Thanksgiving Decorations For Your Garden or Yard
Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008
by Holly Day
Since the mid-twentieth century, Thanksgiving is observed annually and for a lot of people it is the opportunity to decorate their gardens or yards and/or homes with items related to the beautiful Autumn and harvest season. While some of these decorations were developed by the old European pagan folks and used for the end of harvest season celebrations; some decorations have wholly been developed during the 1900s.
A great example is the "wicker man", built with straw or wicker, filled with fruits from the harvest that was set on fire in the honor of the gods; which which developed an old European pagan tradition.
Another such ornaments stemming from these old traditions is the wreath. Let's take the example of a natural wreath made out of woven thin oak limbs or grapevines and decorated with fruits or other natural items reflecting the Autumn season like pine cones, oak leaves, miniature Indian corn, acorns, ...
The advent of crass commercialism allowed entrepreneurs to focus on a brand new idea: the use of the traditional Christmas lights for Thanksgiving along with a lot of extra items like kitchen sets, table cloth, tableware, ornamental lights and a lot of other small items. Nowadays, the commercial "tradition" requires that you put a lovely little "Tom Turkey" stand-ups on your table and a few images of Native Americans and pilgrims hanging on the walls to enhance the Thanksgiving atmosphere. Would you decorate your door or your table with a fall wreath? You can find them by the thousands, all pre-made and decorated with pine cones, oak leaves, miniature corn, acorns, etc. They are available almost everywhere: from the flea market to farmer's market.
However, if you have the time and the inclination, you can save a lot of money and have more fun creating your own Thanksgiving ornaments.
Make Your Own Foddershock
Here is an easy foddershock to make at home: get a lot of dried corn stalks (generally left on the side of a corn field at the end of harvest season) tie them together in the midsection of the bunch until they look like a "teepee".
Put them up in the chosen area of your garden or yard and add various gourds, pumpkins, and other winter squashes around it. You may wish to add lovely scarecrows to sit around it as well.
Homemade Scarecrow
To make scarecrows just tie two sticks firmly together forming a cross. Dress the sticks with a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Add some details like socks or a hat... Create a head by stuffing an old pillow case or cloth sack with straw, dried grass or some old rags. Draw a face on the head and then stick it on top of the vertical stick, binding it at the base of the sack to the stick. Place an old hat on it and your done!
These are only some of the ornaments you can make at home with your kids. Do not hesitate to use your creativity to make your own traditional Thanksgiving ornaments!
If you need more info about Thanksgiving, visit Grateful Thanksgiving and receive a Free Grateful Thanksgiving Guide.
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