Party Planning

Michele Cardello asked:


Since Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates being thankful for what we have, it stands to reason that the best Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas are about what the scrapbooker is personally thankful for.

Of all the Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas, the theme of thankfulness is the easiest to layout. All the scrapper needs is some pictures of what he or she is thankful for. Chances are, the scrapper has already taken a few pictures of their favorite things, and these pictures are no doubt buried in the piles of photos, just waiting to be put on a page. Perhaps this is why thankfulness is one of the better Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas.

Once the scrapper has the photos, arranging them can be done in any order. A tile formation might work out, but the scrapper should take a few risks and get experimental. Perhaps using cropped photos in one area, along with cut-outs, could create a very imaginative collage that will draw the viewer in.

As far as what will be in the pictures, that is up to the scrapper to come up with their own Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas. There are obvious pictures to include for this Thanksgiving scrapbook page, and ideas include home, hobbies, friends and family. If the scrapper does not have enough pictures of their friends or family, Thanksgiving dinner is an excellent time to get some new ones.

In fact, several families have a tradition of going around the table and stating what each person is thankful for. The scrapper might want to be taking notes at this point, as it certainly could lead to a page where each family member gets a little text and pictures saying what he or she is grateful for. This will bring about several Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas at once, capable of covering not only the scrapbooker but people he or she knows.

However, most people are thankful for things that are more subjective, such as love and freedom. It then becomes the task of the scrapper to decide how best to represent that visually. For example, some might take a picture of an American flag to represent freedom. This is one of those Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas that allow the scrapbooker’s imagination to go wild.

Once the pictures are in place, it should then be decided where to add the text. This Thanksgiving scrapbook page allows for many ideas, including simple bulleted lists, journaling, or tags.

One of the best features of these particular Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas is the ease of finding patterns to match. Colors that can be used could be the traditional browns and oranges that accompany most Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas, but different hues and shades of these can have some value too. In fact, the scrapper should experiment with shades of blues or other colors not used for traditional Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas.

All in all, the theme of thankfulness is universal, even to those who do not even celebrate Thanksgiving. In other words, the traditions of the holiday such as Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and all of that will definitely be downplayed as something as the scrapper showcases that which means the most to him or her.



Grace

Arindam Bose asked:


Introduction to Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day is a day set aside to give thanks, traditionally to God, when the harvest season comes to an end. It is celebrated in different ways and at different times in different parts of the world. While Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States and celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. . It is, however, not a major event in the United Kingdom where it is also known as the Harvest festival. On this day, family and friends assemble for a feast to celebrate their good fortune, relax and relish each other’s company. Turkey is the main item in the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The day also marks the unofficial beginning of the winter holiday season.

History

Thanksgiving is one of the oldest festivals celebrated throughout history. We have learnt of ancient tribes making offerings and preparing feasts to thank their gods and seek their favor. In ancient times, the Greeks, the Romans and the Jews too had similar festivals to appease their gods and goddesses of harvest. It is believed that in the United States, Thanksgiving was originally a harvest festival held by the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in 1621. During the first Thanksgiving, the pilgrims held a three-day feast in celebration of their bountiful harvest following their arrival in North America.

Although George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, president Thomas Jefferson later dismissed the idea of having a national holiday of Thanksgiving. However, in 1863, president Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Finally, in November 1941, Thanksgiving was specifically sanctioned by a joint resolution of Congress as the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving meal

Things have changed a lot since the first Pilgrim harvest feast of 1621. Items in the first Thanksgiving meal were believed to be wheat, corn, barley, peas, wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans or wild turkey), fish (bass and cod) and five deer brought by the Native Americans. This tradition continues even today in the form of the Thanksgiving dinner, in which people eat turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn in some form or other and different vegetables and side dishes. The dessert is usually pumpkin pie or pecan pie.

