Hi everyone!  Are y’all getting ready for Thanksgiving?  I’m looking forward to visiting my sis-n-law and her feisty family (2 lovable rowdy kids that James loves to play with and 3 dogs!) and then my parents, brothers, and niece on Thursday. I’ll be making some desserts tonight to contribute, but other than that, there’s not much to do.  🙂  What are your plans?  

In honor of the holiday and a major Silhouette sale (the electronic cutting tool) beginning tomorrow, I made a little Thanksgiving art for our house. 

I cut the design onto silver foil sticker paper that removes easily from most surfaces.

Of all the decisions we made when we built our house, whenever I was asked, “If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently?” My answer used to be, “I would choose different wood floors.”  Ours are so pretty, bamboo, and I love them when they are clean, but because they are super dark without much variation in the wood tone, and also very smooth, they show dirt, dust and footprints very easily.

The entire downstairs level of our home is hardwoods and we have to sweep and mop weekly. I used to use a broom to sweep or sometimes if I needed to sweep quickly,

Yesterday I announced a $400 shopping spree giveaway, and I was thinking how that cash could be spent on that favorite woman in your life (or yourself!:)  I compiled a few of my favorite gift ideas for women- gifts I’ve given in the past that have been well-received or things I have and love.  Truth be told, my girlfriends  are my favorite people to shop for during the holidays!  I have a small handful of very close friends that are like sisters to me and I love picking out that perfect something for them each year.  I haven’t done any shopping yet- just getting ideas,

To celebrate the upcoming holidays and as a way to say THANK YOU for reading and supporting my blog, I’m teaming up with some wonderful bloggers to give away a $400 Black Friday shopping spree!  The winner will be announced this Friday.

Kelly’s Korner

Four Fit Sisters

Mix and Match Mama

The Larson Lingo

Get Your Pretty On

Pinterest Told Me To

Hi Sugarplum

Fancy Ashley

Blue Eyed Bride

One winner will receive a $400 Visa gift card to spend wherever they want.

Creating a “thankful tree” this time of year is really popular because it’s such a good visual reminder of how blessed we all are and so simple to do.

For ours, I created hand-written blessings with chalk label tags and a gold marker.  I asked everyone what they were thankful for and recorded the responses. My 3-year-old is thankful for, “Darth Maul lightsaber, Christmas trees, and friends.”  He also drew something, but I’m not sure what it is.

I hung the labels on faux branches inside a Pottery Barn Urn. To keep the branches upright where I wanted them,

I was introduced to Jennifer Latimer’s original art Etsy shop, Gilded Mint, when I was looking for art for my home office.  I have her gold foil lips print framed and love it.   After seeing the art I purchased on my blog, Jennifer has generously offered a $100 giveaway and a 20% discount using code GILDED20. 

Here is a peek at some of the Gilded Mint original abstract art. 

Aren’t those amazing?!  Do you have the perfect place in your home for one of these pieces?

My word for this holiday season is COZY.  I’m feeling like hibernating inside my house with a warm blanket, cuddled up on the couch with a hot cocoa and just relaxing and enjoying this time of year.  My son is at that glorious age where he likes to get close and snuggle up and will actually sit still for the better part of an entire movie. Good times to cherish. I’m looking forward to pulling out the holiday decor too (ok, I admit, the bins have already been brought down from the attic, but I promise nothing has been opened or put on display- just getting ideas!).