Guess what?!! I was chosen again for the September Blogger Exchange with Lani at Elle Dee Designs!! Our challenge this month was FALL...now living in the Northwest this is actually a very easy challenge!! I had a plan in my head...but when I found out my partner was in Arizona (warm weather year round!) and doesn't like coffee or tea...I had to think outside of the box! I really hope she loved it cause I had a hard time parting with it once I was done!!

I went with a bit of the NW in mind! Our leaves have changed colors and I kept thinking about how its almost time to go to the pumpkin patches! {:: life of a real mom in the back ground...please ignore the laundry basket! ::}


Since my partner doesn't like coffee or tea...I didn't go with a mug filled with goodies...instead. I took a small jam sized mason jar. An entire box of apple cider. Opened each packet and filled it to the brim! I measured out a packet first so I could write the amount needed per cup on top of the mason jar! I wrapped it with some favorite fabric and tied it with yarn to coincide with the garland I made! The cinnamon stick I felt gave it good flare!

The garland was SUPER easy! Take different colored felts and cut a leaf shape...be sure to try and get them about the same size! Take an embroidery needle and thread it with yarn...weave in and out of the felt and move onto your next leaf! I am totally making one for myself as well! I found the notepad and the cards at target and loved the look to add to the package!

I found a package of leaves at Michael's as well as a package with fake acorns and mini pine cones! My kids LOVE collecting them this time of year so I thought how perfect could this be?? The leaves had a funky smell out of the package so I laid them across the floor and spritzed both sides with febreeze! I didn't want my package smelling funky!

The embroidery hoop is my favorite part of the entire package! I used laminated burlap so it was sturdy...it was not easy to work with I will not lie! Cut out a square bigger than your hoop...loosen the hoop ALL the way and you will need to finagle it to get it back in the loop! Tighten up as much as you can get it! I used E6000 glue to attach various buttons. Some were from antique stores, a few from the craft store AND I even asked a few people I know if they had any! I was thrilled at the ones that were passed onto me! It takes A LOT of buttons! The E6000 gave me enough wiggle room between drying to get them to shift if I needed! Let it dry flat for at least 24 hours when you are done! I filled the box with goodies making sure to place things in there so if something gets wiggled around should make it just fine! I loved the sound of the acorns rolling around the box!

I really hope my partner loved it as much as I did! I had a blast putting it together! Happy Fall y'all!