I began thinking about creating a Thanksgiving family craft post a week ago. After scouring beautiful handmade ideas on Pinterest I realized that my family is not ready for that level of activity and focus, we need simple and straightforward projects with as few sharp objects as possible. (Ha, I jest in part.) Seriously though with a 2 year old, a 6 year old and an 7 year old we are limited with our crafting options. So I created this simple, maybe not the most original, but very heart felt craft idea. I consider them kid versions of gratitude napkin rings. We had a lot of fun making them. I learned a lot about what they are most thankful for and we got to spend some quality time together laughing and talking.
Easy Thanksgiving Gratitude Napkin Ring Craft
1) First we sat together and agreed upon what color papers in our stack of construction paper look most like fall leaves on the trees.
2) Next we used crayons to draw the outlines of leaves on the paper.
3) The two oldest kids used scissors to cut out the leaves, while I distracted the 2 year old.
4) I then tore through our recycling bin to find an empty paper towel roll for the rings. Then I very carefully (without any thought of measuring since I couldn’t find our ruler) cut the in roll into 8 rings with scissors. It doesn’t matter if they are exactly the same since you’ll be covering them with paper.
5) Here is where we went off the rails for a bit. I had to spend about 5 minutes explaining my ultimate craft vision of napkin rings for our Thanksgiving table, and talking my children out of wanting to make the cardboard rings into X-ray goggles or transforming their little brother into a Minion from Despicable Me. (This has probably happened to Martha Stewart all the time)
6) Back to task, we all got markers and wrote on the leaves the things we are most grateful or thankful for this year. My first grader preferred to draw his gratitude, rather than use words which worked just fine. At first I thought he was being lazy, but then I realized that he was grateful for something too advanced for his spelling abilities. He drew an intricate drawing and explained that he was thankful for the soldiers that protect our country. I guess Veteran’s Day had an impact on him! Hooray.
7) Next we attached the leaves to the paper towel roll pieces. Initially we used glue sticks, but the leaves popped off. So we used staples. It was quick, easy and the kids love using the stapler.
8) Last step we filled each holder with a white table napkin.
I’m looking forward to using our Gratitude napkin holders as a conversation starter with the adults around our Thanksgiving table this year. Have a happy thanksgiving…gobbles!
