Mom's House

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Thanksgiving fell on the second night of Chanukah, so we celebrated both! My mom cooked the most delicious dinner for us, with latkes, asparagus, stuffing etc. She arranged the most lovely table settings too, with gelt (chocolate coins) at each place mat, and colorful linens. I love her house. It's so open and there's some really beautiful large windows that let light stream in during the daytime. There's always the most amazing sunbeams running through her living and dining room. When I think of mom, I always think of sunshine. She hangs little prism crystals everywhere, which cast dancing rainbows all about the walls. There's potted plants, colorful flowers and tons of trinkets decorating her space. She really knows how to create a bright and happy home. We were so happy to spend the holiday with her, my step dad and my brother! We ate some great food, exchanged gifts, lit candles and enjoyed each other's company.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday as well!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Thanksgiving Gratitude + Sale

grat·i·tude [grat-i-tood, -tyood] 

noun

The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

It's that time of year, while I try to remain grateful for each and day of every year, now is as good a time as any to share a little gratitude list with you all (in no particular order).

I'm grateful for...

1. A loving Higher Power who does for me what I can not do for myself and the beautiful work of art that is His world.

2. I got to quit my day job this past June, because SoulMakes took flight!

This is something I haven't really talked much about on our blog yet, but when SoulMakes was first started I had, not one, but TWO other jobs (that's three jobs total). I worked a 9-5 as an office manager for a heating and air conditioning company, I worked part time at Free People and I was putting in at least 40 hours a week to SoulMakes. The quick growth that we saw with SoulMakes allowed me to quit my day job and work from home full time, fulfilling orders, creating new designs, I've taken over the majority of our photography, and of course, there's the 'boring' stuff too.. research, marketing, data input, etc..I'm beyond blessed to have been given this opportunity!

3. This past summer I got to visit the Southwest states for the first time, on the most amazing road trip of a lifetime with my favorite person ever and the other half of SoulMakes, Trevor!

4. My best friend asked me to marry him!

Yep, this guy, drove me all the way across the country, hiked with me down into the Grand Canyon and proposed! How romantic is that?! Our wedding is just 6 short months away!

5. My family

This is my big brother, he's kind of a big deal. The older we get, the more fond I grow of him. Of course, I also have wonderful parents who I love dearly!

6. My friends

I don't have a picture of all of my friends, but here's a picture some pretty flowers. My friends are really the same thing as family. I am so grateful to have some very close friends in my life, people who help guide me spiritually and are there for me no matter what. No matter what.

7. My Health

8. SoulMakes

I guess I kind of already said this, but I am truly grateful for all that this year has given us. SoulMakes is like our little baby that we've fanned and nursed and now it's seemingly all grown up. This year we have grown so much, nationally and internationally. SoulMakes is now carried in many boutiques across the Midwest and western, United States, as well as some really lovely shops in Australia! We were featured in Glamour UK, we just launched a new home decor line, and the StillBrave bracelet collection to benefit children with cancer and their families. We're dreaming big and we've got so many exciting new things yet to come!

The definition of gratitude above is my favorite definition for this word! Gratitude is not just a feeling, it's an action, it's an attitude. It means choosing to find the positive in every situation. Having a grateful heart gives me a certain amount of surrender, it allows me to accept things as they are and realize that I am always in the right place at the right time. Most of all, gratitude affords me the opportunity to help others, which only helps to further my spiritual growth. 

 We'd like to say thanks to all of you for all the love and support you show us on a daily basis! We could not be more grateful to have such wonderful friends and fans!

Happy early Thanksgiving

oh and..

Chanukah Sameach! Let the festival of lights begin!
Love,
MacK Mars

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DIY Coffee Filter Flowers

This DIY is super fun and easy and can be done in a variety of ways. The first part is dyeing your coffee filters, all you need is:

Coffee Filters

Acrylic paint

Bowls & Water

Fill some large plastic bowls about halfway, with water. Add a glop of acrylic paint and stir. This is a very simple way of dying the paper, mostly because I happened to have all these supplies lying around my house on any given day. But you could also go to the store and get some more traditional dye. Drop a handful of filters into each color, ring them out and set them aside to dry.

This part is, of course, optional. You could also use colored tissue paper rather than dying your own paper.

