Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein Winner!

I am delighted to announce the winner of the Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein giveaway from scrumdilly-do! and Penguin Random House. Thanks to random name generator, our winner is D. Schmidt mummytotwoboys! Please email me your mailing address and congratulations!

Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein Book Giveaway

Happy Holidays, Everyone! I am delighted to partner up with Penguin Random House to give you this opportunity to win two copies of Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein written by Amanda Peet, and Andrea Troyer, with illustrations by Christine Davenier.

Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein is a sweet story about a young Jewish girl who absolutely loves Christmas and wants nothing more than for Santa to come visit her house. While she may not get what she wishes for, there is a happy ending. We're talking serious cuteness!

A little background on the folks behind the book:

Amanda Peet is an actress and playwright. Her first play, "The Commons of Pensacola," starring Blythe Danner and Sarah Jessica Parker, opened to critical acclaim in 2014 at Manhattan Theater Club. A native of New York, Peet graduated from Columbia University with a degree in American History. She has appeared in numerous films, including "Please Give," "Syriana," "Something's Gotta Give," and "The Whole Nine Yards." She also starred in the TV series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park." Peet stars in a new comedy series, "Togetherness" for HBO, debuting in fall 2014.

Andrea Troyer grew up in Minnesota and received an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young boys.

Christine Davenier is the illustrator of many children's books, including Julie Andrews's "The Very Fairy Princess" series. She lives in Paris, France.

Here comes the giveaway part:

CELEBRATE TOGETHER Prize Pack

Come together with friends celebrating different holidays! One winner will receive 2 copies of Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein, one to keep, and one to share.

To receive two copies of Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein leave a comment here, like our Facebook Page, or follow me on Instagram and leave a comment on the post. A winner will be selected at random and announced on Wednesday, December 2nd.

**Giveaway open to US addresses only. Prizing and samples provided by Penguin Random House.
#RachelRosenstein #XmasEnvy #ad

Sewing School 2 Winner!

I wrote out all the happy names from all my sources and popped them into a happy orange colander...here ya go...

Congratulations, Zombie Queen! 

make magic! do good! winner!

Happy Friday, friends! Here I am to announce the winner of Dallas Clayton's Make Magic! Do Good! Thank you to all who entered and now without further ado, the winner is Bri who wrote:

My students impress me each day with their compassion and good deeds. I would love to share this book with them!

Thank you Bri! I hope you read this and email me with your contact information so that I may get the gears rolling to get you your copy! 

make magic! do good! a giveaway

Why not start the New Year with a wee bit o' magic Dallas Clayton style? Mr. Clayton's new book Make Magic! Do Good! 

is brimming with all sorts of fun poetry in motion. From teeny tiny griaffes to real-life dragons the poems in Make Magic! Do Good! are both magical and fun. The lovely folk at Candlewick  have given me an opportunity to give a copy away to one of my American or Canadian readers.

Go ahead, leave a comment below, add a haiku if yer feeling creative and I will choose a winner on January 10th, so leave your comment and spread the word! You can also leave a comment on scrumdilly-do's Facebook page under the post for this contest, one comment per person please. Happy entering!

Show Me a Story; winner announced!

Greetings, friends! I am so sorry I did not get to posting the winner yesterday as I wrote I would. Thirteen people left comments about heir favorite picture book. Seven left their email as requested so seven names went into the lime green bowl. After swirling the bowl around a bit, I stuck my hand in and pulled out....

Sarah wrote:
This would be great! In the spirit of October, my favorite book for Halloween is, "The Little Green Witch". 

Congratulations Sarah! I have sent you an email requesting your info. Enjoy the storytelling! Thank you to everyone who left a comment. I enjoyed reading of your favorite picture books. Don't forget, November is picture book month and I'll have a book a day posted for you to enjoy. Happy October!

Show Me a Story; book love and giveaway

Happy October, friends! Today I am delighted to be a part of a wonderful book tour promoting the book Show Me a Story by Emily K. Neuburger of red bird crafts. Emily has packity-packed her book full of inspiring ideas, projects and activities to get you and your wee one’s literary juices flowing. Forty craft projects and activities fill the pages to spark children’s (and your own) storytelling.

Show Me a Story is a published by Storey Publishing and is a fantastic specimen to add to your library. As an educator and all around literacy enthusiast I found Show Me a Story enticingly creative. Emily has not only written a wonderful introduction explaining the benefits of storytelling with children but she has given you a basketful of encouragement to share your own stories.

I spend much of my work time hanging out with toddlers. While their language is not quite up to a storyteller’s caliber I found many of the projects in the book to be adaptable for them and their older schoolmates to manipulate and play with. I have pretty much bookmarked all of the projects for future use and decided to create a few sets of the Magic Pebbles found in chapter four. Magic Pebbles are less a tool to get children writing and more an object for exploration and imagination.

Each pebble got a couple of coats of paint, a dash of glitter and a bit of mod podge to seal it all in. I presented their cheerfulness in a trio of strawberry baskets placed on a table out in our courtyard. The toddlers headed straight for them and the soon were scattered, lined up, horded, carried and dumped into our water table. One youngster attempted to stack them up like blocks. I couldn’t have been more pleased.

I did not get to observe our three year olds or pre-k students play with them but each time I passed the table those pebbles appeared to be in a new arrangement. From lining up, to stacking and even color sorted, I think these pebbles were a hit. My next batch however will include a water resistant sealant of some sort. At the end of the day, most of my pebbles had lost their color but I am certain they had quite an adventure.

I also whipped up a small bag for each set of pebbles following this tutorial. After a bit of stitched whimsy and an adventure in stamping the bags to read magic stones, I think they will make a great gift for any young person in your life.

If you are in the United States and would like to have a chance at winning your own copy of Show Me a Story, please leave a comment here, along with your email sharing with me your absolute all time favorite picture book. I will select a winner Friday so be sure to return to the ‘do! You can also enter to win a copy by visiting the Storey Publishing blog. I hope you get a chance to view the book. Happy reading, friends!

and zee winners are....

#1 bethany actually
#4 Ninočka
#8 Elizabeth
#10 jjnhubbs
#14 Lenetta @ Nettacow
#17 Donette
#22 Lisa
#27 LJ
#32 NicNacManiac
#33 Mrs. Bambrook

congratulations folks! Keep an eye out in your email (if i have yer email) for a PDF from Kids Craft Weekly & scrumdily-do! Please email me if you have not received yer PDF prize! I only had contact info from half of you!

prize packages are on their way (finally!)

here's a sneak (and of course there are strawberry baskets included):

winners of the strawberry basket giveaway!

i had wanted to post a pretty picture and clever entry but the day ran away from me so here ya go...from the random number gnerator, the winners are comments number 2 and 14...that means Vone and Ginny win! email me your addresses and i'll send along some crafting goodies and yes, strawberry baskets! (if i don't hear from ya, i will hunt ya down!)

**and i know, i know that 160 baskets seems like a lot of baskets but if you go into the purchase with a few friends, you will find that 40 baskets or so disappear quite quickly! sheesh! thank you everyone for playing along. i enjoyed your comments and they made me laugh outloud! happy almost September!

10 things to do with a strawberry basket & a giveaway

1. store trinkets in it
2. turn it into a bubble wand
3. dip into paint and print with it
4. stencil with it
5. use it for weaving
6. turn it into a mobile
7. turn it into a mouse/fairy/bug house
8. turn it into a basket with handle
9. cut it up and make a pin
10. use your imagination and make something grand!

you can find plastic berry baskets here and if you leave a comment, i will add your name to a basket/craft kit giveaway. what say you? the winner will be drawn on monday!