Holiday Favorites & Minted Giveaway

Now that Halloween is behind us, it's finally acceptable to start thinking about the holidays, which will be here before you know it. I've put together a little collage of some of my favorite home and family holiday items, from stockings to jammies and wrapping paper to ornaments. Plus, stick around until the end to win one of two $125 gift certificates to Minted to order you own holiday cards, photo gifts or art. 

1:: Merry & Bright Christmas Stockings - I love these bright colorful stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. They're so fun and happy without being overly juvenile or cheesy. That white one with the pom pom trim! LOVE. 

2:: Mixed Plaid Plates - How awesome are these mixed plaid salad plates? I love that you could use them on their own, or paired with a solid colored plate as an accent on your table. These plates make me want to throw a dinner party. 

3:: Naughty or Nice Stemless Wine Glass - I totally need a set of these wine glasses in my life...and fill them all the way up to the naughty line!

4:: Most Wonderful Time Painted Art - Right now Minted has some of the prettiest simple art prints for the holidays. I adore this "Wonderful" print from one of my favorite songs (it reminds me of my mom...she says this line all the time). I also really love this reindeer names print with the gold foil print.

5:: Glad Tidings Ornaments - Land of Nod has some ridiculously fun holiday decorations and ornaments this year. I'm in love with these colorful round Merry, Joy and Fa La La ornaments. They also have these adorable woodland animals ornaments and these colorful classic rainbow ornaments. These make me want to throw out my current green/brown/gold ornaments and do a fun, bright colorful one! 

6:: Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark - This stuff is a staple in our house around the holidays. I've tried making my own peppermint bark for years, but I can never quite recreate this classic iconic taste. They have this product nailed. It's also one of my favorite gifts to give because everyone loves it! If you want to get crazy this year, try the peppermint bark cookies, brownies or pretzels! 

7:: Minted Holiday Cards - One of my absolute favorite things about the holidays is exchanging holiday cards with friends and family. I tend to go all out with our cards and totally obsess over them for DAYS. I have fallen in love with Minted cards because the selection is awesome and the quality is outstanding - they're thick and sturdy and the print/color quality is amazing. I love clean, simple, classic cards and it takes me forever to narrow down my favorites because there are so many good ones. I also love all the little "extras" that Minted offers, like lined envelopes, coordinating return address labels and the option to put extra photos and text of the back of the card. Plus, they're also offering FREE recipient envelope addressing! That's going to save me so much time! As soon as I get our family photos back from our photographer, I can't wait to lock myself in my home office with a bottle of wine and pick our card. A few of my favorites right now are this letterpress Festive Foilage, Merrier Than Ever, Christmas Sparkles, Laurel of Pines, Funky Quartet and Sure is Bright. 

8:: Holiday Wrapping Paper - I love wrapping all the gifts we give in coordinating wrapping paper. The last couple years I've been guilty of picking through the crappy leftover wrapping paper tubes at Target and praying to find a couple rolls that aren't horrible tacky and look somewhat good together. Plus, Santa tends to wrap each kids' presents all in one color or style of paper, so thinking ahead is key. This year I'm going to order a couple of these 4-pack jumbo sets of wrapping paper so I won't be stuck with leftovers. 

9:: Personalized Ornament - If you like getting each kid a personalized ornament each year, I'm loving these adorable personalized animal ornaments from Land of Nod. Mac needs that penguin ornament and Mimmy needs the kitty. 

10:: Holiday Helper Advent Calendar - I adore this advent calendar. The one we have (this one) is nice, but the pockets aren't really big enough for treats or toys. This advent calendar from Land of Nod is so cute, colorful and fun! Plus, you can buy it fully stocked with a toy for each day! (or you could just by the 25 toys, if you want to stuff your own)

11:: Santa's Message Milk & Cookies - How cute is this set of dishes for leaving milk/cookies for Santa and treats for the reindeer? Plus, there bottom of the plate is chalkboard so Santa can leave a message for your kids after eating the cookies. My kids would flip! This would also make a really cute family gift for friends or neighbors with kids. 

12:: Holiday Lights Garland - What's not to love about this fun garland that will add a bright pop of color to your mantle, doorway or wall. Heck, you could even put it on your tree! 

13:: Hanna Andersson All Is Bright Jammies - There's basically nothing I love more than my children in matching jammies. It's a crazy obsession for me that runs deep and we take advantage of weekly. We don't even need a special occasion to match! And while Kickee Pants jammies will always and forever be my absolute favorite jammies, I really do love these bright, colorful and festive holiday jams for the ENTIRE FAMILY from Hanna. We have quite a few HA jams and they're excellent quality. 

14:: Cocktails Pillow - This pillow is speaking my love language. Enough said. 

15:: Believe Garland - I love this classic, simple pennant garland with the word BELIEVE. It's like the Polar Express reminding me to keep the faith. This needs to be on my mantle this year. 

Minted Giveaway!

And because I love you all so much and want you to have the same (intoxicating) experience picking out the most amazing holiday cards ever, I'm giving away TWO gift certificates to Minted for $125 each! All you have to do is go HERE (or click on the photo below) and enter your email address to enter! Open to U.S. residents only. 

And if you just can't wait - use the code CHEER to get 15% off all Minted holiday cards now through November 7th. 

*Special thanks to Minted for inspiring this post and sponsoring the giveaway.