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“I Am Third” | A Wood Pallet Sign

December 5, 2012 By Laura 9 Comments

It’s always a great day, when I finally get something OUT of my head, and am able to find the time to bring it to life, and have it real and in front of me.  It makes me happy because, there’s a whole lot in my head, that never (ever) gets out!  I wish I could do all of the projects that I actually think of, but I have other joyful obligations too, than just being all artsy 24/7.  So only a small percentage of my notions ever actually come to be.
I’m really glad this one did though, because it’s a meaningful one in our home.

The vision was a wood pallet sign.  And we usually have no shortage of those, as this is what our driveway often looks like . . . . . .

. . . . and there’s more where those came from.  Michael is able to get them from work by the load anytime.  Many of them he chops up and we burn in our wood stove. Free wood is always good!  But they are great for many other things too.  And a pallet was perfect for my idea for the sign I wanted to make.

The theme of the sign is a phrase we are fond of in our family, and try to live by, and it is this:

 
I am third.

You may well guess all on your own.
Like all families with many kids, one of my tasks as a parent is to teach my children to always put God first, be compassionate of others, and make great efforts to be selfless whenever possible.  Having triplets, you can imagine we’ve had many teachable moments and conversations about this kind of thing from toddler-hood on up, while encouraging them to share, and not grow with any kind of mindset that our own wants and needs should always or ever be first. That’s just not how we roll, as Christians.  Of course, this philosophy of serving, goes far beyond the constraints of our family, and the walls of our home. It applies to our world and every day we live in it, and with all whom we interact with across the board, from absolute strangers, to acquaintances, to loved ones a part of our personal lives, and everyone in between whom we happen upon daily .  I want that to stick with my kids, as they grow older in their faith, and take on this world, with all of their plans and dreams before them. It can only help, for each one of us to be reminded often.


And so with another an extra piece of plywood, some old extra nails we had on hand, and some paint and a brush, the pallet sign I saw in my head for so long, was created:


Because of the list form of my idea, I saw the pallet as the perfect material for the sign.
It was cut down to a size of about 20″ x 27″.


I wanted it kept as simple as possible. Rustic, raw, and straightforward. Sure, it may not always be easy to live the message.
But God always forgives us, and we always have the opportunity to keep on trying.
It is a simple concept to remember, in terms of the priorities we want to strive to serve in our life:
God
Others
Self

For some reason, I always saw it in this darker red.  When it came time to paint, I stopped and considered other colors.
But I really needed to create it just as I had envisioned it for so long. Or else I could go crazy.

Michael hung it up the very same day. Right there where we all see it, again and again, every day.  He loves it as much as I do.
I suppose others may come into our home, start to read it, and be a little perplexed.  But one of the most cherished things about having a home to me, is making it a place that is meaningful to our family. It’s the little things, that are personal and of the heart, that make it feel like home.  And this sign….. and all it says….it means something to us.  It’s an awareness that we want to be reminded of, again and again. Not just the kids. But all of us. I know I can use such a gentle reminder, as often as anyone else.

There is lots more space on this particular wall in our open living space, up there with the clock. The wall is much bigger than it even appears in this photo, with the cathedral ceiling.  We realize the sign is so flush left, and leaves the wall as a whole quite unbalanced. But we’re ok with that for now.  Soon enough, the wall all around the clock will be filled with other things that mean something to us. Maybe more signs.  Who knows. But we have no desire to rush these things, just to fill up and balance the wall. It’s what is hanging there, that matters to us.
All of the space? Well, that’s what I call inspiration. Like a blank sheet of lined paper, or a canvas.  The possibilities are endless, and exciting.

The kids have really embraced the lesson, most days. But when they are together and it’s needed, because one, or some, or all are reverting back to looking out for themselves over little things,  I like to remind them:
“If everyone put everyone else second, you’ll always actually be second, too! Not third. Right? So just be a good example.”  ; )
I’m a tricky Mama. ; )


I wonder what I’ll be able to get out of my head, next.

