Gratitude, Gifts, and Prizes!

You may have seen me write that I have so many things to be grateful for. I really believe that focusing on what you are grateful for increases joy in life. I was once given an exercise to write down five new things each night for which I was grateful.

Finding five things that you're grateful for each day isn't so hard, but five NEW things each day really opened my mind to what I COULD be grateful for. I kept up the practice for nearly a year, and now I see the world differently as a result. Have you ever tried an exercise like that? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

So lately I have another thing to be grateful for: I've been winning a lot of giveaways. The first is this gorgeous fabric (a fat quarter) designed by Carina of Carina's Craftblog. I started following Carina's blog when I started crafting a couple of years ago, but I keep following her blog for the world she shows me. It's not overly perfect (like some of those super-stylized blogs), but it is interesting and often full of gorgeous colors.

This morning I felt inspired to use some of Carina's fabric to make a tablecloth for Cupcake Cottage's kitchen alcove. That's the picture you see at the top of this post. I love how it turned out. Thank you, Carina, for your gorgeous prize and your precious friendship!

The next giveaway prize that I want to tell you about is from Saara of Saaran Nukkekoti  (Saara's Dollhouse) blog. She took a fabulous trip to Rome and then fashioned a giveaway around her trip. I won the grand prize, which included all of these goodies:

The Italian packaged foods are adorable, and I've already added one of the maps to Dad's Dollhouse study. Thank you, Saara! I love the fantastic prizes you sent!

Before I move on, I have to show you one of Saara's handmade cute blog characters. Its name is Mau, and what a cute kitty it is! Saara is so talented, and she makes custom kitties, if anyone is interested. Check out this link on her blog for more fun characters that live in her dollhouse.

Finally, I received some lovely gifts from Birgit of BiWuBaren on the Blog. I could hardly believe what came out of the box Birgit sent. It was like Mary Poppins' carpetbag! First, here are the ready-made gifts:

There are jars of candies, board games, a shabby chic tray, children's books, lemon cupcakes, and even a Fluby bear cake--how cute! Next, Birgit sent some wonderful craft supplies. I already have plans for the ones in the front row, and the rest will keep me busy all winter! Thank you so much, Birgit! Your gifts are so lovely and thoughtful. I am so grateful, too, for your friendship and for your blog, which keeps me laughing.

I am getting behind on my posts. There are more prizes, final photos of Dad's Dollhouse now that it is complete, and updates on Cupcake Cottage's progress. Plus, there are stories to tell and a giveaway to announce. Yikes! I'd better get busy! ;-) Keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer