Give Thanks (for crabs!)

It's been that kind of day where the winter weather is catching up with my nose and throat. But that's not stopping me from enjoying this view:

winter wonderland (aka my backyard)

Or from crafting a crab-themed Thanksgiving decoration! I started with a pumpkin that I had decorated for a competition at work this past Halloween.

ghost crab (get it? because it says 'Boo'?)

Oh man, I am so clever! You may remember learning about ghost crabs from earlier posts (like here and here). They are super speedy crabs that can disappear as quickly as you spot them, hence their name! But when you do catch a glimpse, they're quite lovely little crustaceans.

a ghost crab captured by Pat Barry in India

I thought a ghost crab would be the perfect Halloween-themed crab to bring to the crafting table. I made the legs out of popsicle sticks and painted the whole guy white. Then I simply wrote on him with a sharpie to really bring it home. After Halloween he underwent some modifications to fit in at our Life Aquatic party my husband and I hosted:

Adam made a man-of-war (not to be mistaken with an electric jellyfish)

and decorated the pumpkin as a sugar crab

I love this movie!

Today began the final transformation (probably) for our little pumpkin-crab friend. I added more stripes to his legs but made them fall/harvest colored (red, orange, yellow, and brown) then simply added a little banner saying, "give thanks". Thanksgiving is often overlooked, but I think it's an important message to remember! So, do what the crab says: