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Retro Yoohoo & Friends Review & Giveaway

December 12, 2010 45 Comments
This week I’m bringing you our third holiday gift giveaway from Aurora World.  You may remember the Yoohoo & Friends giveaway I had on my blog last spring.  Well, now I’d like to present these Retro Yoohoos!
These little are guys very cute. They are around the same size as the original Yoohoos. (You can get them in the 5 inch or 8 inch size.)  And they feature the same brightly colored fur, big eyes, poofy tails, and fun sound effects.
But unlike the Original Yoohoos, these guys are dressed up for a funky night out on the town.  Just imagine your favorite character from Saturday Night Fever or Footloose transforming into a cute and cuddly stuffed animal. (Sounds fun, huh?)

I think kids will love these. For some reason kids always seem to like retro stuff.  And the Aurora company has created a Retro Yoohoo to fit anyone’s taste, from Pammee Pop Singer to Lemmee Punk Rocker.
For my review I received Yoohoo 60’s British Rocker and Lemmee Disco Dancer.  Both of these are simply adorable.  You can look at them immediately and tell exactly what they’re suppose to be.  It’s definitely a very unique twist on the original Yoohoo & Friends.  My favorite thing about them is their big eyes and poofy striped tails. It just makes them so cute!
I think these would even be a good gift for the young at heart.  If you know an adult who loves stuffed animals and also grew up loving the Beatles, why not get them the 60’s British Rocker Yoohoo?  Or how about theYoohoo 80’s Dancer for your 80s kid?
Buy it! You can purchase your Retro Yoohoos online at Aurora World.
Connect! Became a fan of Yoohoo & Friends on Facebook or follow @yohoofriends on Twitter.

Win it! One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a Retro Yoohoo & Friends Toy.
Giveaway closed. Congrats to Liza at Giveaway Blogs to Win!
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Filed Under: Giveaways, product review

Friday Favorites – Week 42

December 9, 2010 8 Comments

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Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by for week 42! Just as a reminder, we are having Holly Bloggy Christmas events all week next week! You’ll find some fun Christmas themed linky parties and giveaways being hosted by myself and 4 other fantastic bloggers.
The Christmas Recipe Party will be held here at Simply Sweet Home next Thursday (linky will actually go up on Wednesday night), and I hope that you will all attend! Not only will you get a chance to share your own recipes and see what everyone else is cooking up, but I’ll also be sharing a few of my favorite Christmas treats with you, and I’ll be giving prizes away from Lisa Leonard Designs , Twelve Crafts, and Hope Abound Boutique! Plus, the following week, I’ll be featuring some of my favorite stuff from all the linky parties! It will be some super fun, so I hope to see you here next week, a day early!
Also, with the Holly Bloggy going on next week, I’ve decided to skip Friday Favorites for next week.  I was going to run it anyway and just host 2 parties next week, but after giving it a second thought, I’ve decided that the Friday Favorites party might take traffic away from the Christmas Recipe party or even confuse a new visitor that comes by for the recipe party.  (By the way, if you’ve got a super cool post that you’re linking up this week, never fear….I’ll still be choosing some posts linked up this week to feature.  I’ll just feature them when Friday Favorites returns the week after next!)

Now check out this week’s featured bloggers!

Peace Wreath from In His Grip
Snowflake Frame from Sassy Style Interior Redesign
Book Page Wreath from Just a Happy Housewife
Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie from Find Your Happiness
Red & Reindeers Table Setting from The Tablescaper

I’m looking forward to seeing your posts from this week!  Link up your post urls below! Please include my button or a link to my site somewhere in your post or on your blog so that your readers may find this party. Thanks!

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Filed Under: Friday Favorites

A Mousey Tree

December 8, 2010 21 Comments
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating the Christmas tree.  And now I get to add to that tradition by sharing my tree with you each year!  Originally when I started collecting ornaments I intended to have a mouse themed tree.  (For some reason, a glass or plastic mouse on a box of candy, an ice cream soda, or a stack of postage stamps just thrills my soul!) 
But if you check out my former tree posts, you’ll notice that other ornaments have made their way onto the tree each year.  But not this time! When I decorated the tree over the weekend, I included nothing but mice ornaments!
These little guys, combined with some brightly colored rainbow garland, colored lights, picks, and a brand new multicolored star topper, make for a very fun and festive tree!  

