.jpg)
.jpg)
Love, The Macs
The Macs » Blog
|
The Minted calendar winners are… Katherine: love the bookshop one! Heather S: I love the Washi Chalkboard design. Thanks for the chance! I’ve heard of Minted through many blogs and friends, and I love the site and all the options. Kasey: It would be so hard to choose- I love so many of the designs. The journals are great too. Congratulations ladies! Check your inbox for an email from me. You should be hearing from Minted soon!
My heart is heavy…just as I know all of your hearts are too. I really don’t have anything profound to say. No words that will make anyone feel any better. Just, I’m so sorry. So sorry to the families and friends affected by the loss of the precious 26 lives in Newtown, Connecticut. So sorry to the mamas who can’t pick their babies up from school or hold them in their arms today. My heart aches for you and I am praying that you sense the Lord’s nearness to your broken hearts. I read this post by Jen Wilkins on the Gospel Coalition blog over the weekend. It rang true to me on so many levels…if you have a few minutes, go read it today. Longing for the day when all things will be made new (Revelation 21:5) and praying for you, CT!
It is almost time for a new year which means time for new calendars. I usually don’t have a calendar hanging up in my house but Minted asked me if I wanted to review their new line of photo calendars so I decided to give one a try this year. I’m thinking I’ll hang mine in the kitchen.
I ordered two. One for me and one for a gift. This is how they looked right out of the box…a little sticker and everything…all ready for gift giving.
I can’t show you the gift calendar…because then it wouldn’t be a surprise…and that wouldn’t be any fun. But I made it with the So Happy Together Standard design. I chose Book Shop Standard for my own calendar design. This is the front. I love how it turned out.
And here is a peek at the inside. I wish I could show you every month because each page is so fun! The calendar is totally customizable and all designs are available in two sizes. You choose your design and then add pictures. You can choose one picture like I did on the left…or multiple pictures like I did on the right. It’s super easy! You can also customize the calendar by adding in your own special dates. That makes it really great if you are giving it as a gift! Right now Minted is running a calendar promotion…buy two calendars get the third free. These would make great gifts if you are still looking for some last minute Christmas gifts. Use promo code GETGIFTY for the discount. Offer ends Sunday, December 16th at midnight. I was only asked to review the calendars but when I was making mine I got sidetracked and ended up ordering some journals too. Minted journals are my favorite. I love that they can be personalized and they make great gifts too!
These are the two I made for my boys. I am hoping to keep a prayer journal for each boy as I pray for them in the coming year. On the inside cover there is also another picture and the verse that we chose for each boy. Aren’t they fun? And who wouldn’t like a personalized journal as a gift? Would you like to win something? Minted is generously giving away three calendars to three of my readers. Here is how you can enter to win… Giveaway Details: THREE personalized calendars THREE winners chosen at random ONE entry per person Giveaway ends Monday, December 17th at 9pm (CST) To enter, visit Minted then come back and leave a comment. What calendar design is your favorite? Have you tried other minted products that you love? And don’t forget about the calendar promo for last minute gifts. Enter GETGIFTY for the buy two get three calendars promo. This code expires Sunday, December 16th at midnight.
Some of you asked about my felt nativity. After reading Treasuring God in Our Traditions (love this book…you have to read it!), Julie and I were inspired to make our own felt nativities for our kids. We did some research and decided to combine lots of different ideas and came up with our own. We didn’t really use any patterns, but just looked at lots of different nativities and animal shapes to figure out what pieces we wanted to include. We also came up with a daily reading schedule to go along with each piece. We had talked about sharing it on our blogs this year, but never had time to work on that. Sorry I don’t have anything more to share with you right now. Maybe next year! Last year I asked you to share some of your favorite Christmas books…ones that help us encourage our children to focus on and celebrate Jesus’ birth. I tried to link to that post so that you could see the complete list but I could not find it anywhere! Thankfully I wrote a bunch of them down to remember for myself, so here is my list so far. The ones with a star beside are ones that we have and love. I haven’t read the entire list, but the rest were recommended by some of you! Feel free to leave other favorites that weren’t included in the comment section.
* * * Children’s Christmas Books Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck & Felicia Bond* The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats Who is Coming to Our House by Joseph Slate* The Small One by Alex Walsh The First Night by B.G. Hennessy* Christmas Angels by Gwen Ellis* The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado Mary’s First Christmas by Walter Wangerin Jr. Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman The Christmas Story by Carol Heyer* What Is Christmas? by Michelle Medlock Adams One Night in Bethlehem by Jill Roman Lord Room for a Little One by Martin Waddel* The Christmas Birdie by Mary Ellen Tippin* God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren Christmas Is… by Gail Gibbons Alabaster’s Song by Max Lucado The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt * * * Advent Books/Family Devotions For Advent The Advent Storybook by Antonie Schneider What God Wants for Christmas Family Life Why Christmas by Barbara Reaoch Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room by Nancy Guthrie 12 Day Holiday Countdown DaySpring* * * *
My boys have been enjoying our basket of Christmas books. I have several other “fun” Christmas books from my teaching days…we like those too. Funny how since this post is about meaningful Christmas books that Levi is reading Clifford. 🙂
Levi loves having his brother’s full attention and bossing him around. It is so cute to see them “playing” together but it usually only lasts a few minutes before Griffin is on to something else.
Levi can entertain himself though. He was reading with such expression. His faces crack me up.
I wish you could hear the stories he comes up with. He has quite the imagination.
What Christmas books do your kids love? *disclosure: affiliate links used
|
|
Toni :O) - Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a blessed New Year. Love the photos, so precious…beautiful family!
[Reply]
Mary Ann - What a darling, darling card. I hope your Christmas was wonderful and that the new year brings you lots of love and joy.
[Reply]
Lori A - Love, love your cards. Might I ask who designed them? Katygirl?
[Reply]
Jess Reply:
December 27th, 2012 at 9:25 am
Lori-Thank you! Yes, our card was designed by Katygirl. She is the best. I will go back and add the link now…sorry! 🙂
[Reply]
Jess - Lori-Thank you! Yes, our card was designed by Katygirl. She is the best. I will go back and add the link now…sorry! 🙂
[Reply]