Thanksgiving in different parts of the world

Although the dates of celebration are different, Thanksgiving in Canada is much the same as it is in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Harvest festival is celebrated in late September or October and special services of Thanksgiving are organized at local churches to honor the day. Jewish people throughout the world celebrate Sukkot, a festival of thanksgiving that lasts nine days. The Chinese observe thanksgiving as The Festival of the Autumn Moon, or Zhong Qui held on the eighth month of the Chinese calendar. In the state of Kerala in India, the harvest festival is called the Onam. In Lithuania, the thanksgiving tradition involves the creation of a boba (meaning old woman) from the last sheaf of grain at harvest time. It is believed that keeping the boba until spring keeps the spirit of the crop alive until replanting begins the next year.



Kendall

Thea Reid asked:


Fun Thanksgiving Facts

 



 

Let’s talk turkey!

 



Americans feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving.

According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the United States at Thanksgiving. That number represents one sixth of all the turkeys sold in the U.S. each year!

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.

Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, however wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour over short distances.

Only male (tom) turkeys gobble. Females make a clicking noise. The famous gobble is actually a seasonal mating call.

The Turkey Trot, a ballroom dance in the 1900s, was named for the short, jerky steps of the turkey. It became popular mainly because it was denounced by the Vatican as “suggestive.”

Turkeys are known to spend the night in trees! (Maybe to escape the Thanksgiving table?)

Turkeys can drown if they look up when it’s raining!

A turkey’s field of vision is 270 degrees–one of the main reasons they’re able to elude some hunters.

The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. Now that’s a lot of turkey!



 

Thanksgiving Is Not Just an “American” Holiday

 

Giving thanks on Thanksgiving is an important American tradition, but it’s not ours alone. In fact, six other nations besides the U.S. have officially declared Thanksgiving Days: Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, Switzerland and Argentina. Thanksgiving celebrations have also been celebrated for hundreds of years, including in some ancient cultures.

 

The Greeks

The ancient Greeks celebrated a festival of the harvest called Thesmosphoria each autumn. Their goddess of corn and other grains was Demeter who was honored at the festival.

 

The Romans

The Romans also celebrated a fall harvest festival in honor of their goddess of corn, Ceres (where the word cereal comes from). The Romans celebrated a Thanksgiving feast where they offered the first fruits of the harvest and pigs to Ceres. Their Thanksgiving was held on October 4th each autumn.

 

The Chinese

The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival, Chung Ch’ui, in accordance with the full moon that fell on the 15th day of the 8th month. They considered this day to be the birthday of the moon. Special “moon cakes” were baked and stamped with a picture of a rabbit to honor their belief that a rabbit is on the face of the moon. These cakes were eaten with a Thanksgiving meal during the 3-day festival. It was believed that flowers would fall from the moon during the festival and those that saw the flowers would soon receive good fortune.

 

The Hebrews

Jewish families also celebrate a harvest festival called Sukkoth. This autumn festival has been celebrated for over 3000 years. Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year. The holiday is named for the huts (succots) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. Sukkoth lasts for 8 days and Jewish people construct temporary huts from branches with a covered roof made of with foliage that allows the natural sunlight in. Fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn and pomegranates hang inside the hut and on the first 2 nights of Sukkoth, the families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky.

 

The Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honor of Min, their god of vegetation and fertility. The festival was held in the springtime, the Egyptians’ harvest season and featured a parade in which the Pharaoh took part. After the parade a great feast was held with music, dancing and sports as part of the celebration. When the Egyptian farmers harvested their corn, they wept and pretended to be grief stricken to deceive the spirit which they believed lived in the corn.

Give a gift that gets thanks this year. Send gorgeous fresh flower arrangements, centerpieces for the holiday table, terrific gourmet gift baskets and more to everyone you’re thankful for! Thanksgiving Flowers and Gifts from 1800 Flowers.com



Dante

Victoria asked:


Thanksgiving is celebrating the fall harvest with friends and family. If you are planning a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s important not to forget anything, so you can your guests can have fun celebrating the holiday. Follow this Thanksgiving Check off List, so you can be sure that you don’t miss a thing.

