Simplistically Sassy Giveaway WINNER!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  We are so thankful for all of readers. :)  And now...it's time to announce the lucky winner of our Simplistically Sassy giveaway!!!

According to random.org, our lucky commenter is:

Who is...

Congratulations, Nathaly!!

Send us an email at shesaidblog@yahoo.com and we'll get you set up.

And a BIG "Thank You!" to Kara for sponsoring our giveaway!!

GIVEAWAY from Simplistically Sassy!!

***This giveaway is now CLOSED***


Wow, do we have something great for you!!!

This is Kara: 

This is Kara ten years ago when she and Nancy were college roommates:

Kara is the creative crocheting genius behind the shop Simplistically Sassy, where she sells handmade hats, scarves, and other crocheted goodies.

Because Kara is so stinkin' awesome, she has agreed to host a GIVEAWAY for She Said!!

Before we get to all the details, let's learn a little more about Kara.

Hi friends!  My name is Kara from Simplistically Sassy. 

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 7 ½ years!  We have 5 kids. 

My oldest is Will, and he is 6 ½.  Then there is Kate, she’s 4 ¾, Spencer is 3 ½, Jack is 2, and Hannah is 10 months.  Yep, they are close, yep it’s always crazy at my house, and yep, I have my hands full (or something like that). 

It’s crazy and always fun at our house.  I even have the pleasure of potty training my 2 year old right now (I know you’re jealous).

Kara's cute family

Here few burning questions from the girls at She Said answered for your reading pleasure:

**When did you start crocheting? I learned to crochet fall semester of college 2003.  I didn’t really actually learn to crochet and follow a pattern and know the technicalities behind it until I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2006.

**What is you favorite thing you’ve made?  I think hands-down my girls' blessing dresses.  Maybe I’ll put them up on my blog for looks.  I’m not ready to committee to making/selling them quite yet.  They’re very time consuming. 

Blessing dress

**When do you find time to crochet?  I crochet during nap time if I have a little extra time.  Mostly it is done after the kids are in bed (we have a very strict 7 PM bedtime for 4/5 of my children, and strict 8 PM bedtime for the other 1/5).  My husband and I will watch movies or a tv show and I’ll just crochet all night long. 

**What made you decide to start an shop?  Oh man.  I don’t know.  I originally wanted to start one for blessing dresses, then decided to start smaller with hats.  Then I realized a blog would be even better because it’s free (Etsy has fees).  I just made it my goal to get it up and started this year, and was able to actually do it!  It’s awesome!

**How did you choose the name for your shop?  Lol!  Well, back in the day before I had kids or a husband, I worked one summer at a girls camp.  At this camp we’d have 13-14 year old girls up at camp from Monday morning-Friday afternoon, then the next week we’d get more girls.  Each counselor had a nickname we went by all week and the girls only knew us by that name until Friday morning when they finally learned our real name.  I was Sarsaparilla, AKA Sassy.  The Simplistically just came to mind eventually and wasn’t taken on Etsy.  It fits just right, though.

**What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?  Food, it’s got to be the mashed potatoes mixed with corn … they always MUST be beside one another on the plate so they can be eaten together.  Dessert type food, pumpkin pie no doubt. Love it!

**Who was your favorite college roommate?  Nancy asked this in gest, but she always knows the answer.  Nancy and I were freshman college roommates, and I have known Michelle just as long since they were such great friends, I eventually met Michelle as well.  Nancy already knows she was my favorite though, lol.

Okay, now for the GIVEAWAY!

Here's what you need to know:

She Said Giveaway Rules and Promo Information

*One lucky reader will win $25 credit towards any item + free shipping!!

*15% off will be given to any She Said readers the week of the giveaway.

-That means that you can go onto the website and take a gander at what you’d love to get.

-Click on the tab that says “Place an Order” at the top.

-In the comment section use the promo code SHESAID15 and you will get 15% off your order!!

How to Win:

Mandatory:

*Go to www.simplisticallysassy.blogspot.com and take a look around (there are tons of hats, so make sure to scroll ALL the way down to see everything)
and post a comment on THIS post and tell us what you would use your $25 credit towards.

Optional extra entries (1 entry for each):

**Make sure to leave a comment for each of the following that you do!**

*Like Simplistically Sassy on Facebook

*Follow Simplistically Sassy blog

*Like She Said on Facebook
EDITED: Become friends with She Said on Facebook.
(Sorry for the confusion!!!)

*Follow She Said blog

The fine print: Winner must contact She Said within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.  The winner is responsible for any dollar amount over $25, and will be responsible for $2 shipping costs when ordering more than the $25 credit covers (unless only 1 item is ordered, and that item is more than $25). 

All orders on the website using the discount need to be paid in full before order will be started and must pay using Paypal.

Entries will be accepted until midnight (Pacific time) on Thanksgiving.

