Thanks on a Napkin

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving draws near, and I wanted to do a little special craft this year.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays:  gratitude, family, and feasts with lots of dessert--what's not to love?  Like most of you, I don't have a lot of extra time these days, so here is a quick and easy, kid-friendly, adorable and handmade way to add a little personality to your Thanksgiving table.

Here's what you'll need:

Simple, common crafting items

• Glue (most will work, hot glue or glue stick being just fine)
• Leaves (from your yard is ideal, but can use fabric leaves if you prefer)
• Shipping tags with strings (different sizes and brands available at most office stores, Target, and Wal-Mart; examples here and here)
• Construction paper/felt/cardstock
• Scissors
• Circle punch (optional, can also trace around a circular lid and cut out with scissors)
• Sharpie or paint pen

For efficiency, figure out how many napkin rings you need total so you can cut out all the separate pieces you need at once, allowing you to assembly-line it all together. 

I started by tracing on the brown construction paper around a spool of thread and the lid to my glue stick to get two different sized circles.  Then I glued the smaller circle at the top of the larger one.  I Sharpied two eyes, cut a tiny triangle from the yellow paper and glued it on for a beak, and tore a strip of red leaf off and glued it into position by the beak for a wattle.

Not sure yet if it's a turkey or a snowman in need of a nosejob

Then arrange your leaves on the shipping tag.  (I found it looks best with a fan of three small overlapping leaves or one large one.)  Liberally glue in place.  This is the tail.  Glue the turkey circles onto the base of the leaves. 

At the bottom, write or stamp a sentiment:  "thanks" or "thanksgiving"  or "turkey day" or your guests names if you wish to use these as place cards.

If you want to replace the strings, use a thin pretty ribbon to dress things up, or twine to make it more rustic.  Then tie the ribbon/string around a rolled napkin, and--voila!-- your very cute and personal Thanksgiving napkin ring.

Feel free to let the glue dry before you take YOUR photo.

Want to make it a little more grownup?  Skip the turkey, just paste (or staple, to make it even quicker) a single leaf and the words at the bottom.

Happy Thanksgiving.  We are thankful for your love and support.