Thanksgiving Celebrations 2013

I prepared for this special meal for weeks! And oh boy did it pay off. It was the BEST Thanksgiving we've ever had, and I'm not just saying that. It was an epic day, and this is going to be an EPIC blog post showing you all my favourite elements, displays & DELICIOUS food from our gathering. A little background story in dot points: 

• I lived in the USA for 1 year where I met hubby.
• He moved over here to Australia, we got married and this is where we live permanently.
• We decided from the beginning we didn't want to let his family Thanksgiving tradition die, so we started our own tradition. 
• Because there is no official holiday/day off for Thanksgiving in Australia, we just figure out a Saturday in November everyone in the family is free, this year it happened to be 2 days after the real Thanksgiving!
• We are getting better and better at it, and have mastered the traditional dishes! 

Now when I put on an event, I put a lot of effort into it. I think that anyone who has attended any event I have put on, can attest to that. I spend weeks making bits and pieces, planning dishes, planning decorations, making decorations, gathering supplies... I did lots of sneak peeks on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. It was funny, because for the most part everyone was ooooo-ing and aaaaaaah-ing over what I was getting up to, but there were a few comments that "not even American's go to that much effort"... Well, guess what? I'm not American, I'm a Franklin, and this is how Franklin's do Thanksgiving!!! Yeehaa!! 

So here it is. Sit back, get cosy, and be ready to scroll through some seriously large amounts of amazing photos!!! :) 

The decorations are so important to me. They create the mood, atmosphere & environment that contributes towards a successful event. The part I love most about these particular decorations is they only cost me $10. I was able to make the paper bunting using cardboard & DSP scraps from my stash. The majority of the table decorations were from nature. The spray paint I used on the pine cones was from my stash. The glass jars were from my cupboard. The ribbon from my stash. Mini pumpkin decorations from my stash.  So the $10 was spent on a set of beautiful white candles from Ikea... and that's it! 

I also didn't want to use a fabric tablecloth. Firstly because I don't have 2 matching ones, but secondly because I didn't want them to get stained or wrecked! So my next thought was brown paper. And I love how it looked. I taped it down and off I went with decorating.

Now for the table settings. I saw an idea on Pinterest where someone drew place settings with Nikko in a square and I loved it. I took it a step further and instead of just a square I drew little frames. My sister has the fabulous retired Silver Setting Stamp set which I stamped onto the brown paper using my Staz On Ink Pad (#101406). Then I was able to write people's names on the table so everyone knew where to sit! 

The napkin settings I made from scratch. I made up a little template which I'll be able to use again in the future. Decorated simply with some string, ribbon & twine in all different colours for a rustic look. The "Thanks" text was handstamped in individual ink colours using my Simply Serif Mini Alphabet Stamps (#126360).

Brown & white striped straws from Lille Parti. 

The food, oh my, the food. This is why Thanksgiving is important to us haha!! We only make these dishes once a year to keep them special and I have perfected recipe's over the years. I get my mum and sister to help with cooking each year. This year we had some extra friends join us so they were all given dishes to make also! Everyone did a superb job and everything was to die for delicious! 

I made all the little food signs using cardstock, ink pads, washi tape & some punchouts & die cut outs.

My brother Ben in the checked shirt & our friend Shem about to sit down at the end.

I love these two photos. It's not often I share photos of my niece and nephews on here, but even at 4 & 6 they know good food when they see it. My niece (Miss 4) likes to think she's an adult and uses her knife and fork together haha!! Then my nephew (Mr 6) is the fussiest eater you'll ever meet. So he had 2 platefuls of turkey and 2 bread rolls (he NEVER eats that much)! He sat next to me and was soooo cute. Every time he would finish using a utensil he would slot it back into the napkin holder. 

Now onto dessert....

Are you salivating? I am just looking at these pictures again! 

We had such a wonderful chat about all the things we are grateful for in this world and in our lives as we ate and it there was such a wonderful feeling in the room as we shared, laughed & cried together. So that is another year done & dusted. I can't wait until November rolls around again. 

Remember us over here at A Christy Production if you have an event coming up and need custom paper goods made to decorate with: paper bunting, cupcake/food toppers, food signs, place cards, napkin holders.... you name it, we can do it for you!