For those of you who don’t know me, I have a side of me that loves-loves-loves decorating. Not in a flashy, expensive, buy-new-furniture way, but just enough to want to tweak things to keep my home alive and creative. I just can’t stand things being the same. So I mix it up.

So, yesterday, I saw this picture and loved it.

It made me want to do something different for my mantle that has looked awfully plain and boring.

So I finagled with my Word program, using Word Art, Garamond text, in different colors. I printed out “be*ye {thankful}! on thick card stock (4 letters per 8 1/2 x 11), cut them into fours, then hole punched twice on each top corner. I had some twine left over, so I strung it through the letters then mounted them on my mantle. This is the end result:

It’s not perfect. The letters aren’t all exactly the same size or aligned correctly, but that’s what makes the whole think folksy and fun. I can’t tell you how much fun I had in the 45 minutes it took me to complete this project. So much joy!

And as I look at those words, I’m reminded once again just how amazing this life is that I live, how wonderful my children are, and how fortunate I am to be married to the love of my life nearly 20 years. I’m thankful for a roof over our heads, a garden, the ability to write words that change lives, my fluffy cat, my stinky/fuzzy dog, the clothes in my closet, the joy in my heart from Jesus. There is so much to be thankful for.

(By the way, the family sign is by my dear friend Stacey at Chick Lingo. You can peruse her store here. Tell her I sent you!)

Q4U:

What are you thankful for today?