Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar

Turkey Countdown Calendar from Naptime Crafts

Fall Mantel Ideas

Karla from It's The Little Things That Make A House A Home shared her beautiful Fall mantel on her blog yesterday:

The grapevine garland is gorgeous and I am seriously in love with wooden plank sign that she made to display her give thanks garland:

  It looks great on her mantel, but if you don't have a mantel that cute sign will give you some place to hang your garland!

You can see the details of the rest of her mantel HERE.

Thankful Trees

I love to hear about other people's family traditions around holidays.  One that I love this time of year is the different ways people share what they are thankful for. Right now one of my favorites is the thankful tree.  People write down the things they are grateful for on beautiful fall colored leaves and display them in their home all year long.  Here are some I have seen recently that I love.

Char from Crap I've Made shared her traditional Thankful Tree:

I love the dimension that it gets from being in the corner!

Five Hens has a similar version, but I love that each leaf is personalized by using handprints:

Instead of the wall, his this thankful tree can be your centerpiece at the table or sit on your mantle:

And speaking of mantles, if you don't want an entire tree, you can go for just a thankful garland:

Do you have a family tradition for sharing what you are thankful for this time of year?  I would love to hear about it!

Be Calm And Bake Pie

Jen from Tatertots and Jello is giving away this free printable on her blog:

I am pretty sure that this cute little poster needs to be in my kitchen over Thanksgiving.  Although I think it should actually say Keep Calk and EAT pies!

You can get your copy (and see the other two designs) HERE.

Cookie Cutter Cheese

We found out a couple of days ago that we will be alone for Thanksgiving.  First time ever.  I am a little sad (we will not talk about the fact that my oven is not big enough to cook both a turkey and side dishes) but I am also excited too.  Being away from family will not be fun, but this will be the first major holiday we have ever spent alone in the 12 years we have been married.

So I am looking forward to starting our own tradition.  My husband is already trying to talk me into going on a trip, but my only plans so far involve cheese:

I don't know where we will be or who we will be with, but we will have cheese and crackers as an hors d'oeuvre so that I can cut my cheese into cute pumpkin shapes like this fun snack form Smashed Peas and Carrots.

You have to start somewhere, right?

I am not sure that cheese and crackers are actually fancy enough to be called an hors d'oeuvre, but cutting them out with a cute cookie cutter has to help elevate them a little.

And if you have the cute little cookies cutters (the miniature size) that you will need to make these, you should use them to make homemade croutons for your salad in fun shapes too.  I think my sister-in-law refers to her Halloween croutons and Boo-tons.

Thanksgiving Clip Art

If you are skipping Halloween and ready to decorate for Thanksgiving, The Graphics Fairy added some new Thanksgiving clip art that would be fun to decorate with (that this vintage corn postcard:

You can frame them or even use them as placemats!  Lots of fun options.  You can check out all of the Thanksgiving themed images  HERE.

Turkey Pops

There is a super fun new site, IShareFunFood that is a great place to browse gorgeous pictures of fun holiday treats!

That is where I found these super cute turkey pops from The Party Animal:

I am pretty sure these are making it to the kid table this Thanksgiving!  Now I am excited to start hunting down Thanksgiving goodies, but I am so not ready to be done with Halloween yet, so these will have to wait!

Thanksgiving Turkey Place Cards

I figure talking about Thanksgiving already isn't as bad as talking about Christmas, and I wanted to show you these cute turkey place cards that Kristin from Write It Down made this weekend:

They would be perfect for the kids table, and the kids could even MAKE them!  You can see how she made this cute yarn covered turkey HERE.

Pumpkin Trifle

The City Cradle has some great images of pumpkin treats on her blog from Katie Grace Designs:

I love the idea of making little pumpkin pies, especially these that look like more crust than filling!  I am all about the pie crust and whipped cream:

And these mason jars have pumpkin trifle inside:

She didn't have a recipe for it on her blog, but this recipe from Paula Deen looks like it would work:

Paula Deen's Spiced Pumpkin Mousse Trifle

What you need:

2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional

What you do:

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely.
Prepare the pudding and set aside to cool.
Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding.
Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

So I would take the recipe, use real whipped cream instead of whipped topping because I refuse to eat whipped topping, and layer it in glass jars!  So cute!

Turkey Cupcakes

Kara's Cupcakes sell these cute little Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving:

I love to but little cookie cutters because they are handy for so many things.  My sister-in-law uses them to make croutons for salads for holidays.  But little cookie cutters can turn some thin fondant or even flattened candy (tootsie rolls and starbursts for these colors) into the perfect accent for your frosted cupcake.

So the moral of this post is buy little cookie cutters!

Indian Corn Jelly Bean Treats

I found Kelley Highway's super cute indian corn treats over at One Pretty Thing:

I think I am going to have to make these for the kids class parties this year.  Or maybe put them on the table for Thanksgiving.  Or both!

Turkey Treats...Gobble Gobble

Some more last minute Turkey Treats:

Jewels of a Child:


Cookies and Cups:

Urban Nest:

Crayon Turkey

These Turkey Crayon Holders from K McKay Designs would be perfect for a kids table:

Especially one covered in butcher paper.

Harvest Centerpiece

Oh if I only had 100 stalks of dried grass and wheat:

image from Martha Stewart

But I don't. I don't even have a little bit of wheat to pull this off:

Or this one:

Next year I must find a good wheat source.

Pilgrim Place Cards

No cuter place card/napkin ring can be found than these from Family Fun:

Amy Atlas Thanksgiving

Today is my last day of Thanksgiving posts. With Thanksgiving only 2 days away, I feel like giving you more ideas that you might want to squeeze in at the last minute is a sin.

So today I will give you some extra Thanksgiving posts, and then it is on to new things. Christmas and Winter and Hanukkah. Hot chocolate, and peppermint, and any other holiday treat you can imagine.

But before we do...one last day of Thanksgiving. And we are going to start it off with Amy Atlas:

You can check out more of Amy's Thanksgiving Treat Buffet HERE on her blog. My favorite are the caramel pears. Why should apples have all the fun?

Relish Cornucopia

Instead of having a relish tray this Thanksgiving, why not give each guest their own relish cornucopia...all wrapped up in a tortilla:

And not only is it a snack, but table decor too! You can see the details at Family Fun.

Pilgrim Puppets

These finger puppet pilgrims would be a fun craft to keep the kids busy after they are done playing with their mashed potatoes at the table:

or why they are waiting for their mashed potatoes.

You can see the directions on Kaboose.

They remind me of the old school Little People. That is whey I love them!

Praline Pumpkin Pie

If you are looking for a new pie for Thanksgiving dinner...this might be it:

This pie from Centsational Girl has pumpkin, brown sugar, and pecans in it...and really what is NOT to like about pumpkin, brown sugar and pecans.

You can get the recipe HERE

Cone Cornucopia

Beth, from The Stories of A to Z, has a tutorial for these cute burlap cornucopias on her blog:

They are so easy to make and such a great addition to your Thanksgiving table. And you still have time to make them!!!