Thanksgiving Turkey Herbs

I know, I know.  Thanksgiving is over and we've all moved on to Christmas.  I know.  Me too.  But, allow me one last post about Thanksgiving, as it was almost complete (but not quite) before the great turkey roasts around America.  I'm sorry.  Maybe you'll thank me next year, or the next time you need some seasoning for your roasted chicken (because it works for that, too)!

To make this turkey rub, you will need one teaspoon of each of the following dried herbs: 

basil

rosemary

marjoram

thyme

oregano

savory

sage

lavender

Crush them together in a mortar and pestle, or a food processor if you have one.

Store in an airtight container for up to three months.  Enjoy on all poultry dishes!

Next time, we'll be moving on to Christmas.  I promise.

A Thanksgiving Sage Wreath

If you're looking for a fitting way to decorate your home or need a hostess gift this Thanksgiving, you might want to try making a simple sage wreath.  Since many cooks use sage to season their turkey and stuffing, it makes perfect sense to incorporate this herb wreath into the celebration!  

To make a sage wreath you will need:

A large quantity of sage (10-12 big bunches)

Sturdy wire (formed into a circle) to serve as your frame

Floral wire

Wire cutters

Trim off the thick ends of your sage as well as any brown, spotted leaves.  Using your floral wire, attach one bunch of sage at a time, working your way around your wire frame until it is full.  Easy, no?

I'll be back soon with more Thanksgiving fun!

(and yes, I'm using sage again...  Can you sense a theme here?)

*****

Oh, just in case you're interested in more herb wreaths, you can go here!

Sage and Leaf Thanksgiving Placecards

Placecards for Thanksgiving can be easy, inexpensive, and elegant even when you use ordinary things from around your home.  For these placecards, I used sage from my herb garden, oak leaves, and twine.  Simply bundle together a small bunch of sage, a leaf, and wrap with twine.  Write your guests' names on each leaf and you've got yourself something extraordinary out of the ordinary.

I'll be back tomorrow with more Thanksgiving fun!

Thanksgiving Table Setting

Even though I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year, I still wanted to create a beautiful table setting for my family of four.  You see, we go to my parents' house for Thanksgiving every year.  I love it.  However, we never have access to those yummy leftovers that you get after the festivities have come and gone.  To remedy this, I plan on making our own "mini Thanksgiving meal" the weekend after.  I'll have all the turkey I need to make soups, pot pies, and sandwiches.  Here is what our table will look like for our own little family Thanksgiving celebration.

I started by setting out my yellow table runner along with my white dishware.  I love white dishware.  It goes with anything.  You can't go wrong with it!  I wanted to go with a yellow, brown, and silver color scheme, so I brought out my silver chargers.

For a place card, I simply took some gray card stock and cut it into strips.  I then cut a "v" in each end.

I wrote our names on the strips of card stock and wrapped them around some of my dried cone flowers that I spray painted with some Goldenrod spray paint.

I kept them in place with some hot glue.

To keep the color scheme going, I added my silver and golden yellow pumpkins to the table.

My menu card is pretty plain Jane.  I printed my "menu", which is totally fake by the way, on some more gray card stock and glued another dried cone flower to the front.  I really have no idea what we'll eat that day!


Thanks for taking a look at my Thanksgiving table setting!  It was fun to put together and I can't wait to enjoy it with my three boys at our Thanksgiving.  

Filled with Joy

Normally after Halloween I get in my Christmas mode and sort of forget about Thanksgiving.  I still am thankful and celebrate and indulge in all things delicious, don't get me wrong!  This year I wanted it to be different.  I wanted to embrace this holiday that I usually don't even decorate for and try my hand at some Thanksgiving crafts, recipes, and projects.   I had been seeing these lovely "Thankful Trees" all over Pinterest and got a lot of inspiration.  I was excited to make one for myself and my little family.  After all, we are truly blessed!  When Katie Bower and friends mentioned on their blogs about the second round of the Pinterest Challenge, I decided I would join in!  I began by taking some branches that I found outside and spray painted this spring and moved them into the dining room.

I gathered all of the supplies that I thought I would need for this project.  I was winging it, so I wasn't really sure what I would end up using!  My supplies included:  jute, some glitter, glue, gray and white card stock, a hole punch, scissors, a ruler, and some string (I actually used burlap that had come off of my tablerunner). 

To begin I cut strips of paper that were 1''x3''.

To make the paper strips more decorative, I made a little "v" at the end of each strip of paper.

I used the hole punch to make a hole and then tied some jute at the end to make a loop.  I tried knotting the jute at the top of the loop, but it was too large and looked messy.  I used my leftover burlap to tie the ends of the jute together.

I repeated this process for awhile until I had a nice little pile of paper strips.

To add a little more visual interest to the strips of paper, I put some glue on the bottom of the "v" and sprinkled on some glitter.

After the glue dried, I set down with a cup of coffee and set to work writing some blessings onto each strip of paper.  I didn't do them all because I do want to take the time to write one down each day with all three of my boys, even though I was tempted to!

I put the extra strips of paper into a glass with a pen right under the thankful tree.



Our thankful tree is already pretty full!  My little family and I have been richly blessed.  In all honesty though, this tree should be covered in jute and gray card stock.  God does so much for us every day.  I am filled with joy!

Please make sure you visit all of the other ladies who are hosting this fun Pinterest party!  I've already seen their projects and they are amazing!  Thanks for hosting, ladies!

Katie

Sherry

Erin

Ana

I'll also be linking up to these fun link parties!  Please visit them as well!

Simple Home Life

Stay tuned for the finished pictures from our wine cellar!  I can't wait to show you!

Some Thanksgiving Inspiration

Sad to say, Thanksgiving is one holiday that often gets overlooked at my house.  Shame on me!  I have so much to be thankful for!  Year after year, I get so excited to decorate for Christmas after Halloween that I barely give it any thought.  So this year, I am going to show Thanksgiving a little thankful love.  God has richly blessed me and I'm going to show my thankfulness, by golly!  Now I'm going to show you the pictures that serve as my inspiration.

Even though I don't host Thanksgiving at my house, I'm going to pretend I do and create a tablescape just for fun.  However, I am going to cook our own Thanksgiving meal the weekend after so that we'll have some of those delicious leftovers we always miss out on by heading to my parents' house.

Image found via Pinterest

Houzz

Image found via Pinterest

Little Lovables

I'll make my favorite pie and do the crust like this.  Or at least I'll try!  Seriously, Martha never ceases to amaze me.

Image found via Pinterest

Martha Stewart

I love how people are making "Thankful Trees" lately.  Perhaps I'll try!

Image found via Pinterest

Simply Vintage Girl

Image found via Pinterest

The Shabby Nest

I'm also going to try to make a Thanksgiving banner.  I'm thinking maybe something like this.

Image found via Pinterest

Rambling Renovators

Finally, a Thanksgiving table isn't complete in my book unless there are festive place cards.  Here are some of my favorites because they're so simple and yet stunning!

Image found via Pinterest

Martha Stewart

Image found via Pinterest

Centsational Girl

Thanks for letting me share my plans for a fun and festive Thanksgiving season.  I'm looking forward to sharing some fun projects!  What about you?  What will you be doing to show your thankfulness?  Or if you already celebrated Thanksgiving, how did you celebrate and make it special?