Appalachian Crafters Giveaway & Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Appalachian Crafters for the review & giveaway free of charge.**

One of my favorite holiday traditions for Christmas is adding one or more new ornaments to my tree every year, I don't look for anything specific just something that happens to catch my eye. This year I got a jump start on adding something new to my tree, I was recently sent seven new ornaments from an Etsy shop called Appalachian Crafters. Appalachian Crafters is a family ran business that creates and sells a wide range of products.



All of the ornaments are handcrafted and made from wood, each one measures 3"x3" to 4"x4" and is about a 1/2" thick. Everything is sanded and smooth to the touch, there aren't any sharp edges or rough spots along the ornaments, they are smooth enough you could even rub them on your face. They are left with their natural wooden look, there is no coating or stains on the ornaments to keep their natural beauty.



The ornaments are light weight and have a little bit of flexibility to them, but as with all ornaments you should treat them with care if you want them to last for years to come. I like that the amount of detail varies from ornament to ornament, my favorite is the snowman ornament where he is holding the little bird. Since there is no coating on the wood it doesn't have any kind of chemical smell either, in fact these ornaments have no smell at all which is perfect for people with sensitive noses. Each ornament retails for $2.95-$3.95 depending on size and detail work, which is an amazing deal you won't be able to find in stores for something that is handmade. Along with handmade ornaments Appalachian Crafters also sells a number of other products included Harry Potter inspired newspaper digital prints.



I am slowly working on turning our kids bathroom/guest bathroom into a Harry Potter inspired bathroom. I re-did some of the towel bar fixtures (we had some crappy plastic holders from the previous renters) and I am working on getting Harry Potter themed goods to hang up and decorate with so these prints worked out perfectly. They were easy to download and simple to print everything is already set up for you.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner is going to win a set of 6 Christmas ornaments as shown above.

This is open to US Residents only!! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email!
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know another product you enjoy from Appalachian Crafters.

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2/4 Foxy Designs Giveaway & Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by 2/4 Foxy Designs for the review & giveaway free of charge.**

My kids love being outside as much as possible and we enjoy camping when ever we can, to make the best of being outdoors we do an assortment of activities, boating, hiking, etc but we also like playing outdoor games so I was very excited to be receiving a Yardzee lawn game set from 2/4 Foxy Designs. Yardzee is a extra large dice game that is stored inside of a bucket.



           

This set of Yardzee is inspired by the classic game of Yahtzee and is played the same way, not only can you play Yardzee but there is also a score card and rules for a game called Farkle which I've never played. Each dice is created by cutting down a 2x4 piece of wood, everything is sanded and the edges are rounded off. The circles for the numbers are burned onto the dice then it is coated in two coats of poly to protect the wood and the numbers from the elements.

The dice are big they measure 3.5" x 3.5" so you won't be able to roll them by hand, instead you can use the bucket to shake them up and then roll them out into the yard. I suggest using a surface that is mostly flat to help the dice be able to roll and land properly. The bucket also contains laminated instructions for both games, a dry erase marker and a laminated score card for each game, I love the it is laminated because it means I can use it over and over again without wasting paper. Since each set is handmade no two sets will be exactly alike since all of the wood used will vary from the next section of wood used which means you will get a completely unique game set. Because everything is sanded and coated in poly there is no chance you'll get any splinters and it helps prevent the wood from drying out and cracking. The bucket has a handle on it which makes this game easy to transport, and it doesn't take up a ton of room to store it on the porch, in the garage or to take in the car which is nice because we need all the room we can get when we go camping since my car doesn't have a ton of trunk space.

We had a lot of fun playing this game, the smaller kids needed a little help with the bucket but they didn't seem to mind because they were having a great time. This is perfect for camping, BBQ's or just a random game of Yardzee in the backyard since it is great year round. Each set sells for $60 and the buckets come in a variety of colors along with a selection of colors for the wording vinyl, plus they offer customization on the buckets so you can get your family name, business name, etc added onto the bucket.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky US Reader is going to win their own game of Yardzee!

This is open to US Residents only!! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email!
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know what kind of event you might play this at. 

