Frugal Family Fun Blog » Thanksgiving

DIY Holiday — Play Salad

Valerie — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:40:48 +0000

Emily played a big role in crafting up this fun play salad set! She couldn’t wait to show it to Clara, so now the two of them have been making up salads all afternoon. This was so simple (and very frugal) to make!!

Emily cut out arbitrary lettuce shapes of green craft foam for lettuce, and added the vein details on the leaves with a green marker. I helped make the tomatoes from red craft foam (and red markers for details), and croutons with a cut up dollar store sponge.

Emily loved crinkling up the “lettuce” for a more realistic look!

Next, she thought it would be fun to add some “onion rings”, so I cut strips of white card stock for her to paint purple on one side and tape into a circle. She added a few bits of yellow craft foam for “shredded cheese”, and voilà… a delicious salad!!

Since we are so very close to the Thanksgiving holiday, we even added a turkey drumstick made with a brown paper lunch bag that is stuffed with newspaper!

Wishing you and your lovely family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with gratitude!

Bon appétit!!

5 Simple Ways to Foster Gratitude in Kids

Valerie — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:19:40 +0000

So much of the frugal lifestyle is filled with cultivating a sense of appreciation for life’s simple pleasures. A nice side benefit of learning to be grateful for what you already have — you’ll save money!! Yay for saving money! It’s never too early to start encouraging your kids to express thankfulness and gratitude. Here are five inspiring, yet simple ways to foster gratitude in kids of all ages:

1. Make Gratitude a Verb — Kids can express their gratitude with an active twist by making a Gratitude Activity Jar – a favorite November tradition in our household!

2. Be a Good Role Model – Let your kids see you actively recording your own gratitude lists. Rhythm of the Home shows ideas on Sharing Gratitude.

3. Cultivate Gratitude Through Crafts — I love this Gratitude Tree project! See the full tutorial over at Nitty Gritty Pretty.

4. Display Your Gratitude Lists Proudly in the Home – Finding Home shares a chalk cloth table runner for giving thanks — younger kids can draw pictures instead.

5. Start Cultivating Gratitude at an Early Age — I adore this idea from Allie at No Time for Flashcards to make hand-painted thank you cards - perfect for even the littlest crafters!! See the full tutorial at No Time for Flashcards.

Speaking of gratitude, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for all of our lovely readers who visit our little bloggy blog! Thank YOU!!! Exciting news — we are getting close to post #1,000 here on Frugal Family Fun Blog, and we have LOTS of reader appreciation goodies, awesome GIVEAWAYS, and of course fun & frugal projects in the works!!! You won’t want to miss it!

Wishing you and your family a weekend filled with many thankful moments!!

Kids Waiting for the Turkey? Do Some Crafts!

Valerie — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:36:02 +0000

Have a few brown paper bags on hand? Are you looking for ways to keep the kiddos entertained while waiting for that delicious turkey?? Here are some fun crafts from around the web to help pass the time!

I love this paper bag turkey from One Charming Party (found via The Crafty Crow)! Note: Instead of hot glue, substitute with masking tape for a kid-friendly version.

….and surprise!! The younger kiddos can help stuff it with popcorn!!

Another fun brown paper bag craft to try is this gratitude wreath found here on ArtFire. Again, just substitute the hot glue for masking tape instead.

This Thanksgiving Garland from Tangled and True looks like lots of fun to make!

Wishing you and your family a safe and very happy Thanksgiving!!

Turkey Place Cards

Valerie — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:57:40 +0000

Around this time of year, Emily and I like to work on Thanksgiving place cards for our festive table. These turkeys are super-cute and easy to make!

We started by cutting up some flower-shaped sticky notes in half to form the tail feathers of the turkey. We added a half-circle cut from a paper bag for the body. I folded the paper bag so I could cut out a whole bunch of them at once. A smaller circle was also cut from a paper bag for the head. The beak and wattle were cut from color coding labels.

In no time at all, we were able to put together a bunch of these!

Once the turkeys were assembled, we drew on the eyes, feet, and the person’s name with a roller pen.

I love seeing Emily’s handwriting on some of the cards! The turkey on my place card was even given some glasses — I love it!!

A frugal and festive project!!

Have fun!

Easy Leaf Wreath

Valerie — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:52:35 +0000

Clara thought this colorful leaf wreath was so much fun to make! We used some of the tissue paper leaves from this post to make it.

I cut a large circle from a brown paper bag (using a plate as a pattern), and invited Clara over to glue the leaves on top!

She was really concentrating with the glue!!

Once the wreath was dry, I added a bow and hung it on the door — fun!!

She is so proud of her colorful work!

Have fun!!

Super-Easy Corn Craft

Valerie — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:44:43 +0000

Clara and I did a bit of crafting this morning to make this corn arrangement, which is now hanging on the back of our front door! They are super-easy and lots of fun to make!

To make your own, you will need yellow tissue paper, a brown grocery bag, and some plastic netting that comes with a bag of lemons or onions. Crumple up balls of tissue paper! Clara thought this was such fun!!

Stuff the netted bags with the tissue paper balls…

Tie into an arrangement and add some strips of brown paper (cut from the grocery bag) for the husk of the corn.

Proudly display in your home!

Quick, easy, frugal, and very festive!

Have fun!!