Giveaway

Welcome to my giveaway! For first-time visitors, I am a reporter for The Associated Press by day, crafter by night. This blog has been a bit neglected in recent months, but I hope to get some momentum back in the new year!

I’m giving away a set of Japanese-style beanbags called Otedama that I made using a tutorialย found HERE at The Things That Make Us Happy and Wise blog. Instructions on how to play the game can be found HERE, but it appears to be similar to playing jacks: You throw one beanbag in the air and pick up another before catching the thrown bag in the same hand and so on. My 10-year-old son gave this set a test run this morning and found it fun but more challenging than we expected!

beanbags1

 

They were rather tricky to sew because they are so small!

beanbags2

 

I will leave this open until Friday at 9 p.m. EST and will announce the winner on Saturday. I will ship internationally.

Just leave me a comment, any comment will do. If you’re feeling chatty, tell me something yummy you like to eat or drink for the holidays.

And please check out all the other great giveaways here:

 

Comments

143 responses to “Giveaway”

  1. Chiska Avatar
    Chiska

    I love these! I love anything pepperminty.

  2. Jessie from NM Avatar

    I haven’t had mulled cider in years, but I’ve had the mulling spices for years. What is wrong here?! I should ammend that this year.

  3. Vicki H Avatar
    Vicki H

    Love hot chocolate during the holidays and all winter.

  4. Sandy K Avatar
    Sandy K

    I always make hot apple cider during the holidays.

  5. Alexis Avatar

    My boys are eating spritz cookies for breakfast this am.

  6. Stephanie Avatar

    This is super cute! I can even imagine using these as pattern weights if I could wrestle it away from the kids. My favorite holiday treat is chocolate mint anything ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Leo Avatar

    home made christmas cookies “nut corners”

  8. Bridget P. Avatar
    Bridget P.

    These are adorable. I love any and all chocolate!

  9. Janet Frank Avatar
    Janet Frank

    I love to make & eat Pecan Pralines. My granddaughter would love this game! It would be a good one to have on hand when she comes to visit!

  10. Tina C. Avatar
    Tina C.

    These are super cute! We love drinking hot chocolate, especially if it has a hint of caramel in it!

  11. Kylie C Avatar
    Kylie C

    I bet it was tricky sewing and turning things that little but they look great. My favorite holiday treat is cranberry-chocolate fudge.

  12. Sheila Avatar
    Sheila

    I love to make cranberry sauce and eat it with stuffing!This year I’m making one off of pinterest that has cranberries, blueberries and Cabernet. I also make a ptetty fine green bean casseroles le with a fresh shallot cream sauce instead of mushrrom soup

  13. beth p. Avatar

    I think my grandkids would enjoy these!

  14. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    I love making peppermint bark.

  15. Anita L Avatar

    These are very cool! I’m sure my kids would love them. Thank you for the giveaway.

  16. Sylvia Avatar

    I love eggnog! Thanks for the chance to win.

  17. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Love these! I like to make cioppino for New Years.

  18. Nicola Avatar
    Nicola

    We always make trifle for dessert on Christmas Day, but instead of normal trifle we use berries only. Yummy!

  19. jonquil Avatar
    jonquil

    I bake a large batch of cookies every weekend in December. By the time 12th night comes around the house is ready for a break ๐Ÿ˜‰

  20. sue Avatar
    sue

    Anything and everything with eggnog in it.

  21. Ticia Avatar

    I love to eat Santa cookies that my Mom used to make when I was a kid, but now I make them with my kids. It always makes me happy.

  22. TheBon Avatar

    These are awesome!

  23. Buffy Avatar
    Buffy

    My family and I have a tradition of Chinese take-out for Xmas Eve dinner!

  24. Karen Avatar
    Karen

    Those look like so much fun! I’ve never seen them before!

  25. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    How cute these are! I like German christmas cookies – Vanillekipferl.

  26. Shelby Avatar

    My favorite holiday food is to make these amazing no-bake cookies soaked in melted hershey’s chocolate that my mom always made to give to family and friends during the holidays.

    I love the bean bags design! So cute!

  27. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    Green bean casserole is my favorite. ๐Ÿ™‚

  28. Sasha Avatar
    Sasha

    My husband is part swedish, and I’ve now developed a taste for Julmust. Definitely worth a try if you see it anywhere!

