Giveaway Alert!

Check out a great giveaway HERE on What I Made Today for a chance to win your choice of a mini nature inspired journal from A Walk In The Woods!

Check out her Zibbet shop here!
And her Artfire shop here!
Giveaway ends next Wednesday! Seven ways to enter! Good luck!

New items in the shop!

 I listed some new kissing balls this weekend in my Zibbet Shop!!

And I made few pearl covered decorative bowl fillers for decorating your home! I love how elegant they look!

You can find these in my Zibbet shop!

Video Message from Santa....

My husband showed me this site today that he heard about from a buddy at work.  It's pretty neat! It's a site where you can customize a video message from Santa himself to be sent via email to your child, or even your spouse!!!

You can specify certain qualities that your chosen recipient has been doing well at, or needs to work on! It's really fun! And, it's perfect if your little one is pondering the reality of Santa! This will surely keep them believing!

PORTABLE NORTH POLE

I know that this may have come a little late, now that Christmas is over... but you may want to save this website in your favorites and bring it out during the year to keep your kiddos (or husband) in line! Enjoy!

Caramel Chocolate Pretzels

I'm slacking on my Christmas baking this year! I've only made sugar cookies (which still need to be frosted) and gingerbread (which all got eaten already)!

One of my husband's favorite treats are chocolate covered pretzels.  So the other night I decided to dip him up a batch.  About halfway through, I had an idea...

I wonder what it would taste like if I dipped the pretzels in caramel first, and then chocolate??

 

Well,  it takes twice as long,  but they turned out pretty darn good! I've had to hide all the pretzels now so that they will make it to Christmas!!! Standby... more baking today!!!

Social Media Button Tutorial

I have been searching high and low for an easy tutorial for putting the cute little buttons on the sidebar to my right here that connect you to my facebook, twitter, and RSS feed with one little click------->

So tonight while I was browsing my Facebook page, I see SimplyAnnieKate had posted a link for an easy how-to on her blog!  Check it out HERE!

And while you are at it, you might as well check out all the adorable "handmade boutique clothing" she makes for children on Etsy! Too cute!!!

Simply Annie Kate

*Thank you Katie for doing all the hard work and making it easy for us not so blogger savvy folks!!!

Treats for Teachers

My little 3 year old goes to a Morning Out program twice a week at our church and yesterday she took her teachers some Christmas goodies! We baked up some sugar cookies, frosted and sprinkled them, and then I bagged them up.

I baked some round cookies that would fit inside clean soup cans with the tab top lids I opened with a edgeless can opener.  I hot glued the lid back on once the tins were filled with cookies so the teachers would have to use the tab to open the can to get to the goodies inside!

I used Christmas scrapbook paper to decorate the outside and top, garnished withe some ribbon, a little holiday cookie cutter, and matching labels!

On the 8th Day of Christmas...

There are all kinds of Holly Jolly Merry Berry Ho Ho Ho Christmas Time is coming giveaways on the blogosphere this time of year! I love it!

It's Day 8 of Somewhat Simple's 

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!!!

Stop on over to enter for a chance to win 6 Months of Cupcake Wrappers from Yummy Cuppy Crafts... and don't forget to check out all the other amazing giveaways from Day 8!

Just listed in my Etsy shop...

A Gorgeous Blue & Silver Ribbon Friendship Gift Ball

This plastic globe opens up so you can fill it with little trinkets or gourmet treats and give to a friend as a gift.  Exchange this ball back and forth for all the special occasions in your lives... It's just as fun to give as it is to receive when you have a Friendship Gift Ball!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways at Somewhat Simple

Have you been drooling over all the giveaways over at Somewhat Simple this week? I have been!!! This week kicked off her fabulous 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways! Day 1 started off with 1 fabulous giveaway, Day 2 added 2 more, Day 3 had 3.... and you get the idea!

Well, today was day 6, and I just wanted to let you all know that on Day 8... Monday the 20th, I'll be included in one of the eight giveaways!  That's right! Yummy Cuppy Crafts is giving away a 6 Month Membership to the Cupcake Wrapper of the Month Club!

If you know a wonderful baker who would love this, it's a gift that keeps on giving! Receive monthly packages full of cupcake wrappers and extra special treats!

What's great about all these giveaways is that the winners of all the giveaways are going to be announced on Christmas morning! How fun! It's as if Santa will be dropping a little Christmas gift in your inbox!

Tonight I just listed 4 new kissing balls in my Etsy shop!

 

Don't forget to check out the other great crafts I have listed over in my Zibbet Shop!

Countdown to Christmas

Twenty {20} Days Until Christmas!!! I still have so much shopping to do! This is a magnetic countdown calendar I made with my Cricut and a cookie sheet last year! You can read about it in this link.  My 6 year old LOVES to move the magnet each morning! 