Table Decorations

First of all, you must make sure that your table decorations have appropriate fall or Thanksgiving theme. You want to look for fall colors such as red, orange, yellow, or brown and patterns like pumpkins, squash, pilgrims, leaves, Native Americans, turkey, etc. Then, you can easily mix and match your dishes, flatware, serving wear, table cloth, etc. You want your guest to experience the fall spirit.

Drinks

You want an assortment of both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. To start off the evening, you want to offer your guests ice tea, soda, beer, or wine. Then at dinner, you want to serve ice tea, soda, or wine. Make sure you offer both red and white wines to your guests at dinner. Wine drinkers usually prefer one over the other. At dessert, you want to serve either hot tea, coffee, blush wine (white zinfandel), or port wine. If you want to get creative with drinks, you can add some Thanksgiving spice by making pumpkin lattes or pumpkin martinis.

Turkey

Eating turkey is a tradition on thanksgiving, and it’s delicious. You can deep fry turkey, which is the newest trend. Or for a more healthy turkey, you can use olive oil instead of vegetable oil and add some zesty herbs and spices. If vegetarians are attending your Thanksgiving celebration, don’t forget to pick up a tofu turkey, so they can join in on the eating celebration.

Side Dishes

Depending on how many guests are attending and what their preferences are, you can determine how many side dishes and the type of side dishes you want to serve. First, you want to have the typical thanksgiving side dishes such as stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy (for the turkey of course). Then, you would need a few potato dishes such as bake potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, or sweet potatoes. You can get a little bit creative with potatoes by adding some marshmallows and brown sugar to sweet potatoes, throwing in some garlic and cheddar in mash potatoes, or getting a few fixings like bacon, chives, sour cream, butter, and cheese for your guests to create a loaded bake potato. After, you want to get some veggies for health conscious guests. Some good options are green bean casseroles, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, or winter squash. Don’t add any butter or cheese beforehand to the vegetables, so you can accommodate the healthy eaters. You can always have sides of butter and cheese for other guests to add. Last of all, you need some warm bread or rolls to complete the side dishes. You can pick up some easy to bake bread or croissant rolls. Or if you are adventurous, you can even make homemade bread.

Dessert

The typical Thanksgiving desserts are pecan, apple or pumpkin pies. You can also add a few other desserts for guests who don’t care for pies such as cookies, fresh fruit, cupcakes, or cake. For an added bonus, you can incorporate thanksgiving foods such as pecans, apples, and pumpkins to create other fall desserts like pecan cookies, pumpkin bread, or apple cake. Regardless of how many guest you invite, make sure that there is an assortment of desserts that they would like.

Now, you have your thanksgiving check off list, so you wouldn’t forget to miss anything. You can purchase thanksgiving decor as well as food for your Thanksgiving meal by visiting Online Store Coupon Thanksgiving section.

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Online Store Coupons post the latest coupons all year round including Thanksgiving. So Enjoy your Thanksgiving Celebration!



Marshall

David Greenwalt asked:


Thanksgiving History

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim’s fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

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Thanksgiving causes many well-intentioned dieters, not true, seasoned Lifestylers, a great deal of stress. In my opinion they worry needlessly over what is going to be served. Here’s how I view Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a holiday and one that can help us reflect on what we are thankful for. It also provides some of us an opportunity rather than a cross to bear with respect to meeting up with family. I recognize I am blessed in this regard but not everyone is and for many reasons. Whatever Thanksgiving means to you the one thing it does for too many is kick off the treacherous Thanksgiving through January 15th weight-gain phase.

Throughout the year I will eat about 2,184 meals. Over Thanksgiving and the day after I will eat about 10-12 times. That is one-half of one percent of the meals I will eat in a year. What impact might any of us expect one-half of one percent of our meals to contribute to our weight? Well, since the meals we may have on and right after Thanksgiving may be more calorie-dense and fat-laiden I’ll bump up the grand total of Thanksgiving to one percent of the total effect of your weight for the year. Doesn’t sound like very much does it? And it’s not.

