If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Contest #2 has now ended and the winner is… BECKY SMITH who said, “What great stuff!” Contact me at kelsey[at]vanillajoy[dot]com with your address and I’ll ship that stuff to you straight away.
Thanks again for entering, and for the […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 6 Comments »
Wow, I am shocked at how many people entered to win. Thanks to all of you for participating. Sadly, we can only have one winner, and she is….
Lindsay Hauptman who said, “Oh, I have always wanted one of these! Thanks for organizing this!“ You’ll need to contact me with your address so I can have […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 20 Comments »
Our last day of prizes. Well, sort of. The Original Scrapbox giveaway will be starting soon, and there will be more great giveaways happening all the time. Thank you all so much for your excitement and participation and help in spreading the word.
The Cricut contest has ended, but you can still enter […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 325 Comments »
There are two contests today, so be sure to enter both. Monday’s contest is over, but the rest are still going, so enter them and good luck!
This contest is special because these products are digital rather than traditional scrapbooking products. Digital scrapbooking has gotten better and better with the help of great products […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 184 Comments »
I am thrilled to announce that The Original Scrapbox will be giving away one of their amazing craft storage furniture pieces on Vanilla Joy. I’m not sure which one yet, but this is the biggest item I’ve ever given away.
The contest will start sometime in the next week, so please keep checking back. […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 53 Comments »
Today is the last day to enter to win the Cricut! You still have a few days for Tuesday and Wednesday’s contests, but time is running out! And tomorrow there will be 2 different prize packages and 2 winners, so don’t miss that.
Once again (I think I will only have to bore you […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 340 Comments »
I’ve said it before, but I’m going to keep repeating myself so nobody misses out. You can still enter to win Monday and Tuesday’s giveaways, and you can keep earning those extra entries by blogging and linking. You can also copy and save that cute little button up there, add it to […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 400 Comments »
Since I have so many scrappers visiting to enter the giveaways (scroll down to see the two going on right now), I wanted to tell you about my favorite craft organization source, The Original Scrapbox. You’ll never need to buy another storage container again. Pictured is their Mini Box, which is my favorite […]
Filed under: Reviews | 43 Comments »
You can now earn another 5 entries for each giveaway contest if you put this button on your blog. You’ll have to right click and view the image, right click and save the image, then put it somewhere on your blog (either in a post or your sidebar) and link it to vanillajoy.com. Thanks!
Filed under: Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
(Do you like my little giveaway button right there? And my header? I love them both and if you like them and want to talk to my friend Jeri who designed them for me, you can visit her site. She is a photographer and graphic designer so she can do baby or […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 399 Comments »
Here it is folks. The moment we’ve all been waiting for - the much anticipated CRAFT GIVEAWAY!!! The $900 in prizes this week are going to blow your mind, so stick around and enter each day.
Just like last time, you can earn additional entries. You do have to make a comment on […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 667 Comments »
I’ve been working hard on getting this giveaway organized and ready to go for Monday, so I only have one thing to say today. You might want to share this with your children, because I think it’s very good advice that Boyd gave Joel yesterday at dinner:
“Don’t chew your food while your fingers are […]
Filed under: Randomness | 7 Comments »
Instead of fighting with your little girl to get barrettes in her hair, use foam stickers. They go on easy and are as handy as could be. If I had me a little girl, I would get a whole tub of those foam stickers to use every day and match with every outfit. […]
Filed under: Kid Stuff | 10 Comments »
I decided to spill the beans early this time and let everybody know what prizes will be available for winning next week. For your anticipation-killing enjoyment, here is the way things are going to go down:
Monday’s contest will be for
a CRICUT by Provo Craft. ($185)
Tuesday’s contest will be for a
truck load of EMBELLISHMENTS, TOOLS, […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 77 Comments »
I’ve been working on this for over a month now, and I’m so excited to announce all the giveaways next week! All the prizes are craft products, mostly scrapbooking, and each day I will announce a bundle of products worth about $100. That means we’re going to have 5 winners take home at […]
Filed under: Blog Giveaways | 10 Comments »
I’m a guest blogger today over at Skip To My Lou - Cindy is having a week of guests share story time ideas in an effort to spread the word about the “Read to Feed” program. To read my about awesome story time activity, visit Skip To My Lou today.