I was hoping to get a couple more made to sell in my Etsy and Zibbet shops, but these past couple months have blown by so quickly, it feels like Halloween was just yesterday!

I hope you all are having a wonderful December so far!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today [and every day] I am thankful for my wonderful friends, amazing family AND MY FABULOUS FOLLOWERS! Thank you everyone for stopping in to see my blog!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day here in the United States!

Oh Deer! Puzzle Answers...

Here are the answers to the OH DEER puzzle from this post!

WAIT! If you haven't read the puzzle and want to try it... click the link above. You'll love it!
If you've read the puzzle and think you have the placement of the reindeer all figured out..... then here you go!

Here are the answers:






DASHER (BUCK) MAGENTA        COMET (DOE) CHARTREUSE

CUPID (BUCK) WHITE                  DANCER (DOE) MAROON

DONNER (BUCK) BLUE                VIXEN (DOE) ROSE

BLITZEN (DOES) OCHER              PRANCER (BUCK) CERISE

A Fun Christmas Game

My mom had my siblings and our spouses do this after our holiday dinner last night. It was so much fun to see who could figure it out first! I love puzzles like this. 

 Oh Deer!

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Can you find out where each deer fits in? With logical thought, you'll determine the answer and write down the color and place for each deer!

• Who's a buck?
• Who's a doe?
• Who's Comet?
• Who's Cupid?
• Where are Donner and Blitzen?
• Who's Dasher?
• Who's Dancer?
• Where are Vixen and Prancer?

'Twas the night before Christmas and at the North Pole, 
the last-minute planning was taking its toll. 
As Santa was hastily making a scheme
for placement of deer in his sleigh-pulling team,
the good Mrs. Claus was crocheting bright bows
to be worn by these reindeer - four bucks and four does.
The bows were colored in eight festive hues:
ocher, rose, cerise, chartruise, maroon, magenta, white, and blue.
These helped Santa keep track of who's who.
The deer pulled the toy-laden sleigh in four rows,
arranged so no row held two bucks or two does.
The order of pullers was changed year by year,
for Santa was thoroughly fair with his deer.
He summoned the elves and instructed them thus:
"Let's hitch up the reindeer with minimal fuss."
The bow on the buck behind Dasher is white,
while Blitzen, a doe, sees cerise to her right.
The blue bow is nearer the sleigh than is Dancer,
but nearer the front of my team than is Prancer.
The doe in Chartreuse gets a front-of-team honor,
but not on the same side as Cupid or Donner in blue.
Now, Comet stands two spots ahead of the rose.
And three deer of four on the right side are does.
The cerise bow is worn two in back of maroon,
one of which is beside the bright ocher festoon.
Vixen is girlish and behind Dancer.
Oh, Cupid in white is in front of a buck by the way.
That's how they line up for pulling the sleigh.


Good luck! 
I'll post the answers tomorrow!

Show me your Turkeys

In honor of our upcoming Thanksgiving holiday next week, show me your turkeys! Please link up to your specific blog post or shop item. Link up through Thanksgiving Day!

Zebra Cupcakes

I made some quick Zebra cupcakes to take along on my daughter's birthday weekend getaway.   We took the family and 3 of her friends to a resort with a water park, stayed overnight in a hotel, and then took the girls horseback riding the next day. It was so much fun!

I used my rolled buttercream recipe, found here, and rolled some out and cut circles the same size as the cupcake tops.

 But first, I spread a little layer of buttercream icing on the cupcake so that the ROLLED buttercream would stick to the top.

 Then I set the circle right on the cupcake!

 I used black icing with a flat basket weave tip (wrong side down) to make the zebra stripes.  I made some green and purple circles as well to add some color to the cupcakes. Yes, I know that there aren't really green and purple zebras, but the cupcakes sure were pretty!

Get Your SAMPLE Z BOX Now!

Have you heard of Zibbet? If you've been following my blog, I'm sure you've heard me mention it a time or two... or seen it on my sidebar --->

Zibbet Connects Buyers & Sellers of HANDMADE, FINE ART, VINTAGE & SUPPLIES! There's NO Listing Fees & NO Sales Fees when selling with Zibbet!

It's community is growing at a tremendous rate! I have been lucky to be a part of that community as a seller and helping them promote their site! With that, a group of sellers have come together to help promote by putting together sample boxes of all varieties of shops found on Zibbet! They are available starting TODAY!

You can find them HERE on Zibbet!

*You can find samples of my cupcake wrappers as well as a DISCOUNT CODE for your next purchase in this month's SAMPLE Z BOX!