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Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

The other day I posted a review of three out of the five Christmas themed books I recently received from Candlewick Press, Today I will be sharing the review of the final two with you. All five of the books I received are fantastic books and all make a great gift idea for the holidays. All five can be purchased through Amazon or at Barnes & Nobles.




Pick A Pine Tree - Written by Patricia Toht & Illustrated by Jarvis, it is forty pages long and retails for $16.99 it is a hardcover book. This is a book about a family that goes to a Christmas tree lot to pick out their tree and the decorating day they have with family & friends to get ready for the holidays. It has colorful illustrations and the book is a cute read, although I don't think it would be one that would be in our yearly Christmas book reading box it seems to better suit younger children close to toddler age.

                   

            

A Christmas For Bear - Written by Bonny Becker & Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, it is forty-eight pages long and retails for $16.99 this is also a hard cover book. This is a book about a bear who had never celebrated Christmas before but decided he wanted to and agreed to host a small party for him and his friend mouse. Through the book bear seems a little stern, to the point and not sure how a Christmas party works but through the book you find he had planned a big surprise for his little mouse friend and mouse has planned a surprise for bear as well and it ended off on a very happy note.

$150 Target GC Giveaway!

I love the "One Spot" at Target, they always have great things for gifting and for stocking stuffers. Imagine how many things you could buy from the one spot if you won this Target gift card!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $150 Target Gift Card

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck!

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 11/16 and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!

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Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

Candlewick Press offers dozens of great family and kid friendly books for all occasions. I was recently asked if I wanted to review a selection of Christmas related books and of course I said yes, my kids and I love getting new books. I recently received five great books from them, I will tell you about three of them below and the other two will be on a separate post to help keep the review for getting too long. All of these books can be found on Amazon and at Barnes & Nobles for purchasing.



Red & Lulu - I was immediately drawn to this book because of the Cardinals on the front, Cardinals were one of my great grandmothers favorite birds because she loved the color red so this book reminded me of her and our holiday memories. This book is written by Matt Tavares and retails for $17.99. Red & Lulu is forty pages long and features a number of beautiful illustrations that were done in watercolor and gouache. The story is about a pair of birds that live in a giant evergreen tree and is the story about what happens to them once their beloved tree is taken away. I admit I was a little saddened by the start of the book but it had a happy ending and everything worked out alright. The last page also provided some educational information on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.



Elf In The House - This book is thirty-two pages long and retails for $15.99. The book follows the adventures of a magical night when a little girl is waken by the sound of jingling bells downstairs. The book will take you on a trip through the house to see what visitors have stopped by for Christmas. This is a great book for small children and would make a great book for new readers to read by themselves. It is written by Ammi-Joan Paquette and illustrated by Adam Record. The way the character illustrations stand out remind me of some of the new childrens TV shows with how it is colored and outlined. I was going to save this one for our Elf on the shelf to bring with her during the start of December but I wasn't sneaky enough hiding it and the kids saw it but they absolutely loved it and thought it was great.

           

The Christmas Fairy - This book is so darn cute! It is written by Anne Booth and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. This cute book is about a group of school ages faeries who are practicing standing still, and being quite so they can stand on a tree being a Christmas Fairy. One of the little faeries isn't like the others, she likes to wiggle and sing and this story is about her and her journey to becoming a Christmas Fairy. We really like the illustrations and we look forward to reading this during the holidays.I highly suggest this book as a Christmas gift for any little girl in your life. This book sells for $15.99 and is thirty-two pages long.

Nerdy Noms Blind Date Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Nerdy Noms for the review free of charge.**

Along with a wide selection of tasty chocolate treats in various nerdy shapes Nerdy Noms also sells Blind dates with a book. What is a blind date with a book? It is a listing for a mystery book, you are able to select which genre you would like and from there the shop owner will select a book at random to wrap up and send to you. All of the books sent out are brand new and unread.

