2012 SMS Giveaway Winners

 The WINNER of the first giveaway is Maureen Hayes. She's been notified and as soon as she sends me her address, I will post all the sewing goodies to her.
As far as the caramels are concerned, it appears she has numerous allergies, including dairy, but she can re-gift those.

I asked entrants to name their favorite Christmas Carol and it was all over the board compared to 2011 and 2010, when O Holy Night won both years.
But - because I mentioned it, had everyone scurrying to nominate more than 58 other carols!
A little nudge  *wink*wink.

For 2012, Silent Night came up 33 times whilst O Holy Night braked at 8.
Mary, Did You Know was a surprising tie with Carol of the Bells at 7 votes.

I find numbers very intriguing as well as people's behaviors so this 'contest' was definitely fun for me watching voters name any other carol except O HolyNight. There were a couple of entrants who also could not believe O Holy Night won the last two years.

Several voters threw out two or three titles. I particularly loved this one from Tricia: "I would say a tie between Silent night and The First Noel. I always sang the first to my oldest and sing the second every night to my youngest."

All in all, Silent Night stole the show.
Thank you all for entering. I'll be back again for the May Giveaways that SMS hosts.
(did you know SMS is from my neck of the woods? About a 30 minute drive away  - if they had a brick & Mortar store)

Keep reading for the winner of my second giveaway and some fun Christmas Carol videos.

 GIVEAWAY TWO for my airplane towels went to Miss Enota from Minnesota. Rhymes.
She also has been notified and I'm off to pack these up along with some apple cider caramels.

I am making another batch of caramels this weekend so I can fill all my packages that need to be mailed Monday in order to have a chance at arriving before Christmas (read Sweden, Finland, Germany & Japan! plus one for Nephew's unfortunate birthday on the 18th of December.

It's Christmas Day Family Force 5

Santa bring me a dinosaur-Funny Christmas song by Bob Brown

Barenaked Ladies - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings"

olivia newton john silent night

Remodeling Update - Kitchen Counters

 I admit freely, I am a closet formica fanatic. 

Twenty years ago, the trend was tile countertops. Which I disliked intensely because I am also a klutz. 

I use my kitchen. Dishes occasionally get broken, things fall and break, spills happen. 

And because I am totally a trend setter. 

Have you seen any tile countertops that do NOT look dated? Not so much about trend setting as intensely practical. And the granite countertops that are NOW trendy cost three times as much and you need to be careful what you clean them with as most cleaners will dull the finish.

I know - formica's great. (I should say wilsonart). This time around, we chose Green Tigris.

 Everyone informed us that 4" tile backsplashes are not trendy now. We still love the motif. We decided to let the next people change out the tiles.