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Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

by Frugal Simplicity

Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

With the holidays come decorations, and Thanksgiving is no exception. While your children may not be able to participate in much of the cooking of Thanksgiving dinner, you can put them to use by allowing them to decorate the house in anticipation. Set them up at a craft table with paper, glue, glitter and other craft goodies and let them create their own decorations.

There are many different items that your children can create to decorate the house for Thanksgiving. Teach them how to draw thanksgiving-themed pictures such as pilgrims, Indians and cornucopias. These items, as well as other fall or winter-themed items, can be drawn onto colored paper and cut out to display around the house for your family and guests who may come to dinner.

You can find templates online by doing a search. Many of the online templates will allow your children to simply color and cut out. Best of all, if they make mistakes and want to re-do the picture, you can just print out another template.

Thanksgiving name cards for the dinner table are a crafty idea for children. Buy some thanksgiving-themed stamps and let your children stamp the name cards. The stamped images can then be colored in and names written on the cards for the guests.

In addition to name cards, napkin rings can be designed with utmost ease as well. Inform your family beforehand that the items were made by your children so that your friends and family can praise your children for a job well done. Watching your children beam will add precious memories to the occasion.

Have your children make a thanksgiving-themed garland to hang around the house. Buy fall-colored paper and cut into strips. Your children can make and attach circles out of the strips and form an inexpensive garland that will certainly add to the festivities. Let them make either one long, or several short garlands to display around the house.

Thanksgiving is a great time to decorate the house. You can let your children feel like they are part of the festivities by allowing them to decorate the house with some quick and easy crafts. Provide them with templates, but also let them use their own creativity. After the house is decorated, be sure to take pictures because before you know it, the Thanksgiving decorations will be replaced with Christmas decorations.

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Frugal Holidays: Homemade Gift Giving Guide

by Frugal Simplicity

Frugal Holidays: Homemade Gift Giving Guide

With the prices of everything on the rise, you’ve probably found it more and more difficult to buy gifts for all your loved ones, not to mention your friends, neighbors, business associates, the kids’ friends and teachers, and the occasional mail carrier!

Have you considered making your own gifts? Lovely presents can be made at home for a fraction of the cost! Besides being less costly, many homemade gifts are cherished by their recipients far more than something you bought at the store. After all, a little love goes into every homemade gift!

Try these ideas to help you get started with making homemade gifts:

Romantic Gifts

✴ Mix your own CDs with your loved one’s favorite songs and those that mean a lot to your relationship, like what was playing on your first date.
✴ Compose your own love song or poem.
✴ Bring back fond memories of your time together by creating a special scrapbook.

Gift Baskets

Buy baskets at the dollar store or on sale elsewhere and customize them for the recipient, filling them with little treasures they’re sure to enjoy. Alternatively, use other packaging like small metal buckets or decorative boxes.

✴ Snack baskets. Fill them with packets of hot cocoa, flavored teas, coffees, cookies, fudge, or candy. Making a few batches of cookies at home is much cheaper than buying them from the store.
✴ Classy baskets. Include some fine wine and cheese or chocolates and fruit.
✴ Fruit baskets. Fill with fresh or dried fruit and nuts.
✴ Hobby baskets. Choose an assortment of items relating to their hobby. For example, a bucket of golf balls and tees would be welcomed by any golf enthusiast.
✴ Movie baskets. Include microwave popcorn, candy, and a movie. Gifts for Friends, Neighbors, & Business Associates

❖ Home-baked cookies, pies, cakes, fudge, or candy
❖ Mason jars layered with the dry ingredients to bake their own treats. Decorate with cloth, ribbon, and a card with the recipe.
❖ Craft unique jewelry. Jewelry isn’t only easy, but incredibly fun. The more you do it, the faster you get! This is one area where you can really get creative! Use unique shells and beads to make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, decorative hair accessories, and more. Buy supplies at craft stores or online. This is truly a one of a kind gift to every friend!

Gifts for Children

Sock monkey. These old-fashioned sock monkeys are popular once again! They require you to sew, but are extremely adorable and make excellent gifts for children.

