Inspired by... gratitude

Inspired by... gratitude

 

Gratitude has been my inspiration before and I think it's an important theme to return to, again and again. I've heard it said, "What would  you do if God took away from you today, everything you failed to give thanks for yesterday?"

Thankfully, because of His great mercy, He forgives my thoughtlessness. It has also been said, "God accepts you as you are, but He doesn't let you stay that way."  And, thankfully, God is working in my life in big and small ways to make me more mindful and more thankful of the abundance of blessings He provides daily.

When Kim announced the Texture Tuesday theme for this week: Gratitude, in honor of our American holiday, I was happy for the opportunity to share some scenes from our Thanksgiving holiday with you.

 

Mouse Over for original. I used Kim's newest texture, Poetic, hue blend 100%

 

I love sunflowers and was thrilled when mom arrived with a bouquet filled with them! (thanks, mom!) I made a table runner for my counter-top this year. I used a leftover piece of burlap and hand-stitched some leaves, cut out from scraps of material used for another project, to it, then frayed the edges.

 

I love how it turned out!  On a few of the leaves I backstitched the veins in...

 

 

It was the perfect base for the grateful tree I made this year. I had seen several of them around blog land and loved the concept! (Similar to the Grateful Dry Erase board I shared with you, waaay back in September!) All too often I fly through the holiday without really stopping to engage my mind, heart and soul to what it's all about.

 

 

Making this tree was so easy! I brought a branch in from outside that had blown off in a recent wind storm and nestled it in a glass vase, using birdseed to hold it in place!

 

I made the leaves out of scraps of cardboard that were lying around. On some of the leaves, I wrote the names of those who came for dinner and they doubled as place cards. Guests were encouraged to write on the leaf what they were thankful for and then when we were finished eating, we hung the leaves on the tree!

 

 

Unfortunately, with the onslaught of Christmas, my grateful tree will not likely be around very long. So I'm already thinking of ways to incorporate a thoughtful reminder of our blessings into the next holidays decor!

 

What do you do to maintain an attitude of gratitude?

 

Blessings,

 

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