GIVEAWAY HOP!!! Welcome to the This or That Giveaway Hop! #GivingTuesday #Giving

Holiday prep is in full swing and methinks it's time for a giveaway! This isn't just any ol' giveaway, though. I'm teaming up with over 60 bloggers for the This or That giveaway hop! Special thanks to our hostesses: The Mommy Island, The Kids Did It, and The Review Wire. I love to support fellow entrepreneurs so I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate to Etsy.com. You'll be able to use it at any shop on Etsy for anything your heart desires! Enter to win on the Rafflecopter widget below (may take a moment to load) and then scroll down to visit all the other giveaways! You've got two weeks to make it through the list!
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Antique Louisa May Alcott Books & Planning My Winter Reading

Thanks so much for stopping by Vintage Show & Tell! I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! We had a lovely Thanksgiving and have been enjoying a four day weekend with Daddy home. I love it when my husband gets time off work and we can have fun family time!

Today I'm featuring two of my special treasures: my Louisa May Alcott books that my husband bought for me a few Christmas's ago. The holiday season inspires me to read great Christmas classics and while only a portion of Little Women takes place during Christmas, it's still one of my favorites that I read every other year.

My mother first introduced me to Little Women when I was a little girl and she's been a favorite author since. Imagine my surprise and complete delight when my husband surprised me with these two antique editions of Under the Lilacs and Jo's Boys.

This version of Under the Lilacs was published in 1898 and the edition of Jo's Boys was put out a year later in 1899. I love the pretty flowery designs along the cover and spine. Inside each book, opposite the title page, is an illustration.

Jo's Boys features a sculpted profile of Alcott with her signature and Under the Lilacs has a picture of characters Ben and Sancho from the story.

I love to collect old books and imagine where they may have come from. Inside the cover of Under the Lilacs is a stamp which reads: "Chester Thorn, Agt., The Saturday Evening Post, 24 East Taylor Street, Kokomo Ind." Inside Jo's Boys the following is written in beautiful calligraphic handwriting: "Thula May Faulkners Book, 1901".

Rereading old favorites is a comforting way to spend a winter---I'm really looking forward to revisiting Little Women, Wuthering Heights, A Christmas Carol, Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories, and more. What do you have on your winter reading list? Linking with: These great parties...

Grammy's Snowball Nut Cookies #BakeMagicMoments #ad #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeMagicMoments #CollectiveBias

Our family had such a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend---I hope you did, as well! I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, doing lots of cooking and baking and trying out some really old recipes from my great-grandma's recipe box. I've mentioned before that I was gifted with a large amount of her recipes and cookbooks when she passed away and I've really enjoyed going through them and experimenting with some of her favorites. Grammy's Snowball Nut Cookies are a favorite I make every Christmas season. This year, I used Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets and both the baking and the cleanup were a breeze!

Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets can be found in the grocery paper products section of Walmart. They come in a box of 22 pre-cut parchment paper sheets and are great for simple baking with easy clean up. They're non-stick so cookies are easily removed from the pan without crumbling or breaking. Oven safe up to 420º, they're perfect for all your favorite cookie recipes.

My favorite memories of my Grammy Annabelle involve food. She was the grandma that would fill you to overflowing with junk food---right before your parents put you in the car for the several hours long drive home on winding roads. She loved her sweets and her big meals and I'll always remember her home as being elegant and full of beautiful "don't touch thats". I keep these two photos of her on the mirror of my antique dresser. I sure miss her!

These Snowball Nut Cookies are great melt-in-your-mouth treats that you'll be excited to share with friends. Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets are great for getting those perfect-looking cookies that you want to gift. Cookies bake evenly so they look pretty and they're tasty, too! The thing I really love about this recipe is it contains ingredients that I always have in my cupboards. In fact, many of the recipes I was given are like that. With so many little ones at home, I can't always be running out to the store for specific ingredients so I love having simple ideas for making special treats with the things I already have in my kitchen.

After mixing up the basic ingredients, I roll the dough into balls and bake on a low setting for about 20 minutes. You don't want these to turn brown---just to bake through.

After they're baked and mostly cooled, roll the cookies in powdered sugar. They'll immediately become the lightest, creamiest cookies ever! I line a festive container with a parchment sheet and place them right in. Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets are perfect for lining containers and you can even use your scissors to create a pretty scalloped edge as you're cutting down the paper to fit your container.

Make sure to let me know if you give this recipe a try! I know you'll love it---and your friends will too!

Grammy's Snowball Nut Cookies

1 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 c. powdered sugar

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour and salt and blend well. Mix in nuts. Shape into balls and bake 20 minutes at 325º. When cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar.

How will you use Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets to make your holiday baking a breeze? Let me know in the comments below!