Thankful November 2012: Day 1

image via

I can't fathom that it's November, but I am all for time moving quickly and it seems that the fourth quarter of the year always speeds by, which I am so happy for. I realized that if I was going to do Thankful November again this year it had to start today! So here we go.

I am so grateful for FAMILY: helping hands, listening ears and caring hearts this year. They have been an amazing blessing to me, The Man and The Bug. So grateful for prayers, kind thoughts and love they have so generously shared. I am especially grateful for my sisters who I have spent more time with in the past 5 months than in the past five years. Love those girls.

Also, so lucky to have my parents just 30 minutes away. I have always been the kid who moved far away, so to have the great surprise of having my parents here for 18 months is just amazing beyond belief. Not sure how I'm going to let them leave though. All their friends here want them to stay, but I am certain that despite all our powers of influence it will not be enough to convince them to stay permanently. But I will enjoy it while they are here.

So what are you grateful for today? Love the sharing!

Driftwood DIY Art Inspiration

all images via Pinterest

Since I came home, I have been thinking about the bag of driftwood I collected last week on Maui. The beach outside my cousins' house was rocky and covered with lots of good driftwood. I started collecting in hand, then piling it in my shirttails then later came back with a canvas bag to pick up more. I wish there had been a little more time to gather before the sun went down, but I got enough to cover a cookie sheet so I think I have enough for a good project.

Unlike the many small pieces I picked up in Virginia, the driftwood pieces were much larger in Hawaii. Some of the wood is quite dark, almost black. It will be fun to see what I can make with it. I do have some variety of sizes which is always helpful when you are trying to create something with what amounts to a pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces.

I thought I'd check out Pinterest to get my creative juices flowing. At the moment, I'm leaning towards making another garland, to hang vertically. But I do like the sunburst. If I had enough, I'd try for the ball. I like the trees, but they feel so holiday-ish to me and I'd want to enjoy my driftwood year round. The heart wreath seems like it would need a lot of small pieces which I don't have. As I am typing this I am getting more and more interested in trying the sunburst. I'll look forward to sharing a finished project with you soon.

I also have another post to share with you full of photos of the driftwood. I've been intrigued at what you can see in a piece of driftwood. I hope you'll find my discoveries as curious as I did. From the trip I also have lots of photos and adventures to share with you. I'm hoping to have my laptop back from repair by the end of the week so I'll be able to work a little more quickly and efficiently share all that good stuff with you.

So do you have a favorite of these projects? Do you have a favorite driftwood hunting spot? You can see my first driftwood DIY here.