the one about giving thanks

It's DECEMBER, y'all! Eeek! And as excited as I am to post about Christmas and all the upcoming merriment - it wouldn't be right to neglect Thanksgiving! This year, we stayed in Massachusetts and spent time with Jesse's family on the North Shore. We had so much fun watching movies, eating WAY too much food, shopping, and just spending time together as a family. It was an especially fun holiday with Collier around as our new brother-in-law. He's the perfect addition to our clan:)  

This year, I asked to put together the Thanksgiving tablescape and I loved being able to get a little crafty. The decorations were pretty simple:

- a large glass vase wrapped in twine and filled with autumnal gourds, berries, and pine cones

- 2 little lanterns from AC Moore (for only a $1 or $2!) that I'm using again this Christmas

- pinecones for holding the place cards and around the table

- cardstock and felt markers for the place cards

- postal paper (again, so cheap!) for the "I am thankful for" placemats. 

The placemats were a beast to cut (you should have seen my father in law wrestling the paper to the ground and both of us laughing hysterically on Thanksgiving Eve - quite the bonding moment) but led to a special table conversation. I loved hearing what everyone was thankful for in 2014:)

 It would definitely be an easy table scape to adjust for Christmas - I hope it gives you an idea or two for your home! 

Our Thanksgiving table. Amber (and her new beau, Esteban) joined us!

I found some South Georgia peee-caaans for my sweet potato souffle! My southern soul was pumped.

Lots to be thankful for this year!

As we head into the busy Christmas season, I'm trying to hold onto the message of the Thanksgiving holiday. A friend of mine recently posted a thought about the Scriptures' take on thanksgiving - that the Bible talks significantly more about "giving thanks" than "being thankful" and it got me thinking. Apparently, God desires an active form of gratitude even more than an inward or passive form. I don't know about you, but it's much easier for me to be passive in my thanks - to pray about what I'm thankful for or think about what I'm blessed with. But as we head into December, I'm trying to determine how I can be more actively full of gratitude in my daily life. How can I show my thanks to my God, to my husband, to my family, friends and the less fortunate? I don't want to just be inwardly thankful but externally and joyfully full of thanks! Join me, won't you?!

Here's to a wonderful holiday season!

XOXO

A+J

the one where we got [christmas] crafty

Christmas decorating on a newlywed budget? Challenge accepted. After years of bemoaning my lack of creativity in DIY projects - I finally made some progress this month! I took on three projects (you've got to start somewhere, people) and I thought I would share them with you here. 

1. Yarn Wreath 

For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, you know that I went a little pin happy recently in the wreath department. They are a great combination of home spun (see what I did there?) and put-together. To make my wreath I followed a tutorial from the Decor Chick blog which you can check out here. 

What you'll need: 

- A wreath form (made of a straw-like thing)

- Two rolls of yarn (if you are doing a two tone like me)

- Hot glue gun

- Decorative feature (I chose greenery with some berries)

What you do: 

It's simple - just wrap the yarn around the wreath form tightly and make sure there aren't any gaps. As you finish with a section (if you opt to do multiple colors), just secure with a dab of hot glue. It took me about 2 hours to wrap while catching up with a friend. Finally, just hot glue the decoration to the front and fix to your liking! 

After I finished wrapping the wreath, I started to attach the greenery with hot glue. 

The Final product! Wrapped the greenery in additional yarn to hide the ends. 

2. Holiday Centerpiece

I wanted something cute and festive for our coffee table - so here's what I came up with! 

What you'll need: 

- A clear vase

- Two bags of fresh (or fake) cranberries 

- Greenery (fake or real)

- a candle (I opted for a mason jar one but tea lights would be cute too)

- twine

What you do: 

Simply fill the bottom with cranberries, decorate the top with greenery (I had leftovers from the wreath) and place the candle in the middle. Finally, wrap the vase with some twine and that's it! Done and done. I really like the way it turned out. And the best part? It was practically free.

I like how this is seasonal without pounding you over the head with Christmas cheer. 

3. Cinnamon Candles

I saw this idea online at Martha Stewart and I wanted to make one for me and one for a dear friend who happens to loveee candles! So, I went for it. 

What you'll need: 

- Vanilla pillar candles

- 2 bags of cinnamon sticks (I suggest a craft store for this)

- Rubber bands

- Twine

What you do: 

In order to get the most out of my cinnamon sticks, I decided to break the sticks in half. I was able to break most of them by myself but J helped me with the thicker ones:) After that, I wrapped the rubber band around the candle and started putting cinnamon sticks side by side. You do have finagle it a bit since some sticks will be large and make the skinny ones slide out. But the rubber band is still much better than glue (I tried both). After you arrange the sticks, wrap the twine around the candle so that the rubber band is fully covered. The candle will look and smell great!

The final result: a sweet-smelling and cozy decoration. I surrounded mine with metallic  accents.

It's amazing how just a few simple decorations can transform your home this time of year. I hope this gets your creative juices flowing! Happy decorating and DIY-ing everyone! Oh and if you have more ideas - please feel free to comment! I have to capitalize on this phase:)