This time of year, the word gather and thankful are top of mind for us. They are simple words with great importance in our lives.

We have so much to be grateful for. We’ve been blessed with lots of love, good people, beautiful children, family, faith, health and ample opportunities to name a few. Even on the bad days, we remind ourselves to try to find small moments or people to be thankful for. It’s in those moments we can find a bit of peace, and/or perspective. On Thanksgiving, a tradition Jessica loves most (she learned it from her in-laws) is listening to people around the table say what they are most grateful for. It brings out all the emotions, but it really makes everyone think about what they are most grateful for that year. Plus, it keeps that gratitude at the forefront of the day, which is what it’s all about.

And, gather. We gather together with friends and family to eat, drink, be merry (or be dramatic if your family is so inclined :)), laugh, talk, cry and share moments together. Even if you are a homebody like us, it feels good to gather with the ones we love most to get recharged, and feel connected. Our large Italian family always seems to gather around the kitchen, where we bake, cook, chop and stir while we catch up. Then, once the food is prepared, we feast! We found a way to incorporate the word gather in the table setting with these charming and vintage-looking bells. I think I’m in a bell phase because this year, I want them everywhere. It’s Vail’s new tradition, and it seems it’s contagious. We made a DIY bell garland, too. If bells don’t intrigue you, wood wreaths might. It’s simple, and a touch of handmade which people love. If you don’t want to use the word gather, you can use grateful, guest names or even something funny.

We used our custom Silhouette Mint stamp maker for this project, and if you don’t have one, you should invest. The starter kit is just $40. It makes a great gift! We use ours all the time, and since we don’t know calligraphy (or need something stamped over and over again), this has been our go-to machine. We used it to create a gather stamp, and stamped it on tiny tags from the office section at Walmart. You can use these or these, too. We cut off the sides of the rectangle to make a skinnier rectangle, and swapped the white string with black and white twine.

The wreaths are from Oriental Trading or you get them on Amazon. The bells are from Amazon. Hurry before I buy ALL THE BELLS.

We hope you take time to gather with the loved ones in your life this holiday season. And, we hope you find something to be grateful for each and every day. Today, for me (Jessica) it was a snuggle with my son before the chaos of the morning. I was tired, and didn’t necessarily want to be up so early, but it was a priceless moment, and I don’t know how many of those are mornings are left as they grow older everyday.