Celebrate Thanksgiving with simple DIY crafts
November 21, 2017
Stuck between two of the most popular holidays, Thanksgiving seems to be celebrated less and less as the years go on. Spruce up you home and turn the focus from the food with three festive, simple crafts you can easily replicate with your family.
The 45 minutes spent making my Paper Pumpkin was not an enjoyable time, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have the same encounter. It was the most difficult of the three decorations, not because the directions were hard to follow but because it requires a ton of precision. Adult assistance will be needed throughout the project as there is a lot of hot gluing going on. My problems stemmed from the accordion folding. If every fold isn’t exactly the same length, your pumpkin just might turn out looking more like a potato similar to mine. Making the “medallions” was also a struggle for me, and there was a few seconds where I’m sure I was working as hard as an Olympic athlete. However, if you can manage to get it right, it is an adorable addition to any household.
The creation of my Washi Tape Pinecone Turkey was incredibly simple and fun. It only took 15 minutes to complete and could be done without having to look at the directions or example pictures every 10 seconds. While it could easily be replicated by younger children, some of the tools needed aren’t safe for them to use on their own (specifically the X-Acto knife and the hot glue gun). This super cute craft was my personal favorite of the three and will add an element of fun to the house as well as increase excitement for Thanksgiving.
The Mason Jar Luminary was the easiest, but most time consuming craft of the three. I suppose patience is required whenever one paints, though. This decoration is one little children could make with adult supervision and without assistance. There are many alternatives to the example I made. Your jar can be any fall color you’re drawn to and the window doesn’t have to be a leaf. For those artistically challenged like yours truly, a traced printout is a great substitute for an intricate hand-drawn design. Whatever your choice, be sure to get multi-surface acrylic paint, even though the tutorial doesn’t recommend it over regular acrylic paint. It took me three coats with regular acrylic and in some spots the paint peeled away from the jar, especially on the first and second coats. Because multi-surface acrylic paint is made for a variety of surfaces instead of just wood, that won’t be a problem.
