Ok, so I do consider myself to be somewhat of a blog lurker. I read tons of blogs on just about everything. Recently, I came upon a post that I enjoyed. This author was giving suggestions on ways to have some family fun online this season. Most of the sites listed I've seen before, but I thought it would be nice for me to share with your too. So, here are some of the suggested sites and a few that I threw in on my own:

Only 11 days, 18 hours, 47 minutes and 29 seconds left in the countdown to track Santa as he delivers gifts to children around the world!
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Christmas caroling is a great way to spread cheer to friends and neighbors. At Emoticarolers site, you can create your own virtual Christmas carolers. You can pick up to 4 emoticons to use as the carolers, then select your songs and you are on your way!
http://emoticarolers.com/

Enjoy the joy and magic of Christmas in Santa's Secret Village. There are many free activities like writing letters to Santa, read stories, enjoy karaoke, send e-cards, find recipes, play games and puzzles, print stories to color, and many more!
http://www.northpole.com/

See the scenic Northwest area where your Christmas tree grew up! Make tree decorations, color, play games, match holiday shapes, and meet Ev'rett the friendly Evergreen tree and sing-along. Also, you can enter a decorated tree photo contest to win an Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory vacation package.
http://www.visitmytree.com/

Create your own Christmas story. Fill in the blanks (Mad-Libs style) to help write your own Christmas story. When you're done, read your story starring you!
http://www.blackdog.net/cgi-bin/story/xmas.cgi

Send Happy Holidays or Christmas ecards to your friends and family for free. 1000's of cards to choose from and there is no registration required.
http://www.free-ecards4u.com/

Make yourself, friends, family, and even your pets into dancing elves. This is pretty fun and is hilarious to watch the final product. Definitely do this for a good hearty laugh!
http://www.elfyourself.com/

Have fun, and have a happy and safe holiday season.
~ Hilary 

We love getting feedback from our customers here at Fairytale Brownies. Every time you order brownies, you and your recipient get an opportunity to tell us what you love and if you have any suggestions for us. If you haven't ever responded to our online survey or via the postcard in your brownie box, please do so the next time you order. Or send an email to service@brownies.com. You just might be featured on our blog! We got some emails today about two things that are near and dear to our hearts, soldier care packages and our partnership with KaBOOM!, so I thought I would share them.

"Hey, I just want to say thank you so much for supporting the troops. One of the girls I know said she was trying to order brownies and you sent some to her deployed soldier at your expense. Although I am lucky enough to have my husband home this holiday season, I just want to say thanks again, because little things like this mean the world to deployed soldiers who are happy to have anything that reminds them of home. Next deployment I will be sure to pass along the word that you guys are great! I hope your business continues to be prosperous." -Rebekah S.

"Hello Fairytale Brownies. My wife and I have been using your services to send client gifts for 10+ years. We were recently visiting my grandparents in Long Beach, MS and were amazed to see your name on a small park sign - as a supporter and contributor to the KaBOOM park project. Thank you for giving my 3 little girls a fun place to play in a tiny town that was almost wiped off the map." -Ryan

Thanks Rebekah and Ryan for your kind words, we really appreciate it!

~Kari

Veterans' Day is upon us, and I thought I would take a minute to thank all of our veterans, past and present, on behalf of everyone here at Fairytale Brownies. We love our troops, so much so that we even have a bulletin board in our office overflowing with all the notes and photos we've received over the years from the soldiers we support.



Not only do we offer free shipping on any gourmet brownie gifts sent to an APO/FPO military address, but we are also part of the Soldiers' Angels Bakers Group, sending delicious Belgian chocolate brownies to our deployed troops each and every month. Our Customer Service Team also writes letters and sends care packages to soldiers to remind them someone is thinking of them.

If you're looking for the perfect gift for your favorite veteran, try sending one of our Patriotic brownie gifts to show your appreciation for their service to our country.
 
Thank you veterans, for being our heroes!
~Kari

We are starting to get busier as the holidays gets closer. Today the Shipping Team was busy at work building the Fairytale Tower gift to fulfill orders that have been placed.  We thought that the assembly line of towers looked like a toy shop (by the way, the picture doesn't really do it justice, it's much more impressive in person).
Check it out:





The end of the assembly line here is where the gifts get packed into Fed Ex boxes and get shipped to those lucky gift recipients about receive a yummy gift of gourmet brownies!


