Lots to share . . . a GIFT for you!!! . . . and I'm a winner!

Phew!!! Boy, it's been an exhausting three days. With Thanksgiving dinner prep and the big event itself, the clean-up, I was pooped. I can say it was wonderful to be with family, but restful and relaxing - not so much. I hope you all had a real nice Thanksgiving with your families. Everyone's so busy these days, it's a blessing when we can all sit down at least for one day and catch up. Son No. 1 came home from college Wednesday, and it's been great having him here. I've really missed him these past three months. He leaves this evening :o( On the bright side, he'll be home in a little over two weeks for Christmas. YAY!!!

I wanted to share pics of my Thanksgiving table. Not so much the place settings or overall tablescape, but the centerpieces. I used Kathy's - Creative Home Expressions - great idea for creating elegant hurricane vases made from dollar store finds. She actually got her inspiration from Melissa at 320 Sycamore. Aren't creative people cool?!

Hey look! It's my Mom and SIL way in the background!

A cool thing I wanted to share, too, are these fun little Thanksgiving trivia cards I created and sat at each place and scattered extras on the table. It was a fun addition to the dinner conversation. Some of the questions/answers were quite informative!

Also, I want to let you all know, in case you haven't noticed over there in my sidebar, I'm participating in Tracey Buxton's of Notes from a Cottage Industry Holiday Home Tour this Tuesday, December 1. There will be tons of beautiful homes to see and great inspiration. I am so thrilled to be a part of her tour. I have followed Tracey's blog for years now. She was one of the first blogs I found, and I instantly fell in love! I hope I can get everything ready by then.

Now on to the GIFT for you all. I really want to share in all the funtastic giving that's been going on in Blogland lately, so I've decided to have my own little giveaway! Not to mention it's a great way to increase followers and readership. C'mon! I'm being honest! ;o)

Actually, the two books in this great giveaway are duplicates of what I have. So, might as well pass them along to some lucky person to enjoy as much as I have. Also included are two of my latest creations. A pair of "paper"skates adorned with glitter and sweet trim, and a Happy Holiday Cone.

So, you all know the drill. Leave a comment here, become a follower if you're not already, and put a little shout-out at your blog regarding my giveaway. Each of those actions will get your name in the drawing - a max of three times. Please make sure you leave a comment for each action.

Oh, the few of you that are personal friends that read . . . you enter too! Below are some

close-up pics of the items.

Vintage Christmas Crafts by Sara Toliver

Below is a Holiday Plans organizing binder from Hallmark. Might be too late to use this year, but would be great to fill in some info for full use next year. For some reason, I bought literally a bag of of these one year. Must have been an after C'mas clearance deal I couldn't pass up!

There's a fill-in calendar for 3-1/2 months. Subject indexes for sections devoted to C'mas Card list, Shopping List, Gifts Received, and Notes, along with pockets for stamps, receipts, etc.

Good luck to all of you! I'll be picking the winner Tuesday, December 1.

Oh, and I just have to share that I was the big winner of the $35 gift certificate to Paper Addicts that Kathy at Creative Home Expressions was sponsoring. I was so shocked! I am NOT a lucky person at all. And this "gift" is perfect for me. Thank you so very much, Kathy and especially Marisa of Paper Addicts!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm off to decorate my trees . . .