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Giveaway Results: Nintendo Wii & Family Game Night 3 (2 Copies)

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Thank you all for your entries into our contest! We are excited to announce that the winner of this giveaway is Neda (Commenter #154)! We are so happy to share this with her family and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker Giveaway from Monday (valued at $139),  our $1,300 Prize Pack from The Talk, & Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year. Check back tomorrow for more!!

Oh, Christmas just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? As promised, I have been working hard to share some fabulous giveaways this week and I can think of nothing more fabulous than sharing a Nintendo Wii and two copies of Family Game Night 3.  Our Wii has provided hours and hours of family entertainment for all of us! Now you can play all of your favorite Hasbro board games on the Wii and no need to even keep track of all those little board game pieces.

Hasbro Family Game Night 3 is a classic board game compilation for Wii that allows players both new and an experienced with the original versions of the games included to discover their fun and addictive appeal for the first time, or all over again. The compilation includes new interpretations of classic board game favorites from different sub-genres, including: The Game of Life, Clue, Twister, Mouse Trap and Yahtzee Hands Down. Additional features include: a variety of gameplay mechanics, including interactive gameboards; an in-game theme park environment that houses separate areas for for each game, as well as regions in-between; full Mii integration throughout the game; four-player support; and the return of Mr. Potato Head who takes on the new role of Park Guide in-game.

I don’t know what could say awesome family night than that, do you? I am so excited for you guys!

To enter to win a Nintendo Wii with two copies of Family Game Night 3…

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry Required: Required to enter this giveaway”RT for a chance to win a Nintendo Wii and Family Game Night 3 from @momadvice http://tinyurl.com/34z9web.” If you do not have a Twitter account, it is quick and easy to sign up!  Leave a comment here with your twitter handle to let me know once you have tweeted this!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know your favorite game night activity in your house!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive a Nintendo Wii & two copies of Family Game Night 3. Please submit your entries by Sunday (12/22) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

MomAdvice Giveaway Guidelines: Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews and giveaways to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Wednesday, December 22 at 8PM (EST). I’ll announce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency/company  responsible for this giveaway. The above link(s)  are an affiliate link and provided for reference for our readers. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

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Posted in Giveaways | 809 Comments »

Giveaway Results: Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Thank you all for your entries! We would like to congratulate Michelle S. (Commenter #202) on winning our Cheer for a Year Giveaway! Happy Holidays to you all!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker Giveaway from Monday (valued at $139),  our $1,300 Prize Pack from The Talk, and our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 Giveaway. Check back tomorrow for more!!

Over the last few months I have had the incredible opportunity to work as the spokesperson for Cheer brightCLEAN detergent which has been a fun and exciting opportunity for our entire family. I have been working hard to share with moms easy ways to keep their clothes looking great for the back-to-school season, but my work doesn’t end there since a mom’s work with laundry and clothing is never done!

Today I wanted to share with you some easy tips for organizing your closet in under 30 minutes. If you are limited on closet space, like me, or you simply like to organize your clothes by season, I have a few easy tips to incorporate in your life to help keep your closets organized and fresh!

Pull All of the Clothing Out of the Closet– To begin organizing your closet, you really need to know what is in it. Begin pulling all of the clothing out of the closet and eliminate any items that have not been worn in the last six months, clothing that no longer fits, clothing that is no longer in season, or clothes that are no longer in style.

Organize Clothing by Color– Next put your items back into the closet and organize it by color and then by type. For example, put all of the black clothing together and then organize it by style of shirt (knit, blazer, sweater, cardigan, etc..) I have used this advice over the years,  that was offered to me by my closest fashion confidant, Kathy Friend. Sorting items by color makes it easier to find what you need quickly and also discover what areas in the color scheme needed a boost and what areas need some scaling back.

Repeat these steps above for your children’s closets and I am sure you will notice a true difference in how easy for you all to get ready in the morning!

Store Your Out-of-Season Clothing– Storage depends truly on the size of home you have and the space that you can use to tuck your out-of-season items away. In our house, Rubbermaid totes are our clothing storage option and I keep my personal (freshly washed)  out-of-season items tucked away in the basement, while the kids have two bins going all of the time in each of their closets.

