Thanksgiving Tree

My house isn’t damaged, yet some lost everything. We have electricity, yet some sit in the dark with only candlelight. We are warm, yet so many are suffering in the frigid cold. My children have full bellies, yet others’ children cry from hunger, standing in long lines waiting for food. Hurricane Sandy didn’t harm my family. I have so much to be thankful for!

To help our family focus on having an attitude of gratitude, we decided to make a Thanksgiving Tree, a fun and meaningful Thanksgiving craft. Once a day, all during the month of November. Each family member can write one thing about that day that they were thankful for on a paper leaf and hang it on the Thanksgiving Tree. By Thanksgiving Day, instead of a leafless bare tree, this tree will be covered in reminders of how blessed we are.

To make a Thanksgiving Tree you will need just a few items.

Branches

vase

cardstock scrapbook paper in fall colors

ribbon

hole punch & scissors

gold metallic pen

I used the branches I had used on my Halloween Mantel. They were cut from River Birch trees in my yard. I placed them in a sparkly mercury glass vase. I next bought cardstock scrapbook paper from Michaels, in several shades of red, orange and green. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out many maple leaf shapes, but you can also make a template from a leaf you have printed from your computer. Trace and cut out as many leaves as desired.

Punch a whole in each leaf, and thread a length of ribbon through the hole as shown below.

Place all the leaves in a decorative dish or basket along with a metallic gold pen and set it next to your tree. Each person can choose their leaf, write what they are thankful for on it and then tie it on a branch.

My sweet 5 year old was thankful for his home.

This cute little squirrel from Target sits under the tree.

I’m so glad we’ve decided to do this as family. I’ve been wanting to make one ever since I saw Décor Chick’s Thankful Tree last year. We have the Thanksgiving Tree displayed in our computer room which opens up to our kitchen. I placed my DIY Thanksgiving Subway Art behind it. It says “Give Thanks” in several languages.

This Thanksgiving Tree will be a good family tradition to start! On Thanksgiving we can read all the blessings together. Do you think your family would like this? Give it a try, and hopefully it will help encourage each other to always have an attitude of gratitude!

You might also like these other Thanksgiving ideas:

Thanksgiving Thankful Favors- Thanksgiving Place cards

Thanksgiving Subway Art

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Kim

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