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Wed-Sat 10am-6pm;  Sun 12-4pm

Open Studio Nights:
Second Fridays 6-9pm with reservation.

4 Creative Ways to Have a Stress-Free Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for family and acknowledging all the blessings in our lives. But playing host to grandparents, in-laws, cousins, etc., in addition to your own family during the upcoming holiday can lead to high levels of stress. As wonderful as Thanksgiving is—The turkey! The stuffing! The gratitude!—things can get a bit chaotic with all the food that needs to be prepared and family members staying in close quarters for the day. But it is possible to come out of the Thanksgiving holiday unscathed, having actually improved your family relationships. It’s all about getting—dare we say it?—creative. Here are our tips for a stress-free Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

#1. Focus on a Thanksgiving Project

Sometimes the biggest sources of stress during family gatherings are anxious kiddos who don’t plan on sitting still while you’re trying to get the Thanksgiving feast on the table. Fortunately for you, art will help you relieve your stress and get the kids focused elsewhere.

Plan on having a Thanksgiving-themed project for the day. By giving the kids something productive to do in honor of the holiday, you’ll all be grateful for the controlled chaos and the awesome displays of creativity from your little ones. Even better? Make time to work on something together!

It could be turkey finger puppets (have the kids put on a puppet show after dinner!), a mashed potato sculpting contest, turkey headbands they can proudly wear at dinner, a timed side dish cooking competition, or something as simple as coloring in a Thanksgiving-themed coloring book!

Make things super easy by picking up one of our custom Take-Home Craft Kits. We make most of them ourselves here at the studio, so that they are tried and true! Stop by the studio to check out our wonderful selection, display and samples. 

#2. Get Out of the House

Whether you have family members coming in for the entire Thanksgiving weekend or you’d like to spend quality time doing something together while the kids are off school, don’t spend it cooped up in the house!

Yucandu is a wonderful place for grandparents and multiple generations to spend time together doing something fun and creative. You can work on projects together or spend some time on your own. You’ll all benefit from the time spent being creative, yet still able to chat and participate together. You can even spend that time planning for the upcoming holiday season by making:

Shish-Ka-Bob Snowman Ornament

Clay snowman shish-ka-bob ornament

  • Christmas Advent Tree with little magnetic goodies
  • Clay Snowman Shish-ka-bob Ornament with our favorite air-dry clay and little wood hats and scarves made by us from vintage cashmere sweaters.
  • Paper Chain Kits: a traditional favorite made easy with our adorable holiday papers
  • Paper Mache Decoupage Ornament Kits: we’ve included the fabulous Decopatch papers, which are high-quality, thin, tear and fade-resistant. deep-dyed papers from France made especially for decoupaging.
  • Photo Ornaments with Clear Micro Beads: such a fast and fabulous ornament. Perfect for those holiday photo cards.

…and so many more! Limited supplies are available, so claim your projects quick! Take advantage of our $12 all-day open-studio fee.You can break for lunch, dinner or snack somewhere in Old Webster and come back to the studio after!

Our hours over Thanksgiving are:

Friday and Saturday: 10 am-9 pm
Half price studio fees: 6-8pm
Sunday: Noon-4 pm

#3. Take Time for Yourself

You may roll your eyes at this one, but during the rush of the holiday, it’s important not to get frazzled. After all the shopping, cooking, and cleaning, plan for much-deserved “me-time”. But how, you ask? Yucandu it!

Drop the kids off at our Crafts-Giving Workshop, where they can have a blast and be productive at same time. They’ll spend the day making holiday gifts they will be so proud of, and you can kick back and relax or get some holiday shopping done. Our Friday Craftsgiving Workshop is SOLD OUT, but there’s still availability on Saturday’s Workshop!

#4. Enjoy Your Blessings

Family is a blessing and one of the best things for us to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Things CAN get stressful—there’s no doubt about that—but once you take a step back from all the things that need to get done, you’ll see a wealth of joy and beauty that deserve to be enjoyed. So don’t look at Thanksgiving (or any holiday for that matter) as a thing you have to survive. See it as an opportunity to truly enjoy the people you love the most. With a little additional planning and a dash of creativity, you’ll find yourself having a stress-free and amazing Thanksgiving.

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