Celebrating Moon Festival (DIY Paper Lanterns, Good Food & A Giveaway)

Have you ever heard of Moon Festival? It's a chinese celebration also known as Mid-Autumn Festival. It's on September 12th this year, and celebration involves gathering as families with brightly coloured lanterns & great chinese cuisine!

We had our own little celebration for Moon Festival this year, with a recipe we found on VH's website and some paper lanterns that the girls made with me.

I tried these origami paper lanterns and decided while they were cute, they'd be too tricky for the girls, so we put some other lanterns (a mini take on these) together and strung them all up on a piece of ribbon. (We decorated them by folding the paper in half & cutting pieces out like you do with paper snowflakes, before assembling them)



The food turned out good- and let me tell you, I am NOT a good cook. I struggle with cooking! I was happy with VH's website for finding a recipe though- the recipes were simple and you could search for a recipe by type of meat, type of sauce, food allergy, time to prepare, and more. That was really cool & I think I'll use it again!

I made "Mandarin Chicken with Broccoli":



Have you tried introducing culture into your meals?
Leave a comment letting me know how you've done so or how you'd like to, & you'll be entered in a contest to win a $50 grocery card! (you could put it toward your own Moon Festival Celebration!) (One of my readers will win!) This contest will run until Sept. 20th, 2011 and is open to Canadian residents only. Please include your email address if it's not in your profile.

You can get an extra entry for following my feed, facebook, twitter, or pinterest. (Just leave a comment for each one you do)

Oh & while I'm sharing easy dinner tips- if you're like me and you need a really easy, really quick dinner solution a lot of the time (either because you're busy running out or because you tend to realize it's dinner time before you've thought of what to make... you might want to give VH Steamers a try! (They're Asian-inspired meals that are ready in less than 5 minutes) I'm looking forward to giving them a try!

Disclosure – I am participating in the VH Moon Festival program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of VH. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own, as always!

Sock Bouquet! (A Tutorial)

I had the idea to make a sock bouquet for my dad for Father's Day this year. I'm sharing how to make one on HowDoesShe today- go check it out! :)

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If you're looking for more gift ideas for men, check out this Love Letter Book idea!



Or for Christmas, here's a fun one: Dad's Root Deer


or click here 
to see a list of 100 great gift ideas!

Moments- Twirling & Dipping

My mom's been working on flower girl skirts for Talia, Katrina, & their cousin who will be flower girls at my sister's wedding.

When my mom first tried one of the skirts on Katrina she immediately began standing on her toes with her arms up over her head, twirling and dancing- it was so cute!



Talia joined in & started dancing with her & dipped her. So cute! I love these girls! :)

Sharing Time- September 2011

Come on over & check out this month's Sharing Time!


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Baby & You (New Community for Parents)

I think the community that exists among bloggers is really neat. I love to see how bloggers work together (and with brands) to do great things, to support each other, and to get positive vibes and information out.

Have you heard of the new Facebook Community called Baby and You? It's pretty new and already growing fast. It's created by Lowlaw Companies, and it's exciting to see how they're working with bloggers- they've teamed up with bloggers who post on their page, on subjects that are important to parents. You'll find Jody from mommymoment.ca and Lisa from growingyourbaby.com.

On their page, you'll find contests, coupons, and conversations with other parents. How great is it to be able to ask questions and advice from other parents who've "been there, done that" or are struggling through the same challenges you are?!

Disclosure – I am participating in the Baby and You program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Loblaw Companies. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own, as always.

Mini Rainbow Pancakes

Katrina requested pancakes for lunch. We went with it & added food colouring for extra fun. 

If you're looking for other rainbow ideas, there are a bunch in my St. Patrick's Day Ideas Roundup!