3 Homemade Thanksgiving Place Card Ideas

Place cards for Thanksgiving dinner are often overlooked until the very last minute. Here are three very fast, easy, and - best of all - cheap ideas for last minute place cards that will give your Thanksgiving table a warm, friendly feeling. No one will ever suspect they took you only minutes to assemble.

Thanksgiving Place Card Idea #1

The first Thanksgiving place card idea is my favorite because it doesn't involve actual place cards AND it reduces the mess you'll have to clean up after your Thanksgiving feast. This is what I did when I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a tremendous hit. For this place card idea you'll need:

Heavy Duty Paper Plates

Permanent Marker, preferably in Brown or Black

For this place card idea, you'll write the following along the outer edge of the plate:

We Are Thankful For [guest name]

You can add a dot or tilde to either side of the writing if you wish (for example, "~*We Are Thankful For Aunt Susie*~") but keep it clean and simple. This is also a great idea for a buffet style Thanksgiving meal because it adds a personal touch for each guest and makes it easy for them to keep track of their own plate. This easy idea can also save precious room if your Thanksgiving table is crunched for space and every inch counts - even those few inches taken up by a place card setting!

Thanksgiving Place Card Idea #1.5 (not really a full idea, but a suggestion you'll use for ideas #2 and #3)

If you have the space for place cards but no place cards, here's a quick and easy way to make your own. Take any old holiday cards you have that are blank on one side - they don't necessarily have to be Thanksgiving cards, but if you can't at least find Thanksgiving colors on one side, you can glue two printed sides together to make both sides blank. Cut the card stock to whatever size you want for your place cards - for these next two Thanksgiving place card holder ideas, you won't need anything larger than a standard business card. You can add some interest to your place cards by free form cutting them, just make sure you have enough for all of your Thanksgiving guests!

Thanksgiving Place Card Idea #2

The next idea will have you raiding your refrigerator or root cellar for these easy place card holders. To make twelve you will need:

12 apples or mini squash

12 place cards

a sharp knife

a permanent marker

The first step is obvious - write your Thanksgiving guest's names on the place cards. Next, cut a straight slit along the top of the apple or squash, about one-half inch from the stem and the same length as your place cards. This next part is very important, or you may end up with soggy place cards or (if you didn't use a permanent marker) runny names: Insert the place card into the slit just before you plan to seat guests at your Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving Place Card Idea #3

This is another place card setting that is very cheap and very easy. All you will need for 12 place card settings are:

36 acorns with caps

glue gun with glue sticks OR very fast drying glue

12 place cards

a permanent marker

First, you'll want to make sure the caps on the acorns are secure; if they pop off easily, just go ahead and glue them on with the glue gun.

Next, take 3 acorns and glue them together with the glue gun in the form of a triangle. You'll want to glue them together in the upright position, balancing on the points at the bottom of the acorns to form a neat little tripod. Write the names of your Thanksgiving dinner guests on the place cards, and place them in the small well formed by your acorn tripod. Ta-da! You now have charming, natural place card settings for your Thanksgiving dinner table.

A nice thing about each of these ideas is that they are all compost-able - the only component that would require removal first are the glue beads from the acorn place card holders. They are also all simple, fast, cheap, and you more than likely have all the materials you'll need for them already in and around your house!