Eco-Friendly DIY Decorations for Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving swiftly approaches, the store aisles are overflowing with cute decorations to put your home in the mood for the holiday. Instead of spending your hard-earned money on decorations (many which are “disposable” and made of plastic, which is non-biodegradable,) why not use your creativity to decorate your home in an eco-friendly manner?

Nature is full of it’s own fall decorations, which are not only free, but are also natural and recyclable.

As Thanksgiving swiftly approaches, the store aisles are overflowing with cute decorations to put your home in the mood for the holiday. Instead of spending your hard earned money on decorations (many which are “disposable” and made of plastic, which is non-biodegradable,) why not use your creativity to decorate your home in an eco-friendly manner?

Nature is full of it’s own fall decorations, which are not only free, but are also natural and recyclable.

Leaves

Autumn foliage is one of nature’s most stunning and remarkable pieces of art. Instead of spending money on felt or plastic leaves for your Thanksgiving décor, send the kids outside to pick up some of the best leaves they can find on the ground.

Heck, go out with them- make it a trip around the neighborhood. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find lying around in nature. Leaves can be used for a variety of things- you can glue them together to make a “chain” of leaves to drape around your home, or you can use them to make a nice centerpiece at the dinner table. The possibilities are only limited by your own imagination.

Acorns & Other Nuts

Acorns and other nuts are plentiful at this time of year. Take the kids to the park, in your backyard, or a walk around the neighborhood and see what you can come up with. Acorns, walnuts, black walnuts, pecans, beechnuts, chestnuts butternuts, hickory nuts, and pine nuts are all in season this time of year, depending where you live.

Not only do nuts look inviting and pretty scattered in bunches around the home (or even gathered in a basket or bowl somewhere in the living room,) they are one of the oldest sources of nutrition that we have in this country. While your guests wait for Thanksgiving dinner to be served, they can munch on the nuts- which means the nuts double as both decoration and appetizer.

Seasonal Fruit, Vegetables and Gourds

Nothing says “Thanksgiving” like a cornucopia overflowing with pomegranates, apples, oranges, persimmons, corn, gourds, miniature pumpkins and other squash. These are all things which can either be purchased organically or can be picked from your own yard (or a family member or neighbors’ yard, if you know anybody with fruit trees or a garden on their property.

Nuts can be placed among your cornucopia as well. If you absolutely must, these are all produce which can be purchased at your local farmer’s market or grocery store. Pumpkins are typically marked down this late in the season, as Halloween and it’s tradition of carving jack-o-lanterns has passed- so you should be able to purchase some pumpkins for fairly cheap.

These look very festive sitting around your home and set the mood for Thanksgiving dinner. If you want to get more creative and need to entertain the kids in your family, have them carve Thanksgiving pictures into the pumpkins– you can set them outside the garage door and light them with candles. You can also toast the seeds for a healthy, tasty snack afterward.

These are a few suggestions to help you get started with your Thanksgiving decorations. Remember, the pilgrims didn’t have plastic turkeys sitting around, nor did they have plastic figures of themselves at their disposal. There’s no reason you need to have those things to complete your Thanksgiving dinner, either.

Can you think of any other DIY tips for Thanksgiving?

image credit: LadyM on Flickr