Sunday, November 30, 2014

Delivering A Get Well Basket

About a month ago it seemed like everyone had kids dropping like flies from being sick. Facebook was chalk full of status updates of parents being home with kids. I thought we’d been able to avoid it until about a week and a half ago when Doodle woke up saying he felt like he was going to get sick. I tell you what, I was thankful I had the opportunity to work with Smiley360 to do a review of Children’s Mucinex. It was good timing, unfortunately.

A photo posted by Mimi B (@mimibakermn) on

Ugh, poor kid. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am to be a work at home mom? I was able to send him back to bed to get more rest with a water bottle and a puke bucket.

He woke up a couple of hours later looking miserable so I sat him in front of the tv for him to watch Frozen. We had just gotten the DVD and hadn’t seen it since it was in the theater. He cuddled up in a blanket and chilled out watching the movie.
Get Well List
While he was laying there, it dawned on me how nice it would be if someone knew I was home with a sick kid to bring us a little Get Well basket. It’s nice to be able to stay home with a sick kidling, but not so easy to get out and leave the sick one home.
Gift Basket

Knowing how my kids are when they get sick, I put together a little basket I knew would come in handy for other parents with their own sick ones.
1. Children’s Mucinex
2. Tissues
3. Tea Tree Oil
4. Lip Balm
5. Toothbrush
6. Movie
7. Water Bottle
8. Blanket
Get Well Soon Basket
We always keep tea tree oil around because when my youngest and oldest get sick they both usually end up with ear infections. We’ve found the oil helps either keep the ear infections at bay or helps lessen them. I learned years ago to change out their toothbrushes when they’re sick so that when they’re better they’re not brushing their teeth with a nasty, germ laden toothbrush. I also like having a water bottle with the child who’s sick and a second one in the fridge. The Children’s Mucinex helps give relief of stuffy noses, cough, and congestion when our kids have cold symptoms. Be sure to use this $2 coupon http://bit.ly/ZoUtYh to save!

What do you keep on hand for when your little one gets sick?

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Tervis Tumblers For The Holidays #HollyJollyGiftGuide #HJGGG

One of our favorite travel cups that my son and I have are our Tervis tumblers. They’re perfect for on the go! I’ve been thinking about how I could personalize the holidays with my family members and Tervis is the way to do it. I know that you can go out and get friends and family some humdrum gift, but that’s where these tumblers make a difference.

When you know what your friends are into, whether it’s sports, hobbies, seasons, locations, I mean, anything you can imagine, you can get it for them in into a Tervis tumbler. I know that owls are really popular right now and that’s why when I was given the option of reviewing a couple tumblers, I chose the Woodland Owls wrap! It’s so stinkin’ festive! I also loved the colorful Festive Ornaments because to me, it could be used in the summer and no one would look at you like you were whacky. =) Unless of course it’s me then they already know I am, no matter what season.
Tervis Tumblers
When we went out to my mom’s for Thanksgiving, I took my tumblers with me because I wanted her opinion on who to give the two I received to. I have two sisters-in-law who I thought would like them, but wanted mom’s help figuring out who get which one. Of course, then we talked about all of the other options that the guys in the family would like. We’re not sure when it happened, but the ladies are seriously outnumbered by the guys these days. We need my girls around to balance things out. lol
Tervis Collage
I think the favorite for our family will always be the football themed wraps. I think we could each get a tumbler for every holiday and feel like we never have enough. That’s because we’ve got pro and college football lovers in the family and only a couple of us (extended family-wise) like the same teams.
Tervis Lids
So this year we’ll be giving Tervis out to the family. The next step is to decide if we’ll put them under the tree or if they’ll go into the stockings!
Tervis Tumbler Options

What’s your favorite Tervis for the holidays?

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy 40th Birthday Hello Kitty

Tervis Logo
I grew up thinking Hello Kitty was so cute! I wanted it to be on everything I owned. I had no idea that this November was Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday! Just a little younger than me! I know that Hello Kitty hasn’t lost it’s charm. It’s still loved worldwide!

