“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.”
– Cicero
Happy Thanksgiving!ย First and foremost, we would like to wish you and your family a fantastic day filled with laughter, love, and a truly delicious meal. When we sit down to eat our Thanksgiving dinner, we like to go around the table and have everyone share one thing that they are thankful for that day. In all honesty, we try to do this at dinnertime every night. It’s a great way to share all of the little things that inspire gratitude. And teaching our daughter to be grateful…to find the joy in every single day…is extremely important to us. In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, we like to find special ways to showcase our gratitude during the month of November. Last year, we crafted an adorableย Thankful Turkey Centerpiece. And this year, we’ve put together a Thankful Tree Centerpiece!
Every night when we sit down for dinner, we write one thing that we are grateful for, on a fall-colored leaf. We then pin our leaves to the branches of our tree…filling our tree with more color and gratitude as each day passes. We are thankful for our family, warm pajamas, our beautiful home, family movie days, the opportunity to help others, sledding in the snow…and so much more. Sharing all of the joyful moments in our day is always such a wonderful, heart-warming way to spend mealtime as a family.
Thankful Tree Centerpiece
Supplies:
- Glass Vase
- Artificial Twig/Tree Branches (We found ours in the floral department at Hobby Lobby)
- Vase-Filler (We used small glittery, harvest-colored balls that we also picked up at Hobby Lobby)
- Construction Paper or Card Stock (Red, Orange, and Yellow)
- Scissors
- Marker or Pen
- Mini Clothes Pins (You could also hang the leaves with ribbon, if so desired)
Instructions:
- Start by cutting your artificial tree branches the appropriate size to fit in your glass vase. If the branches are thick, a standard pair of scissors might not do the trick. We used a pair of wire-cutters (an X-ACTO knife should also work).
- Place the branches into the center of your glass vase. We twisted our two main branches together along the bottom, to form a trunk and make the branches a bit sturdier.
- Once you have the branches in the vase, fill the remaining space with filler. You can use all sorts of things as vase-filler…the main goal is to hide the twisted portion of the branches, as well as provide the necessary support for the tree to stand upright on its own.
- Now that your bare tree is complete, it’s time to craft some leaves! Cut your leaves from the various colors of construction paper or card stock. We like to fold our paper so that we get more than one leaf with each cut.
- Store your colorful leaves (along with a marker or pen) and a handful of mini clothes pins, near your thankful tree.
- Each night when your family sits down for dinner, have everyone write down one thing that they are thankful for that day. Pin the leaves to the tree. And before you know it, your tree will be brimming with color and character…and a whole lot of gratitude!
As you come together with friends and family today, may you find an abundance of joy and gratitude.
“If you want to find happiness, find gratitude.”
– Steve Maraboli
How does your family like to showcase thankfulness during the month of November? We would love to hear all of your wonderful ideas in the comments below.
