Thanksgiving Place-mat Craft

I love new ways to bring memories to Thanksgiving. When I saw this idea in a magazine to make place-mats, with a twist, I thought it would be a nice addition to our table this year. The making of the mats has been time well-spent and I think they will be treasured by their new owners as a thoughtful gift.

The idea behind this place-mat is that the guests have to read the words on the place-mat and decide which one describes them, before they can sit down in the chair. Of course, the names are on the back if there are any complications. These are a wonderful keepsake to use the rest of the year. But, I thought they were more original then place cards.

First, I made a questionnaire that each person who was coming to our Thanksgiving table had to fill out. Here are the questions that I came up with, but you can certainly make up your own:

• I collect....
• I'm grateful for....
• I admire....
• My favorite books and movies are....
• When I grow up I want to....(yes, this is for adults too)
• In my free time I like to....
• Other interesting tidbits about me are....

Next, I collected some appropriate scrap-booking card stock for each guest. I got some themes for the children and some for the adults. You need the big square sheets, one per person, as the actual place-mat and several color coordinated papers for decoration.

Then I collected the questionnaires from everyone and opened up a program on my computer that has a great selection of fonts. I typed in one or two word answers, each in a different font. You can certainly use the same font, but that's not my style. It's important to pick one or two words instead of whole sentences because of the nature of the layout.

After cutting out the words, I gave a set of words and papers to my children to cut out background paper for each word and glue the words down on the place-mat. We completed approx 4 per hour. But, we also had lots of snacks and giggling going on to!

Finally, I took the place-mats to get laminated so that they will last longer, and the guests can take them home with them as mementos of Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving craft as much as we did.

This article was originally published on Mentoring Moments , November 2009.