Enchant Christmas a family friendly holiday event!

 

One of my favorite parts about the holidays, has always been going to see holiday lights. Every year we go to see the houses in our city that go all out & we also like visiting family friendly Christmas events that offer large light displays. This year was the first year we were able to visit Enchant Christmas & it was lovely. What does Enchant have to offer? Enchant Christmas sets up a large light maze that you & your family can wander through while looking for a number of large light sculptures that are part of a scavenger hunt along with other festive offerings. Keep reading to find out what else you will find at Enchant Christmas. I enjoyed walking around the maze with my family and it was nice that the weather is finally starting to actually be chilly during the day/night so it is finally feeling like winter. Viewing all of the shops was fun as well, everything felt very festive, cozy, inviting & family friendly. Food wise it ranged from tacos, to waffles and desserts like cheese cake on a stick and freshly made donuts. The Christmas tree located in the middle of the maze is massive! You can see it lit up from outside of the venue for a mile or two.

Along with the light maze you will find holiday lights all around the venue & pathways leading up to the venue. Next to the light maze is a ice skating rink that is also lit up! All of the staff members have festive outfits on & are all very friendly. Along with the normal staff positioned around the venue you will also find some performers such as stilt walkers which are fun for all ages to see. The maze was actually pretty large, we enjoyed exploring the area and finding the sculptures along with all of the cute photo opportunity spots they had available. We went later in the evening & were lucky enough that it wasn't completely packed, they have time slots available for tickets & only sell a certain amount per time slot to help prevent it from becoming over-crowded. Before entering the maze you will be handed a scratcher card so you can scratch off the lighted sculptures as you find them, it is a great activity for kids & is even fun for adults. On your way out there is a helper passing out chocolate & there are mail boxes you can place your finished scratcher cards in. 

The Scottsdale Enchant location is located at the Salt River Fields & the way they have it set up is that the maze + ice rink are located in the lower field. There are ramps available for strollers & wheelchairs to make it easier to get down to the lights. Along the upper level of the stadium you'll find "The Village" which is an assortment of shopping vendors along with drink booths, food & of course candy. If you want an extra souvenir to take home they have cocktails + mocktails in cute light up lightbulb shaped bottles, or you can opt for a regular souvenir and buy a magnet, shirt, etc. with the Enchant logo on it. There are also other holiday gifts available from the small shops that have set up including ornaments, hats, jewelry & more.  There is even a small pop-up Build-a-bear station! 

There are also two areas for families with small children. One is called Santa's Landing where you will find Santa for your children to visit, you can take photos yourself or a professional photographer will be on site to snap some photos. The second area is the Little elves play place, where children ages 0-7 can sit down & enjoy Mrs. Clause reading them a story + other activities. Between browsing shops, getting hot chocolate and exploring the light maze we were there for just over an hour. 

How much are tickets? Tickets are $35 per adult & $25.50 for children, infants 0-2 get in for free. If you look at their ticket bundle section they have a family four pack of tickets for $95.20 which will help you save some money if you are buying four or more tickets. They have two parking options when you are checking out they have a Valet service or regular parking, we didn't pre-purchase parking online but when we arrived the staff told us that parking was already included in our tickets so they just had to scan our ticket code & we were set. Ice Skating is an additional cost & needs to be purchased prior to arriving to ensure you can get a spot. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" (Click or locate it on the right-hand side of my page) section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

Disclaimer- Enchant Christmas provided passes for the event for this review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Illumination AZ 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 Illumination AZ for the review free of charge.**

My family and I were recently invited to the VIP preview of the Illumination AZ drive through light show, my kids love looking at Christmas lights and it was something I loved doing as a child as well so we decided to go. What is Illumination? It is a large drive through light show, there are thousands of lights all synced up to light up and turn off to the beat of Christmas songs, this is it's first year running. If you pay before hand tickets are $30 and if you buy them once you arrive tickets are $35 per car load not per person.

I really enjoy the idea of a large drive thru light show, however this is their first year running so they do have several bumps they need to smooth out so this review isn't completely positive unfortunately. The show was due to start at 6:15pm so we were all asked to arrive as close to 6pm as possible. We arrived about twenty minutes prior to the time and there were already a decent amount of people waiting, once 6:30 rolled around there were still no lights and no movement. The person in charge of the light show that needed to be there and on stage arrived a bit late and then got stuck in-line so we had to wait for them to get set up. Once everything got turned on and started moving it was a little bit of a mad house, they had 4-5 lines of traffic all merging into one single file line and there wasn't anyone directing traffic so everyone was just trying to squeeze and rush their way to get into line first. I think they should have someone standing at the front directing traffic to make things a little easier as this is something I've noticed a lot of people commenting about on facebook as well.



