Contest to PIF

All righty, friends, here is the much-anticipated CoNTeST!  Yay!

I'm so excited to introduce you to CSN Stores! They have over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish modern office furniture to cute cookware to chic lighting pieces!  I found adorable dolls and Melissa and Doug (wood) paper dolls for Mary Claire, zebra pillows, a beautiful baby blue/chocolate rug that I *love*, a globe for Ethan...you name it, they carry it! : )  I just found my new hand towels to monogram...here:

Ok, enough of what I want!  What do YOU want?

Here are the rules:

1. You have to live in the US or Canada.  (They only ship there.  Sorry, friends across the pond.)

2.  Leave your email as a comment so I can email you the code for your $25 gift certificate!

3.  I love you, and can't wait to see who wins!!  You can email your friends to enter or post about it in YOUR blog-you can just link back!

4.  You have one week-until Thursday, January 13th to enter!  I'll announce the winner about 9pm (after my lovely children are put to bed) (for the first time) heehee

5.  I'll use the same randomizer as before at random.org. 

Are you getting lucky?  No extra garbage from me?  Not Hardly! : ) hahaha

Remember when I told you about the minky dots I found yesterday?  I made Ethan's blanket this morning! : )  I had to be conniving and canoodle to get Ethan to stay out of here long enough to sew it.  Here is a picture.  I can't decide whether to monogram it or not.  What do you think?

:The blanket of his DrEaMs:

We've also started a new Pay It Forward last night on Facebook.  You could try it too!  Here is what I wrote (copied from my friend, Nikki's status!):

Pay it Forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. Here are the rules: 1. You must msg me your address (even if you think I already have it) 2. You must in turn post this on your page and send something YOU make to the first 5 people who comment on your status. 3. It MUST be handmade by you and it must be sent sometime in 2011.
Who is in?

I have five people now, so I'm all set.  What could you make for your friends?  For my selection, I'm making five different things, and I'm excited!  I know them all different ways, so I know (I think!) what they'd like!  Probably not Shrinky Dinks.  Hahaha!  I'll just put a shrinky dink tag on it! : )  ...Can I make you laugh? (maybe?)  I got a comment that said blah, blah, PIF, blah, blah, and I thought he was speaking code!  I had to google it to find out it was Pay It Forward.  Ha.Ha.

You could try it on your Facebook page, by email, or even on your blog if you have one!  You'll only get one thing, but you are sending five little bundles of handmade love out into the world!

*I'm so excited for you, I can't wait to see who wins the $25 certificate to CSN.com!  I wish I could win too!*

Minky Dots and Shrinky Dinks

Somehow I'm super tired today-I think that turkey-effect carried over a day.  I still accomplished a lot, it just required lots of sugar to keep going, since I'm staying away from caffeine!  (but, I did have just that one green tea at Panera..)
I know, it's all wrong-the whole sugar roller coaster, but it was that or carbs, and they are both awful (well.. kinda the same!).
I got my hair done, and took a shrinky dink bracelet (a scalloped shrinky dink with Stella's name and "Mommy and Daddy's Princess" on a pink gingham ribbon) to her sweet parents, the Taylors.  They are the cutest family, and just adore each other.  It's precious, really.  And I got my hair super-straight--so straight, I pulled it back-I'm used to bounce, and it was s-m-o-o-t-h (the one thing I can't do myself-pull my hair out and get it flat, but I can curl to save my life!).
(I forgot-I took some Shrinky Dinks on ribbons to school too for Ethan's teachers-they are all crafty and appreciate the teensy souvenirs of my Craft Time with Kids (I don't send crafts to Working Women-they are way too professional to "get" my excitement over shrinking plastic, no offense).  I mean, I love working women (sometimes wish I was one), but I feel crafty bits are below them.  Ha!  Come on down here with me! : ) heehee

Anyway, I ran errands, and found the "snuggly, soft, comfy green blankey with the green bumpy dots" of Ethan's dreams.  He told Angie yesterday after being asked what he wanted for his birthday the above.  He doesn't see things and decide he wants them (well..he does that too), rather he dreams things up.  I called my favorite, Fabric Gallery, and asked if they had any green minky dots (their real name), and had to ask for clarification-Kyle said FOUR!  What?  They had four different greens!  I booked it over there to see for myself, still slightly in disbelief.  (Sorry, there's no picture.)  I chose a lovely lime, the one Ethan would have picked for himself.
Then...decisions...what to back it with?  We checked out some navy dots, navy/off-lime circles, navy gingham...not quite.  Then-Aha!  I got some royal blue minky dots to back it.  Ethan'll be SO excited!  (and bonus: they will shrink equally, so no prewashing!  Hooray!)

Then groceries, and Mom's Shuttle Service.  Two schools, three kids, and a van full of groceries and errand fodder.  Of course, they wanted to Shrinky Dink the world again.  Animals, dogs, more cars, a Pac-Man...I just left our oven set-up in there.  I keep reheating the oven to 325, so if I'm not baking (no chance of that today!), why not leave it all in there?  (Remind me of this when I mistakenly preheat and catch parchment on fire.)

I was trying to find little pictures of Toy Story characters this afternoon with the plan to make all his little friends characters for their goody bags, but it's hard to find good pictures the right size.  I found a coloring book online, but they were unauthorized, and not real.  Then, I checked Disney's site, but they wanted you to color Jessie on Bullseye, and you couldn't turn the page to another picture.  He (like Andy) loves Buzz Lightyear!  Jessie just won't do.  My new idea is to cut some shrinky dink plastic, print some instructions and let the kids take and make their own! : )  Isn't that a great idea?  Will they know it saved me time?  Nahh, it's so the kids can choose their own little icon, and maybe the parents will get some craft time too? heehee

Then dinner (in the Dining Room again!) (the kitchen chairs are still misplaced after my mopping yesterday-I want them to KNOW I mopped!).  Baths, and then Monopoly began again.  Oh yeah, that's the other reason-the monopoly board is still set up on the kitchen table, and no one is allowed to touch it.  I mean, would you let them touch it? and run the chance that the pawns get moved, or your money is out of rainbow order (Mary Claire's current distress!), or your property falls to the floor, and goes up for auction?  Agh-that's Monopoly Mayhem!

I promise to let you know more about the contest as I know more.  There will be (I think) a $25 gift certificate up for grabs shortly (hopefully tomorrow?).  I'll give you a week to comment/register to win, then it's all yours!  What will you buy?  They have everything from kids' toys to kitchen gadgets to furniture!  Check out CSN.com, and you can let me know.  I'll let you know when we officially begin, just check back tomorrow!