Inspire Me Series: Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Tuesday Friends!

I thought i would do a special Inspire Me Series: Thanksgiving Edition with the lovely and uber artistic/creative Marilyn...seriously if you don't know her...WHY?! because she makes some of the most amazing and thoughtful things EVER! She inspires me on a daily basis to be more creative and just live myr passion in every thing i do.  I am overly excited she agreed to share a little about herself 

and some of the ways we can be creative this Thanksgiving Day!

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Hello friends, my name is Marilyn from next door over at The ArtsyGirl Connection. 

I am really excited and truly honored to be here sharing with you all today. 

It's totally a privilege as I LOVE Mrs. Pancakes and her fun inspirational posts 

and admire her faith in love, marriage, trust in God, 

and focus on so much positivity that she shares here in her lovely part of the blog world.

Thanks for having me here today Mrs. Pancakes... 

A little about me....

I am a mommy to two beautiful little one's, engaged to my very best friend 

and a bit of  a craft junkie. I love photography and cooking when I can 

(I'm not that great but when I focus, cooking isn't so bad, lol.). 

I can be the biggest dork but those that love me don't seem to mind...

Hope you can join me sometime and share in my artsy fun rants and raves sometime. 

Have you always been a creative person?

I can't say specifically I've always been creative, I've mostly been organized, 

I was the OCD child who couldn't get chocolate on my hands for too long, 

let alone on my sweater. Haahaa. 

I would have to say, in an attempt to get better at my OCD habits living at home with all boy's,

 I stumbled upon a creative aspect to life at home. 

I got better and better as I got older and when my children came along.

 I've always had my own style, my own little twists to what makes me ME 

and that has developed much into inspirational creativity over the years.

What motivates you to be creative?

A lot of my motivation to craft really stems from having a home and my children. 

My favorite things to create are home goodies and crafts for my kids. 

I absolutely LOVE the feeling I get when I'm asked "where did you purchase this 

or that" in terms of decor in my home or item's I made for the children, 

and can smile and say "oh, I made it"!! LOVE IT!! 

Its really beyond rewarding to know that something I created out of love 

was found good enough to be featured in a store and someone took a minute to mention it. 

That's inspiration and confirmation in every way possible to my love 

for sharing and giving a bit of myself through my creativity.

                          A huge part of why I love to craft also has to do with my business "Plus Events". 

        I don't tend to feature too much of it on my blog 

but it's a little business I have dedicated to weddings. 

To date, I've been able to put together four weddings successfully.

I enjoy every bit of being able to have a bride and groom walk into each event 

(ceremony or reception) and fall in love all over again 

with their vision and be happy that what they wanted for their special day 

was exactly executed and made their day just that much more perfect.

 It's rewarding, it's motivating, it brings upon happy emotions for me, 

that I shared in their experience and they will forever 

be able to remember the intricate details I took a minute to add to their requests.

 I sincerely stay humbled when asked to decorate for special events no matter how small. 

Being a part of making someone’s day special means so much to me.

My GF's wedding i put together last year.

Projects and causes close to my heart inspire me 

and allow for me to find creative means to give back or share 

and bring forth awareness in little ways to help other's. 

I am inspired by various crafty mom's, awesome and inspirational blogger's like Mrs Pancakes and the likes. 

I draw inspiration from all around depending on my day.

 The web can be a wonderful place to get lost at times. : ))

What's your favorite craft to do during Thanksgiving? 

This thanksgiving, my favorite crafts have been crafts focused on creative way's to give back, 

and to show thanks and appreciation to the ones closest to me

 and surprising the unexpected loved ones around me. 

One of my favorite things I created this thanksgiving was my Thankful Turkey 

I featured in my Three Weeks Of Thanks Project for "Thankful For Frugal Crafts". 

I loved the idea of having a turkey featured within our home that we can all take a moment to feather with a thankful note for something we appreciate this season. 

We extended feather's to friends and family stopping in to stuff in their notes of thanks and share in ours.

 I even took a fun moment to feature some "thankful for bloggy bff's" 

on a  feather with some of my favorite blogger's around. 

It was a really cool project that the kids, my friends and family enjoyed being able to participate in. 

This year, I made a "Thankful Turkey" with the children that was so adorable and meant a lot. 

They got to add thankful feather's with notes and what they where most thankful for and we placed it in our kitchen. We all add to it here and there as the month goes by and we will take a minute to read our notes this thanksgiving after dinner: ))

                                    Another project I worked on this season I loved was about giving. 

I really enjoyed giving back to my neighbors and to the troops. 

A great and frugal way to give this season is creating little treats 

you can Jar up and deliver with little notes to show appreciation for your family and friends. 

I have the best neighbors and created some "Autumn in a jar" goodies with thankful notes for them.

 It was really easy, cheap and absolutely warming 

and fun to see how much they enjoyed them.

You can also give back this season via creative and inspirational projects 

such as "Operation Cards For Soldiers" . 

Sparing literally about five dollar's, you can send the troop's some fun 

Christmas cards with touching and heart warming notes to show appreciation 

and let them know they matter and remain close to our hearts. 

Take a moment and get involved if you can...

Although small, it felt awesome!

I sincerely appreciate you all taking a moment to indulge in a bit about me. 

I would love for you to stop in sometime and say hello. 

I love new artsy friends and will be very thrilled to come on over, visit and indulge in a bit about you too. 

Thanks SO much Mrs. BEAUTIFUL Pancakes for having me here today. 

Wishing you all an amazing THANKSGIVING SEASON... 

Gobble Gobble & Give Thanks..

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Isn't this lovely lady beyond talented?! 

And she has the best heart in blogland...she is ALWAYS using her blog

 to promote amazing projects like: "Operation Cards For Soldiers".   

Team Pancakes will definitely participate in this project.  

And the Yarn Turkey...i am convincing Mr. Pancakes to craft with me!  

Thank you again Marilyn and i am so glad i got to know a little more about you! 

Ladies, please stop by her blog, The ArtsyGirl Connection, and ask her questions

 about anything artsy and crafty related and just to say hello!

Happy Thanksgiving Marilyn to you and your lovely family!