Giveaway: $500 Amazon Gift Card plus Betty Crocker products
Mazzy will be five next week and Harlow just turned two. For the past few years, we have been able to get away with a pretty minimal holiday celebration. In fact, I’ve been using a sneaky little holiday hack of which I’m quite proud.
Are you ready for this one?
Mazzy’s birthday is December 9th and she always has a birthday party. My trick is stashing away a bunch of her birthday presents to use for the eight nights of Hanukah. Trust me, the last thing Mazzy needs is a double dose of new toys.
But… since Mazzy is now in kindergarten and learning basic math (like “why were there only 7 presents when there were 15 kids at my party????”), I don’t think I will be able to get away with that this year.
To make things even harder, I’ve noticed Mazzy is becoming increasingly obsessed with Christmas. I think she’s a little sad we don’t celebrate it and I find myself looking for ways I can make our holiday season just as festive, without her feeling like she’s missing something by not having a tree at home.
This is one reason I was very excited when Betty Crocker asked me to make a “how-to” video for one of their Top 10 Holiday Cookies for Kids. It seemed like an easy way to amp up Mazzy and Harlow’s Hanukah this year.
FYI- If someone had asked me to make holiday cookies from scratch, I probably would have backed away from the confection oven slowly before hightailing it out of the kitchen. I AM NOT A BAKER. Being in the kitchen with a bag of flour and an electric mixer STRESSES ME OUT.
But cookies from a mix in a box, I can handle.
In fact, I told Betty Crocker I would do them one better.
“If you want to show how easy it is to make Betty Crocker cookies, can I have my four-year-old bake them for me?”
They agreed and another Mazzy Baking Tutorial was born.
If you are not familiar with Mazzy’s tutorials, she has made cookie lollipops and mini turkey meatballs in the past with a confidence I cannot muster in the kitchen. And now, I think Mazzy has done her best work yet— baking Betty Crocker Holiday Present Cookies.
They’re square peanut butter cookies decorated to look like presents with a little frosting, food coloring and sprinkles.
I think you can see in the video how much Mazzy genuinely loves baking. I like to think she also loves spending some quality time with mom. Although I’d venture to guess that dipping her fingers in frosting probably has a lot to do with her enjoyment level as well.
In any case, I can’t think of a quicker or easier way to make it feel like the holidays than baking some festive looking cookies FROM A BOX.
Hope you enjoy this video as much as Mazzy and I enjoyed making it!
You can find the full recipe here, plus lots more kid-friendly cookies ideas at Betty Crocker’s Kid’s Cookie Corner.
Do you have a holiday hack or shortcut you want to share?
It can be about anything from baking to gift wrapping to holiday travel. I’ll be posting my favorite holiday hack responses in a follow-up post, with one answer selected randomly to win a $500 Amazon gift card and a portfolio of Betty Crocker products.
Winning $500 in a Mommy Shorts giveaway is a pretty good shortcut to holiday happiness, don’t you think?
GIVEAWAY RULES:
1. You must be a Mommy Shorts facebook fan to enter. If you are not one already, you can become a fan by clicking here. Then leave a comment below explaining your favorite holiday hack. I will also be accepting entries on my facebook page.
2. If you’d like a second entry, subscribe to the Mommy Shorts daily or weekly email and leave a second comment saying you did so. If you are already a subscriber, just say so in your comment.
3. If you’d like a third entry, tweet the following and then leave a third comment saying you did so.
I’m sharing my holiday hacks for a shot at a $500 Amazon gift card from @mommyshorts & @bettycrocker! http://bit.ly/1tElJtx #getyourbettyon
Winner will be announced on December 15th. You can read the full rules here.
Good luck!
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This post was sponsored by Betty Crocker, but all thoughts and finger licking children are my own. Be sure to check out their Kid’s Cookie Corner for some really fun baking ideas easy enough for your kiddos.
My holiday hack this year was purchasing a few Hanukah gifts with multiple pieces. For example, we got my 3 1/2 year old a set of princess dolls with seven different dolls. Instead of giving it to her all at once (and really going for the shock value) we’re opening the pack and giving her one or two each night. And I’m doing the same with a pack of books she loves. Bam. Tons of presents, not tons of overload, not breaking the bank. And I’m a Facebook fan and email subscriber!
