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Thanksgiving Alphabet Pie Topper DIY

Don’t get me wrong, I love cake. It’s just that sometimes I wonder why they get all the love. Frosting, toppers, edible flowers, candles, rainbow insides…….it’s all so pretty! With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I’d see if I could ‘celebrate’ the humble pie, and dress it up a little. Here are instructions to make a heartfelt Thanksgiving pie topper.

Materials: 4 x 8 inch piece of heavyweight dark gray paper, 2 x 8 inch piece of heavyweight light gray paper, sage green and gray ribbon, 2 wooden skewers, pencil, ruler, white glue, scissors, Alphabet Pasta, print-outs or color copies of bird illustrations (with 1 x 2 inch birds), mini-clamps.

Step 1. Begin with your gray paper – draw an upside-down rainbow shape, starting from the top lefthand corner, to the center of the bottom side (marked with a ruler), back up to the top righthand side of the rectangle. Do this on both the dark gray and the light gray paper. You will have one deep rainbow and one shallow rainbow. Cut out a 1 inch strip following your pencil line, with both colored papers.

Step 2. Spill out a pile of alphabet pasta into a saucer or tray. Search for your letters and set them aside to glue. I chose to write “Have a Grateful Heart” based on a quote by Seneca who said, “Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart,” and “Be conscious of your treasures” derived from Thortnon Wilder who said, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”  Really, you could write whatever moves you.  Place little dots of white glue on the paper and carefully put your letters into place. You may have to use a pencil tip to nudge them into the right position. Let dry.

Step 3. Cut out two bird illustrations. Make sure they are facing each other.  I used an old bird guide book I had, but Vintage Printable has a great selection of birds. You may have to resize your images to get the right sized birds.

Step 4.  Cut two 8-inch lengths of each ribbon, so you have four pieces of ribbon total. Cut your skewers to be roughly 8 inches also.

Step 5. Layer your bird, letter swags, folded ribbons and skewer, in that order. Place glue in between every layer, and clip them together to dry. Be sure to angle your skewers slightly inwards. I left mine to dry overnight, although I don’t think they actually need that much time.

Step 6. Bake, or buy, a pie! Insert your topper into your pie and enjoy!

P.S. With some leftover alphabet pasta, I made some quick place cards for the table. I see lots of potential with these pasta letters, and there are a about a million in each little box. I’m thinking about gift tags, cards, on top of presents – – what do you think they would be good for?

  1. Justine

    November 11, 2011

    I love this idea! The birds are so sweetly vintage, and you never have to twist my arm to talk me into pie. Great post!

    ~Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One

  2. Misha

    November 11, 2011

    So sweet! I wonder if it would work with a glue stick?? I must do this

  3. Kristina

    November 11, 2011

    Such a sweet idea – love the placecards! And especially love seeing the Katharine card in the last pic – my 7 year old daughter’s name! She’ll be thrilled – think we’ll be replicating these this year!

  4. Emily

    November 11, 2011

    What a sweet reminder of what we should be remembering at Thanksgiving! And love those alphabet pastas!

  5. Abigail

    November 11, 2011

    genius!

  6. Hannah @ Sparrow + Spark!

    November 11, 2011

    This is great! I prefer pie over cake any day! You could also do this with a crumble (also delicious, yet not so pretty!)

  7. Karen @ Aurelia Interiors

    November 11, 2011

    Gorgeous! I think I would save that and re-use it every Thanksgiving.

  8. rhiannon

    November 11, 2011

    this is a great idea!! i love this.
    http://www.modernsuburbanites.blogspot.com

  9. lanunnu

    November 11, 2011

    woooww!!! 😉

  10. Sally

    November 11, 2011

    What a creative idea! Definitely going to try it!

  11. Sarah @http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com/

    November 11, 2011

    This is so awesome! I love how the alphabet pasta is linked to the whole food theme of Thanksgiving. Very clever.

    – Sarah
    http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com

  12. Cecilia

    November 11, 2011

    That is simply the most charming thing I have ever seen 🙂

  13. Jon

    November 11, 2011

    This is such a fun great idea. I love it. The photos are beautiful too.

  14. bevy

    November 11, 2011

    great idea using alphabet pasta!

