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Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving From The Muppets!

24 November 2011 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this day brings you peace and gratitude as we enjoy today with loved ones.

After the turkey naps are over, hopefully you have plans to see The Muppets this long holiday weekend. I know I am headed back too, I just loved The Muppets that much. Enjoy the weekend!

muppets thanksgiving

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Filed Under: All blogs Tagged With: Happy Thanksgiving, Muppets, Thanksgiving, The Muppets

Simple Gifts. A Thank You.

23 November 2011 by Suzannah Otis 7 Comments

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I’m going to step slightly outside the Disney and theme park box for a moment on this day-before-Thanksgiving here in the United States. I have so much to be grateful for this year, I’d like to try and articulate some of it. It’s hard to believe the first Thanksgiving I was writing in this blog, our circumstances were quite different. My husband had just lost his job, and though I had recently received the news that I’d be joining the elite ranks of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, it was a holiday full of uncertainty. We still made the most of it, for we had many blessings and still do. Back then my littlest guy had just turned one. Now he is three and a never-ending ball of energy, curiosity and amazement. My oldest two were just sailing through school in our old town back then, and now since moving to Celebration they are both flourishing in their own ways. My husband now has a wonderful job and we just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, at Walt Disney World, of course.

Noah Fine Art - Awaiting the Kiss
©Noah Fine Art

The past few months have taught me a lot about what’s truly important in life. Values are important. Character is important. Teaching my children those things is important. All the other stuff? Just fluff. Don’t get me wrong, fluff is great. I love fluff.  But without a strong core inside, everything will fall apart. I formed two very close friendships over the summer and these friends continue to inspire me to be a better person, each day. I am definitely a believer in everything happening for a reason and I am so very grateful for these people being sent into my life. I’m also thankful for getting closer to old friends and meeting new ones.  I will make it a priority to maintain these current and new connections.

Without gushing too much, I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on my blessings. I am so happy in our new home in Celebration, I think it was a wonderful decision to move back to the Orlando area and I’ve loved every aspect of living in this amazing community. I am grateful for my wonderful family, who continue to support me non-stop in my endeavors here on the blog and the events I attend as a result. I couldn’t ask for more a more understanding husband, 3 kids, and of course my mom as well. I’m thankful that I get to do what I love each day here on Zannaland; share my thoughts, stories, and news with all of my wonderful readers. I love connecting with people on twitter especially and reminiscing, being excited, and learning new things, together. I’m certainly not the best blog or blogger, but I deeply appreciate each and every reader and the support and encouragement I’ve received over the years. The thought that I’ve made even one person smile, or remember a happy memory, makes it all worthwhile. Who knows where the future will lead, but I am so appreciative of the “right now” and look at each morning as a chance to grow.

So thank you all for reading this, for being such a constant source of support and encouragent in everything I endeavor, and for just being you. Thank you to my wonderful friends and family, for the lessons I have learned and the chance to learn more each day. May your Thanksgiving (or Thursday, depending on your location!) bring you peace, blessings, and love that last throughout the coming year.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite little songs of thanks, a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett and one which I sang way back in the third grade when the world was full of possibility and hope. I like to think it still is. Take a moment to actually read the words, and reflect on how true they ring, even today.

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right

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Filed Under: Family Memories Tagged With: 'tis a gift to be simple, being grateful, blessings, celebration, Family Adventures, friends, friendships, giving thanks, gratitude, life values, simple gifts, thank you, Thanksgiving

Disney Thanksgiving Crafts, Decorating, Games and More!

1 November 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

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Last year I shared some of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving Day crafts, so I thought I’d repeat the tradition this year with some new ideas from Family.com and Disney’s Family Fun magazine.

Disney Thanksgiving planner
Of course, with Thanksgiving, the key is planning and organization and what better way to achieve that than a Disney Thanksgiving Planner. Organize your menu, shopping list and turkey day schedule. Download, print and start planning!

Disney Chip and Dale Thanksgiving basketI love taking time each year (and more often than just Thanksgiving of course) to give thanks for all our blessings. This Chip & Dale Thanksgiving Basket is a fun way to turn those thanks into memories. Just print out the template and follow the instructions to make your own basket and fill it up. It would be great to pass the basket around the table and share what everyone is most thankful for. It might be the only time of the year that siblings admit they are thankful for each other!

Disney checkers printable

Once the turkey and stuffing are gone, relax with a nice game of checkers – Mickey checkers of course! Print out the game pieces and let the fun begin!

These are just a few of the great ideas available. Be sure to check out my family’s past Thanksgiving table decor as well as the whole Disney Thanksgiving printables page at Family.com and the myriad Thanksgiving crafts that await.

Happy November and happy crafting!

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Filed Under: All blogs Tagged With: Disney printables, family fun, Family.com, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving crafts, Thanksgiving printables, Thanksgiving table decor

ZannaLand’s Top Thanksgiving Day Kids Crafts

23 November 2009 by Suzannah Otis 10 Comments

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Thanksgiving Table Crafts
Thanksgiving Table Crafts

Inspired by some of my fellow bloggers as well as my favorite, Family Fun magazine, I thought I’d share my family’s top Turkey Day crafts! I have to admit, almost all of the crafts my children have done over the years are thanks to their amazing grandmother, my mom. She has an agenda when it comes to the holidays and always makes sure the kids get to create something new each year and feel like a big part of the festivities. I have come up with a few of my own over the years though, so this list combines both.

