*Our 100th Post! Original Painting Giveaway!*

cel·e·brate [sel-uh-breyt] commemorate occasion, achievement

This is a special day for us. The Christmas season is already in full swing and now, to top it all off, today marks our 100th blog post.  When Kylee and I joined forces to start this blog last April, we blindly entered the world of mom-blogging, hoping we wouldn't get "blogged down" in the process. So far we have learned a lot, met many great moms and received lots of encouragement from you all. We are feeling very blessed!

In order to officially toot the ceremonial horn on this special day, we are offering this fun giveaway.  Our goal is to reward our current friends while also meeting many more new friends.

We are offering 2 large (11X14 each) original acrylic paintings on canvas.  These paintings were designed and created by me (Tara) and contain a background acrylic painting, paper details (tree and words), as well as thread which is hand sewn into the canvas to attach the letters.

Here are a few more detailed images:

Here are the Rules!

• We are in love with you, our current fans, but we would love to see our infant blog grow even more.  Our challenge is to spread the word about us to your friends and family--we'd love to meet many new great folks just like you.  If you are already a member on our blog, then you already have an entry to win!
• Once our members on this blog reach the magical number (100) we will randomly select 1 fortunate fan and ship these paintings straight to you (as long as you are a U.S. or Canadian resident!)
• Don't like those odds? Better your chances to win something by commenting on this post and you will automatically receive an entry to win our second place prize.  Do you love Amazon.com? So do we.  Comment on this post and receive an entry for a $10 Amazon gift card. It's that simple.

The winners will be chosen when our blog members number has officially reached 100 so keep checking back regularly!  We are thankful for you and hope you enjoy many special memories with friends and family this season!

Mask Contest this week!

We are running a Mask Decorating contest this week...all the details are here.



It's as easy as printing out a mask here, letting your child (or you!) decorate it with medium or craft supplies of choice, then uploading a picture of the artist in the mask on our FB page.





My daughter was all about sequins...who can resist glam??!

The last day to enter is Friday, Oct 28. There are 2 prizes up for grabs: this darling custom initial necklace from My3Chickadees etsy shop and a $10 Hobby Lobby gift card.

We look forward to seeing your entry soon!

Chilly Saturday Morning Paint Fest.

This morning we woke up with a sleepy, crabby little guy.  Normally we like to take it easy on Saturday mornings since our daddy typically has to work.  After a relaxing breakfast and some fussy-kid pampering, I gave in to the big kids' request for setting up the paints. 
We have had a cool snap in the weather, so while we wait for the sun to warm us up, the kids have been happily painting away at the kitchen table for most of the morning.  Sometimes I tell myself it is such a pain to get out the paints, but honestly the "big mess" is always worth it in the end!

I love the creativity of kids. They found one of our baby board books and went to work copying the images and words on their pages to create their own animal pages. We are going to put some of the favorite pieces into their "All About Me" books.

This is only a fraction of all the pages they have completed so far today!

If you are looking for a fun activity for your kiddies on these chilly Fall mornings, break out the paints and hand them a board book for educational references photos.  What a great exercise in painting, fine-motor skills, reading practice, and art!

Speaking of ART, be sure to enter our "Decorate your Mask" contest going on NOW. So far, your chances of winning are REALLY good!  Decorate a mask and enter your photo on Facebook to win an amazing original necklace! OR let your child decorate a mask to win a $10 Hobby Lobby gift card! The contest ends on October 26th. Check out the details here! Let your little artists go to work today!

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." Edward Degas

Decorate your Mask Contest!

The air is crisp, the leaves are falling, the store shelves are lined with rainbows of cheap, multicolored plastic pumpkins and ridiculous amounts of sugar-filled candy.


What can we do to join in (or escape from) all this festive Fall fun?
It's time to hold a contest. It's time to decorate a mask.  That's right. From now until October 26th we are hosting our first annual "Muddy Mask Decorating contest!"  The rules are simple. 
1. Print this mask. Go here for the PDF:

2. Decorate the Mask.  There are 2 Categories in our contest! They are:

• Best, most creative & original design by a 3-6 year old child. Let your baby go to work on this mask and see what he or she can do!
• Best, most creative & original design by anyone. Let's see what your muddy, creative juices can create with this piece of paper and the amazing left side of your brain.

3. What to do when your mask is done!

• Take a photo of your child (or you!) wearing the completed mask and upload it to our FB site. We can't wait to see all your photos!

4. PRIZES!

• We have a great prize lined up for our 1st place overall mask winner.  Check out this super cute, customized initial necklace from our good friend Amy's Etsy shop, My3Chickadees!!! Also be sure to check out all the great ideas at her blog, Living The Allergic Life...to the Fullest!

• The winner in our 3-6 year old category for our Mask Decorating contest will receive a $10 gift card to Hobby Lobby so you can restock your creative genius's art supply shelf.

The Fine Print!

Feel free to enter both categories, but only one winner will be chosen per household.  The last entries will be considered on Oct. 26th, 2011. The winners will be notified and announced on Friday, Oct. 28th. Judging will be based on originality, creativity, and overall appeal of the photo itself. 

**Thanks for joining in on the fun...we can't wait to see your photos! Use this time to enjoy creating something  special with your little ones!

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