These items are all you need for this fun and frugal gift:

❖ 1 pair of men’s extra large socks
❖ Cotton or stuffing
❖ White thread
❖ Red yarn
❖ Black embroidery thread
❖ Two buttons for the eyes

Holiday Ornaments

This activity is very fun and simple – so simple you can get the kids in on it too! Make some fun Holiday memories with your family while making inexpensive gifts and decorations.

Here’s what you’ll need:

❖ Clear glass ball ornaments
❖ Acrylic paint
❖ Ribbon
❖ Egg carton

Take a glass ornament and poor a few colors of paint inside. Swish it around so the paint covers the inside of the ball. Poor the paint out into the trash and cap the ornament, placing it in the egg carton to dry. Voila! Each ornament is a unique creation and will be cherished for years to come.

Use these ideas as fuel to spark new creations of your own. You may find glorious new traditions in your frugality that you enjoy for the rest of your life.

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How to Make Thanksgiving Candles

by Frugal Simplicity

How to Make Thanksgiving Candles

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the winter holiday season. It’s not officially winter yet, but the air is turning cooler, and people tend to spend more time indoors. Using candles for decoration during your Thanksgiving dinner provides a warm, cozy atmosphere for you and your guests that’s perfect for the season.

Making special candle centerpieces just for Thanksgiving is quite simple. Here are a few ideas that you can whip up in no time.

# 1 – Mini Jar Thanksgiving Candles

What You Need

* Tea light or votive candle in a Thanksgiving color and scent
* Empty baby food jar
* Tissue paper in autumn colors
* Tiny foam leaves
* White craft glue
* Water
* Small plastic bowl
* Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Rip tissue paper in two or three different colors into small pieces.

2. In the bowl, mix one part glue to three parts water. Stir with paintbrush until it forms a thin white solution.

3. Use the paintbrush to cover the outside of the jar with the glue solution. Stick on pieces of tissue paper, overlapping them. Add more glue on top of the tissue paper to make all pieces lay flat against the jar. Stick foam leaves on top of the tissue paper. Let dry.

4. Place candle inside the baby food jar.

# 2 – Harvest Candles

What You Need

* Acorn squash or small pumpkins
* Knife
* Votive candle in autumn color and scent

Instructions

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin or squash. Scoop out the flesh and seeds.

2. Place the votive candle inside the pumpkin or squash.

# 3 – Pouring Your Own Candles

You can also pour your own candles into prepared baby food jars, pumpkins or squash. Here’s how:

What You Need

* Double boiler
* Candle wax
* Wick
* Candle coloring
* Fragrance
* Oven mitt

Instructions

1. Insert a candle wick into the center of the container. For best results, use wicks with metal disks on the end (called wick clips). This will help them stand up on their own.

2. Melt candle wax in a double boiler. Add an autumn color and fragrance and mix well.

3. Carefully lift the top pot from the double boiler and pour the wax into the container. Let cool until hardened completely.

4. If you find a sunken area around the wick, melt more wax and pour it on top. When hardened completely, trim the wick.
Making several of these small candles and grouping them together makes a lovely centerpiece. Or you could place one at each guest’s place setting for them to take home. Either way, these home-made candles will add lots of beauty to your Thanksgiving table.

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How to Make a Paper Plate Thanksgiving Turkey

by Frugal Simplicity

How to Make a Paper Plate Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkeys are a well-known symbol of Thanksgiving. They’re a favorite subject of crafters who want to make Thanksgiving centerpieces and other decorations. And for kids, turkey projects provide a great opportunity to discuss the tradition of Thanksgiving.

This paper plate turkey is a craft that kids of all ages can do. Here’s how to make it.

What You Need

* Paper plate
* Brown crayon, colored pencil, marker or paint
* Construction paper in brown, red, orange and yellow
* White craft glue or glue stick
* Scissors
* Pencil
* Googly eyes

Instructions

1. Use the brown crayon, colored pencil, marker or paint to color bottom side of the plate brown. If using paint, let dry.

