Alys & Felix 'felt toys & games' Giveaway

If you're looking for the perfect toy or game for your little one, you may have found it! Alys & Felix features handmade felt toys and games for your little ones that help to teach numbers, colours, and shapes. There aren't any flashing lights or beeping noises but there's a good chance they'll keep your kids entertained longer (and no batteries required!). The games are classics such as a bean bag toss game, memory games and sorting games. The felt pieces are soft, kid-friendly and durable! All very important for babies and toddlers based on my own personal experience.

Alys & Felix's most popular item is their Wool Felt Crowns. They are perfect for making any child feel special on birthdays, holidays, or any day of the week.

The creative owner behind this all is Stephanie who is originally from Ottawa but is currently living in New Zealand. She is a stay at home mom of two kids who started off by making things for her own children. After receiving lots of compliments and requests, she started to sell them and opened the Alys & Felix Etsy shop. Everything is very reasonably priced especially considering the time and effort taken to sew each individual piece. While she has been selling on Etsy for a while now, she just started a Facebook Fan Page so please make sure to "like" her Facebook page and invite your mommy friends to join as well.

Now to the best part! The winner of this giveaway will receive their choice of her best selling item, a Wool Felt Crown. She is willing to ship it anywhere so everyone is welcome to enter this draw.

Alys & Felix is also offering a coupon code to my blog readers.  You will receive 15% off your Etsy order using the following code: BLOG15.

There are four ways to enter this contest.  I will be numbering entries and using a random online selector to pick the winner.  If you are leaving a comment below and don't have a public profile, please make sure to leave an e-mail address. 

You can receive up to four entries:
1. Comment on this post and tell us which item is your favourite from the Alys & Felix Etsy shop.
2. "Like" Alys & Felix on Facebook and make sure to "like" or comment on the giveaway post.
3. "Like" A Sophisticated Mommy on Facebook and "like" or comment on the giveaway post.
4. Follow my blog so you don't miss out on any future giveaways!  You must make a separate comment indicating this to be counted as an entry. 

The contest will be open until Friday, December 10th, 2010.

Here are more pictures of the games available from Alys & Felix:

Super Star Bean Bag Toss Game

Stars in Yellow - Felt Memory Match Game

Dark Pink Numbers - Felt Memory Match Game

Felt Stuffies - Great for learning numbers, shapes, and colours

Choo Choo! All aboard the holiday train!

I think this picture is self-explanatory.

Connor has been obsessed with trains for months so we couldn't pass up this opportunity to check out a real, live train up close.   The CPR holiday train travels through cities all over Canada and the US to raise food and money for the local food banks.  The train has lots of pretty lights for babies/toddlers to stare at and live entertainment to keep the adults interested.  The music tonight was being performed by the Odds and they did a good job considering the frigid temperatures.  Was it worth bundling up the kids?  It was this year although I doubt we'll go next year unless it's a bit warmer.   If you are wondering when it comes to your city, there's a schedule of the CPR's website.  It's worth a trip to check it out and make a donation to your local food bank.

Mommy and Aleena all bundled up!

The snow!  It's broken!

A kind stranger took this family photo.

A nice view of the Christmas lights on the train cars.

Okay, we're home now...get me outta here!

Let the Christmas Baking Begin! (Toblerone Shortbread)

Now that my term paper is finished, I can finally start to think about Christmas.  It might be a good day to get our Christmas tree...I just realized it was December 5th!  One thing about maternity leave is that the concept of time has really started to elude me.

Last night, I finally made some Christmas cookies..the first batch of many!  I made Toblerone Shortbread cookies (thanks Lyne for providing us with your friend's recipe!) and they look delicious.  I have to be honest and say that I've only eaten one so far and it was likely too warm to get the true effect of it yumminess.  I find that sugar cookies and shortbread cookies taste better after a day or two.  Of course, the KitchenAid mixer (which hereonafter will be referred to as "Martha" for obvious reasons) was wonderful as always.  Martha whipped up those cookies in no time.  It even worked well to mix the chocolate chunks from the chocolate bar.

I made the first batch and decided the cookies clearly needed more chocolate so I chopped up some larger chunks and added them.  Then, I topped each cookie off with a piece of Toblerone.  I could only find the miniature ones at the grocery store so they were perfect for this.

Martha whipped up the dough effortlessly.

Toblerone Shortbread Cookies  

Ingredients:
2 cups of butter, softened
1 cup of white sugar
A dash of L<3VE
2 tsp of vanilla
4 cups of all purpose flour
1 Large Toblerone bar
A sprinkle of Laughter...

Recipe:
1 - Preheat oven @ 350F
2 - Cream butter and sugar until fluffy
3 - Stir in vanilla
4 - Add in flour and mix well
5 - Chop Toblerone into pieces
6 - Add to mixture
7 - Take cookie dough, press & form roundish cookies (1/4 inch thick) 
8 - Bake between 9-12 minutes

Fresh out of the oven!

The tempting little morsels gracing our kitchen today.

Just a couple other notes...I used  a 150 gram bag initially but then added more.   I would say that the recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on how large you make them.  Also, make sure to use REAL Toblerone bars as I tried an imitation brand on another batch and the chocolate melts too much.  The Toblerone holds its shape better and tastes better.

Testimonials:

"How many of these cookies do we need to save for Christmas?"  - Jeremy

"Yay Cookie!!" - Connor

"Every cookie should have a chocolate bar in it." - Trudy (Connor and I shared a cookie for lunch today and it's much yummier once they have cooled.)

Next up: Rolo Cookies

For more Christmas recipes or to contribute your favourite, visit my Facebook Page.