Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

Traffic Stop

I just had to share this!

Really makes me stop and think!

Is Getting Fit Your New Years Resolution?

This has got to be one of my favorite books I have read this year. I enjoy reading self help books. I must say this is at the top of my favorites list this year.

Book Giveaway: Fit Moms for Life

Are you planning to work on getting fit this up coming year?  Enter here for a chance to win a copy of Fit Moms for Life.

BARE MINERALS

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

I recently logged onto http://www.direct.tv/direct-tv/Delaware/ and upgraded our television service. I started Christmas shopping early, so since I had them this year, I decided to watch the home shopping channels. I found a product that I ended up ordering for myself that I really love. My mom has been using the Bare Minerals makeup line for years. She always raves about it and tells me that she is going to send me some, but never has. So when I was watching television the other day and was picking out Christmas gifts, I saw a special on Bare Minerals. The demonstrations were really convincing. I ordered the makeup thinking that it definitely couldn’t be as good as it was on television ( I feel like nothing ever is!). Turns out, when I got the makeup in the mail, it was actually amazing. It gives great coverage and has really turned my complexion around. I didn’t know what I was missing! I ordered it for my sister-in-law, mother-in-law, nieces, and cousin. I know that they are going to absolutely love it as much as I have.

Winner UPrinting Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway

Congratulations to Social Studies Momma

Comment #7 was selected by random number generator.

Thank you everyone for entering.

Santa Was Here!!

As you can see by my photos Little Bug and Pooh Bear were not too thrilled to sit with Santa. They did finally sit on Santas lap to get their gifts. 

Book Review & Giveaway: Fit Moms for Life

January first is just a few days away and we are just winding down from our holiday rush. This is the time when many families have a tradition of reflecting on the past years accomplishments and begin to plan goals for the up coming year. Some might make a New Years Resolution. My family likes to get together and talk about our  successes and our not so successful attempts at goals and what we might change or add to our goals in the coming year. I am excited to share a goal with my blogging friends. I am going to work harder at becoming fit and health in the year 2012! With this goal in mind I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to review a very popular book, Fit Moms for Life. Written by Dustin Maher.

The first question I asked about the book,"Is this like all the other diet and exercise programs available out there?" Well, I am happy to answer this No, absolutely not. Fit Moms for Life is a fitness program that is built around five pillars that make this different than most other weight loss programs. Fit Moms for life is a complete  program that focuses on you as a mom, or mother to be.  Lets face the facts moms are busy people. As a mom we are always taking care of others needs and seldom make time for our self. This program teaches you how to make the time for your self and how important it is to take care of your needs so that you can continue to give your family the best that you have to offer. My next question, "What are the five pillars?" The programs core pillars are Mindset, nutrition, strength training, burst training, and environment.
Mindset: You will learn in chapters 2,3 and 4 why making the time for your self and your health is important and it will teach you how to make time for your self and how to set realistic goals and motivating goals.
Nutrition: In chapters 5 and 6 you will learn that exercise alone will not help you lose weight and keep it off. You will also learn how to stick with a healthy eating program. This is very important because I my self can eat healthy for a week or two but after that I fall back into my poor eating habits. You will even find some tips in this section on how to eat out and still eat healthy.
Strength Training: In Chapter 7 you will learn how to use strength training to burn fat and keep it off. It also teaches you how to strength train safely and with out bulking up.
Burst Training: Chapters 8 and 9 teach you how to use burst training instead of traditional steady-state cardio. You will also learn in chapter 9 how to include burst training into your exercise routine.
Environment: Finally in Chapters 10 and 11 you will learn how to shape your environment around you in order to maintain the changes you have made in your life.
What do I think about this book? I love the book. This is the perfect book for new moms, old moms, pregnant to be moms, and any busy woman. I love the inspiration I found in the chapters. At the end of each chapter you will find stories from moms who have used this program. Some where in this book you will find a story that you can relate to and feel motivated from. While I was reading Fit Moms for Life I started to wonder if I would be able to do the burst training after all I am not a young mother but a not so healthy grandmother.  My worries were quickly brushed away by Donna's inspiring story at the end of chapter 7.  I do plan to try the Fit Moms for life plan after talking to my doctor and if all goes well I will keep my blogging friends informed of the results.
To purchase a copy of "Fit Moms for Life" go here. To win a copy enter the raffle copter below.