With my children, one bin of clothing that they are outgrowing is stored throughout the year and can be added to as items are outgrown. I have been lucky enough to have a “bin exchange” program with my best friend and we trade bins of clothing with each other for our children. When a bin is filled, I pass it on to her in exchange for a bin of her clothing. With this exchange system, I can probably count on one hand the amount of items that I have had to buy my daughter this year. It is great if you can work something like this out with a friend and by keeping a bin on hand, it helps to keep your closets tidy and organized.

The other bin of clothing that is housed in their closet contains items that they will soon be growing into, sometime in that next year. This bins helps serve as a reminder to me on how much or how little I really need to buy for the upcoming year or season. If you do a lot of thrift shopping, consignment shopping, or hit the garage sales for your children’s clothing, an itemized list of items you have on hand and sizing can help reduce the amount of duplicate purchases.

Implement a Free-For-All Drawer for Kids– Maintaining organization in your house, let alone your closet, with small children is practically impossible. I have learned over the years to choose our battles, but I never knew what battles were until I met my strong-willed and wildly independent little girl.

It is because of her that I have developed the, “Free-For-All,” drawer. This nightstand is my daughter’s drawer that she can organize and do exactly what she pleases with it. Each day we were battling her about what she could or could not wear for school. Now we have compromised and this drawer is filled with all of her favorite nightgowns and pajamas. At the end of the day, she can do whatever she wants and where whatever she wants from this drawer, provided we are spending the day at home!

Make sure that if you have a drawer for your children, that it is the lowest one or a safe one to access. When my daughter began climbing on a chair to grab her favorite nightgowns and toppled the drawers on herself, we knew that she needed a drawer that she could access with a few of her favorite things in a safe location.

Donate Often– Make donating to your local thrift store or shelter a part of your weekly routine and just imagine how much space you can reclaim in your closet and home. I like to keep a bag or bin going all week long and add as I see items that we no longer need or have outgrown, that can be passed on to someone else. It is amazing how these little things really add up over the course of the week, and how much simpler my life has become thanks to ridding myself of clutter. Make it a part of your routine just like paying the bills and caring for your home each week and you will begin to see the power you have in transforming those cluttered corners and closets.

Switch to a Wallet-Friendly Detergent- Before storing those clothes for next season and when caring for those clothes for this season, be sure to look for a wallet friendly detergent to care for them with that will keep your clothes looking fresh and bright for this season (and many seasons to come).  Do a price comparison on the detergents in your store and I am sure you will find that Cheer brightCLEAN detergent is  not only inexpensive, but that it performs just as well as the more expensive detergents.

At only $.15 a load though, it is great to know that if you need to buy it, that this detergent is very budget-friendly and they offer different (including unscented) varieties to choose from! It is a product that I am using for my own family and one that I would love to share with you! The best part though is that it will remove the day’s dinginess from your clothing and brighten the clothes you already have at a fraction of the price. Who wouldn’t want a little of that in their life…or perhaps, a year’s worth of that!

I don’t want to just talk about how much you will save by using Cheer brightCLEAN detergent, I actually want to give it to you and save you that expense for an entire year! Cheer brightCLEAN™ detergent has graciously offered to give to one of our lucky readers a year’s supply of laundry detergent. Imagine not having to pay for detergent for an entire year and what you could do with that money.

Today we are offering one lucky reader a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent to help inspire you to get your closet organized with fresh clean clothes with Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent!

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: Leave a comment and let us know one tip you use to get your closet and out-of-season clothing organized in your house or one tip that you have discovered through this post that would really help your family!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive a year’s supply of Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent . Please submit your entries by Wednesday (12/22)  at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

Please check out this video below where I share more great tips on organizing your closet in 30 minutes or less!

I am a spokesperson for Cheer brightCLEAN™ Detergent and have a relationship with the company. Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Wednesday, December 22 at 8PM (EST). I’ll anneounce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency responsible for this giveaway. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

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Posted in Giveaways | 679 Comments »

Fun Holiday Kid’s Craft: Painted Mugs

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Today we are continuing our handmade gift focus with another gift that is easy to make, but that make thoughtful gifts. I wanted to share with you what we made last year for our special teachers. We will begin with beautifully painted coffee mugs made by your fabulous children. What you will need for this craft is plain white mugs like I have pictured above. I buy these at our local thrift store for $.25 each and there is usually no shortage on white mugs that are being donated.

The other thing you will need is a porcelain paint set. These can be found in the painting supplies of your craft store. You are looking for the set that does not require any heat-setting. These paints cost $4.99, but you can bring that 40% off coupon to knock down the total.

Keep in mind, before letting your children loose on painting these, they require a clear coating on them first to prep them for painting. You have to wait one hour for these to dry. After that, give your children some paint brushes and let them decorate their mugs.


Once these are all painted, let them dry overnight and then apply the final clear coat that will go on top of them. The clear paint is contained within the paint set and just requires a quick brush on top of the mugs. I was able to paint three mugs with one set of paints, in case you were planning to do several of these. Once the clear coating has been applied, they are good to go in the dishwasher after ten days of drying.


Here is what my kid’s mugs turned out like! They were so proud of their art work and we plan to give these as gifts to a few special teachers including my son’s art teacher that has inspired him so much this year and our sweet bus driver that braves the bad weather to pick him up.

These painted mugs can be filled with treats, drink mixes, gift certificates to the coffee shop or a bookstore, or whatever else you can think of. We did these for our teachers this year, but one year we made these as grandparent gifts and they were really loved by them too!

Our mugs will be packaged with these jars filled with cocoa mix for our teachers. I had this ribbon leftover from my gift wrapping supplies last year and found these adorable Christmas Story gift tags at Walmart (9 for $2) that I tied to each one with the instructions for the cocoa. The jars were over in their kitchen supplies for $2.97 each to put the cocoa mix in. To save on this expense, try the Crystal Light containers for easy transporting and to keep your gift more thrifty.


I also saw these reusable shopping bags over in the gift wrap supplies at Walmart and scooped these up to package up our gifts. These bags were $2 each and can be reused over and over again. These bags are flat-bottomed, which makes them a little easier to stay standing upright underneath the Christmas tree.

I chose reusable bags last year for gift-giving and they were a total hit! I am such a fan of the Target bags and the clever designs that they implement into their bags. These bags folded up into the size of a small cosmetic case and had a pocket in the front too, perfect for tucking a gift card or a note of appreciation to someone. These were only $1.50, but everyone was so excited to get these.

These have just a couple of pieces of tissue paper at the top, but the bottom was stuffed with newspaper that would have gone in our recycle bin. The newspaper helped these stand a little more upright since they were not flat-bottomed. I felt proud about my eco-friendly alternative and am hoping to convert some of my plastic-bag-lovin’ family members over to the joys of reusable bags.

Do you do gifts for your teachers? What do you plan to give this year? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below!

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Posted in Kids Crafts | 2 Comments »

Giveaway Results: Prize Pack Worth Over $1,300 from The Talk

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

Thank you all for your wonderful entries to this contest! We would like to congratulate Ashley (Commenter #161) on winning this fantastic prize pack from The Talk!  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker Giveaway from Monday (valued at $139), our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 Giveaway & Cheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year. Check back tomorrow for more!!

When I promise big giveaways this week, I truly do mean big giveaways. I am so lucky to have been offered the opportunity to share with one lucky winner a prize pack valued at over $1,300!  This giveaway is being shared by The Talk which you can watch on your local CBS channel! They were so generous to share this giveaway with our readers so set your DVR’s and try and catch this show when you can!

