How To Host Thanksgiving In Your College Apartment

By Jessi Stickel on November 19, 2015

Thanksgiving is a day we get our families together and think about all the things we are thankful for in our lives.

We also eat as much turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing as possible, then take a break and eat as much pumpkin pie until our pants button pops off.

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If you can’t make it home for this Thanksgiving holiday, there is no reason you should miss out. There will most likely be a few of your friends or classmates that will still be on campus too, so host your own Thanksgiving in your apartment.

This may sound a little intimidating for some of you that have never hosted Thanksgiving or a big dinner before without the help of family, so here are a few tips and essentials to have when hosting Thanksgiving in your apartment this fall.

Decorations

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To make Thanksgiving day and dinner feel like home, you should decorate your apartment in the Thanksgiving/fall spirit. Assuming that most college students do not have much money to spend, DIY decorations are the way to go.

This can include wall decor, centerpieces and even homemade place mats. You can find hundreds of unique and fun decorations on Pinterest as well. This will be something fun for you and your friends to do together and get all of you in higher spirits about missing your family Thanksgiving.

Food

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Of course, food is one of the most important aspects when it comes to Thanksgiving, especially the turkey. It is normal for a college student to have never cooked a whole Thanksgiving turkey before, so here are some basic tips.

You can also go to the Food Network for further advice, or call/Facetime your mom or grandmother for help! Family can be a great help when it comes to cooking and baking and it’s a great way for you and your family to bond since you are missing the holiday with them.

Don’t try to make the whole entire dinner on your own; that can be overwhelming, so invite a few friends over early to help make the sides like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and stuffing. Also, be very cautious if you are not normally a big cooker or baker. Many fires happen while cooking Thanksgiving dinner (Don’t forget to take out the bag of giblets BEFORE cooking the turkey!).

Guests

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The people are the most important thing you’ll have at your Thanksgiving dinner. Although they are not your family, you’ll be thankful for them and that you are not spending the holiday alone. If you don’t have many friends staying on campus for Thanksgiving, try inviting some acquaintances, neighbors and peers in your classes that you know might spend the holiday alone as well.

The season is about giving, so don’t let someone you know spend Thanksgiving alone. Give them something to be thankful for by inviting them over for dinner with some of your friends.

Entertainment

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Sometimes when you have guests over, it can be a little boring while waiting for all the food to be ready. You can put something that you know everyone would like on T.V. like the Macy’s Day Parade or a holiday movie to keep everyone entertained before and after dinner.

You also can set out a few board games like Monopoly or playing cards, as games can break the ice for when all the guests do not know each other well. You can even try a “giving thanks” game: everyone writes down the things they are thankful for, puts this in a bowl, and then a guest draws a thanks and has to guess who wrote it (great game for the table).

Having entertainment keeps spirits high when you and your guests may be feeling down about missing family.

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