Posted on Wednesday, 4th November 2009 by Catherine
It is November – only a few days after Halloween and yet the stores are filled with Christmas. What about Thanksgiving? You know that holiday that sneaks up between Halloween and Christmas? The one so many people “love” but often forget to really celebrate. Let’s be honest, most of America could use to skip the enourmous Thanksgiving meal but we won’t. We will gather with friends and family and eat, drink and be what? Be thankful?
Last year one of my kids asked me what else there is to do on Thanksgiving other than eat. I thought it was a great question and I realized quickly that I was not doing my job of teaching them about being thankful. Teaching them how to give thanks. Showing them that there are people who have less than we do. Allowing them to experience friends and family gathering to show gratitude for our blessings. After all isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about?
This November I decided to do a simple craft project to help our family recognize what exactly we are thankful for. It is a “give thanks” bag.
It was very simple to assemble and you can use things you already have around your house. I made two and gave one to a neighbor.
You will need the following:
- A brown paper gift bag
- White card stock cut into squares
- Stickers/Die Cuts of leaves
- Letters (can be stickers or chipboard)
Assemble the bag as shown. You of course can use a variation of items to suit your taste.
I plan to have each of us write down 4 – 5 things we are thankful for and put them in the bag. Each day between now and Thanksgiving we will pick one out and read it. We will hang them up on the fridge or cork board. On Thanksgiving Day I hope we can share our “daily thanks” with our family who will join us.
It is a small way to keep Thanksgiving from slipping away in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I hope it will help our family to focus on the positive things in life and all that we have to be thankful for. Each of us has stresses and obstacles we are faced with day in and day out. Try and take some time this month to allow the positive things in your life to be in the forefront of your mind.
Sometimes we get caught up in all that we aren’t or can’t have, places we wish we could travel to and things we “need”.
When really, we have so much and are very blessed, we just need to be reminded of that every now and again. A perspective check of sorts.
I would love to hear your family Thanksgiving activities or traditions that help keep the holiday from being just a big huge meal shared with family.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Great idea Catherine! I’ve done this in the past but not every year, so it is a great reminder. I just started my first “thanks” card this morning. Life is all consuming and the holidays are even more so, so thanks for sharing a simple idea to keep us all thankful and aware of the many blessings we have. I am thankful for my neighbor!
November 4th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I love this idea…I am actually going to get the stuff tomorrow and do this…thanks Cath!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
I too love this idea. Tomorrow I am going to go to JoAnn’s and pick up some stuff to make this project. Thanks for sharing it with us.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Hey Cath! Once again a great post and a very creative idea. I agree with you on the fact the “we” (as a nation, country, people, whatever) tend to skip over Thanksgiving these days. At least we tend to skip over the focus on it and as you so wonderfully pointed out, the true meaning behind the holiday…being THANKFUL. So important to count our blessings and what better way to do it than to really celebrate Thanksgiving and put some focus on it and not just skip right over it to Christmas.
THANK YOU for the fabulous idea of the bag. I was just trying to think of something fun and creative to do for hosting a play date at my house for a mom’s group that I am in and I think I may just have to steal this idea.