I have a little Thanksgiving goodness for you today. You know it is only 3 weeks away! Time to get planning. The ideas I am sharing here are sure to make you smile since all of them can be done in 10 minutes.
For the past 22 years, I have hosted my family for Thanksgiving. The most we have had around the holiday table was 18 guests. My dad made this ingenious top to extend my dining room table to help get a larger number seated since my table only seats 6. Over the past few years the number has sadly dwindled as both my parents and Ed’s mom have passed away leaving empty seats, but many fond Thanksgiving memories.
This is the current state of my dining room. The contents are packed away in a PODS in my driveway. Thanksgiving for my family will be at my twin sister Carol’s house this year. A new tradition begins.
(If you are wondering if you missed a post about if we sold our house and bought a new one, you haven’t. :-) I have just been so busy that I have not had a chance to get an update post written. We did sell the house and have bought a new one, update coming on Friday)
If you would like to see how it used to look around this time of year, this is how my dining room looked last year at Thanksgiving.
I will make my mom’s DELICIOUS recipe for stuffing and bring these Thanksgiving place cards that will bring in a little bit of the old to the new setting.
I drew these for my Thanksgiving table many years ago. I had forgotten all about them until I was cleaning out the dining room hutch to pack the contents up and found one in a drawer.
Click here: DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLE
I thought I would share it with you. I created a free printable sheet of them that you can print out and write your guests names on.
If you have photo editing software on your computer, you can save and open the .pdf and add the names of your guests on each card before printing out. I opened the .pdf into Photoshop Elements and used the font Cantori Basic Bold to put a name on each card. Saved the file, then printed it on my printer.
I used my crafty little paper cutter to easily cut them apart.
Variation: Glue card stock to the back of each place card with colorful fall themed scrapbook paper so the back of each card looks as nice as the front.
Here’s a trick to hold the place cards up since they are not the tented type.
Using owl style paper clips was one of my first posts when I started blogging. How To Make a Simple Holder for a Table Place Card. If you can’t find these at your office supply store, you can get a box for $5.00 on Amazon.
How to Make Place Card Holders in Less Than 30 Seconds
- Place paper clip as shown.
- Using your fingers, pull the center “owl eyes” up.
- Bend one eye in front of the other.
Put place card between the eyes.
Optional Add-On:
I wanted the backs of the place cards to be colorful but since my printer does not accept card stock, I had to cut a piece of autumn inspired scrapbook card stock to the size of the place cards.
I used spray glue to glue the scrapbook paper to the back of each place card.
Another option is change the color of the metal paper clips with spray paint. Simply line them up on a piece of cardboard and spray any color you desire. Let dry overnight.
I enjoy making place cards and have posted quite a few of them over the years. You can find them here: Table Place Card Ideas.
Looking for More Thanksgiving Table Setting Ideas? You can find them here: Table Setting Ideas.
Good response in return of this issue with solid arguments
and explaining all on the topic of that.
These are so pretty, can’t wait to hear about a potential new home!
How wonderful for you two! And in S.C. Too. I almost settled in Burgess (think they call it Murrells Inlet nowadays). I had 5 acres there but sold the property and bought this house instead and glad, cause I can’t take cold weather.
I so remember you showing us the Owl clips for place cards. So clever for sure. I wonder if your sister is terrifically nervous to be hosting this year? Give her a big hug food me.
Can’t wait to hear where you will be moving. I thought of you and Ed today as my hubby and I took a drive south into NC towards the Outter Banks. I was wondering if you had checked out any of the homes on the Albemarle Sound? Thanks for the printable! Vikki in VA
Hi Vikki – Yes we did check out the Albemarle Sound. We looked at a few houses there in the Edenton area, but when it came down to making a decision we chose a lake in SC :-)
Diane,
Thank you for the place card printable. Already printed and ready for the holiday. I am beyond thrilled for you and Ed that you sold your home and are on to a new adventure! I cannot wait to hear all about it.
I love your place cards Diane!
Hi Diane,
I may have missed it, did you sell your house and buy a new one?? I have been following your moving story, not sure if I missed an issue!!!
Hi Susanne – No you did not miss a post. I have been so busy traveling, home searching, and packing that I have not had time to get my posts posted in a timely manner. To answer your question… we did sell our house and have bought a new to us one. I will post about it on Friday. :-)