Don't Forget the Kiddos!

Now is the time that most of us anticipate how we are going to set our Thanksgiving table.

 

 

Today, I want to say,

 

"Don't forget the kiddos"

 

 

 

I like to put as much thought into my kids table as I do for the adults.  After all, aren't they every bit as important?

 

Teach them while they are young and they will cherish the memories.

I will have two kids tables.  One will be for my four grands that are 18 months to age 7.  The other for the teens.

I am doing a 'woodland theme' for the tots table.  Today I played a little and set up one setting at the end of my sofa table.  :)

I bought a roll of this paper a few years ago and I used it to cover an entire card table.  I just have a small piece left and it will go in the center of the table.  A bit sad to see it all used up.

Crayons will be placed at each setting.  This paper is perfect to keep the little ones entertained while waiting for their food.

I shared these wedges in an earlier post.  But of course I needed some amongst my forest animals.  (wink)

Now how cute are these melmac dishes?  I picked 4 of them up at a damaged goods store a couple months ago.  I've had the checkered utensils for years.

I have an assortment of small juice glasses.  This is the only leaf one.  Most of them have a wheat or sunflower motif.

This log wedge had the perfect spot to hold the glass.  I tucked a plaid napkin inside.

 

The turkey S&P shakers are childproof.  I bought them from Avon when my kids were young

This little Indian is just too cute!  It presents the perfect opportunity to teach them about the first Thanksgiving.

 

 This table may change a little.  Who knows, some woodland critters might show up when I set the actual table.

 

I also set a table for the teenagers.  I'm thinking of using these old lunch room trays.  I bought four of them at a thrift shop.  I love, love the color!  I added fall leaf glasses. These evoke fond memories.  My mom had the same ones, although these are not hers. They are another thrift find picked up by my friend, Joanne.  She thought I might want to use them at my Fall Tea.  She was right.  Great ice tea glass!

 

 

How about you, do you set a kids table for Thanksgiving?

 

 

 

hugs,

Jann

 

Thanksgiving Pie Bake Off

Well my friends, Thanksgiving is quickly approaching!

(one of three tables set for last years Thanksgiving feast)

The grands table is always very simple so that they can have fun and not worry about breaking the decorations.

 



It usually contains a little treat and some type of activity.

 

(the four little kids sat at the bar)



 

Just the thoughts of sinking my mouth into a piece of that big fat turkey, along with cranberries and stuffing has my mouth watering.

 

It takes not one, but TWO delicious gobblers to feed this crew!  :)

 

And though our bellies may be full, we always have to save
some room for pie. 

Pie is one of our favorite desserts and the kids all love the Coconut Cream and Pecan pie that I make every year.  The recipes are handed down from my dear mother and mother in law.

I did make both of them last year, but the kids thought it would be fun to have a "pie bake off".

 

Talk about a lot of both gorgeous and delicious pies!!

 

Butterscotch Pecan and Pecan Cheesecake pie.  Made by our two sons and their wives.

Sour cream lemon made by our oldest daughter, Nichole.

Pumpkin and apple cranberry made by our middle daughter, Karrah and her husband, Jayson.

 

 

A slice of each pie was placed on one of my long narrow plates for everyone to have a bite.

 

( a slice of my coconut cream and pecan were added, but were not in the judging)

 

Can you guess which one won?

 

After the taste test we each wrote our favorite on a piece of paper.  The votes were tallied and Our son Lonnie and his wife, Tracy's pecan cheesecake pie won. 

 

Funny thing is, it was not completely set in the middle.  Needed to cook just a tad longer, but the flavor was a winner, winner!!

 

We had so much fun that the 'pie bake off' is scheduled to take place again this year.

 

I think a new family tradition has been born!

 

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!!

 

hugs,

Jann

 

I will be sharing with these fun parties:

Thoughts of Home Thanksgiving Party

Snickerdoodle create-bake-make party 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share Your Cup #223

Hello and welcome to Share Your Cup, (SYC for short).

