Merry Christmas !!

Happy Holidays bloggers!l.  And a big 'THANK YOU' for making CraftyDad a part of your online world.  I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Enjoy this special time of year with family and friends. 

Freebie Friday Winner Announced

Hey Bloggers!

Are you on the edge of your seat?  Waiting and wondering?  Who won the free book?

It's official.  The Freebie Friday book goes to:

Secret Cake

Secret Cake added her name to the mailing list and left a comment on the blog post to make her eligible. Her name was picked out of the hat over the weekend and voila, she's the winner.

I'll be in touch with her to get her mailing address and the book will be on its way.

Keep checking back...there will be another giveaway in January 2010.  Wow...2010.  That sounds different, doesn't it?  Time flies.  Make the most of it!

 

Freebie Friday! - and - New Tissue Holder in the Shop

Hey bloggers!

HAPPY FRIDAY! It's such a good feeling to know we've made it through another week. However....I guess that means that we're getting closer to the big day. Christmas is just a few days away. Are you ready? Is the tree trimmed? Do you have all your presents bought and wrapped? The Crafty Dad house is abuzz with activity these days. My wife (bless her heart) is the official gift-buyer and wrapper. Although I did help accompany her on a gift-buying trip a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. Always good to have some 'alone' time...even if it's spent at the mall.

We made a trip to Shipshewana a couple weekends ago and I found some really great fabric for tissue holders. I finally had a minute (after making a dozen bumble bee tissue holders -- thank you Kimberly for the great order!) to whip up a new design. I think it's going to be a big hit. Here's a sneak peek:

Let me know what you think. You can get a better view by visiting my shop.

Hey...it's Friday. And not just ANY Friday. It's Freebie Friday. It's the last day to sign up for the book giveaway I blogged about here.

Don't waste another minute: sign up now.

Best of luck to you.

These are a few of my favorite ....

Little Guy, Crafty Mom, Mr. Teenager and Riley

The Reason for the Season

Yes, it truly IS the reason for the season.  The wreaths and bows and trees and packages and cookies and candies are great.  Shopping isn't too bad either (it gives my wife and I some 'alone' time).  I enjoy all the Holiday songs too. And the family get-togethers.  But...the real reason for the season is because God sent his only son to Earth to save us from our sins.  Now THAT'S a gift.  The greatest gift of all.

Nativty set by JimShore.

I hope you are enjoying this special time of the year.

It's the Bee's Knees

I've been working with an Etsy customer for the past several days on a special order of twelve (12) tissue holders. I shared the sample with her last night and she approved! Excited? Yes...I'm very excited to start on her order.

Here's what she ordered:

Twelve Tissue Holders Comin' Up!

Okay. Gotta run. Busy day ahead. Hey: don't forget to sign up for my Freebie Friday book giveaway.

Hope you have a great day,

Sometimes the Simple Things are the Best

Indeed: sometimes the very simplest of dishes are the tastiest. Case in point is my wife's chicken and noodles. It's a family favorite. And mashed potatoes on the side. Oh yes...a match made in food heaven.

She's been making this hearty combination for several years. However, she's been adding something new lately. She adds a couple tablespoons of Watkins Chicken Soup and Gravy Base. And I kid you not, it has made a good thing even better.

Along with mashed potatoes, I like my chicken and noodles topped off with sweet corn (frozen or canned). Yum-O!

December's "Freebie Friday" Announcement

Freebie Friday Coming Up!

The December "Freebie Friday" will be another book (yes...I like books...and I hope you do too). This is a brand new copy of Eduardo Xol's Home Sense -- simple solutions to enhance where and how you live. Photography by Doug Myers. The ISBN is 978-0-06-124976-1 for those of you that might be interested. Eduardo is the designer from ABC's hit show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Some photos of the inside of this beautifully-photographed book.
[Click on the image to get a better view.]

So...how do you enter? It's easy:

STEP 1. Make sure you're signed up by using the form over on the right-hand sidebar of my blog. I just need your name and your email address. That keeps you in the running for the Freebie Friday giveaways;

STEP 2. Leave a comment on this post.

The fine print:

The deadline for the drawing is midnight EST on Friday, December 18, 2009.

The winner will be drawn over the weekend of December 19 and 20.

The winner will be announced on Monday, December 21st.

