What will you give thanks for this holiday? Among other things, I will be thankful that my tween and teen no longer clamor for glitter and construction paper; the days of craft projects are generally behind us. No more making turkeys out of their little handprints; no more paper pilgrim hats or feathered headdresses. I’m a little sad about that…wait. I’m over it.
But the crafts haven’t totally left the building. I host Thanksgiving dinner every other year, and this simple project is a wonderful way to add meaning to your holiday while beautifying your table or mantle.
Materials:
- Leaf template (There are plenty of free ones online; I used this website and choose the oak leaf template 2)
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Sharpie
- Colored paper – red, orange, yellow, green
- Ribbon or twine
- Dead tree branches, trimmed to the size you’d like
- Clear vase or similar glass container
- Cranberries (a 12 ounce bag was enough to fill my vase)
Instructions:
1. Using the leaf template, cut out leaves in various colors of paper. To save time, I stacked the template on top of the colored paper and cut without tracing. It’s a craft, not a masterpiece.
2. Write “I’m thankful for…” on each leaf, leaving room for the rest of the sentence. I used eight leaves; use as many as you need for your family or Thanksgiving guests.
3. Punch a hole near the stem of each leaf, and thread ribbon or twine through. Tie off so that you have a loop to hang on the branch.
4. Arrange the branches in the glass vase. While holding the branches in place, pour the cranberries in the vase to serve as an anchor for the branches. This is easier with two pairs of hands. My kids run for the hills when I mention the word “craft,” so I did manage to do it alone. But it’s easier with help.
5. Hang the leaves on the branches, and you are done!
That’s the crafty part. The meaningful part is writing what you are thankful for on the leaves. Some ideas:
If you are doing the project as a family, have each family member complete their leaf as you create the tree.
OR…
Leave the tree as is until Thanksgiving day. While your guests are milling around while you frantically try to baste the turkey, give them each a leaf to complete and hang on the tree.
OR…
Put a leaf and a pen on each plate when setting your Thanksgiving table. The leaves can serve as place cards or simply add color to your table. Guests can complete their leaf as they sit down for dinner, and then hang it on the centerpiece tree.
OR…
Display your tree on an end table or mantle during the entire holiday season.
Because every day – not just Thanksgiving – is a day to be thankful for.
What an awesome idea! I too am glad that we are *almost* out of the glitter stage!
Whoever invented glitter clearly didn’t have kids…or they had a housekeeper!
PS Glitter is evil. I do love the little handprint projects though…
I love the idea of a Thanksgiving tree! The best part? I think this may just be a craft that even I wouldn’t mess up. Beautiful idea, Dana!
Thanks, Kristi. It’s super easy, cuz those are the only kind of craft projects I do.
I like it. An easy DIY that even the wannabe pinterest girls like me can pull off. But aww, no more glitter and construction paper? I might be nuts but that sounds kind of awesome.
It’s awesome for awhile, Stevie, but when you’re doing your grocery shopping with glitter in your eyebrows and construction paper stuck to your ass, it loses a bit of its luster.
This is a lovely “feel good” idea. And simple enough that I may be able to manage it! Plus, I could definitely get the kids involved with making this.
Simple is key. And I’m sure your kids could find you the perfect branches for your tree!
oh dana, i really love this. what a creative, meaningful project for thanksgiving. i am bookmarking this to do with my family.
Thanks, Catherine. It really is a project for any age, although you may get some grumbles from the non-sharers in the group!
I will have to remember this craft for when I have kids…LOVE IT! Last year I made jars into little people with my bf at the time and we wrote things we were thankful for about each other and put them in the jar throughout the season and opened them on Xmas. It was sorta sweet 🙂
That is sweet, Shae. That’s way too romantic and sweet for my husband though 🙂
We do this too but put the leaves on the table. I love the idea of hanging them on a tree so they do not get damaged. I am a list lover too! 🙂
Well, just the fact that your blog name has the word “organized” in it makes me like you, Raquel!
What I like about this post, in addition to the clever craft, is your approach to crafts. “it’s a craft, not a masterpiece.” So very true and so often forgotten. I, too, am so glad the days of glitter (would still find it lurking around in June) and white glue are done. Elmer’s glue has gone bye bye. My children also run for the hills when I mention “craft” largely because they wish to avoid my typiKel frustration when said craft runs amok.
Seriously though -I am so very sad our Canadian Thanksgiving is done for this year. I want to adorn the table with this craft. It’s brilliant – love, love the cranberries and the fact that I can provide my guests with distraction while I figure out how to fix the stove etc.
I’m a perfectionist in many areas of my life, but crafting is not one of them! I prefer the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach, which works about half the time.
I absolutely LOVE this idea so much and am totally doing this with my girls!! It would be the PERFECT way to celebrate being thankful!-Ashley
And no glitter is involved – bonus!