We love Tervis in our family and found out that during the month of November, you can find a special commemorative cup for the occasion only in their stores or on their website.
Tervis_WB_HelloKitty40th
Have you ever owned at Tervis? We have a couple from the Tailgate Bash I hosted last year. My son and I still love using them all the time. Some of the features and benefits:

o Made for LifeTM Guarantee
o Keeps hot drinks hotter and cold drinks colder
o Safe for microwave, dishwasher and freezer
o Reduces condensation
o BPA Free
Tervis_16oz_HelloKitty40th

Tervis has thousands of designs to choose from, including 60+ license agreements:

o All Professional sports: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, plus 100s of colleges
o Brands: Disney, Marvel, Warner Brothers, Dr. Seuss, Nickelodeon, Hallmark, Fiesta, Hello Kitty,
o Pink Ribbon designs – Year round, Tervis donates 5% of sales to breast cancer research
o Patti Gay’s Two Can collection – Year round, Tervis donates 5% of sales to Autism Awareness
  Harley-Davidson, Margaritaville, Real Tree, Romero Britto, Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, and more!
Hello Kitty


If you could own your very own Tervis, what would it be?

*I have not received anything for sharing this post

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Meet Peru: Our Family Dog Rescue

For about a year, Fred and I have talked off an on about getting a dog. Lots of talk for a while and then not any talk, and then more talk again. He really surprised me about a month ago when he talked about wanting us to go look for a dog together to get it by Christmas. I was totally blown away. Usually it’s me leading the march for something like this.

Peru American Bulldog

I knew he wanted a greyhound, so regardless of what the kids wanted, I wanted him to have a greyhound. He always puts aside what he wants for what everyone else wants. So, I started sending him pictures from greyhound rescues. We stopped talking about dogs for a couple of weeks when a week or so ago he sent me links to a list of greyhounds and then to the spca.

Both of our oldest kids have mentioned wanting either a bulldog or a boxer. Fred’s kids have two dogs at their mom’s house and we have our two cats. I didn’t really have a preference other than having a dog we both could agree on because then our kids would come along with us.

Peru

He saw an American Bulldog/Boxer mix at the SPCA in Annapolis named Chloe. I was pretty excited to go see her. When we walked in, I wanted to look at every dog, which I did. We found another Chloe who was a 6 mos old pitbull. She was beautiful, but rambunctious. Exactly what you’d expect for a puppy. There were so many dogs I fell in love with. Had their been an adult or senior dog that grabbed us, I would’ve been happy adopting them. I’m finally in a place where I’m ok with NOT having a puppy.

We came to Chloe and she was so sweet. The worker came and took us out to the yard. She was beautiful, pretty mellow, and we were smitten. I instagrammed her, and I couldn’t stop talking to Fred about her. Two days later we went back to drop off the application to adopt her and to spend more time with her. I’m glad we did. We went out to the yard and she still had no interest in us. Fred tried playing with her and she clamped down on his arm really hard. I tried not reacting because I wasn’t sure if Fred was in control or if she was. Turned out she was. He came away with a pretty nasty mark on his arm. With 4 kids who will want to play with her, we knew that would be no good. She also seemed to be extremely aggressive towards other dogs that either walked by her or she walked by. In fact, the trainer was outside with a dog and said if she let the dog go, Chloe would’ve been aggressive. Needless to say, we knew she wasn’t the dog for us and we were really bummed.

I suggested we go walk around again just to see if we liked any other dogs. I actually didn’t expect to find anything because we’d been there two days before.

Family dog Peru

Well, we walked around to the back wall of dogs and there she was…Peru. P-E-R-U! If you recall, I went to Peru a year and a half ago with Fred on my first mission trip. He’d also been to Peru the year before. I wasn’t even sure I was going to GO to Peru until I was flying back from my work conference and right there in the travel magazine was a two page layout of Peru.

Turns out, she had just come back into the kennel after being gone for two weeks. After she arrived she got sick and then had kennel cough and she needed to be spayed. It was apparent that at some point she’d had puppies. We asked to take her outside and I actually hovered over her door because there were so many people there. lol I tried being all nonchalant about it, but I didn’t want anyone else to look at her before we had a chance.

The gal came back and we went outside. She was definitely interested in all of the smells in the yard. She came to both of us and sat between our legs. She was pretty lovey when I tried kissing her by her face. We tugged her ears, tugged her tail and played with her. The worker got her to sit and to shake her paw. Fred played around with her and although she would jump up, she never once used her mouth. Not only that, she would stop playing and just sit as his feet. It was awesome! We knew we were changing our papers to her.

