Friendsgiving: Beg, Borrow and Craft

First of all, you should know that I tried to be on a budget starting November and running through December. Except, then I went to NYC and everything was shot, because...well...travel is expensive. So, back when the budget was still in place, we hosted Friendsgiving! And I was determined not to buy anything that wasn't food related, which is difficult for me because I LOVE TO DECORATE. Which, isn't all that difficult, because it meant I had to spend more time crafting cute decorations with what I already had and less time buying more decorations I definitely don't need!

Let me just say, sorry about the photos...
1. It's dark out now and the lighting in my house does not do well for photos.
2. Once everyone showed up and the gravy starting giving my problems (and the wine was uncorked) I got a little distracted from taking photos and more focused on eating...call me crazy.

In order to decorate when you can't buy anything, you have to really see the table laid out before you to know what you need. So, I set the table like the weekend before. Embarrassing.

I did have to settle on pretty boring place cards...but at least I had them!
Next year I'll have the time (and monies) to do something fun.

The dinner was a potluck, so we all got to try delicious sides and desserts from all our friends. Since I hosted, I decided to do the turkey, stuffing, ham and gravy. The latter of which kind of boiled over the pot and made a mess of the oven...but not to worry! We cleaned up and had plenty of gravy by dinner time. I'm pretty proud of the turkey [recipe here] and was extra excited because Hyvee had a deal where you buy a ham and get the turkey free. Woohoo! I had never barely tried stuffing before (let alone made it), but I really liked the way this one turned out [recipe here]. I know you wouldn't think BuzzFeed is the most reliable source for recipes, but they had the most user-friendly timeline for making an entire Thanksgiving dinner [here]. Finally, the ham was delicious...but that's pretty hard to mess up [glaze recipe here].

When was dinner was over, we started "The Emperor's New Groove" ...I have no idea why. It's hilarious and it's on Netflix instant watch right now, so you can't argue with that.

Hope your Thanksgiving was relaxing and delicious. If you haven't done one before, I highly recommend a Friendsgiving celebration next year--you never know what you'll end up watching after dessert!