This is a WONDERFUL and simple way to add a little thankfulness to our November! Thank you for sharing this idea. I’m off to pin it!
Yay – thanks NJ – and for sharing on Twitter too!
This is a craft even I could do! I love the spirit of it, so that no one has to feel like everyone is watching them while they write their comments. Then you can just look at the tree at your leisure, again without everyone feeling like they are being “spotlighted.”
Glad we got to share this project! 🙂
That’s a good point, Melissa. Not everyone wants to announce what they are thankful for as they sit around the dining room table. And I’m glad we got to share too!
I am totally doing this! We host Thanksgiving every year and I can’t wait to have everyone fill out a leaf! Thanks for the great idea!
My pleasure, Stephanie!
Those are lovely! Maybe even… I? … could do them? I am so craft-impaired, and I had to laugh at “wait…I’m over it.” Ha!
You can relate to that, huh? If I can do it, you can do it Stephanie!
Great idea. I like the cranberries in the vase. I try to use them for decoration because they are such a beautiful color. I also love the Wicked lyric on the mantel. Did you buy it or make it?
I bought it online somewhere. It wasn’t even marketed as a Wicked quote, but that’s why I loved it. <3
I hate projects. My kids don’t even know what construction paper is unless it’s at school. But this? THIS is something that I can actually DO and it has such a great purpose. Total bonus points for you Dana. This may be the very first craft I ever do!
No way. If you do it, take a picture and show me!
What a great idea! I had something similar for Christmas, but my dog ate it. I’ve been looking for something to take its place and this might just do it!
Your dog ate it – likely story. Well, maybe it is. I haven’t met your dog 🙂
Wow. I think I can manage this craft that doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. But wait, can I be thankful that Abby realizes I am completely not craftworthy and never makes me do that glitter stuff?
Absolutely. Be very, very thankful.
This is such an awesome idea and its cute. Too bad I’m just entering into the craft stage lol. 🙂
I’m sorry, Brittnei – you have years of glitter and glue ahead of you!
I made something similar for my daughter’s first birthday. We had a wish tree in lieu of a guest book. Everybody had fun hanging their well wishes for my daughter. We kept all the notes which we shall give to her on her 18th birthday. I sure hope to God I’m still alive that time! LOL
I did that for my daughter’s bat mitzvah too, in lieu of a sign-in book. Great minds think alike!
What a great project! Easy and very cute. I’ve been trying to figure out ways to incorporate more Thanksgiving-ish stuff into our family routine this month. I think I’ll make one soon and we can add to it all month.
That’s a good idea, Sarah – it doesn’t just have to be for Thanksgiving.
I can do this! I actually love this idea, BIG, Dana. I really like the idea of putting the leaves on the plates with a pen for the guests to fill out. Cool! And it’s so pretty! And even though I know for a fact my 6yo is going to write, “my penis” on his, I don’t even care cuz no one will be able to read his writing, and both boys will enjoy picking the branch and cutting the leaves out. Love it.
Lol – hopefully it will look like he’s thankful for pens. Although my guess is most guys are thankful for their penis – they just won’t write it down. Let me know how it turns out if you do it!
I love the idea of placing a leaf on each plate. Or maybe two! Simple and effective – I’m pinning it too.
Putting in on the plate is my favorite too. My dishes are white, so the colored leaves really pop and give people something to do while I’m scrambling to get all the food to the table.
I love the tree craft and handing the leaf and pen so everyone can help with it. Such a great project!!
Thanks, Jen – simple, quick and cheap is the only type of crafting I do 🙂
This is actually the kind-of craft I might be able to handle – great idea!!!
Thanks, Kim. You won’t find any challenging crafts on my blog!
I am totally in that zone of construction paper and glitter glue!! Will it ever end? And yes, I know it will.
This is really awesome and like Janine said, I hope you link it up!
Thanks Tamara. It will end – I promise! But you may be finding glitter in cracks and crevices for years to come.
Totally just pinned this, because I love it and so want to try now. I have the PINcentive Blog Hop on my blog today, if you haven’t linked up already, please do, because this craft is truly awesome!! Thanks so much Dana 🙂
Ooh – thanks for the reminder, Janine. I’ll go link up right now!
Love this idea! And it’s simple enough that even I can do it without screwing it up!
And how I LONG for the days when arts & crafts are no more. My four year old is ALL about cutting, coloring, and pasting right now. We have PILES of her artwork that rival the mountains of laundry. At least they cover up the dusty floors & furniture!
Ha! I used to take pictures of my kids’ artwork and then toss it. Not all of it, but enough to get the piles out of the way. Now the piles are textbooks and dirty socks. Fabulous.
I just love everything about this project. It’s beautiful and it’s thoughtful and it allows everyone to participate. Thanks so much for sharing it as part of this Thanksgiving collaboration.
It was my pleasure, Karen – thanks for including me in this collaboration!