Handmade Thanksgiving Place Card Turkeys

I had some free time with the kiddos this past weekend and with the Thanksgiving holiday this week, I thought it was time to get crafty!  So Caroline and a non-participating Jack created some adorable Thanksgiving turkey place cards for our table this year.

I’m sure you’ve seen tons of samples of these on Pinterest – I found this adorable one here from this source.

Non-participating Jack was NOT down AT ALL with putting his hand in paint so that was an utter fail right out of the gate.  Caroline however was a bit of a better sport and I was able to convince her to do all the hand print feathers.

But even Caroline cried “fowl” when I asked if we could paint with her foot.

No way.

So we called an audible and painted the turkey bodies with the side of her hand for more of a “profile” turkey look. 

Once the painted hands were dry, we cut them out and glued them to the back of the body with a glue stick.  I cut out beaks and feet to attach as well. Then I created a stand for the place cards by cutting strips of card stock about 3″ wide.  I folded the paper into quarters and glued two of the sides together to create a triangular stand.  Then I glued a stand to the back of each turkey.  Caroline wrote out each person’s name in festive Thanksgiving colors and we attached that as well as a goggler (whoops!  How did we forget that before!).  Done!

Now we’re all ready to be festive!  Happy Thanksgiving!

–Martta

Oreo Owl Cupcakes

I Pinned it, and made it! Yes, I love Pinterest, and have thousands of Pins, but how many have I actually made? Maybe 20-ish. The teeniest drop in the bucket, when compared to how many Pins I’ve saved! I don’t think I’m alone in this either. So no judging, just do it!

My Mom actually emailed me this Pin, but of course I had seen it all over Pinterest… cutest cupcakes!! And because I am not so talented in the confectionary creation department, I go for the easy decorations. Frosted cupcakes, Oreos, and Reese’s Pieces? Easy.

Here is the Pin I saw…

Here is the original post from One Charming Party…

http://onecharmingparty.com/2010/10/21/halloween-school-party-food-station/

And here is my version… boxed cake mix, with homemade frosting… Yum!

Of course my kids had free license when it came to decorating, but I did strongly encourage they have normal owl eyes this first round. My son added yellow cheeks and a brown piece of hair, and my daughter went with two tufts of blonde hair for her sweet owl. Mine, of course is the boring one on top. 🙂

I used this recipe for the frosting, but made a couple of small changes. A whole stick of butter instead of the 6 Tbsp, and heavy cream instead of sweetened condensed milk. I recommend doubling the recipe if you want to cover a whole batch of cupcakes.

Here are a couple more pics, just for fun…

Make these with your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or just neighbors and friends! They are so easy, and just plain fun!

Happy Fall Y’All, as they say here in the South. 🙂

-Heather

Easter Bunny Paper Candy Pouches

It’s time to fill up those Easter Egg string baskets I made for the kiddos last year.  Since I’m sure they will be covered in the chocolate bunny category, I wanted to give them another bunny filled with jelly beans.  And the Easter bunny paper candy pouch idea was born.  

I saw the concept of sewn candy pouches around Christmas time through a pin from Peppermint Plum.  See, how cute at these?  

But I wanted to make it Easter special.  So I found an image of a bunny I liked and cut out two bunnies.  It’s best to do cut both at once so all the edges match up. 

Then stitch up those bunnies. 

I left a generous opening in the fluffy tail region so I could stuff the pouch with jelly beans. 

Make sure to work them into the ears and feet.  Then just stitch closed. 

I went with a light green thread to coordinate with Jack’s light green basket, but it does draw attention to the stitching!  So OCD folks, beware.

I needed a final touch to top off my bunny and decided a little pom pom yarn tail was just the ticket.  I used the fork technique to create my pom poms.  You can find a good example of this technique here. 

Just a little dab of hot glue to stick the tail and I was done!  Love my adorable bunny and I’ve enjoyed eating the extra jelly beans that I just couldn’t fit in the bunny…..

–Martta

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