12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Shoes!

I love shoes more than any other clothing item. My shoes are most often the item I pick out first and often cost the most of my whole outfit. Please tell me someone else spends more on their shoes than the rest of their outfit? I love nice shoes and Target or Old Navy clothes!

My favorite places to buy shoes?

Zappos

Piperlime

6 PM

Nordstroms

DSW

Happy Shoe Shopping!

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Digital Scrapbooking Resources

My digital scrapbooking software can be bought here. It is super easy to learn and very reasonable.

These are my favorite sites to purchase digital kits: Sweet Shoppe Designs, Scrap Matters, and Funky Playground Designs.

I go here to select my font color to match my digital image or blog.

I print my own digital scrapbooks annually here. You can use their templates or just select white and upload your digital pages all made up to cover the white.

I like to print invitations, stationary and notepads here.

Email me if you have any questions, I honestly use these products on a regular basis. Nobody paid me to tell you about them ;)

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Favorite Scripture

I have a couple of favorite scriptures that have been meaningful to me at various times in my life, but part of my 2011 resolution is to really store more scripture in my heart so that I can recall it when speaking with others. Nothing like the Top 10 Words application on Facebook to make your realize you talk about lunch and bed (weird!) more than Jesus.

The scripture that I have recalled many times is taped to my computer at work to keep it in front of my mind.

Romans 12:12

What I most love about this verse- in good times and in bad, pray! I find it so simple to pray when I want something, but when things are going well I lose focus on praising.

To help with my 2011 resolution, I am joining my friend Heidi on the Beth Moore Siestas Scripture Memorization Team. Read all about it here!

I'd love to hear about your favorite scripture- it'll give me ideas for my 24 verses in 2011.

12 Days of Christmas Favorites: Favorite Hobby Lobby Items

I spend a crazy amount of time at Hobby Lobby. When I have no lunch plans, I always end up there before buying a Wendy's large chili with extra crackers and sweet tea for lunch :)

Here are my two favorite supplies!

My friend Johnna introduced me to Steam-A-Seam about 2 years ago and my life is so much better because of it! This is an iron on product that you cut into the shape you want. The sticky iron on part is layered between 2 sheets of a wax like paper. You remove one sheet, stick the back side of your fabric to the sticky part and cut it out. Remove the second sheet and iron in on. It is inexpensive and goes a long way!

My favorite Steam-A-Seam projects can be found here.

Oh how I love thee Mod Podge! If you haven't ventured into trying it, you should! It is white paste like substance much like Elmer's school glue. You brush it on with a sponge brush and it will dry clear. You can use it like traditional glue or to harden paper by applying it on the outside.

My favorite mod podge projects can be found here.

In addition to these 2 craft projects, you'll most often find me buying cute picture frames, ribbon by the roll (at half off!), funky fabrics, and scrapbooking papers and stickers at Hobby Lobby!

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Christmas Card Linky Party

Don't you just love checking the mail right now? Amongst all the catalogs of ideas and presents, there are real live pictures of your friends and family on Christmas cards! We sent out about 100 cards and get close to that back. Poor busy cold mailmen :)

Here is our card for 2010. We had our pictures taken in late October so it gave me plenty of time to make my card! I was nervous to make my own card- I didn't want it to look like I made it. At the same time, when did Christmas cards get so expensive? Wow, I knew I had to make it to stay under $100 before stamps!

I had them printed as 6x9 flat cards with a linen finish. You can print most anything at Vistaprint. You give yourself plenty of time. Quick shipping is pricey! They even ship include the envelopes in your order. Hallelujah!

Here is my happy shutter holding all of my Christmas cards. I made it last year. You can see the before pictures here.

Join in- post your card on our linky party! No Stamps Required!

12 Days of Christmas Favorites-Baby Shower Gifts

Today, let's talk babies! I bet most everyone knows someone expecting a baby in 2011. I am at that season of life where there are lots of announcements, pregnant bellies, newborns and toddlers in my circle of friends. I was one of 15 people I knew pregnant when I was expecting Abby. Needless to say, I attend lots of baby showers. I have 2 coming up in January including one I am co-hosting with a woodland theme that I'll be sure to share.

Here are my three favorite simple crafts to give the new parents something handmade:

1. Alphabet Blocks

I have made many variations of these and just love doing them, well not the sanding part! Depending upon your time, supplies on hand, and finances, you can do initials, their full name or the full alphabet. Step-by-step directions are here.

2. Beaded Baby Spoons

These take no time at all and this idea could easily translate to other areas- serving pieces for a hostess gift, red and green beads for Christmas dinner. Everything you need to know to make your own beaded spoons is here.

3. Alphabet Flashcards

Give them a head start and learn letters, spelling and common objects with these flashcards. You can buy the full set online here and just print and laminate them at Kinkos.

Some other favorites include

Appliquéd Onesies

Steam a Seam Dresses

Gift Baskets with Minky Blanket

Don't forget tomorrow is our linky party- share your Christmas card with your bloggy friends.

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Fav Ornament Linky

Our second linky party- I'd love to see your favorite Christmas ornament. Is it a beautiful piece of shiny goodness? Holds a memory of a trip? A pipe cleaner treasure from your children?

Here is my Christmas tree. It is in the entry of my formal dining/living room and is a tall skinny tree. We had a big fat 6 foot in our old house and it just didn't work here. I love the skinny tree in this space and with my new red walls, the area looks so festive!

My tree has a theme- Americana maybe? I use lots of plaids, flannel, mittens, and sweaters. I have very few breakable ornaments. This Santa is my favorite- he is big with a sweater like yarn for his beard. I love the deep red of his hat and the porcelain of his skin. I don't think I bought him anywhere special, maybe Michael's?

Your turn! I'd love to see your tree and ornament.

