Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Pinecone Balls Revisited

So lately I have been noticing that a lot of the traffic to my blog has been to the tutorial on how to make the pinecone balls that I put together about a year ago. SO, due to the increase in popularity, I thought I would get rid of some of my extra supplies on hand (because I made some already this year again and my fingers are sore enough) -- I have decided to giveaway a kit that contains enough supplies to make three balls. It features some great papers and ribbon and will be similar to the ones you may have seen at orientaltrading.com. I know it is not a huge giveaway, but I thought it would be fun! To enter, tell me what your favorite Christmas tradition is in the comments section of this post. I will draw a random winner on December 1st, so enter today!!!

UPDATED: We have a WINNER -- Post number 44 was chosen using the random number generator and the winner is *drum roll please*

Rosella said...

WOW! I'd love to make some of these beautiful pinecones! I think my favorite Xmas tradition is getting and putting up the tree!

2:20 PM

Send me an email with your address and I will send that out to you as soon as possible! Thanks for everyone who participated and shared your awesome holiday traditions. I am excited to borrow some of them! You all are great!!!

65 comments:

Cheryl said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is the have oyster stew on Christmas eve. My grandpa started this when I was a child and even tho mine doesn't taste nearly as good as his, we still have it. thanks for the chance to get the kits.
Cheryl Sims

Wendy said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas eve with my family enjoying hot chocolate and popcorn or Christmas cookies. Your instructions for the pinecone balls is great. I've already make 3 and hope to get more done.

rnjenny1 said...

Getting out the nativity my father put together as a child and setting it up. It is wonderful some of the pieces are still marked with 5 cent or 10 cent prices, he bought them 1 at a time and I cherish each of them.

Wanda said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is getting together with my family on Christmas eve and playing games, chatting and foods!!! We come home late and then get up in the morning to open gifts from "us". Then have a wondeful dinner and then rest and relax watching movies the rest of the day.

Emily said...

My favorite tradition is getting together with the family and putting puzzles together. This is usually Christmas afternoon while listening to all day Christmas music. I also like the family picture in the hallway Christmas morning.

Emily

Cathy M said...

How sweet to offer one of your awesome ornament kits. You are going to make 1 stamper very happy and I hope it's ME ME ME!
One of our tradition is to get together one night and go cruisin the city and look at all the display of lights.
Thanks for a chance.
cmeyers@hughes.net

Heather Grow said...

Hi Amanda. Giving a kit away is a great idea. My favorite thing would have to involve food. We don't have a specific Christmas dinner. We have something different every year. Last year we had tempura vegetables and shrimp with apple pie for dessert. It was yummy.

Anonymous said...

LOVE your blog Amanda! My favorite Christmas tradition is my annual Christmas Cookie Swap. It's a huge hit with my friends and a ton of fun.

Jan Scholl said...

every Christmas afternoon, I write out my check donations for the charities I support. I really dont celebrate Christmas anymore so this is my thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Every Christmas I hide all gifts (every one is marked with the name who gets it and the name of the person who gives it) under a big christmassy sheet under the tree. We celebrate on Christmas Eve and the kids are taking one gift each and read aloud for whom it is. Then everyone watches what might be inside, our unwrapping lasts minimum 2 1/2 hours!!! We appreciate all the wrapping, cards that are included, drink a glass of wine... it's all very relaxing and everyone loves it.

Nessie (who is still not able to log herself in properly grrrr)

Anonymous said...

Hi Amanda,
I just love your pinecones!! Our family tradition is making cookies and cooking Christmas dinner with my two daughtes. Bev Hammack

Anonymous said...

I look forward to starting new traditions! My daughter married an British man 4 years ago. They've just moved to the US in April, it took that long for his visa to be approved!
I have 2 beautiful grand-daughters, June is 2-1/2 and Sophie is 1-1/2. I look forward to new traditions and all the fun of seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child again.
Rochelle

Angel said...

My favorite tradition is decorating the tree to Christmas music and popcorn!

Unknown said...

Our favorite family tradition is going to church on Christmas Eve after we leave Grandma's house. It is such a nice way to have the day end, and reminds you of the reason for Christmas!

Vicky said...