A problem many people have is they don’t stop the day after Thanksgiving. They keep it going, as I said before, through mid January or later.

Thanksgiving is a time when the women in our family really get to show off how they cook–and we’ve got some good cooks let me tell you. Cooking has become something I expect to see in a museum some day on exhibit since it really seems to be going out of style and that makes Thanksgiving even more wonderful to me–it’s the day when most families, when schedules will permit, go all out cooking foods you never get at any other time of the year. It’s the day when cooking goes on for hours and hours and hours to get it just right. You have plenty of fingers on one hand to count the other occasions in a year when this might take place. I’m not about to short-change myself by giving up some sensible indulgence of these wonderful-tasting foods just so I can be a picture-perfect dieter and not gain 2 pounds of water weight. No thank you. On every Thanksgiving since I’ve been alive I have some of anything I want. I don’t go home feeling deprived. By not going home feeling deprived I don’t send out pity-party invitations.

I talk about pity-party invitations in LL V.4. This usually occurs when an internal mechanism inside you says you’ve been better than you should have been. You may be wonderful for a few hours but what happens is the pity-party invitations will have been sent shortly after you said “No thank you” for the fifth time and right about the time you chomped on your fourth piece of broccoli sans any dressing or sauce. When you send out the pity-party invites who shows up is quite ugly. Mr. Binge, Ms. Secret Eating, Mrs. Fields and more may arrive and the total caloric effect may end up being much worse than if you had simply eaten a little more at Thanksgiving and NOT gone home feeling too perfect. You see, this is important, you have to be aware of your internal switch that thinks you’ve been too good. When that switch is turned on it gets ugly–it just gets ugly.

With this said there is no reason for you to eat what you DON’T want. I am not a believer that because Aunt Matilda is trying to forcefeed you pumpkin pie that you should cave in and eat if you don’t like it. Take a bite. Be polite. Then say it’s good but it’s just not you. Eat what you want that you know isn’t a trigger. If you are unsure if it’s a trigger then you may just have to try it and find out. With all the normal Thanksgiving foods it could be really hard to figure out what’s a trigger and what isn’t anyway. Skip the foods you KNOW are triggers, that’s the message here. Have what you want. Don’t have what you don’t want. Personally I skip anything really splurgey unless I think I am REALLY going to love it. I’m picky with my splurges and that’s just because I know everything counts. I just hate wasting calories on mediocre food.

In part 2 I’ll discuss portions and every strategy important to enjoy this special holiday.



Kelly

Wendy Legendre asked:


Ah Thanksgiving… the smell of your turkey roasting in the oven will have your guests drooling before they even step in your door, so why not engage them in some fun Thanksgiving party games to keep their stomachs in check till the bird is ready.

When choosing Thanksgiving party games, keep in mind that you’ll want to pick games that everyone can get involved in. After all, Thanksgiving is a family event and no one should be excluded from the fun. Of course, you might want to assign one of your family members to oversee the pre-dinner games, so you can keep one foot in the kitchen and two eyes on the bird.

There are an unlimited number of Thanksgiving party games available online and offline. Here are just a few to get your Thanksgiving party planning off to a great start.

Turkey Bingo - This traditional game is easy for any age to play. If you have a lot of younger children attending, you may want to choose a picture style bingo rather than words, letters or numbers. Bonus: If yours is the type of family that fights for the drumsticks, make that the prize for the bingo winner. If not, how about the first serving of dessert?

Who’s Thankful for What? - Give each guest a piece of paper and ask them to write down something they are thankful for. Tell them not to show anyone what they have written. Collect the papers and have one person read the notes aloud, while the rest of the family guesses who wrote each thankful note. Play for a prize or bragging rights.

