Ancestry.ca, the leading history resource in Canada, is giving away a $1500 West Jet gift certificate and $100 Chapters gift cards.  Wow!
The key Canadian collections include first and only fully indexed Censuses of Canada for 1851, 1891, 1901, 1906 and 1911; the Drouin Collection, which is the complete set of French-Canadian vital records from 1621 to 1947;  and the Ontario and British Columbia vital records from as early as 1813 and U.S. / Canada Border Crossings from 1895 to 1956.
Ancestry.ca is a member of the Ancestry global network of family history websites and has 400 million searchable names.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering more …read more

Dayspring is having an after Christmas sale and you can save up to 80% on select merchandise. 
Some of my favorite sale items are:

calendars (75% off)
gift bags
ornaments
wire edged fabric ribbon
Christmas seals
snowflake gift collection

Also, get free US shipping on order of $50 or more.
It’s not too early to start thinking about next Christmas.  It will be here before we know it. 
image from dayspring

Thrifty Mommy is continuing to celebrate their 2000th post.  Now they’re giving away a Lands’ End microfiber raincoat valued at $79.50.  Head over to Thrifty Mommy to enter the contest.  (Leaving a comment at this post will not count in the giveaway.)

Do you use natural cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar in your home?  How do you feel about natural cleaners?  Do you think they do a good job?
Please vote in the poll and/or leave a comment below.

I’ve learned that there are people that wash their dishes by hand because they believe they’re saving energy.  Actually, doing less work can save you money and also help the environment.
According to Consumer Reports, an efficient dishwasher can use less water than washing dishes by hand, no matter how frugal you are at the faucet.
Here are some other tips to lower your bill while using your dishwasher:
1.  Only run your dishwasher when it is full.
2.  Turn it on the energy saver cycle.
3.  Don’t prerinse your load.
4.  Use an enzyme based detergent to get your dishes completely clean.
5.  If your dishwasher …read more

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to pay full price for anything.  After Christmas, you can always find me out shopping for a bargain.  I like finding 50, 75, and even 90% off Christmas decor.  These decorations are only going to be displayed for a month or so anyway, I just can’t see paying so much money for them.
The picture above is my tree from last year.  Each year, I enjoy hanging the ornaments on the tree.  Each one has a special memory.  And I can’t help but to feel pleased knowing that I got many of them so …read more

I just love the Better Homes & Gardens website.  It always has nice ideas for cooking, decorating, and more.  Check out these scroll napkin rings.  These napkin rings simply use chenille stems (pipe cleaners) and they are such an easy and inexpensive way to add a decorative touch to your table. 
image from bhg

Whether you are making sugar cookies or gingerbread men in the coming days, you are going to need one of these. A plate of these just makes the house feel like Christmas. I just love how many variations of Gingerbread Men you can make with the same cookie cutter.
If not Gingerbread Men, then what is your all-time favorite Christmas cookie??
Photo Credit: Crate and Barrel
And a little more bits to keep you busy.  
Gingerbread Recipes and Crafts from Canadian Living
Gingerbread People from Kraft… (there’s pudding in the recipe!)
Plantain Gingerbread… yes, your regular kind of recipe but with a little plantain …read more

It seems that there a lot of people out there who simply can’t get into the Christmas Spirit this year. It could be the fact that we are the ones who are doing all the work, not like it was when we were the kids and did nothing but dream about what we were going to get for Christmas. Now I must tell you about my Mom.  She had everyone’s Christmas spirit… which makes me wonder if that’s why there is so little to go around. For Mom, Christmas officially began the minute we went back to school. Yes, I’m …read more