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Fav Shoes

My favorite thing to buy is shoes! They always fit, make an outfit, come in so many colors and styles and are often very inexpensive!

I have shared both of these shoes before- they truly are my very favorites and I wear them often.

Leoni flat from Jessica Simpson, on sale at Nordstrom's

Sanuk Yoga Mat Sandals on Zappos

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Fav Person

I hope you are enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas Favorites!

Today I am leaving the shopping, cooking and craft projects behind to tell you about my favorite person- Abigayle Lucille. She is also known as Abby, Abby Lu, Abs, Toot, Punkin, and most recently Chica. She made me a Mommy almost 2 years ago and I will be forever grateful.

Abby is the result of a 4 year infertility battle, lots of prayers, and a successful IVF on our first try. My husband and I were married more than 9 years when she was born. I am very blessed to be married to a strong confident man who went through so much to be able to make us parents- from invasive surgery, to giving me daily shots, to allowing me to blog about it all on our family blog. He is my second favorite person ;)

Abby is a smart, kind, spunky, funny kid! She is will be 2 on December 29th and is almost potty trained, can count to 5, knows 10 colors, and can spell Abby, Dada, and Mama. She likes to beat box like Biz Markie and sings back-to-back Jesus Loves Me and Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss like they are one song. She prefers to do all this while standing on top of the bathroom counter or kitchen table and dancing. Her new favorite word is "Hallelujah" and she proclaims it with such joy and always says it twice!

She makes me laugh, makes me act silly and makes me smile more than I ever have. I sing only for her and make up funny songs on top of that.

I am forever grateful for the gift of Motherhood and love spending time with my favorite person in the whole world.

If you are struggling with infertility, know that you are not alone. I'd be honored to pray for you or share more details about our journey. Just email me at annajenk@yahoo.com.

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Blog Post and Linky

Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas Favorites and welcome to my first linky party where we can all share our favorite blog post!

My very favorite blog post comes from one of my favorite days- my daughter's first birthday party. We had an Abby Cadabby party which must be a popular party idea since it is the most viewed post on my blog! (love the new Google stats!)

Click here for all the details from the day including: inexpensive front door sign, birthday garland, ice cream punch recipe, giveaway bag ideas, chandelier decor, and tissue pom poms.

Join in and share with us your favorite post from the past- the one with the post hits, most comments, most emotion, you decide!

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Favorite Easy Gift

This is Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas Favorites.... scroll down to see the schedule. It includes my first linky party tomorrow, hope you'll join me!

I try to buy my team a small gift each year and my thoughtful husband buys the 5 women in his office who support his accounts a gift each year. We combined forces and with the help of a few craft blogs out there and made our co-workers fun bubble magnets.

Here are my supplies- mod podge, the clear flat marbles in the floral section, a 3/4" circle punch, glue gun, 3/4" circle magents and scraps of scrapbook paper.

You simply modge podge the punched paper to the flat side of the marble and hot glue a magnet on the back! Super easy!

I dug around in my scraps and found coordinating sets of paper so that I could make a set of 6 matching magnets as the gift.

The blue set

The red set, my favorite!

The brown and cream set

And, the bright and colorful set.

Here is a completed brown set and here is my gift packaging problem. I didn't pay attention to which magnets would respond positively and negatively to each other. I can't fight gravitational forces, so some sets and are jumbled like this!

I would recommend lining up 6 magnets nicely and then gluing your paper marble on top. The site where I saw these gifted them in Altoid tins which is super clever! I should have been stocking up on Marcus' stash! ha!

Here are all my marble ready for magnets!

If you have the paper and punch already, this project costs about $10 for 50 magnets! Great for teacher, co-workers, housekeepers, and babysitters!

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Favorites- Linky Schedule

This is my favorite time of the year and I thought it would be a perfect time to cover 12 of my favorite things! And, why not do my first linky party! I have to admit this is a little last minute and I'm a little nervous that nobody will join my first linky party, but I'm a risk taker ;)

For the next 12 straight days we'll cover 12 of our favorites things and we'll make a couple of them linky parties so that you can join along and we can all use our final days before Christmas reading great ideas! I hope you'll join in with me!

I will start with my favorites breakfast food, especially for Christmas morning!

This is the most wonderful dessert, I mean breakfast, in all the world.

Cinnamon French Toast Bake- it is warm, gooey, not overly sweet, and always draws praise with guests. Click here for the recipe.

Along with serving Cinnamon French Toast Bake, I plan to try Christmas Morning Eggs from The Sister Cafe Blog, my new favorite recipe site. These sound just wonderful. My MIL is diabetic and this will give us some pretty protein.

I doubt you can go wrong with either of these!

Here is our 12 Days of Christmas Favorites schedule- take pictures, write your posts and join in the fun!

December 14- Favorite Easy Gift

December 15- Favorite Blog Post: Linky Party

Grab your favorite post from the past and share the link, super easy! It might be a favorite craft project, recipe, or exciting news from your family.

December 16- Favorite Person in the World

December 17- My Favorite Pair of Shoes for Friday's Foot Fetish

December 18-Favorite Christmas Ornament: Linky Party

Share a picture of your tree with your favorite ornament

December 19- Favorite Baby Shower Gifts

December 20- Favorite Mail- Christmas Cards! Linky Party

Share your Christmas Card with us all! No stamps required.

December 21- Favorite Hobby Lobby Items

December 22-Favorite Scripture: Linky Party

Tell us about your favorite scripture and what it means to you. I am joining the Siesta Scripture Memory Team for 2011 and would love to read your favorites.

December 23- Favorite Digital Scrapbooking Resources

December 24- My Favorite Brand of Shoes for Friday's Foot Fetish

December 25- My Favorite Christmas Memory