Thanksgiving Craft Projects

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DIY Scarecrow Wreath

Level:

Advanced

How-To:

Home Decor

Seasonal Event:

Fall

• Fall wreath
• Children’s jeans
• Children’s jean shirt
• Children’s straw hat
• Pillow stuffing
• Styrofoam ball at least 6”
• Canvas or burlap fabric
• Felt in brown and orange
• Wire
• Hay
• Fabric in fall colors and patterns
• Fabric scissors
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Fabri-tac
• Zip ties
• Scissors
• Wire snips

• Sewing machine
• Straight pins

1. Make the pants out of a pair of kid’s jeans. Resize them to make them narrower by turning them inside out, cutting the inseam to the size you want and sewing the sides shut again. Resizing isn’t entirely necessary but will save you a lot of stuffing! PRO TIP: If you’re not a sewer, the sides can be seamed with fabric glue. Wait for the glue to thoroughly dry before flipping right-side out thought.
2. Stuff the pants with pillow stuffing and add wire down the inseam of each leg to give the legs pliability and structure. Glue in place with hot glue if necessary.
3. Stuff the shirt and add wire down the arms. Hot glue in place if necessary.
4. Add patches to the clothes if desired. Cut some squares out of your fall fabrics. Glue them to the pants and shirt.
5. Create boots for the scarecrow out of brown felt. Draw a small boot pattern that will fit into the cuff of the jeans, cut out four felt boot pieces and sew or glue them together. Flip right-side out. Stuff with stuffing. PRO TIP: If you use glue wait for it to thoroughly dry before flipping.
6. Secure the top of the boots into the cuff of the jeans with hot glue. Leave some room to stuff some hay in if possible.
7. Create the head of the scarecrow by wrapping the styrofoam ball with a square of fabric that is big enough to have a few inches of excess around the bottom. Shove a piece of wire into the bottom of the ball to create a “neck” that will go into the shirt to secure the head to the body of the scarecrow.
8. Secure the fabric around the head by tying a bandana or cut piece of fall fabric around the excess on the bottom where the wire is protruding from.
9. Add a nose to the scarecrow face by cutting a small triangle of orange felt and gluing it to the fabric.
10. Now attach your scarecrow parts to the wreath using zip ties. First attach the shirt, then the pants and finally the head by shoving the wire “neck” into the shirt. Cut into the fabric where necessary for the zip-ties to attach to the wreath structure without being seen.
11. Position the hat on the head and adhere it with hot glue.
12. Stuff some hay into the cuffs of the shirt and sticking out of the bottom of the pants around the boots. Secure with hot glue where necessary.
13. Hang the wreath as desired and enjoy!

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More DIY Fall Wreaths ideas!

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DIY Faux Acorn Decor

Level:

Easy

How-To:

Home Decor

Seasonal Event:

Fall, Thanksgiving

• Plastic Easter Eggs
• Newspaper
• Mod Podge
• Twine
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Sponge paint brush

• Large or Jumbo Plastic Easter Eggs
• Real or synthetic acorns
• Paper
• Mod Podge
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Sponge paint brush

• Skein of Twine
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Excelsior stuffing

1. Take your newspaper and rip it into several different small pieces – this can be random…it doesn’t have to be perfect since it will all go together on the egg.
2. Take your mod podge and sponge paint brush and cover the plastic egg with mod podge.
3. Add strips of newspaper to the egg in random patterns, overlapping so that there are no sections of the easter egg that are exposed.
4. Add mod podge to the top of the newspaper on the egg and set aside to dry.
5. Once dry, grab your glue gun and twine and start adding the twine to the egg about half way up the egg with the large part of the egg on top (this will simulate an acorn).
6. Add beads of hot glue and continue to wrap the egg.
7. When you get towards the top of the egg/acorn, cut a bit of twine to simulate a stem at the top that will be exposed.
8. Cover the bottom of that piece of twine so that it disappears in the wrapping.
9. Voila! You have an acorn!

1. Do the similar steps as the acorn above to cover the egg with paper using mod podge.
2. Allow mod podge to dry.
3. Add gold paint to the bottom ¾ of the egg.
4. Add acorns to the top of the jumbo egg using hot glue.
5. Continue this process until the entire top portion of the egg is covered.

1. Cut a piece of the twine that will wrap around the center of your skein.
2. Add the twin around the skein in the middle heading towards the top.
3. Cut a small piece of the twine to act as the stem of the acorn.
4. Add the stem to the top using hot glue.
5. Add some of the excelsior stuffing to the top of the acorn using hot glue. This part doesn’t have to be perfect…think of a rustic feel and you can’t go wrong!

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Try pumpkins or go for simple look on your mantle!