This prize pack includes the following 5 items (pictured above):

DXG Riviera 720p HD Camcoder (valued at $149)

Epson Artisan 725 Color Ink-Jet Printer (valued at $199.00)

Oreck Platinum Pilot (valued at $599.00)

Literati by The Sharper Image (valued at $159.00)

TEMPTU Perfect Complexion Set (valued at $280)

To enter to win this fabulous prize pack valued at over $1,300, you need only to do the following…

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: In honor of, The Talk, I would like to talk a bit about what you would like to see in the new year!  Tell me one thing you would like to see next year on MomAdvice.com. We would love your assistance in planning our editorial calendar for your reading enjoyment!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive the above prizes valued at over $1,300. Please submit your entries by Tuesday (12/21) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

MomAdvice Giveaway Guidelines: Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews and giveaways to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Tuesday, December 21 at 8PM (EST). I’ll announce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency/company  responsible for this giveaway. The above link(s)  are an affiliate link and provided for reference for our readers. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

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Posted in Giveaways | 1,294 Comments »

Delicious Drink Mixes: Creamy Hot Cocoa or Vanilla Chai Tea Mix

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

hot-cocoa-mix

I am trying to give as many precious homemade gifts that I can this year. Anything that I am unable to whip up myself, I plan to supplement with shopping on Etsy to fulfill my crafting skill downfalls.

First, I just want to say that I don’t think you necessarily have to be crafty to offer up beautiful handmade gifts for your friends and family…you just need to be a little resourceful. Resourcefulness might be looking to craftier bloggers for inspiration, checking out magazines or books at the library, or just stealing awesome ideas off of a good friend.

I am going to showcase my homemade gifts over these next few weeks, in hopes to breathe some life into your gift-giving. My crafting skills are limited, but my resourcefulness…I would say that is one of my strongest attributes.

Today we are going to discuss making hot drink mixes for yourself and to share with your friends. This is one of my favorite gifts to give in jars or tins for the holidays. I love to tuck jars of these in with a few holiday treats for the gift-giving season. The best part is that making a drink mix only requires the necessary ingredients and a blender or food processor. It also requires zero crafty skills. Hurray!

Let’s begin with my favorite cocoa recipe in the whole world. For this recipe, you only need a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, and the necessary ingredients. If you don’t want the cocoa powder to look coarse, pop it in your blender or food processor and blend until it is the powdered consistency of the store-bought packets. I usually skip this step though because, frankly, this lasts about half a second in our house and I am on to making the next batch. For gift-giving though, processing is a nice touch!

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Hot Cocoa Mix

4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate fudge pudding

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If a finer consistency is desired, you can pour the mix into a blender or food processor and run it through that. Store in an airtight container. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on your cocoa preference) of the mix to an 8 ounce mug of boiling water.

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The next drink mix has been made every year for the past five years in my house. It is my favorite drink in the colder weather and is always an impressive gift to give or to receive.

After you are done making your cocoa mix, use that same exact bowl to mix up the Vanilla Chai Tea. I have experimented with what needs a whirl in the food processor and what doesn’t this year. I discovered that if you give just the tea and spices together a whirl, that you don’t need to add the rest of the ingredients in the food processor. Since I have a small food processor, this cuts down on the time to make this and the clean-up after I dump it all over the countertops.


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Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it is a fine powder (If you have a small food processor, you can combine just the instant tea and spices in the food processor & then combine everything together in a bowl). Add two-three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk.

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Packaging of your drink mixes can be done in jars tied with raffia or holiday ribbon or you can package them up in a green and lovely way… in those old Crystal Light containers. Use some holiday gift wrap to cover them and tie a gift tag with some raffia around the drink mix containers. These are ideal, particularly for teacher gifts, because I don’t have to worry that my son will break the jar in route to school. Waterproof and airtight, it keeps the drink mix nice and safe. With a handmade or store-bought scarf, it makes a perfectly cozy gift to give.

