WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

This past weekend's blog hop winner of a $30 craft store gift certificate (Michael's, Joann's, Walmart, or Hobby Lobby) was drawn using Random.org.  I combined the comments from Days 1 and 2, arranged them in time order, and then counted down to the Random.org number...and the winner is:

Congratulations to Trisha and many thanks to all who joined us for the hop!  

I hope you enjoy a festive, fun, family-oriented Holiday Season!!!  

Hugs to you all!!!  ~~Angie~~

Hopping Through the Holidays Blog Hop ~ Day #2 (Saturday)

You are on the last and final stop in the hop...In case you just hopped on here, you'll want to start at Stop#1 (Belinda) to start from the beginning.  Here is our amazing blog lineup:

1. http://beeshiveofdrama.blogspot.com - Belinda

2.http://4goofballs.blogspot.com  - Julieta

3.http://cherevansstudio.blogspot.com - Cher

4. http://dare2beecreative.blogspot.com    -Bee

5. http://happycardfactory.blogspot.com    - Becki 

6. http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com       -Melanie

7. www.mythoughtsExactly.CO      - Alyssa

8. http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.com     - Tracy 

9.  http://atuttletime.blogspot.com     -Angie (me)

I hope you have enjoyed all the fun, fabulous, and crafty projects featured today.  For my Day#2 project, I decided to create a Holiday Scrapbook layout page.  Usually, I dread scrapbooking holiday photos.  I never really understood why, because I love the holidays and my family gatherings.  I think I figured out my problem...I can't stand the colors red and green together...

and in years past that's really all you ever see.  Thankfully, now, I have seen a whole rainbow of colors to signify the holidays...

so I had a blast with my newest holiday layout.  I purposely refused to use red and green..and I really love the way the layout turned out.

I started with some cool scrapbook papers I found at Archiver's.  Then I grabbed all of my favorite tools and started getting colorful and crafty...I felt like a kid again!

I used the Gingerbread stamp set I bought years ago from Stampin' Up!

For the house, I used some dimension dots to make certain candies pop.  I also went crazy with Stickles again to give the house some sparkle and bling.  I really love how it turned out. It's much cuter in person... :)

The colors I used for the paper and to color in the images were picked to match the colorful background paper.  

I plan to use this page to scrapbook our traditional Gingerbread construction.  It's a real fun time...usually the house doesn't meet OSHA standards and the feds usually shut us down. LOL.but it's a great time.  

Here's a photo of my guys a couple years ago surrendering to the whims of the Mom of the Gingerbread House...Don't they look thrilled.  Hee hee. I love it!  :)

Have Fun this Holiday!!!  This hop has been a blast. Thanks again to Belinda for asking me to be a part of it.  I love my new layout...I just may not dread scrapbooking this Christmas after all.  :)

OK now onto the fun stuff....BLOG Candy...Prize:

You have a chance to win $30 gift certificate, but you MUST follow these instructions:

1.  Please become a follower of mine and tell me you have done so in your comment.  I love meeting fellow crafters!   Leave your contact info, so I can get back with you if you win! :)

2.  Read the post just below and tell me what my family made.  Then, tell me if your family has any traditions or what you do to spend some quality time with your family during the busy holidays.

That's it.  Good luck!  Hope you enjoyed the hop!!!  Tata for now. :)

~Angie~

Hopping Through the Holidays Blog Hop

Hi and Welcome to the Hopping through the Holidays Blog Hop!

You are on the last and final stop in the hop...In case you just hopped on here, you'll want to start at Stop#1 (Belinda) to start from the beginning.  Here is our amazing blog lineup:

1. http://beeshiveofdrama.blogspot.com - Belinda

2.http://4goofballs.blogspot.com  - Julieta

3.http://cherevansstudio.blogspot.com - Cher

4. http://dare2beecreative.blogspot.com    -Bee

5. http://happycardfactory.blogspot.com    - Becki 

6. http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com       -Melanie

7. www.mythoughtsExactly.CO      - Alyssa

8. http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.com     - Tracy 

9.  http://atuttletime.blogspot.com     -Angie (me)

I hope you have enjoyed all the fun, fabulous, and crafty projects featured today.  I am going to try to have two fun projects posted for this hop, but my work schedule has totally interfered with my crafting time...!  I want to thank Belinda for asking me to participate in this hop, because it has given me an excuse to stay up and craft!  Thanks so much!  Ok now on to my project...

I don't know about you but the holidays tend to become so busy that the true meaning of the season gets lost in the shuffle.  When I was trying to think of a project for this hop, I decided to center it around my family...

Here is what Michelle (my 3yr old) and I came up with...

~~Our Family's 25 Days of Togetherness~~

~~25 days of Family time...10 mins a day...for the 25 days prior to Christmas~~

I just love my family...but our family is busy...so busy we often do not even get to eat dinner together.

Each day during the month of December, my son or daughter will peel the number of the appropriate day of the month..and behind each number will be a name of an activity...Here is an example of some of I came up with:  

Ornaments (Make and Decorate ornaments)

Garland (Popcorn garland)

Egg Nog (Try egg nog and see if we like it)

Christmas sock hop (Entire family puts on Christmas socks I bought and  dance to holiday tunes)

Reindeer Games (Wii game system)

Candy Cane Hunt (Hide candy canes throughout the house for kids to find)

Gingerbread House

Lights (Drive around the neighborhood area and look at lights.)

Etc..Etc...just some quick activities to get the family together.

It's just a time to focus on spending time together...even if it's only for a few minutes.

Well, for Day 1 ... We made ornaments.  At first when I suggested the entire family gather in the dining room for crafts, you would have thought I asked them to do laundry...

but once we got started, it was so nice to all be in a room together doing an activity.  

The highlight of the evening was when my daughter said, "I love the family.  Family do dis together, ok?"

She expressed on more than one occasion how much she loved our "family" (a word she just now started using a lot) being together.  It was really nice..despite the looks on my guys' faces. LOL.

I asked each person to cut out 3 random or same shapes...and decorate them any way they like...

 My daughter went crazy with the Stickles and rhinestones.  My sons used up the remaining rhinestones to make a tree..and then drew a cross and what he says is Santa's "foot" coming down the chimney..I don't see it. LOL.  My hubby didn't have the patience to work with stickles..so he just punched hearts and wrote our names on them.  The one that says, "Dad Loves Mom" is of course my favorite! :)

 I took a little more time than the rest and made a Snowman, Christmas Tree, and Star using my Stickle collection..This photo is a bit dull but if you saw these in person, they just sparkle so nicely!  I love bling!
I will have to ask for Stickles for my birthday, which is in December. We used alot for this project.

 Once we made the shape, I applied a generous amount of tape runner (ATG) to the back and cut some rainbow thread.  I punched the same shape out and glued it to the back.

 Voila...

My daughter has a little tree in her bedroom..so she made it clear that all of these are to go on "her" tree.  I nicely corrected her and said these are our ornaments, so we will be sharing them...thank you very much! :) LOL

Although my project and ornaments may not exactly be worthy of this awesome blog hop, they were made with alot of love and certainly meant alot to me..

I hope you don't mind my sharing this with you!

May you also get the opportunity to enjoy time with your family this holiday season..for truly that is what the holidays are supposed to be all about!!!

Please stop by here on Saturday...All comments left on my SATURDAY POST..will be entered into a chance for $30 gift certificate to Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Thanks again for HOPPING by. :)  

~~Angie, ATuttleTime~~