A couple of years ago, we invited some friends and their relatives over for Thanksgiving dinner. We didn’t know our friends’ relatives well, so we asked ahead of time about the things each person loved to do. We wanted everyone to feel welcome and special, so before Thanksgiving, my son made a unique placemat for each person.
Here’s what he did:
- He started with a placemat-sized piece of thick drawing paper. You can find this at most craft stores.
- For each person, he made the infamous handprint turkey on the placemat and neatly wrote the person’s name under the turkey.
- He used stickers, cut-out pictures from old magazines and his own artwork to decorate each placemat using what we knew about that person. For example, one person loved to work in her garden, so my son drew pictures of flowers, spades, seeds and other “gardening” things.
- During our Thanksgiving meal (we did have turkey!), everyone noticed their placemats. Never in my life have I seen grown adults work so hard to keep their placemats clean!
- When our guests left, they took their placemats with them.
I was proud of my son for the hard work he put into each, and it was a fun way to make every single guest feel welcome. Hope all of you have a great Turkey Day!!!
Here are some Web sites that my son and I will use this Thanksgiving. I hope they help you, too:
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29 October 2008, 3:26 pm
I love the holidays and I think it was really sweet of your son to make your friend’s relative feel at home. Thanksgiving is a great time for families to get together. I love doing arts and crafts and I liked the idea that he came up with.
04 November 2008, 1:04 pm
What a great idea!