I FINALLY Won a Blog Giveaway!

Are you the type of person who ALWAYS wins? Whether it be scratch tickets, radio contests, giveaways or draws, you just seem to win them all? Or are you more like me who rarely wins but when you do you get SUPER excited? I wanted to share my excitement with you and give you hope that after multiple entries, if you keep entering blog giveaways long enough you'll eventually win. ;)

What has caused my excitement you ask? Well, I happened to wander on over to visit Ashley over at the Domestic Fasionista to peruse her wonderful Christmas posts. I read her post on being 'Blessed by a Frugal Christmas' and loved all the great, inexpensive ideas where the focus is on using what you have to decorate for Christmas, something that I firmly believe in.

At the end of her post, she had a fun giveaway for this Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book:

Image Source

I left a comment with a few frugal Christmas decorating ideas and I won this amazing book! Thanks Ashley! It arrived a couple days ago and I really enjoyed flipping through it to uncover some amazing recipes and some fun crafty ideas too!

Here's a sneak peak at one fo the recipes that I plan on making from this book. Do these look delicious, or what?! It seems easy enough to make and would be a yummy Christmas Day treat to munch on, or a sweet gift!

Sorry for the blurry pic, I snapped a pic from the book.

TOFFEE

1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter
3/4 brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Butter an 8"x8" baking pan; spread walnuts on the bottom. In a saucepan, heat butter and sugar; bring to a boil stirring constantly. Cook until mixture darkens, about 7 mins; immediately pour over walnuts. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top; cover with a baking sheet to hold in heat until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate over top. Regrigerate; break into pieces when cool. Makes about one pound

Recipe provided in the book by Wendy Lee Paffenroth. Pine Island, NY

At the time I had read Ashley's post, I had also been meaning to write a post of my own on our frugal Christmas, so here is my previous post titled 'A Humble and Merry Christmas'.

Speaking of blog Giveaways, stay tuned as Classy & Fabulous has some new sponsors and we're working together to provide you some fun giveaways in the New Year! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you become blog giveaway winners yourselves this year!

Be sure to 'follow' this blog so you'll be eligible for the goodies and we'd love it if you'd tell a friend. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!

12 DATES OF CHRISTMAS!

With just two weeks left until Christmas, I thought it was only appropriate to share a fun homemade gift idea for those that wish to create vs. buy.

As promised in last week's 'Humble and Merry Christmas' post, I am sharing with you what I made for my hubby last year. The creating part was pretty easy but mine did involve a little bit of cash, however I stuck to my set budget.

All the details are below and this would make a great last minute gift to put together if you've run out of time or ideas because all you need is a computer and a printer!

THE 12 DATES OF CHRISTMAS

Last year my husband and I decided to exclusively give homemade gifts to one another so the time, creativity and thought put in was the most important part. We were both so excited to open up each other's handmade creations.

While searching last year for some insipiration before beginning, I stumbled upon and idea about the 12 dates of Christmas from an Oprah viewer who had done something similar with her husband, but theirs weren't presents, rather something fun to do during the holidays. I knew after hearing about it, that was what I wanted to create and I was thrilled that it would be a personal gift but one that I got to also enjoy and partake in. ;) While the gift was for him, it was also great for our relationship and we had a blast enjoying each date together.

Here is what we did and what my present looked like:

SUPPLIES

1. (13) identical envelopes and some cardstock or even regular printer paper will do. ( I preferred the durability of cardstock and the look of the overall finished product.)

2. Computer/Printer and microsoft word. You could also do this with a shabby chic effect and use some scrapbook paper and supplies instead of your computer.

3. Google: Images found via the web for each date and also to do some searches of what special and fun events are taking place in your area.

That's it!

I first wrote my hubby a special and personal letter and put it inside one envelope and attached it to a wrapped box filled with the other 12 envelopes or 'dates'. Each were hand stamped on the outside or decorated in some way too. Inside, the box contained 12 separate envelopes for him to open up, so it was like opening 12 different presents! Without further ado, I scanned the finished cards and uploaded them so here is what we did...

*Yes, I do realize there is a typo on this salsa card. That's what happens when you try to multitask! ;)

Stay tuned for my upcoming post to see what my husband's handmade gift for me was. It is something that I will cherish and keep forever. :)

Do you like to make handmade Christmas gifts? What have you made? What is the best homemade gift you've ever received?