We really wanted a way to help our family to take time to appreciate all of our blessings. This year has been a bit bumpy for us and when you are in the midst of a difficult period often it is hard to realize (and appreciate) the blessings you do have----well it is for us. So while things aren't always how we planned and turning out the way we wanted we still have been blessed and have much to be thankful for.
We took a huge branch from our yard and I die-cut tons of leaves in different colors. Our original plan was every night at dinner for each of us to write something we are thankful for on our leaf and clip it (with those mini- clothes pins I love) to a branch.
I noticed Chocolate on my Cranium is doing a similar activity with her family, except she does one more thing that I think is fabulous. She also focuses on what we do for others. She has made darling printable Thanks and Giving Trees if you want to forgo the tree branch. On one tree you write what you are thankful for and on the other tree you write something you have done for somebody.
So on one side of our leaf we will write what we are thankful for and on the other side something nice we have done for someone.
oops I notice the photo didn't show that my son is thankful for his friends.
By the way--I am thankful for all of you that stop by here each day! You have brightened many days with your sweet comments and even if you don't leave a comment my stat counter says you have been here and that also makes me happy!
You might also be interested in these Thanksgiving ideas.
Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!
Great idea! Thanks for the inspiration.
That IS a cool idea. Thank you.
Oh my goodness, this is almost exactly what my hubby & I did for our fall wedding. It is so simple and the leaf words are something really touching.
I love it! What a great way to remind your kids how blessed we are and to inspire them to find ways each day to make someone else’s day better. We will definitely be doing this! Thanks for sharing this great idea:)
That would be a great wordless wednesday picture! Even with words lol!
I really like your idea! It’s great you can bring a piece of nature inside too! And those mini clothespins are adorable!
nice idea! i’m teacher and i’ll do it with my pupils. i love your blog! thank you!
I love this idea and think I will try it for our Thanksgiving gathering at our house!
I love your blog! I just went through all the archives (yeay downtime at work!)
You have the greatest ideas and I am so into the handmade christmas ideas. I will now have unique pillow boxes for everything 
I love your idea and think I will do something similar too.
we have done this for quite a long time in my family. then at thanksgiving dinner, we all can sit around, and see a hugely inspired tree.
it’s lovely.
This is so what we need to do at our house. Thanks for the inspiration. Today and every day. xoxo
Love your ideas. I stubled across your blog a while back and love to find creative people like you. Thanks for sharing!
I love ideas that combine craftiness and heart. My favorite thing about your projects is that children can be participants not just observers. Just seeing your tree makes me a little more thankful today!
I’m a new reader and I love this idea. My daughter is too young to participate but this will make a great family tradition in years to come.
I do love that idea! Now where to find a leaf die cut?
I about fell on the floor to see that Skip to My Lou mentioned my Thanks and Giving trees! Thank you!
With seven children we are actually doing things differently this year (shhhh…don’t tell anyone). Instead of having a tree for each person (that would be 16 trees counting mom’s and dad’s) we are just doing two giant trees similar to your branches. The kids are busy using the Cricut machine right now cutting out all the leaves.
Thanks again for spreading the news about the trees. I’ve had such a HUGE response. It made my day!
We’ve been doing this tree thing for 5 years and our family loves it! We keep all our leaves from year to year and put the old and new on the tree. The leaves bring back great memories.
Our leaves have a ribbon tie, but I like your clip idea much better. Sometimes we have trouble sliding the leaves down, and the tips of the branches get quite full!!
Great idea, and it is very eye-pleasing.
As the glue to our extended family, we are thankful for you, Cindy!! You have given so much to all of us and we especially thank you for those three spectacular kiddos! xox
Great idea — THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
beautiful idea! You manage your blog with such style and grace…& I hope the year hasn’t been too bumpy for your sweet family?? Be well… ~S
We have had this as a family tradition in our home for about the last 3 years. The kids have such fun going outside to find just the right branch to represent our tree and I gather up all the leaves after our feast and place them in our scrapbook to put with the pictures I will scrap of the holiday. This is one of my favorite ideas!
Fabulous! I can’t wait to do this with my kids!
THANKS!
Thanks for another beautiful project that reminds us what this season is REALLY all about. I’m thankful for your great ideas each day!
I love your site and have used several ideas from it. I also read Cocoa’s post about the thanks and giving trees. We are starting them this weekend at our place. It’s been a rocky few months and we need the positive energy around us. Have fun with yours. I need to get me some little bitty clothespins….
Wonderful idea and great that you eat meals together. I hear so many say they have abandoned that way of life. Thanks for a inspirational web site.
Wow, I was so happy to see a member post this.
What a wonderful idea.
i want to do the same thing but am dreading cutting out all those leaves. PLEASE tell me you found some great, cheap alternative..!!
This takes my THANKFUL list to a new level. I love the visual affect with all that we have to be thankful for. Great idea! Thanks.
just found your blog through flipflops and applesauce. Love this idea…….linked you on my blog. Thanks for the great idea! I would like to try this with my family.
found you through Simple Mom….love your natural tree….my last post had a bunch of takes on this same idea, but I love using the real branches.
[...] a work in progress (I still have about 20 more birds to make YIKES). There is something about those branches in my entry, I hate to see them go. I thought the branches could stay for another holiday if they [...]
We’ve been doing thankful leaves for many years, but this year we added the “giving” side as well. I got interesting insights into my kids’ days this way – things that don’t come out in our standard dinner conversation. And tying them onto branches was a new twist that I liked. Thanks!
We also have been doing the same sort of thing except we have a turkey that I drew but he is missing all of his feathers. So from the first of November till Thanksgiving we each add a feather every night. We put on the feather what we are thankful for. We keep the feathers from year to year just to see how the kids have grown. I think my all time favorite was my son when he was 10 wrote, “I am thankful for my little sister who is nice some of the time.”
Thank you so much for showing this great idea! I just had a scare & want to look at things each day to what I am thankful for. This will be a great thing for others to see when they come to my home! I can’t wait to get started on this tonight! Thank you again!