Family Trivia - Have someone in the family compile a list of little know facts about family members and conduct a special family trivia competition by making up questions based on that list. If that sounds like too much work, try a traditional Thanksgiving trivia or football trivia. Anyone of them or a mixture is perfect for Thanksgiving Day.

Right Left Thanksgiving Game - Have your family sit in a circle and randomly pass out a few prizes. Read a story with several references to right and left in it while family members pass the prizes around the circle. Each time they hear the word right, they need to pass the prize to the right of them, and each time they hear the word left, they must pass it left. When the story is over, those holding the prizes get to keep them. If you’d like to give your family a little scare, send dishwashing opportunity coupons around the circle instead of prizes. Now that’s a fair and exciting way to choose your post dinner clean-up crew.

Thanksgiving Pictionary - If you have a chalkboard or whiteboard available that’s big enough for the whole family to see, pictionary always goes over well. Create cards with one Thanksgiving related item per card, and have family members take turns drawing whatever item they pick out of a bowl while the rest of the family guesses what it is they are drawing. Play for fun, one family member at a time, or divide into teams and have a full out competition. If you have a huge family and can’t find enough Thanksgiving related words to go around, opt to add items you can be thankful for.

Now, let’s EAT!!!



Gerald

Michele Cardello asked:


Even though most people associate this work by Rockwell as a Thanksgiving picture, Freedom From Want actually first appeared on The Saturday Evening Post cover in the month of March. It is completely understandable why people would pick a painting such as the Norman Rockwell classic Freedom From Want as their primary source of scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. After all, it has all the necessary elements for scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving: a family at the table, turkey, and a truly inviting atmosphere. However, some of the best scrapbooking ideas for thanksgiving don’t come from the dinner setting, but everything else that happens on that day.

After all, very few people hold a Thanksgiving dinner at their house and immediately serve the guests the moment they walk through the door. Generally, most hosts realize that there will be some downtime before dinner. During this time, family members can get together and talk while the children can play. Why not make this the subject of your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving pages?

This is the mistake most scrappers make when choosing their pictures for their scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving: they wait until the dinner to take the photos. While the dinner certain has some interesting scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, the best scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving occur way before dinner is served. The time before the dinner is served might be the memories that your guests remember the most.

Things like the children sitting around the television watching a movie or playing a video is just one example of scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. Even better are “Thanksgiving firsts” for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. For example, someone may have brought over their newborn child for all the family to see. Certainly an event like this deserves some press. The scrapper should take some pictures of relatives seeing the child for the first time, capturing the expressions and reactions.

After all, some people may have families where the relatives live very far away, and it can be very difficult to get everyone under the same roof for any period of time. Take advantage of this time as much as you can, and don’t even ask people to pose. Just take as many pictures in the natural surrounding, and in some cases the photographer does not have to acknowledge his or her presence.

Taking pictures before the dinner and putting simple frames around them is one of the easiest scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. Sometimes finding a common theme in each of the photos and running with it is worth quite a bit with scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. Peppered with these pictures can be traditional Thanksgiving images like red and orange leaves, pumpkins, and of course, turkeys, and it will be a guaranteed success. Years later, when the family looks at the pages, they will have memories to remember.



Steve

Sandra Canfield asked:


Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and you may be dreading the holiday. For single people who do not live near family, this can be one of the most depressing days of the year. Even if you’ve never been fond of Thanksgiving, no one wants to be alone on Thanksgiving.

How does a single person celebrate Thanksgiving? You could volunteer at a local soup kitchen, which is very admirable, but not a favorite choice for everyone. You could take up your co-worker on their offer to have you as a guest for their Thanksgiving dinner, although that can be awkward. You could pony up the money to visit your family, but that may not be an option everyone can afford.

The most festive option for a single person is to throw a party. Hosting a Thanksgiving Day party does require planning and preparation, but having a few close friends over is fun and makes the day a lot more fun.