Peru is an unpapered purebred (I take that with a grain of salt) American Bulldog. We have no interest in having a purebred, we just wanted a family dog that fit our family. She’ll be two in January. When we read her paperwork it said a couple of times that it would take time to have her warm up to someone. We were shocked. That wasn’t our experience at all. She was right there, in our faces almost immediately.

Of course, I instagrammed her as well. What else was I supposed to do? lol We thought we had found our newest family member. Warning, our Instagram feed will be filled with all things Peru. There were so many people there, we figured, almost hoped it would be a week before we heard back. Why did we hope? Because Thanksgiving we’re going to my mom’s and with just transitioning her into the home, we weren’t sure how she’d be with my mom’s dogs. We wanted to get her after the Thanksgiving weekend. Wouldn’t you know it, a couple of hours later, Fred got the call that he was the proud new owner of Peru! Squeeeeee

We have a plan on how to surprise our kids. We’re going to take a picture and send it to them every day for a few days before the Sunday after Thanksgiving when they all get to see her for the first time! I’M going back to see her today (Sunday)! I went out and bought her dog bowls, a leash, a collar, and some toys. I’m going to take them and one of our blankets to her after church!

Have you ever rescued a dog?

Monday, November 24, 2014

Berries & Moss Holiday Wreath #HollyJollyHolidayGGG

Holly Jolly Image
I don’t know how you decorate for the holidays, but most of my stuff is premade and lit up like a…well, like a Christmas tree. All of my stuff is still in storage for the holidays unfortunately. It’ll be nice to go to my mom’s for Thanksgiving where my dad will take my boys to go pick out a Christmas tree! Meanwhile, mom and I will pull out all of her other decorations. She does it big time! No, they’re not the Griswalds, but they have a festive house.
Creekside Farms Wreath
This coming weekend we’ll do Thanksgiving at mom’s and then head up to PA to spend Sunday with Fred’s parents and his kids for a second Thanksgiving. I’m hoping we’ll have the chance to do some decorating at his house. As for our house, right now I have a wreath.

I’m sorry, I don’t just have a ‘wreath’, I have a gorgeous, live wreath. At this point, I don’t care what else I come up with to get into the spirit of the holidays. This wreath has me completely satisfied. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I saw an email come through from Creekside Farms about their wreaths. I’d never considered getting a live wreath. Honestly, I didn’t know what the big difference was, but figured now was as good a time as any to learn. I emailed right away asking if I could review one and add it to our holiday giveaway.
Creekside Farms
My Berries & Moss Wreath arrived mid week last week. Let me say, I’ve been educated…liberated. I don’t know that I could ever go back to an artificial wreath. When I opened my box, it had the best fragrance! Nothing compares to that aroma at the holidays! I’ve heard of people getting something like a bouquet of flowers in the mail and them not looking at all like what they saw online. I can tell you for sure and for certain that the wreath I received is exactly how it looked online!

The Berries & Moss Wreath is a blend of fresh fir and seeded eucalyptus. Pine cones, moss, Artemisia, and pepperberries surround it as well. The moss is so squishy! I think it’s my favorite part of the wreath. Yes, I received my wreath the week of Thanksgiving. Yes, Christmas is a month away. Not a problem with the Creekside Farms Wreath.Once their wreaths are dried out, they’re supposed to last 6 months to a year!
Berries and Moss Wreath
Now, I have to admit, and my boys have caught me doing this, every time I go outside, I breathe in the fragrance of the wreath. Really, not kidding it smells that fabulous! Trust me, you wish you had smell-o-vision. Maybe scratch ‘n sniff. I’m really happy to have this up on our front door. Makes me wish I had one of those grand, red doors on the front of the house.

The wheels in my brain have already been spinning as I looked through all of the wreathes. One to welcome spring, for the 4th of July, and maybe one day, one for a wedding! Hey, I’m allowed to dream. =)

Have you ever had a fresh wreath?

