Looking for a Thanksgiving craft that adults and kids can enjoy? Nothing says Thanksgiving like a table full of — Sharpies. No? Well, maybe I can convince you that it’s worth setting one out for each of your guests this year with the same care you give your grandmother’s finest silver.
Thanksgiving Memories
When I was 19, I found a beautiful, old turquoise Formica table at a yard sale for $15. Over the following years, I dined at that table with a laundry list of college roommates, various boyfriends, dear friends, family members, strangers, co-workers, hungry pets and eventually, my own growing family. It was a glorious table that witnessed 16 years of birthdays, holidays, special days and everyday life. But during its ninth and final trip in a moving truck, it bent so badly to one side that I started to think all the memories I had invested in that table may be gone forever.
That’s why I love an idea that keeps the memories of all our dinner guests past and present alive each year at the holidays, or at any gathering. I only wish I’d known about this idea years ago and made one sooner!
Credit: Deb Mills
Thanksgiving Craft for Your Table Setting
The idea is to simply visit your local Goodwill or dig through your own linen closet and find a tablecloth, runner or even a plain white flat sheet. Put it on your table for Thanksgiving and invite each dinner guest to write what they’re thankful for, sign their name, write a message, trace their handprint or draw a little doodle to remember them by. Then, each year, you can bring it out again and again to add more and more, like a blank canvas for holiday memories that you can hold onto forever and cherish alongside guests past and present.
Credit: Kathryn Thompson
You can leave it at that and reuse it each year, maybe cover it with plastic to keep it clean and safe — OR you can take it a step further and embroider over their doodles for more lasting marks that fade with washes and time.
Don’t know how to embroider? It’s simple. Here are a few quick tips to get up to speed. And, if you’re lucky enough, I’ve occasionally found embroidery floss and other crafting supplies for sale at Goodwill, too!
Thanksgiving Table Setting Idea
Need help with thrifting the rest of the Thanksgiving table setting? Mary Elizabeth has a few tips for you.
Credit: Deb Mills
The best part about these memories is that you can take them anywhere and relive them anytime you want. It’s a treasure that can be enjoyed and added to over and over again.
Thanksgiving at Goodwill
By creating one of these heirloom pieces with linens from Goodwill, you’re helping to prevent one more piece of textile from needlessly entering the waste stream and helping other families in your community through the Goodwill mission.
A Thanksgiving craft for your family’s memories will help connect people to support services through Goodwill’s programs, including childcare, financial education, transportation and youth services that help people reach financial independence. And we all know that’s truly something to be thankful for.
