Saturday, November 13, 2010

DIY Thanksgiving Placemats

Whenever I compare my envisioned craft idea and it's lackluster fruition, I am left disappointed and I promise myself I wont go through all that work again without help. So when these placemats ended up working out I was thrilled! I hope you can appreciate them but feel free to make them cuter with buttons and ribbons, etc.
Here's the story:
I was reading in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine and saw a cute construction paper turkey placemat idea. I thought hmmm...that sounds fun. So I cut a couple of feathers for the girls to decorate with glitter and markers and started to make the bodies. Somewhere in the process I thought it would be cute to use scrapbook paper visuals for the feathers where each one could represent something we are thankful for. Then after assembling them I didn't want them to be ruined after one meal so I headed over to Kinko's and had them laminated (they were too big to use my laminator...).
Here is the result:

An example of discussion during dinner:
wheat=I am thankful we can harvest what we plant in our garden.
missionary= I am thankful we have freedom of religion and can share our beliefs with those around us.
soccer=I am thankful we have healthy bodies and can play sports.
marriage= I am thankful to be sealed to Nathan and I was able to choose my husband.
tiger pride= I am thankful for public education (school mascot).
disney sledding scene=I am thankful for 4 seasons and childhood fantasy.
The table view

(I made 5 but didn't put names on them so we can have more options)
It really has been fun to talk about the feathers while we are eating! Feel free to make some for your family as well.
Sorry I didn't post a shot of the plate on the placemat but it fits the center belly and the head, feet, and feathers poke around the edges of the plate.

3 comments:

April said...

Stac those are the cutest place mats ever!!! What a cute idea!

Judy@cutest-little-things.blogspot.com said...

How utterly adorable! You did a fantastic job! I love how they're personalized based on what the kids are thankful for! Super!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Judy@cutest-little-things

Nelson Family said...

Too funny- my mom was reading in her mag too and sent all of the things home for me to make for Thanksgiving dinner but I didn't have the motivation to actually do it. Those turned out really cute it makes me wish I had made ours- there's always next year.