  15. mandy

    November 11, 2011

    LOVE! Sweet touches like this really transform pieces into something special.

  16. brett

    November 11, 2011

    Beautiful idea and lovely photos! Well done.

  17. Whatever DeeDee Wants

    November 11, 2011

    This is too cute. Thanks for sharing !

  18. Rebekah

    November 11, 2011

    Love, love, love this! Am going to tweak and use these ideas for our Thanksgiving table. Thanks for creating and sharing!

  19. Kate

    November 11, 2011

    Beautiful!! Such a simple way to dress up my Thanksgiving table! Love the styling!!

  20. Sierra

    November 11, 2011

    Eeek, I LOVE the alphabet pasta letters…so obvious and yet genius!

  21. Kacie

    November 11, 2011

    These are so cool! I love the banner. I would love to try and make this to go on a cheesecake I’m planning to make for Thanksgiving!

    Kacie
    http://www.acollectionofpassions.com/

  22. Dalia

    November 11, 2011

    Brilliant and Beautiful! Can’t wait to try the notecards myself!

  23. Jane

    November 11, 2011

    I think they are great, i love the pasta idea, will you bring the pie? i’m thinking thanksgiving dessert day!
    Your Aunt

  24. nikki

    November 11, 2011

    I love the idea, the pictures, and the alphabet letters!

  25. Waimihi

    November 11, 2011

    hey cool idea! I especially like the alphabet pasta- will look good when sprayed gold.

  26. Bronze

    November 11, 2011

    I think it looks lovely, but I am a little concerned about the choking hazard for my young children. Should I boil the alphabet pasta first just to be safe? And is it OK to use blue birds instead of sparrows?

  27. Lin

    November 11, 2011

    Now here is something us uncrafters can do! Thank you – it’s so sweet! We are a pie-loving family, and it’s nice to see pie given its full due. 🙂

  28. Shelley Abreu @ The Happiness Diaries

    November 11, 2011

    I love the place cards! My daughter and I are stuck in the hospital for the next several months but I we may be to be home for Thanksgiving. We are going to make these a craft since that’s how we pass a lot of our time. Thanks for sharing!

  29. Jaki

    November 11, 2011

    I love yout pie banner!!
    I am pinning the place cards for my children to make them for the Christmas table this year. perfect!!
    Thanks for the inspiration 🙂

  30. Roxana

    November 11, 2011

    Wow ! These are soooo beautiful! They would totally make any celebration gorgeous and special!
    Thank you for sharing!!!

  31. bettijo

    November 11, 2011

    I’m a pie lover myself! Love the idea of making a topper for the pie 🙂 The alphabet pasta is so cute — I saw the pasta letter placecards in Family Fun magazine this month too — such a clever idea.

  32. This girl loves to talk

    November 12, 2011

    yeah pie is better than cake! cant tell you how many ‘fancy cupcakes’ I’ve had that tasted disgusting. They looked beautiful but the icing was super super sugar sweet and cake dry… bleck! and they are expensive!

    yay the pie… now I might just have to throw a thanksgiving party, even though its not celebrated in australia

  33. curious creatures

    November 12, 2011

    Looks like a lot of fun! I remember using those alphabet pastas for greeting card when I was a kid! Brings back memory. Thanks!

  34. Sassy Babies

    November 12, 2011

    This is such a fun idea for Thanksgiving! I’m in charge of pies this year, might just have to make me one!

  35. Shena

    November 13, 2011

    love this

  36. Leanna

    November 13, 2011

    This is too amazingly cute! You should make a Thanksgiving pinata, too!

  37. Karolina

    November 13, 2011

    What a great idea! You always have the most original ideas.

  38. Nikki Lorraine

    November 14, 2011

    Im IN LOVE with this! The colors are fantastic! And your photos are amazing. Thanks for sharing your creative talents

  39. EMILY

    November 14, 2011

    I absolutely adore this.

  40. Sarah

    November 14, 2011

    genius! and beautiful! I love the pie topper saying too 🙂

  41. Sarah @ Designsgood

    November 14, 2011

    i LOVE this.

  42. Pearl

    November 14, 2011

    So So SO CUTE!!!

    Pearl

  43. mon

    November 14, 2011

    Love this so much. Going to have to use the pasta letters for a future project! THANK YOU!

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