Ideas for Homemade Thanksgiving Cards

Thanksgiving is all about being grateful for who you are and what you have; it is about counting the many blessings that have been bestowed upon you; and it is about recognizing what others have done for you.

This Thanksgiving season send your family and friends some thank you cards made personally for them and that capture the essence of your thoughts of gratitude towards them.

For all cards you will need card-stock paper and writing/coloring utensils.

Grateful Turkey Card

You will need, in addition to the above mentioned items, a Turkey design, scissors, a craft knife, and tape.

Print on the bottom right quadrant of the card-stock paper the turkey design. Out of a second piece of card-stock paper, cut out some more feathers, about the size of the ones in the drawing.

Color the turkey and the cut out feathers. On each of the cut out feathers, write specific things you are grateful for in relation to the recipient of the card. For example, if you make the card for your best friend, you may want to say you are grateful for the times she stayed up listening to your stories.

When done, create small slits in the paper in-between where the printed feathers meet the body of the turkey. Insert the cut out feathers in those slits and secure them in the back with the tape.

Fold the paper twice so that the turkey will be on the inside of the card.
On the front of the card, you may want to write an original sentence or poem that leads to the turkey on the inside and its messages.

An example of a message for the front could be:

This Thanksgiving Season I decided to send a turkey your way...

then on the left inside you could write:

...to tell you of how grateful I am for....

and then on the right side you will have the turkey with the feathers listing the things you are grateful for in relation to the recipient.

Conclude the card with Happy Thanksgiving and your signature.

Cornucopia Book Card

This card is for the couple.

You will need, in addition to the card-stock paper and writing utensils, computer paper, multiple copies of a cornucopia, drawings of fruit, scissors, glue stick, needle and thread.

Begin by making ten copies of the cornucopia drawing and nine copies of one fruit, eight of the second one, seven of the third one, six of the fourth one, five of the fifth one, four of the sixth one, three of the seventh one, and two of the last one.

Fold the card-stock paper in half and cut it. Take three pieces of computer paper, fold them in half and cut them. You will need to fold the cut pieces in half again and place five halves of the computer paper nestled inside the card-stock paper, so to create a small booklet. Sew with needle and thread the middle of the booklet so it will not come apart.

Color the cornucopias and the fruits and then begin assembling the booklet.

On the first inside page you will glue the empty cornucopia. On the third page, you will glue the cornucopia with the fruit you made nine copies of. On the fifth page, you will glue again the cornucopia with the first fruit and the second one. Continue in the same manner until all fruits have been pasted. You will end with two cornucopias containing all fruits.

Now for the note inside: on the page with the empty cornucopia you might write something along the lines of... I am grateful that in the cornucopia of my life I have you...Then on that second page (opposite side of the actual design) you will mention the first fruit you chose and something sweet that goes along with it. For example, let's say that your fruit number one is the apple, you could write something like...for you are the apple of my eyes, etc...

The very last cornucopia should have all fruits in it and you could conclude with a statement such as: Thank you for the abundance you have brought into my life.

You can make these statements very cheesy and funny, or sentimental and serious; it is completely up to you as long as you remember to mention gratitude for your relationship with your loved one.

You can also substitute fruits for other items, or you can mix and match. Your imagination is your limit.