Be Thankful Placemats

Easy to Make Placemats Celebrate Thanksgiving

Nov 11, 2007 Belinda Mooney

Family mementos, pictures and clear contact paper are used to create a special Thanksgiving placemat. A wonderfully easy kid's craft.

Thanksgiving is a time of remembering friends, family and special times in our lives that we are thankful for. As family and friends gather to share a meal many families reflect back over the past year. Some wonderful traditions are shared at this time. Many families take the time to each share something they are thankful for before eating, others offer special prayers to the Lord for His goodness in the past and some families have special foods or activities are shared and take place on Thanksgiving day.

But one thing almost every family has in common is mementos (napkins, crafts the kids have made) and pictures of the past year. Why not start a new family tradition at your house this year. Get out those special pictures and mementos and turn them into something that can be enjoyed on Thanksgiving and all year round.

Be Thankful Placemats

You will need:

• construction paper
• crayons, colored pencils, markers
• family pictures
• mementos such as colorful napkins, paper crafts, scraps of cloth
• clear contact paper
• trim such as ribbon or rick rack
• fancy scissors to trim paper or make your own fancy trim

What you do:

1. Write the words "I am thankful for" on a piece of construction paper or plain white paper. Trim around it or decorate it. You will glue this in the center of your place mat. You may glue it on first and center things around it or glue it on last after you have placed your pictures and mementos.

2. Decide what pictures and mementos you want to include on each placemat. Get another piece of construction paper as your background for the placemat. Lay out your items and try arranging them in different positions. Trim pictures if necessary. Leave room to write captions underneath if you would like to include them. Once you have decided on your layout glue them in place on the construction paper.

3. Add any embellishments you would like such as ribbon, tiny bows, fancy trims, sequins etc. Fill in your captions. Make your your placemat is exactly they way you want it to look.

4. Cut two pieces of clear contact paper equal sizes. You want the contact paper to be 1 inch wider all around then the placemat. Place the placemat on the contact paper back first. Then matching up the edges carefully smooth the other piece over the top, smoothing out bubbles out as you go.

Now you have a beautiful and easy kids craft that is perfect for Thanksgiving. make a new one each year. make several and share with grandma or grandpa. Your placemat can be wiped off and used again and again.

You might also enjoy making our pumpkin picking picture frame or mini pumpkin candles. We also have printable Thanksgiving crafts and coloring pages for the kids to enjoy.

The copyright of the article Be Thankful Placemats in Kids Crafts is owned by Belinda Mooney. Permission to republish Be Thankful Placemats in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.