Usually when Nick finishes his homework after school, he wanders into my office, asking me to find him a craft online to work on. He hasn’t completely grasped the concept that crafting sometimes take a little bit of preplanning … to find the craft, to make sure we have the right supplies. It’s not usually a spur of the moment thing.
Imagine his surprise the other day when he asked about doing a craft, and I was ready for him! As much as I love the holidays, every last one of them, and the associated decorating that comes along with them, we don’t have very much in the way for Thanksgiving. I wanted to change that. Enter the Thanksgiving banner.
The craft was very simple to make, and I love that it’s something that we can pack up and use again and again, year after year. I did the cutting, and Nick was responsible for the gluing, taping, hole punching and ribbon stringing. We made a great team.
I used foam sheets in a deep chocolate brown color for the base of each letter. They run about 30 cents a sheet, and I was able to get several pieces from each sheet. For the layers, I used sheets of scrapbooking paper, choosing different colors and patterns, but all keeping within the warm colors of the Autumn palate. On top of the patterned paper went a piece of plain ivory, again using scrapbook paper. For the letters, I chose a font in Microsoft Word and found the size I wanted (175). Once printed, I cut out all the letters to layer on top of the ivory piece of paper.
Originally we started gluing all the layers together, but we didn’t like the bumps it was making. Instead we switched mid-stream and used double-sided tape to stick the pieces of paper together. Then a hole punch was used to make two holes in the top of each “tile,” and orange ribbon to string it all together. All told, I think the supplies cost me about $7, and we made two banners. Forget the seven bucks though. More important, Nick and I got to spend some one-on-one time together, talking, creating, laughing, sharing. No price can be put on that.
Our next project? Placecards for the table.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great craft idea! I am sad that we won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving this year. Most years I make out like a bandit and celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in October & then fly south to celebrate US Thanksgiving in November. Plane tickets were too expensive this year so only one turkey dinner for me. :(
Hope your family has a great holiday!
What a fun idea. Thanksgiving decorations do sort of get lost between Halloween and Christmas. I am glad that you and Nick spent some time making these banners together!
I love that Nick would rather be crafting than watching television! Making a banner like that is a great idea. i should save these ideas for when I have kids.