Ditch Wreaths: An Adorable Way To Decorate Your Front Door For Thanksgiving

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Fall offers plenty of opportunities to dress up your front door for the holidays, and Thanksgiving is no exception — especially if you're planning to host friends and family for the big day. Thanksgiving wreath ideas featuring seasonal foliage are a great way to welcome guests and celebrate the holiday, but they can be a little one-note, meaning yours is likely to look very similar to your neighbor's. They also rarely feel true to the Thanksgiving holiday theme specifically, instead giving the vibe of generic fall decor. This year, why not make a more fun and unique statement with a crafty DIY that trades traditional wreaths for an alternative instead?

If you want your door to look distinctly Thanksgiving-themed, DIYer Desiree Horner has an answer. She shared an inspiring design idea on Instagram using insulation foam board to create an enormous 3D slice of pumpkin pie decor for her front door, complete with a "give thanks" message. It's easy to recreate yourself, guaranteed to catch the eye, and offers a more unique way to bring a seasonal feel to your porch.

While this DIY is relatively simple, it does require some precision cutting and quite a few materials. You'll also need a few hours to make it from start to finish, so if you prefer to keep things simple, maybe take a trip to a big-box store for your door decor instead. If you are the crafty type, however, there are myriad ways to customize the idea. If stored properly, you can also reuse your door decor for years to come.

To create her front door decor, Desiree Horner starts by drawing a giant pumpkin pie slice onto a piece of foam insulation board 1 inch thick. Her design is large, but you can scale down the idea if you prefer, or make it extra large if you have a wider front door. Once finished tracing, Horner cuts out the design using a hot knife cutting tool, which you can purchase from Amazon for $29.99. This is the most technical part of the project, so you might want to practice first. 

To bring the pumpkin pie slice to life, Horner uses a foam craft spray to create a whipped cream topping. She then mixes DryDex joint compound with gold paint for the pastry crust and applies it around the edges with a palette knife. From there, it's simply a case of painting the remaining design orange and adding a Thanksgiving message in the middle. You'll also need to fix some wire or string to the back of your board so that it can hang from your door.

Not a fan of pumpkin pie? The beauty of this project is that you can use it to make any type of Thanksgiving DIY decor idea, such as a Turkey or even a cornucopia basket if you're feeling especially creative. It doesn't need to be reserved for Thanksgiving alone, either. You could use foam board to make 3D door decor for any holiday, from pumpkins and ghouls for Halloween to presents and stars for Christmas. The result is fun, inexpensive, and so unique.