Thanksgiving Day Layout Ideas

The leaves have almost entirely fallen, the weather is crisp but definitely still nice, and we turn our thoughts to the busy holiday season ahead. One last respite for the weary lies between where we are at and the Christmas rush – Thanksgiving! A day to count our blessings, share with family and friends, and stuff ourselves with the bounty of God’s good creation.

This will be a short week for the blog. I’ll be posting today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, and then taking the rest of the week off. To keep it appropriately themed, we are going to start this week with some fun tips for your Thanksgiving layouts.

Tips for your Thanksgiving Day Layouts:

Once the Turkey is eaten and the parades have quieted down, there are still photos to be scrapbooked and memories to be jotted down. Here are some fun ideas to spice up your Thanksgiving layouts:

Ideas for Color –

Add some sparkle to your autumn palette with a sheet or two of Wausau Pearlescent or Metallic cardstock. Try adding Sparkling Merlot on Black Knight, from the metallic collection. This is a deep purple that will contrast nicely with traditional gold and pumpkin tones.

The BasicGrey Mello line has a definite fall flare and I asked Jodi to select some of the Wausau Pearlescent and Metallic papers to pair with it. Here’s what she suggested:

Castle Copper
Gamma Green
Solar Yellow
Re-Entry Red, and
Empress Emerald

(Click on the title to link to see the ever festive BasicGrey Mello line)

Ideas for Content –

Do more than scrapbook the photos, beef up the content by documenting the people who were there:

• Bring along a sheet of cardstock. Have everyone sign it and write their age. Make this a tradition year after year. It would be wonderful to look back and see all those names at various ages in their own handwriting.
• Make hand turkeys to scatter on your page. Trace the hands of the little ones in the family and if they are old enough, have them help decorate them. Be sure to write their names and ages on the turkeys. It will be fun to look back and see their little hands. You could frame a group photo of the kids with the hands and title the page “Grandma’s Little Turkeys” or something similar.

Ideas for Photos (just say cheese) –

You want to be sure to take photos of the dinner guests but don’t forget the food and decorations. Be creative - use fun photo angles and design abstract shots. Photos of the table, food, or the turkey in the oven can add to the overall feel of you page by setting the scene and atmosphere. Here are some things to think of photographing:

• The dishes. If your mom or grandma use special dishes year after year, document these.
• Take a photo of the cook’s hands. These busy hands prepared the meal and are another blessing to be accounted for.
• Take a photo of a full plate, and then the same plate after all has been eaten. You can mat the photos side by side and come up with some funny before and after dinner thoughts.
  

Document the traditions -

• Be sure to take note of the traditions. If dad always watches the football game, snap a photo of him tuned in and record what the score was that year.
• If Aunt Mabel always makes delicious pumpkin cake, snap a shot of the cake and include her recipe next to it. This is a great idea for all the scrumptious side-dishes and could become a whole layout on its own called “A Salute to all the Turkey’s Side Kicks”. Younger generations will appreciate having all those recipes in one place!

Whatever you do, have fun. If you use any of these ideas to season your pages, let me know. We’d love to post a photo of your creation on our blog. I’m definitely going to try some of them out myself. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As a Thanksgiving treat, I’m including a contest in this blog. In keeping with the Thanksgiving spirit, I used a number of descriptive food words in this post. How many can you find? The first three to e-mail or post their answers will receive a free sheet of Mello paper and a coordinating sheet of Wausau Pearlescent or Metallic cardstock to document all their Thanksgiving memories with. You can e-mail me at info@scrapbuglane.com.

Lisa