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Muffin Tin Monday is a weekly blog carnival, hosted by me, the Muffin Tin Mom every Monday, where we get together and link up posts about the muffin tin meals we make for our kids. Sometimes there is a theme, and sometime there isn't. For more info check out the MTM FAQ and scour past Muffin Tin Monday posts.

This week, there is no theme. :)

Hello readers! Have I told you how thankful I am for you? I truly enjoy connecting with you and sharing with you only the "good stuff". How have you enjoyed the Thanksgiving weekend? I am spent from all the festivities. I braved the big bad world of "Black Friday" this year and scored some major savings! Each year I wonder why I get up so early. And each year I walk away so glad I made the sacrifice of sleep for savings. I am well rested today and ready to share some links with you!

My Little Gems: Sharla share an excellent tutorial on how to make burlap printed ornaments. A little bit country and a whole lot of cute (photo credit above: My Little Gems)

Chica and Jo: So many of you commented how you enjoyed the Thanksgiving Clothespin Wreath from Chica and Jo that I featured last week. Well, they have done it again with a  Clothespin Christmas Advent Calendar. I am thinking another trip to the dollar stor is in order for some clothespins.

Craftster: User Jessfun23, showcases her incredibly creative Scrabble tile coasters that just blow my mind and would make the perfect DIY gift for the holidays.

My Parents Were Awesome: Nostalgic photos of parents from all over the world, before they you know, had kids.

The Activity Mom: This simple kids activity-based Advent Calendar is wonderful. Plus, Nicole shares links to all the activities she will be doing as well as a free card template download! Seriously, she has done all the work for you. What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

Thrifty Decor Chick: I heart her and she hearts Christmas Mantels They are so inspiring...

The Branch From Jesse

 ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
 ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
 ³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
       or decide by what he hears with his ears;
 ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
       with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
       He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
       with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
 ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
       and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
 ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
       the leopard will lie down with the goat,
       the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together;
       and a little child will lead them.
 ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
       their young will lie down together,
       and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
 ⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
       and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
 ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
       on all my holy mountain,
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
       as the waters cover the sea.
 ¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

I'm still in somewhat of a Turkey coma. So here is a little photo love to tide you over. The Muffin Tin Boy was having leg cramps from playing so hard and not getting enough water (bad Mommy) on Thanksgiving day. So, I gave him some TLC. Look how he has his arms up in that first photo. At one point he said "That's better Mommy".

Glad I could help you feel better little man.

 

Show your gratitude this holiday season with photos! Photo Thank You Cards are fun and easy to make. Before you know it, you will have a personal and creative thank you card ready for that special occasion. You’ll need a few things to get this simple project completed.

• Magnetic Alphabet Letters
• Digital Camera
• Photo Printer
• Cardstock in color of your choice
• Glue stick (acid free) or photo corners

I happen to have been blessed with a photo printer thanks to the fine folks at HP. So this project was that much easier because I was able to print the photos at home. (If you don’t have a photo printer at home, then have them printed via your local 1 hour print shop. Many grocery stores have photo printing services available, so you can pick up your print when you are shopping.)

• Arrange the magnetic letters to spell the words “Thank You”.
• Photograph the words in good light near a window. Try not to use your flash
• Print out the image on 4x6 photo paper, set aside
• Cut  cardstock to 6 1/2 by 9
• Fold cardstock in half to make a 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 folded card.
• Adhere “Thank You” photo to front of card using photo corners or adhesive.
• If cardstock is dark in color, think about lining the inside with a piece of white cardstock sized 4 x 6.

***I am including the “thank you” images in this post, so that you may use them if you wish. I put a creative commons liscense on them, so if you use them in a blog post, just attribute back to me. So, if you don’t have alphabet letters, you can just use mine!

***Click on the photos to be taken to the image in my flickr photstream.

This idea would work great for other occasions like birthdays and get well cards.

Today I am contributing over at Blissfully Domestic sharing several ideas for using craft beads for learning and play. These colorful little doo-dads are capable of providing endless amounts of fun!
*Link has been fixed. :)