Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Cutest Thanksgiving Party That Wasn't



So, it is a really long story, but the short version is this: I had wanted to have a Thanksgiving party for a long time. I love a party that is unexpected. I had set up a play date with a family I was recently introduced to (we haven't even met in person) and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to throw a little party! The short part: they all got sick and couldn't make it.

I had already set up all the decorations so even though my guests weren't coming, I finished the rest of the preparations so you (and my kids!) could appreciate a little of my hard work. The inspiration for having the party came from these adorable (and FREE!) printables! Paper Glitter has some of the cutest stuff, and these were easy to use, too! I used their "Thanksgiving" banner and hotglued it to some ribbon, and then I used parts of the "icon" banner to add a little more color underneath. I found it to be a good use for the paper tape that my friend had given me (from Target) and I am absolutely in *love* and am now on the hunt for other uses!
 
I printed off placemats, and napkin "rings". I really wanted yellow or orange plates, but they were surprisingly hard to find. I ended up just going with white ones from the Dollar Store. And after my guests cancelled, I was glad that I hadn't spent too much! I printed everything on regular cardstock from Walmart, and I wasn't disappointed.
I let these little cuties make one of the snacks I had planned for breakfast. I found the instructions for these Donut Hole Acorns and they really delivered. They are just as cute as the photo and so easy to make! She suggests Nutella, but I used chocolate frosting. 4 ingredients: donut holes, chocolate frosting, pretzels, and chocolate sprinkles and you get these:

I also used the printable food labels (Seriously, don't those things have some sort of name? What is it?!)  and it worked well because I made acorns and a turkey and they had little pictures of both those things!
I got this idea off Pinterest, the link does not work but you can see my inspiration photo here. I am pretty sure that they used caramel dip in the original, but I wanted something that wasn't quite so sweet, so I just filled a little glass bowl with peanut butter. I used Granny Smith, Pinata and Red Delicious apples for the feathers. The original is cuter, I think because they used a circular plate it worked better. But mine is still pretty cute!
 
I was going to have all the kids make these turkey cookies. You might remember them from my post a couple years ago! I made a few changes (I couldn't find the Little Debbie Chocolate Creme Pies, so I swapped in Oatmeal Creme Pies) and I added a gummy worm "wattle" which I think was a good move, I just snipped off the red part.

We were also going to make these gumdrop turkeys- not for eating, although you could. I was going to send them home in the little paper baskets by the placemats. I found the directions here. If you don't know where to find the big gumdrops, they have them at Walgreen's (I used them for my nativity scene last Christmas.) Her directions are good, so I won't embellish them.

I also wanted to incorporate some of the first Thanksgiving story, and I liked these bead bracelets. I chose to use leather cording instead of pipe cleaners. It is kind of hard to tell from my photo, but I used light tan beads where she uses cream ones. Basically it goes:
 
Black- the Pilgrims
White- sails on the Mayflower
Three Blue-long trip on the ocean
Green- land, Massachusetts!
Three White-long winter
Tan-Indians, especially Squanto, help the Pilgrims to plant and harvest
Red-cranberries
Orange-pumpkins
Tan-turkey
Yellow-corn
 
The pink bead is to help make the bracelet adjustable. I liked that it was a visual mnemonic device!
 
For favors I made my own version of Thanksgiving Blessing Trail Mix. I put in one bag of Bugles (cornucopias), 1 movie size box of Runt candies (fruits of the harvest), 2 cups pretzel sticks (because the Pilgrims would "stick" with it and survive the long winter), 2 cups candy corn (for the corn the Indians helped them to plant) and one cup M & Ms (for the sweetness of all our blessings!).
 
 
 
I also made these adorable hats-both the boy's version and the girl's bonnet. I used craft foam because I wanted them to be more durable. So when it called for folding the paper on the bonnet, I just cut the foam and glued it instead. On the boy's hat I just glued the headband part at the edges of the folded up brim instead of all the way across, because I bought 12x18 foam, instead of the 24 inch paper. It worked great! I will try to get pics of my kids wearing the hats because they are super cute!
 
You like? I think they are adorable!
 
So, don't you think it would have been a fun party? I tried not to be too disappointed, there are certainly worse things than planning a party that doesn't happen, and no one can be responsible for getting sick! I am taking the bracelet, gumdrop turkeys, turkey cookies, and acorns to share with our friends' on Thanksgiving, so those are not a total loss. And I have a great plan for a wonderful party next year!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 



 

5 comments:

  1. Ridiculously adorable. Sorry your guests couldn't make it, and wish I could have been there. The apple turkey is darling, and the 'acorns' are to die for. My favorite though, are the 'acorn' makers :)

    Happy Thanksgiving to 4 of my favorite people! Love you all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SUPER cute...may have to make the bracelets next year with my Kindies!!

    ~Happy Thanksgiving~

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOVE all the food ideas. Even though I hate being in the kitchen, I think I'm gonna have to try some of those ideas next year. :):)

    ~ Jen

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like an individual's publishing. It's good to look at you really clarify within phrases using the spirit in addition quality in this essential issue is usually quite easily seen. Thanksgiving 2019

    ReplyDelete
  5. When i ordered on your web page on the other hand setting concentration simply somewhat minor submits. Rewarding technique for near future, We are book-marking whenever get men and women down comes up available. Thanksgiving 2019

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails