November Magic

If you put up an artificial tree for Christmas, put it up in November for a feel of being in the woods for Thanksgiving. A grouping of trees of different sizes and heights make this feel even more so. Makes it easy to decorate right after Thanksgiving. You can also add white lights and pinecone ornaments.

Make Thanksgiving Appreciation Tree. “Plant” several long branches in a pot with foam, plaster, or rocks, wind white lights around the branches. Cut out leaves from various colors of construction paper (orange, yellow, green, beige). Each day ask family members and friends write a wish, a hope, a prediction, a thought for someone else, and things they are thankful for and hang with open paperclips on the tree. Start this the first of November.

Another version:

Thankful Tree Originally from www.southernliving.com Create a leaf for each guest to hang on your thankful tree. Everyone can share what they are most thankful for, and those who cannot be present can be remembered.

Ingredients
Materials
-Dead oak tree branches
-Acorns
-Copper paint pen
-Clear spray paint
-Acrylic paint, teal and gold
-Paint brush
-Scrapbook paper in various patterns
-Oak leaf
-Scissors
-Pencil
-Twine
-Decorative container
-Cardboard gift tags
-24 gauge copper wire
-Glue
-Florist foam
-Moss
-Pictures of friends and family members
Instructions
Paint acorns with teal and gold paint leaving the tops natural. Let dry. Wrap copper wire around acorn and create a hook for hanging.
Trace oak leaf onto scrapbook paper and cut out. Write names with paint pen. Paint cardboard gift tags with gold paint and glue photos of loved ones onto the gift tags. Punch hole and attach copper wire for hanging.
Combine several twigs and branches to form a tree using twine and copper wire. Spray paint with clear matte spray paint. Put dry florist foam in bottom of container. Push branches into foam and cover foam with moss. Hang acorns, photos, and leaves from the tree.
As guests arrive, have them find their leaf and share on the back what they are most thankful for.

Movies to Watch

Son-in-Law
Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving
Desperate Crossings
Planes, Trains and Automobile
Home for the Holidays
The Blindside
Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
You’ve Got Mail
Miracle on 34th Street
Grumpy Old Men
Love At the Thanksgiving Day Parade
Holiday Inn
The Big Chill
Sweet November
Garfield Thanksgiving
The Waltons: A Thanksgiving Story
Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale
Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure (Anthony Hopkins)
The Plymouth Adventure (Spencer Tracy)
Mouse on the Mayflower

Start making make-ahead dishes for Thanksgiving dinner and freeze Bake an apple, pumpkin, mincemeat and pecan pies.. to practice for Thanksgiving dinner

Bake sugar cookies and cut out with turkey cookie cutters. Frost with chocolate, maple and orange flavored frostings and decorate with candy corn

Start a Thanksgiving journal; record your dinner menu and guest list, planned activities, weather report Then make a scrapbook of Thanksgiving memories. Tell ancestral stories and family memories around the dinner table.

Light candles to brighten up dark days and evenings

Set up a display of log cabins with bottle brush trees; a good excuse to splurge on Lincoln Logs for your inner child. Then let the children in the family play with them on Thanksgiving

Research your family history. You might be one of the many who descend from the Pilgrims or New England Native Tribes.

If you have left over pumpkins or didn’t get around to carving them for Halloween, you can still carve some for November or Thanksgiving decorations… carve or decorate with stars, circles or turkeys

Make a Thanksgiving wreath for your front door

Make cut and tie no-sew fleece blankets. Use as gifts, or just to keep warm.

Make potpourri from the flowers and herbs you dried and pinecones you collected on your walks. Dry apple and orange slices to add.

Learn the history of harvest and thankful giving celebrations.

Learn the true history of the Pilgrims. They really were not they way we were taught in school.

String popcorn and cranberries to be used on a Christmas tree. Best on a live tree and set outside for the birds. Add half of oranges with string as handles for baskets. Hollow out some of the oranges and fill with bird seed.

Make Thanksgiving dinner invitations to send out to your guests.

Make Thanksgiving cards to send to friends and family members far away and who can’t attend your Thanksgiving celebration.

Make pinecone turkeys

Football; play, watch, or otherwise.

Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: The event will be aired on NBC on Thursday, November 26, 2020, from 9 a.m. to noon in all time zones.

Make a miniature parade for a table, buffet, or entryway table. This one uses New York City, of course, but I would make one of the Seattle skylines. Or maybe both. I think I would simply use boxes, painted or covered with contact paper for the buildings.

https://www.marthastewart.com/1551830/cityscape-centerpiece

Binge-Watch Thanksgiving-Themed TV Episodes

There are dozens to choose from. These are my some of my favorites. Will I ever get around to watching them all again?

The Cosby Show
Season 1, Episode 10: “Bon Jour, Sondra” (November 22, 1984)
Season 6, Episode 9: “Cliff’s Wet Adventure” (November 16, 1989)
Friends
Season 1, Episode 9: “The One Where Underdog Gets Away” (November 17, 1994)
Season 2, Episode 8: “The One with the List” (November 16, 1995)
Season 3, Episode 9: “The One with the Football” (November 21, 1996)
Season 4, Episode 8: “The One with Chandler in a Box” (November 20, 1997)
Season 5, Episode 8: “The One with All the Thanksgivings” (November 19, 1998)
Season 6, Episode 9: “The One Where Ross Got High” (November 25, 1999)
Season 7, Episode 8: “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” (November 23, 2000)
Season 8, Episode 9: “The One with the Rumor” (November 22, 2001)
Season 9, Episode 8: “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister” (November 21, 2002)
Season 10, Episode 8: “The One with the Late Thanksgiving” (November 20, 2003)
Home Improvement
Season 3, Episode 10: “A Frozen Moment” (1993)
Season 4, Episode 9: “My Dinner with Wilson” (1994)
Season 6, Episode 10: “The Wood, the Bad and the Hungry” (1996)
Season 7, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving” (1997)
Season 8, Episode 10: “Thanks, but No Thanks” (1998)
ALF (Season 3, Episodes 7 & 8): “Turkey in the Straw” (Parts 1 & 2) (1988)
All in the Family: “The Little Atheist” (1975)
Archie Bunker’s Place: “Thanksgiving Reunion” (1979)
Bewitched: “Samantha’s Thanksgiving to Remember” (1967)
The Bob Cummings Show: “Thanksgiving at Grandpa’s” (1957)
The Brady Bunch: “The Un-Underground Movie” (1970)
Caroline in the City (Season 1, Episode 8): “Caroline and the Balloon” (1995)
Clueless (Season 3, Episode 8): “Never P.E.T.A. Squirrel” (1998)
Coach (Season 6, Episode 9): “It Came from New York” (1993)
Cosby (Season 3, Episode 10): “Turkey Day” (1998)
Cybill: “They Shoot Turkeys, Don’t They?” (1995)
Dave’s World: “Death and Mom Take a Holiday” (1993)
The Donna Reed Show: “Guest in the House” (1958)
The Drew Carey Show (Season 2, Episode 9): “Mimi’s Day Parade” (1996)
Ellen (Season 4, Episode 10): “Kiss My Bum” (1996)
Empty Nest: “Thanksgiving at the Westons'” (1992)
Evening Shade: “The Thanksgiving Show” (1991)
Family Matters (Season 8, Episode 11): “Chick-A-Boom” (1996)
Family Ties: “No Nukes Is Good Nukes” (1982)
Father Knows Best: “Thanksgiving Day” (1954)
Flo: “A Castleberry Thanksgiving” (1980)
Full House: “The Miracle of Thanksgiving” (1987)
