At the Table…

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is next week already!  The time really has flown this year…and my mom was right when she said that each year seems to go faster than the last!  But no matter how quickly it’s approaching, I still can hardly wait for our feast!  Each year my cousins and myself take turns hosting our family celebration!  But after we all got married we began serving up our Thanksgiving feast over the weekend so everyone could visit other family members on the actual “turkey day”.  This really became a fun tradition for a couple reasons…we get to spend the weekend together AND we get to have TWO fabulous meals!  This year we’re heading out to enjoy our holiday weekend, but for Thanksgiving Day itself I’m always happy to set a pretty table and collaboratively prepare a lovely meal!  And this holiday is extra special since we get to share our feast with family AND good friends!  So to have a little fun, I’m crafting up some whimsical place cards!  Let me share a peek at what will be on our table and I hope you can find some inspiration for yours!

whimsical & fun…holiday DIY!

the inspiration for this craft came from something i saw during all the Halloween festivities when i spied an adorable painted gourd!  so i decided to make mini versions for whimsical, seasonal place cards…just minus the spooky!  all you need to get started are some tiny gourds and some paint…

painting the gourds in a solid color will give them all a neutral base for this project.  i chose white but you could use any favorite color that is light enough to show off your embellishments!

the inspiration gourd i saw was painted like a ghost…but i decided to alter that idea to make mine into place cards for the Thanksgiving table.  when picking out gourds, i needed to find ones that would stand upright.  if you can’t get the gourds to stand on their own you can use a plastic shower ring or a napkin ring to prop them up!  i also decided to add some glitter and a few other simple supplies to give each gourd some personality…

i thought these cute stickers would be fun!  (can you guess what i might be doing?)

once each gourd was totally dry, i used white glue to paint the base of each and then coated them with glitter…

i have to admit that in the beginning, the glitter was slightly frustrating for me.  i was trying hard to get a clean edge on the bottoms of the gourds.  but adding all the sparkle meant also adding it to the table, the floor, and anything that i touched!  needless to say, it was impossible to keep the glitter entirely tidy on each gourd…but in the end, it didn’t really matter!  they looked cute regardless how much glitter stuck where it wasn’t supposed to!

so have you guessed what i was making for each place setting yet?

each young person seated at the table will get a mini-them in gourd style!  some stickers and a permanent marker helped me to create names and faces for each!

i can hardly wait to set the table!   and even though they’re not perfect, i think they’ll bring some festive fun to the feast!

get ready, get festive, get creative…

Thanksgiving is almost here!