Celebrating Thanksgiving with a handmade table runner and our Thanksgiving Menu.
Last week when I went into the front office of Elle’s school, I was chatting with a gal that works there, she said, “I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week”, I couldn’t believe it myself! Does it seem early this year? I guess by a few days, it’s amazing how quickly November can rush by. I was stopped in my tracks, and had to take a look at my calendar. When I realized yes Thanksgiving is next week, I thought yikes I need to make sure I know what I’m making.
I was very pleased with our menu last year, so I decided I would do the same this year. I also wanted to get the kids involved with an art project for the table, something meaningful for Thanksgiving, and something they could be proud of at the dinner table.
A few months back I bought a roll of brown craft paper from Target’s dollar section. I decided I would have the kids decorate the roll of paper, and we could use that as a runner for our Thanksgiving table. Initially, I thought I would try and find a leaf stencil or sugar cookie cut out. I headed to Hobby Lobby, surprisingly no leaf cookie cutters or stencils. Yet, I did stumble upon a feather stencil, and a stencil that said GATHER. My kids love to paint so I purchased acrylic paint instead of doing the project in color pencils or markers. I thought the acrylic paint worked out great, and gave each feather a very vibrant appearance. We were also able to play around a bit with mixing colors giving each feather a unique brushed quality.
Elle helping trace the feather stencil.
Both Elle and William really enjoyed this project, and would say, “mom this is so much fun”, hmmm maybe something we might need to do for Christmas as well, since they enjoyed it so much.
Our Thanksgiving menu:
I will be using recipes out of How to Celebrate Everything, Skinnytaste fast and slow, The I heart naptime cookbook, and Celebrations, along with a cranberry sauce out of an old Everyday food magazine.
Our Thanksgiving menu:
- How to Celebrate Everything – Mom’s Herb roasted Turkey with Gravy
- (pg. 49 )
- Skinnytaste fast and slow – Slow cooker Sausage-Herb Stuffing (pg. 274)
- The I heart naptime cookbook – Roasted balsamic carrots (pg. 64)
- The I heart naptime cookbook – Creamiest mashed potatoes (pg. 70)
- Celebrations – Deviled eggs four ways (pg. 188)
- Everyday Food magazine (2005) – cranberry chutney (an oldie but goodie)
Dessert Menu:
- How to Celebrate Everything – My Chocolate Pudding Pie (with the homemade graham cracker crust sooooo yummy! My kids love it!) (pg. 46)
- How to Celebrate Everything – Tag-Team Whipped Cream (pg. 59)
I will also be buying, I hate to say it a store-bought pumpkin pie and dinner rolls.
Elle and I are the only one’s who like pumpkin pie so store bought will be fine. Plus we’ll top it off with some homemade whipped cream YUM!
We will start our day off at a local turkey trot the kids are super excited, and a great way to start the day. It’ll just be the four of us for dinner, but with our completed table runner, and a delicious menu planned it will be a fun day of family, food, and being grateful for all that we have.
Cheers! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Heather