12 Gift Cards of Christmas Giveaway Event

Welcome to the 12 Gift Cards of Christmas Giveaway Event hosted by Formula Mom and Tales From the Nursery. For the next 12 days we will feature a new gift card giveaway. As the days progress, the value of the gift cards will increase with the final day featuring a $100 gift card! Each giveaway will be open for one week and you will have the opportunity to earn at least 64 entries into each giveaway by following the sponsoring blogs in a variety of ways! You can also earn an additional 5 entries by tweeting each day! From today through December 23rd, you will have the chance to win $270 in gift cards from a variety of retailers!

Enter to win $25 Restaurant.com card (US/CAN) Read More…

Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus…At least there is in Southern Indiana.  A small town just 30 minutes east of me, loving holds that name.  How does a little town get the name “Santa Claus”?  Here’s part of the story as I know it:

In the early 1800’s, pioneers settled a small town in the gently rolling hills of Southern Indiana, originally naming it Santa Fee.  In the 1850’s the town’s application for a post office was denied, because another town with the same name already had a post office.  On Christmas Eve, as services concluded in the small log church, the townspeople decided to stay and hold their final town meeting of the year.  The only order of business, selecting a new name for the town, was not going very well.  Suddenly a gust of wind blew open the door to the church, and sleigh bells were heard in the distance.  “Santa Claus!” exclaimed the excited children, providing the inspiration for the town’s new name.  On May 21, 1856, the U.S. Post Office Department approved a post office in the newly-renamed town of Santa Claus, Indiana.

(Learn more here about it’s History)

Visiting Santa Claus, Indiana is part of our Christmas Tradition.  We start our visit with a trip to the local Post Office to mail our Christmas cards.  But not only are we going to mail the cards, we get to Hand stamp them with their special Postmark. This famous small-town post office is the only one in the world with the Santa Claus name and receives over 400,000 pieces of mail in December. During the rest of the year, only 13,000 pieces of mail are processed each month. This special “picture postmark” has been offered every Christmas season since 1983.
Each year, the holiday postmark is designed by a local high school art student as part of an annual contest.

Then we head down to the Santa Claus Christmas Store where you can find everything Christmas year ’round.   There we visit with Santa and drink the best Hot Cocoa around!

Then we visit the Santa Claus Museum (The Santa Claus Museum is closed as they prepare to move to a roomier location, but  Beginning Thanksgiving weekend through December 18, 2011, Santa’s Elves will open their workshop to the public at the Historic Santa Statue.) We have fun looking at all the Santa items and write our letter to Santa.  (Learn how to get a letter back from Santa’s Elves here).

And as are last stop on our Winter Wonder land trip is at Santa’s Candy Castle. The historic Santa’s Candy Castle offers a festive experience blending the old-world charm with a modern-day spin and provides a magical experience for believers of all ages.  Santa’s Candy Castle was the Nation’s First Themed Attraction.

There you can browse through tons of great Christmas books, make snow and buy an Offical Red Ryder Two Hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle.  (with a Compass in the stock and this thing which tells time).

And where else does it snow inside?

So “Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.” And here in Southern Indiana you can find that Santa Claus!

For all you with Little girls, here’s a great deal from Amazon 80 Piece Mega Bloks Maxi Pink for just $15.00 + FREE shipping with Amazon Prime or when you spend $25 or more with super saver shipping!

Thanks Raining Hot Coupons

Grab this great Deal from Amazon for a set of Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Stringing Beads with over 200 Beads for only $12.76!

Free super saver shipping. 

As always Amazon prices go up and down quickly, so grab it now before the price changes again!

Thanks Mojo Savings

Here’s a HOT deal from Mixbook for 15 5×7 Landscape Classic Coated Photo Cards for FREE (a $24.15 value!). You’ll need to pay shipping which should be around $4.39. Which makes for a great deal on Photo Cards!

Here’s How to ROCK this deal:

* Head on over to Mixbook (or  if you shop through ShopAtHome.com you can get 10% cash back)
* Log in to your account or sign up for a free account
* Click on Cards and select your category (choose from Christmas, Thanksgiving, and more!)
* Choose a 5×7 Flat Card and customize it (keep in mind that you will need to select the Classic Coated variety)
* Add a total of 15 to your cart and head to check out
* Enter the discount code FREECARDS4U
* Final Cost FREE + shipping!

Thanks Hip 2 Save

I love displaying my Christmas cards and I found this great Tutorial on how to make this super cute Christmas Card Garland.  Head over to Make and Takes to find out how to make it!

Do you have a little one wanting Baby Alive this Christmas?  Then head over and check out this great deal at Amazon.com for the Baby Alive My Baby Alive Doll for only $32.52.  28% savings!

Thanks Mojo Savings

This is one of my favorite deals from Vista Print! They are offering their Multi- Purpose Labels for FREE! Just pay $2.95 shipping! These are great for for just about anything you can think of!!

Here’s how to ROCK this Deal:

• Go here and find the FREE Label offer. Click on “Get Started”.
• Start personalizing your labels by choosing a design and customizing them.
• On the partners offers page, make sure to SKIP all the offers by leaving the boxes unchecked.
• Choose slow 21 day shipping (I’ve never had it take this long)
• Your final cost will be around $2.95 shipped (depending on where you live)

Are you saving extra money through Cashbacks when you shop online?  I love using ShopAtHome.com to earn extra cash on things I was going to buy anyways! 

Recently my husband wanted to buy a new laptop from Dell.  So I told him to check through ShopAtHome first.  I’m glad he did, because we made $44 back on the laptop that we were buying anyways!  That’s just once of many times I’ve made a little money from ShopAtHome.

Here’s how you can ROCK ShopAtHome:

• Sign up for ShopAtHome or log in to your account
• Make your purchase through the ShopAtHome.com link
• Then ShopAtHome will reimburse your cash back!
• Once your account gets to $20 you’ll get a check from ShopAtHome

I love picking out our Christmas cards.  I’ve been waiting for weeks to pick ours out.  I mean it’s what you send to all your friends and family to hang in their home for everyone to see.  To me it tells a lot about you and who you are.   We like doing a family photo or a photo of our son, Jace.

I love all the choices that Shutterfly has for Christmas Cards.   Shutterfly has to many great designs to pick from this year.

What’s the real message you’re sending?

• Traditional card

Visions of sugarplums dance through your head. You’re a romantic. You put effort into preserving holiday traditions, right down to making Christmas pudding-from scratch.

• Humourous card

The way you see it, humour is the best gift. You’re the rare laid-back reveler who wishes folks would stop stressing out and enjoy the season, like you do.

• Sound and light card

You’ve got tinsel in your blood. You think everything should be as Christmassy as possible and that means sending a card that sings. Keep it up: Your holiday spirit is infectious.

• Charitable card

You have great empathy. For you Christmas is an opportunity to do some good in the world, so you give cards that give back, like Hallmark (RED) cards that help support the fight against AIDS in Africa.

• Family photo card

Family comes first. Think of them and you burst with pride. You chose a family photo card that lets you record at 10-second holiday message to give your relatives the maximum cuteness effect.

• Green card

You’re all about saving the planet, but you’re a traditionalist too. These facets of your personality come together in the form of a card made from recycled fibre and sugar cane pulp.

Once I’m done picking out our cards I’ll be ordering our 2012 Calendars for the Grandparents gifts.  And Shutterfly has great designs for Calendars to pick from! And don’t forget about their personalized gifts to choose from!