CELEBRATIONS: Cork & Feather Place Cards

The entertaining season is upon us friends! Time to spruce up the house and get ahead of the curve.

CELEBRATIONS: Vintage Button Napkin Rings

One week until the big turkey day! Are you getting ready? I made these vintage button napkin holders that I think will look nice for Thanksgiving.

GOOD TASTE: Purple Potato Vegetable Medley

I was so excited to see these little purple potatoes at my regular market. It’s always fun to try new things. And these little guys exceeded my expectation with their incredible burst of color.

GOOD TASTE: 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Leftover Round Up

Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. friends! Whether you live in the United States or not, these Thanksgiving leftover ideas will come in handy at some point.

Enjoy the day, don’t eat too much (yeah, right…) and file these recipes away so that you can enjoy the leftovers in a unique way!

GOOD TASTE: cranberry relish crostini

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Are you as excited about the tastes of Thanksgiving as I am? In anticipation, I’m trying out some new recipes and I thought this cranberry relish, cream cheese & turkey crostini would be a perfect Thanksgiving appetizer or even a Thanksgiving leftovers idea.

GOOD TASTE: Thanksgiving Recipes

I had to shuffle my schedule around and the project that I was going to share with you today isn’t quite ready. But since I was meal planning with my mother for our Thanksgiving dinner and going through my recipes, I’d thought I’d share some of our favorites with you. Some of these make a regular appearance on our Thanksgiving table. The spinach apple & glazed pecan salad, cranberry conserve, cheesecake bars and pecan mini tarts are always requested. A few others are new recipes that are also perfect for Thanksgiving.

Celebrations: happy thanksgiving leftovers and a giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the U.S. I hope you’re enjoying your day with family, friends and of course, food.

Once the dishes are done and you’ve had a second helping of pie, I hope you have to time to enjoy this round up of Thanksgiving leftover ideas. Plus, once you've perused this round up, scroll to the bottom for a special Thankful Giveaway.


Pop over to Jacolyn Murphy to see how she created this ultimate Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich. Oh my – if I weren’t so full, I’d make one of these right now. However, tomorrow is a new day!

Celebrations: quick & easy cornhusk napkin rings

 If you need a last minute idea for your Thanksgiving table, these cornhusk napkin rings are quick and easy.

Etceteras: faux wood leaves

I’m loving fall right now. Every time I open a magazine, I see dozens of great ideas and my project list is growing. This project was quick and easy so it made it to the top of the list and was quickly checked off. 

Celebrations: thanksgiving table

I took a few pictures of my Thanksgiving table and now that I've almost recovered from the stuffing, gravy and pie, I thought I’d share them.

I shined up the silverware and used my pretty plates.

My cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, apples and mandarin oranges. The recipe is under the Goodie Bag tab.

I used faux pears and berries to decorate my table. The vase is wrapped in gold organza and twine and holds gold ting grass.

Fall décor around the room.

Brie and artichoke spread served with wafer thin crackers. 

More fall décor in the dining room.

My mom’s apple pie. Yum! Do you eat leftover pie for breakfast after Thanksgiving? I do!

I hope you all have recovered from Thanksgiving and are ready for the holidays.

Celebrations: thanksgiving

Today in the United States we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Family and friends are gathering and feasts are being prepared and eaten. And while I prepare the Thanksgiving meal for my family, I’ll leave you with these Thanksgiving quotes.

He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
~J.A. Shedd ~

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.  

~Native American Saying~

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

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Please join me tomorrow as we kick off the holiday season.

Inkling: coiled thankful cards and a martha stewart craft station

Families have different Thanksgiving traditions for expressing thanks. Some may go around the table and say what they are grateful for. Others use a thankful tree or thankful garland.



We don’t have a specific tradition but I think it’s nice to at least write down something that you are thankful for.



This year I created these thankful coiled cards. I’ll put them out on the table and my family and guests can write down something they are thankful for.



The coils are made out of a 65# cover stock called Brown Bag Kraft. I typed up my message several times and fed the paper through my printer.



To cut the strips, I used my new Martha Stewart Craft Station that EK Success generously sent me to test out. It certainly made cutting the strips a breeze.



I only used the Craft Station as a paper cutter but I can’t wait to try out all the features. Aside from the glass cutting mat, it’s an LED light box for tracing and a table top for stamping and dry embossing table – check out the cool metal stencil pictured above.

I’m so happy with the way these coiled thankful cards turned out that I may start a new tradition in our family.

Thank you EK Success for the Martha Stewart Craft Station.

The Martha Stewart Craft Station will be available this month (November 2011) at Michaels craft stores. Or, visit the EK Success website for more information.

EK Success provided me with the Martha Stewart Craft Station but the opinions in this post are mine. 

This project is linked at the parties listed here and 

 

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Listed under "Carolyn's Homework"

Etceteras: Thanksgiving – the day after

I’ll be back on Monday with a brand new post as we race into the holiday season. In the meantime, here are some more photos of things that make me thankful.



paper whites



geranium cutting



perfection - first camelia of the season

There will be a lot of great holiday themed projects coming up between now and the new year - stay tuned.

Etceteras: let us give thanks

Today, like so many of you, I’m cooking, cooking, cooking! And while we feast and give thanks, I wanted to share some images of things I’m thankful for or remind me to be thankful.

I wish you all a very, very Happy Thanksgiving.

Good Taste: cranberry conserve

Here’s one dish you can make ahead of time for Thanksgiving – cranberry conserve. A conserve is a fruit mixture cooked to jam like consistency with sugar. Once cooked, you can freeze your conserve or store in a mason jar as you would jam or jelly.

This conserve is so pretty because the apples and mandarin oranges become stained by the cranberries and turn a bright berry color.

You don’t have to celebrate Thanksgiving to make this. Whip up a batch and use as a side dish or a garnish for breads, pastries or meats - or as a gift.

The recipe is under the Goodie Bag tab. Enjoy.

This project is linked at:

Guest Blogger: Everyday Mom Ideas

 

Today I’m a guest blogger over at Everyday Mom Ideas – a site full of crafty fun.  Check out my Thanksgiving Tree at Everyday Mom Ideas that I created just in time to count down the days until Thanksgiving.

 

Each day, until Thanksgiving, add a leaf to the tree. The leaves can be personalized with something that you are thankful for.  

By the time you sit down for your Thanksgiving meal, your tree will be full of reminders of what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is all about.

 

Thank you Everyday Mom Ideas for having me over.