Handmade Thank You Cards

This year, I decided to make my own thank you cards for the holidays.  Some friends and I got together for a crafting day, and it was the perfect opportunity to try some new things!  I love how these cards turned out, and definitely plan to keep doing this throughout the year.

Paper Source (my new obsession) is a great place to source the materials needed for this project.  Here's what I used:

• Envelopes and paper 
• Pretty paper to line the envelopes
• Envelope liner template kit
• Tape runner
• Rubber stamps
• Stamp pads (ColorBox is the best!  You want high quality stamp pads)
• Embossing Powder (I only buy clear, gold, and silver embossing powder and then invest in different color stamp pads.  You can get more versatility this way.)
• Embossing Heat Tool (you will not regret this purchase)

The whole project takes about an hour.  Anything that can be completed in one toddler nap time is golden in my book.

An Annual Holiday Tea

Every year for the last eight years, my Mom, BFF, and I have celebrated with an annual holiday tea.  I've known my friend and her family since we were both 12 years old, and our friendship has spanned years living in separate places during HS and college, coming back to live close by after college, and now again living hundreds of miles away from one another. 

She's a friend I'm so grateful to have in my life.

We're both committed to this holiday tea every year, and will travel to make it happen!  This year, she came back to DC since it's still hard for me to solo travel overnight when I'm breastfeeding Liam. 

Here are a few pictures from our day.  We went down to Pinkadilly Tea House in Frederick, VA (which is such a cute little town I had never explored before!)  The tea house is so pink, girly, and ridiculous, it made me daydream about having a little girl to bring down there.