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Posted in Gifts | 57 Comments »

Giveaway Results: A Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker (Value $139)

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Thank you all for your entries! We would like to congratulate Sandra (Commenter #290) on winning this prize!  Thank you to Tassimo for this fabulous giveaway and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Editor’s Note– Don’t forget to enter our our $1,300 Prize Pack from The Talk, and our Nintendo Wii with Family Game Night 3 GiveawayCheer brightCLEAN Detergent for One Year. Check back tomorrow for more!! &

Well, I have been hard at work on pulling together a big surprise for all of you. This week we are going to take a little diversion from my normally scheduled writing to provide some fabulous gifts for our readers to enjoy this holiday season! I love to give back to all of you and this week should prove to be a fun one filled with a chance to win some really great prizes.  I am promising you BIG giveaways…in fact, I would say that The MotherLoad is giving away the mother load today so be prepared for prizes beyond your wildest imagination!

Our first giveaway is for a prize that any tired mother could appreciate… a Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker. The company (unsolicited) sent one of these to me for our family to enjoy along with a large variety of coffees and other fun concoctions that you can create with the coffeemaker.  I was happy to share it with our family for the Thanksgiving holiday and allow each of our guests to pick out their own favorite brew following our Thanksgiving meal.  It is definitely a fun coffeemaker to use when entertaining!

This coffeemaker is ideal for a more casual coffee drinker who doesn’t benefit from having a pot of coffee and perfect for a midday cup of coffee or a little creamy cocoa to warm your belly after a cold day outside.  While the individual pods are definitely more expensive than buying a bag of coffee and brewing it in a drip coffeemaker, it is less than half the cost of getting a fancy coffee drink out at the coffee shop. If Starbucks is your weakness, this would make a great substitute to create those favorite cappuccinos and lattes in the comfort of your own home for roughly $.60 per coffee.  For a long time, I used a pod-style coffeemaker because I could not seem to figure out how to make the perfect cup. If you are coffee-challenged like me, than this would make a fabulous gift under your tree.

To enter to win this Tassimo Coffeemaker with two boxes of great coffee, you need only to do the following…

Leave one comment for each item that you complete to enter:

  • First Entry: Let us know why this coffeemaker would be the perfect gift beneath your Christmas tree!
  • Additional Entry: Let us know you are a fan of MomAdvice and join the MomAdvice.com Fan Club today on Facebook.
  • Additonal Entry: Follow me on Twitter and get an early scoop on all of our giveaways and articles that we are formulating for the year!
  • Additional Entries: Subscribe to my feeds and never miss another thing on our site again! We have a landing page where it makes it easy to subscribe to our blogs. For each one you subscribe to, leave one additional comment.

One winner, chosen at random, will receive the Tassimo T20 Coffeemaker and two packages of coffee pods. Please submit your entries by Monday (12/20) at 8PM EST.  Our winner will be drawn at random. Good luck, everyone!

MomAdvice Giveaway Guidelines: This product was received as a review sample. The thoughts and opinions expressed will always be honest and heartfelt and no reflection on receiving a sample copy.  We promise to always do our best to also give away each of these products to our readers because it is always better to give than to receive!  Want to know more about how things are handled here at MomAdvice? Be sure to read our Disclaimer which clearly states how things work and know that we will always offer only the best reviews to our readers. In full disclosure, the email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner(s), and will never be sold or given to anyone. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Entries that do not follow the above criterion will automatically be disqualified. This giveaway will close Monday, December 20 at 8PM (EST). I’ll announce the first name of the winner(s) that will be added to the top of this current giveaway post and contact the winner(s) by email. I will draw the names of the winner(s) by using the random number generator at Random.org from the eligible entries received. If a winner does not contact me within 72 hours by email, I will draw a new winner. The winner(s) will receive their prize from the PR agency responsible for this giveaway. The above link is an affiliate link and provided for reference for our readers. There is no guarantee that this item will be received by Christmas.

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Posted in Giveaways | 700 Comments »

Gifts You Can Make: Effortless & Elegant Quick Breads

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Today I am sharing a few recipes for elegant quick breads that can be given for the holiday season. There are three things that make this gift a total winner in my book. The first is that they can be frozen ahead of time and stored in your freezer for last minute gifts. The second element that I love about these gifts is that they are quick and you don’t need to be a fantastic baker to achieve success with these recipes. The third, of course, is that they can be multiplied to make several gifts for the holiday season in one afternoon.

