Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all the good things that have happened in the year. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of money to spend, do it yourself, spend less, and have more fun and satisfaction.
Encourage the family to participate in making decorations, invitations, games, and cooking so the day turns out truly special.
Here are sites and ideas with crafts and recipes for the whole family.
Crochet
Crochet pumpkin appliqués to decorate the table, curtains, napkins or sweaters. Make your own custom table runners, pot holders or placemats.
Add custom edging to existing curtains, table linens, placemats and napkins to make them look expensive. You don’t have to tell anyone you made them yourself.
Knitting
Knitting is more than making the family and pets matching sweaters, although that is cute. For those of us who knit, nothing is off limits.
Try making the “Jive Turkey Baby Hat,” so even the youngest person at the table can join in the festivities. It’s sure to be the hit of the party.
General Crafts for the Whole Family
Get the family to participate in decorating the house and table with Native American crafts using things on hand, as they did and still do today. Beads, corncobs, drums and more are fun to make, display and use.
Buy an extra pumpkin in October and save it for Thanksgiving. Roast the seeds for treats, and use the pumpkin as a soup tureen. Allow the kids to use beans, seeds saved from earlier plantings and more to make a Thanksgiving topiary.
Cross Stitch
Decorate napkins, towels, napkin rings, casserole covers and more with cross stitch.
Make invitations that friends and relatives will save for years to come by stitching on the paper. Add a cross-stitched bookmark to the invitation, so they’ll have something to use as they remember the special day.
Woodworking
Woodworkers can make useful decorations and objects for Thanksgiving, such as trivets to protect the tablecloth and surface from hot pots and pans. These gifts can be used all year long and make great Christmas stocking stuffers. Here is a link for a second and third trivet.
Make wooden trays to serve parade or game day snacks. Decorate the front door with a crown that announces you celebrate the holiday.
Recipes
Don’t spend days or weeks pouring through cookbooks looking for something to make for Thanksgiving. If you’ve lost an old family recipe, chances are someone made something similar. Enter the name of the dish, and start looking there. If you don’t find it by the name you know, enter the main ingredient. I have found many childhood favorites this way. Adjust the seasonings and one or more ingredients to recreate the lost recipe.
Thanksgiving for Pets
Everyday dinners don’t bother Fluffy or Fido. On Thanksgiving, the house is full of activity, people and food. Lots of people food. Perhaps overzealous children wanting to play with them; that doesn’t count the parade or game time. The ASPCA gives tips on what to give to pets and how to keep them safe during Thanksgiving.
Instead of table scraps, make Fluffy and Fido their own treats. Buy a bone shaped cookie cutter, or use Thanksgiving cutters after you’ve made your regular cookies. Just make sure the children know some treats are for the pets. If a child eats a dog or cat snack, don’t worry, you made them, so you know they’re safe.
Thanksgiving Parade
Have your own Thanksgiving Day parade after watching the one on television. Indoors, decorate shoe boxes with toy wheels attached and pull them along on strings, or decorate children’s wagons as floats for a parade on the sidewalk or front lawn. Encourage the children to dress in costumes, so they participate instead of watch. The whole neighborhood will appreciate the display. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll start a neighborhood tradition.
Thanksgiving Game Day Activities
Ah, The Game. Thanksgiving was just another meal at our house without it. The guys shouting for someone to win while the women cleaned up and talked. Or at least tried to.
Make a set of PVC goal posts for the game. Sew soft footballs in team colors for all the game enthusiasts; they can take these home.
Impose a penalty on the game watchers for spilled drinks, broken items, etc. They have to miss the rest of the game (or at least a time limit) by helping out in the kitchen- out of viewing from the TV.
How to Organize Thanksgiving Day Cleanup
Cleaning up after the dinner, parade and game doesn’t have to be a headache. Follow this link for tips in the kitchen to help with cleanup and leftovers.
This site offers a few different ideas, but by combining them cleanup goes much faster and the leftovers go home with guests.
Finally, this site offers some humorous tips on cleanup and organizing so guests won’t have to ask “Where’s the …..?”
While planning and preparation get the day off to a running start, there’s bound to be a glitch or two. If every detail doesn’t go as planned, don’t worry. Your guests will appreciate all the work you’ve done to provide a full day’s activities, entertainment and food.
Next year, it can happen at someone else’s house.
Source: The author of this article has over 40 years of experience in diverse forms of DIY, home improvement and repair, crafting, designing, and building furniture, outdoor projects and more.