I am a big book lover and I love to read but I do have to admit I do tend to judge books by their covers, I usually select books based on which covers I am drawn to the most and generally it doesn't fail me but from time to time I end up with a dud of a book. Buying a blind date means I won't be able to see or know what book I could end up with which is excited and feels like Christmas once the book arrives. The book is wrapped in brown wrapping paper and tied with ribbon, I was impressed with the packaging which included a thank you tag, a "blind date with a book" tag and a bag of tea which also makes this a great gift giving idea. So what book did I receive?

Before I opened my package I squeezed it a little and it felt odd almost like the cover was bent or there was a pen left on the inside of the book but I could not figure out what it was. Once I opened the packaging I found a book called "The Keeper of the Crows" by Kyle Alexander Romines and it is a fiction/Supernatural Thriller which I am pretty excited about. This book fits in perfectly with the type of book I enjoy reading and it is a book I've never heard of which is nice because it widens my book collection. What was the bump I felt inside of the packaging? Inside of the book were two bookmarks - one owl & a Dumbledore book mark along with a crow feather. I think the addition of the bookmarks is very sweet and adds extra charm to the whole experience. As an added extra bonus some of the copies are signed by the writers. So how much does everything cost? It is surprisingly only $9.99 to partake in a Blind Date with a book and is something I know several people would enjoy as a Holiday or Birthday gift, you won't even need to wrap it because it is already beautifully packaged.

If you did a blind date with a book what genre would you want? 

Nerdy Noms Giveaway & Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Nerdy Noms for the review & giveaway free of charge.**

Almost everyone loves chocolate, it is tasty and puts a smile on your face so what could make it even better? The answer is chocolate in the shapes of some of your favorite fandoms/hobbies. I recently found a Etsy shop called Nerdy Noms that sells a wide variety of chocolates in different shapes and colors and I was enchanted by what her shop had to offer. You can see which chocolates I received below along with my thoughts on them and you can enter to win some chocolate of your own. If that isn't awesome enough as is Nerdy Noms also sells blind dates with a book.




Chocolate Dragon Egg with Baby Dragon: This sweet treat is inspired by the egg Hagrid wins that Norbert hatches from in Harry Potter. This chocolate egg is hollow and can come in a variety of colors, the one I received was black/red and came in a lovely little gift box that kept it safe during shipping. When you crack the egg open you will find cinnamon dots (red hots) and a chocolate baby dragon. The chocolate did tend to absorb a little of the spicy cinnamon flavor from the red hots, it gave the chocolate a nice kick and was quite enjoyable but if you aren't a fan of hot candies I would possibly avoid this one. This product sells for $20.



Hogwarts House Chocolate Frogs: All fans of Harry Potter are fully aware of the sweet treat chocolate frogs and I am sure most have always wanted to try out a chocolate frog. Thankfully these little guys won't try to hop away on you so you won't have to worry about eating it quickly. Each frog has a different color chocolate filling to match one of the four Hogwarts houses, you won't know which one you picked until you bite into it. These would be a great idea for any Harry Potter themed party. There are no added flavors per color the chocolate is simply colored to make the chocolate frogs more fun. The frogs taste like creamy delicious chocolate. You can buy a six pack for $8 you have the option to select a single house, receive an assortment or pick a house with gift wrapping for an extra two dollars.



Firefly Serenity Vessels: The ships were a big hit with the kids, they thought the shape was fun and it is chocolate so they were double excited and couldn't wait to have one once they finished their dinner. Each chocolate has just the right amount to satisfy your craving without over eating sweets. You can buy a six pack for $7.50-$10.50 depending on which flavor you select.

GOT Stark Logo Coin: This is also what looks like a new chocolate in her shop, it is about 3" x 3" and features the Stark logo. This one had slight air bubbles along the logos hair line but it didn't make any difference in the taste and it still looked great. Each coin comes package separately so again this would make a great party favor or holiday gift for any Game of Thrones lover.



Open Book Chocolate: This chocolate is a great size, we are a family of four and we were able to cut four slices about half an inch in width from each size of the book so it lasted for two days worth of desserts. My kids got a kick out of the book and loved how big it was, as with all of the chocolates from Nerdy Noms the chocolate was creamy and tasted great however I don't suggest leaving the chocolate within a few feet of the stove hahaha I forgot and my book melted slightly while I was cooking dinner. Each book sells for $10 each and comes in plain or you can get it decorated with roses.

