Thanksgiving inspiration

Nick's parents are coming here for Thanksgiving, and I'm SOOO excited!!!  His parents are really the most wonderful in-laws a girl could ever ask for.  They've truly been nothing but a blessing from the beginning, and I'm so excited that we'll get to spend several days with them in just a week and a half!! :)  That being said, I need to get my butt in gear and start buying all the food (because we're also hosting my parents, my Poppi, and my sister and brother-in-law, meaning 9 people total!), AND I need to start making the house look festive!!  I know I don't "have" to do this- they'd be so sweet and appreciative even if the house was all cluttered up (as it usually is).  But I would like to add some fun little touches to make it feel "home-y" and special.  Here's one of my FAVORITE Thanksgiving ideas from Friday's child:

How adorable is that???  She used it for a fall baby shower :)  I could never have come up with something so cute!

I also would like to paint our huge living room area before they come, and do some sort of painting or staining to our table before they get here next Wednesday... not to mention about a hundred other little projects I'd like to attempt before then :)  So we'll see what actually gets done!!  Oh, and I'm also working on homemade Christmas cards this year- about 50 of them.  Geez louise.  Why did I not start some of this back in July??? 

Modern twist on a message in a bottle

I've been a terrible blogger this week (meaning a non-existent blogger), because things have been a bit hectic.  I've been trying to get some crafts finished and things ready for Nick's parents to come in town for Thanksgiving (can't wait!) 
But I did have 1 cute craft to share, that I first was inspired by here.  A totally adorable website called Ruffled had a DIY contest, and there were some seriously creative and beautiful ideas that people entered.  This one, called "Unraveling a Letter" I totally loved, and wanted to recreate.  Here are pictures of theirs:

One of my sweet friends, Stephanie, is off at Elon for college, and her bday is coming up.  Despite the fact that there are nearly 10 years between us, she's one of my best friends, and one of the most fun girls that ever lived.  She used to be one of our youth group kids at First Pres, and she calls Nick and me "momma and poppa bear" :)  I remember how much I loved getting care packages when I was off at college (and sadly I haven't been the best at sending them to Steph).  But I wanted to put some things together to send her for her birthday, and I was trying to figure out one more cute thing to include.  And this craft was it! :)  I loved the idea, and I'm so glad they shared it on the website!  Here's how mine turned out:
Just cut your fabric to fit the spool:

Stamp the letters of your message:

Glue it to the spool:

And wrap 'er up!

So simple!!  I think it will be the perfect addition to her care package! :)  I like to think of it as a cuter version of a message in a bottle :) 

Yay for "hump day"!!  And yay for Nick and me traveling to the Auburn game this weekend- aaahhh!!  Can't wait!! :)  Gooo Tigers!!!!