Fun and Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids...

As we head into the Thanksgiving week, I collected a few inspiration photos of fun and easy Thanksgiving crafts to make with the kids.  Our old neighbor and friend invited us to come over yesterday to make paper turkey crafts to give to Meals on Wheels recipients, as centerpieces for their Thanksgiving table.  Unfortunately, we had prior plans, so we were not able to participate.  However, I am planning to make some today with my kiddos, so we can give something colorful and cheerful to grace their tables.  I know there are many elderly members of our community that are either sick, home-bound, and/or without much family.  It is heartbreaking to imagine these older men and women having an, uncomfortable, lonely, or less-than-festive holiday.  We all have so much to be thankful for, and the least we can do, is to share our time and energy to give these elderly folks a smile.

I gathered several ideas from Pinterest, and provided photos below...Enjoy!!

Our "Motley Crew" of turkey crafts to be delivered to Meals on Wheels recipients...Cant wait to do this again at Christmas and next year and hopefully make many, many more with more lead time!

We just grabbed these little plastic beads we had on hand and glued them in rows to look like feathers...my kids really had fun with this one! So easy....And we glued it to a folded piece of cardboard so it would stand on a table....

My favorite from last year, a big "what are you thankful for" turkey...

The finished product....

This is a funny Pinterest vs Reality (see below) Project...

This was our attempt at the fun Pinterest idea above...we tried to piece together the geometic shapes in an orderly way as shown, but quickly our patience and sanity ran out....This was the result ; )

My daughter made this last year at school, clearly she is thankful for her good friend, Lucy!!

Christmas DIY Projects...

Although the holidays are always crazy busy, I often get a creative-kick-in-the-ass to make something festive.  This usually results in a temporary procrastination of laundry, healthy meals, attention paid to the kiddos (or all of the above).  Yet, these creative projects are food for the soul and, ironically, keep me sane.  Plus, they are a fun way to get into the holiday spirit.  Most often, I pull an idea (from the endless creative types on Pinterest) of a craft project for the kids, but once in a while I stumble on something that provides inspiration elsewhere (Target, local holiday market, etc.)  For example...

(1) The other day walking into Target, I spotted these $3 foot-tall gold tin pails that I thought would make festive centerpieces.  When I returned home, I found these little faux boxwood balls I already had, made some red bows and put them together (as a set of 3) on our dining room table.  I think they turned out pretty cute!  I just scattered some gold pinecones and candles around and our table is done!  I also think this would be cute with a black and white canopy striped runner....

(2) The second picture is a DIY holiday sign I made after seeing something similar (but in all neutral colors) at a local holiday market.  I bought a burlap canvas and wood letters, spray painted them gold and glued them to the canvas.  Then, I glued some red polka dot ribbon and attached a red velvet bow for hanging.  The only tricky part was the canvas's lack of hardware, so I just hammered two saw-tooth metal pieces from Michaels to the back and tied the ribbon to each.

(3) The bottom photo of the Advent Calendar is the project I just completed.  I was pretty happy with the outcome. See my prior blog post, 10 Favorite Advent Calendar Ideas... for more inspiration.


What are your favorite holiday projects?

(1) $3 pails from Target dollar section make festive centerpieces

(2) Burlap canvas, wood letters, gold paint,
and ribbon from craft store make festive sign

(3) Cork board, gold paint, twine, push pins, envelopes,
and Pinterest inspiration lead to this festive Advent calendar...

Easter Crafts - from Pinterest & The-Creatives-WITH > 24-Hours-In-A-Day....

I offered to bring in a craft for my children's annual Easter celebration at school next week....So, I gathered a few ideas from Pinterest and other crafty sources that mysteriously must come up with more than 24 hours in a given day...I am always amazed by the surplus of creative ideas out there...Here it goes, enjoy!!