 

 

 

Turkey Cut-out Napkin Rings

Personalized Turkey Cut-out Napkin Rings
Personalized Turkey Cut-out Napkin Rings

This was one of my mom’s crafts last year. The kids just cut out card stock turkey shapes, rectangles to write everyone’s name on the front, then made rings out of the card stock, using cut cardboard tubes as reinforcement. They came out really cute and of course depending on the age and skill level of your artists, you could have some really unique turkeys! Another option we’ve done in the past is one I found instructions for on Family Fun – Turkey Napkin Rings from flat wooden craft spoons. I have another similar project using the craft spoons below.

 

Cornucopia Nut Cups

Cornucopia Nut Cups
Cornucopia Nut Cups

This was another from last year. Growing up, my grandmother always had painted scallop shells filled with mixed nuts at everyone’s place setting for the holidays. I may or may not have gone around picking all the cashews out of those shells, as a child. (whistles innocently…) Anyway, while we don’t use the shells anymore, we do still enjoy having mixed nuts out for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays. My mom found this craft to make a fun, reusable decoration. The kids just drew out their own cornucopia pictures on the front of some construction paper. My daughter wanted to color hers in, while my son chose to leave his just plain (and really I was quite impressed with their creations!!) then they attached the paper to a ring using glue sticks, so they stood up on their own. Next she just put some mini cup cake liners in the ring and you fill them with nuts of your choice. You can then remove the liners and put new ones in for the next event. Of course you can fill them with whatever you like: candies, mints, anything! You could also make bigger rings to fit larger liners if you’d like the cups to hold more items.

 

Wooden Craft Spoon Turkeys

Wooden Spoon Turkeys
Wooden Spoon Turkeys

Another fun craft item to decorate your Thanksgiving table are these wooden craft spoon turkeys. Gather about 5 of the craft spoons and glue together with wood glue. Next glue another stick to act as the holder for the turkeys. Cut out felt for the head and the beak/waddle parts. Attach those parts and googly eyes with glue. We cut out pilgrim hats with construction paper and glued those on as well. You can then color in the ‘feathers’ any color you like with markers or even paint. The possibilities for creativity are endless! We just placed them around the table and on plates for decoration, but you could probably put them in tall cups full of nuts or candy, or even flower pots.

 

Pine Cone Turkey Place Cards

Pine Cone Turkey Place CardsMy mom made this one with the kids a few years back but unfortunately I do not have pictures of their creations, so I found a similar craft with instructions on Family Fun’s site.  We just added little cards with guest’s names on them to turn them into place cards for the table. These are especially fun to make because you get to go on a nature walk to collect the pine cones first!

 

Oreo Turkeys

I saw this on a baking group last year and had to make them. They are so simple to do, yet involved so the kids loved making them. For each turkey you make, you’ll need 2 Oreos, a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup, a Whopper, some candy corn, white frosting for ‘glue’ and yellow frosting/gel for the feet. You can also use some blue or other color frosting for the eyes.

Oreo Turkey - edible crafty fun!
Oreo Turkey - edible crafty fun!

Stand one Oreo up on top of a flat Oreo, and use some of the white frosting to attach them. Add 5 or 6 candy corn white part down, into the top Oreo’s filling to make the ‘feathers’ of the turkey. Be VERY careful with this because if you push too hard you will split open the Oreo. We went through quite a few, but no one complained. Cut the Reese’s mini cup in half, and attach with a bit of frosting so the cut part is facing down onto the Oreo. Attach the Whopper on top of the Reese’s cup as the head, with a bit more frosting. Next add 2 candy corns, with the white tips facing up, to the Reese’s cup, as wings – this is optional if you’d rather have a turkey without wings, it looks cute without too. Cut off the tip of another candy corn and attach with frosting to the Whopper as the beak. Next use the white frosting to make eyes, using a colored gel if you’d like for pupils. Use the yellow frosting for feet on the bottom Oreo. You can also get red frosting or gel to make a waddle, but we forgot that step last year! This year we might experiment with chocolate-filled Oreos, or maybe even save some Halloween orange-filled ones next year! The best part about this table decor is everyone gets to eat their creation!

Oreo Turkeys
Just re-made these for an appearance on iVillage.com so I thought I'd add the new photo!

 

Oreo Turkey
Mr. Turkey-O!

 

Laminated Thanksgiving Artwork Place Mats

Our Thanksgiving Place Mats
Our Thanksgiving Place Mats

A few years back a neighbor of mine invited a bunch of us over to have the kids create Thanksgiving place mats. The kids decorated large sheets of construction paper using markers, crayons, glitter and leaves they’d collected from outside. (Keep in mind we live in Florida, you can probably find much prettier leaves in the northern regions!) I may have helped a bit with some of the drawing. 😉 Then they colored their names in with stencils and the moms printed out Happy Thanksgiving with the year on them. Our neighbor then took them down to the local print shop and got them laminated for just a few dollars. This will be the 6th Thanksgiving that we’ve used these place mats, they are a treasured keepsake! I can’t wait till the baby is old enough to make his own place mat to add to the table.

…

I hope you try out some of our family’s Thanksgiving crafts, I know my children enjoy the traditions they created so much and love showing off their handi-work each year. So many of these can take on a personal twist and embellishments from your own family will make these one-of-a-kind decorations something to be thankful for.

tday5
Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

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Filed Under: All blogs Tagged With: crafts, Family Adventures, Holidays, kids, Oreo turkeys, parenting, Pictures, pinecone turkeys, Projects at home, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving crafts, Thanksgiving table decor

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