A Thanking We Will Go

Welcome to our "A Thanking We Will Go" blog hop hosted by Jessica from KinderStampO.  
If you arrived here from Liz's Paper Loft then you are in the right place.  If not, you may want to start back at the beginning at Jessica's blog.

As Thanksgiving is upon us, we are reminded of those we are thankful to and for the things that they have done for us to make our lives even better.  

The sponsors for our blog hop are are Helmar, Imaginisce, Peachy Keen, Skipping Stones Designs, and Unity Stamp Co.  Make sure you go to every blog and leave a comment to have a chance to win some fantastic prizes!  There will be additional blog candy along the way too:)

This blog hop I am going to honor a special person in my life, my mom. I want to let her know how thankful I am to her.  I am blessed to have an awesome mom who helps me everyday by giving me her love and support.

  As a way to say THANK YOU I am designing a very special box for her that she can keep all the letters that she receives from Dalton while he is away in the Navy.

As you know if you follow my blog, my brother Dalton left this week for the Navy.  Since my mom will write to him every chance she gets and will want to keep all the letters that he sends her, this box seemed like the perfect gift to say "THANK YOU" to my mom.  I think she will like it:) 

I found an old stationery box and made this an altered item project.  I used blue and white as the main colors since those are the colors of the Navy.  On the outside top, I put the dates that Dalton left home, then shipped out, November 8-9, 2010.  I used a Navy calendar that hung in his bedroom to make these since that was special to my mom, but you could use any font from a Cricut cartridge to make the dates or decorations that you put on your box.  The anchor and submarine are cut from the Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge, and the "letters from d" where cut from the Zooballoo Cricut cartridge.

Around the sides I added waves representing the ocean where Dalton will spend a lot of his time.  The waves were cut from the Zooballoo Cricut cartridge.

This USA symbol was also cut from the Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge.
  

On the inside cover, I made a flag and on the blue card stock I put a picture of my mom and Dalton.  This photo was taken at my last JV volleyball game on Thursday night before Dalton left.

***The idea here is that you can alter a box to make it special for someone you love.  By adding clippings from something special that they own, like Dalton's calendar, and pictures of your loved one, you can design something very special.  Making altered items is a cool way to create homemade gifts and to say "THANK YOU."

***Blog Candy Alert***

I am giving away stamps and two ink pads and enter all you need to do is:

1. become a follower if you are not already following

2. leave a comment

3. in your comment, let me know if you have any family members who have served in the military
I will be announcin the winner on Monday morning so please check back to see if you are a winner:) 
Now you can hop on over to Martha's blog to see what she is thankful for and what clever project she has designed for you.

Here is a list of all the crafters who are participating in the blog hop today in case you get lost along the way.

Jessica - KinderStampO

Alex - You Had Me At Craft

Cheryl - Nana's Creative Corner

Debbie - DD's Crafts

Iva - IvaRai's Scrappy Blog
Jessica Baker - That'z Uneek
Kimberlee - The Life of a Princess
Linda - My Quilling Nest
Liz - Liz's Paper Loft
Madison - Funky Cards
Martha - Dream of Crafting
Meighen - Scrappin3rdeeschik
Nicki - Canadiannickelscrapn
Shelley - Heartstring Designs
Sigrid - Lovescrapreflect
Vickie - Two Chicks on a Limb
Jessica - KinderStampO

Thanks for stopping by!
~Madison