Thanksgiving Place Card Holders

Happy Thursday!

Obviously I didn't manage to post Tuesday as I had hoped ... I can't BELIEVE how crazy busy I've been since I got back from my weekend Getaway to South Carolina!  I hit the ground running Monday morning and am only just now starting to catch my breath.  Having said that I really only have half an hour before I start running again as it's Alicia's birthday tomorrow and I still don't have a present for her - ACK!  I have NEVER left things this late before - I almost always have birthday presetns MONTHS in advance.  If I don't have them bought I at least know what I'm getting ... not this time!  Toy's R Us opens in 40 minutes and I only have a 1 1/2 hour window to find something!  Yes, stress levels are rising *lol*.

So let's backtrack a few weeks.  Last week I was crazy busy getting everything in place so I could run away with my husband to South Carolina for our free weekend vacation.  Now I KNOW I'm not the only one out there who procrastinates on packing but I really do set my self up for last-minute rushing!  Wednesday I had pretty much caught up on all the ESSENTIAL things I needed to do ... wash the sheets for mom before she moved in for the weekend ... do the grocery shopping so she had food to fee the kids ... made the list on how to feed and take care of the cats and dog (and kids!) ... and so on.  Now of COURSE when I got up in the morning I probably should have considered packing ... but no.  I felt the need to organize my food pantry ... and clean the fridge out ... and naturally organize my Tupperware cupboard.  Around noon Craig asked if we had any American money ... ummm ... no - that hadn't even hit my radar ... but my cupboards were tidy *lol* .  Hee hee - I just have to laugh at my "quirky" ways sometimes!  I started packing somewhere around 6:30 pm.  It didn't take as long as usual since I WAS only going for 3 days ... but of course I had to shave my legs, find and organize my "travel purse", pack snacks for the plane (my standard M&M peanuts), charge the camera batteries, fill all my little travel bottles of lotions and shampoo etc, etc, etc.  At 8:30 pm Craig announced he was going to bed.  BED?  It was only 8:30!  He pointed out we had to get UP at 2:00 am.  Oh - right.  I guess I wouldn't go downstairs to finish my little Club Girl treats.  I went to bed too.  2);; am came around VERY fast ... but it's funny how getting up at 2:00 am is a lot more "doable" when you are getting on a plane to fly away rather than at 2:00 am when the kids tell you they had a bad dream *lol*!

Long story short(er) ... we had a FABULOUS time.  I questioned if it was really worth it to fly to the other side of the country for 2 days but once we got there (at 7:00 pm) we had both decided it WAS worth it.  What a beautiful place.  We stayed at the Westin which was awesome.  HUGE room with a king size bed.  We had an ocean view and it was SO relaxing.  There was NO agenda - no scheduled activities just pure relaxation.  I had a great massage on Saturday while Craig lounged at the pool.  The food was amazing - fresh sea food every day ... and of course lots of "foo-foo" drinks by the pool.  I met lots of great ladies (hi Pat, Sue, Izzy, Susan and Janet!) and saw some stamping "stars" like Becky Roberts and of course Sara Douglas (Shelli's daughter).  It was just a great time all around.  Every night when we got back to our rooms there were "pillow gifts" from Stampin' Up!  We got a great Lands End tote bag, fresh fruit, cheese and bottled water and a craft keeper filled with DSP, a stamp set, ink pads, ribbon, buttons and jewels.  It made me feel very special.  SU sure do know how to treat their demonstrators!  We didn't leave the hotel much - just to walk the beach and stroll through a nearby neighbourhood.  It ws positively fabulous!  Here are a few pics:

(View from our balcony)

(token food shot!)

Ewwww - a huge Golden Orb Spider in his web outside the front of the hotel

We were both VERY relaxed by the time it came to go home.  Sadly the trip home was fairly horrible.  We started killing time at 11:30 am until our 1:30 bus ride to the airport.  There was a mix up with the buses and we only JUST made our flight with minutes to spare (of course one again I was chosen for the "special" screening at the airport ... I think my bra always sets off their scanners because I had no jewelery on  or pockets to hide anything ... of course that ate up even more time.  We left at 3:30 pm for the milk run home.  On the last (and 3rd) plane of the trip home we were in the air for 45 minutes when it was announced we had to turn around and go BACK due to a problem with the plane.  GREAT!  We got home 3 hours later than planned ... at 3:30 am.  Of course when we got home the dog thought we were burglary so barked ... waking the kids and grandma so everyone was up and we talked until 4:45 am.  A quick nap before it was up for school and I haven't stopped since.  A blur of laundry, finishing off my Club Girls treats, dinner and Brownies and I finally got to fall into bed.  The craziness didn't stop ... Tuesday I had to put right an order error I had made which resulted in me putting 185 km on my vehicle and taking up almost 3 hours of my time.  Then it was swimming lessons ... and home for dinner and more "mom" stuff.

Yesterday was "delivery" day which took me all day and then my Team Meeting for stamping.  Today is a half day for the kids and yoga tonight with Rebecca.  Yep - back to reality - with a BANG!  Soooooo ... now that you'e all caught up on my life-craziness lets show you those little treats I made (I now have 11 minutes before Toys R Us open!!!!)

Ta-Da!

Aren't they cute??!!  I used my 3 different sized Scalloped Circle punches for his feathers and the 1/4" and 1" circle punches for his body and head.  The beak and feet are made from the 5-Petal Flower punch and the waddle is made from the tip of the butterly punch (hee hee - LOVE that part!  I taped them all together and the middle is a peppermint patty.  I sued the googly eyes from mini (self adhesive eyes ROCK!).  I will be using these for place card holders at the dinner table on Thanksgiving.  Love them (although making 30 of them took more time than I care to think about!!)

I have another Thanksgiving treat to share made by my friend and Club Member Tammie Morris.  Check these out!

LOVE them!  The bodies are the Treat Cups filled with fish crackers.  She's giving them to the kids at her daughters playschool this morning.  I LOVE that she used the ornament punch from the Merry Mini Punch Pack punch for the beaks!  Great job Tammie!

Right - I have a Halloween Treat to share but Toys R Us opens in 6 minutes.  I better go get my daughter a present or I'll lose my "Mom of the Year" nomination *lol*

Have a stampy day!


Tam