• Gift Giving: Small Spontaneous Tokens of Appreciation

    I love celebrations…..birthdays, Holidays, anniversaries, and more!  Most of the time I have a reason to celebrate, but other times it is just as much fun to surprise someone with a special unexpected treat.   Every once in awhile I will put a gift on the table or on a person’s plate or some other random place (in this case it is one sitting on Jake’s plate before dinner) for the fun of it.

    It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive to be  meaningful.  A favorite box of candy or a roll of coins or a sweet note to greet them on their plate when they sit down for dinner is always appreciated.  It really is the thought that counts.

    During the Christmas Season I like to spread out the fun, so at various times throughout the Holidays my family may find a special surprise waiting for them in random places.  Yes, I do specific activities like our 12 Days of Christmas 2011 or 12 Days of Christmas 2010 to help spread out the gifts so it is not so overwhelming the day of Christmas, but these more more like small spontaneous tokens of my appreciation.  How do you show appreciation and spread extra Holiday cheer in your home throughout the season?

  • Gift Giving: Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub

    Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub

    Our family enjoys taking Christmas goodies to our neighbors every year around Christmas time. Since several of our neighbors are watching their sugar intake (due to diabetes) I wanted to find a gift that would be both practical and fun for them without all the sugar. Yes, the gift I eventually settled on last year did contain sugar but they didn’t eat it.  The gift kits were a big hit and the best part….it’s super easy (you even may have all the ingredients in your kitchen).  Several people have asked me for the recipe since last Christmas so I wanted to share it with you too in case you are looking for a homemade, inexpensive, and practical gift to share this year.

    Putting together gifts for neighbors and friends

    You could give away just the jars of Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub.  I decided to do a Moisturizing Citrus Scrub Kits for our neighbors and friends.  Each kit contained:

    • Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub
    • Hand Soap
    • Lotion
    • Note from our family with instructions on how to use the items in the kit

    Ingredients in the Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub

    The olive oil helps moisturize your hands while the lemons and oranges add a clean citrus scent.  The sugar and salt help exfoliate any dry skin and freshens the appearance of your hands.

    Moisturizing Citrus Hand Scrub

    • 3 cups Sugar
    • 2/3 cups Kosher Salt
    • Zest from 1 large Lemon
    • Zest from 1 large Orange
    • 2 cups Olive Oil
    • 1/4 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract
    • 1/4 teaspoon Pure Orange Extract
    Gently wash and dry the fruit.  To zest the orange and lemon use your cheese grater and turn it to the side with the small openings/blades.  Grate the orange, turning it frequently.  You just want to take off the colored part of the peel (so try not to get too much of  the white portion).
    Now that you have your citrus zest put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well.  Scoop into a mason jar.  Put lid on and decorate as you wish. The recipe makes enough for 2 pints (fills two – 1 pint mason jars).

    Optional:  If you would like a milder scent you can remove or reduce the amount of extract from the recipe.  Also, if you would prefer only doing Lemon or Orange instead of both just double the amount it calls for in the recipe and eliminate the other citrus ingredients.  You can add extra zest into your mix if you like too (see the first picture on this post, the one of the left has extra zest in it).

    Moisturizing Citrus Scrub ready to be put into the jars

    Filling up the mason jars

    Our note included in the the gift to our neighbors and friends!

    The red ones all ready to be delivered! You can see our “blue” note in the back of the kit.  The note also contained directions on it.  I taped on the note on the inside of the package.

    The white ones are ready now too!  All we have to do now is load them up and deliver them.

    It was a lot of fun putting these together for friends and neighbors.  Our family did a large batch and made 10 mason jars full.  Several people have asked for the recipe so I decided to share it here for others as well.  If you are looking for a practical and unique gift this is a great one that worked well for us.

  • Decorating the Christmas Tree

    A picture of our spinning Christmas tree all decorated at night!

    The girls LOVE helping us decorate the tree for Christmas and can barely wait for us to get all the stuff out of the attic.  Over the years they really have become a huge help when it comes to decorating, not to mention that their excitement is contagious!

    When we decorate the Christmas tree we like to turn on the Christmas music and have fun.  While our tree will not win any award for the “most professionally decorated”  or “color coordinated”, it is packed full of memories.   Christmas ornaments I had as a baby, items the girls have made for us, and many other fun family treasures. In all fairness it is the perfect tree for our family because we did it together.

    Karlie all smiles as she wears the “tree skirt”!

    My little Brina helper!  All smiles as she listens to music and helps put up the Christmas decorations.

    Taking a break from tree decorating to drink some Eggnog!

    Our Christmas tree, decorated by the whole family!

    Throughout the Christmas Season you can often find our family reading a book together near the tree, sitting on the couch next to it talking about our days, or even enjoying a cup of hot chocolate while looking into the tinkling lights.  I am thankful for my family and the opportunity to celebrate yet another wonderful season together.

  • Breathe of Heaven by Amy Grant

    Breath of heaven,
    Hold me together,
    Be forever near me,
    Breath of heaven.
    Breath of heaven,
    Lighten my darkness,
    Pour over me your holiness,
    For you are holy.
    Breath of heaven.

    Do you wonder as you watch my face,
    If a wiser one should have had my place,
    But i offer all i am
    For the mercy of your plan.
    Help me be strong.
    Help me be.
    Help me.

  • Colortime Crafts and Markers – Promo Code for 15% Off All Orders

    Are you looking for a great gift for a budding artist?  Do you have a little one who loves to color?  Colortime offers a large assortment of items to color from shirts, pillowcases, tote bags, backpacks, bandanas, headwraps, and more!

