It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

Around my house, you know Christmas is here when my husband drags out the Christmas mugs. From the day after Thanksgiving until New Year's Day he drinks out of his Christmas mugs. We have a pretty large collection of inexpensive mugs we have saved over the years and I don't think the holidays would be the same without them. His favorite ones are the cups with nutcrackers on them.

In a few days we will be dusting off the Christmas tree and getting out the nutcrackers that spend their Christmas sitting on our mantelpiece. We'll also shop for poinsettias and begin my least favorite chore, wrapping presents.

Until then, we will have our cheery cups filled with coffee and holiday chai and decorated with nutcrackers, bows and holiday swirls to give us a little Christmas cheer. That is especially nice on cool and dreary days like today.

Rosemary wreaths

At our Thanksgiving Dinner this year I really wanted to share something from our garden. My sister and I put our heads together and came up with using the rosemary that was thriving in our garden. We decided that if we made wreaths to decorate each plate, each person could take the wreaths home, store them in the refrigerator and snip little bits off to use in soups, stews and other dishes. Rosemary is great on potatoes and pork, too.

They weren't hard to make. We just used fine green wire and curved the rosemary stems and tied them, twisted more rosemary and tied it with the wire and then used hot glue to put a lacy bow on our creations. It was very easy and the fragrance was wonderful. Rosemary has a nice smell, kind of like evergreens, but nicer. If you look closely in the arrangement in the center of the table, above, you will also notice that we used rosemary in the arrangement. The cooking smells, plus the rosemary lent a wonderful aroma to the room.

It took a couple of hours for my sister and I to make them on Tuesday, but we stored them in the refrigerator and they were perfect on Thanksgiving. They would also be perfect for Christmas with a pretty red or plaid bow.

You will notice that rosemary can be purchased as little evergreen potted plants. They are usually shaped up like Christmas trees. I almost always buy one to put in my entrance and I add a little light strand to them and it adds a nice smell there, too.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and maybe this little tip will be something you can use in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish you all a Happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I am sure that we all have things in our lives that are distracting and we could get away from the message while cooking, cleaning and living in a hectic, busy world. But the timeless message of struggling against all odds, sharing and being thankful for what we have (be it little or great) are not only worth teaching our children, but worth remembering for ourselves. Today, more than ever, the history of the day is very relevant.

When we our family gathers to pray a thankful  prayer over our Thanksgiving feast I will, hopefully, say it with a Pilgrim's heart. Have a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving indians

Indians are coming to our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Last week I was feverishly making an Indian costume (for school) for our 5-year old granddaughter and realized she was planning to wear the costume to school AND to my house on Thursday. I knew I would have to make two more headbands, at least, for our grandsons who will be arriving on Wednesday. We can't just have one Indian. I thought an Indian headdress would be so much easier than a Pilgrim hat, after all. I think the adults will have to be the Pilgrims.

As I was making them, I thought it is a particularly easy idea for the fun the little ones get from wearing them. It is also a good teaching tool. I would rather my grandchildren know the history behind the holiday and not just that it is a national day of stuffing oneself.

Ours are made from faux suede but this craft could be made from strips of Kraft or art paper with self-stick Velcro on the ends. Insert a feather and it is done. The children could draw an Indian design on the headband and it would be such an easy learning tool.

I will show you photos next week of my little Indians.

Thanksgiving take away

Every year after Thanksgiving dinner, I like to send my guests home with leftovers. It it nice to know I can share a little bit of what's left so my guests can enjoy it later. I think it is better sharing than having leftovers that I may not even use.

I used to wrap up paper plates with plastic wrap or tin foil but that was kind of messy. After that, I tried plastic containers but found it to be too expensive and people really didn't like to take my containers home.

Last year I found these tin take out plates with lids and everyone really seemed to appreciate having them for leftovers. They are more sturdy than paper plates and are just perfect for people to take even generous portions home. Guests don't feel they have to return them, so it is an all around good thing.

The thing I like best about these tins -- they only cost a dollar at the dollar store for 3 to 4 plates. I am sure they have them at Party City but I will bet Dollar Tree has them beat as far as price is concerned.

Do you have a better idea? What do you use for leftover take aways?

Thanksgiving crafts

When is comes to Thanksgiving there are a few things my grandchildren expect. One is to get plenty of attention. Another, I will try to cook at least one of their favorite foods and most importantly, we will work on a craft. This year, we will be making pom pon turkeys. They aren't hard but I had to work on it to get the pattern down.

I saw something similar at Michael's the other day and I thought my little ones would LOVE it. It is a tight small pom pon for the head, made from yarn (on sale now) and a larger, looser pom pon for the body. I tied them together by a chenille stem (we always called them pipe cleaners) and used the stem to help stabilize the turkey.

I used 4 fingers to make a pattern for the tail feathers from two pieces of felt and glued them to the back of the turkey and cut a triangle for the beak and a red teardrop shape for the wattle, also from felt. I added two google eyes and I was finished. I am thinking about cutting two chenille stems in half to make some comical feet. I think my two 5 year-olds and my 7 year-old will love it.

Last year we made pomegranate turkeys.

There have already been some inquiries about the pomegranate turkeys. We may have to make them, too.

Another thing I would like to do is make a ring toss game with some of my fall decorations. You must admit they are perfect and a chenille stem made into a ring is also perfect. I think they will have fun. 

Thanksgiving decorations

On Thanksgiving, I will try to spruce up the place a little bit. I will probably buy some fresh flowers (if I can afford them) and try to mix them with some of the outside fall splendor. I will have to gather that the day before. It might be pine cones or even some brightly-colored leaves. It really just depends on what I find. I love to use magnolia leaves and I have noticed that my nandina berries are now in the orange stage, rather than the red they will be. I think they will be a good choice.

I also will fill some baskets with fall fruits and veggies. My gourds, recently picked from my garden will do nicely, Also the pumpkins, left over from Halloween will make a great decoration. I also will use pomegranates, pears and probably apples. I think the organic look of fruits and vegetables are perfect for the Thanksgiving theme of plenty.

Do you decorate and what will you use?