Saturday, November 22, 2014

World Vision and Thirty-One Gifts Partner For #GivingTuesday

Tonight, Friday, Fred, Doodle, and I along with a group of other church members delivered Thanksgiving meals to 80 families in the larger Annapolis area. Now, I know it’s not Giving Tuesday yet, but today was a day for us to do our part for Thanksgiving.

I know the frenzy of shopping comes the day after Thanksgiving. We’re out getting things for family and friends while people around us are struggling to put a meal on the table. For me, things have improved, to a degree, with my job. I still struggle to make ends meet and try to be as careful as I can with my money. I’ve never been as bad off as some people, but I’ve never been in a place where I didn’t worry about my finances.
Hope Kit
In fact, there were numerous times I’d have to go to the food pantry at church to see if they had food we would use. At Thanksgiving I would hear a knock on my door and guess what? Someone from church would show up with a bag or two of food even though I hadn’t signed up for it. Pride gets in the way quite often, especially in a church where everyone knows you. Of course, that means they know you well enough to deliver you food because they know you won’t ask for it.

When World Vision reached out to me asking me if I’d partner with them for Giving Tuesday, I couldn’t say no. I actually wanted to do this post without receiving anything because this is such a personal topic to me, but I was told they were already shipping me a package. What they sent is absolutely beautiful and the idea of them partnering with Thirty-One Gifts warms my heart.
Hope Kit With Bag
So, what are they doing? On December 2nd, the third annual Giving Tuesday, the first 3,100 donations made by phone (1-888-511-6588) or online to World Vision, Thirty-One Gifts will donate a Hope Kit tote filled with hygiene supplies to a woman or girl in need in the U.S. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian agency and with this partnership, they’ll make twice the impact by combatting poverty in one of the 100 countries where World Vision works and helping a woman/girl in need here to get back on her feet with a Hope Kit.

Did you know, 1 in 3 American women – 42 million women, plus 28 million children – either live in poverty or are right on the brink of it. I know that by the standard of living here in Maryland, my boys and I are living close to the poverty line. If it weren’t for my parents, I wouldn’t have a car to drive. My boys get reduced lunches. That’s different than the past year where they’d been receiving free meals. I work full time at a good job, but because of life’s circumstances, don’t receive child support right now. Life doesn’t always go the way you expect.
Thirty-One Gifts Hope Kit
Thirty-One Gifts Giving
I know that receiving a gift like the Hope Kit would’ve touched my heart going through those tough times. On top of that, they put in a note of encouragement in the Kit as well! Such a sweet blessing!
We haven’t made our donation yet to World Vision and this is the nudge I needed. We order from them every year for my daughter anyhow, so what better time to do it than the Tuesday after Thanksgiving? I would love to encourage you to multiply your charitable impact this year during the holidays!

You also have the opportunity to win a personalized Handle-It Cosmetic Bag in either Paisley Day, Black Chevron, or Plum Chevron from Thirty-One Gifts! Oh, and did I mention, I love Thirty-One Gifts that I already have a personalized Cinch Sac for my youngest son hidden under my bed for Christmas!
Handle-It Cosmetic Bag


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Roaming Reindeer For The Holidays #RoamingReindeerBlogTour

Holly Jolly Image
I’ve heard all about the Elf…you know the one that shows up and does it’s crazy thing all the way up to Christmas. I think it’s time for a change. We never did the Elf anyhow. Let me introduce you to a couple of reindeer, Gus and Sam. They’re a couple of Santa’s reindeer who pitch in to help report back who’s naughty or nice. When I was contacted by PR By The Book, to review this awesome set, how could I say no?
Full Kit Image 1
It’s always good to have helpers. In Roaming Reindeer, the reindeer have to work together, but they realize they can’t get to all of the children so they call in the reinforcements of other reindeer friends. Each of the reindeer are sent off in pairs to check in on whether the kids have been naughty or nice. Reindeer #1 reports back to Santa which child has been naughty and Reindeer #2 will stay to watch the child(ren).

