Since Thanksgiving was declared as an official yearly holiday in 1941, people have developed a trend of decorating their houses and lawns or yards with items related to the wonderful fall and harvest season. These decorations originated from several old European customs; when people celebrated the end of the harvest season; while the twentieth century gave birth to another sort of items.

These are decorations like bundles of cornstalks and foddershocks usually set round with vegetables and fruits: pumpkins, gourds, cushaw and other Autumn items that we can see on the lawns or yards of a lot of houses.

A great example is the "wicker man", made out from straw or wicker, filled with fruits from the harvest that was burned in the honor of the gods; which has been inspired by an old European pagan custom.

Another of those decorations stemming from these old customs is the wreath. A wreath was made out of woven grapevines or thin oak limbs and was generally decorated with wooden pine cones, oak leaves, miniature Indian corn, acorns and many other natural items from the Autumn season.

The twentieth century opened a new era of profit to entrepreneurs, giving them the opportunity to sell more detailed decorations items for Thanksgiving, such as tableware, table cloth, decorated with fall shapes, candles, artificial vegetation, ornamental lights, and so much more! You can buy cute little "Tom Turkey" stand-ups to sit on your tables and pictures of happy settlers and native American folks gathered around a table enjoying a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. Ready-made foddershocks, fall wreaths, pine cones, ears of weath, oak leaves, miniature Indian corn, acorns are available in any retail store and even at the local road side flea market or farmer's market.

Obviously, if you want to save a lot of money while having some fun, you can create your Thanksgiving decorations by yourself.

Homemade Thankgiving Craft #1: The Foddershock

Building a foddershock is very easy. You just have to get a good number dried corn stalks, generally left in a corn field after a harvest, and bind them in the midsection of the bundle to create some kind of 'tepee' shaped bunching.

Select the area of your garden or yard where you will stand the foddershock and sit a scarecrow close to it. Don't forget to add some Autumn details like pumpkins, gourds, and diverse winter squashes.

Make Your Own Scarecrow

To build scarecrows just bind two sticks firmly together forming a cross. Put a long sleeved shirt on the sticks - preferably a jean or flannel shirt - as well as an old pair of pants. You might want to add a few more details like gardening gloves or shoes... Make a head by stuffing an old pillow case or cloth sack with papers, old rags or fiberfill. Draw a face on the head and then stick the head on top of the upright stick, binding it at the base of the sack to the stick. Place an old hat on it and ... that's it!

Head alternative: use a jack-o-lantern.

There are so many great, money-saving, and simple decorations you can create. Use your creativity and start your own traditional Thanksgiving decorations!