Once you get into the line things start to move pretty smoothly from there, as long as you follow the speed limit, set your radio to the station they provide and shut your headlights off you shouldn't run into any issues. Along the drive there were a lot of neat features such as drive thru light tunnels, giant Christmas trees, peace signs, cactus, and more. Each one was a different color and some of them did different lighting effects than the others but we did notice that several trees and sections of lights weren't on/working at all which was a bit of a bummer because it left gaps in the drive. The kids had a lot of fun looking at all of the lights though. At the speed we were going I would say it took us about 15-20 minutes to drive from the start to the finish of the lights. At the end of the lights there is a section set up for you to park and get out, there are food trucks, sweets vendors, crafting stations, bathrooms, Santa's workshop where you can take photos with Santa and more.



The park and stroll section has a giant light up Ornament you can walk through, has bounce houses for the kids plus a number of other fun activities for your enjoyment along with music and food. The kids had a lot of fun because it was like a mini carnival. The Illumination AZ will be open nightly until January 14th. It is located on the I-17 just north of the Norterra shopping center, 27701 N. Black Canyon Highway Phoenix, AZ 85085.

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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Christmas Forest Review & Giveaway!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Christmas Forest for the review & giveaway free of charge.****

I don't know if you've noticed or not, but the Holidays are coming! I am counting down the days until I can officially start decorating, my fiance and I agreed (or I should say I gave in and agreed with him) that we wouldn't put up the tree or Christmas decorations until a few days after Thanksgiving. However I was given a cheat pass to put up this beautiful Christmas wreath from Christmas Forest.





I received the 20" Jingle Bells Christmas Wreath which features lights, bells and colored ornaments along with a lovely red bow.The wreaths sold on their site are fresh wreaths meaning they use real tree branches, pin cones, etc. and yes eventually after a while will start to dry up but you can help it stay fresh and looking nice longer by giving it a little spritz of water every day. I wish you could smell the wreath through the screen because it smells amazing, it reminds me of being out camping when the weather is cool out. We live in Phoenix which is mostly just desert and cactus so being surrounded by the smell of the woods isn't something that is normal in my home so my cats have been freaking out trying to figure out what the smell is.



My wreath arrived quickly and was packed in a thin plastic bag to keep the moisture in and ensure it was looking and smelling it's best when it arrived, the bow and an extra set of batteries were in a separate bag to protect them. As you can see from the photos above my balls were a little sticky, but it wiped off easily without any issues. I was surprised to see that not only did my wreath come with an extra set of batteries for the lights that are in them but when I went to put them in I realize there was already a set in the pack! This wreath is gorgeous and it is light enough it doesn't take a very large hook but it is heavy enough it won't blow off of your door. I love the bow but I also love it without the bow so it makes it hard to decide which way I would like to hang it up, I can't wait to show this off to my house guests. Each wreath is handmade and as you can see from above they include a little tag letting you know who created your wreath, since these are handmade and made from fresh forest products they may not all be exactly the same but they will all be beautiful and smell wonderful. The 20" Jingle Bells Christmas Wreath is $55 but they also offer wreaths as low as $40 and they offer Free shipping to Continental US via UPS Ground.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner is going to win their own 20" Jingle Bells Christmas Wreath.

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: What is another wreath from their site that catches your eye?

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Entryways USA Giveaway & Review

I am quite excited I recently received a Blue Snow Flakes Hand Woven Coconut Fiber Doormat from Entryways USA . Why am I so excited? This is the first doormat we have had for our apartment in the two years we have been here & it is a holiday doormat so it helps me decorate the outside.

    

"This beautifully designed hand-woven doormat will enhance your entry way or patio. It is made from the highest quality all natural coconut fiber." Made from all-natural coconut fiber which is an excellent dirt-trapper; 3/4 in. thickness,This mat is stenciled with permanent fade resistant dyes. It measures 18 in. x 30 in." The mat is light weight but heavy enough that it stays in place,there are quite a few times when we have come into the house after walking through the grass to get to the path way my husband has drug mud into the house & onto the carpets we haven't had that issue since. Normally I don't like doormat's that are similar made to this because they tend to leave pieces of it all over & fall apart easily but I enjoy this mat because it doesn't do that. Entryways USA offers a wide range of doormats for different seasons,holidays & made from an assortment of materials. You can find their mats at some local hardware stores, garden centers, Whole Foods, & gift stores Or online at wayfair.com, hayneedle.com, amazon.com or debnroo.com ****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.Products were Provided by Entryways USA for the Review & Giveaway free of charge****

  

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner will receive one 'S' or 'P' mat of their choice. This giveaway is for US Residents only [Sorry no AK or HI].

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