You can see how this might work with the kids right? Putting the reindeer where your kids will see them encourages good behavior. They don’t want to see Reindeer #1 missing. If they work together, both of the reindeer will stay at your house and Santa will be sure to visit with presents! Christmas Eve both of them leave to help Santa deliver the presents.
Roaming Reindeer
Building teamwork with your kids, especially before the holidays is a great idea for the entire family. Who wouldn’t want unity when the kids are all focused on themselves and the presents they want?
If you’re ready to start a new family tradition, be sure to use the discount code that will be active from November 17-November 27. The code ROAM2014 will give $5.00 off the regular price, making it $29.95! The set comes with the hardcover book, Reindeer #1 and #2, and an awesome keepsake box. You can let you kids name the reindeer and put them in charge of keeping an eye on both of them…especially #1!
Roaming Reindeer Book
Not only can you use that discount, you can enter to win the book at our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway that’s going on now through December 10th!

What are your favorite family holiday traditions?

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway 2014

Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway Hop Button

It's Time! It's Time!

The Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway is LIVE!

Welcome to the Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway hosted by Mimi, of Woven by Words and Kay, of The More The Merrier.

Christmas is a time for love and sharing. Mimi & Kay love their readers, and they wanted to find a way to give back a little something. They have decided to do a few of these giveaways through out the year, so you can look forward to more wonderful, huge giveaways just like this one!

Mimi & Kay collected over $750 in prizes to give away to one very lucky winner!

Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway Image

Please visit our Sponsors!

Eli's Cheesecake - $34 ARV * TrackR with App - $30 ARV
Minted - $100 Gift Code * Old Factory Candle Gift Set - $25 ARV * SOL Republic Headphones - $80 ARV Viatek Plush Pal - $30 ARV * Libre Tea New Life Glass - $27 ARV * Jamberry.com nail set - $25 Gift Code Tervis Tumbler - $20 ARV * FamilyChristian.com - $25 Gift Code * Fathead.com - $100 Gift Code Sports Chocolates Stadium - $35 ARV * The Roaming Reindeer Deer & Book - $35 ARV * Hallmark Ornament - $30 ARV Sunday Drive Designs Tea Towels (2) - $30 ARV * Nice by Design (Goldie Cablekeeper) - $13 ARV * Creekside Farms Wreath - $79 ARV * Zingermans $65 ARV * Redmaster Fusion LLC Lotion & Candle $17 ARV *

The Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway runs from midnight November 17th to midnight December 10th, 2014. Open to the US only. Distribution of prizes is the responsibility of the sponsors. Neither Kay (The More The Merrier) nor Mimi (Woven by Words) are responsible for the distribution of prizes.

Now go to the Rafflecopter and enter to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If It’s Tea You Want, It’s Tea You’ll Get #HollyJollyHoliday

Holly Jolly Image
There are two people in my life who are over the moon about tea: mom and Smooch! Mom has loved tea since before I ever showed up on the scene. She got it from my grandma. My 2nd daughter drinks the stuff like it’s going out of style! I think he job fed into her love for it! I was SO excited when Kay told me that Libre was going to work with us. Smooch will get to use the Starburst Loose Leaf Tea Glass on a daily basis. I already know this will become her main stocking stuffer…when she comes home.
Libre Tea Starburst
So, this year the holidays will be very different for our family. It’ll be our first year that I can remember where we don’t have Smooch with us. She’ll be on her World Race still. In fact, when Thanksgiving gets here, she’ll be finishing up her time in India and when Christmas shows up, she’ll be in Nepal!

I’d never actually used a glass like this so I watched the video on how to use them!

Pretty amazing isn’t it? This is why I know my daughter will love this when she gets home. Of course, I have to figure out how this works myself! Knowing I have tea lovers in my life, I keep around spare tea just in case. I know not everyone is going to love a cup of coffee like me.
Starburst Collage

This tea glass was so much easier than I expected to use. I like that it can be used two ways: with open tea leaves and with tea in a bag. This way my daughter can enjoy it either way.
PicMonkey Collage

If you’re a tea drinking kind of person, then I would definitely check into Libre. They have a 6 pack available so you can get them in all three colors. They’d make an amazing Christmas gift for the tea lover in your life. You can also try winning one at our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway that starts tomorrow!

What’s your favorite way to drink tea: loose or bagged?

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Ornaments Are A Christmas Tradition #HollyJollyHoliday

Holly Jolly Image
I know I’m not the only one. If you’re a parent you probably get your kids Christmas ornaments. Since the day my kids had their first Christmas, they've gotten a Hallmark ornament. It started off with all of the baby ones. Four kids later and we had lots of numbered ornaments.