The Burns and Allen Show: “Thanksgiving” (1951)
Happy Days: “The First Thanksgiving” (1978)
The Jeff Foxworthy Show: “The Thanksgiving Episode” (1996)
Kate & Allie: “Thanksgiving” (1985)
Make Room for Daddy: “Thanksgiving Story” (1953)
Mama’s Family: “An Ill Wind” (1986)
The Mommies: “Thanks, But No Thanksgiving” (1993)
The Nanny: “Oh, Say, Can You Ski?” (1998)
Our Miss Brooks: “Thanksgiving Show” (1953)
Perfect Strangers: “Wild Turkey” (1991)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Season 4, Episode 9): “Love Means Having to Say You’re Sorry” (1999)
Seinfeld (Season 6, Episode 8): “The Mom and Pop Store” (November 17, 1994)
That Girl: “Thanksgiving Comes But Once a Year, Hopefully” (1967)
The Tony Danza Show: “Thanks…But No Thanksgiving” (1998)
The Torkelsons: “Thanksgivingmesomething” (1991)
Veronica’s Closet: “Veronica’s First Thanksgiving” (1997)
Who’s the Boss? (Season 2, Episode 9): “Thanksgiving at Mrs. Rossini’s” (1985)
WKRP in Cincinnati (Season 1, Episode 7): “Turkeys Away” (October 30, 1978)
8 Simple Rules Season 1, Episode 11: “Paul Meets His Match” (2002)
8 Simple Rules Season 2, Episode 8: “The First Thanksgiving” (2003)
8 Simple Rules Season 3, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving Guest” (aka “Thanksgiving”) (2004)
According to Jim
Season 1, Episode 8: “The Turkey Bowl” (2001)
Season 2, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving Confidential” (2002)
Season 3, Episode 11: “The Empty Gesture” (2003)
Season 4, Episode 8: “The Hunters” (2004)
Alice: “Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?” (1978)
Alice: “Alice’s Turkey of a Thanksgiving” (1982)
The Beverly Hillbillies: “Elly’s First Date” (1962)
The Beverly Hillbillies: “Turkey Day” (1963)
The Beverly Hillbillies: “The Thanksgiving Spirit” (1968)
Big Bang Theory
Season 7, Episode 9: “The Thanksgiving Decoupling” (November 21, 2013)
Season 9, Episode 9: “The Platonic Permutation” (November 19, 2015)
The Bob Newhart Show
Season 3, Episode 11: “An American Family” (November 23, 1974)
Season 4, Episode 11: “Over the River and Through the Woods” (November 22, 1975)
Boy Meets World
Season 4, Episode 10: “Turkey Day” (1996)
Season 5, Episode 8: “Chasing Angela-Part II” (1997)
Cheers
Season 5, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving Orphans” (November 27, 1986)
Season 11, Episode 8: “Ill-Gotten Gaines” (November 19, 1992)
Dharma & Greg
Season 1, Episode 10: “The First Thanksgiving” (1997)
Season 3, Episode 10: “Thanksgiving Until It Hurts” (1999)
Season 5, Episode 9: “Wish We Weren’t Here” (2001)
Frasier
Season 4, Episode 7: “A Lilith Thanksgiving” (November 26, 1996)
Season 7, Episode 9: “The Apparent Trap” (November 18, 1999)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Season 1, Episode 12: “Talking Turkey” (1990)
Season 6, Episodes 9 & 10: “There’s the Rub (Part 1)”/”There’s the Rub (Part 2)” (1995)
Grace Under Fire: “Cold Turkey” (1994)
Grace Under Fire: “Thanks for Nothing” (1995)
Hazel: “Everybody’s Thankful But Us Turkeys” (1961)
Hazel: “Genie with the Light Brown Lamp” (1962)
Hazel: “Hazel and the Vanishing Hero” (1963)
Hazel: “A Lesson in Diplomacy” (1964)
Hope & Faith: “Phone Home for the Holidays” (2003)
Hope & Faith: “9021-Uh-Oh” (2004)