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DIY Cornucopia Centerpiece

Level:

Intermediate

How-To:

Home Decor, Flowers

Seasonal Event:

Fall

• Cornucopia Basket
• Hot glue gun
• Magnolia leaves
• Artificial magnolia skeleton leaves
• Oasis floral foam
• Green tray
• Chicken wire & tape
• White pumpkins
• Pomegranate twigs
• Fresh flowers
• Textured greens

1. Use hot glue gun to attach real maple leave onto basket
2. Make sure to cover the entire basket
3. Use hot glue to add artificial magnolia skeleton leaves
4. Let dry
5. Once dry, add green tray with floral oasis, add chicken wire to insert inside basket and use tape to hold down wire
6. Start making floral arrangement
7. Use a variety of textured greens
8. Cornucopia centerpiece will last between 5 to 7 days
9. Water it everyday

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Here is another beautiful cornucopia by Amy!
Create a Harvest centerpiece!
Or go with the Fall season's go to decor, pumpkins leveled up with succulents!

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DIY Holiday Kid's Table/Tablescape

Level:

Advanced

How-To:

Home Decor

Seasonal Event:

Fall, Thanksgiving

1 pc of ½” plywood (desired size)

• 4 Wood Crates
• Felt
• Wing nuts
• Drill
• Chalkboard paint

Directions

1. Drill holes through plywood, two in each corner.
2. Paint the table with chalkboard paint - orange on one side, red on the other.
3. Glue felt to one side of the crates.
4. Drill holes in crates to match plywood
5. Attach plywood to crates with wing nuts.

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Have fun with the kids, decorating acorn towels or pumpkins with leaves!

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DIY Turkey Place Settings

Level:

Beginner

How-To:

Kids

Seasonal Event:

Thanksgiving

For more inspiration & project ideas visit Crayola.com/Crafts.

• Crayola model magic in brown, orange, red green and yellow
• Pipe cleaners
• Googly eyes
• Crayola signature sketch & detail dual ended markers
• Scissors
• Crayola construction paper
• Crayola signature gel pens

• Napkin
• Tissue paper in yellow, orange, red and green
• Twine or decorative ribbon
• Scissors

1. For each place card holder, roll brown model magic into 1 medium and 1 small ball. Attach to create the body and face of the turkey.
2. Flatten model magic in a variety of colors to create feathers. Attach to back of turkey.
3. Place 2 googly eyes on the face.
4. Attach small, triangular piece of orange model magic to create a beak under the eyes.
5. Attach small, wavy piece of red model magic to create the wattle under the beak.
6. Bend a small section of a pipe cleaner and push into the body of the turkey to hold the place card. Dry overnight.
7. For each place card, cut a small rectangular piece of construction paper. Use markers to write each name and gel pens to add flourishes.
8. Place the name tag into the pipe cleaner stem to finish the place card.
9. Repeat steps 1–8 for all your guests, set on your thanksgiving table and enjoy!

1. Fold the napkin in half, then in half again.
2. Fold into a cone shape, with the folded edges at the bottom.
3. Tie ribbon or twine around the napkin. Tie in a bow.
4. Stuff with thanksgiving colored tissue paper and flatware.
5. Set on each place setting and enjoy!

Crayola.com/Crafts

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Check out these pie garland and placemats to make with the kids!

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Harvest Season Potpourri

Level:

Intermediate

How-To:

Flowers

Seasonal Event:

Fall

The scent of fall is in the air, and, we are checking off another item from our fall harvest bucket list with incredible potpourri!

“Making potpourri Is multi-sensory art. You want the dried materials to look pretty together and relate to a season or holiday. You can blend your own fragrances or buy a pre-mixed oil blend. Either way, you end up with the heavenly scents you love all season long.

You can make potpourri from foliage you find in your neighborhood, or you can buy dried flowers from a craft store. But naturally dried foliage often turns brown, so the makers of Commercial potpourri often enhance certain elements for color.

We are going to do that too. But we are selecting which elements we want to enhance for color. Like these hydrangeas for example. You can use the Floral Paint Black Cherry to spray them and you have the control over whether you want them to be just a little enhanced or rich dark color. Black Cherry looks great with browns and oranges (or in this case, peach), so this is a good choice for a harvest mixture.

Another tool you want to have on hand is a cardboard box to put your flowers in and catch any overspray. I recommend you wear protective eye goggles when spraying.

I’m painting these little dried “Lamb’s Ears” flowers, peach.

And I’m going to show you how to preserve these magnolia leaves using Mod Podge. They will stay a beautiful green

You can buy pre-blended fragrances from any craft store or online. And some of the fragrances are perfect for creating a harvest atmosphere in your home: Apple Cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie, etc. You can also buy pure scents and mix them yourself.