Preparing Your Home for a Thanksgiving Party



A Thanksgiving party will be different than an average party in that you’ll want to create a cozy atmosphere. This is easy enough to do. If you have a dining room table, you’re in luck. Find a nice, small bouquet of autumn flowers at your local florist or market and use them as a centerpiece. If you don’t have a tablecloth, get a runner. Remember to use nice cloth napkins and napkin rings.

Another nice touch is to present your guests with fall theme party favors. You can also use them as decorations for the dinner table. It will also provide a conversation starter at the table. Ideas for fall theme party favors include fall leaf candleholder favors which add the brilliance of fall or autumn to your table. Leaf wine bottle openers make a great practical and unique party favors for your guests. Fall leaf design candle favors will color and warmth to the table setting. Personalized cappuccino and cocktail favors will serve to add a personal touch.  

If you don’t have a kitchen table (never fear – many single folks don’t) make sure there is ample seating room for your guests.

Another nice, homey touch is scented candles. You can buy them in just about any scent, but for today you’ll want to get some that are apple pie or cinnamon scented. It’ll probably be chilly outside, but you’ll want your guests to feel warm in your house or apartment.

If you have a fireplace, set a fire before everyone comes over. A fireplace is the best for creating a comfy atmosphere.



Cooking the Dinner



There are a million recipe web sites that will provide instructions on how to cook each Thanksgiving dinner dish. If you feel up to it, you could certainly buy the groceries and prepare the dinner. You could also ask each person attending your party to bring their favorite dish, but you should still prepare the turkey and/or ham.

You could ask one of your friends to help you prepare the dinner. It would be a great time to catch up, share cooking secrets, and have a good time.



Get it Catered



With enough advance planning, you could get your Thanksgiving Day dinner catered. Better yet, you could order the entire dinner from your local supermarket and go pick it up. Safeway, Albertson’s, and other major grocery store chains that have delis usually offer Thanksgiving and holiday complete meals that can be ordered and picked up. Make sure you order enough for leftovers!



The Festive Drinks



Not all great parties have alcohol but if your does, try some holiday beers or hot drinks. Samuel Adams, Alaskan Brewing Company, and several other brewing companies offer seasonal ales that would make your holiday party special. You can’t go wrong with a white or red wine. Hot cocoa and apple cider are traditional favorites. Don’t forget something for the designated drivers.

Remember, the most important part of hosting a Thanksgiving Day dinner party is to enjoy yourself. Don’t stress too much about how everything turns out and you’ll have a wonderful day.



Julia

Jack asked:


‘Tis the Thanksgiving season again! As we must all be aware, Thanksgiving is a national holiday and a day when the family and friends gets together and feasts on elaborate dishes.

Thanksgiving Day is a reason for major celebration in the USA and it falls on the fourth Thursday of November every year. On this day, Americans give thanks and express their gratitude to the almighty for the good things they have had in the year gone by. This year, Thanksgiving will be celebrated on the 27th of November, 2008. Thanksgiving is also another name for the Harvest Festival in Great Britain which marks the end of the harvesting season there.

Though the exact origin of the tradition is often a topic of debate, many agree that the genesis of Thanksgiving can be traced down to 17th century US, when early settlers in North America celebrated the first American Thanksgiving in 1621. In order to show their gratefulness towards a bountiful of crops, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians got together and shared an autumn harvest feast in Plymouth Plantations. In 1863, during the reign of Abraham Lincoln, Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed a national holiday and has since been so.

Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated by preparing sumptuous dinners, saying grace, raising toasts, reuniting with family and friends, and exchanging gifts as a token of love and appreciation. Meals prepared include ham, fruits, mashed sweet potatoes, corn cobs, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, chicken and eggs, duck, milk, cheese, and turkey with some filling as the centerpiece. Another popular Thanksgiving dish is Turducken, which is again a turkey dish stuffed with chicken and duck meat and glazed with honey, herbs, and seasonings.

