Happy November, friends!
The holidays are in sight and I’m getting so excited for our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with Macey! I’m finding myself reminiscing and thinking back on the family traditions my parents established with us growing up. One of my favorites was the Thanksgiving Tree. I’m unsure of the origin of this festive DIY, but my family has been making a Thanksgiving Tree every year since I can remember. Here’s how it works! Each night (starting Nov 1st) have your family sit down and write one thing they’re thankful for on a paper leaf and tape it to the Thanksgiving Tree. We always started on November 1st (but you can start anytime) and continue putting leaves on the tree each night through Thanksgiving. You can certainly continue this into December if you wish! It’s completely up to you. 🙂
Here’s what you’ll need!
Materials: 1) colorful construction paper 2) scissors 3) a vase or small bucket/basket 4) styrofoam ball or oasis brick – make sure it will fit in your vase or bucket 5) a small tree branch from your yard 6) tape
Instructions:
- Pick your stick or tree branch! I have great memories of my Dad taking us out into the yard to find a fallen branch for our tree (we didn’t cut anything down). You’ll want a branch that has a few different branches jetting out so that you have a variety of places to tape your leaves. This is the branch I found this year:
- Cut out leaves from construction paper. If you have kids that are old enough to use scissors, let them cut leaves out of the construction paper (great motor skills practice!). These leaves don’t need to be perfect but if you’re looking for some guidance, here are some leaf cutouts you can use to guide you. How many leaves do you need? Well, each person will need one leaf per night until Thanksgiving, so that should give you a good idea! I chose a packet of neutral construction paper this year for my leaves (see below), but we’ve also used bright paper with reds and oranges and greens which works great too!
- Place your styrofoam or oasis into a vase, basket, or bucket of your choice. Sometimes it helps to put a few rocks or something heavy in the bottom of your vase to keep it from tipping over.
- Stick your tree branch into the styrofoam/oasis so that it sticks straight up, like a tree!
- Each night after dinner (or if you prefer another time of the day, that’s great too!) each family member will grab a leaf and write one thing they’re thankful for on the leaf. Pictured below: How cute is this? My parents saved a few of our leaves from the past years!!
- Then, one at a time go around the table and explain what you wrote and why. This can be such meaningful family time!
- Finally, tape the leaf to your tree! Each night your tree will get more and more colorful – how fun!?
By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, you have a tree full of thankfulness! As a kid – and even now as an adult – this tree provided such a special picture of everything in our lives that we could both collectively and individually be thankful for.
What are you most thankful for today? Leave me a comment and let me know if you plan to do a Thanksgiving Tree this year!
Stephanie brodin says
What a great idea!!! Love it!
Hillary says
Such an amazing idea!