It's autumn and time for a series of holidays that will keep your nieces and nephews busy throughout the next few months.  First up was Halloween which now leads into Thanksgiving only four weeks later.  These holidays fall within the autumnal season and use the same color scheme.  As a result, many of the things you purchase for one can be used for the other! This reduces the amount of money you need to spend on the fun during this season.

Here are some great tips to transition your Halloween decor to a warm and inviting Thanksgiving!

Cookie Cutters: The simple pumpkin cookie cutter you chose to create marvelous pumpkin invitations and decorations for your spooky Halloween party can be used at Thanksgiving time to make pumpkin sugar cookies, pumpkin bread, brownies, etc.  Pumpkins are as festive at Halloween as they are at Thanksgiving.

Tablecloth: Use that orange tablecloth from your Halloween party table and then trim it up using brown ribbon and scalloped scissors to create a formal tablecloth for Thanksgiving. 

Tableware: Your leftover orange and white tableware, e.g. napkins, plates, cups, from Halloween can be used  for Thanksgiving as well.  Provide your nieces and nephews with brown markers and draw turkeys on their cups and napkins to make them into festive Thanksgiving tableware.  You may want to use the good china for the Thanksgiving meal itself, but this will be great for snacks before the meal and to serve leftovers on.

Have your nieces and nephews roll up large orange napkins that you may have used for your Halloween party and create napkin rings using white and black construction paper rings (the Pilgrim colors, of course!)

Did you bob for apples at your Halloween party?  Use apples to create Apple Candlestick Holders.  Core out the center of the apple to fit a candle snuggle.  Older children can carve out patterns on the skin of the apple, or just keep them red.

Decor: The bales of hay and Indian corn you purchased to make your yard, front porch, door, and table centerpiece during the Halloween season can all be used during Thanksgiving as well.  The items will keep fresh throughout the entire autumn season.  You can also use the cornhusks to create dolls and puppets for more Thanksgiving decorations or plain fun!

Mini pumpkins and gourds look as festive for Halloween as they will for Thanksgiving.  Have the children draw faces on the small pumpkins and turkeys on to the gourds.

Any leftover orange balloons can be blown up for Thanksgiving and your nieces and nephews can either draw with brown magic markers or use other craft materials to create turkey balloons.

And there you go, Auntie. You just makes pumpkin-aide out of pumpkins! Or something like that... Happy November!