2. Draw an elongated oval or peanut shape on a piece of brown construction paper to make the turkey’s head and neck. Cut out and glue onto the center of the plate, with the top hanging over the edge.

3. Cut a triangle out of the yellow or orange construction paper for the beak, and a teardrop shape out of the red construction paper for the waddle. Cut legs and feet out of orange or yellow construction paper. Glue into place.

4. Glue on the googly eyes. Let dry.

5. Draw a feather shape on a piece of red, yellow or orange construction paper. Cut it out, and trace it onto construction paper in each of those three colors several times. Cut out all of the feathers you traced.

6. Turn the plate over and glue the feathers around the top and sides of the plate, placing the bottoms of them about an inch from the edge. Let dry.

Tips

* If you prefer, you could use craft feathers instead of cutting them out of construction paper. If you do, keep in mind that they will stick better with craft glue than they will with a glue stick.

* If you don’t have any googly eyes, cut some eyes out of white construction paper or card stock and draw black dots in the centers.

* No paper plates handy? Just cut a large circle out of brown construction paper for the body.

* You can convert this craft to make a peacock for a non-seasonal project. Just make the head and body blue instead of brown, omit the waddle, and use brightly colored feathers. For the spots on the feathers, kids can dip their thumbs in finger paint and stick them in random places.

* Stick a magnet on the back of your completed turkey and hang it on the refrigerator, tack it to the front door, or use string to hang it from the ceiling.

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Acorn Craft Ideas

by Frugal Simplicity

Acorn Craft Ideas

Let’s get a hand count. How many people have oak trees in their yard? Do you also have an abundance of acorns? These acorn craft ideas will give you something to do with all those acorns the squirrels miss when the colder months creep up on them.

Acorns can be used in a number of fall and winter crafts. With Thanksgiving coming up soon, you can use acorns to help decorate your holiday table. You can also create garlands and other items to decorate your home.

An ‘Acorny’ Family

Gather up a bunch of acorns from your yard or a nearby park. Try to pick up only the acorns with the tops still on them. You can also purchase wooden acorns from a craft store. If the tops come off while you’re transporting the acorns, use a little bit of craft glue to put the tops back on.

Find enough acorns for each person in your family for this first craft. You’ll also need to have some acrylic paints, paint brushes, a sharp pencil and possibly six or more inches of heavyweight thread.

Paint the bottom half of the acorn using a flesh-tone or light brown paint. While this is drying, paint the top or cap of the acorn your favorite color. You would then do the same thing with enough acorns for your family, making the cap of each acorn that family member’s favorite color.

When the acorn is dry you can paint a face on it using a detail paintbrush or a very sharp pencil dipped in the paint. Add other embellishments such as little bows for a girl’s hair or painted pearls for mom. You could even make acorn animals by gluing on pieces of paper for the ears. These are particularly cute for couples who don’t have children but have ‘fur babies.’

Allow the acorns to dry thoroughly and either set them in a bowl, near family pictures or glue string on them to hang them as ornaments. Another thing you can do is create an acorn person for each person who is attending Thanksgiving dinner. Glue their acorn on a folded piece of business card stock and write their name on the card so everyone knows where to sit.

Wreaths

If you have a wreath to place on your front door, tie acorns onto a piece of raffia. Next tie the raffia into a bow and glue that to the wreath. You can also hot glue the acorns in groups of three around the wreath. Then use other fall items like baby’s breath, silk leaves and berries to fill out the wreath.

Picture Frames

How many old picture frames do you have which you would like to update? Create autumn frames by gluing acorns onto the picture frame. To dress the picture frames up a little bit, dry brush gold or copper paint on the frame and acorns. Once the picture frame is completely dry, place the picture back into the frame and group them in one area as a photo display.

Acorns are normally in abundance in the fall and it really is a shame to throw them away. In the spirit of trying to recycle and reuse, these crafts will help you do just that. By making one or more of these acorn craft ideas you can use the acorns and decorate your home at the same time.

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Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

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Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

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