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I can hardly believe it’s Thanksgiving Time!
As we strip our walls of the handmade Halloween art, our children made just weeks ago, and try our best to pull off every last bit of the synthetic webbing from shrubs in our front yards. I can’t help but feel sad for the Halloween decor. If we are early to display “Halloween”, then it has a life of at least 3 or so weeks outside of its plastic tub. If not, then it’s back into the garage after only a few days. Poor décor.
Is there anything we can do?
Why yes, yes there is, and it involves a collaboration with Heather who has a sweet idea which captures “Thanksgiving” in such a memorable way. If you remember my “Last Minute Halloween Centerpiece” post, we created an easy and organic centerpiece. Now, with only a few modifications we can extend the mantle life of this décor! We can transform the centerpiece into our very own “Tree of Thanks!”
This time it’s all about Thanksgiving!

Gather:
- Decorative double sided or solid paper (for leaves and acorns – you may use the template provided or create your own)
- Yellow, green or rust colored yarn, pipe cleaners or embroidery floss
- Miniature clothes pins (from any craft store)
- White lights (optional)
- Mason Jar (optional)
- Corn Kernels (optional)
- Scissors
Time to Assemble:
First, I’m sure you noticed all the “optional” notes above. Let’s start with the mason jar and corn kernels. Now you already have a vase and sand or beans, something of the sort holding the branches upright. You can keep this as is, or replace it with a mason jar and fill it with yellow corn kernels. This makes it a bit more festive. The mason jar doubles as a keepsake for all of the notes of thankfulness. Be sure to keep your lid! Let’s take a look at what items we can remove from the branches of our Halloween piece, and those we may be able to keep. Synthetic spider web…gone. Creepy critters…gone. Let’s keep the yarn and or pipe cleaners, be it black or orange. Thankfully this is falls into our Thanksgiving color scheme!
Now it’s time for all those special things you and your family are thankful for.
Using the templates trace and cut out the acorn and or leaf shapes.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE
Begin to write what you are thankful for on these.
You can even leave a few blank for visiting guests or pre-cut them for Thanksgiving Day. Put these aside.
Here we can add more fall colors, wrapping them around a few of those branches which are in need of a pop of color. Now for your white lights.
I usually just pull them from my Christmas supply. Free!!!
Now, using mini clothes pins, clip your leaves and or acorns, to a branch. Continue until your tree is “full of thanks”. You can keep this for next year and add to it or place your notes of thanks, in the mason jar for safe keeping.







I love this idea SO much! I would love to do this with my boys!
This is so cute and SO creative. I love it!
I love the popcorn kernels in the bottom! Such a clever craft!
What a great family project! I love it! I just need some kids now LOL
This is such a lovely center piece. I would love to do this art project with my daughter it would make a great addition to our table.
This is such a fantastic idea and so cute! I would probably use the cards afterwards and scrapbook them. (I get too sentimental, maybe, about crafts such as this.)
Scrapbooking them is is a great idea Jamie! 🙂
A tree of thanks is such a cute idea. Great way to get kids to think of what they are thankful for.
This is such a wonderful way to teach a child about gratitude and thankfulness. Also, it’s fun to make!
I’ve been working on a very similar project for Thanksgiving. I love the twig tree idea.
This is such a sweet idea. I love it! We may do this, we have about everything we’d need to make one!
This would make a great centerpiece. It is a great way to teach our kids about being thankful.
That’s such a beautiful idea and I loved how you got it done. Something I might think of doing next year. Thanks for sharing.
I absolutely love this. What an adorable idea! So so so cute and creative!
This is super cute. I love the idea of making a tree of thanks to share what we are appreciative of. The kids would really enjoy this too.
We have done a thankful tree before and it was a wonderful project. I have been wanting to get one up this year but haven’t made it happen yet. I guess it not too late, right?
Never to late…and not very time consuming.
The Tree of Thanks is such a good idea. Great way for everyone in the family to share something they are thankful for.
That is so cute! I love this idea to do with the family. It would be so nice on the family table.
Wow this is super cute! I would love to make something like this for our kitchen table!
I love this! I love Thankful DIY. This def helps kids understand and see the meaning of Thanksgiving.
This is such a sweet idea, and I love how you wrapped some of the twigs in yarn. Super cute and a great reminder to be thankful!
What a cute idea! I bet my kids would love to help with that, they love making things!
We are pretty traditional now days. My kids are adults and do not have kids of their own. We have a nice day together with a big meal, football and a movie.
This is a lovely idea and I am sure little ones love making this and seeing it on the table.
That is the cutest Thanksgiving tree! We used to do something similar every year.
I love this idea! I’m all about actually giving thanks on Thanksgiving.
I love this idea and think it would make a great weekend activity for the kids. Thanks so much for sharing. I love teaching them about things like being thankful
That is the cutest Thanksgiving centerpiece! I will definitely have to make this with my family.
What a great idea. I love it, A great way to reflect while decorating your home.
What a super easy craft and centerpiece. Love the corn kernels you used as filler..
What a wonderful Thanksgiving: very colorful and inspiring. I would love to try it with my daughter
This is so cute! I love the popcorn in the mason jar. I’ve got a thing about popcorn in a jar.
Very cute. I bet you could use the same concept for xmas.
I really love this idea!! And the popcorn is a really awesome touch!
This is so darn cute! I bet you could change it up too for any occasion!
That is such a great idea. I would love to do one with my family, we could all write down something we are thankful for.
What a great idea to help celebrate Thanksgiving. I bet your kids had fun listing out what you are thankful for and what a fun way to decorate the tree as well.
That’s really pretty. It’s amazing what you did with some popcorn, a stick, and string. I love it.
You are so creative! I love everything about this. I love the look AND the simplicity. Great!
What a great idea for a Thanks Tree! I think this should be a thing. Very creative
This is such a cool idea. I will enjoy doing this with my kiddos.
Gosh that actually looks really cute – what a lovely centerpiece that was!
I have a friend that does something very similar each year. It is such a great way to bring the family together and to reflect on their lives.
Thank you tree for Thanksgiving and Christmas tree wish list for next month. Yay!
Of course I love this!!! My son’s preschool church made one too. I’m going to make one with my little one. I’ve got all the materials. Thanks for sharing!!! It’s perfect since we are going away for Thanksgiving and my son’s birthday is 2 days after.
What a unique and beautiful Tree of Thanks! Really like the idea of using corn kernels to fill the jar!
How awesomely simple! I may do this as an actual Thanksgiving Day activity.
What a beautiful and easy to do craft with the kids that’s meaningful as well. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!!
This is a great idea! It would be a fun family craft and it looks pretty, too! A good way to remind ourselves of what we are thankful for.
Super creative. I like that you partially wrapped the branches with colorful yarn, it really makes it stand out!
Tree of thanks! LOVE it! It looks so easy to do. Great idea Heather!
we did something similar one year – thank for sharing!