I'm finally getting into the Thanksgiving spirit and wanted to share a few of my favorite things that I have stumbled upon that I love!
The girls made these adorable little Oreo Turkeys last year for our Thanksgiving table out of Oreo's, malt balls, candy corn and mini Reese's with frosting glue and accents.
Instructions can be found here at Our Best Bites on how to make them.
photo credit: Our Best Bites
I think these free Thanksgiving Printables are simply awesome and I thank the folks at Catch My Party and Mimi's Dollhouse who shared!
There are cute "I'm thankful for" cards to fill out, kids' activity sheets, a banner, party labels, drink flags, water bottle labels and even and invitation.
From Mimi's Dollhouse via Catch My Party
Kind Over Matter compiled a wonderful assortment of more free Thanksgiving printables you can check out as well! Again, a huge thank you to the creative artists who are sharing their creations.
photo credit: Kind Over Matter
Ina Garten's Butternut Squash and Curried Apple Soup turned out delicious with a little added hit of cream! Note: if it feels intimidating to tackle cutting a butternut squash (they require some guns) some stores, like Trader Joe's, sell Butternut squash already cut or another option is baking the whole squash first and then scooping out the flesh when the skins are softened.
I love this Thanksgiving/Fall table setting!
These Apple Pie-Style Caramel Apples turned out divine and were easily made by drizzling tart, firm apples with melted white chocolate and then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
This pitcher filled with leaves and tree branches and the turkey platter rocks!
I also loved reading about the family at eighteen25 that keeps a "Book of Thanks" that stores an annual photo/photos of Thanksgiving and has everyone write what they are thankful for and kids can draw pictures. What a precious keepsake to treasure for years to come.
photo credit: eighteen25
I love the challenge going on right now on instagram in which once a day during the month of November people are challenged to take a photo a day of something or someone you are thankful for using the hashtag #novemberthankful. The same creative gals at eighteen25 also created a Thankful Book that compiles all the photos you took with their free downloadable cover that you can create through Blurb, a great site that takes your Instagram photos and turns them into custom photo books.
photo credit: eighteen25
I was inspired by Becky Higgin's idea of posting a Grateful or Gratitude poster board that collects snippets of what family members are thankful for throughout the month of November.
photo credit: Becky Higgins
My kids have enjoyed playing Thanksgiving Bingo in the past while waiting for the countdown of arriving guests and dinner to start. Family Fun has a darling version that uses the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (items like Santa Claus, a police officer, the American flag, a high school marching band) or Thanksgiving Day Football (items like pom-poms, an interception, a fumble) for the items. The free printables come with 6 different game boards. 
photo credit: Family Fun
There's a great list of Thanksgiving games to choose from at Spoonful. One of our favorite family games is Apples to Apples. Here is a recent hand of my winning cards. (My kids like to say that the cards you end up with at the end match personalities! I beg to differ, especially the big and tall card! But I do like cozy!)
Have a happy weekend and a wonderful time preparing for Thanksgiving!
