Thanksgiving Craft

Today, I'm going to chat about the little bit of crafty fun we did to round out the Thanksgiving decor for our dinner tomorrow. We are hosting two neighbor families, so there will be 11 of us all together. The menu just keeps getting longer and the dishes more exciting, but we are thrilled to share the holiday with our neighbors!

The kiddos and I decided to whip together this happy little Come Gather banner this afternoon. It was super easy.

Banner over the office doors, one of the first things you see when you enter our home.

Last time I went to Michael's, I found the little burlap flags, made for creating your own banner! They are pre-punched with rivets and even came with a length of twine (which I didn't use, since I wanted something longer) to string them. There are, of course, 1,289 options for burlap and you could easily cut your own. But sometimes, as a mom of kiddos, you take the easy route, ya know? Unfortunately, I can't find anything really similar on Amazon.com or Michaels.com, so you'll just have to go discover something that works for you.

Then, the kiddos and I busted out the Cricut machine. I have an old, small Cricut that still works great, so that's what I use, but you could also just print out letters from your computer and cut them out, or even draw letters on with a Sharpie. For these letters, we chose the font from the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge.

Since my banner kit came with 10 flags, I was trying to think of a good phrase to symbolize Thanksgiving. I already have a few other items up through the hallway and kitchen (Give Thanks, Thankful), so those words were out. Gather was at the top of my mind, but I wanted to use the other 4 flags as well.

To attach the letters, I got out my trusty hot glue gun and stuck those little dudes on there. Easy peasy.

Then, I threaded them onto the twine (leftover from the Halloween costume extravaganza) and tied knots in the string to make them the right length. I keep small nails in the wall over those doors, painted to match the wall so that you can't really see them when there is nothing up there. That way, I am always ready to hang something pretty or festive up there.

And so, tomorrow we gather. We give thanks. And we count our blessings.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them

~Matthew 18:20