Updated 2018
Since Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us (how did that happen?) we thought we’d add a new tradition along with reviving one from last year. First let’s talk about our Thanksgiving craft from last year, which is a small thrift store jar that we got for 99 cents…
… and then etched with $6 etching cream from Michael’s…
… using a homemade tape stencil to create a Thanks jar (more DIY details here).
As for how it worked, we each filled out and dropped in a little homemade card with something we were thankful for each day for the entire month of November. And we weren’t allowed to peek inside to see what each other had written until the end of the month when we cracked it open and read all of the gratitude notes.
It was nearly as fun as Christmas morning (more on that here), and is definitely something we’re looking forward to doing at the end of this month again (we saved all the original cards with a ribbon around that stack with the year written on it, and plan to save each following years’ stack as well to look back on). So we’re filling up our thanks jar again this year… along with another Thanksgiving tradition.
We thought since a few of our long-distance relatives can’t travel to see us that we could let them know that they’re in our thoughts by sending them a quick little card to tell them why we’re thankful for them. So John whipped this little homemade “thankful card” in Photoshop that says “I’m thankful for you and here’s why“:
He designed an easy to print page with two of those thankful cards on it along with this little instruction card that reads:
Since they’re all on one page, we won’t have much waste when we print them out on cardstock at home. Then we’ll just slip one filled out “thankful card” and a blank one for them to forward on to a friend or relative of their choice along with an instruction card. We hope it’ll create a nice little ripple effect with people reaching out to other folks to tell them how thankful they are to have them in their lives.
Oh and speaking of being thankful, you guys are like family to us and we’re so thankful that you drop in on us on this wacky little house diary of sorts. So as a token of our love and affection (picture me pinching your cheek like a grandma as I say that) we included a downloadable version of that page for you right here. Just download it, print it out on cardstock, cut each of the three cards out, and fill out one out while leaving the second one blank and sliding it into an envelope with the instruction card.
Then reward yourself with some early turkey and stuffing. Or leftover Halloween candy (are we the only ones still chowing down on ours?). Holy cow, is November really already half over? In the words of the always eloquent Bart Simpson: Ay carumba.
Want More Thanksgiving Crafts And Traditions?
We love celebrating Thanksgiving in our home, so check out some other holiday crafts and traditions here:
- A DIY Thanksgiving craft glass-etched Thanks Jar
- Creating A Thanksgiving gratitude chalkboard display
- Our daughter’s first year writing Thanks Jar messages
Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!
tear. just read the babycenter post. i just love you guys. thanks for the great thankfulness ideas and for sharing your family and home with all of us!
Aw thanks Katherine. I’m totally crying over here too. Haha. Can post pregnancy hormones really last this long or am I just a sap?
xo,
s
Well you guys are just the best! I love this idea and can’t wait to print them out and send to my family and friends. I love this!
Oh, this is a wonderful idea. And for so many who are having a tough go of it this year, this might just the boost they need!
So cute! I love your old tradition and this new one is lovely as well! Thanksgiving seems to get skipped over on the rush to Christmas, so creating family traditions to give the holiday its own spotlight is such a great idea! Love it!
My husband and I are doing the thankful jar this year and I can’t wait to share our cards at the end of the month!
I love your idea of sending a “thankful card” to family you won’t be seeing. I’m sure the ripple effect will be awesome too :) We may have to do this next year!
Really cute idea!
What a great idea! We did something similar for our wedding guestbook (we had a jar where people dropped in wishes and advice). It was so much fun reading everything!
So sweet!
xo,
s
I love thanksgiving traditions…I do the thankful tree with my daughters. We made a tree,hung it on the door, and add thankful leaves to it everyday!
Such a cute idea!
xo,
s
This is such a sweet tradition! This is only my second Thanksgiving with my fiance, and we don’t have any traditions yet. I might have to use this idea. Thanks for the printables! :)
Love it! I tried starting a “Let’s all say things we are thankful for” tradition at the dinner table last Thanksgiving and well… it was a total wop wop moment. Someone was thankful for toilet paper and it just devolved from there. This could definitely work better AND I get the bonus of being able to keep the cards. Way to go, y’all!
