Thanksgiving "Give Thanks" Decor

I told you burlap and cross stitch would be back! After realizing cross stitching on burlap was fairly simple with my Halloween decorations, I decided it would be appropriately festive for Thanksgiving. What is it about burlap and a little folk art that screams "Give Thanks"? !

 

1. Pick your design and cross stitch! For cross stitching on burlap, I recommend using 3 strands or the full 6 stands. Anything less than that will leave a ton of gaps. I prefer 6 strands due to the texture it creates. Unfamiliar with cross stitch? There are loads of tutorials on YouTube.  If you like my design, it's available for free download/printing at the end of this post.

Don't like to cross stitch? Acrylic paint and stickers are wonderful alternatives!





2. Add some glam! In full disclosure, I started this project thinking I would just cross stitch on the burlap and ta-da! I'd be done. But as I finished my design, I realized it was smaller than I envisioned and therefore, the decor looked very, very empty and plain.

Thankfully, I had some hole punches and metallic gold acrylic paint on hand. I punched out circles from card stock and used the negatives as stencils.

Because I never know when to leave things well-enough alone, I added a few streaks of gold in the veins of the leaf. Why not?

Much better!

"Give Thanks" Cross Stitch Pattern

1 :: 12" x 12" Burlap Canvas

So many things to be grateful for this year. Including discovering new crafting techniques. Happy Crafting!

Thanksgiving Hangover

This year, my husband and I decided to spend Thanksgiving at home - just the two of us.  We figured we may never be able to do this again so why not have a meal to celebrate being thankful for each other.  The other thing is... I never get to host Thanksgiving and I really love to cook.  You can imagine how excited I was to plan and prepare my own dinner.  Thankfully, my husband is a good helper and we made the most fantastic meal together.

The first order of business is to get organized.  I'm notorious of taping my recipes to my cupboards.  Keeps them out of the way of spills and at eye level for me.  

Our menu for this Thanksgiving can be found in these links.

Rosemary Lemon Turkey 

Balsamic Vinegar Brussels Sprouts

Tarragon and White Wine Green Beans

As always, the first food to tackle was the bird.

Our bird's name was Timmy.  He was a big boy.  About 20 lbs.  We really really like leftover turkey.  Plus cooked poultry is good for two weeks... so 20 lbs goes a LONG way.

Preparing the lemon and rosemary basting sauce made our house smell so nice!  We used a little extra olive oil to ensure the bird would be juicy.  Worked like magic.  The skin tasted wonderful and it was so crispy!

Here's how we cooked it.

• Set oven to 400* F.  Let turkey roast for 45 min to an hour until brown.
• Reduce heat to 350*F.  Baste with olive oil mixture.  Add one cup of water to bottom of pan.
• Baste with from the bottom of the pan every 30 minutes.  Be sure to cover the entire turkey.  
• Follow the instructions that come with your turkey regarding the length of time needed to cook.  Ours came with the little red plug, so I waited for that to pop out.
• Once red plug pops out, or you have reached your cooking time, baste turkey one last time with olive oil mixture, add fresh lemon slices and rosemary to the pan and roast for 20 more minutes.
• Remove from oven, tent aluminum foil and let sit for 30 minutes.

We made 18 hard-boiled eggs for Deviled Eggs.  Don't worry, we didn't eat all 36 deviled eggs ourselves!  My Deviled Eggs are made with mayo, relish, salt, and pepper - all to taste.  Start with a little of each ingredient and keep adding little portions until the taste balances out to how you like it.  Top with paprika.

 My husband and I love Brussels Sprouts.  These were so amazing that we saved the recipe to make as a regular dinner side.

Now, to be honest, we weren't crazy about the tarragon green beans.  We love cooking with tarragon but it was a bit much in this dish.  However, I suggest cutting the suggested tarragon in half or eliminating it completely.  The white wine and the green bean pairing was outstanding!

 Every dinner needs bread.

 My wonderful husband carving his first turkey.  The turkey didn't need much carving though... the meat fell right off the bone.  That's what I'm talking about!!!  So delicious.

I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  Onward to Christmas!!!

Printable Thanksgiving Place Cards

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Are you setting a table for Thanksgiving?

Do you want to impress your family and guests with awesome place cards?

Have you completely run out of time?

Check out these great printables to get your table ready

in a jiffy for your guests.

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Monday with Martha: Place Cards

Speckled Leaf Place Cards

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I love place cards - even if it's just two people.

Place cards give a wonderful sense of occasion to any gathering.

Here are some of my favorite place card ideas from Martha Stewart.

Rustic Place Card

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Turkey Trivia Place Card

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Pom-Pom Tom Place Card

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Nutshell Place Card

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Chocolate Bar Place Card

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For more place card ideas, check out the

Martha Stewart Table Settings Slideshow

How to Set a Table

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Every year I struggle with how to set a table.  I found this image via Pinterest a few months ago and have found it to be immensely helpful!  I hope you find it as useful as I have.