We will be heading off to the Midwest for Thanksgiving, therefore I will not being cooking “The Meal” for the third year in a row. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s all about food and family—no presents to stress over! (Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally crazy about Christmas too)
There are pluses and minuses to traveling for this holiday:
- Plus: We get to see Stu’s family!!!! Almost all the cousins, aunts, and uncles on his mom’s side will be there, plus two great grandparents and a grandma.
- Minus: No turkey and sweet potato scents wafting through our house.
- Plus: Our rental house oven s.u.c.k.s. so I’d probably under/over cook the bird anyway.
- Minus: My mom’s stuffing won’t grace the spread. Though Great-Grandma Johnson makes a de-licous stuffing, you always want your moms. It’s engrained in us. I will never be able to use other stuffing recipe!!
- Plus: I have time to make cool turkey head bands for Ethan and his little cousin Weston!
- Plus: Relaxation time! And maybe even an evening out with the cousins?
- Plus: Cheesey Potatoes!! Stu’s grandma is a master with these little morsels of gooeyness. I can never seem to recreate, she has the magic touch.
- Plus: I will be no part of the long lines and crowds at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, no fighting someone over the last bag of cranberries, no getting home and finding our fridge too small to accomodate the goods.
- Plus: Seeing old friends with new babies!!! Plan on some adorableness in my post-Thanksgiving picture extravaganza here on the blog. College buds we never get to see + cute kids we never get to see = a really good time.
As is clear, the pluses to traveling for this food-filled holiday outweigh the minuses. Yeah, so I don’t get to cook. I guess I’ll just have to relax and have a great time. (And beg Stu’s grandma to let me help with something!!)
Speaking of having a good time, I wanted to be sure Ethan knew Thanksgiving is not just another meal—it’s something special. These “Turkey Headbands” started with some inspiration from last year’s
funny turkey onesie—also thrown together just before we headed out of town for the holiday. I was in LOVE. Ethan wore it on the plane and was a huge hit. I just couldn’t get enough of the hour-glass shaped turkey with wide eyes. So last night I drew him up in InDesign for kicks.
Traced onto some card stock (of which I have quite a collection…it’s a problem), some feathers added to the mix, and I was on my way to a pretty darn cute little hat for the big day. (It was about midnight when I was doing this…so please excuse the lighting.) I stapled the feathers together then glued them on the back of the turkeys. Eyes were cut out of some foam, eyeballs and beak are more card stock. The feet were a last minute addition but, I think, really bring it all together.
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I wanted a nice curved fit so I clipped the freshly glued headbands together at the back. It worked like a charm. (Not sure how the heck I will pack them in my suitcase, but cute nonetheless). I used too much glue…be better than me and go easy on the sticky stuff.
To ensure a comfy forehead, I glued another strip of brown card stock along the back to cover the stapled feather ends, plus it offered a great hidden area to attach my ribbon. (All this stuff is left-overs from other projects. Never throw away a decent sized scrap!) I didn’t go crazy making sure everything was exactly perfect…there is something about a homemade-crafty look that I just love.
This morning, when everything was nice and dry, I of course made Ethan model the finished product. He loved the turkey but wasn’t super thrilled about putting it on, although he was very patient while I tied the ribbon and got a good, snug fit. After a glance in the mirror, he was singing a different tune. He did a little dance, then we tried out the headband during a meal…practicing for the real thing.
Pretty darn cute. And I cannot wait to get him and Weston in their turkey headbands together. Fingers crossed the boys will wear them for a while! We learned at Ethan’s first birthday, at which he wore a
foam crown, if you keep the kiddos distracted with food and activities they tend to forget something weird is on their head.
Since they turned out so darn cute, and were REALLY easy to make, I thought I’d share the pattern, just something I threw together in InDesign. There is plenty of time!
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Click the image or here to download a PDF document of the turkey headband pieces. Just print, cut out, trace on card stock or construction paper in the colors of your choice, cut out again, and glue! Attach some ribbon or twine or heck, some kitchen string will do the trick. Then all you have to do is coax your toddler into wearing it for pictures!
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If you make this, please link up pics! I’d love to see your cute kiddos all turkey’d out.
Since we’ll be busy traveling, seeing family, and eating ridiculous amounts of food, I’ll go a head and say it now:
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving, Beck, Stu, & Little E! Send our love to Stu’s family!
Happy Turkey (headband) Day!
Yep, so cute! Think I just might use your pattern to make a headband for Quinn!!
So excited to have you come for Thanksgiving. The weather here will be FAB!!
Ethan can wear his beautiful Turkey hat at the head of the table.
Becky, I know how much you love cooking. (and what a wonderful cook you are) so you are more than welcome to whip something up and help me out in the kitchen.
cu all soon…..Gobble Gobble
Love the turkey headbands!! Guess you need to make something for Christmas now. You’re setting a dangerous precedent!! But a really fun one. Have fun in NE and tell everyone hi for us. Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh my gosh those headbands are so cute. Have a wonderful time with your extended family. Enjoy!!!
Thanks so much for this! They worked great in my classroom and were so so cute! See the pictures here: http://oneyearpreschoolteacher.blogspot.com/2014/11/week-twelve-cranberry-thanksgiving.html
Theresa recently posted..Week Twelve: Cranberry Thanksgiving
Thank you for the inspiration. Very easy to make. I am just starting my own blog and I’ve been unsuccessful adding the link of your post to my post.
http://thenursemommies.com/2014/11/27/turkey-hats-for-turkey-day
MommyDoty recently posted..Hello World!
Thank you! Glad they worked out! Just highlight the text you want to link and click the link button at the top of your text editor, then paste the link url in there. Should work! Good luck.