5 IDEAS FOR A BUDGET FRIENDLY YET STYLISH THANKSGIVING

Is it your turn to host Thanksgiving dinner but you need to do it on a budget? You can create a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, set a stylish table and do it all on a budget. Listed here are five ideas to get you started...

Remember that this holiday is centered around family, food, and giving thanks. Keep your focus on those things and your Thanksgiving celebration will be a great success!


1) PLAN AHEAD  AND ASK FOR HELP     Simply planning ahead will help you keep costs down. Give yourself time to look for coupons to use. Set the menu and ask family members to bring a dish to share. Tell everyone this meal is going to be like the first Thanksgiving when everybody brought food to share. Make a list of the dishes you want people to bring and then ask each person which one they would like to make. People really do like to bring things to share and be a part of the preparations.

2) DECORATE THE TABLE WITH NATURAL DECOR        You don't need to purchase elaborate centerpieces. Simple natural beauty can be found right outside your door and will "wow" your guests with your creativity. Look for pine cones, tree branches, acorns, evergreen, and leaves. Find inspiration on Pinterest for ideas on using what nature offers in abundance. Use these natural elements that are free for the taking and  containers you already have. You can put together simple and yet elegant centerpieces they can be made to look like you spent a fortune!

3) SET UP FOOD BUFFET STYLE      Find a place, whether you have a buffet or counter, where you can set up the food buffet style. Create a pretty buffet by adding pieces of  natural decor. In the photo below notice the plates set on the chair. Simple and  yet stylish in a relaxed way.

Source

4)  PLACE CARDS     It helps to have seating arranged ahead of time and adding simple place cards  can do the trick. You can print names on paper and add evergreen or just print names on leaves. Costs next to nothing and adds to the decor.

5) GIVING THANKS     It doesn't cost anything to make sure giving thanks is a part of your celebration. Let the kids get involved and have them go around and ask everyone to write down on a cut- out- leaf what they are thankful for. Hang them on tree branches that you have put in a vase.

Source

             What ideas do you have on how to host a stylish Thanksgiving Dinner on a budget?

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THE MONTH OF GRATITUDE

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.                         Johannes A. Gaertner

November has arrived. It is sometimes a "forgotten month" as Halloween has passed and we think of Christmas earlier and earlier. So I try to use the whole month to focus on gratitude and getting ready to celebrate the day of gratitude, Thanksgiving.

 As much as I love Christmas and decorating for that holiday, I don't begin to get ready for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

                                      I simply try to focus on gratitude and living Thankfully.

                                         In November, as much as I can, I try to slow down...

                                                        Appreciate all that I have...

 

And practice gratitude living.

BLUE FIRKIN AND THANKSLIVING

THANKS-LIVING     TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR MY HUSBAND AND THE FACT THAT HE SHARES MY INTEREST IN FINDING ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE TREASURES.

 I'm also joining Blue Monday for the first time. It's fitting that I join Blue Monday as blue is my favorite color. In the past I would not have said it was my favorite  color  but it seemed that everything that I picked out that I liked and was attracted to was blue. So it must be my favorite color, right?

So I'm sharing with you today an antique, well worn, BLUE firkin that I purchased at an antique shop when my husband, Les, and I were out antiquing. It is fun having a hobby in common with Les because it gives us more to do together. And because he is more "the spender" and I am more "the saver" I usually end up buying more when he comes along. I usually hem and haw about purchases and he just says, "If you like it, buy it!" ; ) And this blue furkin was on sale and fit in with my casual blue, mustard yellow, and cranberry red living room so it was kind of a no-brainer.

I also apparently don't know what STYLE of decor I like either as I've always said that American Primitive is not my style but now the things I'm picking out that I like are just THAT! Sheesh!

Won't you join my blog's "THANKSLIVING" series? I'm posting daily something I'm grateful for and asking you to share yours. Thanks!

I'm joining the party, Blue Monday,  at Smiling Sally.

THANKSLIVING

Join me in Thanksliving this month! Instead of thanking God for our many blessings ON ONE DAY this month, let's thank Him EVERY DAY for all those things we receive, including those we often take for granted. Let's make this month a month of  THANKS-LIVING! Of living our lives in a moment to moment awareness of gratitude. It can change your life!

