning Membership* – One person will win a one-year membership to Relish! Menu Planning Website. (Review coming soon.)

-Craft Bundle* – 2 people will win a Craft Bundle from You Can Make This.

–Other Prizes – To be announced on Sunday, just before the start of the event!

(Each time you participate in a Holly Bloggy event, you’ll be entered in the drawings for each of the prizes above. However, prizes designated with a * will have a separate review/giveaway post with additional entries available, so if you have your heart set on one of the *prizes, you should see the giveaway post for that item. Links are always posted at the top of my blog.)

Grab a Button: Feel free to right click and save the graphic above if you’d like to post on the event, and/or use the code from one of the buttons below and place it in your sidebar and in your event posts if you wish. I’d really appreciate everyone’s help in promoting this event. And to say thanks, everyone who has the HBCB button in their sidebar will be eligible for additional entries in all of this month’s giveaways!

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-Jerri

Filed Under: Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash
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