  29. Thyssly Avatar

    I love chesnut sauce to go with some meat

  30. Sassy Lass Avatar
    Sassy Lass

    Since you work for the AP, I’d be interested in knowing where you’d place commas in the following sentence. (Be forewarned that I despise the Oxford comma):

    It is this time of year that I like to enjoy full-fat eggnog, hot tea and the occasional knock-your-socks-off cocktail!

  31. Kate Avatar
    Kate

    I love to eat lots of kinds of cookies!

  32. Megan Avatar
    Megan

    These are so cute! My favorite beverage this time of year is an eggnog latte…yum!

  33. Nicole Avatar

    Warm apple cider brings back fond childhood holiday memories.

  34. Leigh Avatar
    Leigh

    It sounds weird but hot jello was my childhood drink.

  35. amy Avatar
    amy

    My grandson would love this! So cute! Thanks for the chance to win!

  36. Joanna jenkins Avatar

    These beanbags are so fun! Please count me in.
    I’m a hot chocolate girl. Happy holidays.

  37. jessica w Avatar

    I love how cute these are. I love the bring fabrics you used too

  38. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    I love hot chocolate with Baileys Irish creame

  39. Katie C. Avatar

    I love Magic Cookie Bars and it seems like most people only make them this time of year. Love the beanbags and I think my kiddos would, too!

  40. ikkinlala Avatar
    ikkinlala

    These look fun! I bet they’d be good for practicing juggling, too.

    I’ll be baking shortbread for the holidays.

  41. hueisei Avatar
    hueisei

    Lovely color ๐Ÿ™‚
    I love anything with chocolate; )

  42. Barbara P. Avatar
    Barbara P.

    OMG, those are so cute! Thanks for the giveaway. I love chocolate at any time of year.

  43. Kate Avatar
    Kate

    Cocoa with a cinnamon stick ๐Ÿ™‚

  44. karen Avatar
    karen

    Looks like a great game for my grandkids. Hot Chocolate with lots of marshmallows

  45. Leah P. Avatar
    Leah P.

    They look really neat! I can see also using the bags for homeschool (like throw the bag on a letter, or word and have the child give the correct answer, make a game out of it). We could try the game as is too of course. Thank you so much for the links. Good luck with reviving your blog. You can do it!

    I really enjoy eating pumpkin pie during the holidays.

  46. deborah b. Avatar
    deborah b.

    really awesome! my kids would have a blast with this.

    my mom makes special ‘santa cookies’ every year – same recipe my grama made, so they are a treasured tradition.

  47. Wehaf Avatar
    Wehaf

    I love chruschiki, which is a kind of Polish fried cookie.

  48. Wanda Dotson Avatar

    I played with jacks as a child and this game won’t hurt if you step on them. My mother used to make this delicious dessert from chocolate, peanut butter and coconut every year for Christmas — not sure of the name.

  49. Karen B. Avatar
    Karen B.

    This would be a great gift for my niece. Thanks for offering a chance to win a give away!

  50. Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) Avatar

    I have a bit of a thing for lemon meringue pie, and my current favourite is lemon meringue chocolate cake – it’s great for celebrations. ๐Ÿ™‚

  51. Heidi Avatar
    Heidi

    My 20 month old daughter would love carrying these around ๐Ÿ™‚

  52. DebbieKL Avatar
    DebbieKL

    Looks like fun! I like egg nog. Mmmmm

  53. Logan Mack Avatar

    Gingersnaps are one of my favorite holiday cookies.

  54. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    These are rad. I make a bunch of different christmas cookies, which I love all of because they are tasty and remind me of my family, who is far away. I love drinking hot buttered rum and spicy mulled wine… mmmmmm.

  55. Jess Avatar
    Jess

    those are so fun!

  56. Jill Avatar
    Jill

    These are really cute! I love to eat all of the cookies and candies my mom makes each year!

  57. Alexandra Avatar
    Alexandra

    Adorable! I love Christmas cookies!

  58. Stacy Avatar
    Stacy

    I love, love, love pumpkin pie!

  59. --anu Avatar
    –anu

    I like to eat iced gingerbread. Unfortunately it has been a few years since I’ve had the kind I like since I get to travel home during summers. American gingerbread is very different from Estonian kind. So I don’t have a sweet that I could look forward to. We do drink mulled cider during holiday season ๐Ÿ™‚

  60. Jeneta@PlumJam Avatar

    We are enjoying eggnog and pumpkin pie right now!

