Thanksgiving Crafts

We like to continue the American celebration of Thanksgiving back home Down Under. With 2 little American boys it is nice to keep a few American traditions alive for them. And we are loving any excuse to have people over for a meal cooked out of our new kitchen!

So began a 4 day cooking extravaganza! But more on the actual cooking festivities at a later date. I also wanted to decorate the table with something "Thanksgiving themed", and whilst Pinterest in always ripe for inspiration, it can also be a little overwhelming with all the ideas and choices. Then I saw this pin and thought writing on maple leaves is an achievable and tasteful table decoration. The only problem being that we don't have fall-coloured maple leaves here in Australia in late spring! But I think we came up with an even better solution.

What fun the boys had painting and finger-painting on their easel. I have to admit this is a craft activity I am not very good at doing on a regular, or even irregular, basis. I do struggle with the containment of mess, or lack thereof, and the clean up associated with painting. But after talking with my sister recently about "just having to roll with it sometimes" I decided I need to embrace the mess of 2 little boys a little more widely (especially as there is 3rd little mess-maker on his-her way). This activity certainly helped me do that! But it was actually an easier clean up than I anticipated - everyone just went in the shower.

After the paintings dried we cut them into maple leaf shapes and Noah was so excited to be able to show off his improving writing skills by writing each of our guests names on the leaves! He even asked, "Do you think everyone will fall over in surprise when they see my good writing?" Bless!

It was a simple Thanksgiving table, but the maple leaves added some color, some fall-spiration to the table, and most importantly, a bragging point for Noah to talk about his writing! Everyone loved them and took them home with them as a little Thanksgiving momento!

Happy Thanksgiving!