A Friendsgiving Food Drive
Are you ever left wondering what you are going to do with all of those Thanksgiving leftovers? Fear not! I have a fun way to use up those leftovers, celebrate the holidays with friends, and give back all at the same time!
In creating this fun Friendsgiving Food Drive, I had the privilege of working with MoPrint Invitations. Maddie designed a beautiful suite of printables including an invitation, menu, suggested donation items sign, and can labels to create themed decor.
Invite your guests to dinner and ask them to bring a few items to donate to a local food shelf. I researched a few in my area and was able to find donation lists online.
Next, you’ll want to plan your menu. If you are hosting after Thanksgiving, why not try a leftovers inspired menu? There are some great recipes out there for Turkey Sliders, Bacon-Wrapped Stuffing Bites, Cranberry Brie Bites, and good-old-fashioned pumpkin pie. You can even buy mini-pies and dress them up like I did at my Basic Fall Girl Bash earlier this year.
To capture the spirit of the food drive, I displayed the menus in frames next to canned food items that were decorated with beautiful printable labels from MoPrint. They highlighted important words for the season like giving, generosity, and grateful.
This time of year is always fun to create a beautiful table setting. For this event, I started with a navy tablecloth. I used my dough bowl that I snagged on clearance from Target last year after the holidays to display the suede pumpkins from the Target dollar spot and added in a thrift store copper pot with some wheat. You can find faux wheat bundles at Michaels or Hobby Lobby or order on Amazon.
DIY Table Settings
To create each place setting, I used my DIY Wood Chargers at each place. Click here for the full tutorial and supply list. At each place setting I layered a white plate, napkin, and topped with DIY decoration that can double as a take home favor.
What You Need
Wood Caddies (Hobby Lobby)
Wood Sticker Letters (Target)
Spanish Moss (Dollar Tree)
Small Faux Gourds (JoAnn Fabrics)
The little wood caddies are frequently available at Hobby Lobby. I saw the Spring line of them on clearance early summer and bought a set of them at just $.60 a piece knowing I wanted to do something with them this Fall! I highly recommend buying items like this on clearance to use for future projects. When I saw the wooden sticker letters in the Dollar Spot at Target this fall, I knew they would be perfect additions to the caddies. I did a mix of the three different words.
After attaching each word, I filled the caddies with Spanish moss from Dollar Tree. For just $1, you get a good sized bag and you’ll definitely have some leftover. Then, I placed two mini faux gourds from JoAnn Fabrics in each one. They look perfect at each place setting and you can send each Friendsgiving guest home with one as a favor if you like!
As guests arrive, collect donations using baskets or just have them set items on a different table. You can stack more decorative cans with the donation list displayed as well.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week filled with family and friends around your table!
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