As I pulled down my Halloween decorations and placed the spiders, witches and Jack O’Lanterns back in their boxes for another year, I caught sight of my (bright blue) mini Christmas tree in my closet. Instantly, a little thrill of excitement ran through me. As sad I was that Halloween was over (and that I no longer had an excuse to make more costume plans—unless I want to be really on top of it for next year), I was instantly aware that it was one step closer to Christmas. My immediate impulse was to reach up and grab the tree. I was totally ready to decorate. I stopped myself and turned to my roommate:
“So the question is: how soon is too soon to put up my Christmas tree?”
She turned to me and said, “Well, as my mother would say, ‘Never neglect Thanksgiving.'”
I didn’t end up putting up my tree. I guess that rule is kind of like the Christmas music rule (seriously, wait until after Thanksgiving). But I didn’t have any prepared Thanksgiving decorations and it makes me kind of sad to think of my room without decoration until I return from Thanksgiving break. So I’ve gone Pinterest searching (where else would I go?) and found eight, easy (or Pinterest easy), DIY decorating ideas for this great month of thankfulness, preparation and food.
1) Door Decorating
Ok, this is one of my favorites. For Halloween, my dorm has organized door decorating for Halloween the last two years and it’s one of the things that makes campus feel like it really is fall and that Halloween really is coming. I would love for the hallways to feel like that for Thanksgiving as well. It’s kind of sad when I walk down to the bathroom and there’s no longer any little monsters peering out at me from all the doorways. I think a replacement with turkeys would be an awesome idea. The door decorations are pretty simple too—you just take some butcher paper and cover the door with one color. Then you cut out the shapes for all the facial features and other decorations. It’s easy and fun and a good way to spread the Thanksgiving/November love within your dorm.
2) Painted Leaves
This one definitely takes more time and a little more artistic talent. This site details a number of different directions for painting leaves and decorating with them. The ones pictured above use fake leaves but I kind of like the idea of being able to incorporate some of the falling leaves outside into my fall decorations. Unfortunately, I don’t know if any of them would be strong enough to last that long. Still, if you like painting, there’s always something a little bit fun about finding an unconventional canvas. Plus, I don’t think covering a leaf in one color of paint is actually all that far outside of my particular range of artistic skill. Making a couple of these to hang from my shelves would be a lovely way to prepare for the holidays.
3) Duct Tape Pumpkins
To be fair, this one borders a little bit on actual Halloween directions. But I don’t think pumpkins stop being relevant after Halloween (of course not, what would Thanksgiving be without pumpkin pie?). Depending on the duct tape used, this decoration could work fantastically for Thanksgiving. It does require the purchasing of one of those small, fake pumpkins but given that Halloween just finished, those can’t be all that hard to find. Personally, I love the idea of using something as mundane as duct tape to complete my November decorations.
4) Door Banners
This one plays along with the first idea of decorating doors but is a little bit different. If you don’t have the time to create a full turkey, printing out some of these labels and stringing them across the door is a quick way to get the same message across. It doesn’t quite have the same wow factor but I’ve always kind of liked how Thanksgiving is a little bit more laid-back than either Halloween or Christmas. There’s no stress for getting too dressed up—and I think this applies to decorations as well. There’s something nice about a little bit of subtlety.
5) Cinnamon Candlestick Holder
Admittedly, this is the one on this list that I’m not quite sure I could make myself. Still, I think the idea is adorable and just had to include it. Basically, this site just uses a Mason Jar, cinnamon sticks and a hot glue gun to create the look. I feel like there’s something incredibly nice about the idea of burning a candle in a candleholder like this and I would enjoy it long past the Thanksgiving season. It also seems like a great plan for Christmas gifts (there I go again, skipping right passed Thanksgiving).
6) Fall Owl
this All this adorable owl requires is a couple of items from the dollar store. This is one of those crafts I can totally see myself attempting while avoiding doing any real work on a Saturday. I imagine I wouldn’t be nearly as successful as the pictures but that I would have a lot of fun trying anyways.
7) Paper Bag Fall Tree
I should admit that I found this one on a list of crafts for children. But I’ve found in the last year and a half that a lot of the things I enjoy doing when I’m procrastinating definitely involve child-like activities. Also, I figure if it’s meant for children, I can probably accomplish it as well. I also like that it just requires a paper bag and some construction paper. While I wait in excitement for post-Thanksgiving break for my Christmas tree, this adorable fall one can save its place.
8) Leaf Art
This one is a little bit of a throwback to my actual childhood. I may have never made a paper bag tree but I definitely did a lot of leaf rubbings. They were always really simple and fun. When they were finished, I was always impressed by the patterns in the colors and I loved examining how closely my crayon got all of the little marks in the leaves. These are a good use for the falling leaves, as they don’t require keeping the leaves in the room but they do allow you to use what already exists in the fall in your decorations.
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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