Thankful Leaves Craft - fun display of gratefulness

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, but the more time goes on the more I just *love* Thanksgiving!  I love the chance to get together with friends and family of course...but also the low-key gift-free low-expectations time, amazing food, and more than anything - the focus on gratitude.

Over the past few years I've been learning, reading, and growing in the understanding the importance and power of gratitude.  It's incredible how simply turning your attention to your blessings instead of your problems can change your entire outlook on life!!

Our best friends had us over for Thanksgiving last year and she had this cute (and simple!) craft project set up. Blank paper leaf shapes were spread out on the table with pens ready for us to write down what we were thankful for. The kids went for it right away, and I loved seeing the things they were grateful for!

This concept isn't new of course, jotting down what we're thankful for at Thanksgiving...but I really liked how Amy had it set up, and how it added such great color and was part of the decor!  She had strings hanging from the curtain rod, so once we wrote out our little leaves, we grabbed a clothespin and hung it up in front of the window...it was a beautiful display to see so many of the blessings in our life.
I love the idea of doing this throughout the year, not only at Thanksgiving! 

When you do this, you could either cut your leaves out of construction paper, or buy ready made die-cut leaves. And you could display them in many ways of course...

• hang them vertically like my friend did
• hang them like a banner
• scatter them on the table or buffet
• make them into a "tree" on the wall
• gather some branches and make them into a "thankful tree"

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!!