Simple Thanksgiving Craft Projects the Whole Family Can Make

The World Wide Web is chock full of no-cost Thanksgiving images that have a variety of fun uses. They can be used to impart a traditional Thanksgiving feel on web pages or blogs, or for one of my favorite things: Thanksgiving crafts. For example, making craft projects out of free vintage Thanksgiving cards are easy-as-pie, because vintage images are both versatile and very effective at getting a point across. These pictures also usually cost nothing to download and their use doesn’t have any repercussions because their age puts them beyond copyright protection.

Doing a quick Internet search for “vintage Thanksgiving cards” will yield a huge number of no-cost images from which a lot of craft projects can be made. And if you’re not a fan of vintage, contemporary Thanksgiving images or free fall scrapbook paper can also be used to produce beautiful craft projects.

Here are examples of three projects nearly anyone can make using free art found on the Internet:

* Thankful Garlands *
Crafting “thankful” garlands is as simple as having guests or family members write their blessings on leaves cut from construction paper. Then, download and print an assortment of vintage Thanksgiving cards and using miniature clothespins, add the vintage cards and the leaves, alternating them onto a long piece of ribbon or yarn. If you don’t have any clothespins, you can use paper clips, colorful clamps you can get at the office supply store or tape to hold everything in place. Another option to consider would be to alternate Thanksgiving clip art with the leaves, instead of using the vintage cards. Once finished, drape the garland over a windowsill or a mantelpiece to show off everyone’s good work!

* Handmade Thanksgiving Cards *
When you’ve downloaded the Thanksgiving image you’d like to use, paste it into a word processing or PowerPoint document. You can size the card using the software’s settings. Position the image on one half of the card, so it can be folded in half once it’s printed. Print the card on sturdy stock, fold it and and apply just a little glitter glue to make it sparkle. You might also want to make your own envelopes or just buy two-for-a-dollar card and envelope sets at the dollar store and then throw away the cards.

* Thanksgiving Table Place Cards *
Some believe a Thanksgiving dinner table is bare and incomplete without table place cards. Fortunately, these can be made quite easily using free clip art images or vintage cards. Just download the image or images you want to use and paste them into a table in your word processing program. Make the table two columns by six or eight rows, depending on how tall you want the cards to be. Place your chosen art into every other cell, leaving room to write people’s names. Then, print the page onto card stock, cut them out using a paper cutter or a ruler and craft knife and they’ll be ready to fold in half. Voila! That’s all it takes. Your Thanksgiving table will be instantly more beautiful.

I hope you enjoy making these simple and fun Thanksgiving crafts and that you have a wonderful holiday!