And etching goo?! Hello, crafty addictiveness in a bottle.
I’m thankful for you fine folks at YHL teaching me that “matchy matchy is tacky tacky.” Muah!
What a great idea! You guys are so clever. :-)
1st comment?? No way!! Anyway I love the new idea, very “pay it forward” which is always great to do!! Happy early Thanksgiving Petersik’s!!
Nah, I knew it wouldn’t be the 1st once I vigioursly typed it out and hit post!!!
I love the Thankful jar! And it’s such a great idea to send something out to relatives you may not get to see. It really lets them know you’re thinking of them, which is so important around the holidays!
LOVE this! As a new bride who’s far away from my family this Thanksgiving (and missing fall in the Midwest to boot!) this is a great way to stay in touch and remind my family how much I love them! Thanks!
cute idea! These are the times I wish I had Photoshop. Thanks for sharing!
I can see how much Clara has changed your life in just the decorating aspect. I can only imagine how much she has changed you in other ways. I’m so glad that you take time to put family first. On a side note, Can you believe that you have been in your second home for almost a year!! Where does the time go?!
I know right????!!! It’s so crazy. We were just talking about how it feels like yesterday when we moved in and did a few first-projects, like painting the back of the built-ins.
xo,
s
I love those jars. Although they look like they could be filled with cotton balls and tongue depressors. Need to get a couple of those.
That’s a really cute idea!
And now I remember that last year I liked your thankful jar idea, and I was going to do it this year…except it’s already November 15th. Whoops.
Going to go pin this right now so I won’t forget for next year!
How do you guys come up with such awesome ideas all the time!?!? It’s no fair that you are SO creative! LOVE IT!
We just lay in bed and babble endlessly until 2 in the morning. Haha. We brainstorm best in the wee hours of the morning.
xo,
s
I made a jar exactly like yours for Valentine’s Day (inspired by you), we did and loved our notes, and then I broke my jar. I’m still on the lookout for a new one. Sad! Nice list about Clara, too.
Aw man- here’s hoping the perfect jar finds you soon!
xo,
s
You inspired us to start our own thanks jar: http://www.thedesertabode.com/2011/11/13/giving-thanks
We can hardly wait to read each other’s notes!! We’re going to read them on Turkey Day and might make the jar part of our Thanksgiving table centerpiece. :)
Happy November to you!
Such a sweet idea to read them and use them as the centerpiece on Thanksgiving!
xo,
s
I loved (and still do) this idea last year! November snuck up on us this year so maybe next year we’ll get to do the jar. But even though we missed the jar, we’re are lucky enough to tell each other each and everyday of the year how thankful and lucky we are to have found each other. Same goes for my family!
BTW – John – awesome job on the cards! I think I’ll break bad and print them off for next year as a nice surprise!
I love these thank you ideas! And way to make me tear up about Clara, such a sweet post!
I had to throw away the candy. This belly pooch is never going to go away with all the candy around taunting me!
I remembered your “Thanks Jar” idea from last year and we have our own sitting in front of me as I type. The hardest part is NOT looking at them when I’m all alone in the house. Luckily, I help our 4-year-old by writing his out and then he copies them onto the “cool paper”. I explained that “grateful” meant “what you feel good about having in your life”. His response: “I’m grateful for getting candy at houses on Halloween night.” Love him. Thank you for this great idea!
what an adorable idea…and of course, it is just as pretty as it is cute! i might have to copy and follow in your footsteps! :)
Is it weird/cool when you are browsing Pinterest and come across your own projects that someone else added to interest? Your thanks jar has been popping up on pinterest a lot lately which is why I ask :-)
It’s always strange/cool. Haha. First it’s like “wait-why do I recognize that?” and then it’s like “duh, because it’s ours- and someone liked it enough to pin it- yay!”
xo,
s
Such a great idea! Can’t wait to start this.