There is a limited supply, so hurry over to get your sample box! If you don't get an opportunity to get November's box, no worries! Just check back each month to get that month's box with new great samples!

Check out these links to find out more about ZIBBET & SAMPLE Z BOX:

Zibbet
"Like" Zibbet on Facebook

Sample Z Box
"Like" Sample Z Box on Facebook

Yummy Cuppy Crafts on Zibbet

2010 White House Ornaments

As some of you may already know, my husband is a pilot in the Marine Corps. We've had a great week this week celebrating the 235th birthday of the Marine Corps as well as honoring all our veterans on Veterans Day!  

My husband is attached to HMX-1, the helicopter squadron responsible for transporting the President of the United States, Vice President, cabinet members, and other VIPs. When the President is aboard, the Marine helicopter uses the call sign "Marine One". 

My husband is the pilot looking out the window of the cockpit! 

*squeal* I'm so proud of him!

Our HMX-1 Spouses Club is selling the gorgeous 2010 White House Ornaments! If you'd like to purchase an ornament for your collection, or gift them to friends and family, you can purchase them here from my blog for $20.00.  Ornament comes in beautiful collectors box with inserts explaining the ornaments details and images! This price includes shipping! Ornaments will be shipped out within 24 hours!

            $20.00

   (includes shipping) 

 

The 2010 White House Christmas ornament honors the twenty-fifth president of the United States, William McKinley, and celebrates the role of music in the traditions of the White House. The McKinley administration (1897–1901) is remembered as a time when the nation moved beyond its continental boundaries to become an international power. The American people idolized McKinley during his presidency, so suddenly cut short by an assassin’s bullets six months into his second term.

In celebration of the nation’s patriotic mood as the century turned, the illustrations commissioned for the 2010 ornament feature festive, colorful scenes from the annual Army Navy Reception at the White House in 1900. The front face of the ornament depicts members of the United States Marine Band performing on the snow covered North Drive as arriving guests disembark from their carriages. The reverse side of the ornament shows the band playing patriotic airs for President and Mrs. McKinley and their party in the flag bedecked splendor of the East Room. It was in this High Victorian East Room that the McKinleys began the era of “musicales” (receptions with music as the leading feature) at the White House, a tradition that continues to this day.

Enter to win an iPad!

Zibbet, THE place to buy unique, handmade products from the maker, is currently having a HUGE promotion! Crafters and artists, if you sign up for a yearly premium account, (which comes out to be less than $6/month--- FOR LIFE), you will have a chance to win 1 of 3 iPad giveaways!

But the opportunity won't last long! They are only offering 1,000 new accounts at this awesome price! And at the time of this post, only 342 accounts need to be set up before the 1st iPad is given away!

Here's how the iPads will be given away:

1. The 1st iPad will be drawn when they hit 500 accounts sold (you'll be eligible to win in the 2nd and 3rd round too!)
2. The 2nd iPad will be drawn when they hit 1000 accounts sold
3. The 3rd iPad will be drawn if they reach their goal of selling 1000 Yearly accounts before Christmas day! All 'active' sellers will be entered into this round (active = at least 1 active item listed).

If you aren't sure if you are ready to jump on this, then sign up for a basic account. It's totally free! No listing fees & no sales fees! You get 100% of your sales! That's the way it should be! Try it out, and see if you like it.

*If you have an Etsy or Artfire shop, Zibbet has an importer that makes it easy to import ALL (or just a selected amount) of your items directly to your new shop! So it would take MINUTES to set up your Zibbet shop!

Click on any of the Zibbet banners on this post to go to Zibbet's website and sign up for your Yearly Premium Account! Who wouldn't want to win an iPad!!! I know I want one!!!

You can check out my Zibbet shop here:

Please help get the word out about this amazing promotion by "sharing" this post by clicking on the share buttons at the bottom of this post: Email to a friend, Twitter, Blog, Facebook, & Google Buzz.

Let me know when you join Zibbet! I'd love to help promote your new shop!
Leave me a comment or email me at: the5turners [at] gmail [dot] com.

Feathered Rosette Clips

I'm an Iowa Hawkeye fan, born and raised!

So I couldn't help but make some lovelies to wear in support of my beloved Hawkeyes!

They can be worn in your hair, on a headband, clip them to your shirt, a bag, your beads...

And while trying to be fair, I also made some lovelies for our poor struggling Cyclones! If we can't win 'em, let's at least look good cheering them on, right!?

 

Want to look good cheering on your team? Go here.

Tie Dye Swirl Cake

I did a cake order for a sweet 16 party over Halloween.  The birthday girl was doing Halloween colors with polka dots.  I thought I'd add a little element of surprise when they cut into the top layer of white cake by dying the batter different colors.