Quick breads can be thrown together in a bowl, beaten with a wooden spoon, and made in a matter of ten minutes. Don’t believe me? I timed myself in the kitchen to see how long my hands-on time with these were. In ten minutes, I was sliding two loaves of pumpkin bread in the oven and could tackle other holiday chores around the house. You can’t beat that!


First, you need to choose what type of loaf pan you will be using for your gift-giving. I prefer the disposable loaf pans because it makes it easier to package and place in your freezer and because of the affordability factor. This was a three pack of loaf pans purchased at Walmart (over by the plastic containers in the housewares, not in the baking aisle) and it was $1.56 for the three. You could also check at your local dollar store to see if they have these. I happened to buy them there because I needed milk that day!

With these, the key to keeping things mess-free in your oven is to assemble your loaves on a cookie sheet. Because they are made from a flimsy material, it can lead to a major catastrophe in your oven. If you overfill a loaf pan, the cookie sheet can catch the excess batter and will save you from that horrible burning smell in your oven. Not that this has ever happened to me…nope, not ever!

Other options are those cute mini-loaf pans that you can find for $1 at Michael’s in festive holiday colors. You would need to reduce the length of baking time to adjust for these, but they can be a cute way to package those gifts.

I want to start with my favorite loaf of bread to whip up for the holidays and that is my Spiced Pumpkin Bread. I keep cans of pumpkin on hand all year round to make this bread because it is such a favorite in our house. It comes out perfectly every single time and is a favorite even with those weird pumpkin-haters in the family. To date, I have already made eight loaves of pumpkin bread this month and I think our family has ate six of them. It just goes to show that this recipe is a true winner for the holidays! It also goes to show why my New Year’s resolution will be to starting working out more.

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Spiced Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

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For a different spin on quick breads, I adore making a loaf of Cinnamon Delight Bread for the holidays. The unique thing about this bread is that sprinkled on the bottom of the bread is a cinnamon and sugar coating to line the bottom of the loaf. This is a sweet little surprise at the bottom that makes a deliciously yummy bottom cinnamon crust. While I will be the first to admit that this loaf isn’t the most amazing looking loaf, one slice of it and people will be begging for the recipe. Enjoy showing off your cooking skills with this delicious treat!

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Cinnamon Bread Delight

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 large package instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 325. Grease 2 5×9 loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Sprinkle the bottoms of the pans with cinnamon sugar and divide the batter between the 2 pans. Bake 1hr or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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My new favorite bread this year is our Light Banana Oat Bread. What makes this bread special enough for the holidays is the beautiful oats that decorate the top of the loaf. It is the perfect way to use up those ripe bananas and make a gift in the process. Banana bread is always a favorite in our house because it is a thrifty treat that is loved by just about everyone!

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Deliciously Light Banana Oat Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2 1/2 per loaf)
1/3 cup buttermilk (I substituted with half & half with 2 tsp of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine banana, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes (I left mine in longer and it was fine). Remove the bread from the pan after 15 minutes and cool thoroughly on the rack.

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Packaging your bread for gift-giving is super easy. I love to find ribbon with some wiring in it to get a beautiful bow that will stand to attention. One note about selecting ribbon is to look for ribbon that isn’t glittery, if you plan to leave your loaves exposed instead of wrapping and freezing them. Glitter from the ribbon can come loose and scatter across the top of your loaf. Again, this has never happened to me…nope, not ever!

For packaging, cover the bread with a little plastic and wrap your ribbon around the outside. Isn’t that just elegant and beautiful?

Isn’t it great when one day can easily yield ten beautiful gifts to give! Share these quick breads at your next holiday potluck, as a hostess gift, a sweet teacher gift, or for all of life’s little helpers (hairdressers, newspaper boy, postal worker, neighbor, bus driver, etc…) Trust me, they won’t stay in the freezer long and everyone will remember your delicious handmade gift!

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Quick Freezing Guidelines For Quick Breads

– Make sure your bread is completely cool before wrapping it or putting it in the freezer. To freeze, wrap securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in freezer bags. Label all packages with the name of the recipe and date. Use within the recommended storage time (up to 3 months) for the best flavor and texture.