 

The party where you share what makes you happy.

 

It's what I call, "filling your cup".

 

 

Wow, it's hard to believe it is November already!  We have been experiencing very 'spring' like weather.  Even some plants and trees have been tricked into start blossoming.

 

Of course I am loving it, but it's makes thinking of the upcoming holidays a little difficult.  :)

 

Still, I managed to have a Thanksgiving Preview   It was fun setting a table for a craft group dinner.

 

 

I also had a great time Upcycling Santa's with my

craft group #2 friends.

 

How about you, are you getting excited for the upcoming holidays?

 

Now for the features from SYC #222:

Cathy from My 1929 Charmer created a beautiful fall vignette to take her away from the stress of remodeling,
 (even if just for a moment).

Carol from The Red Painted Cottage took a drive through the Countryside and shared the beauty she saw.

Kara from A Spirit of Simplicity was rambling through Beacon Hill, Boston during her lunch break and found some fun and unique pumpkins.  I love this fairy house!

 

 Jolena from While I linger shared the beautiful chalk art she made for her Autumn décor.

 

What's not to love about this Halloweenk photo

 shoot Christine from

Little Brags shared of her beloved bunny, Bugsy?

 

 



Carol from Comfort Spring shared the recipe for her yummy

apple cranberry pie.

 



 

 Thanks so much for sharing and please grab the button if you were featured.

 

Upcycling Santa. . .

Hello my friends,

Craft group #2 met today and what a fun time we had!

 

Some of us attended, "Glitterfest", an up scaled artisan sale in Anaheim, CA last month.

 

There we saw lots of vintage Santas that had been upcycled.

 

 

That's when we decided it would be fun to do some upcycling of our own for our November craft day.

 

What does it mean to upcycle Santa?  To take him to a whole other level.  You know, dress him up, play with him a little.

 

If you ask 'google', they'll tell you this:

 

What Is Upcyling?

Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. For example: 

--Unraveling a wire clothes hanger to break into your car to rescue your keys = not upcycling
--Stretching out a wire clothes hanger then tying strips of a plastic bag around it to make a wreath = upcycling!

Upcycling gives an item a better purpose. And while jimmying the lock on your car to is giving that hanger a new purpose, it’s not necessarily better or more beautiful. And the mangled hanger is likely destined for the trash, which is the opposite intent of upcycling.

 

Ann and I had fun upcycling old Santa mugs.

 

 

We tucked in $2 trees from Wal-mart that we brushed with modge podge and sprinkled with glitter.

Then we added a few baubles.  Ann glued hers in like ornaments and I draped mine like a garland.  A flocked bell, red seam binding, and faux holly were added to the top.  I placed a knee hugger elf on the side and let him hold a shiny red ornament.

 

What a quick and easy upcycle!

 

 

Shirley covered a paper mache box with fun striped paper and added her dancing Santa. Using Sno Flock she stood him in a bed of snow.  glittery snowballs and wonderful icicle trim (also found at Wal-mart) add to the frosty feel.

 

 

I saw this idea at Glitterfest.  Knowing that I had a large tart tin I couldn't wait to play with it! 

 

I modge podged a piece of paper to the top of the tin.  I ended up pretty much covering it up.  :)  I found the sitting Santa last year in Oregon.  When I came across the little reindeer I knew Santa had to take him for a ride.  I gave the large tree the same treatment as the one in the Santa mug.  I also added a couple of bleached, and dyed pink bottle brush trees I made last year.  Shirley had the house in a tote that she called her, "crate o' crap".  Crate of fab crap if you ask me!  Ha, ha! The little tree was attached to the house and was a bright green.  I covered it in modge podge and then added teal green glitter.

To elevate the house I placed it on a mini tart tin that I covered with Sno-flock.  Tinsel, white glitter, and icicle trim were added around the edges.