Hope & Faith: “Blood Is Thicker Than Daughter” (2005)
Mad About You
Season 1, Episode 9: “Riding Backwards” (November 18, 1992)
Season 3, Episode 8: “Giblets for Murray” (November 17, 1994)
Season 5, Episode 7: “Outbreak” (November 19, 1996)
Season 7, Episode 7: “The Thanksgiving Show” (November 24, 1998)
Murphy Brown
Season 4, Episode 11: “Mission Control” (November 25, 1991)
Season 11, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving and Taking” (November 22, 2018)
Newhart
Season 2, Episode 6: “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (November 21, 1983)
Season 5, Episode 8: “Thanksgiving for the Memories” (November 24, 1986)
Night Court
Season 2, Episode 8: “Harry and the Madam” (November 22, 1984)
Season 6, Episode 6: “The Last Temptation of Mac” (November 23, 1988)
Reba
Season 4, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving” (November 19, 2004)
Season 5, Episode 9: “Invasion” (November 18, 2005)
What I Like About You
Season 1, Episode 9: “Thanksgiving” (November 22, 2002)
Season 3, Episode 10: “The Wedding: Part 1) (November 19, 2004)
Season 4, Episode 9: “Ground-Turkey-Hog-Day” (November 18, 2005)
Will & Grace
Season 2, Episode 7: “Homo for the Holidays” (November 25, 1999)
Season 3, Episode 8-9: “Lows in the Mid-Eighties” (November 23, 2000)
Season 4, Episode 9-10: “Moveable Feast” (November 22, 2001)
Season 7, Episode 10-11: “Queens for a Day” (November 25, 2004)
Northern Exposure: Thanksgiving
Daniel Boone: “The Thanksgiving Story” (1965)
Blue Bloods: “Thanksgiving” (2011)
House (Season 6, Episode 9): “Ignorance Is Bliss” (2009)
Little House on the Prairie: “The Little House Years” (1979)
St. Elsewhere: “A Wing and a Prayer” (1983)
Trapper John, M.D.: “Thanks for Giving” (1982)
7th Heaven: “Last Call for Aunt Julie” (1996)
7th Heaven: “Thanksgiving” (2004)
7th Heaven: “Turkey” (2005)
7th Heaven: “Thanks and Giving” (2006)
ER: “ER Confidential” (1994)
ER: “Great Expectations” (1999)
ER: “Rescue Me” (2000)
ER: “Freefall” (2003)
ER: “Scoop and Run” (2006)
Everwood: “A Thanksgiving Tale” (2002)
Everwood: “Unhappy Holidays” (2003)
Mad Men: “The Wheel” (2007)
Mad Men: “Public Relations” (2010)
Mad Men: “Dark Shadows” (2012)
Mad Men: “In Care Of” (2013)
NCIS: “Child’s Play” (2009)
NCIS: “Sins of the Father” (2011)
NCIS: “Grounded” (2014)
NCIS: “Blood Brothers” (2015)
NCIS: “Enemy Combatant” (2016)
NCIS: “Ready or Not” (2017)
Promised Land: “The Homecoming” (1996)
Promised Land: “To Everything a Season” (1997)
The Waltons: “The Thanksgiving Story” (1973)
The Waltons: “The Waiting” (1979)
A Day for Thanks on Walton’s Mountain (1982) – TV movie
A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (1993) – TV movie
AfterMASH: “Thanksgiving of ’53” (1983)
Eight Is Enough: “All the Vice-President’s Men” (1978)
MAS*H: “The Yalu Brick Road” (1979)
Northern Exposure: “Thanksgiving” (1992)
The Wonder Years (Season 4, Episode 7): “The Ties That Bind” (1990)
Doogie Howser, M.D.: “Don’t Let the Turkeys Get You Down” (1990)
Doogie Howser, M.D.: “The Big Sleep…Not!” (1992)
Quantum Leap: “The Leap Home” (Parts 1 and 2) (1990)
Roswell: “Max in the City” (2000)
Charmed: “The Truth Is Out There… And It Hurts” (1998)
The Perry Como Thanksgiving Show (1965)
The Smothers Brothers Thanksgiving Special (1988)