Thanksgiving Homemade Arts and Crafts

Thanksgiving is a great time to pull out the fall crafts and decorate your house. It's especially fun if you have small children who enjoy homemade arts and crafts. Making decorations can be inexpensive, simple and easy to do. Here are a few ideas to make your home festive and fun!

Fall Gourd Basket

What you will need:
A wicker basket, real or artificial fall leaves, real or artificial assorted gourds, small berries

Make sure to clean any real gourds and leaves with running water and wiping them down with a cloth. Get any residue off by leaving them to dry completely on a paper towel or cloth. Use the leaves to make an arrangement in the basket. Put the gourds on the leaves and arrange the berries around them. Arrange any extra leaves around the gourds, tucking them in under the gourds so they stay in place.

Cornucopia Centerpiece

What you'll need:
Cornucopia, artificial leaves with stems attached, sphere-shaped Styrofoam, yard long and half inch wide gold or orange wired ribbon, artificial berries, pears, apples and pumpkins, needles, scissors

Use the Styrofoam to cut and fit into the cornucopia to keep the floral arrangement in place. Push in leaves around the edges of the cornucopia, leaving some overlap, and having them stick out of it. Tie the ribbon into a bow and attach it to the lower center piece of the cornucopia with the needle. Make the wire ribbon bendy by curling with your fingers. Insert berries on either side of the ribbon. Fill in the rest of the cornucopia with the fake fruit, and fill in any holes with remaining leaves. When displaying, you can put some remaining fruit and leaves around the sides of the cornucopia, and set it on a fall doily.

Turkey Chalkboard Magnet

What you'll need:
small circle chalkboard, small wooden disk, medium wooden disk, acrylic paints, a dozen assorted feathers, glue, and a magnet

Glue the chalkboard on the medium wooden disk using either craft glue or a hot glue gun. On the smaller disk, paint a turkey face, and then when dry glue that onto the "body" right on top. Start gluing the feathers to the back of the medium wooden disk so that they are sticking out. Glue the magnet on to the back of the disk. Use chalk to write whatever you want, and stick on the refrigerator! Fun for kids who love to draw with chalk, and useful, too!