My honest opinion has been expressed in this post. Grandma Bonnie's Closet 

has not received monetary compensation for this post. 

A copy of the book Fit Moms for Life was given to me free of cost in order to review this product.

Kindle Giveaway Sign Up

My bogging friends if you are looking for a great way to gain followers. Join Terri's Little Haven and all her friends in a Kindle giveaway for this awesome Giveaway Bog Carnival they have put together! 

Terri's Little Haven, See, Shop, Love!, Ashley And The Little Ones Too and Totally Terri are sponsoring a Kindle for an upcoming Giveaway Blog Carnival.

Bloggers can get more likes and follows by signing up to be a part of this giveaway. The giveaway will be for a Kindle Touch with special offers and will run from January 3-10.

For bloggers to sign up for the first link it is $5.00 made payable to terrishaven@gmail.com as a personal GIFT. Each additional link is $2.00 each. The giveaway will be a big one, there are over 100 bloggers including lots of big name heavy traffic bloggers participating in the blog carnival. December 31 is the last day you can sign up to enter.

Terri  also has a sponsor (author) who will provide two different eBooks for the winner as well so her books will be included in the giveaway.





Thank you.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish all my Blogging friends and followers a safe and Merry Christmas! Grandma and Grandpa will be doing a lot of traveling during the holidays. I will not be blogging much in the next few days I will see you all in the New Year

Don't forget to enter The Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway!

It ends 12/27

. 

Scrap Book Freebie Today!!

Offered free to my readers. As promised here is another fantastic scrapbook page to add to your collection.  If you have not started saving these great pages you do not have to worry there are more to come each week so you can start saving them now. These can be used  for a scrap book (online or printed)  or photo album pages.

To get your Designer Pack click here.

If you are interested in more digital scrapbook software from My Memories  use the coupon code below.

Use coupon code STMMMS56142 for 2 $10 off coupons

Visit My Memories to check out their digital scrap booking software.

Happy Scrap-booking!!!

Christmas Memories

My husband and I had many Christmas traditions that we enjoyed as our children were growing up. One of my favorite traditions was when my children were teenagers we had a fun game day on Christmas day. We usually focused on one or two games.  In the past we played monopoly, charades, and Uno. One particular Christmas my daughter got an xbox game called Dance Dance Revolution. We actually played this game for hours. We had dances offs and all of the adults even my elderly father tried to dance in a dance off with my husband. Another Christmas we actually had a paint ball battle in our back yard on Christmas day. There was plenty of snow on the ground that year. In our back yard we have a mound system with evergreen trees lined up across thirty feet. My daughter, daughter-in-law and my self hid in the evergreen trees. We had a flag planted in the middle of the yard and the plan was to be the first team to capture the flag. Not too easy when you are up against three guys who have played on the high school paint ball team. My daughter-in-law rushed to the flag as we were shooting to cover her. She of course got hit just before reaching the flag. I then laid flat on my belly and tried to shoot at any movement toward the flag. I got hit in my hand. That was it I quit! That was the first time I had ever been hit by a paint ball and I did not expect it to hurt that bad! My sons told me later that it always hurts worst when you are cold or the paint balls are cold. I do have to say it was fun while it lasted!
Three of my children are now raising their own children.This had made it impossible to get everyone together at the same time for Christmas.  At first it made me a little sad. I finally decided I would not let it spoil our Christmas. This year my husband and I have planned to make a new tradition we are going to take our grandchildren to the cinema for one of there Christmas gifts. We might have to go three different times but that won't matter! We will enjoy every minute of this new tradition.
I hope you all enjoy your Christmas traditions and have a great week. Just in case I am not able to get on the computer in the next few days, I want to wish all my blog friends a Very Merry Christmas! 

