Thanksgiving Prep

When I was little we moved into a new house and the next door neighbors where this older couple from Norway, Ellen and Lloyd. They where really sweet folks and had a perfect yard. I would go over and visit once in a while and would stop by to sell girl scout cookies. I remember their house have a very distinctive smell. I never knew what it was, some combination of old people and Norwegian food was what I assumed. Ellen passed away when I was a teenager and Lloyd passed away during my first year of college. I ended up with some of their kitchen stuff, because their niece was the only surviving relative and I was about to move out of my parent's house, so she let pick through things before the estate sale came through. A few pans and their teacups.

I was reminded of them today because I was polishing silver. For our first anniversary my mother-in-law gave us a silver sugar bowl and creamer set that had belonged to my husband's great-grandmother. They were very tarnished. Any other silver I have had in the past has been able to be buffed up with just a silver polishing cloth. These needed something stronger though. So I went to the hardware store and picked up "Wrights Silver Cream." It turns out that the smell of that silver cream is the exact same smell I remember from Ellen and Lloyd's house! This cream worked great and now they are shiny and ready for Thanksgiving!

Very tarnished!

All shiny! You can see me reflection.

We are hosting this year. This is not the first time we have hosted Thanksgiving, but I think this will be the biggest yet. I got all new napkins, I bought these from Pier 1. The napkins we have are starting to look a little worn and I don't have enough to have them all match for the number of people we have coming over.

I have also been working on decor. My plan for the table is to get several big rolls of Kraft paper and cover the table, we've got white napkins and mis-matched white dishes (we only have a set of 8, so I'll be borrowing from my mom who has plain white dishes also) and I want to have some hand drawn labels for food and place cards. I also decided to make a banner. I saw this great saying "Gather here with grateful hearts" on a set of project life cards I ran across on pinterest and I thought it would make a great sentiment to hang above the fire place. I worked out the design on some scrap paper and then traced it onto the Kraft paper. I used the "rub the side of a pencil on the back" method. Simple.

I attached a dowel to the top with hot glue to give it something to hang from.
I've had the paper sitting under a pile of books all day trying to straighten it out. (The joy of cooking and the etiquette book, how appropriate).

So I've got my napkins pressed, the silver is polished and the decorations are nearly done! Now I just need to go shopping and get everything prepped. Good thing I've still got a few weeks!

All done and hung above the mantle!