How to Make Your Own Thanksgiving Placecards

"Where do I sit?" Thanksgiving placecards answer this question as well as add pizzazz to your Thanksgiving table. This is one part of your table setting which is fun and easy to make yourself.

With a little imagination, you can create some memorable and unique Thanksgiving placecards. Here are 5 ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Photo Placecards
Materials: Popsicle sticks, color copies or real photos, glue, paint or markers (optional)
By creating a standing Popsicle picture frame for each setting, you can display a photo and name as a place card. These make great keepsakes. You can get some inspiration from these 2 fantastic standing Popsicle photo frames:

Crafts for Kids: Popsicle Stick Picture Frame
http://www.kids-rooms-and-crafts.com/crafts-for-kids.html

3d at Home: Popsicle stick picture frame
http://3d4me.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/popsicle-stick-photo-frame/

Faux Leaves
Materials: Faux autumn leaves (1 for each place setting), glue, glitter, gel pen.
Procedures:
1. Write the name in glue on the leaf.
2. Sprinkle with glitter.
3. Let dry. Then shake off excess glitter.
4. Alternately, write names with a gel pen.

Napkin Placecards
Materials: Plain paper napkins in autumn colors, glue, glitter or gel pen.
Procedures: same as for the Faux leaves

ORIGAMI! Placecards
For something completely unique, how about creating origami as a Thanksgiving placecard? There are tons of shapes that can be made with origami but the one that stands out to me is the heart. Why? Because Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for what we have and one of the great gifts of life is love. Hearts are not difficult to make and you can give them a Thanksgiving twist by choosing origami paper in autumn colors. Here are two websites with step by step instructions on how to make an Origami heart:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Origami-Heart
This site includes written and illustrated step by step instructions along with a video of the process.

http://www.origami-club.com/valentine/easyheart/anime-easyheart/index.html
Don't worry you don't need to read Japanese to use this site. Just push the "play" button and you will see a step by step animation of how to make a heart. It even has pause, forward and backward buttons so you can follow along at your own speed.

Seasonal Fruit or Vegetables As Placecard Holders
Pears, apples, persimmons, mini-pumpkins, mini-gourds or Indian corn add color and tone to your Thanksgiving table. They can also be used to prop your Thanksgiving placecard up or to which to pin it.

There are many creative ways to show guests where to sit at the table this Thanksgiving, the key is discovering them and then trying them out. What will you try this year?