Fall Harvest {Activity Days}

Wow!  It’s been a long time since I’ve done a post.  I’m not going to waste time listing excuses of why I’ve been away from my computer, instead I’m going to get to the point and share with you ONE of the things I have been happily busy with.  I hosted a dinner for the Activity Day girls at my house this past week…all 20 of them.  I am either really brave or really dumb.  Either way, it turned out great and the girls had so much fun!

On the menu was sweet chili, homemade french bread, fruit jell-o, pudding cups with whip cream and peppermint chunks, chocolate oatmeal cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.  It was yummy!  I would say the most popular item was the french bread.  I could not get it on their plates fast enough!  Some of the girls asked to take some on the road with them.  I thought that was funny!

If you are still looking for table setting ideas for Thanksgiving dinner, maybe some of these ideas will get your wheels turning.  Easy and inexpensive. 

I used burlap for my placemats.  I cut them into the size that a placemat would be by measuring one of my old placemats.  I gathered every single dish I had in my house and mismatched them together.  I loved the eclectic look and cozy feel it gave. 

The glasses are just plastic wine glasses I picked up from Dollar Tree.  6 for $1.00. 

I guess for Thanksgiving dinner you would want the real thing, not plastic. :)

Each girl had an assigned seat.  They thought it was fun racing through the tables (all 4 of them) to find out were they were sitting. 

 

I just folded a square piece of cardstalk in half and wrapped ribbon around the one side.  I googled “leaf shapes” on my computer, found some I liked and traced them onto different colored cardstalks.  I ran them trough the computer to put each girls name on one and then glued it onto the card with a glue stick.  Easy, easy.  One of those little tiny things that is so worth the extra effort.

After wrapping the silverware up inside the napkins, I tied a different leaf cutout around that. 

These were used for our Thankful Tree.  I forgot to get a good picture of it, but if you scroll back up to the top you will see twigs as the centerpiece.  That is the beginning of our thankful Tree.  Maybe some of you might remember this post.  Every year around Thanksgiving time, I gather twigs and use them as a centerpiece.  Then we write what we are thankful for on leaves and hang it on the tree.  It is one of our traditions.  I thought the girls might enjoy this, so each table had their own Thankful Tree.   

This was one of my favorites that one of the girls wrote.

So simple and true!  I am thankful for everything too.

I went to the local scrapbook store and bought several different festive papers to use on top of the burlap, but underneath their plates.  It just added a little more color and texture to the burlap.    

 

I loved the bird and the bird cages. 

 

And how could I not get one that says celebrate!?

Of course a pumpkin.

I have had so much fun with these plate stands this fall.

Besides sitting pumpkins on them,

 

I also stacked cookies on them for each of the 4 tables.  Then the girls didn’t even have to get out of their chairs for dessert!

  

I enjoyed putting my mason jars to use too.  For the dinner they held the chocolate covered pretzels, but earlier this fall they held candy corns. 

 

If you are looking for a great french bread recipe, you have to give this one a try.  It is so, so yummy!  In my old neighborhood, some of my really good friends did a recipe exchange.  We scrapbooked together so it was only fitting that we would scrapbook our recipe exchange.  I have this amazing cookbook that is completely adorable with my friends tried and true favorite recipes.  This is still one of my favorite cookbooks and I pull it out all the time. 

French Bread by Tallie Geddes 

This recipe is done completely in a mixing bowl, no kneading.

1/2 cup warm water for yeast

4 tsp. yeast (2 yeast cakes)

2 cups hot water

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. salt

5 Tbsp. shortening

6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast, mix remaining ingredients, except add only 3 cups flour and beat well.  Add yeast. Beat.  Add balance of flour, stir well.  Leave spoon in batter and let dough rest for 10 minutes.  Stir down batter and let rest again.  Repeat the stirring and 10 minute rest period 3 more times.  Divide dough in half, roll out in rectangle shape (approximately 9x12 inch) and roll up like a jelly roll.  Brush tops with beaten egg whites, sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Cut diagonally about 3 times across loaf and let rise until double in bulk.  Bake two loaves on cookie sheet at 400 for 35 minutes. 

Enjoy!!