Santa in Your Home Video Giveaway/Review

Another Christmas giveaway. SantaVideo.com is giving 5 of Grandma Bonnie's Closet readers a free video down load of Santa in your home. This is a wonderful gift for your Grandchildren. I had the opportunity to make a video and down load it to my computer. My plan is to make a DVD for each of my grandchildren. I picked the video where Santa is placing four packages under the tree. I have four grandchildren and this will make the perfect video for them. I am going to try and find similar gift wrap to match the ones in the video. Then the gifts they get will look like the ones that Santa placed under the tree. I am sure you want to know what I thought of the process of creating the video. It was very simple. There are three steps. Step one: upload your photo. I would have a few different photos ready that you want to use. Try taking pictures of your tree from different angles. Step two: Try each of the Santa clips and find the one that fits your photo and your needs. If you need to you can upload a different photo. Select the clip you like. Step three: Select the music for your video. I am sure you will find one of your favorite Christmas songs. If you do not want music you can select no music. Now you can try the preview. If you decide you want to change something you can up until you select the done button. Once you check out you will receive an email in a few minutes. That's it you can view your video on line or down load to your computer. The video is very high quality. I was extremely happy with the results.

My Video!

Please use the Raffelcopter below to enter. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using

http://MomBlogSociety.com Regardless, I only recommend products or
services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.


Select read more to enter the giveaway.

UPrinting Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway

This giveaway has ended.
UPrinting is giving Grandma Bonnie's Closets readers an opportunity to win a Rolled Canvas Print. I know what I am going to do with my canvas print. I am going to pick a favorite photo of my grandchildren at Christmas and get it made for above my fireplace. I am so guilty of storing all my photos on my computer and not taking the time to print them off. That would be a good New Years resolution to get my photos printed to hard copy. I wish you all good luck in winning one for your favorite holiday photo.

Prize Details:

16” x 20” Rolled Canvas Print for one winner

 with 2-inch border or no border

 1 Business Days Turnaround time 

 Free US shipping only

Giveaway Begins 12/16/11 Ends 12/27/11

There are two mandatory entries. You must complete both to be eligible to win the prize. Please note for each entry to count you must leave a comment below. One comment per entry. 


1. Like UPrinting Canvas Print Page and share how you would use the canvas if you win the giveaway. (1 entry)

   2. Tweet about the giveaway! Leave the twitter url in your comment.(1entry) Tweet

Additional Entries (not required):

Like Grandma Bonnie's Closet on Facebook (button on right side bar)(3 entries)

Click the +1 button at the bottom of this post. (3 entries)

 Like UPrinting on Facebook (2 entries)

Follow UPrinting on Twitter(2 entries)

Add UPrinting in your Circle on Google Plus(2 entries)

The winner will be selected by random draw and will have 48 hours to respond.

Restriction: Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only.

If you have won a giveaway from UPrinting in the last 6 months you are not eligible to enter this giveaway.

Please include your email in you comment if it is not available in you profile.


This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was received and Grandma Bonnie's Closet will receive a canvas print for hosting.

Review/Giveaway: My Santa Photo From CatchACharacter

Santa came early to Pooh Bears house! I can't wait to see Pooh Bears face on Christmas morning when we show him the the photo of Santa in his living room. iCaughtSanta.com has given me the opportunity to try making a photo with CatchACharacter. This is an absolutely fun website that allows you to up load a photo from your computer and add a Character from the files. I selected Santa to add to my photo. There are other characters such as the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and even a Cupid.

There are 20 Santa poses to choose from. I liked several of the poses. There is a pose of Santa sleeping, which can be positioned on a sofa or chair, another of Santa eating cookies. I thought my grandchildren would like the pose of Santa getting presents out of his sack the best. After selecting your pose you can change the size of your character and even flip the pose to the other direction. You can change the color of Santa to brighten his suit or make it darker to suit your photo. The editing options are simple and easy to use. You can try more than one pose and change your photo if the poses do not suit your photo. Once you are happy with your photo you confirm and purchase the photo. You can than download it to your computer. The cost of one photo is $9.99 or four photos and one video for $24.98.  iCaughtSanta is offering 25% off when you use the code SAVE25. 

Now for the giveaway! iCaughtSanta is giving 5 of Grandma Bonnie's Closet readers one free code for a photo down load to make your own CatachACharacter photo. 

Please follow the instructions on the Raffelcopter form. Please use the rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway. The more entry options you complete the greater your chance of winning. If you need any help with this giveaway please contact me.

