Happy Thanksgiving!

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Count your blessings and take lots of pictures!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Be thankful in all circumstances

1 Thes. 5:18

Thanksgiving Centerpieces With Upcycled Finds

Today's centerpieces are brought to you by secondhand shopping.

For the first one, I put coffee beans, popcorn kernels, and pinto beans into the bottom of three jars.
Then I placed a tealight candle in them.
I put them on a silver tray with a few artificial leaves.
Easy, but cute, huh?

Each jar has a little trim around the mouth-some twine and tulle.

These decorative branches came from my backyard.

I set the branches in the vase, then dropped artificial leaves to cover up the bottom.

I think this could be used for a thankful tree. 

All it would take it to have family members write on tags and then attach the tags

 to the branches with clothespins.

Tip: I found that the branches wanted to lean all over the place, so I tied them together

 with a piece of twine before placing them into the jar.

For this arrangement, I placed a pumpkin and some leaves in the top of a trophy.

I can't decide if it's cute or corny. :)

You don't have to spend lots of money to have cute centerpieces. 

For all these projects, I used
a large vase,
3 small jars,
a trophy, and a silver tray.
All were purchased secondhand.

I also used artificial leaves and a small decorative pumpkin
both of which were purchased at a dollar store.

Easy. . . and cheap!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Give to everyone who asks of you.

Luke 6:30

This post is linked to Plucky's Second Thought, Tip Junkie, and Skip to My Lou.

Lovelies That I Love

I just love this time of year.

I think Thanksgiving is such a lovely holiday.

Not because of the food, mind you. I actually am not a fan of most Thanksgiving dishes.

It's the feeling of the holiday- the thankfulness, the counting of our blessings,
 the contentment with what we have.

I love it.

It's an attitude we should keep year round.

Today's finds celebrate this harvest season. . .

Need something to wear for your family dinner?

How about this top?

It's a whole lotta cute, huh?

Pair it with some simple gold jewelry, and you're set!

This burlap pillow is simply beautiful.

I think it could sit out all year.

How lovely is this plaque?

It's perfect for Thanksgiving and perfect for all the time.

I am a huge fan of burlap banners.

This one is already done for you.

It's so pretty.

Are you going to take family photos?

Add a little fun to them with these props.

The stove cracks me up!

I just want to take a moment and say how thankful I am for Etsy and all their wonderful shops!

P.S. I'm not affiliated with any of these shops, I just like their stuff.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,

 but those who deal truthfully are His delight.

Proverbs 12:22

 This post is linked to The Dedicated House, Plucky's Second Thought, Lil' Luna,
 and Simple Nature Decor.

Mini Album Monday #66- Gratitude Album Made From Paint Chips

Today I'm going to show you how to make a very simple and cheap mini album.

It's so cheap because it's made from paint chips- and they're free at home improvement stores!

Isn't it cute?

One of my favorite hymns is "Count Your Blessings."

That's exactly what we'll be doing with this album- with each member of our family.
I think it's so important to think about what we're grateful for.

I started with six paint chips that measure 3"x 5".
I used letter stickers for the title.

Then I covered the backs of each of them with harvest colored pattern papers.
I used two different patterns and alternated them.

It's important to cover the backs because they're quite visible when flipping through the book.

Then I printed the names of all my family members at the top of each paint chip.
I used letter stamps and Staz On ink.

I had each person make a list of their blessings.

  We used a Sharpie marker so the ink wouldn't smear.

I stayed with fall colors and chose paint chips in green, gold, and brown. 

I wrote everyone's ages in small print in the bottom right corner.
That way when we read this years from now, we'll know when in our lives we did this.

I even added a page for our dog because she's such a big part of our family.

I also added this year's date in the lower corner.

Finally I bound the pages together with a piece of twine.

That's it!

Make one of your own.

It will become a family treasure- I promise!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; 

He is their strength in the time of trouble.

Psalm 37:39

This post is linked to Between Naps on the Porch, Tip Junkie,
Tatertots and Jello, and The Dedicated House.

So Thankful for These Pumpkins!

I used eight small foam dollar store pumpkins and some rub-ons to make today's project.

Simple, simple, simple, my friends!

I am so thankful for fun and easy projects:)

Aren't you?!?

 

All I did was add a rub-on letter to each pumpkin spelling out the word thankful.

