Thanksgiving Kid's Table

Can you believe that Pottery Barn actually sold out of these $50 kid's centerpieces?  WHO is buying these things?  Don't get me wrong, it is adorable, but I wouldn't pay more than $20 for it.  Still, I wanted a cute kid's table that would help convey some of the Thanksgiving Day history.  Since Thanksgiving seems to be the forgotten holiday in stores, I couldn't find anything but honeycombed turkeys.  So, I had to come up with my own.

 I googled "DIY Pottery Barn Mayflower Centerpiece" and came up with a couple of tutorials on some blogs, but I decided to wing it.  I wanted my boat to be felt.  I went to Michaels and bought my supplies for $15, plus the package of the kabob wooden skewers I already had at home.  I bought a package of 4 for the floral foam, but really you only need two (one to shape the helm and one to put inside the boat for the sails.

I used a butter knife to cut the helm and glued it using tacky glue (my glue gun is hiding somewhere)

I then cut some felt to cover the helm and glued that on.  I should have splurged and gotten the clear glue that was a $1 more, but I was cheap and you can see some of the glue through the top.

Next, I took my brown embroidery thread and whip stitched the two pieces of felt together that I used on the front of my Mayflower.

I glued two 9x 12 pieces of felt together long wise and placed the boat right on the middle.  The sides tucked neatly in the boat.  I then whip stitched the seams where the sides hit the helm and the back of the boat. 

 

 Because I had 15 minutes to grab my Michael's supplies, I grabbed a $3 package of 15 X 18"cross stitch fabric for my boat and cut it into 3, 6" strips for the sails.  I then cut those down further to suit my preferences for the sail sizes.   I used the kabob sticks which already had a nice tapered point on one end as the masts.  And here she is:

Not heirloom quality, but she should last a few years and the sails just pop out for storage.  The little felt pilgrim heads I got at Michaels too for $3 a bag.

Martha Stewart crafts had a photo on their website of a map tablecloth, which I couldn't find anywhere.  I went to Joann Fabrics and found this piece of fabric for $6.  I wish the colors were a little more muted, but at least it will hide all the stuff my kids spill all over it.