Friday, November 15, 2024
Welcome back to Our Grand Lives!
It’s hard to believe that we’re starting year three of OGL
but here we are…
still raring to go and filled with lots of new ideas!
Yesterday we shared a project that would be fun
to make ahead of time with your Little as you get ready for Thanksgiving
OR
to use as place cards at your holiday table!
(That’s what Laura and Little L have planned for their perky turkeys!)
Today, we’re back with a NEW Friday Fave!
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays!
It’s a time to gather with family - our relatives and loved ones -
to share a feast of favorite dishes
and to reflect with gratitude on God’s blessings in our lives!!
It’s a time for recalling moments and loved ones from the past
while, at the same time, creating new memories together!
It’s a cherished time when generations gather
with opportunities to learn, to grow and to celebrate family,
the circle of people that you hold close!
In today’s post, we’re sharing 3 heartwarming ways to celebrate
the gift of family at Thanksgiving!
It’s the perfect time of year to build memories together
as we give thanks for those we love the most!
This first idea is a GRAND one, indeed!
Laura first learned of it when extended family members
shared this tradition via Facebook many years ago.
While we can’t take personal credit for it, we just had to share!
It’s a tradition we can completely embrace
and we thank the Lindstrom Family for sharing this heirloom with us all!
Here’s a bit of the backstory on how the tradition first began,
told in their own words:
I was about a month from having twins and we decided that in order to make the holiday less stressful we would tone it WAY down. I wanted to use paper plates and disposable (or at least dishwasher safe) glasses instead of the china and crystal. I had this idea that it would be fun to keep something that would hold memories, and since we weren't using the good china, we didn't need to use the good tablecloth. So I bought a bunch of muslin to cover the table and some fabric markers, and it's never been the same since!
Each year, the family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving together.
The cloth is brought out and spread on the table…
or should we say tables!.
Each family member writes a memory or a special thought…
Everyone - Littles, Middles and Grands - each add something!
What a treasure!
How fun it must be to gather and “read” the tablecloth each year,
with the new and old entries alike!
Those twins are now teens and the tradition of the Thanksgiving Tablecloth
continues to this day!
While the family has grown over the years,
one relative mentioned that some of their beloved are no longer at the table.
❤️ Those tend to be the most special messages of all! ❤️
We can only imagine how treasured this tablecloth is to the Lindstroms…
now and in all the years to come!
🧡 ❤️ 💛 ❤️ 🧡
A few years ago, Laurie was planning to take
a leftover Halloween pumpkin (not carved!)
and use it as a table centerpiece.
The squirrels had another idea, though!
So instead she used a ceramic pumpkin that she’d had forever.
She's sharing that idea here!
Before our family gathering on Thanksgiving Day, I cut fall leaves out of colored paper. I gave our older Littles (my great niece and nephews, ages 4, 6, 7 at the time) a special assignment! I asked them to greet each person, hand them a leaf and marker and ask each person to write their name and what they are thankful for on the leaf.
The Littles then taped all of the leaves on to the pumpkin!
It was a great way to keep the Littles busy
and also give them a job to do to help with the Thanksgiving festivities!
🧡 ❤️ 💛 ❤️ 🧡
If you have access to photos of everyone who is attending Thanksgiving dinner,
your guests will especially love this personalized project!
NOTE:
While these are mostly made by an adult,
your Littles could definitely help put them together and decorate them!
DIRECTIONS
1. Gather photos of your guests. Baby/young child photos are especially fun, but you can also use silly pictures.
2. Mount your photos on a folded piece of tagboard. Decorate as you'd like.
3. Do NOT label with names.
4. Place at the table settings and see if people can figure out who sits where!
This project can spark a lot of great conversations,
can bring a lot of laughs to the table
and, as a bonus,
each guest will be sent home with a special keepsake of the year’s Thanksgiving!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
We plan to be back next Thursday, November 21!
We invite you to subscribe to our OGL site
so you always know when a new post is published!
In the meantime, follow our social media accounts
where you'll find new content regularly!
And, don’t forget, we love connecting with our OGL community!
We welcome your thoughts, suggestions and ideas!
We love your comments!
Feel free to add a message at the end of this post
OR
If you prefer, you can also reach out to us directly
Family is a gift we can celebrate and appreciate all year long
and especially during this season!
Perhaps one or more of the activities we’ve shared today
will spark a few GRAND ideas of your own!
We sure hope so!
It is always a GRAND celebration when loved ones gather
and Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to do just that!
Family - it’s what it’s all about!
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Tuesdays with a Twist from God's Growing Garden
Thank you for featuring this post on your sites!
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Such cute ideas! My husband's family used a white table cloth every Thanksgiving too, and after the meal was over, everyone colored on it. They were all very artistic people, so the drawings they came up with afterwards were amazing.
I absolutely love the tablecloth idea! It's always so special to create these memories with the ones we love. Wonderful post. Thank you for sharing with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #64.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
Gotta love those perky turkeys!
The tablecloth is such a great idea! I remember our kids loved going to restaurants where they could scribble/draw on the tablecloths. Great ideas thanks for sharing with us for #WWWhimsy
These are all such neat ideas! I really love the tablecloth one. It must be so fun to look back at those messages year after year.