A Season of Thanks and Giving

 Check out the Path of Positivity challenge blog for their newest challenge, The Power of Words: Family & Friends. They're at the midway point of the challenge...

 

Most of my neighbors know that I'm a crafter. They've also seen me pock up interesting things from the ends of driveways to upcycle or alter. Last month I created and gave mini charcuterie boards complete with cheese and a Halloween spreader/knife. 

This month I'm gifting a couple more neighbors with a portable family game center. because I was inspired by the Candyland tin to fill it with game materials. It holds a new holiday deck o cards, Yahtzee score sheets with dice and little golf pencils, and an unopened UNO dice game. I added an extra die for a game known by many names, like Foo, Farkle, etc,.

 The second game center started out as a cardboard card box shaped like a book. I decorated it to make the outside look like a real book using designer papers and a little gold paint. This box holds a deck of holiday playing cards, Yahtzee score sheets and pencils, the extra die for Foo+, and a velvet bag holding an 8-sided, dreidel-shaped "spinner" with "directions" on each side. I included a baggie of chips to use with this game.

Both game centers are also decorated with bows and a small notecard telling each family how blessed I am to have them for neighbors and friends. And of course, each family has young children to enjoy family game nights. I'll be dropping these off this coming week...

Giving Thanks at Ike's World Challenge Blog

Here in Chicago, we are balanced on the precipice where Autumn's warm days and cool nights are about to shift to cold days and longer, colder nights. And as the seasons start their shifts, I like to pause, look around and really appreciate everything in my life.
There have been a lot of changes this year. My husband's health has deteriorated with the confirmation of his ALS diagnosis. We both lost our jobs and family health insurance. But...
I am thankful for these things which have produced so much good in our lives:
Because Bill was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he receives government disability as well as VA compensation for a 100% service-connected disability.
Because of the compensation, we get to keep our house.
Because of a federal Veteran's Grant, construction is underway to make our house handicapped- accessible.
As veterans with no earned income, we are entitled to free healthcare and equipment such as wheelchairs, braces, glasses and such.
Because I lost my job, I now have the time to take care of Bill, driving him to doctor appointments, running errands and sharing in his bucket list of things he would like to accomplish or do before he can't.
There are just so many blessings for which I am thankful. Family, friends, a car, our new rescue dog, Wilson; my five senses which gives me the ability to see the changes in the season, to hear with delight my newest grandson's first words (uh-oh seems to be popular right now), to taste and smell the food which is also a gift and to touch the comfort around me.
The list is endless, but what I am most thankful for is the gift of 40 years of marriage to my hubby, to be enjoyed more deeply as the rest of time goes by.
I created my card to show how much our rescue dog has changed our lives in a good way. He always seems to know when we need an extra snuggle, and is so excited when we come home from a shopping trip or the show. The Ike's Art image is called Pooch with Leaf.
What are you thankful for?
Whatever it is, you can be thankful that Ike's World Challenge Blog offers the theme of Thanksgiving, where you can link your creative project and get your chance to win some awesome digital images.
Finally, thank you for visiting my blog today! Happy crafting!