I'm going to post daily through the month of November expressing gratitude to God. Won't you join me?

Meet me here daily and share what you are grateful for.

Today I'm grateful for my wonderful family and the love we share.

FRIDAY PHOTO FRIENDS: I linked my photo to the wrong post. To see the post that goes to my photo go back to my Oct 11th post on apple picking. There's also a great apple crisp recipe there. Sorry, I'm not that brilliant on the computer. Link here to join Hope for Friday Photo.

IT'S NOVEMBER

I can't believe it's already November! Where is the time going? September and October just WHIZZED by! I still need to take down the few Halloween decorations I  have. I won't put any Christmas decorations up until after Thanksgiving. For the rest of this month  until after Thanksgiving I will focus on Giving Thanks by continuing to write in my gratitude journal the things for which I am grateful.

November will be a time for me to regroup before the rush of Christmas and focus daily on:

1) Gratitude to God
2) Family and Friends
3) Simple Daily Pleasures
4) Planning a Thanksgiving Feast
5) Rest before the busyness of Christmas
6) Taking time to reflect

 I don't want to make Thanksgiving just a prelude to Christmas. I want  to enjoy the moments and meaning of this special day and try to capture its beauty all through the month. It seems it's the holiday that has less commercialization attached to it so it's easier to focus on the true meaning.

Of course I hope to add some bits of Thanksgiving cheer around the house. And I'll take time to sit with a cup of coffee or tea and peruse magazines or PINTEREST for exciting new recipes to try for Thanksgiving dinner. My family won't let me change many of the old favorites, however. They're sticklers for tradition. Some things ALWAYS have to stay the same.

I'll look for fun crafts for the grandchildren to do on Thanksgiving day. I'll ponder the table decorations. Should they be simple and primitive or elegant and traditional? Should I have special invitations or send out e-mails?

We always have guests that don't have family or a place to go and every year new friends are made. 

 Today I am thankful that I am blessed SO ABUNDANTLY that I  even have choices about such things.

Please join me daily in expressing thanks during  the month of November. Let's share the Thanks-giving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING IDEAS

I found a few more fun little ideas  on Etsy  that will  add  some spice to your Thanksgiving celebration...it's all in the details!

...these very cute tags...find them here

...serving forks, a fun keepsake to pass on...find them here

 

Thanksgiving cake pops for the kids... find them here 

Thanksgiving name cards for your guests ...find them here

Another idea....

 

 CANDY CORN!

One of the traditions that we started at our Thanksgiving dinner is to play BINGO for prizes. The prizes are just some things we've found around the house. We wrap them in very pretty wrapping. We wrap up  candles, notecards, coffee mugs, and anything else we can find around the house.  Sure, we could go out and buy some gifts but we started this tradition on the spur of the moment one time and only had time to find "old but nice stuff" so it became a tradition to find things we already had.

OK, so what does that have to do with candy corn? Well, you can use them for the markers to count off your bingo spaces... And then eat a few while you're playing.

THANKSGIVING INSPIRATION

Just  under three weeks to Thanksgiving so I thought I'd look for a bit of inspiration to get ready for the season. I really like the natural look and and who doesn't like to keep the cost down so that's what I'll be looking for.  So here's what I've found: The photos come from Country Living, Celebrations, and HGTV.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

THANKSGIVING IDEAS

My LAST post was about decorating SIMPLY for Thanksgiving. Today I'll share how I get everyone involved in the preparation and also engaged in activities during the BIG DAY itself. Spreading the work around ALSO simplifies things.

Ahead of time:   Everything is more fun when everyone is involved somehow in the preparations. Some people love to share their favorite special dish for the meal. Now you don't have to do all the cooking.  Family will always look forward to "Aunt Bea's mincemeat pie" for example. I like to get the little children involved by having them make place cards ahead of time. Children can also make table decorations for a special children's table. There are a lot of fun and simple ideas on the internet.

