Hello and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the United States!

I want to share a quick little hybrid project that my family has come to love! A Thankful Tree! It is really easy to put together – even at the last minute – and the whole family can get in on the project.  Plus, when you are all done, you have a pretty little display piece.

So here is what you need:

A tree branch – real or fake, totally up to you

A vase, cup, or other stand to put your tree in

String or ribbon

Pen, scissors, a hole punch

A print out of the image you want to use for leaves

This is what you do:

Once you have your tree branch, set it in your vase or stand.  At the moment, I don’t have a vase (remember we recently moved countries) so I used a glass from our cupboard. Make sure your base is stable.  My glass was smaller than I liked, so I filled it with marbles to keep it from tipping over. (River stones would be prettier, but I could not find any.)

Now your TREE is ready. Time to make the LEAVES.

I used the little leaf elements in For the Record Fall which you can find here. But really you can use any shape you like. I printed out multiple sheets, just in case.

Then we cut around the individual shapes.

Next, we used a craft punch to make a small hole in one end.

Then I tied a piece of thread through the hole. I wanted to keep my little leaves light, since my glass was prone to tipping, and I have a three-year-old. Ribbons would look really pretty too – just make sure to make your hole the appropriate size for what you chose and stabilize your base so the tree does not tip.

Finally, each person took a minute to write down something – or many things – they were Thankful for.

And hung their leaf on our tree.

We ended up with a delicate little Thankful Tree that all of my kiddos just love to interact with.

This has become one of our family’s favorite traditions for fall, and the fun part is that each year it is a little different, depending on what we decide to use.

Give it a try and see if you can make your Thankful Tree show the personality of your family!