Easy Thanksgiving Decorations You Can Make Yourself
Thanksgiving is an exciting time of the year. Family and friends come together to celebrate and eat — likely more than everyone’s stomachs would like to digest. It can be fun to pick DIY projects during the holiday season, especially if you have kids. They’ll love getting involved in an at-home craft project. This article has ideas for Thanksgiving decorations to keep you and the kiddos busy.
Our first decoration requires a little nature walk, which is perfect around this time of year. Because it is a little past sweater season, but not frigid winter yet, women’s lightweight jackets are a great way to go, as you’ll be warm and toasty but not too hot on your walk. As you walk, pick up fallen leaves that aren’t dried and crispy yet. You’ll be using these leaves as decorations.
Use Leaves From Your Neighborhood to Decorate Your Home
Now that you’re home from your excursion gathering leaves, it’s time to get uber-comfy before the crafting begins. Throw on women’s loungewear (/shop/womens-loungewear/S-y5c-yb1-xec), so you are all cozy and craft-ready. After you get the leaves home, press them using wax paper and your clothing iron. Sandwich each leaf between two pieces of wax paper and iron them lightly. The first use for these leaves will be to wrap around mason jars. Mod podge them to the outside of each jar, then tie twine or dried straw around the lip of the jar. Use these jars to house candles or led lights. Or, as a safety-friendly flame alternative, use string lights — place a few jars along your mantle and lay the string lights out, with some lights filling the jars. The lights illuminate the leaves and make for super cute Thanksgiving decorations to add to your home decor.
We have a second use for those leaves you picked up on your walk. The project will involve glue, string lights and leaves. Take some glue and attach the base of individual lights to the leaves at their bottom. Be cautious and only leave the leaf lights on when you’re using the room, being careful not to let the leaf lights get too hot. String them up on your mirror, the staircase railing, or the windows by your kitchen table. The leaves should last a while and aren’t only suitable for Thanksgiving — they can be a pretty decoration even through the winter.
Get Creative Giving Thanks
Another super easy Thanksgiving decoration is a DIY table runner. The table runner is a great craft to involve the kids if you’re okay with the final product looking more homegrown. For this project, you’ll want stencils, paint and some long paper — butcher paper can work great. Lay the butcher paper on your kitchen table and cut it to the size that will fit appropriately on the table. Then, paint images using the stamps — leaves, turkeys, stars, etc. — and make a beautiful design for Thanksgiving Day. You have quick and easy cleanup when the meal is over — simply toss the paper.
Use Pumpkins as Versatile Thanksgiving Decorations
Let’s get some adorable decorative pumpkins involved. While at the art supply store getting stencils and paint for your table runner, grab some letter stencils to spell out whatever gratitude statement you want as a decoration. Then, pick up however many pumpkins will be enough for each letter of what you’d like to say. For example, if you’d like to write “GRATEFUL,” you’ll need eight pumpkins. If you want an even more elegant look, paint the pumpkins gold before painting letters on them. Then, using the stencils, paint one letter per pumpkin. They will be super cute lining a window sill or placed above the fireplace.
While picking up pumpkins for the last craft, grab a giant white pumpkin. Draw a decoration on it with the words “What are you thankful for?” With this pumpkin, you can get input from everyone. Place it somewhere everyone can see it and leave sharpies nearby so that everyone can contribute to this craft. It will be a little time capsule for after the holiday passes as a short-term memento of your beautiful Thanksgiving dinner.
The next DIY Thanksgiving decoration involves a large glass vase, tall dried grass and some lights. Honestly, you can do a lot with a glass vase - there’s no limit to the awesome stuff you can put in it to decorate for this Thanksgiving season. If you want to go with the dried grass approach, place the grass in the vase along with the string lights. Wrap some twine around the outside of the vase for extra flare. Alternatively, place pumpkins or painted pumpkins in the vase. Other items include pinecones, acorns and layered dried goods like multicolored corn or lentils.
Whichever Thanksgiving decorations catch your eye, your guests will be excited to see the effort to get the mood set for the bountiful meal. However your decorations turn out, they will have you in the spirit of gratitude, which sets a great intention for the meal ahead.