Tweeted too!
I just started knitting this year, but I got good enough that I could make a couple presents. I’ve had my mom’s, niece’s, and nephew’s presents done for months. Seriously, do not wait until November/December to buy presents. Do it year round!
(I’m a FB fan)
This is half hack and half family tradition my mom came up with. I bought one giant roll of wrapping paper (massive ones-from Costco) per family member. Each family member basically has a specific pattern of paper in which his or her gifts are wrapped. This allows me to do away with gift tags (which I can never find anyway) and cuts down on the number of random holiday wrapping rolls I have to store from year to year. Plus each roll lasts a good few years when only being used for one person, so it becomes a part of the tradition and something to look forward to seeing again year after year (ex. My holiday gifts from my mom have always been wrapped in some variant of blue snowman paper since I was a kid- wouldn’t feel like the holiday without it!)
I pick up a few extra bottles of wine and some small goodies (like tiny succulents or mini travel games) at the beginning of December. Inevitably, there’s that someone who gives you a gift you weren’t expecting or that party you forgot about in the holiday melee. I just reach into my stockpile, slap a ribbon on it, and enjoy the festivities without rushing to the store every 5 minutes! If the gifts don’t get used, more wine for me!
Already a subscriber.
And tweeted: https://twitter.com/bybreenah/status/540175684069765120
(I subscribed to the Mommy Shorts email list)
These redic easy cookies are my go-to. So easy. So yummy. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chocolate-gooey-butter-cookies-recipe.html
Already a subscriber
Already a FB fan too! 🙂
We have girls with birthdays near the holidays, and they receive so many birthday presents. we recycle some of the gift cards and let them pick out gifts for each other – it’s fun for both to feel like they have spending money, and saves us from buying more gifts!
i am a fan and already subscribe to your email.
my holiday hack is ever since we had my son 5.5 years ago, we don’t travel for the holidays! we told them all that if they want to see us, they are more than welcome to come to our house, but we are creating our own traditions and want santa to visit our house. viola- no family drama and we can relax and do nothing on christmas day instead of having to rush around to see everyone! no one makes the trip, cause hello, who wants to travel at christmas!
When making sides for Thanksgiving dinner I double the recipe and freeze one batch. Then when Christmas comes I can pull out the frozen batches and there’s less prep work!
tweeted too!
My holiday baking hack is guilt tripping my mom into coming early and “helping” aka doing it. It’s a win win. Plus she’s a better cook than I am : )
Love following you! We have girls very close in age (my daughter and Harlow) and I love reading about what Harlow is currently doing (and Mazzy, too, because let’s face it, she’s adorable!)
My holiday hacks include:
– using a pre-lit fake tree and allowing my almost 2 year old to hang the ornaments on (that way, when it looks, well, terrible, I can say, “The baby did it!”and people are impressed by her skills and my Type A personality allowing her to take control.)
– my daughter’s birthday is December 11th, so when I bake for her birthday party, I double the batches, freeze half, and save some godies for holiday parties
– I keep my bar stocked with un-opened bottles of wine for last minute gifts when we’re invited to holiday parties. Who doesn’t love wine? I do the same with Starbucks gift cards (keep a bunch of $5-10 cards around for a last minute treat for someone.)
Already a subscriber! Sorry for the second comment, I suck at reading directions… Maybe that’s why I have to get my mom to bake for me!
My holiday hack is to bake in large batches and freeze for later. It’s not much work to make a larger batch of cookies or muffins and we have them to enjoy and give as gifts too!
My holiday hack is DRINKING! I always(usually) drink A LOT the night before I have guests or family come over. I get drunk and clean the house more thoroughly in this time than any other time the whole year. Of course, when family arrives I apologize for the mess, even though I know my baseboards are sparkling.
“It’s raining peanut butter!” That was adorable.
My holiday hack is putting leftover Halloween candy in our advent calendar. I need to get rid of that candy!