* * * * * *

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Home Decor, Into the Light; The Series, Life In General, Parenting, Re-Purposing, The Big Picture, The Homestead Tagged With: Christianity, Faith, God-first, home decor, pallet-ideas, pallet-projects, Parenting, rustic-signs, signs, wall-signs, wood-pallet-signs

A Snowman Christmas Tree Ornament / Tutorial

December 3, 2012 By Laura 32 Comments

Winter used to be my least favorite season, here in New England.  But I have chosen to embrace it, for there is no doubt that there is beauty in every season, and things that I love in all of them, too.  For winter, snowmen are one of those things, to me!  I’ve just always loved them. So I thought it would be fun to make a snowman Christmas tree ornament.

  It was not only more fun than I expected, I think it came out absolutely adorable. So I’m going to show you how easy it was to create!

Here’s the simple supplies that you’ll need:
Crayola Model Magic, in White.
Craft wire: 20 gauge or so
Wire cutters
An old sock for the hat
Yarn – Homespun Style. (I used Lion Brand, in Waterfall)
(The sock & yarn will be your snowman’s clothing, so you’ll want to pick co-ordinating or matching colors that you like.)
Embroidery thread (*optional accent for buttons)
Black beads for the eyes
An orange bead for the nose
Flathead pins, small, like used for tailoring
Pinkish chalk
A tiny brush for the chalk.
E-6000 or a good glue, may come in handy.
Black and Orange permanent Sharpie Markers


This is the Crayola Model Magic. It’s ‘modeling material’.  It’s lighter and softer than clay. And yes, it’s for kids, I guess.
Have you seen it? Have you ever played with it? It’s great stuff!
–

Take a chunk of the Model Magic into your hands, and roll three balls each smaller than the other. These are the body parts of the snowman: lower body, middle, and head. So size accordingly. My bottom body ball is about 1-1/2″.  Now I’m sure you’re dying to, but don’t build a snowman yet!!  You’ll put them all together in a couple of steps.


Cut about an 8 or 9 inch piece of wire.
Straighten it out as best you can, and then bend it into an L-shape, folding at the middle.


Now, thread the wire up through the center of the big ball first. then middle size, then head, really trying to keep it though the center of the ball and piling them neatly, as shown in the photo above.  Why are we using the wire? Well, the modeling material actually sticks together pretty well. But the wire, which will be cut again in the coming steps, serves two purposes: It gives the whole snowman core stability for years of use and packing and unpacking, and we’ll also be making a loop at the top to hang the ornament from at the top.
–


Using your wire cutters, cut the wire at the top leaving an inch or 1-1/4″ or so.
–

Then using the nose of the pliers, twist the wire into a loop.
There is still the long wire off of the bottom, but let’s leave that for now. I felt like it just helped the snowman stand up while I was working on him.
Let’s make his hat now. Shall we?

Cut the ankle part of your sock off of the foot. The ankle/ribbed part of the sock will be the hat. Lengthwise, cut about 1/3 off, as shown in photo.  This makes the hat narrower, as you need.  You can check for sizing on your snowman head first before you get sewing.  Now, fold it the opposite way to get ready to sew it closed along where you just cut, because you’ll want to sew it inside out so the stitches later will be on the inside.
Now you all may use a sewing machine if you’d like. But I just stitched it by hand quickly.


I tied off the cut end of the hat, with a matching piece of yarn.  And put the finished edge over the head.
But first, I put some thread through the wire loop, and then threaded a needle with both ends of the thread, to pull it up through the hat, so it can be hung on the tree.
And I also did something else before putting the hat on . . . . . .


Do you see that light pencil line right under the hat brim?  Right above there I put a dab or few of E-6000 (you can use any glue), before carefully pulling that hat over the head. Just to secure the hat, so it doesn’t keep slipping off the head while being handled over the years.
The needle can be taken off now, and just tie the ends in a knot. As I said, you’ll use the thread loop to hang it on the tree.

Face time!

Call me an over-planner, but I laid my face out in beads on the table first. Hey, it’s the distance of our features, and the curve of our smiles,that make us uniquely looking like US.
Same thing with snowmen! They are individuals too!  What a perfect orange bead, for a pointy nose, huh?