 

I will place it on a candlestick, (or something) for a base.  Gotta find the perfect item!

 

Kimi was a girl with a mission. . .Using treasures from Shirley's tote she created all kinds of cute 'upcycles'.  She is in the process of moving and could not get to her own craft supplies.  Shirley was a doll to share so many fun goodies!

 



Yes, she created all of these in a matter of hours.  Her daughter owns a darling shop called, "Retro Betty's".  Kimi makes super cute things for her to sell there!

 

Upcycling is a great way to turn 'trash' into 'treasures'.  Not to mention how fun it is!!

 

hugs,

Jann

I will be sharing with these fun parties:
Vintage Charm
Thoughts of Home

Thanksgiving Preview

The other night it was my turn to host our craft group dinner so I decided to do a

'Thanksgiving preview'.

 

 

I used a cream linen tablecloth and added a strip of burlap down the middle.

 

 

A few years ago I made arrangements with ribbons and natural elements to add to the top of pumpkins.  When Thanksgiving was over I tossed the pumpkins and saved the arrangements.  I decided to add them to a terra cotta colored and white pumpkin that I brought in from outside.  I simply hot glued them to the top.

 

 

 

 

Just recently I was at Home Goods when I spied these gorgeous Johnson Bros. turkey plates.  It was the touches of aqua that made my heart

skip a beat.

 



I tried to resist, but ended up coming home with 12 of them.  :)  I started with a wooden round cut from my sister, Julie's trees, a large gold plate, and the new turkey plate.

 



 

 

We were having soup so I added one of my pottery barn leaf plates, alternating green and gold, and finished with a white bowl.

 

 

My Pioneer Woman goblets were the perfect touch to pull out the aqua in the plates.

 

 

 

The napkins were tied with a string pulled from the burlap along with a tag that I stamped each guests name onto.  I picked up the tags at Targets dollar spot and added a small acorn and

a sprig of rosemary.

 

 

They were take home gifts along with a turkey candle holder I bought at Michaels.  Originally they were copper.  I painted them with white chalk paint and sanded to let some of the copper color show.  The utility candle is wrapped with a piece of torn book page and embellished with cream seam binding and an old key.

 

 

 

It's always fun to pull out my vintage S&P shakers.  I placed one at each end of the table.

 

 

I offered to cook, but they wouldn't have it.  They brought it all and it was fabulous!!!

 

From the chicken tortilla soup, made by Karen,

 



 

green salsa dip by Jackie,

 

and a relish tray by Natalie,



My plate loaded up and ready to dip! (wink)

 



 

Then to top it all off, Brenda made the best flan I have ever tasted!!

 

This delicious meal certainly geared me up for our upcoming Thanksgiving feast!

 

hugs,

Jann

 

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:

Thoughts of Home

 

Share Your Cup #222

Hello and welcome to Share Your Cup, (SYC for short).

 

 

The party where you share what makes you happy. 

 It's what I call, "filling your cup".

 

What a crazy and busy week I have had.  Halloween was so fun!  We hosted a party for the family and the kids costumes were all so cute.  I have been enjoying company the last couple of days and I have not had a minute to be on the computer.

 

So, sorry to say that there will be no features this week. :(

 

I'm hosting a craft group dinner here tomorrow night and I have also been busy prepping for that.

 

Last week I shared the silly cat I made out of sculpy clay in the post, Scat Cat!

 

 

It's hard to believe that October has come and gone.  However, I must admit that I am ready to put the spookiness behind me and embrace the blessings of the "Thanksgiving" harvest!

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to party here at

Share Your Cup!!

Now let's party!

1.  I would love for you to be a follower of Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

2.  Link up a particular post and not your entire blog. Please limit your links to no more than three.

3.  Please have a back link to this post.  That way others will know where the party is.

  Only those with a back link will be featured.

 4.  Please find time to visit at least two other participants.

It's a great way to find new friends!

After you link up, please come back and leave a comment.  They help to fill my cup!