And, you can blend your own by starting with a stabilizer or fixative. We are using Valerian Root. The Valerian root will absorb the fragrance and keep it fragrant for months. Valerian is a musky scent and is perfect for Harvest Season. The fragrances I chose to go with our Harvest blend are: Angelica, Cedarwood, Orange, Patchouli, Pine, lavender, rosemary, and cinnamon

I chose the Valerian root because it is highly absorbent and holds on to fragrance really well. It does have a musky earthy scent that will function as the base note for the fragrance. It is also inexpensive and comes in a chopped-up form as well as powder.

Using the chopped-up Valerian root as a fixative is better than Valerian powder because powder tends to cover the leaves and dried flowers and look chalky. You can find it online or at a health food store

We are going to add some drops of essential (or fragrant) oil. It is a pre-blended mix. You can make your own depending on what scents you like.

Assemble your potpourri using the heaviest materials as a base.

Cover the freshly scented potpourri with plastic and put away in a cupboard for 2 weeks so the scent can become "Fixed"

If you "cure" your potpourri in covered plastic for two weeks your scent can last for many months. When the scent weakens, refresh with a few drops of the fragrance oil.

Get more from Shirley at EdenMakers.com

You may also like these how-tos and recipes :

Pique Hot Sauce >>

Fall Seed Harvesting >>

How to Ripen Our End-Of-Summer Tomatoes >>

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DIY Pumpkin Kegs 7 Apple Cider Iced Tea

Level:

Intermediate

How-To:

Home Decor

Seasonal Event:

Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving

• One large pumpkin
• Marker or pencil
• Carving kit
• Plastic or metal spigot(aka tap): *you can get these online, or at hardware stores or beverage supply/distributor businesses. Can be as inexpensive as $15.00 each. They sell nice chrome ones on glassbeveragedispenser.com
• Fall beer, or apple cider iced tea
• Fall/Halloween decorations of your choice to decorate your pumpkin

1. Draw a ring around the top of the pumpkin as a guide to carve the lid. Keep this close to the top of the pumpkin so you optimize the hollowed out space that will hold the beverage.
2. Carve the pumpkin with a carving kit or carving kit or serrated knife.
3. Remove the lid and clean out the pumpkin, removing all seeds out and most of the pulp. It's ok if some pulp remains – it flavors the beverage.
4. Place your spigot. Using your pencil or marker, trace a circle and cut the hole with a fine serrated knife – carving kit works best.
5. Make the hole clean, then pop in your spigot. If your pumpkin is thick, you'll have to thin out the pumpkin's inner wall to fit the spigot properly.
6. Decorate you pumpkin with a fall or Halloween theme.
7. Making sure your spigot is secured, Pour in your Pumpkin Ale or Harvest beer, or a non-alcoholic option such as *apple cider iced tea. Replace pumpkin lid.

• If filling with beer, chill the beer and pour right before serving to keep it cold. You can also set the pumpkin on ice to help keep it cold.
• When using Cider Iced Tea, you can fill pumpkin with ice. • Keep in mind that whatever beverage you choose will absorb the flavor from the pumpkin, so stick to fall beers, ciders, and teas.

• ½ Gallon of iced tea
• 1 cup apple cider, at room temperature or cold, to brewed iced tea add the apple cider, stirring to combine.
• Serve over ice.

And make sure you visit Ken Wingard at KennethWingard.com and follow him on Twitter @KennethWingard.

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Last Minute Thanksgiving Decor

Level:

Easy

How-To:

Home Decor

Seasonal Event:

Fall, Thanksgiving

Materials

Glass vases (I will be using three vases in varying sizes/heights as listed below):

• Glass cylinder measurement: 4.33" x 4.33" x 4.33"
• Glass cylinder measurement: 4.3" x 4.3" x 5.9"
• Glass cylinder measurement: 3.9" x 3.9" x 7.9"

Dry items that you have in your cupboard (I will be using the ingredients below): NOTE: It is easiest to use dry ingredients. The same effect can be achieved with wet ingredients, but it will be messier.

• Corn kernels
• Lentils
• Beans and/or cranberries

Battery-operated candles. NOTE: Since you will be using dry ingredients, it’s important to use battery-operated candles instead of those using an actual wick with a flame. Let’s be safe this holiday season! If you only have real candles, then proceed with caution. I will be using 3” round candles in heights of 4”, 5” and 6”.
· OPTIONAL: Any ribbon or décor you would like to add to your candles.

Directions

1. Wash the glass vases and dry them thoroughly.
2. Add a small layer of ingredients (ie kernals, beans, lentils, etc.) to the bottom of the vase, about an inch high (or however high you would like your candle to sit).
3. Set your candle in place, in the middle of the vase on top of the dry ingredients.
4. Add the rest of your dry ingredients all the way around the vase, in between the candle and the edge of the vase.
5. Voila! You can add additional decoration to this vase, or be done here! Enjoy your holiday-themed candle.

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