11 Easy DIY No Carve Pumpkins and Other Fall Foliage Home Decor

This video has some ideas that I really love, and not just for Halloween.  With Thanksgiving right around the corner, some of these can be table decor for that holiday too.  I love the Mums table pieces, especially.  Some of this stuff you can get right at the Dollar Tree.  I love the Dollar Tree.  Starting in November I will be sharing some posts for Operation Christmas Child projects that I am working on.  If they are simple enough, our church will include our youth in making them for next year's campaign.  If you don't support OCC, that is ok a lot of these projects can be donated to any charity group you support.

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Tom Turkey Candle Just In Time For Thanksgiving!

I did not intend to paint a Turkey, but I had this big jar already cleaned with two coats of blue paint on it. So, I went ahead and painted Tom Turkey on one side. The other side is just as cute, but I won't share that side until after Thanksgiving. This will be a candle and part of my Thanksgiving Day table.

Breaking Traditions!

This was my weekend off, and we had no plans, believe it or not. It was so beautiful yesterday, in the eighties. I got a ton of yard work done, dogs washed and even sat in the sun for a bit. Today it is like 50 and windy, ugh! If the weather stays as predicted, this will be the coldest Thanksgiving week since we have been here in Florida. Usually it is hot, humid and baking the turkey is torture. This year might be much different.

Last year, my husband bought a new Christmas tree, a huge one. I mean huge. It is so tall the top can not accommodate a topper. But, I did get to display all my ornaments this year, none got left off. I have a second small tree, that was my angel tree, it now has the advent calendar on it, which I will share in another post, it isn't quite finished yet. For as long as I can remember, starting when I was a kid, the Christmas tree went up Thanksgiving night. My husband and I have continued the tradition, until this year. He asked me if we could put it up early, yesterday. I really didn't want to, but you know what it worked out nicely. No one was over stuffed, tired, grumpy or wanting to watch football. Everyone participated and you can see the beautiful results below. Maybe breaking traditions is OK after all.

We are on Thanksgiving break all this next week.  We will be doing Run Club Monday, cleaning and food shopping on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving Turkey Fun Art Project

Today for History, we had some creative Turkey fun projects. I found on a free writing prompt website, the idea to write about convincing people not to eat turkey for Thanksgiving. I added to the project by having both kids draw a turkey in disguise. Caitlin drew a skirt and top on hers with shoes, and DJ made his all black with some funny sayings as film critics on the feathers. His will be posted to his blog, when he has completed and uploaded the writing portion of his assignment. Caitlin is still working on her writing assignment which was to write a Thanksgiving Day story, with a menu to go with it. You can use this turkey coloring page template, to start your turkey disguise. The original idea for this came from a Pinterest board, but when I tried to print her project, it would not print or open.  Both kids got everything they needed to get done today, so tomorrow we are doing Run Club, rained again today, and then off to my mom's for Caitlin to sew her fair project.  So no textbook stuff, but still learning. 

Thanksgiving and Dinosaurs

We have next week off for Thanksgiving break.  So, we need to get a lot done this week to stay up to date.  Our Run Club has moved to Mon and Wed at 1, but today we were rained out.  We have 4H this evening.  Caitlin will be doing more Dinosaur reading and activities, this week, along with more history on Greece.  She has decided to make a theater mask, and a Greek style dinner for her hands on projects.  We will not be using Feta cheese though, no one seems to like it much.  She will be making a simple Greek Salad, and Lemon Chicken served over rice and sauteed veggies.  There will be a lot of art work, with her dinosaur research.  I will add links and info as we go.  DJ is continuing to learn about the Middle Ages, and the Atmosphere.  I have not decided yet what hands on activity he will do next.  However, we have decided he is too busy to write his book on his free time, so I will be incorporating it into his school days.  He is beginning to read, A Separate Peace, and if you click here you will find a study guide to go with the book.  We will be using it.  If you want to read A Separate Peace online, click the second link. 

Simple Saturday Maple Butter For Your Thanksgiving Turkey

This is probably the fastest, and shortest post I have ever done LOL. Please remember to enter the contest for a free Sylvan First Grade workbook. See the top of the blog for details. You do not have to homeschool to enter.

Last year I had a lot of people ask how we made the maple butter, that we put on our turkey. I do not think I ever posted it. It is so simple, and the flavor goes all the way through your turkey. You will love it.

You will need 4 sticks of butter, no margarine, it has to be butter. One bottle of pure maple syrup, about 7 dollars per bottle. Melt the butter, add the syrup, then bring it to a boil. Let it boil gently, until it reduces down 1/3 of what you began with. This takes approximately 45 minutes, to one hour. Be sure to watch it, and stir occasionally. Then remove it from the heat, let it cool slightly, put in a container, and refrigerate until needed. Let me know if you try it, and if you loved it.