    If you are looking for a neat gift for a kid or want to do a fun craft for a group of kids (Girl Scouts, Birthday Parties, Sunday School, VBS, etc…) Colortime has the perfect product for you.  The kids can use their markers to color a variety of fun items.

    Get 15% off all orders using Promo Code: 15USFG

    Since 1990, over 5 million children and adults have loved creating t-shirts, pillowcases, backpacks, tote bags, bandannas, and more for parties, slumber parties, and scout meetings with our permanent fabric markers. We have provided our customers the opportunity to entertain their guests with a creative activity that becomes a permanent keepsake. Also, we are a licensed vendor of the Girl Scouts of America. Check out our wholesale program, great for your organizations.

    More fun stuff from Colortime

    Below is a great Christmas craft you can do with the kids!

    Make sure you get 15% off your order by using Promo Code: 15USFG when you check out at Colortime!

    A special thanks to U.S. Family Guide and Colortime for sponsoring this post.  Any specific product information was provided by Colortime and U.S. Family Guide, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own.  Blessings Multiplied will be receiving a free craft for this post.

  • CONGRATULATIONS to Our “Celebrating & Savoring a Simple Christmas” Winner!

    The name has been drawn for the giveaway!

    CONGRATULATIONS to

    Myeshia U.

    for winning Crystal Paine’s new ebook

    “Celebrating & Savoring a Simple Christmas”!

    Thanks for making a comment in honor of our Giveaway!

    An email has been sent to you with more information*

    I hope this ebook is a wonderful blessing in your life!

    If you didn’t win you can still get a copy of the  Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook by Crystal Paine which will be available for $0.99 for 1 more day ONLY (Tuesday, November 13 to Thursday, November 15, 2012) after that it will go up to $4.99.

    Don’t forget to enter our Say Anything Family Game Giveaway too!

    *Giveaway must be claimed within 5 business days of the prize being announced.  Failure to claim the prize within the allotted time frame means you forfeit the prize.

  • Giveaway & Review: “Celebrating & Savoring a Simple Christmas” ebook by Crystal Paine (24 HOURS ONLY)

    Do you want to have a meaningful, memorable, relaxed Christmas this year? Do you really want to be able to savor and enjoy this season-not just rush through it feeling overwhelmed and behind? Are you tired of overspending every Christmas in attempt to feel close to your loved ones?  I am excited to introduce you to Crystal Paine’s new ebook Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas.   Crystal is the author of the popular Money Saving Mom blog and this is a positive and practical ebook that will encourage you to focus on the joy of Christmas while staying within the family budget!

    24 HOURS ONLY 1 lucky reader will win a FREE copy of the Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook by Crystal Paine!  ENTER NOW for a chance to win a copy of this great ebook (it only takes a couple seconds to leave a comment and be entered into the giveaway, please see all the giveaway details below)!

    You can get started reading  Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook by Crystal Paine for only $0.99 for the next 3 days only (November 13 – 15, 2012)!

    Who is This Book For?

    Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas is for you if:

    • You end every Christmas season frazzled, with a cold, and in need of a nap.
    • You dread the day after Thanksgiving and every day following up and until New Year’s Day.
    • You want your house to look beautiful for Christmas, but instead it’s a mess!
    • You end up overwhelming yourself by spending too much time on Christmas crafting and baking

    Why I love this book:

    I LOVE the Christmas Holidays and celebrating with my family!  Somehow with the busy activities, shopping, gift wrapping, delivering, programs, and everything else the “to do” list gets longer and before long I am exhausted.  Not to mention some years our budget has been stretched a little bit too much.  I like that Crystal encourages people to kept it simple and stay within your family budget.

    After reading Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas I think it will help inspire you to make positive steps in the direction of a Simple Christmas as well.  My husband and I have already discussed our Christmas budget (and sticking to it) and several other items already.  I am looking forward to spending some time together to go over more of the topics I read about in Crystal’s book.  I know many of you will enjoy this ebook and find it to be a wonderful resource especially with the upcoming Christmas season!   Here’s just a few topics covered in this book:

    • How to organize your Christmas list
    • How to make & stick to a Christmas budget
    • Holiday freezer cooking
    • Simple and inexpensive homemade gifts
    • How to get and keep your home clean & organized
    • Printable worksheets for your Holiday planning
    • And Many More great tips to help you have a fun Christmas Holiday with your family.

    24 Hour Giveaway Details

    As a way to say thank you to my readers and to share Crystal Paine’s ebook I am hosting a giveaway!  1 WINNER will receive a free copy of Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook by Crystal Paine!

    Enter the Giveaway (up to 4 entries per person)!

    1. Sign up to receive Blessings Multiplied via email
    2. Follow Blessings Multiplied on Twitter – @BlessMultiplied
    3. Like Blessings Multiplied on Facebook – BlessingsMultiplied
    4. BONUS – you can get a bonus entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing your favorite part of the Christmas Holidays.

    All comments must be made by Wednesday, November 14, 2012 10:00 PM EST to be entered into the drawing.

    I encourage you to check out more information on Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas by Crystal Paine if you are interested in finding ways to help you to tackle all those Holiday projects and events!  This ebook book may give you the just right dose of motivation to get you on track for a simple and relaxing Christmas season!  What are you waiting for…….get a copy and start reading today!

    The Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook by Crystal Paine is currently available for $0.99 for the next 3 days ONLY (Tuesday, November 13 to Thursday, November 15, 2012) after that it will go up to $4.99. 

    I was given this ebook for free to write an informed review.  The ebook, specific product information, and pictures were provided by Crystal Paine, however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.   I was not paid to write this post.  A special thanks to Crystal Paine for providing me a copy of her Celebrating & Savoring A Simple Christmas ebook to review as well as one to giveaway to my readers!