Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a quiet Thanksgiving for our family.  Many family members opted out of the big gathering this year.  It was kind of sad, I felt like there was something missing.  But we still had our nice meal topped off with pumpkin pie.  I whipped up some fresh whipped cream for the pie. 

So I'd really like to know: what is your FAVORITE part of Thanksgiving day?

Here are some ideas, or you may have one of your own:

• Turkey
• Gravy
• Pumpkin Pie
• Seeing family that you don't ordinarily see
• Sharing with everyone what you're thankful for
• Having the day off from work
• Checking out the ads for Black Friday

Please click on comments to leave a comment and tell me your favorite.

Tree of Thanks

Sorry for the extended absence around here.  It's been one drama after another.  I wanted to share an idea that I did with the family this year during this season of Thanksgiving.  We sat down after dinner with tags and crayons, and wrote/drew what we are thankful for.  We put ribbons and twine on the tags so they could hang.  We did this last Thursday night.  We planned to hang them on Friday night, but one daughter ended up in the ER, and we had an action packed weekend after that!  So [tonight] we finally did finish hanging them on the 'tree' that is really a large branch that I stuck into my mum pot.

Since our youngest can't write or really draw, we let her scribble and then we wrote words for her, like milk and baths. 

I really enjoyed the activity, and our oldest got creative, too!  She wrote SUN on one and drew sunshine.  On another she wrote a happy face and a sad face.  She told me that she loves God whether she's happy or sad.  On another she wrote "Tom met Sam" as a way to represent her new love of reading books.  She has just learned to read.

YaYa (grandmother)

Ice Cream (yes he loves it that much!)

This is definitely an activity I'd like to turn into a tradition.  What Thanksgiving traditions do you have?

Apple Butter and Cards!

I made apple butter this weekend.  I've actually never made it before until now.  I got inspired by a fellow blogger, Danielle, who had very good instructions on her blog, The Dani Daily.  She also provided a link on how to can using the boiling water method, which I also did for the first time this weekend.  It was not hard and her recipe was delicious!  I will definitely do this again, I may never buy apple butter again.  Okay, maybe, but it gives me a new appreciation for apple butter.  And I'm now inspired to explore other possibilities, using different fruits!  These would be great gifts for friends and neighbors.

I haven't posted many cards lately, but here are three that I did recently, 2 for bridal showers and one for a friend to give to her mother for her birthday.

The first card: I used the Stampin' Up Medallion stamp with silver embossing, along with a clear stamp for the sentiment.  The cardstock and decorative paper are grey and from Stampin' Up.

Same stamps for the purple card, however I stamped in purple ink and used Crystal Effects for a raised appearance.  I used a textured purple cardstock from Stampin' Up and a designer paper from Martha Stewart's collection.  I also used my marker airbrush type tool that sprays ink for effect, and added a rhinestone brad in the center of the medallion.

On the birthday card, I used their new butterfly punch with textured cardstock and 3 adhesive backed crystals in the middle.  Two of the cards I used a punch to round the edges, just for a softened look.

Have a great week!