Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Giveaway Packages from Delightful Deets!

I'm so excited today to be able to share with you this AWESOME giveaway going on over at my friend Jen's blog Delightful Deets! She is just as sweet in real life as she appears on her blog and when she hit 1000 fans {woo hoo!} I jumped at the chance to be a part of her celebration! Here is her post and all the ways to enter are below!! So, without further ado --- here's Delightful Deets!
Take it away Jen.....






I don't want to get super sappy on you, but just want to say a huge THANK YOU to my sweet followers and to the amazing friends I've met through this journey! Your nice comments make my day. I love my little space in blogland and to express my thanks I have found some incredibly generous people to participate in my celebration of reaching 1000 followers on this blog and on facebook!
Seriously, you need to visit each and every one of them!
Over $575 in prizes, 5 packages means 5 winners!
Good luck, bring on the party!
Open to the US and Canada
Package 1


Package 2


Package 3



Package 4


A good friend of mine, Lora Knight, recently opened up her own studio! I'm so proud of her and am excited for her! If you live in the LA area, or are in Southern California and are willing to drive up, enter for this prize!
Receive a free headshot/mini session



See, told you total awesomeness!
xo


Want more freebies? Then pop over quick to enter to win a Jute Growth Chart AND a $10 iTunes gift card right here on my blog! Entering is easy -- especially if you already entered above!!! Lots of fun here this week! Good luck!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

CranApple Crunch

I love baking and one of my favorite desserts growing up was a cherry crunch my mom used to make. Over the years the recipe has morphed and changed into a variety of flavors depending on the season and my mood, {but really, nothing beats the recipe my mom used to make!!} Maybe it’s because she poured so much love into it.

Well, here is my seasonal take on mama’s recipe – and yes, I added extra love just for you:

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You will need:
  • 1 box of your favorite yellow cake mix
  • 1 10 oz. can of whole cranberries in sauce (or make your own with fresh cranberries)
  • 1 14oz. can of apple pie filling.
  • 1 – 1 1/2 sticks of butter

CranberryBlog 001

DIRECTIONS:
  1. Pour the apples in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread evenly
  2. Pour the cranberries on top on the apples and carefully spread evenly
  3. Pour the yellow cake mix evenly (do you see a trend here?) on top of the cranapple mixture. Don’t press too hard, just gently spread across the top!
  4. Pour the butter evenly on top of the yellow cake mix. I used one stick but wished I used two.
  5. Spread the butter (you guessed it – EVENLY) over the yellow cake mix.
  6. (OPTIONAL: pour cake mix into a bowl, then add butter and mix to a crumble, then pour on top of your fruit.) Believe it or not, both methods work!
BAKE at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven until the top is a golden brown:


CranberryBlogCrustTag


Let cool and enjoy!!


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Do you have a favorite family recipe you make over the holidays? Let me know in the comments! Happy Thanksgiving!


Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for your chance to win a jute growth chart 
and a $10 iTunes gift card!! Enter here!


I’m sharing this recipe here and at the Get Your Chef On Link party with Four Marrs and One Venus and White Lights on Wednesday!



Tuesday, November 13, 2012

{What I Wore} Shoes

Some say moms wear many hats,

The way I see it, I wear many shoes…
 
Life is a journey, and you need a good pair of shoes to walk the path.
 
I remember, ‘back in the day’ where I wore my jazz shoes longer in a day than I did my regular shoes...

I remember school times of Keds and jelly shoes and summertimes of no shoes at all...
 
And I remember when these boots, were made for more than just walking...

shoescowgirl
 


And when these shoes went to the party more than they went to work…
 
shoes
{Target}

These days my shoes wear thin with many steps.

Where some days my feet seem too small to fill the soles.

There are days, like today, where more than my feet feel small.
Where the kids are sick,
Where I am sick and
My time is not my own.
Where I know God did not design parenting to be alone.
Where I wish I could have moments of freedom whenever I wanted or needed.
To kick off my shoes,
To be free to hang out with my friends whenever and however long I would like.
With no worries of schedules,
medicine,
practice,
plans,
meals,
homework,
bedtimes,
play times,
and out grown shoes,
Where I feel the awareness of how even a short break makes me a better, refreshed mom
and yet
these fleeting thoughts still carry self-inflicted guilt for needing time away,
without sacrificing their needs.
Or their time.
Because in life,
they really ask so little,
and love SO much.