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Do you have a favorite quick bread recipe to share or a secret to great packaging? Please share here!

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Posted in Gifts | 14 Comments »

Walmart Toy Haul for the Homeless

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Once again, I just wanted to send out a gentle reminder of what a wonderful opportunity we have to give back to our communities right now! I was lucky enough to not only get to partner in the Fighting Hunger Together campaign with Walmart, but I also had the opportunity to share a little fun for the lives of those in need.

Walmart challenged me to take $100 and see how far I could stretch our dollars by shopping in their toy department to bless an organization in our community. We decided to continue our efforts of doing our best to bless the Elkhart Faith Mission and picked up some fantastic board games to benefit the Women & Children’s Shelter during this holiday season. Although we were only able to drop them off and not give them to the director in person, we know how much these small gestures mean to this shelter…and how much they mean to our own family to get to do them.

Thank you to Walmart for giving us the opportunity to give so much and being able to showcase how much we can do with $100 to bless the lives of children in our community!

I am a part of the Walmart Moms program, and Walmart has provided me with compensation for these posts. My participation is voluntary and opinions are always my own.

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Posted in Celebrations, My Work | 1 Comment »

Freebie Friday: December 10, 2010

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! We would like to thank our wonderful hostess, Stephanie from Couponing 101. I am so glad to have her assistance each week with our freebie list. Stephanie is running another great giveaway this week. She is giving away a chance to win a $100 Cash or an iPod Shuffle. I think both of those would make the perfect Christmas gift!

This week on MomAdvice I have been very busy gathering up ideas for ways to make those holidays a little easier on your budget and create a few new family traditions to share with your own family. This week I am sharing an original and unique recipe for gingerbread donuts with a simple glaze, the hidden secrets to achieving the perfect cut-out sugar cookies,  four more great reads to tackle over the winter break, peppermint candy bath salts & an oatmeal bath soak that you can create for frugal holiday gifts, our weekly notebook of holiday crafts & food projects, & our round-up of great giveaways. Phew! What a week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Health & Beauty
Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
John Frieda Sheer Blondes
Pureology Colour Stylist (on Facebook)

Food
Slim-Fast Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (for Sam’s Club members)
Taster’s Choice Coffee
Whey to Go Protein Powder

Entertainment
100 Free Kindle Book Downloads
Online Storytime: “The Polar Express”

Home
Mist8 All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
Two 5×7 Photo Greeting Cards

Pet
Purina One Beyond Dog or Cat Food (on Facebook)

This Week’s Freebie Events

December 11 – 17

Whataburger: 12 days of Freebies!

Starbucks: 12 days of Sharing

Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops

11 – Michaels Craft Store Create a gift card holder and gift bag, 10 am – 11 am.

11 – Lakeshore Learning Craft: Create a Gingerbread Ornament, 11 am – 3 pm.

11 – Lowes Build and Grow Clinic Make a Passenger Car, 10 am – 11am.

11 – Borders Kids Children’s holiday party, 11 am.

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Posted in Freebies | 4 Comments »

Homemade Peppermint Bath Salts & Oatmeal Cookie Bath Soak (With Free Printable)

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

I was so excited to share this tutorial last year for creating these peppermint bath salts and oatmeal cookie bath for the gift-giving season. These are fabulous little “just because” gifts or a fun pick-me-up for a tired co-worker, friend, or teacher. I even have a cute little printable tag that you can use for decorating these!

Making bath salts and soaks are easy and require little effort on your part. I love to make a giant batch of these and keep them on hand for unexpected holiday occasions like hostess gifts or as a return gift for someone that may have been forgotten on the holiday gift-giving list. These are a thoughtful gift just perfect for a friend that needs a little rest and relaxation during the busy holiday season.

Today I wanted to share with you my favorite homemade oatmeal bath. I call it Oatmeal Cookies & Milk because it blends together the ingredients of an oatmeal cookie with powdered milk to make a soft & soothing bath for anyone who has sensitive skin.

