Winter in Winder: Fun Festivities and More

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Krissyar

2016 Winder Christmas Parade
Downtown Winder on North Broad St.
December 10th starting at 4 p.m.

Join us for a day of fun and excitement! The Winder Christmas Parade has been a tradition for 68 years, and we welcome you, your family and your friends to see a display of hand-crafted and beautifully designed floats, vintage cars, decorated trucks, military vehicles and more. Special guest appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus, and after the parade, head to the gazebo for pictures with Christmas’ favorite couple.

Holiday Ice Rink
Downtown Winder Gazebo Park
North Broad Street
Winder, GA 30680

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Book Festival
5342 Tilly Mill Rd Atlanta, GA
November 5th – 20th

Atlanta’s Book Festival of the MJCCA is a huge literary event spanning fifteen days and featuring authors, celebrities, journalists and scholars. There are multiple opportunities for book lovers to interact with authors including panel discussions, meet and greets, book signings and readings. Gallery exhibitions showcase work from solo artists as well as touring shows from a national network of galleries and museums. There are several activities for children and teens, too, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy!

Atlanta Christkindl Market
1380 Atlantic Dr NW Atlanta, GA
December 2nd – 24th

Let yourself be enchanted by the special outdoor atmosphere of the ATLANTA CHRISTKINDL MARKET – the city’s first and largest winter holiday festival at Atlantic Station.
Meet and mingle with your family & friends at the traditional German Christkindl Market. Come and enjoy authentic German food and beverages in a festive atmosphere. Also find great holiday gifts for your beloved ones.

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Santa’s Cottage
Atlantic Station
1380 Atlantic Dr
Atlanta, GA 30363

Santa’s here! Come meet the jolly ol’ man in his cottage in Central Park! Santa will be visiting throughout the holiday season, leading up to his final visit on Christmas Eve. Children of all ages are welcome to share their holiday cheer and have their picture taken!

Ugly Sweater Run
Piedmont Park
December 3, 2016

The Ugly Sweater Run presented by Kahlúa is national running series benefitting One Warm Coat. Register you, your friends and family for the Merriest 5k of the year coming to a city near you.
Here’s how it works:
  • Dig out the best/ugliest/most original holiday sweater you can possibly find (or make one!)
  • You can also find the perfect ugly sweater at UglyChristmasSweater.com! Use the promo code SweaterRun for 10% off!
  • Grab your friends and your running shoes
  • Buy a ticket for your entry to the best holiday party of the year
  • Come prepared at the start line to Put the Elf in Selfie! Run a 5k, take the best holiday photo of the year, shoot marshmallow guns, ride a mechanical reindeer, play in some fake snow, hang out in a life size snow globe, enjoy a complimentary Kahlúa cocktail (21+) and so much more!

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Ice Holiday Market
Yaarab Temple
December 11th, 11 a.m – 6 p.m.

Join us for our last minute, intimate holiday shopping event with 50+ amazing handcrafted vendors! The first 150 attendees will receive a swag bag designed by Atlanta-artist Native Bear. There will also be delicious, local food vendors and DJ Zano!

This post is sponsored by Akins Dodge Jeep Chrysler.

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The Perfect Gift for Her This Holiday Season

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Krissyar

I know that women can be well – a bit difficult to buy for. Clothes – well that’s usually just a no-no unless you know her exact size, and well shoes aren’t something that just anyone can pick out for you. But there is one way you can never go wrong – and that’s with jewelry.

The Jewel Hut  has an awesome list of jewelry to chose from  – and some great ideas for any budget.

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One of my favorite gifts to give (and receive – hint, hint) is anything and everything Pandora. Pandora jewelry is classic and timeless; a few years ago my sister & I got my Mom a Pandora bracelet and for every major holiday since we’ve given her a Pandora charm to add to it. Mothers Day, her Birthday, and Christmas. You can get charms that represent an important part of your life (we got a charm to represent each of her grandchildren – for example a book charm to represent her oldest grandchild, my daughter, who absolutely loves to read – to a bear on a rocking horse to represent the year my nephew was born). With Pandora we can never go wrong.

Another bonus? When you order Pandora they come already in a beautiful black pouch and a gift bag!

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There are soo many items to chose from – you just can’t go wrong! From bracelets, to ring and necklaces, there’s something for every special lady in your life!

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Crockpot Chili Mac

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Krissyar

“Tiss the season for fall cooking! If you are like me you are always looking for easy (and tasty) recipes for dinner for the family. What I love about the Crockpot Chili Mac is it heats-up great for leftovers (especially to bring for lunch at work the next day).

