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turkey day ideas! EASY & ADORABLE THANKSGIVING TREATS, CRAFTS & DECORATIONS

gobbler place cards Sweeten up your table with these turkey pals, quickly and cleverly constructed from cupcake liners. Flatten a standard-size cupcake liner, then draw eyes on a mini cupcake liner. With a glue stick, adhere a paper beak and snood. Using a brush or cotton swab, dab white glue around the rim of the mini liner. Set it offcenter on the larger liner, as shown, and let it dry. With the glue stick, attach the turkey to a folded tent card (we used decorative-edge scissors to cut ours from brown card stock). Add turkey feet and a name with marker.

glimmering gratitude mobile With disks that catch the sun and spin in the slightest breeze, this mobile looks pretty hanging near the table—and reminds everyone to count their blessings. Invite everyone to jot down things they’re grateful for, using a white marker on circles cut from translucent report covers (available at office supply stores; a 21/2-inch circle punch makes cutting them easy). Write “We’re thankful for ...” on a larger circle. To assemble the mobile, knot embroidery thread onto the inner ring of an embroidery hoop, then extend it across to the opposite side, knot it, and trim. Repeat with 3 more lengths of thread to create 8 spokes, as shown. Gather the threads together at the center and knot a loop of fishing line around them for hanging. Punch holes in the circles, then hang them from the hoop with thread.

adorable acorns Craft a bunch of these cuties as napkin ties and table decorations. For a tie, remove the caps from 2 acorns using a craft knife, and with a glue gun, dab glue into each cap (both adult jobs). Lay the ends of a 12-inch length of ribbon into the caps, add another drop of glue, and top with a pom-pom (we used ¾- and 1-inch sizes). To make loose acorns, omit the ribbon and adhere a pom-pom to the cap with glue. Tip: No oak trees in your neck of the woods? You can order acorn caps at acorno.com.

wreath of plenty Each note of gratitude pinned to this leafy wreath only improves its lush look. Set out blank leaves, pens and straight pins and ask guests to add what they’re thankful for.

To make the wreath: Wrap a 12-inch Styrofoam wreath form with strips of fabric and fasten them with ball-head straight pins. Cut leaf shapes from card stock. Crease each leaf in half to add dimension. To hang, pin a loop of string to the back of the wreath. Tip: Use light-colored gel pens to write on darker paper.

tasty tom! Our turkey-fied veggie platter just might entice your kids to gobble up a healthy predinner snack. To make it, line a plate with lettuce leaves. Layer on broccoli, bell peppers, and baby carrots. Include a bowl of your favorite dip, plus mushrooms around the bottom. Add a mushroom cap head with peppercorn eyes and bell pepper wings, feet, and facial features.

turkey basket

This bird’s pretty plumage adds a colorful touch to a functional centerpiece. 1. For each feather, bend a 22-gauge floral stem wire stem in half and twist the ends together as shown. Place a bottle of tacky glue inside the loop and use it to curve the top. (Do the same for the head and body, but pinch the loop to form a two-lobed shape.) 2. Pour a shallow puddle of glue onto a paper plate. 3. Holding the twisted end, dip each wire loop into the glue. Lift the loop and use a cotton swab or a finger to fill in any areas not covered with glue. 4. Gently press each wire loop onto a piece of fabric so that the entire loop is touching. Let the glue dry

completely. 5. Cut the fabric, trimming as close to the wire as possible. 6. Stack the feathers, then wrap a wire stem around the ends. Poke the ends of the stem through the side of the basket and twist them together to secure. 7. Glue googly eyes and a felt beak and snood to the body. Insert the wire ends through the basket and secure them as you did with the tail.

pilgrim hat holders the birdie of gratitude Here’s a playful twist on a popular holiday tradition. Make a face on a badminton shuttlecock with permanent marker, as shown. Have guests toss the birdie of gratitude to each other; when a person catches it, he names something he’s thankful for. To avoid the birdie landing in the mashed potatoes, it’s probably best to play this game before or after table time.