Since it's the 'most wonderful time of the year' everyone is invited to join in the fun. Whether you live in the US, Canada or anywhere else in the world. Sign up. And Good Luck!

Speaking of books. What are you reading these days. I recently re-joined the Good Cook Club and got four books for $1.00 each. And..I bit the bullet and bought a fifth book for 1/2 price. ('Cuz I'm a sucker for a good deal.) Here's what has my attention:

Currently on my night stand.

• Alton Brown's Good Eats [ISBN: 978-1-58479-795-1]
• Diane Phillips: Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever [ISBN: 978-0-8118-6657-6]
• The Deen Brothers: Ya'll Come Eat [ISBN: 978-0-696-23397-5]
• Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten): Back to Basics Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients [ISBN: 978-1-4000-5435-0]
• Elizabeth Yarnell: Glorious One-Pot Meals [ISBN: 978-1-60751-581-4]
• The Ellie Krieger book, The Food You Crave [ISBN: 978-1-60085-021-9] was a gift from my wife. (Thanks Honey..I love it!) She bought it at the Cleveland Clinic when she was there a few weeks ago for a follow-up visit with the neurologist (for the horrible headaches and sharp pains in the right side of her head.)

In between the One-Pot Meal book and the Food Network magazine is Bon Appetit.

I also subscribe to Food Networks magazine. Mmm, mmm, good.

I guess you might say that food is on my mind these days (every day people, EVERY day!). But... honestly...my wife will be going back to her five-days-a-week work schedule after the Holidays. So...one of my New Year's resolutions is to help with dinner. It's tough for us to figure out what we're going to have for dinner some nights. I thought some fresh ideas might get me in the mood for helping out. We'll see how it goes.

Hope you have a good week. Remember: do something crafty!

P.S. Sorry about all the different photo formats. I was having fun with Picnik today.

The 2009 Crafty Dad Family Christmas Tree

At last count, there were 1,200 lights on this year's tree. This photo does not do the tree justice. I think I need to figure out how to change some settings on my camera!

Watkins Introduces New Aloe and Green Tea Personal Care Items!

Check it out!  Watkins has introduced a Green Tea and Aloe Body Wash and a Green Tea and Aloe Shampoo.

You can purchase them at my Watkins web store.

It's Going to Look Like Christmas

Happy Black Friday! (Oh...I truly don't like how that sounds.)

Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one. The Crafty Dad family made the annual pilgrimage (no pun intended!) to Auburn, IN for the big feast. A good time was had by all. Lots of food, fun, family and laughter. My favorite combo-package.

After we got home, Crafty Mom made her way to the basement to supervise in the traditional "carry-the-Christmas-decorations-upstairs" event. The boys helped out as we made several trips up and down the stairs -- good exercise after eating so much turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc., etc.,

A foyer-full of decorations.

Riley is not sure about all this!

Today is the day: decorate the house. It's become a tradition. And I enjoy bringing the house to life with all the decorations. My mom was a HUGE fan of Christmas and always make the house look so nice. She passed away 14 years ago...and I miss her. Especially during the Holidays. I'm guessing she's looking down from heaven and smiling as we do what she did for so many years. Miss you Mom!

The tree will be decorated tonight. Jennifer and the boys wait for my help on that one. I am the official tree light guy. I started wrapping each individual branch of the tree with lights a few years ago. Wow! Talk about a brightly-lit evergreen. I think it looks great and we continue to wrap lights from year to year.

I'll share some photos with you later this weekend.

In the meantime...hope you find all the bargains you were looking for today. Don't forget the ONLINE sales. Speaking of which, my Etsy store is having a 25% sale on tissue holders -- that's $1.00 off the regular price!

Have a great weekend,

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey bloggers!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Seems there's always something to complain about -- road construction that forces us to go miles out of our way (always in a hurry, aren't we?), 'fast food' places that are really not 'fast' and sometimes not even 'food', pharmacies that put our prescriptions back into inventory too soon (that just happened to me today). But...we have SO much to be thankful for, don't we? Like a job. I love mine. And I love the people that I work with. Family? Oh yeah! Tops my list. [Love you guys!]. A place to call 'home'. A wife that puts up with all my 'craftiness'. Yep. So much to be thankful for.

Be safe and have a great holiday.

The Grist Mill at Bonneyville Mill Park

Sale Continues in my Etsy Shop

The 25% off sale continues.

Book Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the book giveaway is (drum-roll please.....)

