13 Ways to Make Your Thanksgiving More Meaningful
Long after the stove is off, you'll feel the warmth of love and gratitude when you try these ideas this Thanksgiving
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/), my blog devoted to all of the things that make a house a home - decorating from the heart, living with intention, and savoring life's simple pleasures.
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/),... More »
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Sure, the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie might be the stars of the show, but we all know it's really our loved ones who make Thanksgiving special. Embrace the spirit of the holiday this year by adopting a new tradition that highlights gratitude, giving and community (and have fun doing it). Here are 13 fresh ideas to try this turkey day — and perhaps for many more years to come.
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by Shannon Malone
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| 1. Create a banner you can use year after year. Use what you have in the house to create a gratitude banner to decorate your dining room on Thanksgiving. Here are a few ways to do it, depending on the materials you have:
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| 2. Display the year in photos. Take the time to collect your favorite photos of family, friends and adventures over the past year and display them in the entry hall on Thanksgiving. You can have multiple photos made into oversize posters — add one more each year if you make it a tradition. Or tape up a quick family tree on the wall using photographs and Japanese masking tape (which is easily removed) as the branches. |
by R Brant Design
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3. Invite someone who doesn't have a place to go. Whether it's a work colleague or a friend of a friend, if you hear of someone who won't be able to go home this Thanksgiving, invite him or her to your home to share this special meal. It can really make a difference for the person you invite; besides, the more people are squished around the table, the more fun the dinner usually is.
by Rifle Paper Co.
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4. Send gratitude notes to friends and family far away. Sending gratitude notes for Thanksgiving would be such a welcome surprise for loved ones who can't be at the table with you. Of course, this being the digital age, you could also send an e-card, call them on Skype or use whatever method works for you. The point is to connect.
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5. Set up a never-ending gratitude list. Unfurl a roll of butcher paper and set it on a side table or buffet with a cup of pens and a little sign encouraging guests to record the things they are grateful for. It would be fun to keep the roll from year to year and make a tradition of reading through the past entries.
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6. Share the bounty. Before the holiday comes, take stock of your own good fortune and see if you can afford to donate a few bags of much-needed food to your local food bank or soup kitchen.
I recommend calling in advance to see what they really need. I also know families who choose to volunteer serving food or washing dishes at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, so if that is something you are interested in, why not give it a try this year?
I recommend calling in advance to see what they really need. I also know families who choose to volunteer serving food or washing dishes at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, so if that is something you are interested in, why not give it a try this year?
by Tucker & Marks
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7. Have a potluck of objects. Ask your guests to bring something to place on the table that is meaningful to them, whether it's a salt cellar bought on a special trip or Great-Grandma's gravy boat. Coordinate beforehand, and your table will be a potluck of meaningful treasures.
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8. Share your family's treasured recipes. If you always make a favorite dish that's been passed down through your family, this year take the time to copy it out on cards to give guests, along with the story behind it.
by Paper Source
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9. Make a gratitude tree. Using wooden leaves like the ones shown here or paper leaves you cut yourself, encourage guests to note something they are grateful for on a leaf, then clip the leaves with clothespins to bare branches in a tall vase.
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10. Share the feast with the birds. Try making a classic DIY bird feeder from an apple rolled in peanut butter and birdseed. This is a great activity to keep kids busy while the grown-ups are cooking — then you can send them outside to place their treats around the yard for birds or squirrels to find.
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11. Create a musical tradition. If someone in your family plays piano, guitar or another instrument, encourage him or her to share a song on Thanksgiving. No musicians in the family? Just select some favorite albums to play — since this is an American holiday, why not go with an all-American playlist?
12. Invite friends into the kitchen to help cook. If you are one of those cooks who takes on the entire Thanksgiving feast on your own, I beg you to reconsider this year — even if only a little. Assign family and friends kitchen duties you know they can handle, and everyone will feel more useful and have more fun.
by B. Jane Gardens
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13. End the day outside. Take a walk, play football or sit around an outdoor fire with a final glass of wine. After all of that cooking and eating indoors, it feels lovely to step out into the crisp air.
Tell us: What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
Tell us: What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
Ideabook published on Nov. 3, 2012.
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At the beginning of November we cut feathers out of different colored construction paper and write what we're thankful for throughout the month on the feathers. Our guests on Thanksgiving Day writing their messages of thanksgiving on feathers as well. The feathers are taped to popsicle sticks and pushed into Turk's back.
Every Thanksgiving Day we take a picture of the family with Turk.
I've kept all of the feathers in a leather scrapbook along with photos from that Thanksgiving. The family loves looking through the past years to see what everyone was thankful for the previous years.
Since we only have one person say grace before dinner, we have everyone gather just before guests are about to leave and hand out a leaf to everyone, making sure they don't get their own to read. It's really alot of fun and brings the family closer together! With the kids getting older now, I hope this tradition will remind them to concentrate on this special holiday and not rush into Christmas right after Halloween.
Tofurky is a great vegetarian alternative to killing and eating a sentient animal.
I hope that Western civilization can survive and not be destroyed by those who are working to set up a One World Order and take away our freedoms.
I'm thankful when the United States is at peace and not waging illegal aggressive wars against the consent of the people and attacking defenseless people who cannot defend themselves from the world's only military superpower.