thankful countdown mini-album

Hey all! This is my last post for about 2 weeks- going to be spending time with family for the holiday season. But not to worry, I'll be back again at the start of December!! :)

So in counting down to Thanksgiving, I decided to make a little "thankful" mini-album, or gratitude mini-album! So I counted down to Thanksgiving by counting down the ways I'm thankful for my DH ;)

I used PTI's mat stack 3 for the basic shape. For the covers, I die cut some thin cardboard leftover bits I had. Then I covered them in some Making Memories Autumn Splendor DP! Love that line :) The inside pages I die cut some more DP and some pages from an old book. For the numbering, I used a stamp from PTI's 2009 Holiday Tags. I added some scrap pieces of paper on each page to make a space for journaling. I finished it off with a few word stickers and some ribbons!

This is the last page, inside the back cover :)

FWF freedom

THANK-YOU

to all our Veterans for serving to protect the freedoms of this great nation.

May God bless you and keep you.

I encourage everyone to thank a military service member whenever you see them. They sacrifice so much and often receive little thanks. Trust me when I say that it is always a humbling experience and often brings them to tears when someone goes out of their way to say a simple thank-you.

Thanking God for my Veteran DH today and everyday!

Playing along over at Friends with Flair Fridays at Unity! Using their Freedom stamp.

In honor of Veteran's Day, Unity is donating to Wounded Warriors 5% of the proceeds from Declare Freedom stamp and Unity in America stamp kit. The Wounded Warrior Project is a truly great organization helping our Veterans.

Handmade gift- cross stitch ornament

So I'm not one for skipping holidays- Thanksgiving is actually one of my favorite holidays because both sides of our family always get together each year for big turkey dinners :) Love that it's a holiday that has really become about great food and great family!
With that said though, I did want to share this ornament that I'd made for a Silent Auction gift basket I donated! I'm getting started on Christmas gifts already too, since some require a bit of time to make- like a few other cross-stitch gifts I'm working on (I'll share once they're done!). This is a great gift- handmade and pretty cheap to make!

• embroidery floss- $1 each color
• cross stitch fabric- already had, recently bought some more at $6 for a big sheet
• frame- $1 at Michaels
• ribbon (to hang)- already had, ~$2.50 for a whole roll

So you can see how you could make a lot of these out of one set of supplies!! :) You could also dress it up with some beads for the holly berries or a twine/floss bow on the wreath!

This pattern was from Just CrossStitch magazine, but recently I've found a lot of beautiful patterns for free online. Cross stitch is really easy to learn, and make for some great personal handmade gifts :)

handmade gifts :: framed diecuts

So here's a super simple DIY handmade gift! And the best part is, depending on what diecut you use, it could be perfect for any holiday or occasion! Customize the shape for the holiday, season, or maybe what your giftee enjoys- use their favorite colors, if they like dogs you could find a cute doggie cut out, if they like sewing you could use great buttons instead, use umbrellas for a baby shower or wedding shower decor, the sky's the limit!

.: materials :.

• frame
• background paper
• die cut (or other items to frame)
• 3-D pop dots

.: instructions :.

{1} remove glass from frame

{2} cut background paper to the size of your frame

{3} measure your die cut, and approximate how many will comfortably fit in your frame

{4} cut out die cuts, if needed

{5} attach die cuts to background paper using 3-D pop dots **

{6} assemble frame and gift away!

** a few things I found useful during this step...

- I assembled this with the frame around the background paper, not attached in the frame yet, but just resting on the table around the paper. It helped visually space the die cuts.

- I also assembled this with my Olfa sewing cutting mat under my project. I aligned the frame/background paper with the measurements on the mat so I knew I was roughly spacing the die cuts evenly. You could also simply put a ruler along either side to help with spacing too!

apple trio FWF

Happy Friends with Flair Friday, ya'll!! Things are busy busy around here. And speaking of busy, have you seen how busy they've been at Unity putting together tons of sales?! I recommend definitely checking it out ;) This little card uses the adorable apple trio stamp from the KOM Happily Ever After. I colored them in a bit with colored pencil and topped it off with some matching The Twinery twine :) Also linking up to CAS-ual Fridays' "Over the Edge" challenge! Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

handmade gifts :: post-it note holder

hey all!! Checkin in here with a super simple, quick and easy handmade gift- perfect for birthdays or Christmas! Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us... but not before one of my favorite holidays- Thanksgiving :)

Anyhoo, here's a little tutorial for this easy gift!

.: materials :.

- acrylic photo frame

- patterned paper

- ribbon

- post-it notes

- pen

- glue

.: instructions :.

{1} cut patterned paper to the size of the photo frame

{2} insert paper into photo slot in frame

{3} cut and tie ribbon around top edge of frame

{4} cut ribbon loop and adhere to edge of frame

{5} securely glue post-it notes to frame, covering the edge of the ribbon loop

{6} add pen and gift away! :)