Marriage Blessings for New Couple

We started attending this amazing church in January. I've never attended one so welcoming, friendly, and consider everyone family. It's one of those churches in the mountain, surrounded by God's beauty. Complete country folks. Our Pastor mentioned a young couple got married and they have a home, but nothing to fill it with. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love giving gifts. I love the creative thought of sitting down in front of everything and deciding how to put it together beautifully. The awesome part?! This gift is lovely, but completely doable on a budget!!! The glass pie dish served as the "base". The center is a container of Lysol wipes (you could use paper towels or cardboard, etc.). I wrapped a hand towel around the wipes and put a rubber band around. I cut a piece of fabric and put over the rubber band to hide it. I tucked a whisk, spatula, and two spoons inside the towel and rubber band in the back. On top of the wipes I used glue dots and adhered a measuring cup. I filled the measuring cup with two washcloths and measuring spoons. You might notice the ruffle around the bottom of the towel? I sewed on a piece of fabric to jazz it up a bit. In the front, I added a clip-on flower. I purchased the majority of these items at the Dollar Tree. It seems I am always needing dish towels and wash cloths and thought it would be a nice "kitchen" gift.
I often see personalized wedding gifts on Pinterest. I had all the materials and thought it would be something nice for a shelf in their new home. In the Silhouette store they have ready-made monograms. I printed it out and applied it to the white plate. If you know their color or style, you could personalize it even more to match their home. I went with simple black/white hoping it would be okay for them.

Our Thankful Tree

Brr, yesterday was rather cold here! I'm starting to wear my fleece leggings under my skirts...it's too soon for snow! They're calling for it Tuesday.

I've been enjoying fall way too much. Over on Pinterest I saw a wood "Thanksgiving Thankful Tree". I fell in love and showed my hubby. After he looked in his scrap pile, he was able to find some scraps of wood to make our family one. You could seriously make it any size! It's something that can be brought out year after year. It's always made me sad that the stores seem to skimp on Thanksgiving decorations...or ignore it period...is it just me?

I cut out the leaves on my Silhouette machine. If you don't have a cutter, you could search for a leaf image, print it out on cardstock, and use it as a stencil to make your own. I cut the leaves using vinyl so we could use a Dry Erase marker. If your children are older, they could even get involved and cut out the leaves too on scrapbook paper. Then you could cover them with contact paper from the Dollar Tree (or laminating machine) to use a Dry Erase marker. You could stain or paint the tree or even better have your children lend a helping hand. Mine are all about painting!

Here's to a wonderful week! Blessings.

Season of Thanks and Giving

Is it really almost Thanksgiving?! It seems to be skipped over and truly it's one of the most important days...really though I think we need to express our gratitude daily. This year we've been focusing on being thankful with what we have. We've become more aware of other countries suffering.

I think it's important to share with your children what's going on around the world to what they understand. Eventually their hearts will grow and they'll want to give instead of get. A new toothbrush is something small to us, but wow! is it ever huge to the little ones in other countries. We've been filling up plastic totes with hygiene products, school supplies, and toys to give to Operation Christmas Child. The Dollar Tree, Target dollar spot, and Michaels are musts to check out.

I know there's suffering here in America, but it's nothing compared to Africa...Honduras...India...We have soup kitchens, food pantries, WIC, SNAP, etc. They do not. I am often overcome with thankfulness to live here in America. It's important to share how big the little things are with your own child.

Many people have a Thankful Tree or Jar...tomorrow my husband and son are going to make a tree out of wood scraps. Then throughout the days, we can add a little note to be shared on Thanksgiving day over dinner. This is a new tradition we're starting.

Blessings to you!