On Thanksgiving Day:    Since the purpose of the day is to Give Thanks, one of the things I have done is to have the little children take a sheet of paper with the title on the top," I'M THANKFUL FOR..."and go around to everyone and have them write down what they are thankful for. Then I take"Thanksgiving kids coloring pages" that I've downloaded from the internet and have the kids color them. A Thanksgiving booklet can be made simply by stapling together the colored Thanksgiving pictures and the list of things everyone is thankful for. This can be read throughout the day by family and friends. It also keeps little ones busy with a project while the food is being prepard. Of course there is always a special prayer of thanks before the meal, remembering what God has done in all of our lives and a song of thanks that the grandchildren like to sing. Here is their favorite:

God, our Father,
God, our Father,
Once again, once again
Thank you for these blessings
Thank you for these blessings
Amen, Amen

But after the meal, the day is not over. Of course there are the typical football games that some enjoy watching and our family is no exception. But those of us not interested in sports on TV ( wierd people that we are ) I've usually planned some activities so we don't get lulled to sleep by the tryptophan in the turkey. So here are some things we have included in our "Day Of Thanks":

1) The kids ALWAYS have to put on a "show" for us. This just goes without saying. So we always plan on the" Kids Show". This takes up a lot of time for the kids because they have to spend time putting it together and then practicing. OUR kids also make PROGRAMS to hand out so making them also fills a lot of time for them! ( The football watching guys have to take time to watch this also so we shoot for commercial times. ) The show itself takes much less time than the practice and making the programs.
2) A walk. We DO need to take a walk to "walk off" the BIG MEAL. Most everyone gets in on this and the fresh air feels great!
3) Visit over pie and coffee. The candles are still lit for the ambience and everyone catches up on each others' lives.  It seems no one is hungry right after eating so we wait until later for this casual ritual.
4) Board Games.We pull out the favorites that require a bit of ACTION. Nothing is worse than a QUIET board game with people "drugged out" on tryptophan.
4) BINGO  This was a favorite for several years. My daughter and I found things around the house that we could use for prizes ( unwrapped note cards, unused candles, etc. but also some funny "booby prize" types.) We gift wrapped them also. So we had a large basket full of small gift wrapped presents as prizes. When someone would win they could pick a prize out of the pile. But after the first prize was opened, the next winner could take a gift from the pile OR someone else' gift ( and then they would give THAT person another wrapped prize). This became quite popular and was continued for several years.( We change up some activities depending on the ages of guests, the number of guests, etc.)
My daughter liked it so much that she and her husband continued the tradition when they moved to China. Their guests were from all over the world and most had not celebrated Thanksgiving, not being from the U.S. but wanted to celebrate with them. They also couldn't find turkeys in China so they settled for a different kind of bird. But the BINGO game went on with prizes and all and everyone LOVED it!

These are just SOME of the things we've done to entertain ourselves throughout our Thanksgiving holidays. Share some of YOURS here!

Below are some photos from Country Living of things you can do for place cards, kids table,  take-home left-overs, and other ideas.

I LOVE these ideas from COUNTRY LIVING because they are natural, simple, and affordable! 

THANKSGIVING....SIMPLY

Thanksgiving is on it's way! I know some people are already getting up their Christmas decorations but I won't begin Christmas preparations until after Thanksgiving. So right now I'm preparing for the DAY TO GIVE THANKS! I enjoy the time beginning after Halloween all the way through New Years! To me it's one big Holiday! But between Halloween and Thanksgiving, I can focus on SIMPLICITY!

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has not become as commercialized ( well, not TOO much ) as other holidays. The focus can remain on giving thanks and sharing a meal with family and friends. Simple!

I spend the time beforehand cleaning and bringing in gourds, pumpkins, pinecones, bittersweet, and fall colored flowers, anything natural that I can bring in to decorate with. I don't buy anything "Thanksgivingy" to use as I want THIS holiday to remain unspoiled by commercialized products. If you're trying to avoid too much commercialization in holidays and simplifying your life, start with Thanksgiving. It's so easy to do and you can decorate and set beautiful tables with natural products.

 I USED to buy a big lovely Thanksgiving flower centerpiece for the table but then right after Thanksgiving I wanted to be all about Christmas with reds and greens so this fall colored centerpiece didn't fit in. And since they usually last a week, I felt it was a waste. Now I use what I have found in natural materials and it can be just as elegant and some of the items can fit into your Christmas decor as well.

Today I'm going to share some ideas for decorating. Below are some photos taken from Country Living with ideas for natural table decor for your Thanksgiving dinner.

In my next post, I'll share more ideas on how to make THIS THANKSGIVING simple, festive, and fun!