Thrifty Thanksgiving

First off .... I love fall! So how about that Thanksgiving? Is it really SO near?? YES!!! The good part... NO expensive gifts..... NO fancy decorating.... so, can it yet be even MORE frugal??? Yep.....aside from going to someone else's house (LOL-free) here's some quick tips to start now.
~SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE!!!! Don't go for complicated food with $$$$ ingredients. Think simple - think comfort foods....like Mom used too ;) Creamy taters, corn, green beans, baked sweet potatoes....ALL so easy and quick, but good too!
~Two words: pot luck!! Anyone can handle ONE dish...and everyone knows how much work it is to do it all yourself.....so they won't mind! When I am invited, I always offer to bring something, even if it's just ice and pop.
~ Decorate from nature & use kid crafts!! I have four cuties and they always bring home crafty things from the classroom that are SO cute....up they go...besides nothing makes visiting Grannies gaga more than "kid-stuff"!!! We also like to cut out construction paper leaves and simple turkeys. We like pine cones, gourds, and pumpkins too! Really anything fall-ish stays up from the end of Sept till the green and red of Christmas comes in....I just take away the ghosts and bats after Halloween and change them out for turkey and Indian/pilgrim things.
~ Save left over corn bread/Reg bread for stuffing or visit your local bread thrift store for a CHEAP source....I am lucky to have one VERY close to me that I shop at all the time!!
~If you don't mind the washing....skip the paper stuff, it's very expensive...ask people to help wash....or better yet just soak everything in a big storage tub to wash the next day and go and relax and visit with the family-PLEASE you only see some of these folks a few times a year and dishes will always be there....every....single....day! I fill a BIG blue tote with HOT soapy water, then just instruct people to scrape their plates then plop in the tote. This is also nice because it keeps the counters clear and ready for dessert-YUM- bring on the pies! You can scoot the tote out of the way easily until you are ready to tackle it.
I hope everyone has a great holiday!!! We are VERY busy this year (as always it seems) but I guess we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves if we weren't....LOL....from October through January....it's pretty non stop here....Halloween school parties for 4 and a birthday in October, Multiple family get togethers in November with Thanksgiving, plus usually something at school for the 4 kids.....and the biggie- Christmas -and all that it involves...plus 2 birthdays and about a thousand batches of cookies for school parties.......then New Years and another birthday in Jan!!!! Plus the kids all want birthday parties this year....LOL my calender is FULL....Nobody ever said making memories was easy...did they? How about this Thanksgiving, we "give thanks" for our family members…just as they are, not how we wish they'd be! And we learn to look past each other's faults with a big heart of compassion!! I need this most from my very own family....so I'm going to actively practice it in the hopes that it will come full circle back to me ;)