Thankful tree

My BFF Sheri does this and I love it! She hangs hers on a door, but I wanted it in the family room. Our family room is mostly windows…the lone solid wall has the piano on it. So, I put it in the corner.

I got about 4 feet of brown craft paper and creased it down the center. If yours isn’t going in the corner, you won’t need to crease it.

I sketched a tree trunk shape. If you actually took and passed art in high school, yours will look better than mine. Thank heavens for pottery and social dance!

I cut the trunk out and taped it to the wall using blue painter’s tape. I’m sure there are better ways to do it, but I was working with what I had.

Then, I sent Keller out in the backyard to find a big old maple leaf. I made a template and cut 40 or 50 leaves out of different fall colors of construction paper. You could use cardstock or whatever. You could also find someone that has a die cut machine. Cutting 5 at a time made it go pretty quickly, though. You can find my template here. If I were doing it again, I’d make the leaf a little smaller, so I could fit two to a page.

Tonight, we sat down and talked about all the things we’re thankful for and each chose 2 to write on leaves. Campbell said Blake (my brother) and Santa. That’s the chance you take when there’s a 3 year old in the mix.

We taped the leaves on the tree.

There’s a bowl of leaves on the mantle so we can add to it as the month goes on.

The plan is to read them all on Thanksgiving to help us remember how blessed we really are.

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Comments

  1. I love this idea! I don't have little ones at home anymore so I won't get the 3 year old answers, but I think I will adopt this idea for my AWANA group.

  2. Kermit~the~Frog says:

    That's cool!

    For ours, which will either be a tree or a turkey, we're going to email/call extended family and ask them to tell us what they are thankful for as well.

  3. Joni Walton says:

    Love this! I am definitely going to copy this! And, Ruby loved the pic of Macy in her dead-bride costume. She was a bride last year and now thinks that I missed the boat by just making her be a "normal" bride. :)

  4. Joni Walton says:

    P.S. I just went and looked at the tree a little closer (so I could copy it) and I think that all of your answers are ADORABLE! I love your family way too much!

  5. Kari @ Ucreate says:

    LOVE this idea!!

  6. I LOVE it being in the corner. And ftr, our front door IS in our living room. And our dining room. That's the benefit of living in a small apartment, lol!

  7. porter family says:

    totally stealing this idea! we usually do a small one but this big one looks like lots more fun!!

  8. porter family says:

    ps i am also thankful for santa!! and blake.

  9. Al, Wendy, Max, and Lil says:

    I love it!

  10. very cute, we do something similar every year and love it!

  11. Vintage Creations says:

    I have never heard of doing this! I love it and my girls are slowly getting to the age! Thanks so much for a great idea!

  12. I am in TRUE LOVE with this idea. I'm off to make this right now!

  13. The Harris Family says:

    So cute! I love this idea.

  14. I love this! I think we will be copying you…this is such a great idea!

  15. fab idea – i also do it with willow branches in a sap bucket and cut several leaves for the taking out of festive scrap papers. fun for the kids to hang them whenever they think of something "new" to be grateful for!

  16. I've seen a bunch of these around the blog-o-sphere, but I like yours the best!!! I'm going to work on it tonight

  17. Kim -today's creative blog says:

    great idea

  18. Your cool friend Cheryl says:

    Great idea!

    For the record, I'm thankful for Santa, too…

  19. This is super cute! I love this whole concept.

  20. so cute.

  21. Such a great idea and it looks cute too!

    pk @ Room Remix

  22. I forgot that I saw this idea last year and loved it, but was too late to do it. My son and I are about to make our tree right now; thanks for the reminder!

    I love that someone is thankful for the "Holey Ghost"! :)

  23. The Harding Hive says:

    Char…this is adorable. I'm totally gonna do it. Where do I get that much brown paper?

    You are right there at the top of my list of most impressive mothers.

  24. Robert's. I believe it was something like $1.18 for 2 yards (tax included) and I only used 4 feet or so. My boys made a pirate map out of the rest.

  25. Thanks for posting this now. I went and bought supplies to do this and needed a little inspiration and a really cute leaf!
    Love your blog, the name drew me in!

  26. The Harding Hive says:

    Thanks Char!

  27. Luv 2 Kreate says:

    This is a wonderful idea!

  28. love this!

  29. We did this last year for Thanksgiving and the kids loved it. I love your tree template…very cute. I might have to try it this way this year.

  30. Thank you for this idea, I've had such a hard time finding Thanksgiving ideas online… everyone wants to just jump right into December already!

  31. great idea!

  32. Char! I love this! I might actually do it! But, I might be too lazy too.

  33. I ran across this idea on your blog and fell in LOVE with it. We made our tree last night for FHE… thanks for helping us recognize all that we have been blessed with! Blogged at http://toddandtagan.blogspot.com/2009/11/gratitude.html

  34. Parkinson's says:

    just found tonights FHE activity!!!

  35. I know this is an old post for you, but I featured it as part of my "Thankful Trees" post on my blog today!

    Here's the link:
    http://moomootutu.blogspot.com/2010/11/wednesday-wow-finds-thankful-trees.html

    Thanks for the inspiration & have a great day!

  36. I featured this today…love it!!!

    xo
    k

    • Char @ Crap I've Made says:

      Aw thanks! I need to head on over to the party store for some paper so I can get this year’s up!

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