Preparing your home for Thanksgiving is never challenging. There is no need to stay in a long queue or bump with a huge crowd in the department store to buy Thanksgiving decorations. Even without going out to shop for decorations, you can still embellish your dwelling with homemade Thanksgiving items. Yes, homemade meaning you do not have to shell out big bucks. All you need to do is check out your trashes (recyclable ones) for your primary materials.
Image from flickr.com Creative Commons
These items are very easy to craft. You can even ask your kids to help you out. With creativity and a little effort, you can add a Thanksgiving theme in your home cost efficiently. And the best part of this project is that you are minimizing garbage which means you are helping save the planet.
Are you ready? Here are few ideas of Thanksgiving home decor from recycled materials.
Book Pumpkin
Do you have unused books in your storage room? Before pursuing with this home decor idea, you have to make sure that the book you are going to employ is no longer usable in any means. Old yet useful (readable) can be donated to a local library where they can be put to use. But if your books are water damaged, they might not be suitable to be donated. Thus, you can use them instead for your whimsical book pumpkin decor.
How to do: Firstly, you need to draw and cut a pumpkin shape in a blank paper. This will serve as your pattern. The next thing you must do is open the book about halfway then place the pattern and trace it on the book pages. Once you are done, cut out the pumpkin using a cutter (be careful in using the cutter). If you are finished with your pumpkin, it is time to color it. Check your storage if you have extra paint, otherwise you may buy a small orange acrylic paint (it is just cheap so it will not cost you much).
Pour the paint in a bowl then dip the book edge up to approximately one inch. Let the paint dry. Get a small leaf and a twig. Glue the twig between the first and last pages of the book along with a leaf, all the way down to the spine of the book. Let it spread out.
Pinecone Thanksgiving Turkey
Ask your kids to look for pinecones (or conifer cones) in your yard. If you do not have this plant, you may try asking your neighbor. Once you found the plant, choose medium to large size of pinecones.
How to do: Clean the pinecones by brushing them to get rid of small debris. Look for colorful boxes (milk, cereals, etc.) preferably with red colored part. Draw heart shape on a red colored box for turkey’s feet. Meanwhile, you should draw the body details of the turkey such as eyes and turkey combs. Its body just looked like the shape of a snowman so it is not really hard. Cut the shapes. Using a hot glue, stick the pinecone on the heart shape and the body in front of the pinecone. In a matter of minutes, you can have a holder for small items like message or even crayons.
Image courtesy of flickr.com Creative Commons
Jars of Thanks
Collect those jars that you no longer use and clean them. This project is pretty simple; thus it will not take much of your time. In addition to the jars, you need to have maple leaves, ribbons and glue.
How to do: Brush the leaves with glue and stick them on the jar. You may combine small and big leaves on one jar. Tie a ribbon on the neck of the jar to add more life. You may place flowers on it and set it up on the table as centerpieces. Or you may use it as candle holder. If you want more colors, you may cover the jar’s body with colored paper or paint before sticking the leaves.
Now, you are ready for the Thanksgiving with these simple and cost efficient decorations. Whether you live in a big house or in a residential community like Lincoln Military Housing, creating a Thanksgiving ambiance is always painless.
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