Thankful Centerpiece

We are getting closer to Thanksgiving, so I made this centerpiece to help us count our blessings.  This was totally free to make with things from around the house and printables from A Holy Experience.



I gathered some branches from out back, washi tape, a vase and some glass beads.

I wrapped the vase with some washi tape and added yellow and brown beads. 
My branches stood up well in the vase. Make sure you cut branches with a lot of points to hang the tags on.

 Then I printed off the leaves onto cardstock.  I cut them out, punched holes, and use raffia for the hook.  I placed them in a small bowl on the table next to the vase so my family can write down there thankful thoughts and place them on the tree.  

By the time Thanksgiving gets here our tree will be full of leaves and full thanksgiving to God for all the blessings He has given us this year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day.

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. 1 Timothy 4:4

So Thankful

Just in time for Thanksgiving I made this fun wall hanging. 

I am trying to fill my house with photos of family and friends.  

This is a creative way to make a photo display. 

 I can change out the pictures as often as I like.

 I found the idea over on the 

Shanty 2 Chic BLOG.

You can find all the directions on her blog.

I made my version a bit differently.

4" high by 3' long by 1/2 inch thick

 I found my wood at Lowes.  I bought them for around 5.00 each.  I took some stain that I had in the garage and stained both sides of the wood.

My board is much smaller than the one over at Shanty 2 Chic.  So I had to figure out how to shrink down the letters.  Thank you Matthew for figuring that out for me.  Next I printed them out onto cardstock.  I Mod Podged them onto the board.  I left enough space between the letters to put the clips.

I bought the same clips as Shanty 2 Chic.  I found them at Michaels.  They are a bit pricey, so I used a coupon.

My wood was not thick enough to use upholstery tacks, so I cut the ends off brads and glue dotted them onto the corners.  You could use buttons too.  But I have tons of brads so that worked for me.

Now after I hot glued all the clips on I thought it was good to go.  But my son went to drill holes for the hanger and they began to pop off.  So I got some Super Glue and glued them securely in place.

I used black yarn for the hanger.

Then I just printed some pictures of family and friends!

You can find all my craft tutorials under 

the tab at the top of my blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day.

She Art Week 2

During week 2 of the She Art class, Christy showed us how to create layers on our girls.  

 

 My girls hairdo reminds me of the bump it.  I added the headband to try and calm down the height of the hair.

For this young lady I made her skirt with a bunch of different papers.  I also gave her a cute little cape and hat.   

This canvas has a lot of little details.

 

Thanks for stopping by...

Have a blessed day!

Wedding Smash

 I have added a few more pages to my wedding Smashbook.  It is real fun looking back 29 years and remembering that special day.  Who am I kidding, I don't remember the details, but I remember marrying my best friend. 

 Notice my fist in the upper picture.  I think I must have been worried about Michael smashing the cake in my face.  

I made this page in the front of the book.  I thought it would be interesting to remember what was going on back in 1984. 

Thanks for checking out my pages.

Have a blessed day. 

Travel Smash

 Here is a peek at my travel smash book.  I bring this book along with me when I travel.  I pick up books and brochures from information centers.  I save maps, tickets, napkins, business cards..... and smash them into this book.

 I loved this "roam like a gnome" in the travel book.

  I had to include him in my book!

Thanks for checking out my travel smashbook.

If you want to read about our trip to the Smoky Mountains go HERE and HERE

Have a blessed day!

Outer Banks Smash

 I have been a bit behind in posting my smashbook pages. 

 Here are a few from our trip to the Outer Banks.

 I created a pocket to put the brochure from our trip.

 The sunsets were amazing.  

If you want to read about our trip to the Outer Banks, you can go HERE and HERE.

Thanks for checking out my pages.

Have a blessed day!

Getting Messy

I am exploring another mix media class over at Christy Tomlinson's website.  This class involves a bit of painting.  I am trying to master the hair and faces.  

 I am using a bunch of stencils, paints, stamps, rub-ons, inks and modeling paste for the backgrounds.  It is really fun getting messy while I create the bases for my girls.

 Next weeks canvases will involve more layers, different hairstyles and clothing styles.

Blue Ridge Parkway

 On our way home from Tennessee we wanted to take the Blue Ridge Parkway. This beautiful road winds it way from Cherokee,NC to Shenandoah N.P..  It is 469 very LONG miles.  
The weather was turning bad so we decided only drive about 100 miles and save the rest for another trip. 

The trees were past peak and  the leaves were 

"snowing" down on us as we drove along the road.  

 As we drove to lower elevations the colors began to show up again.  There were many tunnels along the road.  In most of them you could see the light at the end of the tunnels, but in some you could not.  It was pitch black and kind of scary to drive through them.  

 We stopped to hike Linville Falls.  The falls fell through a rocky gorge along the river.  

Can you see how the river carved out the rocks?  Pretty cool!

 Marby Mill was an old grist mill from the 1800's.  They made grits/grain and milled lumber.  They had a trail through the property and during the summer season they have people in character explaining life in the 1800's. 

They even had a moonshine still in the woods!

Before all the rain started to fall we had a nice 

drive along the parkway.  

We cut our trip short and headed home. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day! 

Smoky Mountains

Last week we spent some time in the Smoky Mountains.   

The trees were at peak and the colors were fabulous!  

 We drove the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.  We had beautiful weather for a drive.We stopped and hike to Grotto Falls.

 It was a 2.8 round trip hike.  The trail was pretty steep and was full of rocks and roots.  It made the climb a bit tricky,but it was well worth the challenge.

The waterfall wasn't very big.  It was cool because you could walk behind the falls.

 

The next day we hit Laurel Falls. 

 This one was paved all the way to the top.  

 Laurel Falls were much bigger than Grotto Falls.  

We drove past this waterfall on our way through the park.  

 Our last hike for the day was to Mingo Falls.  We climbed 156 steps up to a short trail to the falls.  The falls were trickling down the rocks.  If you come in the spring the falls cover all of the rocks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Next stop the Blue Ridge Parkway.