I think they'd be cute in a Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37

This post is linked to Ivy and Elephants, Too Much Time,
Tatertots and Jello, and Life With Lorelai.

Mini Album Monday #65- Thanksgiving Album

A few years ago, I made an album called Time to Give Thanks.
I knew I wanted to share this album today, but I couldn't find it.
I looked high and low for it.
For some reason, it wasn't with all my other mini albums.
Finally I found it tucked away in a closet.
I was so thankful when I found it!

Here it is. . .

The base of the album is five pages of cardboard cut to 6"x 8".

For the Time letters, I painted using stamps on colored cardstock, then I cut out around the edges.
I then cut them in half to place the rest of the title which was printed off a label maker.

I tied a fabric strip along the pattern paper and added a small decorative pumpkin.

To bind the album, I punched two holes in every page and used twine and tulle to tie knots.
At the ends of the twine, I added brown plastic beads. I think they kind of look like Indian corn.

I always feel like mini albums need a dedication page, hence this page.
It documents who, what, where, and when.

It's always important to have the date noted somewhere on an album!

The first page lists the menu.

(Years from now, this will be interesting to know.)

I added a piece of harvest fabric along the top of the page
 and one small leaf at the bottom right corner.

You'll notice that this album is actually pretty simple.

The next two pages have room for family photos.

This one is all of us sitting at the table enjoying our Thanksgiving meal.

This page features two more photos.

Each page has a tab at the top which just adds a bit of color to the album.

This page has space for two recipes.
For the journaling cards, I used index cards with a decorative punch along the edges.
Then I added a narrow strip of pattern paper along the decorative edge.
Simple, huh?

This page had a large space for journaling, so I wrote down some of our
Thanksgiving holiday traditions.
(Something else that someday we'll be glad is documented!)

The last two pages includes tags for my family to write down what we're thankful for.
I made the tags from old ledger paper and stamped it with a journaling stamp.

Three tags fit into a small envelope on this page.

The back page just has one strip of pattern paper.
I felt the look of cardboard fit with the harvest theme.

Isn't it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner?

Sheesh, time sure goes fast the older I get!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, 

and you will find Him if you seek Him 

with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deut. 4:29

This post is linked to It's Overflowing, Simple Nature Decor, I Heart Naptime,
Funky Junk, and Tip Junkie.  

Pumpkin Centerpiece

This centerpiece has a very fall-ish feel, so it would work for either Halloween or Thanksgiving.

I started with an artificial pumpkin, a candle and two fall floral sprigs.

I cut a circle around the stem using a sharp steak knife.

It was much easier than I thought it would be!

I stuck the fall sprigs in the hole and wedged the candle into the hole.

It's tight enough that the candle holds the foliage tight without having to use glue.

Then I arranged the leaves to space them out and make the candle noticeable.

Ta-da!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband

Proverbs 12:4

This post is linked to The Crafted Sparrow, Too Much Time On My Hands, Life With Lorelai,
and I Heart Naptime 

Centerpieces to be Thankful for. . .

This past weekend, I got to help decorate for the Thanksgiving lunch banquet at my church.

Two other ladies and I decided to go with a vintage autumn theme.

We brought in some vintage stuff from our homes and paired it up as centerpieces.

We incorporated projects that the Children's Church classes had made

(like the painted jars and pumpkins made from Mason jar lids).

We added artificial fall leaves here and there.

We used vintage book page table runners.

Come back on Monday to see more about those!

Who would've thought that scales look so cute as centerpieces?!?

The silver base here is a vintage film roll canister.

Old books work great to give height to different pieces.

Here's another film canister.

I brought my easy autumn mason jars (on the right).

Here are the doily topped pumpkins that I showed you here.

This is a chicken feeder filled with all sorts of vintage goodies!

One of the gals brought this from right off her dining room table at home!

I love how the oranges brought a little pop of color and added to the autumn look!

You can go here and see how I used jute, a leaf, and a book without a cover

 to create the book on top of this pile.

This jar is filled with lots of treasures including a cross stitch piece that one of the ladies' grandma started but never finished. I love how she displayed it in this jar!

See how we used the old crochet thread to sit out as décor?

Scrabble tiles always add to any type of décor if you ask me:)

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting,

 and His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100:5

 This post is linked to My Repurposed Life, Today's Creative Blog,
My Salvaged Treasures, Embracing Change, Funky Junk,
Between Naps on the Porch, and Craft-O-Maniac.