While the beauty of a flawless china and crystal set table is certainly beautiful, you may want something a little more homemade for your Thanksgiving dinner. You can really add a homemade and cozy touch to your dinner table by incorporating some crafts to decorate for the big meal. And the real fun is that you can include your children or even your guests to help decorate for the special meal. Make it a group effort so that everyone can appreciate their efforts and the results. The choices are plentiful when considering crafts to decorate your table, so carefully consider the ages and abilities of your guests, and then choose some crafts projects that can really make your dinner special and one to remember! Here are a few you may want to try-
For Thanksgiving Napkin Rings-the easiest route to try is the printable versions available on many web sites. You simply select whatever design you would like, print them out (they work best on white card stock) and assemble them. Some of the designs include cornucopia, turkeys, pilgrim hats or corn on the cob. Your guests can help you color them in and decorate them with faux jewels, sequins or anything else you want. You then simply fasten the ring around the napkin using tape or a dab of glue. If you would like to be a little more original consider making Turkey Napkin rings. You will need: Flat wooden craft spoons (5 for each turkey napkin ring), Tempera or acrylic paints, Paper towel tube (you will cut this into 2 inch sections to use as the “ring”?), Scissors, Orange pipe cleaners, Black marker, Tacky glue and Red felt. Five craft spoons are required for each ring. Using tempera paint, paint the wooden craft spoons a variety of colors. Be sure to color one of them yellow for the turkey’s head, the others will be used for tail feathers. For the turkey’s body, cut a 2-inch section from a cardboard paper towel tube and paint it brown. Using the orange pipe cleaners, shape a pair of short legs with three-toed turkey feet. Fit the legs through small holes in the cardboard tube, bending the tips inside the tube to secure them. Then it becomes time to add a face to your turkey; use a marker to draw eyes on the face and use the tacky glue to attach a red felt wattle. Then you can glue the head to the front of the body and the tail feathers to the back.
For Thanksgiving Place cards-again the easiest route to take may be to download the preprinted place cards. One of the advantages to this is that you can make place cards that easily match your napkin rings. The place cards come in as many different designs as the napkin rings and just need to be colored in and decorated and then set at each place setting. For a different take on place cards you may want to make Cornucopia Place cards. You will need: Bugle snacks, fruit-shaped candy, scissors, construction paper, white glue and a black marker. First you need to cut a 4″ x 3-1/2″ piece of construction paper for each person for whom you need to make a place card. Fold in half and write name on the top of each card. Then glue on the Bugle snack (this becomes your cornucopia) and fill with 3 or 4 candy fruits on each card.
For a unique addition to your Thanksgiving table consider having a treat bag. Several can be printed out to match your other decor or plain ones can be embellished with your design and that of your guests. Fill the bags with Harvest Blessing Snack and the card that explains the reason for each ingredient. This is a unique way to make your Thanksgiving table really special! Harvest Blessing Snack includes: Bugles Corn Snacks which represent a cornucopia or a horn of plenty. Pretzels which represent arms folded in thanks and prayer. Candy Corn which reminds us during the first winter, the pilgrims were each allotted only 5 kernels of corn per day because food was so scarce. Dried or Candy Fruits because Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest. Peanuts and/or Sunflower Seeds because seeds represent the potential of a bounteous harvest for the next season if they are planted and well tended.
