Thrifty Thursday: Have a Candle-Lit Dinner

You can be romantic at the same time as saving some energy (and money) by eating by candlelight.

We occasionally will have a candle-lit meal because it is just fun to make a meal special once in a while. We don't do it very often, but maybe we should. The kids also love the opportunity to get to blow out the candles. We always have a candle-lit meal on the winter solstice and take that opportunity to teach our kids a little bit about it.

Think about having a candle-lit meal this coming Valentine's Day.

Wordless Wednesday: MN Children's Museum

Minnesota Children's Museum

St. Paul, MN

 

Try It Tuesday: Make Crystal Snowflakes

This is a fun & simple project that you start seeing results in a coupe of hours, although best results are if you wait for 24-48 hours before removing.

All you need is a glass jar, some borax, a pipe cleaner, hot water & a pencil.
The first step is to take your pipecleaner and twist it in to a snowflake (or any other shape you desire) and attach them to a pencil that you will balance over the top of the jar and keep it from falling in.

The second step is to put 3 T of borax in the bottom of a glass jar. Then add 1 cup of boiling water to the jar and stir until the borax is completely dissolved. If desired you could tint the mixture with some food coloring, but I don't find that necessary if you have colored pipe cleaners.

You final step is to insert your pipe cleaner sculpture and let it sit for 24-48 hours. You should start to see crystals forming after a few hours.

GIVEAWAY and Review: Piczzle Puzzle

I am so happy to share with you our Piczzle Photo Puzzle of our family. When my kids saw this they were very excited to know what the new photo I had was for and when I told them it was a puzzle of us, they started begging to put it together right away. My kids love puzzles, so this was such a fun surprise for them. We did a photo puzzle as a gift once, but never had one of our family.

The top picture you can see how it comes in a box with the picture on the outside. Our puzzle a a size medium with 48 pieces. I had wanted something that was a bit of a challenge for my 3 year old so I went for the 48 piece size instead something smaller. If you want even more of a challenge they have puzzles with pieces of 99, 308, 550, 1000, and 2000. The 2000 piece one is a giant one that is 26.5"x35.5". The large of the dimensions is only a couple inches shorter than my son! What a hoot it would be to have a life size puzzle of him.

This is a picture of the puzzle as it appears inside a bag in the puzzle box. I do like that it came inside a bag as well.

You can also find Piczzle Photo Puzzles on Facebook and Piczzle Photo Puzzles on YouTube.

Here you can see a couple pictures of my kids putting together the puzzle on their own. I think this puzzle will be a treasured family item, like our photo books that the kids often take out and look through.

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN THEIR OWN SMALL CARDBOARD PICZZLE PUZZLE!

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW

a Rafflecopter giveaway


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post.

Review: Looney Tunes Personalized Children's Book

I was so excited to be able to review this personalized Looney Tunes book by KD Novelties with my son. When my daughter was about his age, I had gotten her a personalized book and several years later she still treasures it. I wanted my son to also have a special personalized book that was just for him and about him.

I received  a hard cover book that included my son's name (plus two friends names and our home town). My son's name was mentioned over and over in the book and every time he heard his name his face lit up and he wanted to see where it said his name. He's at that age where he can read his name so he wants to see that it is actually in the story and I am not just saying it, which I have been busted on before. LOL! The top picture is of the cover of the book. The picture below is of the inside. I wanted you to sew how wonderfully colored the graphics were. I was also happy with the quality of the paper used. I admit I am a bit of a paper snob, but I do like hardcopy books (I have not become a fan of digital books yet, maybe some day.) I like how paper feels in my fingers and I like turning the pages and some paper just feels better when you read it than others. This paper feels good. It is a nice thick paper that will not be easily torn.

The story was cute and my son was mesmerized at listening to his story of his adventure with the Looney Tunes characters. And as a mom that grew up loving Looney Tunes, I was so happy to share Looney Tunes with his. There are also Sesame Street books and many, many childhood stories as well.

About the Looney Tunes Personalized Book
Looney Tunes Personalized Children's Book stars your child as the main character in their very own story!  Your child becomes part of the Looney Tunes gang when they go on an adventure to have their wishes come true on the way to see the Wizard.

They don't just sell personalized children's books with a child's name, but also personalized photo books and personalized CDs and personalized DVDs. Or even combos of personalized book & music or book and dvd are available, as well as various personalized gift sets. They also have a book of  the month club, what could be a more fun gift to give to that special child in your life than getting a new personalized book every month.

Want to win your own KD Novelties Product? Here is what you need to do:

• Like KD Novelties on Facebook
• Write on their wall saving Save Green Being Green sent you
• Then they will provide you with an exclusive giveaway page

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

GIVEAWAY: Disney on Ice "Worlds of Fantasy" Family 4-Pack

Remember when I told you about $10 Tickets to Disney on Ice Worlds of Fantasy and that I would be having a giveaway for a family 4-pack?Well, today is the day the giveaway begins! You will have until midnight on Monday, February 11th to enter and there are daily entries that includes commenting and tweeting in addition to one time entries. Good luck!

One lucky reader will receive a Family 4-pack of Disney on Ice Tickets to the Worlds of Fantasy Show on opening night, Thursday, February 28th at 7pm. 

This is the first time this show will be in the Twin Cities, so why wait to win the giveaway when you can buy $10 tickets for opening night. The show is here Thursday, February 28th to Sunday, March 2rd. So, there is plenty of opportunity to not miss this show.

This show will be featuring Cars, Tinkerbell and the Disney Fairies, Toy Story 3, the Little Mermaid and of course Mickey and Minnie!

EVENT:	Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy
	DATE:	Thursday, February 28 – Sunday, March 3
	TICKETS:	$15 / $22 / $42 / $65 – Opening Night Tickets Just $10!
	DETAILS:	Tickets are available at the Target Center Box Office, Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by calling 800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone using Ticketmaster TDD/TTY, call 800-359-2525. Certain fees may apply. (Groups of 12+ can save $3 per ticket, call 612.673.1311 to get inquire.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given a family 4 pack of tickets to help promote this event and provide a review of it after viewing the show. No monetary compensation was received. 

Make It Monday: Slow Cooker Curried Lentil Stew

How about another tasty clean eating slow cooker soup recipe? This one is super filling and fills a 6 Qt. slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Lentil Stew

8 C broth
2 C dry lentils, rinsed
1 T curry powder
1 large onion, chopped
1 ½ C celery, diced
1 ½ C carrots, chopped
2 C zucchini, shredded
1 C brown rice
1 C coconut milk
2 shallots, chopped
3 cloves garlic,minced
¼ C fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and stir. Cook for 10 hours on low or 5 hour on high. Serve and Enjoy!