Three Simple Thanksgiving Craft Projects the Whole Family Can Make

The online world is filled with countless zero-cost Thanksgiving images that have a variety of fun uses. They can be used to illustrate the holiday on web pages or blogs, or can be pressed into service for those old-time favorites: Thanksgiving crafts. As an example, crafts made from vintage holiday cards for Thanksgiving are easy-as-pie, because vintage images are versatile and also quite effective when it comes to delivering a message. These pictures also usually cost nothing to download and their use doesn’t have any repercussions because their age puts them beyond copyright protection.

Just a simple online search using the search term “vintage Thanksgiving cards” will give you a huge number of free vintage images from which a lot of craft projects can be made. And if you’re not a fan of vintage, contemporary free Thanksgiving art or Thanksgiving scrapbook papers 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 Web:

* We’re so Thankful Garlands *
Making Thanksgiving garlands can be as easy as having your guests write all the things they’re thankful for in their lives. Then, just print some vintage Thanksgiving cards and with the help of tiny clothespins, affix the cards and the leaves in an alternating pattern onto a long piece of ribbon or yarn. In the absence of 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 use contemporary Thanksgiving clip art instead of the cards to alternate with the leaves. Once finished, drape the garland over a windowsill or a mantelpiece to show off everyone’s good work!

* Handmade Thanksgiving Cards *
Once you’ve gone online and downloaded the image you would like to use, paste it into a Word, PowerPoint or OneNote document. You can size the card using the software’s settings. Place the image on one half of the card, so it can be folded in half after it’s printed. Print the card on card stock as heavy as your printer will allow, 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, you can make them easily with vintage cards or free clip art images. Simply download the the image or images you like and insert them into a table in your word processing or other type of program. The table should have two columns and six or eight rows, depending on how long and thin you want the cards. Paste the art into every other cell, making sure there’s enough room to write people’s names. Then, print onto heavy card stock, cut the place cards 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 holiday table will be that much more festive.

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

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