Friendsgiving gets a bad rap.
Well, the pilgrims might not have put it so crass, but the fact remains that many people—especially those over the age of 40—view Friendsgiving with at least one skeptical eye. After all, what’s wrong with simply celebrating Thanksgiving, the hallowed holiday that spawned Friendsgiving? Skeptics should know that the two “Giving” celebrations share many of the same attributes, including the enjoyment of a delectable meal and the exchange of fond memories.
It’s just the who and when that differs between Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving. Friendsgiving is a great excuse to party with your friends the same weekend at Thanksgiving in a way that differs from your traditional family-centric Thanksgiving. And you can get super-creative with the Friendsgiving crafts, since you are only loosely bound by traditions.
In fact, you can celebrate Friendsgiving by making crafts to decorate your home that evoke the traditional spirit of Thanksgiving. Or you can put your own spin on it as well.
Wrapped Votives
Candles enhance the festive fall ambiance of Friendsgiving, so why not set your favorite autumn scented candles within glass votive cups to enhance the mood of your Friendsgiving celebration. Take tamale husks that you find at a grocery store and soak the husks in warm water for five minutes to make the husks more pliable. Secure a tight fit of a husk around a votive cup and attach the husk with a wide rubber band. Remove the excess husk that hangs over the rubber bands by using a scissors or sharp paring knife. Take a thin, long piece of husk and tie it around the center of the votive cup. When you finish, remove the rubber. Place the votive cups near the entrance to your home, as well as along shelves and within bookcases.
Pumpkins
You can never go wrong using one or more pumpkins as Friendsgiving crafts to decorate your home. Pumpkins make affordable, yet aesthetically appealing additions to the Friendsgiving dinner table. You can glue cloves and fennel around a small pumpkin to enhance the fragrance of your dinner table. Take a large white container and fill it with several white and yellow mini pumpkins that rest gently on a thick layer of autumn foliage. Place one of the wrapped votive candles inside of a tastefully carved pumpkin to act as the illumination source that accentuates your culinary feast.
Framed Leaf Decoration
The key to Friendsgiving crafts to decorate your home involves taking the labor cost out of the crafts by working on the crafts yourself. No other Friendsgiving craft saves you more money than the do it yourself framed leaf decoration. All you have to do is spread out a dry fern branch between two layers of newspaper and set the newspaper within a thick hardbound book. Then, glue photocopies the pages of books and newspapers to the back of a picture frame. After the fern branch receives enough pressing, place it on the back of the picture frame and hang the frame on the front door to greet your Friendsgiving guests.
Autumn Leaf Wreath
As another inexpensive do it yourself Friendsgiving craft, an autumn leaf wreath only requires you to collect fall foliage to attach on a wire wreath. Make small incisions into the fall foliage, such as leaves and pinecones, and then string the autumn foliage onto the wire wreath until the wreath is full. A decorative ribbon adds the final touches to a do it yourself Friendsgiving craft.
Friendsgiving Cornucopia
Your Friendsgiving dinner table should include classic autumn cornucopia that has made Thanksgiving dinner tables so memorable. Fold a piece of decorative paper or holiday gift-wrap into a cone shape and secure the edges with Scotch tape. Fill the cone with harvest signature items such as apples, dried corn, and small squash.
Friendsgiving doesn’t mean eschewing the traditions of the Thanksgiving holiday, especially when it comes to Friendsgiving crafts to decorate your home.
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