HARBOR HON

Number three (3) was picked out of the hat. And number three (3) belongs to Harbor Hon.

Seasons at Seven Gates Farm

I'll be sending her an email message asking for her mailing address so I can get this great book on its way.

Thanks for playing.

There will be more giveaways in the weeks to come. Stay tuned.

Book Giveaway

I'll be drawing the winning name for the book giveaway later this weekend.

Was planning on doing it yesterday, but had to take my wife to the eye doctor to have a cyst removed.  Ouch!

She's doing okay, but the pirate eye patch makes it tough to do things.

I will keep you posted.

Have a good day.

Etsy Shop Update

Hey bloggers!

As promised, my shop has been updated with some new items.

Big Holiday sale going on now through the end of December on tissue holders. Regular price is $4.00; Sale price is just $3.00. I'm trying to keep the store stocked with good stuff so YOU can take advantage of great prices and I can move out some inventory.

Here's a sneak peek:

More updates later. Gotta get busy.

Have a great day.

P.S. Make sure you sign up for the book I'll be giving away this Friday. Just enter your name and email address in the sign-up form (over there in the right-hand column) and you're all set.

GCC Rocks!

Saturday:

• Cleaned up the yard again. Those leaves are still falling and blowing around.
• Whipped up some new tissue holders to put in the shop (watch for an update tomorrow morning).
  
• Had lunch: turkey sandwiches and soup. Yummy.
• Made a trip to Woodwind & Brasswind. Mr. Teenager is going to switch from Alto to Tenor saxophone. Bought him an early Christmas gift. (He LOVES it!)
  
• Went shopping for poster board: Little Guy is doing a project on John Dillinger next week.
• Stopped at McDonalds for a quick snack.
• Went to church. The current series is on Relationslips. As always great content. Fantastic music and media. Last night we had a special guest. She is awesome.
• Had dinner at Culver's. Good stuff and easy on the budget.
  

Granger Community Church

Now we're off to a cousin's birthday party.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

It's the Weekend!

Hey bloggers!

We made it through another week. Hope yours was a good one.

I recently changed my mailing list service here on the blog. If you signed up on the old one, I'll (hopefully) be able to add you to the new one. But....just to make super-sure you're on the list for giveaways and other cool stuff, please use the new form (over there in the right-hand column). You just need to enter your name (first and last please) and your e-mail address. It's that easy. You'll receive a confirmation e-mail. Follow the links and you're all set up.

As an incentive to add your name to the list, I'm hosting a book giveaway next Friday. It's only open to those of you that have signed up (US residents only). So...hurry over to the form and enter your info. It was a thrift-shop find so it's not new, nor is it in perfect condition. However, it is in VERY good condition (a couple small tears on the dust cover). Beautiful photos, and 223 pages. I think you will enjoy it! Here are some shots of the book.

Country Living
Seasons at Seven Gates Farm

Natural Crafts, Old-Fashioned Gardens, and Homespun Holidays

ISBN: 0-688-14466-7

Oh..and there's a 25% off sale going on over at my Etsy shop. Take advantage of some great prices now through the end of December 2009.

Have a great (crafty) weekend!

Family Photo Op

Hey bloggers....Wow..three posts in the same week.  That might be a record for me!  LOL!!

We were at one of our county parks the other day for a little outing.  Unfortunately, we had so much rain the past few days the walking trails were so muddy it was impossible to use them.  Fortunately, the sun was shining and I had my camera (never leave home without it).

A little bit of editing via Picnik (I really like that program) and voila, we have a photo:

Crafty Dad, Crafty Mom, Riley,
Mr. Teenager and Little Guy

Here are a few more:

Hope you're enjoying the Autumn season.

Take care!

I Have Two New Brothers!

It's true -- I have two new Brothers. And I love them both very, very much.

There are several years difference in their ages. One was born in 1965, the other in 2009. They are both handsome and very strong. I get along with both of them. No sibling rivalry here, folks.

In all seriousness...I found the vintage machine at the thrift shop today. You know I'm a sucker for vintage machines...especially the ones that are in pristine condition. I hit pay dirt today by golly. Brought my new (old) Brother home. Gave him a dose of oil and he was off and running. Like a well-oiled machine. Well...he IS a well-oiled machine now isn't he? [Sorry I couldn't resist.]

Here they are in all their glory.

Click on the image to get a better view.