  61. Tryntsje Avatar
    Tryntsje

    Only recently I read about Otedama and it seems so interesting and challenging. I would love to give this a try and to have my daughter to give it a go. She’s eleven and was trying to juggle with the new tennis balls she got the other day. I told her about the five little bags I’d seen and the tricks they do with them. The ones you made are really cute and I’d love them. They would definitely keep us busy for a while. Thank you for letting me participate in the giveaway.
    Tryntsje

  62. dawn mirincondemariposas Avatar

    Thanks! it looks really great!
    I love oat cookies.

  63. Charlotte Lunsford Avatar
    Charlotte Lunsford

    Love this game. Thanks for the chance

  64. Sarah C. Avatar
    Sarah C.

    Just made a large bowl of banana pudding with nilla wafers and its nearly gone this is what happens when you have kids great giveaway thanks.

  65. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    lovely folding/sewing!!

  66. forestfirefarm Avatar
    forestfirefarm

    eggnog of course:)

  67. mnpglass Avatar
    mnpglass

    what an interesting game, looks fun!

  68. Max Avatar
    Max

    eggnog!!! Love the stuff. I love your beanbags, such a cool folding technique

  69. Sally Avatar

    These are really adorable! Sometimes around the holidays, my mom used to make this banana shrub punch (I don’t know why it has such and odd name)- it has bananas, orange juice, pineapple juiceโ€ฆ That is my all time favorite “holiday” drink!

  70. Kim Avatar
    Kim

    Thanks for the chance! This is really cute. I love Christmas cookies!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  71. paloma parra Avatar
    paloma parra

    These are so cool! We love to make warn fruit punch
    for the holidays

  72. holly Avatar
    holly

    THANKS!

    I like basically any Christmas cookies. ๐Ÿ™‚

  73. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    What beautiful beanbags! Yummy = Egg Nog, for sure : )

  74. Kelly O. Avatar
    Kelly O.

    These are beautifully crafted!! my son would love the challenge of playing this! My favourite is sweet potatoe casserole with brown sugar praline topping! yum! Merry Christmas!

  75. BreannaS Avatar
    BreannaS

    I love chocolate dipped pretzels they are soo yummy!

  76. Cindy Dahlgren Avatar
    Cindy Dahlgren

    My granddaughter would love these! What a unique idea. cdahlgrent at live dot com

  77. Emily Callan Avatar

    I hope I win these they are the best.

    Emily
    emilyfashionista.blogspot.com
    mysterygirl995 (at) gmail (dot) com

  78. Jordan Slice Avatar

    I have to say that hot cocoa is definitely my favorite winter treat! ๐Ÿ™‚

  79. Roxanne Avatar

    I love hot cider and cookies! The otedama look lovely in such vibrant colors. ๐Ÿ™‚

  80. Gill Avatar
    Gill

    What fun!!
    I like florentine biscuits!

  81. Jennifer Dewing Avatar

    What a wonderful gift for a little child (I have several of those)! Your bean bags looks so good! Thank you!!

  82. SamanthaRI Avatar
    SamanthaRI

    Those are adorable! I love hot chocolate during the holidays. (Or on any chilly day, really.)

  83. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    I can’t wait to play these with my son. Thanks for the chance to win them.

    I like hot apple cider and kringla cookies.

  84. Steph Blair Avatar

    They are really cute!

    I’d love to have some haggis! Someone on a facebook group was asking for ideas on how to serve and the ideas have me craving the stuff. Chicken stuffed with Haggis and Potato cakes, haggis balls in breadcrumbs, Haggis stuffed jacket potato and cheese, haggis nachos. The ideas kept coming!

  85. Mindy Avatar

    Pumpkin mousse is always the best, especially with gingerbread cookies.

  86. Crystal Wall Avatar

    Cute, make a great stocking stuffer for my boys. Love it! Follow you on Bloglovin. Ty!

  87. Marcela : Naturally Fun Days Avatar

    Beautiful! I know someone special who would love it! Thanks for the chance.

  88. Stacy Avatar
    Stacy

    This time of year I love gingerbread.

  89. Heather Mentzer Avatar
    Heather Mentzer

    We love to make Tasha Tudor English Toffee.

  90. karen Avatar
    karen

    Yummy holiday food…pumpkin pie!

