Just one more reason...

bestlight — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:36:33 -0500

...why I'd love to have a seat at your table later this month. I can't imagine a more warm and loving scene.

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Love it!

Dora-isothegoldenegg.blogspot.com — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:54:37 -0500

Can I come to your house for Thanksgiving? :-)

Thank you! I'm currently

Melissa Ford — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:15:15 -0500

Thank you! I'm currently waiting for painted bodies to try on a series of princesses--it's fun to paint them.

Venting about infertility since 2006
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and we're not talkin' cowgirls...

Cute Idea

Alissa-Taylor Gifts — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:06:21 -0500

This is a really cute idea. We do not decorate much for Thanksgiving, but I am up for a change, and maybe try out your idea to decorate my parents' house a little bit this year. I am not-so crafty, so maybe I'll have someone do it with me (to supervise) :-)

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Beyond the Hand Turkey

Melissa Ford — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:31:11 -0500

There's something strange about a holiday where the craft projects center on the animal that you're about to consume to show your thankfulness. It seems a little cruel, no? Big fat dead turkey in the center of the table surrounded by preschool-versions of happy turkeys, oblivious to their fate, created out of handprints and construction paper.

I think it's sort of time to get beyond the hand turkey.

Our family is making clothespin dolls this year which have a fantastic, Old School vibe (as in a reeeeeeeeeeeeeally Old School 1600s vibe). I made a pilgrim as my sample for this post because I wasn't certain my siblings were ready to see themselves as clothespin dolls. You see, instead of random pilgrims and turkeys, we're making clothespin dolls that will serve a dual purpose as decoration and a conversation starter. At Thanksgiving this year, every guest will receive a doll made in their image.

The dolls will be placed randomly at different table assignments. Once everyone is seated, they'll need to guess whose doll is at their place setting and then say a reason why they're thankful to have that person in their life. In other words, my sister may get the doll who resembles my brother (hint to my sister: it will be the doll holding a book) and will need to say something kind about him before handing it over. My daughter may find a doll that looks like her father at her place and she'll need to say why she loves him. Everyone will go home with the doll that resembles them.

What You'll Need:
Wooden clothespins
Acrylic paints
Brushes

What To Do:
To make my pilgrim sample, I squeezed out a small dollop of the following colours on my homemade palette (it's a plastic plate covered with a piece of aluminum foil--it makes for a quick clean up afterwards): orange, red, brown, white, silver, and black.

I began by mixing a small amount of orange into a large expanse of white in order to give John, the pilgrim, that pasty, autumnal how-will-we-ever-have-food-for-the-winter skin tone. I first painted his head and then moved down the body to paint the white collar, white stockings, and white cuffs and hands.

After it dried for a moment, I added in the black suit and shoes. I made two dots for the eyes and a quick mouth. I swirled some brown paint to create his hair knowing that it would mostly be covered by the pilgrim hat.

I let John the pilgrim dry for a bit before I attempted to use the silver to give the shadow of a sleeve as well as his belt and shoe buckles. I let him finish drying while I took a few minutes to Google pumpkin pie recipes (I'm sticking with Martha's, I've decided).

You can also make a simple hat for your doll by cutting out a doughnut of black construction paper and a strip of black construction paper and taping the two pieces together. Make a "buckle" out of the white paper and tape that on as well.

Our general rule for holiday art projects is to make art that serves a practical purpose during the holiday or can still be used after the holiday. These dolls can obviously still be used to play with long after Thanksgiving is over (in fact, I've heard tale that John the pilgrim is joining all of the clothespin fairy princesses I've already painted for my daughter for a huge ball). Think about art projects that can double as placemats during the meal or place cards. Edible projects that can serve as dessert or homemade photo albums that can preserve memories from the holiday for years to come.

Bloggers have already been pulling out art projects for the holiday:

Ramblings of a Crazy Woman has a cool craft project that smells as good as it looks. It involves using glue and powdered gelatin to create scented leaf prints. Of course, any other medium that can be sprinkled over glue can be used including beads or glitter.

Flowerbug's Inkspot made paper turkeys out of scrapbooking paper that can be used as a place card for each spot at the table (if you make these turkeys the front of a card, guests can write a quick thank you to the cook and leave them in the kitchen before they go home).

Jazzy's Favourite Art gave the idea of making holiday Twinchies--two inch pieces of art that incorporate words and images.

What art projects are going to show up at your table this year?

Melissa is the author of the infertility and pregnancy loss blog, Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters. She keeps a categorized blogroll of more than 1500 infertility blogs and writes the daily Lost and Found and Connections Abound, a news source for the infertility blogosphere. Her infertility book, Navigating the Land of If, is forthcoming from Seal Press in Spring 2009. She is also an editor at Bridges, the awareness consortium, and the keeper of the IComLeavWe list (International Comment Leaving Week) which is currently open for the month of November. Join along--don't you love comments?

BlogHer - Beyond the Hand Turkey - Comments

Just one more reason...

Love it!

Thank you! I'm currently

Cute Idea

Beyond the Hand Turkey