25 Days of Christmas Books: Guest Post at Sugar Bee Crafts

Hey y'all!  I'm really excited to be doing my very first guest post on another blog today!  

Hop on over to Sugar Bee Crafts and check out my 25 Days of Christmas Books, a fun tradition my family started three years ago!   

And wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your families! 

Happy Birthday Balloon Wreath

We have a busy fall around here, especially when it comes to birthdays. We've got one in August, September, November and December. Add in K-State football, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are running around like 'chickens with our heads cut off' for about 5 months."

So, in honor of each person's 'Birthday Week' I made this cute little balloon wreath to hang on the door.  Now, when you pass by the Whitesell household you know when we have a birthday to celebrate! :)

And the birthday wreath is up right now for the hubby's birthday! 

Here we are at a K-State basketball game last week.  I've told you we bleed purple! :)

This wreath is super easy to make.  

The supplies you need for this project are:

• Foam or straw wreath
• Floral pins (available at any craft supply store)
• Balloons in a variety of colors
• Fabric to cover wreath (optional)

I used a straw wreath for mine, but foam will work fine too. I left the wrapping on my wreath, which worked well. But if I could do it all over again, I would wrap the whole wreath in fabric to ensure that none of the straw will show through at any angle.

So, grab your wreath and start pinning the balloons on in no particular order.  The best part of this wreath is that you just put the balloons on however you'd like.  I used multiple colors so I kind of just threw them on there and didn't really have to worry about colors being too close together or anything. 

Add one...

And then add another...

And a few more...

Until the whole thing is covered...

Isn't it cute?! 

It helps to brighten up my sad little porch... ;)

Enjoy!

And Happy Birthday Joe! :)

Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Crafts' Take a Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons' One Project at a Time.

Christmas Card Shutter Display

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I could honestly listen to Christmas music from about September to January. And once Halloween is over, I am begging the hubby to let me decorate for Christmas. There is something about this time of year that just leaves me feeling so happy and so blessed.

And one of my favorite things about the holidays is sending and receiving Christmas cards. Though I always struggled with how to display them...until now.

The first year after we got married the cards were throw in a basket. The second year I tried hanging them over some twine on the wall and that didn't work so well.  

The next two years I tried taping them up all over a wall with painter's tape Becky Higgins' style.  They just kept falling down...and then my toddler kept playing with them.

See?  Plus it doesn't look very full so it was kinda awkward on the wall. 

So last year I decided to DIY a solution to my Christmas Card display woes.  And I came up with this: 

This holds the cards wonderfully and it also allows me to keep them up all year long, which was one of my main goals.

I love it because I can also put up other cards, birth announcements and special photos from all year long. The cards fit in there well great, though once in a while if the card is too thin or slick I have to use a piece of tape to keep it up.

All I used for this project was a set of white shutters, some red spray paint and four picture hangers.  

This is what the back looks like - I didn't bother painting it since it wouldn't show, plus wasn't sure if the red would mark up the wall at the edges. 

The hubs added the photo hangers and hung it on the wall for me.

A few months ago I added the vinyl to the top and I think it just completes the whole area. I love to look at these photos and think about all the blessings in my life.

I actually have a second set of shutters that came with these two when I bought them. Pinterest has so many great ideas, I just can't decide how to use them! 

I'll be so sad to take down these cards as new ones come in, but it will be fun to see how each family has changed! :)

So, how do you display your holiday cards?  

Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Craft's Take-A-Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons One Project At A Time and A Vision to Remember's Check Me Out Saturday Link Party. 

Thankful Thursday

In honor of November and the Thanksgiving Holiday, I am changing my weekly Throwback Thursday to Thankful Thursday.

Today and everyday I am thankful for the amazing people in this photo with me!  I have been so greatly blessed to be the wife to such a wonderful man and a mom to two wonderful children.

How about you? What are you thankful for? 

(And if you have a minute, head on over here and check out our awesome photographer Kayla at Capture!  She's amazing and always gets such great shots of my kiddos!  Love that girl!)