  91. Kathy h Avatar
    Kathy h

    Peppermint hot chocolate.

  92. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    I’d love to win this for my elderly father. He used to love to play basketball, and I think he’d enjoy using these to “shoot baskets.” Thanks for offering this great giveaway!

  93. audrey Avatar
    audrey

    Very generous giveaway! We make a cranberry, orange, apple cider this time of year. Kind of a wassail.:)

  94. Brooke Avatar

    This would be so fun to win! I have four small children who would get a kick out of something like this!

  95. Tamie Avatar
    Tamie

    This would be perfect for my granddaughter. Thanks for participating in the Giveaway Day.

  96. Kristin S. Avatar

    Good evening from Minnesota! Love this little set. As for holiday treats, nothing beats ginger cookies and tea.

  97. Adriana Avatar

    I love chocolate covered cereal during the holidays. It’s sometimes called “puppy chow” or “white trash”, but it’s delicious whatever it’s called. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/muddy-buddies-puppy-chow-recipe/

    Have a great holiday!
    adriprints(at) yahoo(dot)com

  98. Cheri Avatar

    I can think of a few games these little cubes would work great for in addition to the “jacks” game…of which I might add.. I was VERY good at jacks as a kid!
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    Cheri
    quiltingnanny(at)yahoo(dot)com

  99. Rebekah S. Avatar
    Rebekah S.

    I love peppermint!!! Especially peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks. With vanilla pound cake. just yum.

  100. DebV Avatar
    DebV

    Hoping my son could use these to learn to juggle. Chai tea has become a favorite drink.

  101. Kim S Avatar
    Kim S

    These look fun. I love gingerbread. Thanks.

  102. Deana Avatar
    Deana

    These are so cute! I love eggnog during the holidays!

  103. stacy alfano Avatar
    stacy alfano

    I love eating gingerbread!

  104. Susan Avatar

    Oh, yay, a blog I actually CAN comment on! =) Thanks so much for the chance to win these. My son loves ALL things Japanese, and I know he’d love these if I win them. I think my favorite thing to eat during the holidays is fudge. Yum!

  105. Tas Avatar

    I have a rather yummy (and definately calorie laden) egg nog recipe that I save for Christmas Eve and indulge!

  106. Jodi R Avatar
    Jodi R

    Favourite thing to eat at Christmas is my Late Grandmothers Secret Frozen Christmas Pudding. It is a secret family recipe that can only be made at Christmas time and only those who can be trusted to keep the tradition and the secret are trusted with the recipe (I am one of the lucky few).

  107. Karen L Avatar
    Karen L

    I like just about anything that is baked, but not too sweet, with a good holiday tea.

  108. Michelle Smith Avatar
    Michelle Smith

    These are so cute! I love to make cookies with my kids and we enjoy sharing them and eating them!

    detroitgirl77 AT gmail DOT com

  109. Patti Avatar
    Patti

    I think these will be quite fun for my kids! I happen to love pineapple cheesecake from my mom’s recipe. It’s light and fluffy, not like New York cheesecake, and we only make it for Christmas!

  110. Grandma Marcia Avatar
    Grandma Marcia

    What fun! My husband visits Japan several times per year for work – what fun it would be to win this prize! My favorite thing is kumla (potato dumplings).

  111. Sarah R Avatar

    These are great. I love the colors!

  112. Afton Avatar

    I’ve never tried it, but holiday songs are making me want to try figgy pudding. What a great prize! They look like a lot of work to make.

  113. Megan P Avatar
    Megan P

    Cute! Thanks for the giveaway!

  114. Barbara J Avatar
    Barbara J

    Thanks for the giveaway. I always make mulled spiced apple cider to get us through the cold nights. I’ve tried mulled wine, too, and like it but I seem to be in the minority at my house on that one.

  115. LIbby Avatar
    LIbby

    I love to eat almond bars. They’re a yummy thing made a lot in our Dutch community and just taste of almond, butter and sugar. Nummmmmmm.

  116. Ariel Avatar
    Ariel

    What a fun giveaway! I love hot apple cider (when I’m feeling festive) and peppermint tea (just about any evening) during the holidays.

  117. Heather C. Avatar
    Heather C.

    I’m in love with pumpkin pie…and hot chocolate. I’m going to make some Hot Chocolate truffles soon. You drop them into hot milk and stir to make ahhh-mazing hot chocolate. Yum!
    Thanks!