Some of the gifts exchanged on Thanksgiving are readymade or handmade thanksgiving gift baskets and hampers filled with nuts, chocolates, cheese, crackers, jams, and other eatables. Another fun gift is the Thanksgiving box of questions with question cards that help exchange ideas, break the ice, start a meaningful conversation, and bond with family and friends. Cookie baskets and chocolate bar cakes also form a good gifting idea. Turkey placecard holders also make a good gift and let you personalize seating arrangement for your guests. Other notable Thanksgiving gifts include wreaths, bouquets, themed dinner sets, gourmet pies and cakes, decorative fruit baskets, centerpieces and dainty collectibles.



Jamie

Michele Cardello asked:


The season of thanks is upon us, and we want to capture those family memories in a way they will always be easily recalled, for life’s good times always slip quickly away, like sand sifting through an hour glass. One fine scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving is to create a recipe memoir, which tells the history of your family’s thanksgiving in the form of recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Here are some tips on how to organize your Thanksgiving recipe scrapbook memoir material.

Gather all the recipes you want to include in the memoir and any photos or ephemera you want associated with the presentation. Take your time with this phase of the operation, no matter how anxious you may be about completing your scrapbook ideas for Thanksgiving before the holiday. You will feel terrible if you omit one Thanksgiving scrapbook idea and then find it after you have completed the memoir / scrapbook.

As you gather recipes and photos for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, make some notes about each one. In fact, buy a special journal just for these notes and keep it for other scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

How does reading about the recipe make you feel? What special memories does it evoke? Are there any family tales or funny stories associated with the recipe? Is it hand-written or typed? Write down your thoughts as they cross your mind. Make a rough sketch of your pages so you will know what will go where and what supplies you will need to fulfill your Thanksgiving scrapbook ideas.

Decide on a format for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. One effective scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving is to organize the material as if it were a cookbook to be passed down to future generations. You are creating a family heirloom just as priceless as any other, and maybe even more so because of the specific effort involved. If you wish to use a cookbook format as your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving, consider dividing the book into different sections just like you would find in a real cookbook; one for appetizers, entrees, desserts, etc. Instead of an appendix, list the names of those whose recipes you have included.

Do not scrimp on materials for your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving. You want your memoir to last, and it won’t without purchasing fine quality materials. Don’t be afraid to try something different for your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving. What about chalking, paper piercing or punch art for your cookbook/scrapbook memoir?

If you decide to go with chalking as one of your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, practice adding and blending colors on a separate sheet before applying chalk to a cutout to get a feel for blending techniques. Chalking is a very inexpensive scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving and is a very effective way to adorn a page with color. Use a light touch for a soft look and a heavier application for more intense color. Opt for photo-safe decorating chalks, which contain concentrated pigment and are acid-free. Use them carefully and if they break, save the pieces because they still can be used for other scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

Paper piercing is another technique to consider for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. Using a template, a piercing tool and pad, you can create a unique presentation for your cookbook / memoir. Designs can be either flat or raised but the results are endless. Many themes and styles are available and piercing can add texture or be combined with stenciling or embossing for additional enhancement of your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

Punch art also offers a myriad of possibilities for your scrapbook ideas for Thanksgiving. You can use it to decorate the borders or headers of your cookbook memoir to accentuate its Thanksgiving theme. Set your own stage with the colors of the season; orange, burgundy, gold and brown. Punches are very versatile and they can be made into many shapes and sizes, only limited by the confines of your imagination. Some of the more common punches are standard geometric shapes, hearts, stars, spirals, leaves and bears. Like the words to that old song, when it comes to punches for scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, anything goes.

So consider your cookbook / memoir scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving as something your family will treasure for many holiday seasons to come. Get inspired to make it a unique creation that will bring pride to any bookshelf in your home. Let your imagination run free and wild while remembering to have a happy, healthy and memorable Thanksgiving holiday.



Jared