With Thanksgiving fast approaching, chances are a visit with family and friends is due soon. Here are a few ways to spice up your house and turn it into a fun and inviting Thanksgiving meeting place.
Make the Kids’ Table a Fun Place to Sit
Most households have a separate table for the kids to sit at during the Thanksgiving meal. This allows the kids to bond and chatter among themselves, while the adults can enjoy a more peaceful conversation at the nearby main table.
To keep the kiddies entertained, cover the kids’ table with butcher paper or brown craft paper. Provide containers with crayons, markers and other drawing utensils and let the kids go wild coloring on the paper!
You can even keep the paper and display it over the years, keeping a great record of what little Jimmy’s art style was like when he was seven. He will get a kick out of it, as will Jimmy’s kids when the time comes.
Silhouette Place Cards
Instead of using the old standby of a plain place card with a person’s name on it, why not create ones with personalized silhouettes? First, find a picture of your guest with a strong head and shoulder outline, preferably a profile.
Next, print these pictures out onto regular printer paper. With a black magic marker, color in the picture completely. Next, carefully cut out the silhouette and glue it onto a white piece of cardstock. You can then place the card in a mat which complements your table decor. Put the place card in the appropriate spots and your guests are sure to adore their personalized, thoughtful place cards.
Go Natural
Make use of organic and natural features in your table setting. Use hot glue to attach acorns to your napkin rings or silk fall-colored flowers to your charger plates. Get creative with your Thanksgiving designs!
Leaf Streamers
Bring a touch of the outdoors indoors this Thanksgiving! The first step to create these festive decorations is to go outside and find several beautiful leaves that have fallen from nearby trees. Or, if you prefer, you can visit your local craft shop and pick up some silk leaves of similar designs.
Next, lay out wax paper. The length of the wax paper should be equal to the length of the streamer you are going to make. Place fishing line or some other sturdy string or line along the length of the wax paper and secure the line at the top with some painter’s tape.
Next, take your fall leaves and, using a hot glue gun, place a bit of glue on a leaf and put it down on the fishing line. If you are planning to place the streamers so that they are hanging down, it might be most visually appealing to begin with the largest leaves at the top, with the leaves gradually getting smaller the closer to the bottom of the streamer.
Allow the glue to dry thoroughly; you can work on additional streamers while this is happening; then remove the painter’s tape and carefully peel the fishing line from the wax paper. You now have a beautiful fall leaf garland that can be placed anywhere to give the house that warm Fall look.