If you have a vegetarian or someone who isn’t a big fan of ground beef in your family, use a separate pot on the stove and put all the same ingredients in except leave out the ground beef. One of my daughters’ has been on a vegetarian kick since this past January, but it’s gotten a little easier to just throw a separate pot on for her so she can eat with us too!

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef

8 oz of elbow macaroni (uncooked)

1 Small Onion Finely chopped

1 (30 oz) can of chili beans

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

½ a packet of taco seasoning (any brand works)

2 cups beef broth

1 cup shredded sharp cheese

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 How to Make:

In a larget skillet you want to brown your beef until it is cooked threw. Add in your onions right before the meat is done, and let the onions get a little soft.

Add all the ingredients except the cheese (cheese goes in right before serving) into crockpot.

Stir the ingredients and cover and let cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours. You want to cook until the pasta is tender.  I cook on low for my crockpot. You can speed up the time by cooking on high, if you prefer. I just find slow works best.

About 5 minutes before serving top with the cheese and let it melt down a little.

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Halloween Fortune Cookies

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Krissyar
My kids love to do crafts and art projects (like when they made a cat carrier with a litter box), and I have to admit – I am not that crafty. I search Pinterest for ideas, and than usually am discouraged because the amount of steps and materials are just a bit overwhelming for me.  What I do love is when I’m able to find or come up with a craft that actually is easy. I also love when I can offer a Halloween goodie to my kids class that doesn’t include a ton of sugar and candy (which you can include in this if you wish – but you have options). These Halloween Fortune Cookies are bound to be a hit with kids and adults alike!
Materials Needed:
Glue Dots
White Card stock paper (I used 110lb weight)
Printer (for printable)
Scissors
Directions:
1.  Please print the following fortune cookies template (1) (1) . Allow a couple of minutes to dry (approximately 10). We want to make sure that the paper is thorough dry before cutting. This amount of time will ensure that no residual wet ink will smear or adhere to your fingers or clothes.
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2.  Cut out the shapes of the fortune cookies & rectangular sayings.
3. Let’s make our fortune cookies! This is a lot more simple than what it looks. To make our “cookies”, to one of your circular cut-outs and fold in half. Do this without making a crease. You just want to make the ends of your circle meet.
4. With your one finger, push the middle of your semi-circle. Once you start doing this, you will see how the fortune cookie will automatically start forming! Before closing the cookie completely, insert one of your Halloween sayings. I use alternate colors, but you can do what you like.
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5. As you can see, our ends now meet…and we have our fortune cookie! Now, to keep the cookie in this form, take a glue dot and stick it in the middle of where the cookie ends meet together. You’re done!
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This will be sure to add an extra flare of Halloween air at any party! Great to fill with a piece of candy, too!

 

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Kings Island The Great Pumpkin Fest

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Krissyar

This post is sponsored by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand, and I have been compensated for my participation. All opinions are my own.

As you know, my family loves a good fall festival; we hit up the Old West Fest, Renaissance Festival and quite a few other general fall festivals in the area, but I was super excited to head over to Kings Island for the Great Pumpkin Fest last weekend.

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Every Saturday & Sunday’s in October you can join the family fun that includes live Halloween themed shows, a pumpkin patch, hay bale maze, petting farm, a costume contest, trick-or-treating, coloring station, a talking pumpkin and a lot more! Not to mention all the rides in Planet Snoopy that are just for kids!

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From 12 to 6 Saturday and Sunday you can join the Great Pumpkin Fun which is held over in the water park area of Kings Island (take the train, or just a short  walk past Planet Snoopy to get there).  There’s a ton to do (plenty to fill up your day) but my son’s 2 favorites were the petting zoo, and the games!

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What kid doesn’t love a petting zoo?

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The other really great thing about the Great Pumpkin Fest? All the kids games have a winner. Nathan was so excited to win a Minion winter hat when he played Tower (or high striker as they call it) for $2 per play, to try your strength at the game, there’s a winner every time! I love that they’ve done this, since you already pay money to get in the park (and pay for parking, food and drinks). Though it was a bit warm, he’s excited to wear his hat this winter!

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There were plenty of things to do to keep the kids active – and tons of stuff to look at. I was totally obsessed with the creativity used for the hay bales.

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The Great Talking Pumpkin was pretty fun as well – all the kids were getting a kick out of the pumpkin talking to them, and answering questions about what they were wearing or doing.. they were mesmerized!

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It was a long, hot day (though the rest of the month’s forecast is supposed to be nice and cool – perfect for fall festivals!) so we took the train back to the park and called it a day!

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For more information about The Great Pumpkin fest, including park hours check out their website here.

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