Disclosure 

Grandma Bonnie's Closet has not received monetary compensation for this post. I have received one of the products mentioned above for free using MomBlogSociety.com Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crazy Christmas Giveaway (no mandatory entries)

The Two Facebook like buttons have be repaired!

1. Three Cook Books From Viva Editions: 

The Lazy Gourmet, The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, & Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it

2. Tidy Tots Potty Chair Liners 

3. A Child's Book: The Adventures of Jimmy and Charlie written by Rodney Mack

Enter here!

Christmas Memories

I have been thinking about some of our past Christmases as a family. I thought you might enjoy a walk down memory lane with me to take a peek into a part of our little world.
A few Christmases stand out in my memories. One Christmas in particular we celebrated while living in Egypt. I cherish the memory of not having the usual snow and shopping rush. My parents had come to visit over the Christmas holiday and we spent much of our time showing them around Egypt. We took them to the pyramids of course and visited some museums all the sort of thing you would do on vacation. My parents wanted to shop for gifts one day so we caught a taxi cab and went shopping. Needless to say they were surprised at not finding the selection expected. After hours of shopping we caught another taxi for our trip home. While riding we happened to see a row of what looked like fresh Christmas trees for sale. I recognized the road we were on and told my parents we could walk back in the evening and get a tree. Up until this point I had only seen one other shop with a small 12 inch artificial  tree for sale and it was very over priced for the size. After dinner that evening my father decided to stay at our apartment. My mother and I set out with the children to walk the few block that I remembered to find our tree. Little did I realize it turned out to be about fifteen blocks away from home. There would be no possible way to carry the tree that far! The children were disappointed when I told them we would have to wait until tomorrow. The store owner over heard my conversation and asked if he could be of some help. I explained that we wanted a tree but would not have a way to get it home. I did not think a taxi driver would let us put a tree on their roof. The owner laughed and said he would get us a taxi and all would be fine. Once back at the apartment my father pulled off the twine from the branches  and the tree fell apart before our eyes. What we thought was a Christmas tree was some evergreen branches tied together into a make shift Christmas tree. My father spent the rest of the evening weaving the branches together with the twine to make a some what respectable tree. My children happily made paper chains and paper ornaments for our decorations while we sang Christmas songs. This is one of my most thankful Christmases. I would love to hear about your special Christmas memories. 

Remodeling Our Laundry Room/Mud Room

I have been wanting to remodel our laundry room for a while now. I just have not really had the time to come up with a design that would work for my family. When my dear husband suggested he would redesign the laundry room himself that was all the motivation I needed. You see, I want the design to suit me. It is my laundry room. Right? 

So, off I go looking for some designs online. I came across this really awesome website Houzz. Houzz is a website for homeowners, interior and exterior designers, architects and contractors. There is a selection of wonderful photos for any room design imaginable. You can break down your search by style and room. Any design you like can be added to the designbook. I must have searched for at least an hour to find about fifteen laundry room ideas I am interested in. I really want a bench of some sort built into the wall. After all it is our mud room and we need a place to sit down to remove our boots or shoes. 

Once you have a plan or design in mind you can search the professional section. You will find a professional who remodels homes in your city. If you have a design or remodeling question you can submit it in the questions section. I must warn you this site can be very addicting. I have now added my kitchen to our remodeling list. 

Crazy Christmas Giveaway/ Closed

Welcome to our crazy Christmas Giveaway being hosted by Grandma Bonnie's Closet and Life with Tootsabella and the Rose. There are three featured prizes for this giveaway. There will be three winners one prize each. The prizes will be drawn in the following order.

1. Three Cook Books From Viva Editions: 

The Lazy Gourmet, The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, & Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it

2. Tidy Tots Potty Chair Liners 

3. A Child's Book: The Adventures of Jimmy and Charlie written by Rodney Mack

You can find the reviews in the links below.