We hope you enjoyed this 'behind the scenes' look into the Fairytale Brownies warehouse. We love to hear customer feedback, so don't be shy and leave us a comment :o)

~ Hilary

Halloween is almost here! One more week to go before all the fun begins! As promised, here is a fun Spooky Halloween Brownie Recipe that you can make with Fairytale Brownies. It is a pretty simple recipe to follow, I hope you'll try it and send us a picture of your final product. We'll post all of our submissions on our brownie blog! If you'd like to submit a picture of your Spooky Halloween Brownies, send it to hlee@brownies.com. The recipe is as follows:







Icing:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Hot Water

Step 1:
- Sift the sugar into a bowl, then add the vanilla extract.

- Gradually stir in the hot water until the mixture is the consistency of thick cream.

- Cover each brownie with icing.

Step 2:
- Make a second batch of icing, this time adding a few drops each of red and yellow food coloring until the icing is orange.

- Put the icing into a piping bag (if you don't have a piping bag, you can put the icing into a plastic bag and cut a very small hole in the bottom corner).

- To make cobweb design: make fine concentric circles with the colored icing - starting from the center and working outwards.

- Using a toothpick, pull the colored icing from the center to the outside edge, dividing the brownie into quarters then repeat to divide into eights.

We are looking forward to seeing all of your great submissions! Happy Halloween...
~Hilary

Recently, Fairytale Brownies was featured in a story in the "Chronicle of Philanthropy". The article details Fairytale Brownies partnership with KaBOOM! and how we give back to the community. I hope you enjoy reading the article as much as I did!
 

Bakery's Partnership With Charity Is Recipe For Success

How it gives: Fairytale Brownies supports KaBOOM!, a Washington charity that builds playgrounds in neighborhoods nationwide. Fairytale Brownies donates 25 cents for every "Happy Birthday" or other special-occasion message it sells. It also donates gift bags to KaBOOM! that the charity hands out to volunteers and corporate sponsors. Last year, Fairytale Brownies added a page to its Web site that allows customers to donate a dollar to KaBOOM! when they make a purchase.
 
Fairytale Brownies employees volunteer with KaBOOM! to build playgrounds in and around Phoenix. "For our employees, it's a great eye-opener and builds awareness of their community," says Eileen Spitalny, one of the founders. "For a lot of us, we feel we have never accomplished so much in a day."
 
How it got the idea: When Ms. Spitalny and her business partner, David Kravetz, started the company, they received numerous requests from charities that wanted to work with them. For the pair, who met on a playground as kindergarten students, KaBOOM! seemed like the perfect fit. The charity was small but growing, like their company, and it worked nationwide.

How much it gives: Fairytale Brownies has raised $3,900 in the past year through its Web-site donation program. It has also contributed more than 20,000 pounds of brownies, or roughly $60,000, and donated an additional $30,000 since the company started working with KaBOOM! in 2002. Fairytale Brownies employees have donated more than 1,000 hours of volunteer time.

How the business has benefited: The exposure Fairytale Brownies receives through its donations of gift bags has helped drive sales, says Ms. Spitalny. Her business has generated more than $14,000 in the past two years from people who said they heard about the company through KaBOOM!

Working with KaBOOM! has also helped Ms. Spitalny develop ties with some of the charity's corporate donors, including Home Depot. "What charities can offer is the exposure they have to the business community," says Ms. Spitalny.

The charity's perspective: Darrell Hammond, founder of KaBOOM!, says working with Fairytale Brownies has increased public awareness of his charity.

Fairytale Brownies publicizes KaBOOM! prominently on its Web site, and a year after Hurricane Katrina, the company gave Mr. Hammond space in its print catalog to write about continuing needs in Louisiana. "They are probably still one of the top 10 reasons people hear about KaBOOM!," he says.

Why the partnership has worked: Fairytale Brownies employed about 15 people year-round when its founders approached KaBOOM!, and as it has grown the company's employees have continued to develop new ways to work together. "It has to be an ongoing conversation about how we can help each other," says Mr. Hammond.

~ Hilary

This week Fairytale Brownies had a Corporate Gifts showcase in our retail store for all of our Corporate Clients and Distributors. We showcased our new customizing options and our new custom packaging. We also sampled Fairytale Brownies, Fairytale Cocoa and Fairytale Coffee as well as our newest item, Fairytale Truffles! It was a great success and we had a great time visiting with all of our Corporate Clients and Distributors. Here is a picture from our event. Also, check out the background through the windows! Those are our bakers baking our delicious gourmet brownies!



~ Brandie