We haven’t hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house in a very long time. This year, we are hosting again and I’m excited to establish some sort of Thanksgiving tradition with the kids. Zoey is six now and she loves to help out in the kitchen. We’ve already talked about the menu and we are keeping it short and simple. Zoey’s favorite is cornbread so that’s a no-brainer! Maybe I’ll add bacon bits to it now that I’m thinking about it.

Another thing that the kids really enjoy now is helping set up the table. I’ve made a few festive, fragrant holiday candleholders that I will be using as part of our Thanksgiving tablescape. These diy holiday candles are so easy yet gorgeous. Your guests will probably think Martha Stewart popped by!

I have a ton of mason jars lying around the house. I don’t throw away glass anything. I always reuse them…you never know what you might need them for! With these holiday candles, I kept the theme pretty simple- citrus, berries and evergreen. Ingredients are fresh so they smell amazing- especially when the candle is lit. The warmth enhances the natural aroma. Obviously, you could use whatever ingredients you’d like. For example, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, lemon are all great for this time of the year.

For now, the candles are sitting pretty on our coffee table. On Thanksgiving day, I’ll make fresh ones and they will be slightly different. Axel is not a fan of berries so I’ll replace those with possibly cinnamon sticks.

On a semi-related note, this is the beginning stage of our Thanksgiving chalkboard station. I just started on it today and will probably turn it into a buffet station of some sort. I’m thinking either drinks or desserts. I love this board for the dining room because you can always craft and change the message according to the occasion. This makes a great menu board too…

Btw, this is a diy chalkboard. For the tutorial see here.

Last but not least, a few snippets from the past of Zoey being very productive in the kitchen!

Prepping food and washing the dishes, respectively.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe & happy.