Oops, meant to post “hahaha” about your comment, Debby, but then it looked like the regular comment post box, so I got confused.
i love the end where she says it was fun baking with you! so sweet!
I freeze lots of unbaked cookie dough in early December, and when it comes time to hand out treats to neighbors, teachers, etc, all I have to do is pop them on a baking sheet. I guess its my own break and bake cookies.
My holiday hack when baking from a box or pouch is to add a tsp of peppermint extract to the sugar cookie mix. It immediately gives it that “holiday taste” and people think it’s a from scratch recipe!
Also tweeted!
I sneak a present or two away from the kids Christmas morning to save for birthday presents for other kids during the next year. Santa gives them a ton, and they generally gravitate toward a few favorites. Then the other, not-as-big-a-hit presents just kind of disappear. My kids are 6, 5 and 2. No one has noticed yet.
Buying pre-shredded potatoes for latkes. Faster fried food, less mess and less stress on my hands!
(FB fan & subscriber, will tweet in a bit!)
GREAT idea…just last night I was agonizing over the upcoming latke mess.
Besides shopping year-round and using one versatile dough to make lots of different varieties of cookies, my best hack is to just keep the kids on their schedule and make the rule that the kids don’t have to leave the house on the holiday. Make people come to you, or get together on different days. Nothing brings on meltdowns faster than overscheduling or making kids leave to go visiting right after opening gifts!
I’m a subscriber!
okay that was totally adorable! I think I want to try that with my daughters.
My holiday hack is to sit back and let everyone else take care of food preparations. Being 36 weeks pregnant makes that pretty easy this year!
I have two hacks! For baking, when rolling out dough, I use powdered sugar instead of flour! For traveling, I always bring PJs and the loveys along so if they fall asleep on the way home, straight to bed they go!
I just subscribed to the newsletter.
Tweet tweet!
https://twitter.com/ABCGP/status/540180080665063424
My holiday hack is a Christmas baking party with my aunts, cousins, friends and mom. We get the party to hang out together and we each get tons of goodies to share for the rest of the holidays.
My favorite holiday hack is the fake prelit Christmas tree. It could only be easier if it boxed itself back up after the holidays.
And I tweeted!
I’m already a subscriber!
I tweeted 🙂 @beandme09
My holiday hack is sitting back and waiting for the box of Christmas cookies to arrive from my mom! She makes the most amazing cookies, no need to make my own 🙂
I already subscribe to the newsletter!
That video was ridiculously cute. Of course you have to try all the colors to make sure they all taste great! My holiday “hack” is that Christmas is my mom’s birthday (we’re Jewish), and my mom volunteered to have my kids stay with her and my dad overnight the night of her birthday, so kid-free, one-night staycation for my husband and me!
I tweeted!
email subscriber.
My favorite holiday hack has got to be online shopping!
My hack is that I put up two trees. I have a little 3ft tree that I allow the kids to decorate with ornaments that aren’t easily breakable, and then I decorate our regular tree with our special and fragile ornaments. The kids generally keep their hands off the big tree because they can rearrange the ornaments whenever and however they like on their little tree.
My favorite holiday hack is going to my mom’s house and letting her do all the cooking :)! Already an e-mail subscriber.
Tweeted~!!
I subscribed to the newsletter!
I buy our Christmas dinner from the local Fresh Market grocery store the day before the holiday. I add a few spices here and there ( for instance: I add pineapple slices to the ham I buy and a few cloves) and reheat in the skillet and/or oven.) I serve it all on nice dinnerware, too! I don’t exactly try to hide it with my in-laws, but they have never said anything about it either. Maybe because I push the bags waaaaay down in the garbage. haha This, to me, is a load off my shoulders about having to prepare for a Christmas dinner. 🙂
My holiday hack – wrapping large, empty boxes (we have a plethora of diaper boxes) to put under the Christmas tree as a barricade for my toddler terrorist. It looks way more festive than baby gates, but it keeps the tiny hands away!
That is a brilliant idea!
and subscribed to newsletter!
My husband is Jewish (or as he says, Jew-ish), and we celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. We have two kids, one who just turned 2 and the other will be 4 in January. Our holiday hack for semi-celebrating Christmas at our house is to decorate a potted rosemary bush. It doubles as a ‘tree’ and a live-in spice rack! Plus, it smells very nice and doesn’t take up a ton of space.