I'm English and my tradition is to make sure each year we have Christmas Crackers for our dinner table. Sometimes I find them here in the states and sometimes my family back home sends them for us. But I manage to find them for us each year including the year I made my own from TP rolls lol.
Thanks for the chance to win your kit, would be great to do!
Vicky

JenMarie said...

I've been wanting to try those pinecones!!
I don't really have any traditions. I'd like to start something though. I do buy a Christmas ornament every year, try to make it something that reminds me of that year.
Be sure to take pictures of your new house decorated for Christmas to share with us!!

Anonymous said...

My absolute favourite tradition is the day we go and pick out our tree. Going through all of the trees - laughing and playing. When we get home with our tree, it gets set up in the garage to fall properly and we have an afternoon of making Christmas cookies, drinking apple cider and listening to christmas carols. We still do this as a family and our kids are 16, 14, and 12. They wouldn't miss it for the world.
Kimberley Alcorn, Ontario, Canada
alcornfamiy@sympatico.ca

Anonymous said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is going to pick out the tree, and then everyone helps get the tree and the house decorated. I play Christmas music too, and that helps me get into the Christmas mood!

Charlotte

Suzanne said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is the paper fight at the end of opening presents with my grandparents!
And you're kidding yourself - this IS a big giveaway!

Anne said...

I remember those ornaments from last year. They look so fun!

Our family tradition is to buy each other one used gift. We call it our "Goodwill gift" but usually it comes from a yard sale or estate sale. My grandmother started doing it for us when we were little, and the card would always read "Goodwill Gift" on the outside, and "To keep you humble." on the inside. It was to remind us that, even though we might have bounty in front of us now, there had been a time when we did not have as much and we'd be thrilled to get any kind of gift, used or not.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite tradition is letting our children open one present on Christmas Eve, it is usually pajamas!! ( funny they never catch on to this!!)
mandabeth55@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite tradition is letting our children open one present on Christmas Eve, it is usually pajamas!! ( funny they never catch on to this!!)
mandabeth55@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Our family will be starting new traditions as I am a single mom just starting out. But one tradition is I do enjoy is watching the kids decorating the tree so I can take all the pics!

Scott Franson Photography said...

My favorite tradition is buying stocking stuffers for each other and opening our stockings on Christmas Eve.
Claudia
scfranson@charter.net

Anonymous said...

So many traditions to choose from! But my favorite is probably have a "picnic under the tree" once it's decorated. We put out a blanket, play Christmas music and use Christmas plates and cups. Then my DH and our 2 kids change into our Christmas jammies, drink hot chocolate, eat Christmas cookes and watch Charlie Brown's Christmas together. I still get chill bumps when Linus recites the Christmas story at the end! Thanks for asking-- it's been fun to read other traditions. Still hope I win the giveaway though!

Denise

Anonymous said...

Hello,
Our favorite tradition to get together with friends to play dice, cards or just to sit and watch Christmas movies.
Thankyou for giving us a chance to win....I have never won anything from the US...so here is hoping. I love your blog and have used several of your ideas in the past year. Teresa

Unknown said...

My favorite tradition is taking my daughter to see the Holiday Magic Show. After a great show of kids dancing and singing, they light up the Christmas tree!

Anonymous said...

Awesome blog candy!

Favorite tradition would be buying the kiddos new christmas/holiday nightgowns/PJs-new flannel sheets-tucking both in bed and reading Christmas books-of course the tradditional ones but some new ones..Dora's Christmas story..LOL.

Thanks!

Hope

CreativeJanine said...

Thanks for the chance to win! Our favorite tradition is going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. It's a great way to kick off the holidays!

Debbie G said...

Oh this would be so much fun to make these. You are so generous to give this kit away. My favorite tratition is we love to have open house on Christmas eve for family and friends with a big seafood chowder and snacks.

Stampin_Melissa said...

For me personally, I enjoy our tradition of opening one present just before bedtime. I'm one of those people that just can't wait! LOL! Yes, I was one of those children that would get chased back to bed at 4am. Now that I'm a mother I just love watching my DS as he opens his gifts.

Thanks for offering up this wonderful gift Manda! You are just soooo sweet!

Anonymous said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is having lasagna Christmas Eve for dinner and decorating Santa cookies with my son!

