Karen’s Opinion

Hear ye! Hear ye! I have joined a great blog hop to get myself into the holiday spirit! I think you should join in. It is going to be loads of fun and you will meet some nice people.

The Frugal Housewife is hosting a Blog Hop on

“Decorating for the Holidays” on December 14th.

What do you need to do in order to sign up and be included in the “Decorating for the Holidays” Blog Hop?

1. Be a family friendly blog. Adult themed content (gambling, pornographic, or adult humor) will not be included.

2. If you are a family friendly blog and want to participate, sign up by December 9th using the MckLinky form. A list of the participants will be posted on The Frugal Housewife’s and will be available for the participants to post on their blog. This will give you linky love back to your blog.

3. Write a post on December 14th about the subject “Decorating for the Holidays.” It doesn’t matter what your niche is as long as it’s family friendly. If you are personal finance writer, you might want to write a post on how expensive it is to decorate for the holidays or how you can save money decorating for the holidays. If you are a craft person you might want to write a how to make a holiday decoration. If you are food blog, you might want to write a blog on how you can create a holiday tablescape. You get the picture… the post has to deal with “Decorating for the Holidays.”

This is very important!!! At the end of your post, you will need to provide a link to the next person on the list after you. Thus creating the Blog Hop. This also creates more linky love. A couple of days before the Blog Hop our host will let the participants know who the person is after them that they need to link to. If she doesn’t have an email address for you, please watch your comments for a comment from her.

What can you do to help drive readers to the blog hop?

ADVERTISE!!! ADVERTISE!!! ADVERTISE!!! The sooner you start advertising, the better! Give shout outs about the blog hop on your blog, your Facebook, your Twitter, whatever other social networks you belong to. Remember, the more you help drive people to the blog hop the more successful it will be and the more readers you will have and hopefully you will find new readers that will keep returning to visit your blog!

It really is a WIN, WIN combination!!! You get linky love from the Blog Hop. You give linky love to other blogs. You get new readers visiting your blog from other blogs. You basically get free advertising that you are a part of the blog from those posting the lists of Blog Hop participants. Plus … you get a lot of holiday decorating ideas!

Come on, what are you waiting for? Sign up and let’s have a great Decorating for the Holidays Blog Hop!!!

I admire those who have chosen the path of homeschooling. Homeschooling is a tough undertaking and is not for the faint of heart. I used to think that those who taught their children at home did it because they were lazy. They simply shoved a book in front of their child and they expected that child to learn. I was so wrong. People who homeschool put so much time and effort into choosing the curriculum that is best for their family. Whether they choose an online curriculum or join a local co-op of other families who homeschool, they put a lot of thought into what information they are using to educate their child.

From reading the blogs of friends who homeschool, I have gained so much respect for their effort. It seems to me that everything they do becomes a chance to teach their children. They visit historical landmarks, museums and zoos. They are very involved in everything they study. I want to go to school all over again and be taught at home. I would be one of three million children who are being taught at home.

There are many reasons for choosing to homeschool. Whatever reasons each family has used to reach their decision, I wish them success.

Have you ever received a recipe jar? It is a jar filled with ingredients to make yummy things like cookies and cookie bars. There are jars that have the ingredients for soups and other wonderful items. You simply follow the directions attached to the jar and wallah! you have a yummy treat and didn’t have to search your cupboards for the ingredients. You can find instructions for making these jars at places like Gifts in a Jar. Make a few as gifts and watch the recipients smile. They might even decide to share the final product! Yummy!

Here is a jar recipe for butterscotch cookies:
Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar

To Make the Layered Jar Gift:
Layer ingredients in a one quart mason jar, in the order given. Screw the jar on the lid, and cover with a circle of fabric or a paper doily, held down with a rubber band. Cover the rubber band with yarn or ribbon and tie a bow.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dr. Oetker. All opinions are 100% mine.

If ever there was a time to wish I were a Canadian citizen, this is it. This contest is only open to Canadian citizens but I am going to tell the rest of you about it anyway! Perhaps you have a Canadian relative that would love to win. I would love to get rid of my harvest gold appliances. So, if you live in Canada and desire new kitchen appliances, the Dr. Oetker Kitchen Makeover Contest is easy to enter so, heads up!

Dr. Oetker Casa di Mama makes it easy to enter by simply picking up PIN’s from specially marked packages of Casa di Mama Pizza. The more pizza’s you buy, the more chances you have to win a wonderful $20,000 Kitchen Makeover. While at the website, become a Savory Moments member and receive a special bonus PIN. There are eight additional prizes that include a new Whirpool appliance. Two thousand people will instantly win a Casa di Mama Pizza or a pizza cutter. Sounds exciting doesn’t it?

Hurry! The contest ends January 4, 2010 Read the rules and regulations to learn how to receive a PIN code without making a purchase. All prizes will be awarded as described in the rules.

This week’s theme for heads or tails is “won” or “one.” Well, I have been working on Christmas gifts and finished this one. One down, twelve to go!

I am also working on getting a few Christmas purses, like this one, finished and listed in my Etsy shop.

Join us at Heads or Tails and see what other’s have listed as their “won” or “one.” It is great fun.