Bake & Decorate - Thanksgiving

 Happy Birthday to me

Thanksgiving is five days away plenty of time to do a couple of things to make it festive even if you are only doing it for yourself.

If you have a cafe table or a table with multiple leaves you can decorate cheaply and if you are like me you have the basic ingredients to make a cookie or two as a treat in the house.

So if you don't get or haven't spent all of your GST yet go to your nearest dollar store and pick up a basic thanksgiving, autumn set of party stuff. You know a tablecloth, some paper plates & napkins and set your table with them. 

Now doesn't that feel festive? 

Next find a small jar and a votive (candle). Go outside and pick a few of the colourful leaves off the nearby trees or if you are still at the dollar store pick up some fake leaves. Depending on the size of the jar you will need between four and ten mid size leaves. I like maple because they are very colourful and of a large size.

Get your mod podge and a sponge brush then follow the directions above. Now you have a nice centerpiece for your table that is suitable for the whole season.

If you have a little bit more money you can pick up some mini gourds from the grocery store set them around the little lantern.

An alternative is to take your jar and wrap a cone of brown paper or felt around it then lay it on it's side for an instant horn of plenty. Using the gourds again put a couple inside and a couple around the outside and you have a different centrepiece, one that is closer to the original meaning of  Thanksgiving.

There are so many ideas out there to make your table look like Thanksgiving if neither of these ideas suits you.

Next is the food, if I didn't have my family and a little money I'd order the Thanksgiving meal from Swiss Chalet or go to the grocery store and pick up one from the ready made section. I know cooking a big meal for just one person would be excessive but if you have the stuff you can always freeze the leftovers and enjoy thanksgiving a couple of more times through them.

My final suggestion is to write down all the things you are thankful for. You can do this as a craft or just write it out on a piece of paper. Whichever you choose display it on your refrigerator so you are reminded every day about just how lucky you are!