Joanne said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is the seafood feast on Christmas eve at my mom's house and then coming home and we all open one gift (new PJ's), read The Night Before Christmas with the kids, put out cookies and milk for Santa and then off to bed....the kids are sooooo excited and its all we can do to get them tucked in!

Becky said...

My favorite Christmas tradition was when we lived in the mountains (right across from Winter Park ski area) and we would go over there on Christmas Eve and drink hot chocolate and watch the torchlite parade down the Lower Hughes ski run. At the end of the parade Mr and Mrs Santa would ski down. Then we would walk home in the dark and sing Christmas songs on the way. They still do the torchlite parade and I am going to take my kids when they get older.

Liz said...

I love christmas, My husband and I have started a christmas tradition this year, we made gingerbread houses. it was a lot of fun , but a lot of work with kids. mostly our 3 year old ate the candy! Hope it continues next year, but my other favorite is listening to christmas music and eating christmas eve dinner with my husbands family its a birthday/christmas dinner for a brother in law
liz ut
lizstampin@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

We don't really have any family traditions, but we do go to Disneyland every Dec for my DH birthday and to see the beautiful Christmas tree & decorations. I love making the pinecone ornaments, I have already made a few this year. My DS wants to make a couple for his teachers this year too.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, which tradition to choose from?!? Well, since we've had children we really wanted a new tradition for our little family. So, one thing we do is I have the kids go through their room and pick a few things to donate. It's really hard for them, and my daughter insists that she "plays with all of it and they're all my favorite", but it also teaches them a great life lesson. It's a hard concept for them to understand that there are children out there with no toys of their own.

Anonymous said...

Hi Amanda,
Our Christmas eve tradition is somewhat hecktic, we make our rounds to visit who we can because when I was growing up we never went away on Christmas Day. So when I got married and had children we did the same thing. Now my daughter is grown and has children of her own, she followed in my footsteps. It makes me feel good inside knowing that my daughter remembered staying at home on Christmas day to be with us and her brother.

Linda N.

Sarah said...

Love the ornaments...
My favorite holiday tradition is just getting together with all my family and catching up on the past year. My sister and I have children now so it is so fun to watch them enjoy the holidays together. Besides this year will be even better since I got my sisters hooked on scrapbooking!

Heather said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is reading the Christmas story from the Bible with my husband and children.

Anonymous said...

It's funny that the first poster said something about oyster stew because growing up my Mom always made clam chowder for Christmas eve. She still does, and even though I'm 600 miles away she always manages to get it to me so I have some. I eat my chowder and hubby and the boys order pizza,not because I don't share but they don't like it. We spend the entire day watching Christmas movies!

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

Ohhh, aren't you a sweetie for offering wonderful blog candy. My fav tradition is my Christmas meal. I always experiment with new and wonderful dishes, but stick to the regulars too--cranberry crisp (in place of cranberries), homemade perogis (saukraut is my fav) and sweet potatoe casserole.

Debby said...

My favorite Christmas tradtion is to spend Christmas with my family. We all gather here at my house do a pot luck and have all the trimmings. On Christmas eve we just have my parents come over and we open gifts with just them and then they can see my kids open their presents from us. We have a nice little meal and watch movies.

Rosella said...

WOW! I'd love to make some of these beautiful pinecones! I think my favorite Xmas tradition is getting and putting up the tree!

Anonymous said...

My favorite Christmas tradition would have to be watching the kids' faces on Christmas morning. I know it's not really a tradition but it's the best thing for me. Thank you. I love your site.

Debbi Holbeche
bubbles32@shaw.ca
Scrappin' in Abbotsford, BC

Stephanie said...

My favorite tradition growing up was our family talent show that we did (and my parents still do for whoever is home) every Christmas Eve.

Anything from sing a song, read a poem, play the guitar. One year, my sister, who had just had knee surgery, did a rendition of A Christmas Story, complete with the "God Bless Us Every One" and Crutch in hand :)

Anonymous said...

My favorite tradiion at Christmastime is baking cookies. I give cookies to many peopla during the holiday season.

Anonymous said...

What a fun giveaway!!! These are so cute, but I have never made one.

