While Christmas is just over a week away there is still plenty of time to find the perfect gift of Fairytale Brownies for your customers, employees, family and friends. Who wants to brave the malls in the cold and snow (well, rain here in Arizona) this time of the year? I know I don't. Let us do all the work for you! We have gifts to fit any budget so I'm sure we could find the perfect one! Especially for that last person on your list who has everything. Two of my favorite gifts this year are our Fairytale Truffles and our Winter Wonderland. Both of which are on sale right now! I sent the Truffles to my family, as a can't wait to see you soon gift, and my Dad hid the gift card and told my Mom they were just for him! My Dad is not a big sweets person but when the Fairytale Brownies arrive it's a different story! I'm sure by the time I get there next week there won't be a crumb left. I think I'll just have to surprise him with his very own box under the tree on Christmas morning! This Friday is the last day to order to ensure delivery for Christmas so order soon!

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've started a Daily Brownie Deal at brownies.com, and I wanted to share it with our blog readers.

Today's Daily Brownie Deal is the Christmas Tower, and it is 10% off plus Free Shipping today (12/10) only. This is a great gift that includes all 12 of our fudgy chocolate brownie flavors in an assortment of 3 Fairytale sizes (Brownies, Sprites and Magic Morsels) in a red and white Christmas tower. It's perfect if you want to send brownies to a group, as there's something for everyone inside.  

 

Stay tuned for future Daily Brownie Deals! Only 15 days till Christmas!

~Kari

Yesterday, my associate Erin Kress and I helped build a playground in Phoenix with our nonprofit partner KaBOOM! What a transformation!
When we arrived at South Pointe Elementary School, there was nothing but an empty lot with many holes in the ground. By the end of the day, the playground was complete - swings, a slide, a music station, spider web climber, climbing wall, pirate ship, outdoor classroom, four square set up, tether ball, hop scotch, peace pole, planters and benches. I might be missing something, but when there are more than 250 volunteers participating, there's bound to be a detail I might miss.
This playground build was my 6th one, and as usual, KaBOOM! had their act together. Every time I help with a build, I think, "there's no way this thing will be finished today." And happily I'm proved wrong. KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit whose vision is to build a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. The children at South Pointe are going to have a great time at this playspace.
Fairytale Brownies sends a brownie gift to every KaBOOM! playspace build and also sends brownies for volunteers at all Arizona builds (we're in Arizona too, so we like to sweeten the day a little) to have a brownie break. Fairytale also donates a portion of sales from our special occasion gifts throughout the year.
I DO have to say that I'm becoming quite an expert on shoveling and carrying wood chips. I only took home one chip in my shoe this time! AND best of all, my soreness level from suddenly using muscles I never use is only a 3 out of 10. It's a Fairytale day!