Each year I like to share some of my favorite ornaments:

I just love this “World’s Greast Crafter” ornament, featuring a mouse and his craft supplies!

These teapot mice are just adorable.  The teabags read: “You and me – the perfect blend,” and “Heart to heart and Hand to friend.”

This mousey sits on top of what’s suppose to be a jar of layered cookie ingredients.

This “Christmas Together” ornament features a mousey couple sip an icecream soda with two straws.

This is actually first time to use this Hallmark mouse from 2001.  I don’t know why.  You know I love cookies! And he’s such a cutie!

Rebel loves to sit under the tree.  I’ll give you three guesses why!

This has got to be one of my favorite Dixie Belle pictures!  She loves sleeping under the covers, and the Christmas tree skirt makes for a great hiding place!

I’m linking this post up to my weekly linky parties and the Christmas Tree Party at Thrifty Decor Chick.

Hosting a Christmas Tree or Christmas Decor party?  Let me know about it in the comments, and I’ll come link up with you too!

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Filed Under: Christmas

Holly Bloggy Christmas – Next Week!

December 8, 2010 2 Comments
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Get your Christmas posts ready!

The Holly Bloggy Christmas is next week!

It’s 5 days of Christmas linky parties and prizes!

Check out the schedule and join the fun!

Monday, Dec. 13 – Homemade Gifts – The best Christmas gifts come from the heart. Whether you sew, bake, paint, or glue, a homemade gift is always unique and special! Come join Jen at tater tots and jello and share your homemade gifts.

Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Christmas Crafts – Christmas is a wonderful time for crafty people to show off their skills. Do you make your own Christmas decorations? Ornaments? Cards? Something else? Come and show off your crafts with Nicholette and Vanessa at Craft Envy.
Giveaways: Up to My Knees in Crafts, Scrapbook Circle, Pure Sugar

Wednesday, Dec. 15 – Christmas Decor – It’s so amazing to see everyone’s unique decorating styles, especially at Christmas time. And we can’t wait to see yours! Share your Decked Halls, Christmas Trees, Mantels, Home Tours and more with Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Thursday, Dec. 16 – Christmas Recipes – Food and the Holidays go hand in hand. Come and share your favorite Christmas recipes with Jerri over at Simply Sweet Home. Whether it’s an appetizer, a dessert, or the main course, I’m sure we’ll all be hungry for seconds!
Friday, Dec. 17 – I’m Lovin’ It – Cheryl at Tidy Mom will host a Christmas edition of her I’m Lovin’ It event. Share anything from a product, to a recipe, a picture you took, a project, or even your children or family…..really anything Christmas-related that you are loving right now!
Hope you’ll join us for a week of fun, friends, and a cup of good cheer!

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Filed Under: Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash

Aurora Cheeky Charlie & Carmen Review & Giveaway

December 7, 2010 43 Comments

As promised, here’s another fun holiday review & giveaway from our friends at Aurora.  This week I’m sharing the adorable Cheeky Charlie and Carmen line with you!
As you probably guessed already, Cheeky Charlie and Carmen are monkeys! These guys are of the same high quality that I’ve come to expect from Aurora World.  And like other Aurora collections, they come in a variety of sizes and styles.  They are a very soft and cuddly plush toy, and they come in bold, beautiful colors.
So what sets Cheeky Charlie & Carmen apart from other toy monkeys you may find.  Again, these are some really adorable monkeys, from their cute little eyes and big smiles to their long tails, which believe it or not, actually hold a little surprise!

For example, I  received Wrangler Cheeky Charlie and Carmen BFF.  Wrangler Cheeky Charlie holds a rope in his tail, while Carmen holds a banana in hers.  Too cute!  It’s just another one of those little things that the guys at Aurora have done to make these toys extra special!

Another thing that sets these guys apart from the competition is that they wear little outfits, complete with headgear.  Wrangler Cheeky Charlie has on the cutest cowboy pants and vest, a red bandana, and a cowboy hat, while BFF Carmen wears a cute orange & pink flower shirt with a matching headband.
And there are a lot of other styles available, so you should be able to find something for everyone on your list!
Buy it!  Purchase your Dreamy Eyes and other great toys online at Aurora World.
Connect! Check out Aurora on Aurora World on Facebook

Win it!  One Simply Sweet Home reader will win a Cheeky Charlie & Carmen toy.

