30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Scarves with a Purpose

Welcome to Day 14 of

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Scarves with a Purpose

I literally just learned about this site a couple of hours ago as I was sitting in the laundry mat waiting for baby girls comforter to dry. I picked up the Woman's Day magazine and read a short write up on different charities you could donate to this holiday season. Scarves with a Purpose caught my attention especially because I love scarves. And I know many lovely ladies that are awesome at knitting beautiful scarves. I am not one of them but I have been blessed by them! Basically, Scarves with a Purpose collects handmade scarves to give out to whoever needs them. It stated in the Woman's Day article that they gave over 400 scarves to Hurricane Sandy victims last year! What a great D.I.Y. Gift idea! You are using your talents to make beautiful scarves that will give warmth to someone in need and bless not only them but you. No better gift! Stop by the Scarves with a Purpose page to learn more about getting involved! 
And please, help me spread the word about this great cause by sharing this post on Facebook and on Pinterest. Thank you!

Tomorrow: Bath Salts

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Our Thank 'Fall' Mantel

Welcome to day 13 of

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Our Thank 'Fall' Mantel

This year for our Fall mantel, I thought it would be fun to do an Autumn-themed collage with the kids. We went to the dollar store and bought a foam poster board and some glue sticks. Then we stopped by the thrift store and bought some old magazines that were all published during the fall months. The kids and I sat down and all flipped through the magazines, tearing out the pages to put on our board. The kids had fun gluing the pages to the board. At the center, I put together this message, "Thank Fall for home, where life and love happens." Our handmade picture sits in-between the kids' pumpkins that we grew in our garden. And I filled my glass candle holders with leaves from our tree. Trimmed it off with beaded garland that I bought at a craft store's after-Christmas clearance. All in all I think our Thank 'Fall' mantel turned out quite nice and all for only a couple dollars and time with the kids. Do you like to make collages with your kids?  



Next: Scarves with a Purpose

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Send a {Thankful} Hug

Welcome to day 12 of 

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Send a Hug from Bettijo at Paging Supermom!

Call me old-fashioned but I think we all should make sending handwritten letters and cards in the 'snail' mail more important. The joy it brings to see an envelope in a mail box with your name on it just can not be compared to email or anything else. Especially for a child!

And as the holiday of being thankful for the blessings in our lives approaches, how can we forget our loved ones that are not close by? I think this idea of sending a hug in the mail to those loved ones is great! To make it even more special, have each child write why they are thankful for and what they love about the recipient(s). 

Have you sent a hug before? Or received one?

To learn more about how you can send one, check out the full post at Paging Supermom!

You can also find it on my Pinterest board, Gift Ideas-Hand made or Hand picked. 






Tomorrow: Our Thank 'Fall' Mantel 

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: D.I.Y. Wood Pencil Holder

Welcome to day 11 (a day late) of

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

D.I.Y. Wood Pencil Holder from Amy at Then She Made...

If you have kids that like to do art projects, you want to have one of these! This is one of those projects I will give to my husband to make for a Christmas present for our son. I love it and it is easily personalized by the pattern of paper you modpodge to it! Of course, as I am sitting here typing this, I am thinking this could also be a great gift idea for anyone that sits behind a desk. And, it could be fashioned to fit pens I will bet....

Check out the full project information and how-to pictures at Then She Made....

You can also find it pinned on my, Gift Ideas-Hand made or Hand picked, Pinterest board.








Tomorrow: Send a Hug

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Preserved Fall Leaves for Thanksgiving Name Cards

Welcome to day 10 of 

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Preserved Fall Leaves for Thanksgiving Name Cards 

from Julia 

at Blissfully Content

I have been wanting to do this every fall but never got around to learning how. Then Julia posted this and my heart smiled! Preserved Fall leaves are great for name cards but OH think of all the possibilities! And look at that precious handmade cloth napkin the leaf is resting on! You could make some for your own table or you could make a set as a hostess gift for your Thanksgiving hostess. How else would you use preserved fall leaves in your Autumn decorating? 

Check out Julia's Preserving Fall Leaves tutorial post for the step-by-step instructions that are easy enough for the little ones to help make.

For a tutorial on making those beautiful cloth napkins, 

check out Julia's post HERE. 

You can also find this on my Pinterest board: Falling for Autumn.

Tomorrow: D.I.Y. Wood Pencil Holder

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Fall Table Setting

Welcome to day 9 of

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Fall Table Setting with Robin at All Things Heart & Home

When I host a party my theory is throw one you would like to attend. One of the best ways to set a mood for a dinner party is a well set table. And that doesn't have to be expensive to do! Robin shows how to put together a lovely Fall table with natural elements. After reading this post, my mind wandered to what I may have laying around the house that I could use to set our Thanksgiving table. Beautiful maple leaves in all the fall colors, pine cones, berry sprigs, apples, plaid and velvet ribbons......
What do you have lying around?

Check out Robin's full post at 
All Things Heart & Home. 
You can also find it on my Pinterest board: Falling for Autumn.









Tomorrow: Preserved Fall Leaves for Thanksgiving Name Cards

30 Days of D.I.Y. Gifts and Decor: Pinecone Garland

Welcome to day 8 of

Hi All! Now that Halloween is over, I am switching my focus onto the up-coming holidays that will be filled with family and friends, love and laughter, giving and receiving! For me, some of the best memories and gifts have been what is handmade and from the heart. And, I love giving and receiving handmade and locally crafted gifts. So, I am going to share a new project every day for the month of November to get y'all (and myself) into the spirit of the holidays! I hope you enjoy the next thirty days with me! I would love to hear if you try any of the projects and how they turned out. <3 Erika

Pinecone Garland by Kristin at Ella Claire

I love all-natural holiday decorations! For one, you can find most of them outside, with your family on an adventure, and for free. And two, I love the simplicity and grace of them. They take me back to a simpler time; a less commercialized time, when the holidays were more about time with loved ones than the presents and such. I think that is why I am drawn to this D.I.Y. decor project. 

Go to Ella Claire and see the full tutorial post by Kristin. Great step-by-step instructions to have a beautiful, handmade Pinecone Garland that actually lays flat!

You can also find in on my Pinterest board: Falling for Autumn.

Tomorrow: Fall Table Setting