As they grew out of the numbered ornaments we moved on to whatever they were interested in at the time. My first daughter moved into Barbie ornaments. I don’t remember how many of those she had. I REALLY wanted to stay with themes, but for my second daughter, the year we were starting a new series for her, they didn't really have anything new to start on. I was so bummed. I can’t even remember what we moved on to for her.

As my boys grew older, I ditched the idea of going with a theme and decided that whatever they were interested in that year was what I tried to find an ornament to associate with. I think one year my oldest got a cell phone ornament. Another time it was something to do with baking. It’s always an event when I go in and purchase the ornaments for my kids. I never know what I’m going to walk away with.
Three years of ornaments
The ONE person who’s easy to shop for with ornaments is my oldest son. He loves ALL things Star Wars. Thank you Buddy for making ornament choosing for one of my four kids easy! lol The one hard part is choosing which one I think he’d like best every year. Seriously, I think he’d be happy with all of them every year. You watch, when he grows up, he’s going to have a room that has one wall Star Wars, one wall Green Bay Packers, one wall DC Comics, and one wall Marvel. That or he’ll have rooms dedicated to each of them.

I know this year I want to continue getting ornaments for Fred and I. I’ve already found our ornament in the Dreambook. I think that’s my favorite catalog to go through for the holidays! Oh, and when Fred reads this post, he’s going to see the ornament I think K-girl would love and he’s going to want to go out immediately and buy it!
Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments
This year I’m partnering with Hallmark again to bring you a review of the Sandcrawler! You’ll also have the opportunity to win it starting next week in our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway!
Sandcrawler
Yes, it looks cool, but it does more than look cool. It sounds cool! It has 3 different sounds. Be sure to share your moments by entering Hallmark’s #KeepsakeIt Sweepstakes via: http://bit.ly/1sfFwRL. Awesome prizes are up for grabs but the contest is only open through 12/18!


Now, starting next week, keep an eye or our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway because you’ll have the chance to win one!!


What’s your favorite Hallmark ornament?

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Faith Filled Christmas Gifts #HollyJollyHoliday

Holly Jolly Image
I remember the first Christian bookstore I went to, ever. It was in Seattle. After I became a Christian, I found a store called Family Christian Bookstore. I loved shopping there! I had so many t-shirts, and wall art, and we even got to meet Bob & Larry from Veggie Tales when my girls were little.

Well, then came the move from Washington to Minnesota. I couldn’t find any Family Christian stores. Pretty sad, but the good thing was, I could shop at one when we went to Chicago to visit the in-laws. When we moved to Maryland, it turned out there was one in Annapolis (it’s closed since I moved here). I love having clothing that shows our faith. Last winter I got my boys a couple of sweatshirts. When Fred graduated from college, I got him an Apologetics Bible there. For Father’s Day I got him a tie and a coffee cup from each of his kids, and I gave him a Willow Tree figurine.
I guess you could say it’s one of my favorite places to shop, in-store and online, for faith filled products.
College apron
With Christmas coming along next month, I already have 2 gifts for my oldest daughter. She loves cooking and baking. I remember her learning to bake when she was in middle school. I taught both of the girls how to bake for 4H. They both did really well! Then off to college they went.

Oh my goodness, my oldest, she had quite the reputation in her dorm room. Students would come to her room because she was always baking. Unfortunately, baking can sometimes result in…problems. The dorm rooms had small stoves in each of them. I remember seeing updates on Facebook about her leaving a towel or a hot pad on a burner.
Baby in apron
She and her roommate have been in apartment for a few years now. Baby has become a much better baker and chef. In fact, she’s really expanded her horizons from when she was a kid. Some of my favorite memories of watching my oldest daughter grow up is seeing her at college in a completely different apron in every shot with food. It was pretty cute. I thought, what 20 yr old WANTS to wear an apron? But her and her friends did.
Baby and Rachel
When we were visiting my parents back in September, we passed a farmer’s family market. They had handmade aprons and I picked her one up. I decided at that point I was going to go with a kitchen theme for Christmas for her. That’s where shopping at Family Christian has come in handy. I like to get seasonal products, but I also like to find things that can be used year round. That’s why I fell in love with a Retro Looking Serving Tray and the matching Vintage Look Kitchen Towel!
Retro Baking
I’ve loved working with Family Christian, especially because of our history of shopping with the store. Now they partnered with me to share ideas for Christmas and a couple of the products I received from our partnership!