Mandatory Entry:  Be a follower of my blog.  Then  visit the Cheeky Charlie page at the Aurora site and leave me a comment telling me which one is your favorite. Deadline: Dec 21 (US only)

Extra Entries: Leave a comment for each.
-1 if you follow Simply Sweet Home on Twitter.
-2 for subscribing to Simply Sweet Home via email.
-2 for “liking” Simply Sweet Home on facebook.
-1 for subscribing to my RSS feeds through Feedburner.
-1 for sharing this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook.  (Sample Tweet: I want to win a Cheeky Charlie Toy! http://bit.ly/h5L58B @SimplySweetHome #HolidayGiftGuide #giveaway) (Limit one entry per day.)

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Filed Under: Giveaways, product review

Auntie Anne’s At Home Baking Kit Review (Featuring Monkey Bread)

December 6, 2010 8 Comments
I was very excited when I recieved an Auntie Anne’s At Home Baking Kit in the mail.  I’m sure many of you have a had a freshley baked pretzel from Auntie Anne’s before.  If not, check your local mall, or look for one the next time you’re at the airport.  And even if you don’t have an Auntie Anne’s in your area, you’re in luck! Just in time for holiday baking, you can make your own pretzels (and other great stuff) using these Baking Kits from Auntie Anne’s.

I found some great recipes to make using this kit, but since it’s so close to Christmas I decided to try out the Monkey Bread.  I know a lot of people who have a big family breakfast or brunch on Christmas morning instead of the traditional dinner, and I think Monkey Bread would be perfect to serve for those!

The kit comes with everything you need to make pretzels and almost everything you’ll need to make this yummy Monkey Bread.  The instructions are very easy to understand, and unlike a lot of breads and things that you make, involving dough and yeast, it’s not a long drawn out process.  In fact, you could even turn this into a fun activity with the kids.
In my excitement, I forgot to take pictures of the entire process.  I only remembered as I was getting ready to put the bread in the oven! Instead I’ll tell you just how easy the process is.  In the kit you recieve a yeast packet, which you dissolve in some water.  And then you add the dough mix.  You mix it with a spatula until it forms a dough ball, and then you knead it for a few minutes.

After letting the dough rise for half an hour, you pull off little pieces of dough, roll it into balls, and dip them in some melted butter, followed by a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Then throwsthe balls into a greased bundt pan.  Bake it for 30-35 minutes and then your done! Very Easy!
I also made a little icing for my bread, using 2 oz. of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of milk, and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.  This made it extra delicious.  But it would be great without icing too!

As much as I loved the monkey bread, I knew the real trial would come when my husband tried it.  If he doesn’t like something, chances are I won’t be making it too often!  Luckily for me, even though he doesn’t like pretzels, he does love cinnamon rolls, so I was hopeful that he would really enjoy this.  And I was right! He loved it!  Not only did he enjoy it, but since he’d never seen monkey bread before, he was really impressed by the way the dough balls form a bundt cake. He liked it so much that he made me fill up a container so he could share some with his buddies at work.  They’d never had monkey bread either, and they all gave it their seal of approval!

Buy it!  You can Purchase you At Home Baking Kit at your local Auntie Anne’s or at these retailers.

Connect! Check out Auntie Anne’s On Facebook or follow Auntie Anne’s on Twitter

I’m sharing this post for this week’s linky parties.

Don’t forget to come by here next Thursday for my Christmas Recipe party!
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Disclosure:  I received a free At Home Baking Kit to try for this review.  The opinions expresses here are my own.

Filed Under: Christmas, desserts, product review

Site Problems Fixed

December 6, 2010 Leave a Comment
Hey guys.  If you came by here earlier today and things were looking a bit “shabby” I apologize.
I had exceeded by bandwidth at photobucket and needed to upgrade to pro.  Had I known how close I was to exceeding, I would have upgraded sooner.  But the good news is that if my bandwidth was exceeded, that only means that people are actually placing my buttons on their sites.  So I guess I should thank you! lol.
Anyway, if you visited your own sites earlier today and my buttons didn’t load properly, they should all be working now!  Thanks for understanding!