I am an email subscriber
My favorite is anything by Epicure. I especially love their spinach dip mix. It’s delish!
(Ps, I have you on facebook and subscribe to the weekly email)
My favorite holiday hack is using photographs I have taken all year long (sports events, family gathering, little photo sessions) to make various photo gifts for family and friends. It is easy, personal, reasonable in cost and gives them memories of the past year.
I make wrapping gifts all year round by buying ikea kraft paper on sale and using it for everything. I also get tons of colored ribbons on sale, and either make an elaborate bow or I doodle on the paper with paint markers. This way I’m not spending a chunk of the gift budget on fancy paper or bags, and I always have an occasion-appropriate way to wrap the gift!
I tweeted!
My holiday hack is definitely all my shutterfly e-mails all year. I get one every couple months that gives me a free gift. All I have to pay is shipping (usually $5 or $6), and there is a Christmas present done!. So I buy all year for family. It’s usually something kind of small but when it’s personalized with a family pic people love it!
I signed up for the email newsletter!
My holiday hack is that my brother in law is a chef, so he cooks every holiday meal!
Not sure if this is considered a hack, but it’s a great way to make the holidays cheaper! Thrift stores have Christmas décor year round, so I gradually buy a few things here and there, then at Christmas time, I put it all together and it looks magnificent and only cost me about $20-30!
Mine involves lights, which are always a nightmare. Take an old oatmeal tube, remove the cap and bottom, and cut small slits up the sides on top & bottom about 1in long. Put one end of the lights in one slit, then roll your lights around the tube up to the other side, and secure the other end of the lights. NO more tangled lights!!!!
Also already a fb fan and subscriber
My hack is to make each batch of cookie dough 50%-100% larger than I had originally intended; that way my cookie dough thieving husband and 3.5 year old can swipe as much as they need to stay satisfied and I wind up with more than 5 cookies at the end!
Also, smittenkitchen has the best no-egg graham cracker recipe; it’s perfect to keep on hand for those that can’t/shouldn’t consume raw egg dough!
I tweeted! @LiaLopinto
I already subscribe to your emails. Love the blog!!
I subscribed to the newsletter 🙂
Hack number 2: Do your gift shopping for the next year AFTER Christmas for those who don’t need specific things (won’t generally work for kids)… You get GREAT sale prices and can have most of your Christmas shopping done for the year and lots of cute holiday presents. A lot of times we find deals that are better than black friday this way.
Hack Number 3: Make a giant batch of fudge and keep it around. When unexpected gifts show up (like neighbors) you throw some fudge on a plate and your golden.
My holiday hack is that I buy special paper and bows and make special gift tags for the presents from Santa. Since I’m fairly cheap, I mean frugal, on wrappng supplies I get to buy one really nice roll of paper and fancy bows that I can’t afford to buy for every gift. Win-Win.
I love anything Epicure. I especially love their spinach dip mix. It’s delicious!
(Ps. I’m also a facebook fan and weekly subscriber!)
another hack i have is to create a wishlist for my son on amazon, so when relatives ask what to get him, i just send the link! they can buy through Amazon or find it at a local store.
favorite holiday hack – pre made cookie dough. I jazz up the cookies with some frosting and decos.
Also subscribed to the newsletter
just subscribed for a 2nd entry 🙂
I just tweeted: I’m sharing my holiday hacks for a shot at a $500 Amazon gift card from @mommyshorts & @bettycrocker! http://bit.ly/1tElJtx #getyourbettyon
My holiday baking hack is….my daughter-in-law LOVES to bake and she lives at my house!!!! YAY!!!!
Mazzy was TOO CUTE in that video 🙂
We always travel on Christmas – usually between Ohio and Washington DC. We have a pretty small car, which means not a lot of room to take all the presents. I take full advantage of our Amazon Prime membership and send presents directly to whatever city we’re going to be in and then wrap them when I get there. That way, we can still get people large items for Christmas, but we can still fit everyone in the car to get there (no strapping the baby to the roof…).
tweeted for a 3rd entry!
