Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US and I, like many Americans, will be celebrating with turkey and all of the fixings. But what I’ve come to realize as I’ve gotten older is that it really is about being grateful — for life, for love, and sometimes even for things that may not seem good right now but which you will hopefully find have helped you learn and grow immeasurably during this journey that we call life.

So, be thankful for the little things, as well as the big, and enjoy your time with family and friends. And, if you happen to be celebrating alone this year, give yourself a great big hug and be thankful that you get all of the leftovers!

If you’re feeling ambitious, you might want to take a crack at the paper craft turkey (chicken, actually) pictured above, spotted on Swissmiss the other day. Gather the family around and start a tradition! Each person gets their own piece to add to the puzzle, and you can all feel triumphant when the little guy is complete. Or you can just zonk on the couch in a tryptophan-induced haze during the football games. Happy Thanksgiving!

image from Atelier Fare

Jeffery Rudell takes us through the (sometimes arduous) process of creating the most fabulous paper chandelier e-var over on Craftstylish. The challenging paper piece was commissioned for display in the holiday windows of Tiffany & Co. in New York City, where it will be on display until December 25. Just beautiful!

images from Jeffery Rudell

Check out these fun and charming Christmas cards and tags from Specialty Cards 4 U. Each custom card and tag is handmade, and all of the custom Christmas cards can accomodate a 3×5″ or 4×6″ photo, which is great news for those of you out there looking for unique holiday photo cards!

images from Specialty Cards 4 U

Oh so pretty letterpress Christmas cards in red and green from Megan Creates. I love the little birdies and the candy cane card, which says, “Season’s Sweetings…oops!…I mean…Greetings,” on the inside. Too cute!

images from Megan Creates

I love this Thanksgiving project from Full Circle — a wonderful holiday craft for kids and grown ups alike. Everyone cuts leaves from autumn colored papers and writes what they’re thankful for on their leaves. Not only can you create a pretty and festive garland from the leaves, but everyone is able to have a little time to reflect on what Thanksgiving is truly about as they’re making their leaves. from CRAFT via The Crafty Crow

images from Full Circle

At Nest, you can purchase lots of pretty paper goods AND help out a great cause at the same time! Nest is a nonprofit organization which has dedicated itself to changing the lives of women in developing countries.

Nest’s mission is to support women artists and artisans in the developing world by helping them create sustainable entrepreneurial businesses by providing micro-credit loans to be used for purchasing supplies and materials necessary to start or maintain craft based businesses. The funds for the loans are generated through Nest’s site by the sale of many types of home goods (including paper!) produced exclusively for nest by a group of artists and designers, including Luxe Expressions, whose letterpress thank yous are featured above.

More paper goodies from Nest:

Henry Road Holiday Gift Tags

images from Nest

Looking for some last minute paper crafts to decorate your Thanksgiving table? As always, Martha Stewart has a little bit of everything: squirrel favors, paper turkeys, and clip art place cards for you to print and incorporate into your Thanksgiving celebration!

images from Marthastewart.com

I’m a huge fan of Helen Dardik’s work, and I’m absolutely loving her holiday cards, which feature whimsical nutcrackers and holiday items with faces. Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a sucker for inanimate objects and food (like candy canes and candy bars) with faces!

images from Cardstore.com