Gratitude Tree

I love the idea of a gratitude tree during the month of November, but between getting Halloween decorations down (they’re still not) and thinking about Christmas I can never seem to get my act together. Well thanks to my Silhouette Portrait that I was gifted at Alt last summer, this project came together super quick! Even without a Silhouette or similar machine, I think this could be an easy project especially if you put your kids on making-and-cutting-out-leaves duty. My girls love being in charge of things like that. Honestly, I can’t believe I haven’t done something like this before because I really do believe that gratitude is one of the keys to a happy life. And this is a great way to teach kids about this important virtue because anytime you tie an idea to an action (especially a crafty, cute action) it sticks that much better in their little brains. So the basic idea is that each day we write one thing that we’re grateful for on a leaf, then we tape the leaf to the tree. Here we go!

First, make the tree. I borrowed the idea from my Halloween Wall Decor post, so just mix 1 part water and 1 part corn starch and paint on the wall. If you’ll remember from my Halloween post the cornstarch mixture is super drippy, which was OK for a Halloween look but not something I wanted for this tree. I think the secret was using a sponge brush as opposed to a brush brush. Make sure to wipe off the excess before painting, then just go for it. I still got some drips, but you can just wipe them off and go over it again. In fact I had to go over some of the lettering a few times as well since it was a little light when it dried…no biggie. This stuff is super forgiving.

This is how the final tree looks.

Next I just grabbed some craft paper and one piece of green paper I had on hand, grabbed this free leaf template which I found via pinterest and cut out a bunch of leaves with my Silhouette in no time. I am not being paid by Silhouette, I do not have a partnership with them but let me just say I love this machine. I am still early in the learning process as I sorta didn’t get it out for a while because I thought it would take a while to figure out. Wrong! This machine is so easy to use. I’m really excited to continue to explore all the features.

Then just tape them up! Easy peasy. We talked about gratitude at Family Home Evening and wrote and hung our first leaves. So far the girls love thinking of things that they’re grateful for each day. Its the little things folks. I can’t wait to see our tree fill up over the next month. Such a great way to prepare for Christmas as well right?

And a little behind the scenes shot… love this sweet little un-helper.

And that’s it!