Thankful.

I took the past week off of social media to really soak up the holiday spirit and spend time with the three little rugrats that I am so thankful for. I realized that sometimes documenting a moment actually takes away from the moment. The timing was perfect and we were able to do a lot of the “little extras”. Those of you who know me know how much I love getting festive for holidays, so we put the tree up early, started listening to Christmas music, and began to really search our hearts for ways that we could make this holiday season different from all the rest.

As a family we helped Mission of Hope pack meals for Kids Against Hunger. In less than two hours we packed over 100,000 meals that will be sent to Haiti for the kids in Bible schools there.  The kids and I also packed three shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child full of gifts to bless a child in another country and to spread the love of Jesus. I am always looking for ways around this time of year to get the kids involved in serving others. Like having them spend their own allowance to buy toys for the less fortunate, or donating some of their belongings to other kids who would otherwise not get a Christmas present. Our hearts are already so full and we are entering into December with such a joyous spirit. But we as a family want to do more. We are continuing to pray for ways that we can share God’s love this season. Even if it’s something as simple as helping a stranger scrape ice off their windshield, or hot chocolate for the bus driver. I am praying that we keep our eyes focused on the true meaning of Christmas.

With that being said I will probably continue to be a little quieter on social media throughout the holidays. I do love looking back at memories through pictures, but I love investing the memories even more.

 

One thing that is also making this holiday season a little less chaotic for me is the fact that I am doing most of my Christmas shopping from small businesses. I love supporting families and other stay-at-home moms and I also love shopping in my pjs. This black friday I will be cuddled up by the fire, sipping coffee, and checking everyone off my list. For fun I thought I’d give you a peek at my shopping list. Oh and most of these wonderful stores are doing something fun for black friday so you’ll have to check them out.

 

 

Aniston-

Bannor Toys State Rattle

Little Hip Squeaks romper

Baby Jules Boutique sparkle bow

Sweet Mama Makes swaddle blanket + burp cloths

Little Missy Bell rag doll

Breelynd’s Rose crocheted beanie

Caged bird bracelets

*Don’t forget to check out Kelli Murray’s new kids line Rylee + Cru

Kempton-

Riley Clay Designs shirt

Shop Maisie Jayne harem pants

Finomenon kids shirt

*Check out Roman + Leo store online

Cohen-

Good seeds shirt

Kiwi crate subscription

Puzzle People

Brooks-

Inkist Prints Indianapolis skyline watercolor

Alacart Creations bottle opener

Strapping Chap Soap Co exfoliating soap

Riley Clay designs shirt

Mom + Becky-

Naptime Diaries prints

 

Friends-

Frame able gold foil cards from Read Between the Lines

 

Whats on your list this year? I’d love to hear how you are shopping small. #shopsmall

A Gilded Thanksgiving

We have officially been moved into our house for 4 months now and guess what!?! I’m hosting Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!! Ok ok I’m not that stressed about it, more excited than anything. However, knowing that family members who have never seen our house are coming has motivated us to finish some projects that were hanging over our heads. Everything is looking so great and I’m thrilled that our house is becoming more and more the cozy home I envisioned! That all being said I waited till the last minute to REALLY start decorating for Thanksgiving. Here are some of the things I did that seriously took me all of one hour.

One thing you should know about me is that I keep a decent supply of black, white, and gold spray paint on hand. I also keep a spray station set up on my screened in porch.  I am always finding things around the house or in nature to spray and use as decor. For Thanksgiving I spray painted small pumpkins, gourds, and leaves.  Add some candles, and just like that you have a beautiful tables scape all for  basically the price of spray paint (I used left over halloween decorations for pumpkins and even got some fake ones 70% off to use). I bought the pilgrim candle stick holders at Goodwill for 50 cents each and then sprayed them gold. I love the little extra they add to my table.

Also this little “GOBBLE GOBBLE” banner was so easy thanks to The Alison Show. If you do not follow her on instagram or follow her blog you must!! She is the queen of crafting. I love each and every one of her ideas!! She just recently wrote a blog post giving ideas for last minute Thanksgiving crafts here. I totally copied her idea for this banner and even used her free printable to make my letters.  The whole things literally took me less than 30 min and I only used one sheet of glitter paper and some left over tinsel. SUPER CHEAP!!

One more craft that Cohen and I did together was to paint pinecones. We did them very colorful with lots of gold glitter and figured these could work for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (That is the thing about gold it works for every holiday!!).  I have so much fun making crafts with Cohen. It’s a time when we can bond over a common interest. He even kept saying I bet we could sell these (love his little entrepreneur mind).

So there you have it, our gilded Thanksgiving. I love doing crafts but anymore they have to be quick enough to do during nap time and that is just what our Thanksgiving is. I guess you could call it a three naps Thanksgiving ha!

Happy Holidays everyone!! We have so much to be thankful for. Count your blessings.

Xo,

Mandy