A Pinterest Thanksgiving

I know usually a post titled "Pinterest Thanksgiving" will be full of delicious recipes to try. Since I don't tend to use pinterest like people usually do it shouldn't surprise you that my pinterest Thanksgiving post will be different. Only about half of the posts on my board are food. The other half are ways to decorate the table. 

You can find the links to my inspirations and what I'll be eating tomorrow on my Thanksgiving Pinterest Board.

I found a great idea for filling a rectangle vase that I already owned with candy corn and candles. A perfect cheap centerpiece.

In the past I've always struggled with how to make a meal special at home. When I visit my parents the special meals are served on my great grandma's china. These dishes will be coming to live with me one day, but I really hope that day is far in the future since it will mean my mom no longer needs them. I found a couple of blue china plates in an antique store a few years ago, but they're better suited to an afternoon luncheon than a feast where the food should be the star. I decided to try the "sharpie mug" method and picked up a couple of plates at Wal-mart for 88 cents each. 

I read that there seems to be a high margin of error on these plates but most people have success when they let the sharpie dry for a day or so before baking. I baked my plates for 30 minutes somewhere around 400 degrees (my oven is really old and will do it's best to get to the requested temperature, but is considered successful if it gets within 25 degrees either way.) I then let the plates cool in the oven. I haven't washed them yet, but the marker does look a bit faded from when they went in. I like this look and see it as a sign that the sharpie has permeated the glaze. I think these plates will be dish washer safe, but since we don't have one I'll be hand washing them.

The last thing I made was a table runner. My husband and I decided late last week that we were going to do a Thanksgiving meal together on Thursday for the two of us. (Crazy work schedules means we won't be heading to my family until Friday morning.) I've been thinking of a quilted winter table runner and hadn't bothered to think of Thanksgiving. I don't have a lot of Autumn colors in my stash and wanted something that could easily be done in an hour. I got half a yard of burlap from the store, cut it into a square to fit my table, and used a Sharpie to write one of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns onto it. I don't have fancy handwriting so I found a font on my computer that I liked and printed off my hymn. Since burlap is full of holes I just laid the fabric over my paper and traced the letters.