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Filed Under: announcements

Friday Favorites – Week 41

December 2, 2010 8 Comments

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Happy Friday! Hope you’re all enjoying your holiday season!  I’m really loving this time of year!  Not only is the Christmas feeling in the air with 24/7 Christmas music on the radio and decorations galore, but it’s also finally cold enough for me to wear sweaters and scarves, not to mention, fuzzy pjs and fuzzy socks! Yay!
By the way, if you haven’t been checking out my Holiday Gift Giveaways, please do!  There’s a giveaway for a Make Your Own Candy Kit.  Winner will choose between the gummies kit, a chocolate kit, or a gum kit.  This one will be open through Monday.  And this past weekend I actually launched two giveaways for this week.  One is for a copy of  The Magic Warble, a fantasy book, perfect for kids or adult fantasy readers!  And the other is for a  Dreamy Eyes Toy from Aurora! 
And stay tuned, because there’s more to come!  And if you really love giveaways, you need to come by for the Holly Bloggy, Dec 13-17.  I’ve lined up 15 giveaways for the event! And it’s going to be some great fun, so go check out our party themes and get your posts ready!
Now onto this week’s featured posts!  Thanks to everyone who took the time out of their busy schedule last week to come by and link up!
Purple Flowers and Ribbon Decor from Cheri Quite Contrary
Pear Harvest Salad from The Delshad Duo
Apple Crisp Cheesecake from Inside BruCrew Life

Personalized Colored Ornament from Pitty Pat Paperie

I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on this week.  Link up below!
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Filed Under: Friday Favorites

Christmas Wreath Upcycle

December 1, 2010 9 Comments
Wreath’s may very well be my favorite year round decor.  Today I’m sharing this wreath that I put together a few days ago.  This wreath has actually been seen here before in different forms.  Originally my mom made the wreath with a bar theme for the restaurant where she worked, but when they downsized on their Christmas decor, she gave it to me, so I transformed it into a Mouse themed tree (because I collect mouse ornaments).  But last year instead of the ornaments, I decided to just add some gold elements. 
Then this year when I got the wreath out (with the gold stuff still attached), I just felt that it looked so plain, so I added some poinsettas that I just happened to have, and we now have a beautiful, new wreath, without me having to spend any additional money! 
I could hardly believe my own eyes when I looked back at the old wreaths.  Check out the tranformations:
The Bar Wreath:

Mouse Wreath – For 2008:

Gold Wreath – For 2009:

And finally Red & Gold Wreath – For 2010:

Wreath Tutorial

To make your own wreath like this, simple by some simple gold ornaments.  The ones I used are gold balls, pine cones and leaves.  I got these off of a predecorated tree that I bought at Walgreens a few years ago.  But I’m sure you can find something simple like this at Hobby Lobby or even the dollar store.
To add the ornaments, use ornament hooks or bead wire, and loop it through the ornament.  Twist the wire a few times to make sure the wire is secure on the ornament.  Then weave the wires through the wreath, and twist the two ends of the wire together to secure the ornament in place.

For the flowers, I simply took two bunches of poinsettas that I got for 94 cents each at Walmart.  Cut the flowers from the bunch and then just stick them through the wreath.

No glueing involved, so there’s no mess, and you can always change the wreath up later!

I’m linking up at this week’s parties.

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Filed Under: Christmas, decorating, Wreaths

Simply Sweet Creations Sale & A Giveaway Winner!

November 29, 2010 Leave a Comment
Hey guys!  I wanted to take a minute today to announce the Christmas Sale at my shop.
From now until New Year’s you can get 10-15% off select items in my shop. 
No coupon codes needed!  And all sale prices will already appear in the shop.
Also, I’ll be changing up the sale items throughout the month of December and adding new items too, so keep checking back to see what’s new!
Giveaway Winner
I wanted to take a minute to thank Summer from Sumo’s Sweet Stuff for hosting a great giveaway for my shop a week or so ago.  And if you went over there and entered, thank you for supporting me!  And of course, I have to congratulate Maloree, who was the winner of the giveaway.  She received a $15 gift certificate to my shop, and here are items she selected:

Thank you for supporting Simply Sweet Creations!

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Filed Under: jewelry, Simply Sweet Creations
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