Get the Kids Involved in Thanskgiving Decor

This page from Martha Stewart Living‘s November 2011 issue really rocked Classic Freedom Kelly’s world and I must say that me and my Organic sensibility would have passed right by it, in fact I DID pass by it multiple times! There was nothing about the table setting that appealed to me — too neutral and bland. And what really jazzed Kelly I couldn’t see even when I looked real close — a great project to keep kids busy and involved when you’re finishing up dinner. In fact there’s seriously a one sentence paragraph describing the idea, “Basic projects like place cards are a good way to let kids put their imprint on the setting.” Kelly went on for so long about what a great idea it was that I was expecting a double page spread!

Once again this is the tell-tale difference between big picture types, Organics and Smarts, and those detail-oriented ones, Classics and Funs. Kelly was probably drawn to the neutral and classic look of the table and saw the detail of the home-made place-cards and so bothered to read the fine print and was properly intrigued. I thought it was a great idea because she told me about it in a big picture, isn’t this a great idea way. And frankly, having the kids do the place cards is pretty darn genius, and if you ask us, they buried the lead.

The woman whose table this is, Martha’s craft editor Marcie McGoldrick, had her niece draw those spider mums on the place cards, and while they do have a crafty look about them, I’m not sure my kids could pull off anything as nice and uniform. I guess the key would be to give them a theme to repeat? Hand turkeys, leaves, acorns, spider mums, etc… Plus getting them some really cool gold markers and nice card stock might up the fancy quotient a bit. Regardless, it’s a cool enough idea that we are going to drop by Michaels on the way to grandma’s house this year and let the grandkids get creative and yet keep them OUT of the kitchen.

Now if you’d like some more inspiration for your Thanksgiving table, definitely check out Martha’s website as it has tons of great ideas, just unfortunately not this one!