Thanksgiving Crafts
From LoveToKnow Crafts
There’s more to Thanksgiving crafts than turkeys made out of tracings of your kid’s hands (though those are cute, too). Celebrate the harvest with some of the following crafts.
Thanksgiving centerpiece ideas
The ultimate Thanksgiving craft is, of course, the centerpiece for the table. Tradition dictates that centerpieces are made from things that symbolize the harvest: Indian corn, decorative pumpkins, dried grasses, fall leaves and twigs.
For something a little different, buy a large glass vase (or a trifle dish) and fill it with apples, or make a cornucopia in a shallow glass dish or basket.
Make votive candle holders out of fallen twigs (just cut all the twigs to about the same length and hot glue them together in a square shape that’s big enough for a glass votive holder to fit inside) and distribute them down the center of the table like a table runner. Sprinkle some fall leaves around (you can collect them at the height of the season and spray them with sealant so they stay crisp and colorful) to complete the look.
Or use a knife to remove the stem of your little decorative pumpkin and make a little indentation to hold a candle. You can also do this with an apple corer, and the kids can help if you do it this way.
Another simple idea is to collect pine cones and acorns and spray paint them gold (or silver, or whatever color you would like for your table) and scatter them around. Or use a pine cone as a place card holder, just lean the card against the pine cone.
Using Thanksgiving fabric
Around Thanksgiving hi(and pretty much every other holiday) you can find a lot of really cute themed fabric in the craft stores and fabric stores. In the days and weeks after the holiday, you can pick up a lot of this fabric quite inexpensively.
It’s hard to resist this sweet fabric with little prints of turkeys, fall leaves and pumpkins in seasonal colors. Here are some ideas for what to do with all of it:
- Cut fabric into 12-inch squares. Stitch around the edge and use them as napkins.
- Make a tablecloth. Measure your tabletop and add about 12 inches all around to allow for drape and a hem allowance.
- Try a table runner. If you don’t want your whole table covered with novelty fabrics, make a table runner instead. Measure the length of your table and add length if you want the runner to hang over the edges. Make it as wide as you like. You could even combine several fabrics into a quilted table runner.
- Make pillows. Bring the décor into the rest of the house by making some quick throw pillows using purchased pillow forms. Again you could use different fabric for the front and back or make a little pillow sized quilt.
- Thanksgiving throw. Sometimes you can find printed fabrics that are designed to be made into quilts. All you have to do is add some batting and sew the top (and add binding, if you like). You could also use this as a wall hanging.
- Craft a quilt. If you’re more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can make your own quilt just by making simple four- or five-inch blocks and stitching them together to make a quilt of whatever size you like. If you’re having houseguests, you could leave this quilt in their room.
Wreaths and things
Most people think about decorating the dining room when they’re planning for Thanksgiving, but it’s a shame not to decorate the other rooms of the house, and even the outside of the house, especially if you’re welcoming people to your house for dinner.
A great way to add some holiday cheer is with wreaths that you make yourself. A plain purchased grapevine wreath or a straw wreath makes a great base for a fall wreath.
Add acorns, pine cones, leaves, little harvest knick-knacks, anything you like. Or take a foam form and hot glue a whole bunch of sealed leaves or sprayed acorns to it. Add a pretty bow in a fall color and you have a nice accent for any room in the house.
If you don’t want to hang a wreath above the fireplace, try decorating the mantel with a collection of twigs gathered together with wire, with leaves and acorns tucked in here and there, and a ribbon tied on to cover the wire.
If all else fails…
And of course you can still use the kid’s handprint turkeys. They make great refrigerator art, or put a bunch of them together to make a wreath to hang on the wall. They’re a great conversation piece and a treasured keepsake for years to come.
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