For every bead you have, cut a flat head pin to shorten the unnecessary length.


Again I laid out in pencil dots, exactly where I wanted each bead, to form his face.
Much like Mr. Potato head, just put a pin through a bead, and stick it into the snowman head.
(Mr. ♪ Snowman ♫ head ♪ , I-love-you! ♪)

I waited on the mouth, so it wouldn’t be in my way to apply some pink blushing cheeks!

You can use any pink colored chalk dust. I just happened to have this chalk palette, and used a tiny pointed brush.

Have you ever heard the saying, that you can always tell someone’s age, by looking at their hands?
Right.  I’m like, 106.


The mouth is all added.
Now here’s another tip:  The flat-head pins are silver, right?  So, my snowman looked like he had braces! Nothing wrong with braces. But it wasn’t the look I was going for. So I used a black permanent Sharpie marker, to color it. And an orange Sharpie for the nose. Worked well enough for me!

Buttons:  I used some teal colored embroidery thread, to thread my buttons. Then, because my holes were filled and I couldn’t put pins through them, I just used a dab of my E-6000 again, and just pushed them right into the soft modeling material.
Scarf: 3 equal length pieces of the homespun yarn, knotted on both ends, and tied around his neck.

Once you’re done crafting your snowman, or sooner, you can take your wire cutters, and cut the wire extending way out from under the snowman. Leave the L shape, so your snowman doesn’t slide off.  But it doesn’t need to be so long. Cut it short enough so it’s hidden underneath.

So how does he look?

Cute, right?
I added little stick arms, because seeing snowmen with no arms gives me a little anxiety.
I mean….HELLO!  What if he had an itch?

Let’s try him out in the Christmas Tree.


I think he looks right at home!
And he is.

Another cute idea if you’re ambitious: You could make a whole family of snowmen, and put them all together on a tabletop.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my ornament, and how I made him.  It really was fun, just like building a snowman really is. Without the cold. ; )
You can do this!
What do you think?
* * * * * *



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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Holiday Crafts, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Tutorial, WINTER Crafts and Creations Tagged With: Christmas decorations, Christmas-crafts, Christmas-ornament-crafts, Crayola-Model-Magic, Crayola-Model-Magic-crafts, handmade-Christmas-ornaments, handmade-Christmas-tree-ornaments, holiday-crafts, snowman-crafts, snowman-ornaments, snowmen

Christmas Advent Calendar Idea for the Home

November 25, 2012 By Laura 9 Comments

        As I type this post, it’s the end of the weekend following Thanksgiving, and the last weekend of the month of  November.  For many families, this is the weekend their home gets decorated for Christmas!  While it probably would have been nice to share this idea with you just a little sooner, I personally prefer to get past Thanksgiving, before I can (or even want to) focus on Christmas.  That being said, there still are several days to spare before the first of December is here, so you still have time to do this simple and beautiful idea, for a Christmas Advent Calendar in your home.  This idea is something I created  two years ago, and I thought I’d share it with all of you, in case it’s something you’d like to try for your own kids.


If your a frequent visitor here at our blog, you may have seen us decorate our french doors like this before.  Using door length ribbons, and placing a decorative element on the ribbon strand in each window, I call these ‘fancy strands’.  I’ve made them for the season of spring, and also Halloween. So this project started out with the same single intent of dressing up our French doors, in this case for the festive season winter, but immediately turned into the idea of using it as a home Christmas Advent Calendar for the kids. For us, December and the the Christmas Advent Calendar is not so much about the countdown until Christmas Day, but celebrating the whole season each day.  This idea made every day really fun for our kids.

You don’t need French Doors in your home, to adapt this idea!
You can do the same thing using other areas or parts of your home. Some suggestions are using regular doors, a large wide window, the banisters of the stairs in your home, or even a wall.  Look around your home and find your options, and then just make it work for you!  In addition, you can create this using any theme or colors. You may want to use red and green ribbon, with paper gift elements, or gold ribbon and ornament shapes.  The theme and look of it is part of the creative fun.  I wanted mine to work throughout winter. When Christmas was over, we simply peeled off the numbers on the windows, and the strands stayed through February or so.

