My Favorite Things (GIVEAWAY)!

Fall is in full gear now! Coats and scarves and boot and warm drinks are everywhere!
I wanted to dedicate this post to some of the things in my life and especially in my kitchen than make me smile!
So I am sharing a few of my favorite things. Things that I love, things I can't live without and things that make cookie-ing so much easier!
And than I'll be giving away some of those things to YOU! Because dear reader, YOU make me smile too!

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my ramblings and comment on my cookies!

I would venture to guess that all of us have a favorite cookie cutter or a set of cutters that get used more than any other? For me, it's my AMAZING set of graduated circle cutters. I found them on Amazon (which is an obsession of mine).

Many, many good things come from Amazon! I have a package waiting for me nearly everyday from them :) I told you, obsession! How can you beat FREE two-day shipping?!? 

I also found these cute little Ninja Bread Men on Amazon. I haven't found an occasion to make them yet, but I am so looking forward to it! I've had them for almost a year now!

Keep reading I'll tell you how to win these!

In addition to my Amazon obsession, I also need my daily dose of Sbux! I should buy stock! It's that bad. I mean good :) I am a Grande, non-fat, extra hot Chai. And October through December I alternate by adding a pump of pumpkin spice! So good! 

I always carry my Starbucks gift card and keep it loaded so I earn point for all my purchases. Did you know that if you register your card online you get a FREE drink after every 15 purchases?  

I have at least 3 Starbucks within walking distance to my office, so I go every Monday-Friday. It's ridiculous really. But it's delicious and it makes me smile :)

$10 on a Starbucks giftcard is also up for grabs. Keep reading :)

When it comes to making cookies, I have a few tools that I can't live without! I mean I could, but I wouldn't be making cookies very often! First of course, is my handy, dandy KitchenAid Mixer. I've had it since college. I LOVE IT! I use it almost everyday, but only for making cookies. 

Isn't she gorgeous?!? I don't really know if she is a she, but I imagine she must be to keep up with everything I expect of her ;)

I only use my KitchenAid for cookies. I've never made anything savory in here. People always said I should try my mashed potatoes etc. because it's so much easier and faster. But it just seemed wrong! 

So I bought this guy, here to handle the other stuff!

I'll tell you how to win this below!

The Kalorik stand mixer is smaller and a lot lighter, but it easily handles all my miscellaneous food prep! You can find it here on you guessed it, Amazon! It's also much cheaper! I am saving all my pennies (and Swagbucks) for a second KitchenAid to make cookie-ing a little quicker, so the $69 price tag was very nice!

Sugar cookies are pretty delicious fresh out of the oven! They're soft and warm and taste so yummy. But they wouldn't be nearly as pretty if we ate them just like that!

One of my favorite cookie tools is really a wonderful edible product :)

Americolor gel food colors! They're the best! When I first started out, I ordered the starter kit of Ateco food color gels. I've gone through several bottles of Americolor in different shades and upgraded my most used colors to the 4.5 oz sizes, but that box of Ateco colors are still in my drawer. I've used them only a few times with disappointing results. I save them thinking I'll use them for non-cookie dyeing (maybe this Easter). I like to buy mine from here, because they have a great selection (in all sizes) and they're in WA, so I consider them a local business and I prefer to support them. Plus the customer service is GREAT! They also carry meringue powder in bulk, for a great price! 

I have a few bottles of random colors in the .75 oz sizes that I'll throw into the giveaway too! 

If you use disco dust, you are probably wishing you had a few of these next items! These little Pixie Dust Shakers from Karens Cookies are amazing little tools! The store the disco dust for you, apply it  as needed and they are clear so you can always tell which color you are using! 

You can win 3 of these!

And finally, the wonderful little bottles that make cookie decorating a breeze! Cleaning them is still an enormous chore, and I am not volunteering to help you with that! They are small, so you don't have to make a ton of icing to use them. They are very stable and don't leak! And they come with tips, but I rarely use them. In fact of the 20 or more bottles that I have, I think I've only used the plastic tips twice and that is because I ran out of Wilton metal tips!  You can find these in several places. I usually order them from Karen's Cookies or from Copper Gifts depending on which one of them has something else that I need! 

I'll share more of my favorites later, but I need to wrap this up before it gets to long! So here is the giveaway: 1 set of Ninja Bread cookie cutters, $10 Starbucks gift card, 2-3 assorted Americolor

Giveaway closed!

You can enter three ways:

1. You must follow this blog and leave a comment on THIS post saying you want to be entered in the giveaway.

2. If you are a fan on Facebook, just share this giveaway and leave a second comment HERE on the blog.

3. Share this giveaway on by tweeting, "I just entered to win some of @flour_de_lis favorite things!" Than leave a 3rd comment here, telling me you tweeted.

Easy peasy right?!?

Now if you are still reading, you are wondering about that Kalorik mixer! So here is the deal with that, if I reach 1,000 fans on Facebook before Thanksgiving, I'll giveaway that mixer to one lucky FB fan. 

Random.org is always used to pick a winner here. This giveaway is open to everyone, but when I giveaway the mixer it'll be US resident's only. 

All the prizes here are gifts from me. This is not a sponsored post.

This giveaway will close at midnight on November 15th. A winner will be selected and notified on the 16th.

Please read everything before entering, I will only accept entries here on the blog that meet the requirements above. Good luck everyone and thank you all for your support!

XOXOXO

Samantha

Flour De Lis