 The Adventures of Jimmy and Charlie written by Rodney Mack

Tidy Tots Potty Chair Liners 

The Lazy Gourmet, The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, & Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it

Please follow the instructions on the Raffelcopter form. There are three mandatory entries. Please use the rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway. If you do not use the raffelcopter to enter your comments will not count toward the giveaway. The more entry options you complete the greater your chance of winning. If you need any help with this giveaway please contact me. The giveaway begins on 12/12/2011 and ends on 12/19/2011

Book Review: Three Books From Viva Editions

Grandma Bonnie's Closet and Life with Tootsabella and the Rose have another review and pending giveaway for you. The Lazy Gourmet, The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, and Fix it Make it Grow it Bake it, by Viva Editions. To read our review about these wonderful books stop over to  Life with Tootsabella and the Rose.  You can also visit Viva Editions to learn more about the authors and their books or make a purchase.

Tidy Tots Potty Chair Liners Review

Grandma Bonnie's Closet and Life with Tootsabella and the Rose have another product for review and for our next giveaway. Life with Tootsabella and the Rose uses a travel potty for her liners but you can use any potty chair for the Tidy Tots liners. To read more about the review and Tidy Tots potty liners stop over at Life with Tootsabella and the Rose. To purchase Tidy Tots potty liners go here.

Book Review: The Adventures of Jimmy and Charlie

Grandma Bonnie's Closet and Life with Tootsabella and the Rose have had the opportunity to review some awesome products and books that will also be in another one of our Christmas Giveaways. The First of the reviews is a book written by Rodney Mack, "The Adventures of Jimmy and Charlie"

The story is about two little cat's adventures on a Midwest farm. The two cats get dropped off on the farm and then almost get lost by accidently hitching a ride to the store on a car.  To read more about the story and the review stop over to Life with Tootsabella and the Rose.

Cake Decorating: Snow White Icing

The following is a recipe for Snow White Butter Cream Icing used for Wedding cakes. So far in our tutorials we have made Decorators Butter Cream Icing and Royal Icing. Snow White Butter Cream Icing is what most decorators use if they need an all white cake.

I used the Snow White Butter Cream Icing on this Wedding cake. 

Snow White Icing

Ingredients

2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons water

1/4 cup meringue powder

12 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 1/4 cups solid vegetable shortening

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon no color almond extract

3/4 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon no color butter flavor

Makes about 7 cups icing.

In a large mixing bowl combine 2/3 cup water and meringue powder. Whip on high speed until peaks form. Add 4 cups sugar one at a time while mixing at low speed. The icing will be stiff. Add remaining sugar, 3 tablespoons of water, shortening and corn syrup one at a time while mixing at low speed.  Blend well after each addition. Add salt and flavorings blend until smooth. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Rewhip before using. 

Next week I will share a White Cream Cheese Icing for general every day use.

Past cake decorating tips. Icing With Out Crumbs, Smoothing Butter Cream Icing, Decorator's Icing or Royal Icing.

Giveaways End Saturday 12/10

The following Christmas giveaways are ending Saturday evening.

Three handcrafted in USA Christmas Gifts

One handcrafted Christmas Pendant

One Abstract Painting

One Kid Puzzle

To enter this giveaway go here.

Three Educational Children's Gifts

One Plush, Mr. Broccoli

One  Maya & Filippo Educational Coloring Book

One Set of Author Francine Trevens Fantasy Stories

To enter this giveaway go here.

Winter Wonder Week Giveaway! $500 Cash & More

Welcome to Winter Wonder Week!

100 bloggers have pulled together to offer some great prizes to help you celebrate the Winter holidays! Up for grabs are:

• $500.00 CASH paid via PayPal from all of the participating blogs
• Epson Artisan 837 all in one
• $100 Gift Card from Howard Computers
• 3pc. Gaming Bundle from Newbie Technology
• Kindle from Jolly Savers
• iPad 2 from a Super Secret Sponsor (they’re a nonprofit who have asked to remain anonymous – they just ask you remember the pets this holiday)

As you hop along to the different blogs you’ll find some may have a secret image. That image shows you have earned an extra  5 entries! Have fun and enjoy! Without further ado, let the wonder begin! 

Wordless Wednesday

Little Bug! He just loves the camera!

Don't you think he is looking more like Pooh Bear every day.

Pooh Bears first Candy Cane. He decided he did not like candy canes or gum drops.