I’m going to tell you how I made this Advent Calendar so simply.


The snowflakes were fun to make. I actually did not just buy them this way.  The white paper snowflake alone, are die-cuts I bought packaged loose, in the scrapbooking area at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.  To give them some sparkle and make them more beautiful, I also found sticky some snowflake-ish elements of glitter and rhinestones, and put them together to make my own specially designed snowflakes. So easy and fun, creating each one!

I chose blue ribbon for my winter theme, and placed a single 1-piece length from the top to the bottom (underneath) of the door, down each row of window frames of my doors.
I measured the height of the doors, and made sure I bought enough ribbon spools for 6 whole full lengths. We have 30 window panes, so plenty for the 25 days until Christmas.


To number the Calendar for the days of December, we cut small white vinyl numbers, and simply put them on the glass besides the upper-right of each snowflake.
However, if you are creating your advent calendar elsewhere in your home, the number can certainly be put ON the paper elements.
On front side of the snowflakes, it’s just pretty.
But on the backside, it was designed to serve a purpose.


When attaching the snowflake to the ribbon, I was sure to put two dabs of glue; one at top of the snowflake, and one on the bottom, leaving a space without glue in between.


Did you notice the little slip of paper slid under the ribbon? There was one for each snowflake, and each little slip expressed something different for that day.

Again, we’re simple folks. Our holidays are kept pretty simple too, and our days of any season are focused on faith and our family. For Christmas, it’s about pondering and celebrating Jesus’ birth, the time we spend together being creative, making things for others, and generally just having fun together as a family.

So our slips of paper behind each snowflake reflected those kinds of things.  Some were a surprise activity for the day: maybe a task for serving others. Some were a small treat, and others were a Scripture to remember and reflect on. A good variety of that kind of thing. Again, you can come up with what you want for your family, throughout the month of December, as you prepare for Christmas, and enjoy the season.  


Just type up a list in small print on your computer, skipping a line in between, print it out, and cut them into strips to fit behind your elements.

The kids took turns taking out the slip and reading it to the others each morning. That way they knew what was in store for the day.
It really takes very little to get our kids all excited. You would not believe the fun we have each year, just driving around neighborhoods checking out people’s home Christmas lights and displays, with our cocoa and snacks!


The big snowflake represents December 25th – Christmas Day.

I thought it all came out very pretty, and of course the strands themselves are reusable again every year.
It takes no time at all to cut out some new little numbers, and apply them.  The slips of paper can be used again if they re saved as well.
Mix them up, add new ones, or create a whole new set. I like to keep our kids on their toes.


This Christmas season, make the most of every day with your family, and keep the spirit and love of what Christmas is truly all about, alive in your hearts and homes.
We hope you find this idea inspiring. Thanks for coming by.

* * * * * *

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Holiday Crafts, Home Decor, The Homestead Tagged With: advent-calendar-craft, advent-calendar-for-the-home, advent-calendar-ideas, advent-calendars, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Christmas-advent-calendars, Christmas-craft-ideas, Christmas-decorating, December-home-decor, door-advent-calendars, home-advent-calendar, homemade-advent-calendar, how-to-make-an-advent-calendar

The Loss of Our Hedgehog | Children Learning About Life, Loss and Sadness.

November 20, 2012 By Laura 15 Comments

If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may already know we lost our only pet recently.
Pixel was Alexis’ hedgehog, really. She’s the one that researched hedgehogs and pleaded for one for a year, paid for her (not cheap!), and took care of her the most.  Still, we all loved Pixel right off the bat. Most surprisingly, was me.  I especially don’t like dogs and cats. There are people in our lives I really don’t want to know that, because I don’t want to hurt their feelings. But I never knew, or wondered, what I would think of a quilled little creature, until Pixel came along . . . . . .

I surprised myself the day she came home as a little baby, and I kind of fell for her.  She really was the sweetest little thing. Just a quilled little handful of love.
And she never grew too much bigger than that. In the next couple of years, Alexis and Pixel were practically inseparable.