When we do Christmas, filling the kids stockings can’t be overlooked. She loves watching movies so I figure I could use the 2 for $20 promotion. It lasts until 12/24 so I have time to figure out which movies she has and which ones she wants. I already know we want to add God’s Not Dead to our family’s DVD selection. It’s on sale right now for $17.99/$19.99! We just sang that song for the first time last Sunday at church and it was awesome!
Retro Baking Tray and Towel
You can bet this set will be put to use a lot at her place! Baby will have two things important to her…her baking and her faith together in one set! I can’t wait for Christmas. Our next task will be her getting it back to Minnesota in one piece!

In a week, you’ll have the opportunity to win a $25 Gift Card to Family Christian with our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway! Head over there and get some fabulous ideas for Christmas and what you’d like to pick if you win!

Monday, November 10, 2014

My Nails Are Getting A Helping Hand From Jamberry #HollyJollyHoliday

Holly Jolly Image
When we went to my mom’s house for her birthday in September, she mentioned how nice it was to see my nails growing out. I was pretty thrilled that she noticed. They had been growing for months. M-O-N-T-H-S! My nails take months to grow out, even just a little bit. Makes me crazy. It’s the same way with my hair. Blah
Jamberry Yule
Well, I kid you not, a week later all of my nails were gone. GONE! They either tore or broke off. I couldn’t believe it! Ok, well, I could, but I was so discouraged. It took all those months for all 10 nails to grow out to finally give me the appearance of feminine fingers. It took 7 days for every single one to disappear. Such sadness. I guess I won’t be using my mom’s gift certificate to get a manicure any time soon.

This is where Jamberry Nail Wraps come in. I’ve used samples before so I’ve had experience with how awesome they are. The nails I’ve used them on have been accent designs because I haven’t taken the leap to put them on all 10. I’m also not very creative to use more than one on a nail or to do fun designs. That being said, they also were a protective covering for the couple of weeks that I wore them. They would always end up being the longest nail by the time the wrap came off.
Jamberry Frosty
Have you ever seen Jamberry Nail Wraps? I think one of my favorite parts is that they’re vinyl. There’s nothing that will hurt your nails. My nails have always been come away being healthier after the two samples I’ve worn. When they’ve come off, I haven’t torn that thin layer of nail off with the wrap. They come off and you’re done.
Jamberry Stripes
I wish I had a little girl because they have Junior Jamberry Nail Wraps! Can you imagine how adorable it would be to match up your nails with your daughters? I guess I could do it with my older girls, but it wouldn’t be nearly as adorable.
Jamberry white and gold
I learned about them for the first time back in May when my company had our yearly conference. One of the attendees had Jamberry wraps that looked like our company logo! She gave me a sample and it was SO fun to wear. Then a friend was hosting a Jamberry party and she sent me a sample. It was really cool! Another friend had a party and I finally ordered my first set!
Jamberry Nail Wraps Selection
To top it off, I found a blogger who was doing a giveaway! SCORE! I actually won! I also received the cuticle pusher, nail file, and wipes. I tell you, these nail wraps are so fun to have around. I just can’t get enough of them.
I’m excited to announce two things.

  1. Whitney is giving away a $25 gift certificate in our Holly Jolly Gift Guide Giveaway that starts in a week!
  2. I’m having a Jamberry party on Facebook! Do I hear a woot woot? You can order any time between now and November 15th. The party will be Nov 14 at 8:00pm to Nov 15 at 10:00pm. We’ll hang out from 8pm – 10pm both nights and hopefully you’ll get inspiration for the holidays and maybe even win something!
Jamberry Wraps
While you wait, be sure to visit Jamberry to get some ideas of what you’d like to win or even order as a gift! No time like the present than to get your shopping started. Remember, these would make great stocking stuffers.

*This is not a sponsored post. I didn’t receive anything for sharing this information. =)

 
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Woven by Words by Mimi B is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.