filling our home with gratitude: a how-to

I posted a picture yesterday of our gratitude chart:

I had several people show interest and ask how I made it. It's simple. You can do it! Here's how:

Take a small envelope [not business size, the smaller one...ummm...4X6?], and cut it in half. Repeat until you have 30 halves [because 30 days has September, April, June, and NOVEMBER!].

Once you have cut your envelopes, choose whatever fun paper you have laying around, or go buy some, and cut it just a hair smaller than your envelope halves.

Glue the paper onto the envelopes. [I just used Elmer's, but I think I used hot glue/ craft glue last time. Really anything will work].

Find a font you like and print GIVE THANKS fairly large. You may have to mess around with the size that will work for your board, depending on your font. Probably something in the 45-70 pt range. Also, type out number 1-30, and print them as well. [Hint: space your letters and numbers out, so your cutting will be easier].

Trim around the numbers and letters. You could leave Give Thanks as one solid piece, but I chose to trim around each letter and paste them to circles for a little more color. [I wish I would have chosen a font that was bolder like I did on Caroline's that I made a few years ago- see below. I think it shows up a lot better. Or you could easily save time and write it on yourself!]

Once your envelopes have dried, get out your poster-board. Mess around with your layout and see what colors you like next to each other etc. Glue your letters on first, at the very top, so you can see how much space you have to place your cards. I recommend placing 6 DOWN first, so you can see how much space you need, then do one row ACROSS. Once you have the two first rows you can easily see where to stick others [I can hear my sister saying, "YOU can easily see where to stick the others. I'm getting out my RULER." That is fine too.] Hint: remember your  notecards will need to stick out of the tops of your envelopes slightly, so leave space for that.

Take a blank notecard, or lined-- if you're one of those people, and trim them so they fit in the space you have allotted on your board. Fill the envelopes!

Glue down your numbers in the corner [or wherever] of your envelopes, so they will correspond with the date.

Viola! You've done it! Now hang it in a spot that you will see everyday so it sparks conversations of gratitude. We try to fill it out at supper, so we have ours hanging in the kitchen, low enough that Blythe can see it. We just write down what she says, but you could easily write down what everyone in the family is thankful for, or you could have a card for everyone in the family.

yes, that is a real pile of laundry that I should be folding instead of writing this post

The plan is to use the same card every year until it is full. I made one two years ago with my niece, Caroline, and it is really fun to see the cards filling up and to look back and see how their ideas of gratitude grow and evolve as they get older. [Also, when I pulled up this picture I realized i made one card that said "Thanksgiving" on it, to stick in the envelope that falls on Thanksgiving, but I forgot and didn't do that on ours].

the one I made for Kali's family: I even glued numbers on another scrap of paper for extra color. I must have only had one child then.... 

Last thought: What if you made the top part velcro/interchangeable, and could remove "Give Thanks" and next month replace with "Advent Calendar"? Obviously you wouldn't need all the envelopes next month, but it could still work! Just a thought.

I know we are almost halfway through November, but go make this! You can use it for so many years!