Last year was the only year in the 9 years we’ve lived here that our school district had a full week off for Thanksgiving. As soon as we saw this on the school calendar, we marked it off for vacation. No sooner had our children gotten out of school for the break that then we high-tailed it to California to spend with my side of the family. I promised my mom I would help out with the dinner, so while preparing for the trip I decided to make place markers to bring along.
I found this 1/4″ plywood board in the garage that I cut out from the pie cupboard I refinished (you can read about that HERE, and what I did with the other door piece HERE). I rolled 2-3 coats of chalkboard paint over the board with a sponge roller, allowing dry time in between coats, while collecting supplies.
- Pine cones (in yard)
- evergreen from back yard tree
- jute
- cinnamon sticks
I cut the board into crude strips about 1 1/2-2″ x 3-4″ wide tags, and drilled a 1/4″ hole in one side of each of them. I strung the jute through the hole.
This is where I experimented tying on different things. The original idea was to tie a pine cone to each one, but mine were very thick and didn’t look quite right. So I tied on cinnamon. I liked the look of this.
In the end, though, I kept it pretty simple and just tied a sprig of pine to the tag and marked them each with a guest’s name. All the cousins had so much fun assigning everyone’s places. I was surprised at how excited everyone was about these tags!
They were so crudely and easy to make (as you can see, I sanded as minimally, if at all, as I could get away with) and since I had the supplies already on hand, they cost nothing. I was able to make so many from the small board, that I was able to let families keep them and still have plenty for this year.
So we will be using these again this Thanksgiving, and probably for many more to come.
How are your preparations coming along? I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner!
Stay tuned for more ideas and recipes coming your way. For now, keep warm, we are freezing over here!!
Shelstring 
Those are so cute, and I love how you can reuse them!
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Love these! Your whole place setting looks so cute! :)Susan
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Hi Michele,Love your place setting so cute. Susan told me you will be in her Spotlight this week. I cannot wait to get to know you better. Thank you for doing our Spotlight. It is so much fun to meet new bloggers. Your blog is adorable.Kris
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Hi Michele, These are sweet. You could change the ribbons and name for many different meals. I read about you over at Susan's. You are an amazing young lady. Blessings to you and yours, xoxo,Susie
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Hey Michele, I'm visiting from Susan's. It's so nice to meet you and your blog. I'm a new follower. I look forward to hanging out here and getting to know you better. Sherryxoxo
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Thank you Susie! I'm looking forward to sharing with you!! I will use your suggestions to put ribbons in the place markers…I didn't think of them other than for the holidays. Thank you!! 😉
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So good to meet you Sherry! I'm looking forward to sharing with you and seeing your blog as well!! Thank you for following, you are ALWAYS welcome! 😉 *hugs*
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Nice to meet you Kris, thank you for the feature and visiting my blog! Can't wait to get to know you and your readers better. I've been enjoying your Saturday spotlight features. What a great idea!!
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Thank you Susan, it's always a pleasure to have you here! Xoxo
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