Living in a time of constant distraction with today’s technology, I try my best to stay mindful about unplugging and spending real, quality time with my children. Crafting is one of the ways that I do that. As a crafty mom, I love finding DIY projects to do with my littles, to help them learn and express themselves. Now that my oldest is getting old enough to start being more hands on with activities, I am working on establishing some family traditions that we can do together. This Thankful Tree is one that we’ve started this year!

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I have seen this activity through some other bloggers I follow, and I also saw it this year in my November issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I liked the idea of creating a thankful tree because while you’re creating it, you can reflect on all that you’re thankful for while you’re deciding what you want to put on your tree. I also thought it would be fun for the kids to go on a scavenger hunt to look for pretty, colorful leaves, and for a branch that could serve as our tree.

I plan on reusing the tree branch, so I decided to spray paint it copper and then dip the end of the “trunk,” in some Amy Howard One Step Paint (in Stella). I like how it turned out!

This project was very easy to do! I kind of just winged it from what I recalled from the BHG article, but here’s what we did. Once we found our leaves and tree, we melted some beeswax to dip the leaves in (helps preserve the color). While the wax was melting (I prefer to use a stovetop vs. microwave to melt), we wrote on the leaves with a copper sharpie, the things we were thankful for. If you do it this way, when it comes time to dip your leaves, dip them very quickly, otherwise the ink from your sharpie could run. Next year, I think I will wax the leaves first, and then write on them with a paint pen, color TBD.

After the wax dries, you want to take your baker’s twine and tie cut pieces of string around the base of the leaf. Trim down stem, and tie the end of the twine in a knot. Hang on your tree and ta-da!

Can you see the leaves that Greta did by herself?! Anyway, I think we will save the leaves from this year to review next year and see what changes!

SUPPLIES

• Forage: Leaves and tree branch base
• Vase
• Vase filler (I used collected corks)
• Baker’s Twine

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Forage for your leaves and the “tree” that you want to hang your leaves on.
• Melt beeswax according to instructions (microwave, or stovetop)
• Write what you’re thankful for on leaves and then dip in wax (alternatively could use paint pen on top of wax)
• Lay leaves on parchment paper to dry
• Meanwhile, cut pieces of bakers twine to tie at base of leaf stems
• Tie twine at base of leaf stems and then knot off at the top, making a hoop/circle so you can hang your leaves
• Trim off extra stems

A FEW THINGS WE’RE THANKFUL FOR this year:

• Our Good Health
• Famliy
• Faith & God’s Blessings
• All the Americans fighting to preserve our freedom and liberty in the USA. 
• We’re thankful for our friends and community.
• I am also personally thankful to all my readers who support and encourage me, and who enjoy my content. I have seen so much growth in just this past year, and have been blown away by it all. You all motivate me to keep going!

Our list could go on, but I do like keeping some things to myself. What are you most thankful for this year?

Done this project already? Leave a comment and let me know if you did anything differently! Have other Thanksgiving traditions? We’d love for you to let us know what it is!

Hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.