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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Our Thankful Tree

In my never-ending battle to raise my children to be upstanding citizens of the world, I was inspired by other blogs I had seen to start a new tradition in the month of November.

Our Thankful Tree...


I had cut down a few birch branches that were breaking from an especially windy storm we had in October. Up until very recently, the leaves stayed fairy intact.

This week, however, they were falling like crazy. I got a little annoyed with picking them up constantly before the dog would eat them. When they would fall, I would just put them in the bottle for later.


I printed up tags and cut them out {and used a decorative punch on the corners}. They say "I'm thankful for..." I started in a print font since my daughter is just learning her letters, and then realized my son is learning {and surprisingly loving} to write in cursive. So I added another version with cursive - and got extra creative with the next version - I added a bokeh overlay. It looks so pretty and soft.


The thoughts we each write on the tags can be very meaningful. For example:

I'm thankful for...
"... the saleswoman today who reminded me of something my grandma would say to me." {She has passed away, and it was such a bright moment in my day to hear her words.}
"... everyone helping to feed Molly." - that's from my husband regarding the dog duties.
"... us having enough money so I can play hockey." ~from my son {he plays semi-travel - apparently, our comments about not taking it for granted are sinking in}


Or somewhat simple and even silly at times, such as:

I'm thankful for...
"... my sweet baby girl" ~ I also did "... my wonderful son"
"... goggles" ~ 3 year old - she tends to wear them around the house, to the store, and every now and then in the pool :)
"... ice cream" ~ BOTH kids - and who am I kidding? - me, too

I don't want my kids {or husband} to think it has to be profound each time. We should be thankful for everyday things, as well.


I have put all the extra tags in a vintage silver sugar cup. I punch holes and hang them with twine when we are done. 


I think I mentioned once before that I wanted to make my own velvety pumpkins this year. Well, I did it! ONE! One lonely pumpkin! :) But he's awfully cute, don't you think? Real stem again and a real dried leaf. 

As I said, I was inspired by many different blogs, but the most recent post that spurred me to action was Jones Design Company

So to all of those wonderful blogs and to all of my wonderful readers, I would like to say...


I have added an image below with the tags I used for our Thankful Tree. If you click on the image it should appear larger and can be printed or downloaded. 


To you and yours from me and mine...


8 comments:

  1. This is not only lovely to look at, but a wonderful idea.
    Happy Thanksgiving.
    Connie :)

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  2. Love this idea! Always a great reminder to be thankful everyday not just on Thanksgiving! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!
    xx
    Anne

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  3. You tree and photos of it all look so good! It's a great idea, something I want to try with maggie next year. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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  4. I love this! Happy Thanksgiving, Dori ~ ~ ~

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  5. I love this! Happy Thanksgiving, Dori ~ ~ ~

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  6. What a great idea to remind us all what is important! Love your little silver sugar cup and the pumpkin you made is so sweet! Have wanted to try that but haven't gotten around to it yet. Love your whole display!
    Found you thru kelly at the lilly pad. I'm your newest follower and would love for you to visit me.
    Rebecca

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  7. I am a new follower. I found this post on Pinterest, really love the idea and will definitely do it! I think I'm going to like your blog!
    Thanks!

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  8. You always have such wonderful projects! I love reading your blog. I wanted to invite you to come link up at a party on my blog. It is a link party for OLD projects--so that we can hopefully get more traffic to our blogs using projects we've already posted. Come over and remind us of some of your favorite projects!
    The link-up is live now.
    http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2013/01/hello-and-welcome-to-first-oldie-but.html
    Hope to see you there!
    Nancy

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