Many school days, Pixel was with Alexis while she did her school work.


She got lots of love and attention, in between subjects.
.

We were always trying to get her to eat fruits or vegetables. We thought she’d feel privileged this one day, with the first strawberries pick of the season from our garden, but she declined.
And not politely, but with a HUFF.

The kids loved to play with her, giving her rides and such. . . . . .
. . . . .and Pixel loved to find places to hide. She was always looking for somewhere to curl up into a ball, and go to sleep.
It was hilarious when she went under the truck, but couldn’t back up to get out, because of her quills.

She even became somewhat of a little star.


Alexis had created a comic strip series around her, called Catholic Hedgehog, and some of the strips were shared on the Catholic TV forum a few times.

She occasionally went places with us, since she was pocket-sized, and potty-trained too!
Once, she even we went down to the Plymouth Waterfront with us.  People were so intrigued with her.
“What is it? A porcupine?”

She’s been a part of our life,  So we were all getting concerned when she seemed to be having some health problems a few months back. Alexis made an appointment for her (her first ever!) with Firehouse Veterinary Clinic who somewhat specialized in exotic animals, and although it took a few weeks on a medication, Pixel seemed to get better.  But then she wasn’t again. She was not eating much, and she had lost a lot of weight. Alexis was really upset about it, not knowing what was wrong or how to help her get better for good, and so was the trio.  She went back to the vet again, and after an examination, and Pixel not even huffing through it all, the vet said there was nothing he really could do to help her.  Alexis was crushed. He did offer to put her to sleep, but Alexis declined, since we had every intention of voting NO on Question 2. (Physician Assisted Suicide).  So the vet gave Alexis some sugar water, and some special wet food, to try and give her at home.

Surprisingly, Alexis did get Pixel eating pretty well, although she was hand-feeding her with a syringe. But she seemed to be doing better for a few days, and we all had hope Pixel would recover.  We were happy to report that, when the vet’s called to check on how Pixel was doing. But only a few days later, she went downhill again.  Alexis was distraught that day, and felt so helpless. She set Pixel up beside her bed that night, and got up all night giving her a drink of water with the syringe and comforting her, because Pixel seemed too weak to even be able get up and stand anymore.  She had stopped eating altogether.

  The next morning, it was a school day, but none of us cared.  The kids were gathered around Pixel, and they were all so quiet. Pixel was lying on her pretty flowered fleece blanket on the table, just blinking.  The kids knew it wasn’t looking good for. She was not doing well at all. Definitely worse than the night before.  Her breathing was labored, and she hardly moved.  I couldn’t help but watching the 4 of them, with their quiet moods, and compassionate expressions on their faces, as they spoke quietly to her, and stroked her quills softly, in the morning sunlight that came through the windows onto the table.  These were the tough lessons in life, we all need to learn how to face.  As much as I wish I could forever protect my children from any sadness and heartaches that life brings, I can’t.  I knew, while this was so difficult for them, these moments were preparing them for much harder losses in their life to come.
And as they held her tiny paw, she took her last breathe.

Alexis scooped her up and just sobbed.  The trio were all quietly crying too. I think maybe, they hurt more for seeing Alexis hurt so much, than they did for the loss of Pixel.
So did I.


We all said goodbye to her, and Alexis wrapped her in her prettiest fleece blanket.
.

When Michael (Daddy) came home, he built a small casket for her.
Alexis used her wood-burner to engrave it with her name and dates.
And still wrapped in her blanket, she laid her inside. Michael nailed it closed.
And Alexis cried more tears.

That night I didn’t sleep well. As I lied in bed thinking about the rough day we had had, I knew we had done many things right in preparing our kids for things like this. Sickness. Death. The loss of a loved one.  In my own life experiences, I never went to a wake until I was in high school. My siblings and I had been to many funerals of neighbors or relatives, but never to a wake.  It was my uncle’s, and it was a loss I felt the most sad about up until that point in my life, than any I had had before. So I had wished I had been to wakes, before his.