My favorite family tradition is Christmas eve a family member dresses up as Santa for all the little kids and gives out preasents. It is so much fun and I love seeing there faces! -Samantha

P.S. Thanks for sharing blog candy with us all!

Alison said...

My favorite tradition of sorts is sitting with all the lights off and the Christmas tree lit, enjoying some Christmasy music and an egg nog or two. BTW, thanks for that tutorial on the pine cone balls -- that's a keeper!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the chance to win! Love your site....especially the recipes!.

My favorite tradition is having potato soup and chicken kiev to kick off Christmas Eve....and then presents!

Anonymous said...

I love your site - can't wait until you are in your house and posting more again! I think our favorite would be we watch "Its a Wonderful Life" and then we open one present each... Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Hugs, Donna
texasdreamweaver@yahoo.com

mcheree said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is baking cookies on Christmas Eve, and laying in bed with my son to read him The Night Before Christmas right before he goes to sleep.

Melody (lacyquilter) said...

My favorite tradition is time spent with family. Thanks for a chance to win.

Paula said...

Family Tradition is letting the little ones open one gift on Christmas Eve. Since there are so many split families and normally the kids are at mom's home either Christmas eve and then dads on Christmas day or vise virsa some traditions have had to change. Being the grandparent leaves us little time to be able to enjoy our grandchildren so....we have the little ones over to make circle chains for the tree, drink hot cocoa with marshmellows, string pop corn (if we would not eat so much). and just have family time before Christmas eve. I would not trade that time with the kids for all the tea in China.

Thanks for asking about traditions.

scrappypenguin said...

My Favorite tradtion thay my husband and I started is that we go see a Christmas movie on Christmas eve and then we go home and open gift to each other. Because the next day is all about the family.

Thanks and I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Maria

Anonymous said...

My favorite tradition is that on Christmas Eve, we always and I mean always have an italian meal. We eat Italian Sausage strombolli's w/ other various items. Then on Christmas morning, we always do a themed breakfast. From Britain, France, American etc etc. We love our food lo!=l!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for having this contest also!! :)

Shutterbug said...

Sounds like a fun project. Winning the supplies to do it would be great.

shutterbug2525"at"gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Your tutorial is great! I have been involving my neices in some of my paper crafting hoping to spark some interest. This will be a great project for us to complete together. It will also make a great gift for them to give to their moms or grandparents for Christmas!

phug said...

My fave Christmas tradition was: In a family of four girls after Christmas morning was always hectic getting ready and dressed up for dinner. So one Christmas after my dad was diagnosed with Leukemia and was not feeling well. We started pajama Christmas and that year us girls, mom and dad stayed home and in our Pj's all day and through dinner, we had a great relaxing Christmas and my dad got to just feel what he was feeling! It was great!

Rhonda Kelly said...

Amanda, these pinecone ornaments are just amazing. I located the instructions a while back and have been making these now for a couple of months getting ready for a craft show. I have them posted on my site and also linked to your site for credit given and where to find the instructions. I have had great response to these little things and while they are a little time consuming and your fingers do get VERY sore they are well worth it! Thanks so much for sharing your instructions for these.
Your blog is awesome, your a very talented lady. Thanks for all the inspiration!

Shannon McGann said...

Wow! Great prize! I love those pinecone balls! Thanks for the chance to win. My favourite holiday tradition would have to be decorating the tree together as a family. My husband always puts the lights on first, the boys and I decorate, then daddy puts the star on top. Then we turn out the house lights and sit and look at the pretty tree.

Erica Hettwer said...

I look forward to laying down underneath the Christmas tree and looking up at the lights. Just beautiful and relaxing. I can't wait until my son is old enough to do it with me.

Erica
~melegs
:D

Anonymous said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is making homemade candy with my mom. Every year we make tons - divinity, fudge, buckeye balls, caramels, and more - and give it to family and friends. When I was little I helped by wrapping caramels and make drop candies. Now I'm the one who does most of it as my mom's hands are stiff from arthritis. I have never missed a year of making candy with her - it's our special time to talk and reflect uninterrupted.

Anonymous said...

My favorite tradition is watching The Night Before Christmas with my kids. That has always been my favorite Christmas cartoon, although my husband had never even heard of it. I just love those little mice!

Jennifer S