And I remember that some days filling their needs means I get to wear my flip flops…
 
shoes2
{Roxy}


And I remember that activities planned means we get to wear our hiking boots…

shoeshiking
{Sports Chalet} 

{And it’s an even better day when plans mean I can don my snowboarding boots -- 
but they’re new and I don’t have a picture of those yet.}
 

And remind myself, that there are many times when we DO get to kick off our shoes and enjoy days like this

shoes-feet
 

And those days make up for when I have to put my big girl boots on, and get ready for the road ahead…


 
shoesboots
{Boots: Target}
{Ruffled Socks: Urban Outfitters and then I sewed on the buttons}


Because the journey is long… the road often hard,
And ironically, what matters is not always what’s on our feet, but in our hands… 

shoesjourney


Linking up here

Join my current reader appreciation giveaway to win an iTunes gift card here

Monday, November 12, 2012

Thankful for YOU Giveaway!

Hello friends! I’m so glad you’re here!

Exciting things have been happening here at Shaped by Grace lately – I went to a blog social,

socal


we had a fun Halloween,

Halloween2012BLOG


we battled being sick. (That was NOT the fun part. Thankful for veggies and chicken noodle soup!)

FeelBetter


and somewhere in all that, I ran a half marathon!!

Halfmarathon Collage


Times have been good! And I’m thankful to all of you who have been along for the ride or are new here and just joining this journey. In September my blog Facebook page turned one!! And very close to that time we celebrated 800 readers!! Wow!! I am truly amazed and blessed to have each one of you here!


As Shaped by Grace continues to grow I thought it only appropriate that I celebrate YOU my readers with a growth chart giveaway!  You may remember the jute growth chart I made for my little nephew. Well, I loved it so much I made one for my boys AND I made another one for YOU!

GChartclose

GrowthChart

gift1

GChartpin

Your growth chart will be 6 1/2 feet long and will come ready to hang! {Pins and tags included!}
This growth chart would be perfect if you have little ones OR would make a great Christmas gift!!


BUT WAIT…..

THERE’S MORE!!!!


I have one extra little treat for you! Since Christmas IS coming up – here’s your chance to load up your iTunes with holiday music and win a $10 iTunes gift card!!

itunes-10-giftcard1
I’m so excited to offer these wonderful gifts for you!! Good luck to all of you who enter and thank you so much for being here!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Friday, November 2, 2012

Future Voter Badge {Free Printable}

Election day is coming up and I always think it’s important to vote and get your voice heard – but this year it’s more important than ever, because we are voting for the President!!

I like to teach my children the importance of voting too by wearing the “I Voted” sticker proudly all day and talking about what it means to vote. Did you notice, however, that the polls don’t give out “I will vote one day” stickers to the kids? At least, my polling location doesn't. But I do receive about a bazillion political posters and propaganda, that when I saw a "future voter" sign on one of them, I knew it had to be a badge for my kids!!

SO, if you’ve got future voters at home, I’ve got you covered.


Here are some easy directions to make your own “future voter” pin at home! 


NovemberBLOG 004
 {This varies slightly from the printable since it's the sample I created from the poster, and then used to create the free printable!}


I created two printables for you to print and cut out. They are in .jpg format at the bottom of this post so you can resize them to fit your needs. {Your welcome!} 



FIRST... gather your supplies:

NovemberBLOG 001
  • “future voter” printable
  • cardboard (a frozen juice can lid also works or any hard circle you can glue the printable to would work!)
  • hot glue (not shown)
  • FLAT pin in backing (PLEASE use a FLAT based pin backing; it will be much easier to glue. I used the one shown because it was what I currently had in stock.)
  • Optional: Washi tape, stickers, colored pencils (to add texture), glitter…

DIRECTIONS
1) Resize (if needed), print and cut out one of the “future voter” printables on white card stock.

2) Trace the printable and/or size it to the circle you are using. Cut out your circle a little smaller than you traced it so it doesn’t show:

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3) (OPTIONAL) Use colored pencil to add texture and shading to your badge, or add glitter and shiny stickers!

4) Hot glue the circle to the BACK of the printable.

5) THEN hot glue the pin to the cardboard. Let dry. Optional – cover the pin backing with patriotic washi tape. (The glue holds the pin just fine but any excuse to use washi tape is fun!)


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6) Let dry and wear proudly on election day!!


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Right click to download and print each of these ‘future voter’ badges for yourself!!

future voter pink pin


futurevoteronestar

If you make these badges, I’d love to see your pictures! Thanks for reading and sharing!!
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