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Oatmeal Cookies & Milk Bath

1 cup cornstarch
2 cups powdered milk
1/2 cup oatmeal (not instant)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor until it is a fine powder. Just add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to your bathwater for a soothing bath.

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Once the oatmeal mixture is ground up, it will look just like this. I dumped the entire amount into one jar and it filled it to the top, with just a little leftover.

This homemade oatmeal bath can be packaged with a spoon, purchased from your local thrift store, and a little holiday ribbon. How easy and simple is that?

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The next gift I want to showcase is a very festive jar of Peppermint Bath Salts. I took a picture of all of the ingredients needed so you can see exactly what they look like when you go to the store. Don’t you hate it when you can’t picture what you should be looking for?

The kosher salt is over in the baking aisle with the regular salt, the Epsom Salts should be over in the first aid supplies of your superstore or drugstore, and the glycerin will be behind the drugstore counter where you pick up your prescriptions (and can also be used for your giant bubbles in the summer).

Now head to your craft store and go into the aisle where the soap making and candle making supplies are. There you will find colorants to dye your bath salts (you need the package with red in it) and the essential oils needed (for this craft it will be the eucalyptus mint). The last thing you can buy is some peppermint striped ribbon or whatever is on sale and festive will totally do the job!

As for jars, I found those at Big Lots and you can get a dozen of them for $6.50 or check the canning supplies section of Walmart (our store was out). I hope that helps with your shopping list and helps with the visuals for what to look for!

You will need two big bowls for this and a giant spoon to mix with. Don’t you love crafts that don’t require a lot of equipment? Now, empty one bag of Epsom Salts into one bowl. Next add 3 cups of your kosher salt, and stir well. Then stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. Mix well.

In your second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts and add 3 cups of your kosher salt. Stir well. Next stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. To this bowl, you will add fifteen drops of your red colorant. This will give you a pale and pretty pink bowl of salts. Mix this side really well to incorporate the coloring throughout this batch.

Now grab a 1/2 cup measuring cup and start doing layers to create the peppermint candy look in the jar- a layer of white, a layer of pink, a layer of white, and then a layer of pink. I would recommend filling them on a cookie sheet to catch any runaway salts and to make clean-up a little bit easier. Once everything is filled, you should have 12 jars full and even a little leftover for yourself.

Now tie your gift up with a little festive ribbon and a beautiful gift tag instructing the recipient to put three tablespoons of salts in the bathtub to enjoy a relaxing holiday bath.

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Candy Cane Bath Salts

12 tall jelly (12-ounce) canning jars with lid and rings
2 bags of Epsom Salts, 4 pounds each (approximately 16 cups)
4 lb kosher salt (approximately 6 cups is needed, buy two boxes and cook with the rest)
1⁄2 teaspoon glycerin, divided
16 drops eucalyptus peppermint essential oil
15 drops red colorant

Empty one bag of Epsom Salts into large mixing bowl. Add 3 cups kosher salt, stir well. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of eucalyptus
essential oil. Mix well. In second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts, and add 3 cups kosher salt. Stir well. Add 1/4 teaspoon glycerin, eight drops of eucalyptus essential oil, and red colorant. Stir until completely blended. Color should be even. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill canning jars at an angle, layer salts in jars, alternating white and colored mixtures.

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Just to make your gifts a tad more festive and to ease the burden of making those gifts, we have included free gift tags to download and print for the holiday season!

Printable Gift Tags

Luckily for you, there will be just a tad too much of both of these bath mixtures to fit into the jars and you will be forced to partake of your efforts. Throw whatever is left in that food processor or bowl and put it into your bath. Now fix yourself a cup of vanilla chai tea, light a candle, and smuggle in a good book or magazine. Promptly, lock the door and pretend like you have no idea how that happened when everyone starts knocking. Enjoy a moment to yourself and relax, you deserve it!

What are some of your favorite gifts to keep on hand as impromptu gifts for the holidays? Please share your ideas and links here!

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Posted in Gifts, Printables | 77 Comments »

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