Cagey Conifer "Holiday Card Holder"

'Tis no longer the season for growing veggies, so go ahead and transform a tomato cage from your garden into this clever evergreen look-alike.

Total Time Needed: 1-2 Hours

Materials

• Tomato cage
• Duct tape
• Wrapping paper
• Tape
• Scissors
• 3/4-inch binder clips

Instructions

1. First clean the cage's prongs and wrap them together with duct tape to form a point.
2. Roll a sheet of wrapping paper into a cone, tape it to secure it, and trim the bottom edge. Slip the cone over the cage's point.
3. Put a second sheet of wrapping paper under the cage, trace around the cage, and trim the circle so that it's just wider than the base.
4. Use binder clips to attach cards to the rings.

by JoEllen Mitchell 

Thanksgiving Hat craft

Step-by-Step Thanksgiving Hat Instructions

What You’ll Need

 • White paper plate
• Scissors
• Assorted paint colors
• Cotton swabs
• Paper: dark brown, light brown, black, orange, red
• Glue stick
• Brown crafts foam
• Stapler

 1. Cut a white paper plate in half. You will need one half of the plate per hat.

2. Paint each groove on the plate edge with assorted paint colors using a separate cotton swab for each color.

3. Cut a 6-inch-diameter circle from brown paper and cut it in half. Glue one of the halves to the plate. Cut out a 3-inch-diameter circle from light brown paper for the turkey’s head, two small circles from black paper for the eyes, a small diamond from orange paper for the beak and fold in half. , and a comma shape from red paper for the wattle. Glue all the pieces to the plate as shown.

4. When the paint is dry, punch a hole on each end of the brim. Tie a piece of raffia through the holes for a chin strap.

5. Cut two 2x11-inch strips from brown crafts foam for the headband. Staple one end of each piece together. Glue the stapled seam to the center back of the turkey with the staple ends facing the turkey; let dry. Complete the hat by fitting the bands around the child’s head and stapling it closed to fit.

A great Thanksgiving book to pair with the Thanksgiving Hat activity is, "Franklin's Thanksgiving." For ages 2.5-6

From Parents Magazine, adapted by Amber Thomas
 

Family Sunday Fundays: Turn Leftover Halloween Candy into Thanksgiving Treats

Now that your little ones have brought home all their hard-earned Halloween candy, you may be curious to know how you will get rid of all the Halloween candy without your or your child gaining ten pounds. Instead of nursing tummy aches this holiday season, you could be extending the life of your Halloween candy by incorporating it into the Thanksgiving celebration.


Bake It
The most obvious solution to getting rid of Halloween candy is to bake it. Candy likely won't go bad in the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving, but you can always freeze Halloween candy to keep it as fresh as possible. Baking Halloween candy into your Thanksgiving desserts is a simple and effective way to get smiles this Thanksgiving, whether you hide them in the middle of cookies or cupcakes, or melt them entirely and use in cake frosting or as part of the cake batter.

The internet is a treasure trove of Halloween candy recipe ideas. Try Cooks Candy Recipes, CDKitchen's Halloween Candy Recipes, or Recipezaar's Candy Recipes. You could also just use Google to find a great Thanksgiving dessert recipe using Halloween candy. If you have a particular brand name you have a surplus on, like Reese's Pieces or Nestle Crunch, plug those terms into the search engine.

Craft ItThere are many was to go when crafting Halloween candy. Have the kids take a variation on the classic drawing-a-turkey-with-your-hand, and with scissors and glue, make a festive collage with used Halloween candy wrappers. For example, they can use the Thanksgiving appropriate Reese's Pieces orange and Snickers brown to make a flashy hand turkey. Don't forget most candy bar wrappers have a glossy silver inside kids can use to make an eye-catching turkey or papercraft pilgrim's hat.

Google "Thanksgiving printables" for a wide variety of templates for your kids to decorate with Halloween candy wrappers. Let their imagination run wild.

Piñata ItIf your Thanksgiving celebration is rife with children, your best bet for getting rid of excess Halloween candy is by making them take some home with them, much to the chagrin of their parents. You can usually get a cheap piñata (maybe even a turkey piñata) at the dollar store, and it'll be a fun diversion for your children, so they won't stop asking you every ten minutes if the turkey is ready to eat.

Donate It
It is Thanksgiving, after all, and it's a good way to teach your child how fortunate they really are by teaching them to donate Halloween candy for people who really need it. Non-profit organizations like UNICEF and Ronald McDonald House will gladly accept your Halloween candy donations.

And Beyond...
If you can't get rid of all your Halloween candy by Thanksgiving, you could always give it another go for the Christmas season. Leftover Halloween candy can be used to make gingerbread houses and hard candy can be fashioned into Christmas ornaments.

Published by Ana Ng