The other Thanksgiving project I wanted to do was to have the kids design their own dinner plates. There are tons of pins on Pinterest about how you can buy dollar store plates, color on them with sharpies, bake them in the oven and your designs would be permanent. So I read a few how-to's and we got started. The plates turned out really cute.


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#1 decided to keep it simple.
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I helped #3 trace his hand to create a Mayflower ship.
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"Bob" is a cartoon that #2 created.
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#4's hands are so tiny that we were able to fit two turkeys on her plate.
Even though the plates look adorable, I am calling them a successful failure. Here's what I did...

First - I cleaned the plates with rubbing alcohol.
Second - We decorated them with Sharpies.
Third - I baked the plates in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. And I let them cool in the oven overnight.

At this point the plates looked great. And when I ran my finger over them, the colors did not smudge. I knew from what I had read that they would not be dishwasher safe, and you can't scrub them hard. So I filled the sink with hot, soapy water and gently wiped our new plates. I quickly realized these plates are not at all washable. The colors started coming off, even with the lightest rubbing. So as far as having new Thanksgiving plates to eat off of, no. But I do like them, so I think I will go back to the dollar store and get some smaller plates. Than have my kiddos re-do their designs. However this time I will just use them as an adorable decoration. This might be something nice to do every season as a rotating display.

Let me know if you've tried this project with better results. Happy Thanksgiving!

 
PictureDay 2 of our Thankful Tree
Some of my friends on Facebook post something that they are thankful for each day in November. I thought this was a good way to focus on what you have rather than what you want. So I browsed around Pinterest for some inspiration and I came up with an idea for a Thankful Tree. Every day each member of the family writes something they are thankful for on a leaf and adds it to the tree. Since there are 5 of us doing it, we will have 140 leaves by Thanksgiving. It will be fun to watch our tree grow throughout the month.

It was off to Dollar Tree. I found brown Craft Paper in the gift wrap section. They didn't have any plain brown so I picked one with a light pattern and used the back side (1 roll is enough for a good sized tree). Then over to their floral section for some bunches of fake leaves. Each stem had 16 to 20 leaves, you will need 28 leaves for each member of your family. So the total cost of this project varies depending on your family's size.

Roll out your paper and cut it in half accross the width so that you have two long pieces. Then cut each piece in half, lenghtwise. You will now have 4 long skinny pieces. Twist, roll, and crinkle 3 of the pieces to give them a bark-like texture. Then attach the pieces, at the top, to your wall with Stick Tak. Then criss-cross the three pieces and attach them again with Stick Tak to the bottom. I cut my middle piece half-way up the center (from the bottom) so that I could twist it around the other two pieces. There really is no right or wrong way to do this, just do what looks good to you.

Cut the last piece in half across the middle, then cut those two pieces into thirds, lengthwise. This will give you 6 skinny pieces. Twist those skinny pieces and attack them to the top of the trunk for the tree's branches.

Clip the leaves off your bunches. All that's left is for each member of your family to write something they are thankful for and you add it to your tree. I attach mine with scotch tape, but Stick Tak or masking tape would work equally well. *Note: I cut up a cereal box and have my boys place their leaves on top of it when they write on their leaves because the Sharpie will bleed through the leaf and onto the table. By Thanksgiving you will have a tree full of thankfulness.
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Our nice big pile of leaves.
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The boys writing what they are thankful for on their leaves.
I will make sure to post a final picture of our tree at the end of the month. I'm sure it will look awesome. Hopefully it helps us stay focused on the best part of Thanksgiving... Thankfulness!

    About Me

    My name is Stephanie, I'm the mother of 3 handsome boys and 1 beautiful little girl. I love to craft and create. But I don't like to spend a lot of money doing it. So I decided to make a blog about my crafting successes, failures, and what I learn in the process. I really enjoy it when I see something I like and then figure out how to make it myself for less (or even for nothing at all). I get inspiration from Pinterest, Etsy, TV, and Magazines and I love to shop at Goodwill and other thrift stores. Hopefully my blog will help you get creative!

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