Weeks Four Through Six–Gratitude Tree

You’re thinking, “Wait, wait…what? Weren’t we on Week Seven?” Yep, yes, yes, we were. Week Seven was Cranestorm, and when I posted that one, we were in the midst of a project with the Edina Family Center that I very briefly mentioned as a three-week-long project–it was a gratitude tree.

I requested permission from Laurie Denn, the Edina Family Center coordinator,  to put up a tree the week before Thanksgiving, thinking she would have her hands full with the upcoming holiday, and that would buy me some time to get it up after the turkey plates had been cleared. We were calling it a gratitude tree, because we didn’t want to tie it directly to any particular holiday. Our idea was that it would be more about autumn and the changing of the leaves and thoughts of the new season, rather than the holiday itself. But Laurie and her assistants, Jennifer and Danni were so efficient that we got the nod the very next day. It was a scramble to put together with two kids in two, but two days after we got approval, we had a small gratitude tree outside the staff office of the Edina Family Center!

We used materials similar to the ones created for the wishing tree:

Autumn Leaf Cut-Outs

I found the leaf cut-outs at Paper Source. They were reasonably priced (but not cheap, just to warn you), and the quality and variety of shapes and colors were perfect for the small project we were putting together. If you wanted to do a larger version of the tree in a public place or at a larger school, you could easily use paper slips in autumn colors, similar to the day-glow ones we used for the Wishing Tree. (Much easier than cutting out leaves by hand.) I also found sources for paper punches and stencils online, so if you have the time and older children, it’s a great project to do at home or in the classroom.

We changed up our Wishing Tree instructions a little and left silver pens, because the colors of the leaves lent themselves beautifully to a little bit of shimmer:

Gratitude Tree Instructions

I also picked up some sturdy red “tree branches” at Michaels (I’ll use them for a future project, I’m sure) and grabbed a pretty bucket from the vast collection of planters we have hanging around the house. I filled the bucket with big sheets of styrofoam to hold up the branches and shredded paper that matched the leaves to cover the styrofoam:

Foam and Fill

Much Prettier

And this was the final display:

Week Seven--Gratitude Tree

I let Jay and Charlie be the first to put their wishes on the tree. Charlie said she was grateful for Momma (aww…). Jay had a lengthy list of things he was grateful for, including toys, Buzz Lightyear, and his best friend Finn. (Charlie, Papa, and I made the list, but we were way, way down on the list after his favorite toys and friends. We didn’t take it personally.) When I returned a few hours later to pick the kids up from school, the tree was already beginning to take shape and fill with thankful thoughts.

We took the tree down on the 30th of November, and it was filled with all kinds of beautiful thoughts that I’m going to put in a little album and give to the school after Christmas break:

Gratitude Tree's Last Day

Gorgeous, eh? I talked to several parents and staff members of the Center that day as the tree was being dismantled. One of my favorite staff members talked about seeing people stop with their children to think about the things they were grateful for and take the time to talk about them as they wrote them down. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome for this project–families talking together, parents interacting with their children, and everyone talking about gratitude and appreciating the things they have. Perfect.

Many, many thanks to the gracious staff at Edina Family Center for helping us pull this one off. Our family is so thankful to you–you’ve been a part of our lives for several years now, helping our children grow and explore the world, and we look forward to continuing that journey with you for several more years to come. And, as always, thank-you to my sweet little family. Because it’s all about the three of you.

 

My Littlest Pumpkin

One little housekeeping note: Our house is filled with December birthdays (50% of our family members were born in this month!), so things are a little crazier than usual. Getting the projects done hasn’t been our biggest hurdle–it’s blogging about them that is tough! So bear with us. We’re still here, and we’re still making people smile. We’ll tell you about it soon.