  118. T Bosch Avatar
    T Bosch

    I love fudge!
    Thanks for the giveaway!

  119. tina Avatar
    tina

    Cute project. Thanks for the chance.

  120. Kristen Avatar
    Kristen

    I love chocolate peppermint shakes- if you are near a Chickfila, theirs are the best!

  121. maryanne @ mama smiles Avatar

    These are really cute! I love a nice cup of hot chocolate.

  122. Erika Avatar
    Erika

    Those are really cute! I’m going to have to check out the link to them.

  123. emme Avatar
    emme

    all. the. cookies.
    emmevon(at)gmail(dot)com

  124. Mara Avatar

    Totally cute, apple pie with a scoop of ice-cream sound so good right now.

  125. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    I love mulled cider, and decorated Christmas cookies. Eating frosted cookies any other time of the year never seems right, somehow. ๐Ÿ™‚

  126. Debra Kay Neiman Avatar
    Debra Kay Neiman

    My grand daughters would love these. Merry Christmas from Oklahoma, USA! crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

  127. Jenna@CallHerHappy Avatar

    These are adorable and I must have them!

    Also, I love chamomile tea ๐Ÿ™‚

  128. Nicole Sender Avatar
    Nicole Sender

    I like my mother’s Scottish shortbread and mincemeat pie at Christmas!

  129. Lixie Avatar
    Lixie

    I love Quality Street – a brand of chocolates you can get in the UK. They definitely say ‘christmas’ to me.

  130. Rachel Martorano Avatar

    These are so cool! I like to eat speck kuchen around New Years. It’s bread dough stuffed with bacon and onions and was something hubby’s family had all through his life for New Years. A yummy tradition! Thanks for participating! ๐Ÿ™‚

  131. marjolein Avatar
    marjolein

    I love lots of things to eat, this time of year (winter i mean, not necesarily holidays) it’s soup at least once a week. Soup always makes things better!

  132. Nancysue Avatar
    Nancysue

    How fun!!! I have a 7 yr old son that can test drive these ๐Ÿ™‚ I love the colors! I love to cook/eat my cranberry/kumquat cranberry sauce. A bit labor intensive, but I try to freeze some to get the most bang out of the effort, but there never seems to be enough left over to freeze ๐Ÿ™‚

  133. Barbara Orozco Avatar
    Barbara Orozco

    This is a gorgeous set! My yummy Christmas treat is our family Fondue dinner at Christmas Eve with prawns, chicken, beef and venison, homemade garlic butter, homemade bread and a green salad. I’m getting hungry…
    Thanks for the chance!

  134. Lindsay Avatar

    These are so cute! Thanks for the chance to win them.

  135. auschick Avatar
    auschick

    I went to Trader Joes today and had to resist the urge to buy all the amazing holiday treats they have right now. Though, I did walk out with chocolate ice cream and salted caramel gelato! Any time, any where!

  136. Shanna Avatar

    I love teh hot apple cider that we put in the crock pot from Thanksgiving until New Years!

  137. Louise Avatar

    I love these! They are adorable!!!

  138. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    I have so many nephews who would work hard in secret to practice up so as to be able to show off in public. Thanks for sharing the information on the tutorial and the directions. If I win, I’m keeping yours, so I’ll have to make any I want to give away. During the holidays, I could live on Christmas cookies!

  139. Carmen N Avatar
    Carmen N

    Those are adorable. I love too many holiday foods as evident by the scale ๐Ÿ˜› – hot apple cider, hot chocolate, pies, peppermint ice cream, cut-out sugar cookies, etc.

  140. Danette Avatar

    Buy some caramel vodka, Stoli salted caramel is the best and mix it with Coke. Tastes like candy. Thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net

  141. Linda Fleming Avatar
    Linda Fleming

    I love shortbread cookies and fruit cake!

  142. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    I love these. My husband is a juggler and I’d guess he’d try to juggle them, however the game sounds really neat. I like anything warmed with peppermint schnapps added. This stoli carmel thing sounds pretty good though. Thanks for the giveaway and happiest of holidays.

  143. Elizabeth Johnson Avatar

    Looks like loads of fun, we love games especially if we are throwing things. I love to eat homemade peanut butter fudge no one around us makes it until Christmas time, then it is everywhere! So love fudge! Great giveaway!