Wishbone Wrap Place Settings

I’ve managed to combine some of my favorite things with this project: Neutals, Neon, and unwrapping presents.

Even though Thanksgiving is still a month ahead of the gift-giving holiday we all know and love, it’s never too early to unwrap a little something. But instead of unwrapping presents, we’re unwrapping plates. Because the real gift at Thanksgiving is all of that insanely delicious homestyle food you get to enjoy with your family and friends.

I found these plastic wishbones from Lucky Break at a local party store, and they were too cool to pass up. They’re designed to snap in two just like a real wishbone. I mean, we all love breaking the wishbone at Thankgiving. But it’s messy and there’s only one. And wishbones always end up with one person who doesn’t get their wish.

With these plastic ones everybody gets their own, so there’s plenty of wishes to go around. And integrating them into the place setting in such a fun way is a great way to get everybody psyched about their turkey and stuffing. Because before you chow down, you have to break open the wishbone to get to the plates.

Making these is really easy, too. You just need some wishbones (one for each person; plastic or real, whatever you can get your hands on) and ribbon. I used a simple cotton twill, but this would be great with a thin satin ribbon or even baker’s twine. If you want to give your wishbones dipped tips like I did (neon yellow, if that’s your thing), you’ll want to grab some paint and let a few coats dry before tying them on to plates.

When you’re setting the table for Thanksgiving, lay a length of ribbon across each setting (measure out a strip 2.5 times the diameter of your biggest plate). Then, set the plates and napkin down on top with a wishbone in the center. Pull the ribbon tight and tie the ends around each side of the wishone, trimming any exess.

Wrapping the plates helps Thanksgiving to feel like the special occassion it ought to be, and your guests will love kicking off dinner with a wish. Hopefully they wished for turkey.