Chocolate Pixel Hearts: This set of chocolate comes in a number of flavors ranging from classics like light coco to fun flavors like pumpkin spice. I didn't actually measure them but going off of a guess I'd say these hearts are about 1"x1"x1/2" thick, you can eat it in two bites or one if you eat it like a chipmunk. You will get a dozen for $6-$8 depending on the flavor you select.

Harry Potter Book Of Spells: This is a fun take on a Harry Potter themed chocolate product, you will receive a small box labeled "Book Of Spells" which contains one chocolate frog and one chocolate rat for $5. The box was a little bit of a pain in the butt to open without ripping it open otherwise we loved this item and thought it was a great idea.

Nerdy Noms also has seasonal inspired chocolates, The Walking Dead themed chocolates and more all at awesome prices! Everything I received arrived in perfect condition and tasted great. I will be posting a separate post to review their Blind Date with a book.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner will receive their choice of any 1 listing from her shop.

This is open to US Residents only!! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email!
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know which product you'd select if you won. 

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Candlewick Press Review!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Candlewick Press for the review free of charge.**

I love books and reading so it has always been something I wanted to instill in my kids as well and now they are both bookworms along side their mama. Any chance I get to receive new books for our collection it is hard to say no so when I was offered a chance to review some books from the Candlewick Press I jumped at the chance. All of the books I received in this batch are Christmas themed and you can read about all of them below:



Press out + Color; Christmas Ornaments (Retail value $15.99). This isn't a book you read, instead it is an activity book that comes with 20 ornaments you are able to pop out, color and piece together to create one of a kind ornaments. Each page has one to three ornaments that range in size, pattern and style, each one is made from a thick cardboard and has holes pre-punched into them to make adding a ribbon easier. This book is illustrated by Kate McLelland.

Make & Play; Chritmas (Retail Value $11.99). This book is slightly cheaper than the press out and color ornaments but it has more to do for small children and as a family. This book includes 20 pop out play pieces/ornaments that are already full color on both the front and back as you can see from Santas backside above. Along with the pop outs there are also nine pages of songs, recipies and winter activities that you can do as a family. Each play piece is made from thick cardboard and is easy to remove from the page.


  

We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Sling along with me! (Retail Value $8.99). This is a fun childrens chunky slider book featuring a classic and memorable Christmas song, "We wish you a Merry Christmas". I remember singing this as a child and I sing it every year with my kids, this book helps give a fun spin on the song by adding adorable graphics and characters that slide out of or along the pages of the book which is a lot of fun for small children. The book is eight pages long and has five interactive sliding tabs, the book also comes with a free download of the song to listen to while looking through this book. I think this book is a lot of fun even as an adult! The sliders may feel a little stuck at first but after a few uses you won't have them stick any longer.

We're Going On a Bear Hunt (Retail Value $16.99). This unique book not only has a 3D snow globe on the front cover but it is also a pop-up book. There seemed to be a small gap between the snow globe on the front and the actual book cover but it seemed sturdy enough that it isn't going anywhere. The book features 20 pages full of creative and fun illustrations that will capture your child's imagination. It is a fun and simple book they can follow along with and enjoy for many years to come.



Gift Boxes to decorate & Make; Christmas (Retail Value $15.99).  This is my personal favorite out of all the books I received because I enjoy coloring, it helps me relax and unwind after a stressful day at work. It includes 24 flat boxes with various designs that is waiting to be colored in, each one ranges in the amount of details it includes so some will take longer than others. After you've colored both the inside and outside of the box you can pop it off the page and fold it up into a box, I used clear packing tape when I was done to help make sure the box stayed together. Once your box is build you can use them to gift small trinkets, baked goods, spa boxes, etc to your loved ones and seal it with a "To/From" sticker that has been included in the back of the book.

All of these books can be purchased on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles and all of them would make wonderful Christmas and Pre-Christmas gifts for families with small children.