Cover the kids’ table with butcher paper, set it with pilgrim hats full of crayons, and let the kids enjoy drawing all over the “tablecloth.” For each hat, trim off the bottom of a black paper cup. Cut a black paper circle about an inch wider than the top of the cup. Run a line of glue around the rim and press it onto the paper circle. Cut the hatband and buckle from card stock. Weave the band through the buckle, wrap it around the cup, and glue the ends of the band together. Wait until the glue is dry to place crayons in the hat.

found-foliage wreaths

Fend off post-feast inertia with a walk to seek out materials to make a sweet nature craft. Taking bags to hold the treasures, head for a pretty park or trail, where everyone can collect fallen leaves, bark, pinecones, twigs, and other nature finds. Back home, attach them with tacky glue to wreath forms (ours are 7 inches wide and cut from cereal boxes). Add name tags cut from cardboard or card stock. For hanging, glue a large paper clip to the back of each wreath.

cute crayon caddy Add an extra-festive note to the kids’ table—and keep young guests entertained right through dessert. For each, cut six feathers from card stock (ours are 2½ by 5½ inches) and crease the centers. Arrange the feathers in a fan shape on a piece of double-sided foam tape, then attach them to a 9-ounce paper cup. For the face, cut two circles (ours are 2 inches and 2½ inches) and facial features from card stock. Tape the circles together, then glue on the features. Tape the face to the cup. Fill each turkey with crayons. Set the holders on the table with place mats cut from kraft paper.

turkey egg-tivities Dig last spring’s plastic eggs out of the closet to use for Thanksgiving entertainment. gobbler-egg hunt Stash fun stuff—sweets, trinkets, paper slips with jokes written on them—inside plastic eggs. Hide them around the house or in your yard. Give each kid a paper lunch bag and let the hunt begin. The kid who gathers the most gets dessert first. roller birdy Have each player make a turkey as shown at right, using glue dots to stick on a pom-pom head, googly eyes, felt nose and snood, and feathers to a plastic-egg half. Set each turkey over a large marble. On a smooth floor, see who can roll her bird the farthest, or set up a croquet-style course using chairs as wickets.

a handy keepsake These handprint mementos can also serve as place cards for the dinner table. Pour brown and red washable paint onto paper plates. Brush kids’ palms and fingers with brown paint, then have them make prints on card stock. Add red thumbprints for the snood. Trim the card stock into a square. Add names and turkey legs with marker. Attach a frame of twigs with glue.

LED luminarias You don’t have to worry about these Thanksgiving turkeys burning—they’re lit by safe LED tea lights. To make a luminaria, cut a circle from the seamless side of a lunch-size paper bag. Using the cutout circle as a guide, cut a slightly larger circle from white or yellow tissue paper. Cut skinny triangle feathers of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper and two red tissue paper wings. Use a glue stick to attach the feathers, the wings, and a turkey body made from the brown paper circle to the tissue paper circle. Glue the tissue paper circle over the hole in the bag. Add about an inch of sand or rocks to the bag and nestle an LED tea light inside.

gobble me up Need a snack to tide the kids over until the big Thanksgiving feast? Here’s a healthy option they can have fun making themselves. Arrange apple and clementine or navel orange slices on a plate as shown, and lay a cored pear half on top. Use scissors to halve a dried apricot, then snip small triangles from each half and tuck them under the pear to form the feet. Use softened cream cheese or peanut butter to attach mini chocolate chip eyes, a nut beak (we used a cashew), and a dried cranberry snood.

pepper feathers Cut out the turkey’s head, beak, snood, and feet from card stock. Make pupils in holepunch eyes with marker (or use googly eyes). Attach the turkey as shown to the side of a stemmed plastic cup. Place some vegetable dip in each cup, then add slices of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers.

apple sippy cups Make our edible cuppies, then fill them with our special holiday concoction (or a favorite juice). For each cup, slice off the top of an apple. Hollow it with a melon baller or spoon, leaving 1/4-inch-thick walls all around. To prevent browning, you can brush the cup’s edge with lemon juice. Fill it with our Thanksgiving Thirst-Quencher: 1 part cranberry juice, 1 part apple cider, and 1 part seltzer water. Garnish each drink with a cinnamon stick.

photo napkin rings These napkin rings will inspire an entertaining jaunt down memory lane and serve as place markers, too. Ask your guests beforehand for old photos or use ones you have on hand. At dinnertime, the kids can identify who’s in each photo and escort that guest to his seat. To make the rings, use digital images or scanned old photos. Print each photo and trim it into a square, then glue it to scrapbook paper and trim the paper to leave a 1/4-inch border on all sides. Cut a paper strip (ours is 13/4 by 81/2 inches), fold it into four equal parts to make a squared-off ring, insert a rolled napkin, and tape the ring ends together. Use tape to attach the mounted photo to the ring.

clever fox! Add whimsy to a traditional Thanksgiving dessert with this cute-as-pie idea. Cut two fig bar cookies into triangles and place them on a slice of pumpkin pie. Add whipped cream where shown. (Tip: We found homemade whipped cream holds its shape best. To pipe it on, use a ziplock bag with a corner snipped off or a piping bag with a round tip.) Finish by pressing on brown M&M’s for the nose and eyes. Eat immediately.