Holiday Decorating

Have you started yet?


If you've been out shopping anytime in the past few months I'm sure you've seen how early the Christmas decorations came out this year, before Halloween. Some stores even had them out by the end of the summer. Well, I like to enjoy each season for what it is and not rush things so much.

Do you decorate for Thanksgiving? Every year at my mom's house we still use some of the decorations my mom & I made when I was a child. When my kids were little we made a few more because the family was growing. Here's a quick & easy  DIY for you, that's fun for kids to make.


Napkin Ring Holders:

1. Use empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls and cut them into 1" rings.
2. Cover each ring (inside & out) with velvet fabric, glue it on.
3. Use strands of small beads, sequins or ribbon to embellish the covered rings.
4. Add a few very small dried flowers to one spot which will be the top.

Alternately, you could use felt. You can also get more elaborate and make felt turkeys or use fall leaves like these photos. We've made different napkin rings for all the holidays.

 Then there's also the name place holders. This was important for our Thanksgivings because we would get together with another family and there were always other guests invited as well. Sometimes we would have 25 or 30 people and not everyone knew each other. Here are some cute ideas that would be easy to replicate. Ours looked similar to the ones on the right, except they were hand drawn by 9 year old me.

These are the ways my mom & I would involve the kids in preparing for the holidays. It's good for children to be able to contribute something when preparing for a special occasion. Even if the home made decorations don't look perfect like these, even if they're a little more messy than pretty, children will take pride in the fact that they were able to help make the holiday special. You can always let them make new ones every few years as they become more capable.

Do you make your own decorations for Thanksgiving or other holidays? Please leave a comment and let us know about your lovely family decorations.