First, I separated the batter into 3 different bowl, and left 1/4 white in the original bow.  I added drops of food coloring...

 Mixed it up...

 Then started dropping spoonfuls of the colored batter randomly in the cake pans.

 I took a knife and swirled the batter around in the cake pan just a little before  baking.
 And this is what it looked like after it was all baked and leveled...

 

This was the cake all decorated...

 *This coloring effect can also be done with cupcakes!

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

We took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch this weekend and picked out our pumpkins to carve. I roasted pumpkin seeds a few years back when my aunt was visiting us over Halloween. They were SO GOOD! I couldn't remember how we roasted them then, but I found a recipe online here.

First you need to separate your seeds from the guts:

Seeds:

Next, I washed them out good in a colander and pulled off the remaining stringy guts. Then spread them out in a cookie sheet to dry out overnight.

The next day I boiled them in salt water to get them good and clean. Boil just until they turn a little gray.
Then again, let then dry on a cookie sheet...
Melt 2 tsp butter and pour over (1 1/2 cups) seeds in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 pinch of salt (or more), and then spread out on a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for 45 minutes.

Simple and Delicious!
Especially fresh out of the oven!

Sparkles, Glitter & Whimsy

Here are a few additions to my Etsy shop that were listed today!

Kissing Balls

Tradition states that in 18th century England, if an eligible young lady received a kiss on the cheek under the kissing ball, marriage would soon follow. While this tradition is no longer used, it is still a fun and festive symbol of times past.

Hang them in your doorway, in a garland, from the tree, or place in a bowl or vase!

There is a limited supply of these, and usually only one of each... so hurry and get your ONE OF A KIND kissing ball before they are gone! They make fantastic gifts! And are perfect for ornament exchanges!

Cricut Machine & Sure Cuts A Lot 2

I got my Cricut machine last fall. I love it! It has made a huge difference in my cupcake wrapper production!

And in addition to that, I've been able to make some really fun things with the cartridges I bought for it.

However, those got to be quite a costly hobby! So, after doing some research, I found this software; SURE CUTS A LOT. You can buy the download and get it instantly on your computer! It will allow you to create ANY shape or font you can find on the internet, and cut it on your Cricut!

The possibilities are endless!

I haven't bought a single cartridge since! You can upload any image from the internet, and the software will turn it into an SVG file. You can manipulate it any way you want... hook your computer up to your cricut machine, and CUT!

Installation is easy.
Using the software is easy.
And you will never had to buy another cartridge again!

I've put a link on my sidebar ----> if you'd like to learn more about SURE CUTS A LOT! You can purchase just the download, or receive the program on a CD-ROM, or both!

Calling All Etsy and Zibbet Shop Owners...

I thought it would be great to post a page on my blog for shop owners on Etsy and Zibbet to link up their shops!

If you post your shop link, it would be great if you'd take a moment to check out another shop or two!

Please be sure to link up your shop to the appropriate page on the tabs above! I can't wait to check them all out!

CSN Stores Giveaway Winner

The winner of the $45 CSN Stores Gift Certificate...
via RANDOM.ORG

Result: 13

Enjoy Country Living said...

I follow you and would love their stackable end tables

October 17, 2010 2:20 PM

Please contact me at: the5turners [at] gmail [dot] com with your email address and your $45 code will be sent to you so you can go do some online shopping!!! Congratulations!

*If the winner does not respond within 24 hours then a new winner will be chosen!
Thanks to everyone who entered!

Friendship Ball

Have you entered the CSN Stores Giveaway yet?
It ends tonight at midnight!

I've been working on some new items this week to list in my Etsy shop. Something I've been wanting to make for a while are these friendship balls. I think they are the neatest gifts you can give.

A ball is a circle

No beginning, no end
It keeps us together
Like our circle of friends.

The treasure inside
For just you to see
Is the treasure of friendship
You have granted me.

You can fill them with whatever you want. Candy, jewelry, a special note, tea, trinkets, hankies, and all kinds of lovelies.

The best part is, its the gift that keeps on giving! You may choose to give this to a friend for their birthday. You've filled it with a personalized bracelet with some candy and a nice birthday wish!

In a few weeks, you receive it back from your friend for YOUR birthday! It's filled with your favorite kinds of loose tea along with a little tea caddy!
Soon, it's Christmas, and you fill it with a special Christmas gift and send it off to your friend. The exchanging can go on forever! Give the friendship ball back and forth for any holiday, birthday, anniversary, or just because!

How fun to send this gift back and forth to your friends who love far away? To remind them you miss them!

I hope to have other colors and designs available soon!

What would you fill your friendship ball with?