The winner will be announced here on Black Friday!

Thanks, Kara!!

We love you!!

DIY Dry Erase Board Book

I am really excited to bring you this craft today! It's simple, easy & while I have been preparing the pics for this post Baby S is STILL coloring in it.

Supplies:

 An old board book

dry erase vinyl sheets - I got mine from Pick Your Plum (if you haven't signed up to get their e-mails, you MUST! Really cheap craft supplies that go fast!) The sheets that I have already have an adhesive backing. I highly reccomend this because it's easier to work with/attach/etc

scrapbook paper

letters - stickers or cut outs would do fine. I think cutting out letters from magazines & newspapers would be cute too! 

Mod Podge

 scissors 

 dry erase crayons

Trace the form of the book pages onto your dry erase sheets. The easiest way I found was to place the sheet in the book and trace around it. Once the sheets are cut place directly on the page of the book. The dry erase vinyl was really forgiving & I was able to correct any placing mistakes I made. Be sure to rub it down onto the page and get any bubbles out.

Trace out the shape of the book onto your scrapbook paper, brush Mod Podge onto the book & the back of your paper and place. Again, rub the paper onto the book and be sure to get any bubbles out. Once the paper is flat place (or glue) your lettering on the book and apply another coat of Mod Podge (I would suggest at least two).

I also covered the back & the spine of the book. The scrapbook paper I used was previously used as gift wrap so there were bits of tape and pulled off print in spots. I think it added to the character of the book and gave it a bit of a worn look.

Allow to dry. Usually 30mins can do the trick for each coat. (You need to allow each coat to dry before you apply another one)

And there you have it! A dry erase book just for you your kids/nieces&nephews/etc. Pull out the crayons and start coloring!

I used the new Crayola dry erase crayons. I really love them!! You can get them pretty much anywhere now. I found them at my local grocery store (I live in a far away rural land that doesn't contain a Wal Mart)

Let your little Picasso go at it! The dry erase crayons come off with a little mit that comes with the crayons and it wipes off pretty easily. It also wipes off coloring that is on the floor, the wall & the laundry basket (in case you were wondering).

I was not sponsored by Crayola to do this project. I bought the product & my opions are completely my own. But if they wanted to sponsor me....I wouldn't stop them.

Linked up to I Heart Nap Time & The Sunday Scoop

Soup's On!

I love soup.  Seriously.  When given the choice between soup and saland, I will choose soup 99% of the time.  On a cold day, there's nothing quite like a hot bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out.  Autumn time brings colder weather to most of the country, but I recently relocated to Texas and let me to tell you, it does not get very cold here.  However, last Thursday we got all the way down into the upper 50s (it was in the 50s in Logan the first week of October before we moved!) and I was so happy to bust out one of my favorite soup recipes.  I originally found it on Tasty Kitchen and couldn't believe how quick, easy, and delicious it is!  In fact, it was so delicious that Mr. W and I ate it all before I could take a picture.  I hope you will still try it despite its lack of photographic deliciousness Michelle took one look at this recipe and knew that she had to make it for dinner last night and took a picture of it. Seriously soooo good. Mr. S said, "this recipe is a keeper!" Make it TONIGHT!-- you'll be glad you did!

Cheddar Potato Chowder

adapted from a Tasty Kitchen recipe by jilltamara

¼ cups butter

2 whole carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 whole onion, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoons dry mustard

½ teaspoons paprika

¼ teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups milk or cream

2 cups chicken stock

6 whole potatoes, chopped (I use russett, but the original recipe calls for red potatoes)

½ pounds bacon (leave this out if you want to go vegetarian!)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 bunch chives, minced (optional)

In a large stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onion, and cook until vegetables are soft but not brown, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in flour and remaining dry ingredients, up to and including the salt. Cook for about 2 minutes until ingredients bind together. Gradually add milk, about a half cup at a time, and stir constantly. Once all of the milk has been incorporated, pour in the chicken stock and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. While the soup is simmering, cook the bacon in a separate pan.  Remove soup pot from heat and stir in cheddar cheese, handfuls at a time, until all two cups are added and the cheese is melted. Stir in bacon.  Sprinkle top with chives.

I adapted a few things myself. I had a variety of potatoes (red, russet & yellow) that I used.I used a whole clove of  minced garlic and added it in after the onion, carrots & celery cooked for a few minutes - the smell of real garlic is amazing. I didn't have time to work with bacon, but subbed cubed ham that I had on hand. After I let the soup boil I pulled out my handy emulsifier and blended it just a bit (still mostly chunky). If you are using milk instead of cream the blended potatoes help thicken the soup a bit. If you don't have an emulsifier just take a cup or two of the soup and run it through the blender and stir it back in.

Bon appetit!

Linked Up to I Heart Naptime & the Sunday Scoop