thanks

Along with all of the hope and anxiety--and joy!--of wedding planning, I've realized that one of the other major emotions I've been encountering frequently is gratitude.  For my partner-in-crime.  For the love and support of our parents.  For the unbridled excitement and massive encouragement we've received from our friends and family.  There is so much to be thankful for, and when other things have become a little too overwhelming, I like to just let that feeling of gratitude take over.

Of course, one can't--and shouldn't--feel this way so frequently and not express it to the world, which brings me to the theme of the day--thank you notes.  I must not be the only one dwelling on them this week.  Over at Once Wed, diy projects are back--speaking of things that I'm thankful for--and the first thing new columnist Amy Moss is taking on is--you guessed it--handmade thank you notes.  Her project is specifically for thank you notes for one's bridesmaids, but take a look and I think you'll agree that there's potential to do all kinds of things with the idea...

If carving rubber stamps and printing notecards sounds like too much work, 100 Layer Cake is hosting a thank you note giveaway this week.  Maybe you could just win some gorgeous stationery.  (If you do win, please let me know so that I can be incredibly jealous.  I love Wiley Valentine...)

For my part, I'm trying to stick to notes of my own--and my man's--doing.  He's already printed our "official" thank you notes--they're amazing, of course--but there are so many things to thank so many people for right now.  I'll admit, at times, I just cheat and go with some really nice letterpress printed notecards.  Like this.  Or these.  Or those.

Sometimes, though, that simply won't cut it.  Last weekend, I found myself in need of something that packed a bit more punch.  After some cutting and gluing and taping, I ended up with a few of these:

It might not look like much, but, boy howdy, were these challenging.  I swore.  A few times.

The little "clothesline" is baker's twine--currently one of my favorite materials.

I cut the tiny pennants out of card stock, attached them to the twine with glue and tape--don't ask--and pulled the twine through the holes I punched in each side of the card.  I am making it sound much less complicated than it actually was at the time, I assure you.

They were totally worth it, though, in the end.  I couldn't help opening and closing each one a few dozen times, just to watch it all work.  I hope the recipients end up having as much fun with them as I did.  I also hope they make it through the mail all right, but that's a whole other story...