Thanksgiving Greetings

Enjoy these vintage Thanksgiving Day cards. Best wishes from this address to yours for a wonderful holiday.





These vintage cards and many others may found at vintageholidaycrafts.com.

Gifting in Green and Red

Homemade gifts are always welcome, and perhaps even more so this year. Here's a beautiful and easy gift idea for everyone on your list. Who wouldn't smile for a delicious peppermint treat dipped in white chocolate?

All you need are peppermint sticks (candy canes would work, too), a bag of white chocolate chips and a jar of white nonpareils. Dip the sticks in the melted chocolate. Let the sticks partially set for 5 minutes on a sheet of parchment. Then, roll the dipped ends in the nonpareils and allow to fully set at room temperature.

Package your gift in a decorated box or bag. Giving green with a red ribbon!

Photograph by Frances Janisch courtesy of Country Living

Wrapped in Green

Its not the countdown to the holiday season, or the colder weather that motivates me to think about baking gifts for my family and friends - it's the temptation of seasonal cookie recipes and images of beautiful looking party food.

Having already made mental lists of the special people I want to bake gifts for, I am skipping ahead to the search for great ideas to package and present them. Sure, there are recipes to be tried, ingredients to be tracked done, time set aside to frantically do all the baking, but for now I just want to think about packaging with a clever touch of green.

Cookies being delivered across the street or across town would look great in a glass tumbler covered with a piece of wax paper and tied with a colorful ribbon or twine. A vintage tin lined with wax paper and topped with a ribbon would be a fun surprise on a colleague's desk or under the tree.

This season, give a gift wrapped in green! It's two gifts in one.

Photograph courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

Japanese After Dinner Chews

After a fishy dinner of miso soup, seaweed salad, a combination platter of sushi rolls and sashimi, you're satiated and grateful the meal has come to a close. Your credit card is returned with the receipt to be signed and one for your records. But that is not all, a little gift from Japan accompanies the padded vinyl folder. Each guest at your table is given a tiny box.

This would not be easily confused with the peppermint starlight mint that always upon a time appeared on the table when the check was returned. This is an entirely different token of appreciation for your patronage.

Each diminutive box is boldly decorated with a large scaled image of a familar fruit and clearly marked BUBBLE GUM. After carefully unwrapping the clear cellophane that seals the gift, one can open a flap to reveal 4 spherical balls.

The gum is made by the Marukawa Confectionery Company, Ltd in Nagoya, Japan and is available, hence popular, with children (and select sushi restaurant patrons) all over the world. The company was founded in 1888 and started making gum in 1948.

The fruit flavors -- strawberry, orange, grape and melon -- are convincing and the texture is delightful. It is easy to blow a bubble with only one piece, although you may not be able to resist adding a second gumball or more from your box.

Still, the packaging is so charming and distinctive that it's tempting to just keep the whole gift intact -- a little reminder of our fascination with things small and beautiful.

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