PJ's for Christmas

Do you follow the PJ's for Christmas Eve tradition? I did not know anything about this tradition until my daughter asked me why we did not follow this tradition when she was a child. My daughter told me that she had read about this online and she wanted to start making this one of their family Christmas traditions. The idea is to give everyone a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve. Then when everyone comes down to open gifts on Christmas morning the photos will be nice with everyone in their new pajamas.

I started looking for some cute PJ's to give as Christmas Gifts and I found some really cute PJ's  online at Tea Collection. I really want the pajamas I give to be cute and fun for my grandchildren. The Tea Collection had  pajamas for babies, children, and women. I had an easy time picking out my favorite styles for each grandchild. 

I like their pj's because they are made of 100% cotton and the tops are made extra long to ensure the tummy stays covered. You can get free shipping with orders over $150 or $7 on everything else. 

Do you have any special family traditions for Christmas Eve?

Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

I have been thinking about my debit card use during this holiday season. I don't use credit cards very often but I found my self using my debit card this Christmas season a little extra. This got me thinking about identity theft. Why you might ask? Well, over the weekend while shopping I went to swipe my debit card and realized I was not blocking the view of the key pad from the person behind me. When I use an ATM (which is seldom) I am careful to make sure there is no one looking over my shoulder when I enter my pin number. Later, I got to thinking and decided to research and write a list of corrections that I need to make in order to prevent theft of my identity. The following three tips I found are my weak points in securing my identity.
The first tip I found while researching was to check your credit report and you credit card statements carefully. You should check for irregular activity, transactions or purchases that you did not make. Any activity that can not be easily explained should be looked into right away. You are allowed a free credit score check at least once a year. Using this may give you an early warning if something is not right. This is one tip I really need to remember. I am so guilty of not having any idea when I last did this.
The next step is to shred documents that contain financial or personal information before throwing away. Identity theft can start with a thief stealing your trash! I usually just tear my documents up by hand. I really need to get a shredder. 
The last tip. If you are not using your check book for a shopping trip leave it at home. The same for credit cards. Only carry in your wallet what you plan to use. I usually have all my cards in my wallet every day. I am now putting the ones I seldom use in my safe box. With this off my mind I can now get back to my holiday shopping.  

Made in USA, 3 Handcrafted Christmas Gifts, Giveaway. Ends 12/10

 Welcome to A Crafty Christmas hosted by Grandma Bonnie's Closet,Life with Tootsabella and the Rose and Grandma Bonnie's Wee Classroom. There are three featured prizes for this giveaway. There will be three winners one prize each. The prizes will be drawn in the following order.

One handcrafted Christmas Pendant

One Abstract Painting

One Kid Puzzle

Read More

Children's Christmas Giveaway! Ends Saturday 12/10

Welcome to Our Unique Christmas Gifts Giveaway! Hosted by Grandma Bonnie's Closet, Life with Tootsabella and the Rose and Grandma Bonnie's Wee Classroom. There are three featured prizes for this giveaway. There will be three winners one prize each. The prizes will be drawn in the following order.

One Plush, Mr. Broccoli

One  Maya & Filippo Educational Coloring Book

One Set of Author Francine Trevens Fantasy Stories

Read More

My First Gingerbread House!

This is the first time I made a gingerbread house for the holidays. I really enjoyed making this little house. I thought it would be easy to construct but I did have a little trouble getting the sides of the house not to slide or fold in.  I found a simple recipe for a hard gingerbread it would be considered construction grade.

Debbie's Gingerbread House Dough

Ingredients:

6 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoons cinnamon (I used 2 tablespoons)

11/2 tsp ginger (I used 2 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups Karo syrup

1 1/4 cups brown sugar (use dark if possible)

1 cup margarine

Paper pattern for cutting out house pieces. 

Mix together the first 4 ingredients.  Stir together over medium heat the last 3 ingredients until the margarine is melted. Mix the ingredients together. The dough will be warm and easy to handle. As the dough cools it will get hard to work with. While still warm roll out dough to a 1/4 inch in thickness. Place pattern pieces and cut with a knife. Place on a lined cookie sheet and cut out doors and windows. Bake for 12 to 15 min. at 350degrees. When pieces cool they will be very hard. I used a butter cream icing to put my house together. You can find that recipe here. 

 

 

 

 

I found the pattern and dough recipe for my gingerbread house here.