Cheapest prices on Christmas dinner foods, fixings and trimmings

 Turkey prices are lower, but we'll spend more on our 2014 Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners overall, said Bloomberg November 20. Here are ways to save and get cheapest prices on the bird, dinner foods, fixings and trimmings. Save big on Thanksgiving turkeys shopping at local grocery stores rather than big box distributors like Walmart. Albertson's is selling Honeysuckle White turkeys $.59 a pound if you buy $20 worth of groceries. Similarly, Meijer up north has turkeys 50 percent off with $20 purchase. Don't forget your mPerks rewards card for more savings and snag Meijer toy deals while you're there. Gordon Food Service sells birds for $.49 with purchase.  Cheapest prices on Christmas dinner foods, fixings and trimmings - Grand Rapids Holidays | Examiner.com

Diet and lose weight through Thanksgiving holiday binges? I did and you can too!

Holiday season 2014 fast approaches. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year's Day, Epiphany--whatever combination of those holidays you celebrate, there's a common factor: food. And the concern uppermost in dieter's minds, is how to navigate food blowouts. Good question: THMEDIA said in a November 3 report that the average person gains 1.5 pounds at the holidays. Well, folks, I've got good--no great--news. I lost 100 pounds (check the slideshow) even with holiday binges and vacations blowouts. Here are a few holiday-specific tips.  Diet and lose weight through holiday binges? I did and you can too! - Grand Rapids Holidays | Examiner.com

Make Thanksgiving Crafts Easy with Free Printable SVG Patterns

I love many things about Thanksgiving Day--cooking, feasting, being with family. I also love making holiday crafts. What I don't like is struggling to make my own craft patterns. Happily, I don't need to with these free printable stencils . Whether you use a paper die cutting machine like Cricut or make patterns free hand, you'll want these free printable SVG (scalable vector graphics) patterns.   Free Printable SVG Patterns for Scrapbooking and Cricut Machines 

Native American Indian Crafts and Costumes Using Recycled Materials

 Many schools teach Native American history around Thanksgiving. Fall just seems to lend itself to American Indian culture studies. Here are cross-curricular lesson plans including Native American costume crafts made from recycled paper bags. Perfect for Halloween and trick-or-treat dress-ups. Use for social studies lesson plans and preschool dramatic play.Native American Indian Crafts and Costumes from Your Recycle Bin

Free Printable Native American Indian Totem Pole Designs and Crafts

 When I was six, my father, mother and I moved to Haines, Alaska. We lived with a clan of the Tlinget Native American Indians. I was adopted into the tribe and my Tlinget name is Dok-du-Yik. I totally enjoyed the cultural immersion experience. I fondly remember the various Pacific Northwest native designs, especially the Totem poles.Free Printable Native American Indian Totem Pole Designs and Crafts

Budget Homemade Thanksgiving Centerpiece Like Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn is an awesome store, if you don't mind paying an arm and two legs for home decor. I do. So I create my own versions. Here's a budget, homemade Thanksgiving centerpiece like pottery barn, featuring recycled and natural fall elements.

Select an attractive glass, crystal or pottery bowl or platter from your China cabinet. You can even use a punch bowl, wicker or rattan basket, chafing tray or serving dish. If the bowl is clear, the decorations show through, but you can create a lovely holiday centerpieces with baskets, too.

Fill bowl or basket with plastic or wooden apples, mini pumpkins, natural or spray-painted leaves, acorns, nut shells, twigs, evergreen boughs and pine cones. Intermingle with red and gold Christmas tree bead garlands.

For a fragrant Thanksgiving Pottery centerpiece, add potpourri, incense cones, scented wax cubes, dried berries, cinnamon bark or cloves.

To create Pottery Barn's signature holiday birch log candles, wrap a hot, moist cloth around an ivory colored pillar candle. This will warm and texturize wax. Using brown or black Sharpie marker, draw horizontal bark patterns and knot holes. Use brown shoe polish to highlight and shadow.

These candles retail for $30-$80 at Pottery Barn. You can make similar candles for cents on the dollar.