But the very first real loss I had of someone in my life, who I loved a lot, was my mother. I had never really lost someone close to me before. I had never even known grief, until I lost her. What a way to break me in. It hit me like a train. I was not prepared for the emotional toll it took on me. At all.  The grief was deep for months. And I was in my mid 30’s.  But I felt like a child, in my difficulty coming to terms with the loss, like a child. Maybe because I was the child. So I have wanted to do all l I can to prepare my kids for losing those they love, and helping them learn how to deal with those feelings, talk about it, and find the comforts that help them cope.  Alexis, the oldest, has already lost 2 grandparents she loved dearly. She had established a relationship with them, loved them, and had many memories of both of them. So she has felt the loss of them in her heart. The trio were too young to remember a whole lot of either of their grandparents they lost. Some memories, but not years of them. So it’s been easier for them. Still, they have lost others they have known since, and for all they have attended their wakes, and their funerals if possible. With lots of conversations before and after, of course, and they have handled it all very well.

So it is with the loss of Pixel. Sure, she was just a pet. But I think it is important for them to go through the process, because they, especially Alexis, was so sad to to lose her.  While no one ever gets used to losses, or gets good at all of the feelings that come with it, I do think it is important for children to become slowly familiar with it all, and not shelter them from the realities of it.  I feel it’s right for my children anyway, and Michael agrees. Death, the loss, and grief, are all a part of God’s greater plan for every life.  But it’s real and it’s necessary to face these things with the smaller losses, or those people they haven’t known very well or were very close to. Because the sadness is still there. Not just our own, but other’s. I’ve been grateful to be able to be there for my children and help them through it, as we’ve lost ones we love in our life together so far.

Knowing we did need to go through the rest of the process for Pixel, and still lying in bed pondering through the night hours, I wondered where we could bury her in the yard.  It took a bit of thinking, because probably next year or so, every part of our yard, both upper and lower, will be completely dug up and rearranged. So I was trying to think of somewhere that would definitely not be getting disturbed. That’s when I thought of in the railroad-tie planter walls behind the house. It was perfect.

The next morning, Michael dug Pixel’s grave, to bury her.


With the trio by her side, Alexis put her beloved hedgehog in the ground.
.


I gave Alexis a stone cross I had had, to use as Pixel’s grave marker, which I thought was so appropriate and feminine.  Pixel was a girl, after all.
But surprisingly, her father also gave her permission to burn her name into the railroad-tie wall.   I was surprised he let her do that.  But she really wanted to, and again, I feel like these are the things that help one cope with the loss, and give us closure.  Even the burning itself, on the little casket, and letter by letter, into the wall.
.

It was all harder than I ever imagined experiencing, over a pet.  I mean, we had lost a couple beta fish before, Bubbles and then Reagan -the red Republican fish.
Then there was William, the royal turtle.  They managed those losses quite fine.
But Pixel, the Catholic Hedgehog, was just different, for my kids.
What was hardest for me, was watching my girl have such a hard time.
She was so sad.


She was breaking my heart.  But I was glad to be there whenever she needs me, to help comfort her through it all.  And I was really proud with all she did to take care of Pixel, all by herself.
She had handled the vet appointments all by herself and everything. From the calls for appointments, to the actual exam and discussion with the doctor, in there all by herself. Because she wanted to. She took care of Pixel right to the end, and laid her to rest with her own hands too.


I really couldn’t hug her enough.
And every time I did, I knew it was just what she needed.


It really is the perfect spot.
.

And we all kind of smile now, when we look out the window, and remember Pixel.
She really was a quilled little handful of love.
And she taught our kids so much; About responsibility, and love.
And letting go.
While we hold on to the memories that make us smile, and our hearts grow happy again.

* * * * * *

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Filed Under: Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Life In General, Parenting, The Big Picture Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, children-and-loss-of-pets, hedgehog-photos, hedgehogs, kids-learning-to-cope-with-loss, loss-of-pets, pets, teaching-kids-about-loss

Thanksgiving Place Card Holder Turkey / Free Personalizable Place Cards Printable

November 17, 2012 By Laura 9 Comments

I’m so happy to offer you some free printable designs I created just for you:
Thanksgiving Place Cards

 as well as an adorable turkey craft to hold the cards, or as beautiful added detail to your table, if you’d like.