Okay, so my activity was […]
Filed under: Bookbinding, Tutorials, Crafts | 18 Comments »
I spent last weekend with a bunch of 12-18 year old kids for a church activity that we call Youth Conference. The theme was “Mission: Possible” and we spent two days giving the kids opportunities to serve other people.
My group took a tour of Catholic Community Services, an organization that provides treatment and […]
Filed under: Family Fun | 8 Comments »
This is a great book about feeding your child through every stage. Ellyn Satter talks about the role of a child and parent in feeding, a child’s intuitive feeding abilities, breastfeeding and formula feeding, and infant, older baby, toddler, and preschooler feeding. She shares some very useful information about […]
Filed under: Book Talk | 2 Comments »
I’ve written about Personality Plus Boutique before, but I don’t think I ever mentioned her baptism gifts. She makes personalized baptism towels, blankets, gift bags, etc, so if you have a child or grandchild getting baptized soon, these are great gift ideas that will help your child remember this special day.
She also makes personalized […]
Filed under: Reviews | 7 Comments »
Every time I go to Roberts, I’m amazed at all the cute scrapbooking stuff by Making Memories. I am really a sucker for craft supplies - as my sister-in-law says, I’m constantly in the business of collecting even though I don’t have a lot of time to actually scrapbook. But I am pushing […]
Filed under: Reviews | 7 Comments »
Just wanted to share the good news…Vanilla Joy was added to the craft page at Alltop.com, which is a great site that’s kind of like a digital magazine rack - they have all the top stories on EVERYTHING. You can go there to find lots of blogs about every possible topic. Vanilla Joy is at […]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I know you know that I know how important reading to kids is. I’ve written a handful of posts about my thoughts on reading to kids, but I haven’t given you a list of great kid’s books. Below are the books that I read every day to my son, Joel, who is 17 […]
Filed under: Randomness, Education, Media, & Literacy | 10 Comments »
I wanted to share some of the crafty things other people have been doing. Check out these fun and easy craft projects.
Checkbook cover - HowAboutOrange.blogspot.com
Mini I Spy Quilt - MakeandTakes.com
Ribbon Pillow - JCarolineCreative.com
Monogrammed Wall Hanging - MrsPriss.com
Craft Apron - CreativeLittleDaisy.typepad.com
And, while we’re talking about stuff other people are doing, my friend Hannah is having […]
Filed under: Crafts | 9 Comments »
Blueberries have been on sale here lately, so I’ve been experimenting with different recipes. I have three favorites that you should definitely try.
1. Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
2. Blueberry Scones
3. Blueberry Bundt Cake
I have made all three of these recipes recently and can say they are amazing. If you have other blueberry recipes […]
Filed under: Food | 7 Comments »
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, is our bedtime book. We read it together every night, and I particularly love this book because it is so simple and follows a pattern, so it’s easy to memorize. When we are camping or on vacation and forget our bedtime book, we can still “read” it.
The illustrations bothered […]
Filed under: Book Talk | 7 Comments »
If you were around for my giveaway last month, you’ll remember Fall Down Tree. I absolutely LOVE Adam Record’s original art prints. I can’t describe his style, you’ll just have to see for yourself. I got my hands on this adorable set called “To The Moon.”
When I have a girl baby I’m going to go […]
Filed under: Reviews, Art | 4 Comments »
A while ago I shared one of my favorite baking tricks - using less butter. I discovered another great butter tip recently through my sister.
When I made those homemade circus animal cookies that I posted about yesterday, I grated the butter. That’s right. Cold butter is really hard to get all blended […]
Filed under: Food | 7 Comments »
Laurie at Tip Junkie featured my Japanese stab bookbinding tutorial today. She’s got tons of other great how-tos over there today, so check it out. Thanks, Laurie!
Filed under: Randomness | 1 Comment »
The Crafty Crow featured my homemade animal cookie idea from yesterday. She’s got lots of great stuff on her blog, so check it out!
Filed under: Randomness | No Comments »
The other day I decided to make my own circus animal cookies. Here’s how you do it:
Bake a batch of sugar cookies.
Use a mini cookie cutter, about 1.5 - 2″ in diameter.
Dip baked cookies into melted almond bark.
Cover with sprinkles.
I love making (and eating) sugar cookies, and these circus animal cookies were a fun […]
Filed under: Food | 27 Comments »