My holiday hack is offering to have Christmas dinner at our house know full well my mother-in-law will still bring over all the staples AND insist on doing the dishes. It’s shameful, I know.
My Holiday Hack: Santa only has room for one present per kid, and you have to tell him what you want EARLY so he has time to make it. No changing your mind!
I subscribed to the daily email!
I sent a tweet for the 3rd entry.
My favorite holiday hack is to buy a case of wine for the holidays. Bottles of wine are handy for hosting when guests drop by, using as hostess gifts when you attend holiday parties, and using as impromptu Christmas gifts for people you forgot to shop for. If you buy by the case, you usually get a discount. And the added bonus: you have extra bottles to use on yourself (read: drink) when you’re stressed from the holiday craziness!
Ok people give me a hard time about my hack all of the time. I don’t decorate my house for Christmas. We go to my parents house every year when they decorate and let the kids help. Then we spend the night there on Christmas Eve and when we go home the next night we have no clean up or undecorating to do! Now this year I am not getting away with this because my oldest is six and we had to get a tree and decorate this year! I am a Facebook fan and email subscriber!
Already FB fan and newsletter subscriber.
Favorite hack: buy small tree and let kids have at it. Stress free for me and tons of fun for them. And everyone is happy.
I also subscribed to receive your weekly emails!
I’m already a facebook fan (and instragram follower)!
So, here is my holiday hack when I don’t know what to get someone.. I say to them “Hey, I got your Christmas present today! (full disclosure – total lie..) Guess what it is!” and then they proceed to guess… aka totally give me 3 or 4 ideas of what to buy them, while I pretend to not tell them what I got them for fear of ruining the ‘surprise.’
Ha! Should I feel guilty about lying? Nah. There are gifts involved. Lying is ok when gifts are involved.
um…that’s genius
Ha, thanks! Hint – it also works for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Been doing it for years… and BONUS! People always seem so impressed that you “got their present” well in advance. 😉
My holiday hack is to just STOP the gift madness among our immediate family and instead make a large donation to charity. (My kids are teens, so they understand the concept that we already have a lot and others have very little and aren’t going to think Santa hates them.)
I subscribe to your MommyShorts daily email plus am a FB fan: )
My favorite hack is to eat at my sisters’, daughter’s or friends’ homes. I always bring wine coolers, groceries, or takeout but am blessing them by not cooking or baking and they are very grateful!
My favorite holiday hack is cookies from a package that I can make and then decorate. It’s an easy shortcut to actually making the dough, is guaranteed to be correct, and saves some headache 🙂
Well, to keep the magic of Santa alive as long as we can…every year we buy one roll of Christmas wrapping paper that we keep hidden from the kids. This is the wrapping paper that all of “Santa’s” gifts are wrapped in and we only use it for those gifts.
Already a subscriber…and seriously, Mazzy is so cute in that video!!
My holiday hack is to give photo books to grandparents as presents. I make these photobooks for my own family and then get copies for the grandparents. Wins for everyone and who can resist photos of their grandbaby?
*giggles at “confection” oven* 😀
My favorite hack? Three ingredients or less cooking. Bonus if the oven isn’t involved!
tweeted
subscribed to the weekly email. (Although I also have you on my feed reader.)
My holiday hack (for now) is putting things my son would get anyway in his stocking, like snack puffs, food pouches, and a toothbrush. That way I don’t have to stress about finding extra toys or anything to fit in there. He’s still too little to know the difference.
My holiday hack is actually new this year as my two year old is just starting to understand who santa is, instead of wrapping santa’s gifts I’m just going to get really cool gift tags for his presents. Cuts down on the wrapping and will help her understand which are santa gifts and which are from mom and dad!
Also I am a mommyshorts subscriber!
I order all my gifts online…from Amazon!
I am a subscriber!
I did as much as my shopping online as I could, saving on gas and my time. I took great care to order when shipping was free and heavy discounts were offered. This way my gifts start arriving and I can start the wrapping process. I want to be done with all the prep the weekend before Christmas so I can enjoy time with family and friends.