I’m getting pretty excited to host Thanksgiving!  Are you getting pumped for the holiday now that it is so close?  Are you hosting or bringing your favorite family recipe?  I’m starting to see a trend that Stephen and I love to host.  We did a super bowl party, a Minnie Mouse 4th b-day – destination Yosemite party, a Halloween party and now Thanksgiving!  I get very caught up in ways that we can have fun.  I love games, love kids crafts, absolutely thrive in the kitchen but most importantly, I just like to have fun with people.  I’m a kid at heart, and taming my child-like spirit is hard to do.

Making a Spicy and fruity ice ring

So, first on my list here to tackle is this fabulous spicy and fruity ice ring we are making for the Cranberry, Mango and Pineapple punch.  I’m going to bust out the good ole punch bowl set.  This ice ring is not only decorative but also flavorful.  Yum.  It includes frozen raspberries, cranberries, sliced oranges, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.  We poured 1 cup of water into the bunt pan, and stuffed it full of goodies.  It is freezing as we speak.  I cannot wait to drop it into the fruity punch.

This was so entertaining it almost felt like a sensory bin activity.  And my daughter consumed tons of vitamin C!

Let the planning begin.  I started labeling all of my platters and I thought maybe I should label my pots, too.  It might just be easier to have designated dishes fitting into appropriate cookware and dinnerware.  So there’s a tip on getting prepped.  Another tip my mother mentioned this week was prepping food and keeping it stored in Zip Lock gallon sized bags, in the fridge until it game time.  I think I would have had all the bulky dishes in the fridge if she didn’t say that.

Better Homes & Gardens had some inspiring recipes and pie ideas this month.  A few things stood out to me: a crab and fennel dip; we’re doing the brussel sprout, sausage and grape dish; they had some shortbread leaf cut-out pie toppers that looked really fun; and a chocolate and nut pie, yum.  Grab a copy if you can quick, time is running out!

I set the kids table up today so that I have only food to do on Thursday.  All ironing and cleaning and decorating must be done by Tues.  I laid down some craft paper on the table for coloring and put a bucket of branch colored pencils out.  Those are so fun and natural.

I plan to transition this table from craft to dining.  I also hope to do a turkey and noodle necklace craft.  I use pipe cleaners twisted around threads or yarn to make a needle to string noodles.  It’s big for little fingers and works create in noodles.  I plan to string on twine or orange ribbon.  We dyed these with food coloring over a year and a half ago.  I saved them in plastic bags since.  I love that we can keep using them.

We were attempting to rake our sea of leaves in the front yard today, hoping to get the house looking good.  It was working out great for a short time and ended in swimming in leaves, wrestling in leaves and hiding in leaf piles.  Fall fun.  We ended up trying to string them for a garland.  Again, the keyword is “tried”.  LOL.

Our turkey craft is taking over the house.  I know I need to edit them to some degree, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. 

Willow painted half of a paper plate and sprinkled confetti and even salt on top.  We hot glued a toilet paper roll to make the body stick out.  I started collecting paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls and egg crates – these are the best go-to craft items and would otherwise end up in the recycling bin.  I cut out a turkey body for her to decorate with eyes and beaks.  We might go collecting feathers at a really cool spot in town and paint them tomorrow to glue on the paper plates.  She really wants to, so this might be the final layer.  I love that this craft just keeps going and going.  I will have to keep them forever, of course.

Okay, three more things I must post!  This.  Oh this.  How freaking cute!

This just looks so fun.  I worry about bobbing for apples with little ones so a donut on a string just rocks.

My family in Maine plays this all the time.  We plan to if we can get around all the leaves.  Haha.  I will miss my cousins and Uncle Skipper screaming when people break the rules or aren’t paying attention.  And all my aunts and uncles showing that they are pros when it comes to croquet.

Have a lovely holiday!  Fill your bellies so full and remember all of your blessings.  Eat, pray, love.  Bisous!