Once the coffee filters are dry(let them dry overnight), you'll need a pair of scissors and some wire.

1. Grab a handful of dried coffee filters

2. Fold into fourths

3. Cut petal shape out of the wide fan part of your filters

4. Cut a graduated variety of sizes, unfold them and lay them on top of each other (You'll want at least two of each size. You can go as big or small as you want!) 

5. Cut about a foot of wire, make a 'knot' at one end of your wire and stick the other end through the middle of all your filters. (the knotted end will keep the wire from slipping all the way through the paper)

6 & 7. starting with your smallest cut out, begin peeling up each layer of paper one by one, fluff as needed.

8. Pinch the bottom of the flower to create a good shape

9. Wrap the wire around the base a few times to hold it all together

10. Beautiful finished flower!

Have fun with this, try all different shapes and sizes. I definitely want to do this again and experiment with different types of flowers!

If you want to, you can make a stem for these beauties very easily. (I made some with and some without)

All you need is:

Paper flowers

Newspaper

Floral Tape

1. Tear off a small piece of news paper

2. Roll it up, long ways

3. Using the excess wire hanging out of your flower, wrap the rolled paper onto the pinched base. Twist the paper a bit and continue wrapping the wire all the way down.

4. Add floral tape, start from the top and cascade your way down to the end of the stem! (You could wrap leaves in as well, if you want to get super creative. But I liked the look without leaves.)

Side Note: If you don't do a stem you can use the excess wire to wrap you flowers around all sorts of things around you house (IE. a bed post, a stair rail, a chair back, shutters etc etc)

Here's what I did with some of my gorgeous paper flowers..

(Sea Goddess Neckalce by SoulMakes)

(Mountain Mama Necklaces by SoulMakes)

I hope this inspired you all to get creative!
Have a beautiful day!
Love,
MacK Mars

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Painted Sticks DIY

This is one I've always wanted to try, it's a two part DIY. For the first part all you need is:

Paint

Sticks

Paint Brush

Paint away!

When the paint has dried you can get started with the second part of this DIY.  This is where you really get creative. You can do so many things with these painted beauties, the possibilities are endless. I made a little frame using:

Photographs & Artwork

String

Paper clips or clothes pins

Simply lay out your chosen photographs to get a good idea of where to tie your string. Knot the string and use paper clips(or clothes pins) to attach the photographs, then hang it on your wall!

(Dream catcher coming soon to SoulMakes)

You can also do some fun designs with paint markers. I used a black paint marker to add some patterns. These are so fun just to have sitting out on your coffee table, they add the perfect pop of color to any room.

My favorite is the spirit stick. Tie on some leather and ribbon and add feathers, beads and shells. Then you can make a beautiful little display in your home. We like to have a little "sacred space" where we display our favorite chachkies, this was a perfect new addition.

I hope this inspires you all to get creative!

Have a beautiful day

Love,

MacK Mars

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Sneak Peek

Fall has us thinking in layers, so for this look book we piled on the jewels - Turquoise, dark leather, pyrite and tons of feathers. We had so much fun shooting in our very own living room, with a backdrop of rugs and silks in fall tones and fun textures. Not to mention all that red velvet, which always seems to translate in our minds as the perfect mix of luxury and rock star. It's a little bit gypsy, a little bit rock n roll, it's wild and full of soul. We can not wait to show you the rest of this book! We have some gorgeous new pieces coming your way soon.

Hope you're all having a beautiful week!

Love,

MacK Mars

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Around The Studio

I love our little home studio, it is just perfect. Here's a little glimpse at some of our personal collection and a sneak peak of what's on it's way to the shop for the coming season! Fall always makes me think in layers, weather it's clothing, jewelry, or just around the house with blankets, rugs and home wares. Naturally, I've been inspired to make lots of gorgeous little layering necklaces. I'm a bit in love with this latest piece, made with leather lace and buffalo horn(coming soon). It's warm tones are perfect for autumn and it's such an easy throw on piece. We are also preparing for the holidays, we hope to have lots of bohemian home wares in the shop for you, dream catchers galore! Of course, we will be making a larger variety of color schemes, but the beauties above are all part of our growing collection for our wedding day, hence all the white. 

I am really getting excited for the changing seasons. It's always such a great refresher and invariably lends me such inspiration. I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Love,

MacK Mars

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