Thanksgiving is only days away.  If you are still scrambling to add a little ‘fancy’ detail to your Thanksgiving table setting, here’s an idea for you.  This idea is one I came up with for my own Thanksgiving table setting from last year that I never got a chance to share with you all.  Our guests loved them, and hopefully you will too.

Turkey Place Card Holders

I think they are just simple, yet classy and beautiful looking.  They are easy to make, and require minimal supplies.  It’s so easy, there is no point in even showing you how to make them, when I can simply tell you in a few words:

I got a net bag of plain, natural pine cones at Michael’s Arts & Crafts.  They are for crafting and decor. I recommend not using the pinecones from any kind of potpourri, because they can be so strongly scented, and really clash with the otherwise enjoyable aromas of your Thanksgiving dinner.

The feathers were also bought at the same craft store, and come loose in a clear, flat cellophane bag.

The kids and I simply put some glue right between the last two rows of blades, on the backside of the second to last row. Then we simply stuck the feathers onto the backside there, starting in the middle and working our way outwards to the sides,being sure they were facing forward, and fanning nicely as we worked across. That was it!  These particular feathers are very fine, so it took just a little patience.  But I chose them because I loved the colors in them. We used toothpicks to be able to maneuver the feather into the position we wanted on the still wet glue, without using our fingers and getting glue all over them.

I made them to be place card holders, so I needed to make some of those too . . . . . .
. . . . . . and I’m going to share that customize-able printable with you too, so you can have your own personalized settings like this.
I printed them out on sheets of card stock that a variegated warm beige color to it, rather than bright white.

  Of course you also have the option of putting the place card on the table, beside the turkey, as seen in the photo above.

We also did something special on the inside of these place cards
; and so this is another idea or suggestion for you:
In light of Thanksgiving, and being most thankful for the blessing of those we love, the 6 of us in our family wrote a little something on the idea of each person’s card, expressing something about that person that we love or are thankful for.  It was an unexpected surprise for those joining us around the table this holiday; my father, brother, and a family friend. And I’ll tell you what; they all cried, finding more inside, and reading it!  The kids wrote the sweetest things.

If you would like to add a more whimsical flair to your turkeys like these, for just the kids or for everyone, you could add some googley eyes on white cardstock, and an orange waddle with felt, foam or construction paper.  I just happened to love the more subtle indication of a little turkey.
–

Free Thanksgiving Place Cards Printable

O.k., here is the customizable/personalizable place cards printable I promised you, but you must get it using one of the links to the downloadable file (you choose) below . . . . . .

PSD FILE:  This version is still in layers.  If you use Adobe Photoshop or any other program that works with PSD files, you can add in each persons name, to personalize each card. The color for the font is hexcode #6f3014, and the font style I used is Cecily.  I forget the font size, but if all I just mentioned didn’t go over your head. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Ha ha.
-or-
JPG FILE:  This version is flattened, and ready to print as is. You can simply write in each person’s name with a marker.
Specs:  8.5 x 11 printable – Use same size card stock; I’m suggesting a light and warm or compatible color, perhaps that goes with your table setting.

And now for a little Giddy-Diddy:

If you love this idea . . . . .
Just SHARE it however you do!
But most of all please know this year . . . .
We’ll be giving THANKS for YOU!

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Please come follow me here and there:



Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, FALL Crafts and Creations, FALL Home Decor, Free Printable/Downloadable, Holiday Crafts, Home Decor, Kids Arts and Crafts, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Seasonal Home decor, The Homestead Tagged With: crafts, free-printables, holiday-crafts, November-crafts, pinecone-crafts, place-card-holder-idea, printable-Thanksgiving-place-card-holders, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving-crafts, Thanksgiving-free-printable, Thanksgiving-place-card-holders, Thanksgiving-table-decor, Thanksgiving-table-setting-details, turkey-craft

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