I love the idea this year! I actually just did a version of a thanks jar here on my blog: http://beautyandbeard.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanks-jar.html !
I saw yours last year and pinned it because I loved the idea so much- Thanks for the inspiration!
Cuuute!
xo,
s
What a cute idea!
I love this idea and can’t wait to get home tonight to put one together for us! Sometimes we forget just how much we have to be thankful for and this is a great way to help quantify the blessings :)
Great idea. THANK YOU! :)
Wow! That etching stuff is fantastic! I can’t wait to try that!
When I saw that first picture I got all excited and thought “hey new counter tops!” then I realized that picture was from your old house. I am a little embarrassed to say how excited I am for someone else’s kitchen reno.
Haha- I loved those babies so much!
xo,
s
Oh, I forgot about this tradition! I love it!
We’ll have to do it next year!
I can’t believe it’s mid November.
Seriously, this year has been insane, mainly in good ways, but after three jobs, and engagement, a move (for both of us), two trips overseas, and a wedding, I need a vacation.
The fact that you managed to weave a Bart Simpson quote into a Thanksgiving post? Poetic genius.
How sweet!!! What a great idea. And now I have to go and fix my makeup…I just read your BabyCenter post. So sweet!!!
PS: I’m going to a taping of the Nate Berkus show in a couple of weeks. Sooooo excited….just wanted to share with you. :)
Wahooo! Tell me all about it when you get back! And of course, promise to tell him “hi” and “I love you” from Sherry if you chat him up. Haha.
xo,
s
I will email you the details after the 29th of this month. ;) If I get to talk with him, I will be sure to tell him you send your love!!! :) You guys are one of the reason’s I now DVR his show so I can watch it later in the day. :)
Now I have to figure out an outfit to wear! :)
Haha- good luck! Learn from me and don’t wear something drapey! Hah. Structure = the key.
xo,
s
I am thankful for you, and here’s why:
visiting your blog/life allows me to live out the dream of the life my 8 year-old self always thought I’d have. I’m very grateful for the life I do lead, it’s just not something a little girl envisions. In addition to voyeuristic-ly peeking in on a bizarro world version of myself I so enjoy you guys’ appreciation for what you have, what you work so hard for. Literally this morning in the shower I wonder how much it would cost to hire you guys (probably all four of you) to house-hunt with me. If money were no object and someone called with such a ridiculous request, what would the magic number be?
Haha- it sounds like fun! Maybe free pizza lunch? Hahah.
xo,
s
I love the idea of sharing your thanks with each other!
I’m participating in Paisley Print Shoe’s Thankful November! Each day we start our blog posts with what we’re thankful for that day!
Such a fun idea!
xo,
s
Just to let you know….I bought about $25 of Halloween candy at Target when it was 70% off. Carried away much?
Hahahaha. Seize the day!
xo,
s
Lovely babycenter post and I love the Thanks jar idea — even though its half-way thru the month, I am going to start this tonight at home anyway!! The hubs and I have been having a tough time lately, so I think we need a reminder to be thankful for what we have!! Thanks for the idea!!
I loved your babycenter post so much — I agree with each one of them. We had no idea how much fun it would be having a kid and how much we would laugh and learn about enjoying things in life! For example a few weeks ago with our first snow storm. His look of amazement at seeing the snow falling and covering everything — He made me soo happy and excited to see our first snow of the season (when normally I would grumble and say not nice things)!
Sherry,
I love, love, LOVE this. I’m printing mine out tonight and sending them out this weekend to the family Shane and I can’t see this holiday season.
Thanks for sharing!
you guys are awesome, and I am thankful for you and all you do. there, I said it. seriously, I smile every day when I read your blog. thank you for keeping it light and positive – you’re like a lil’ ray o’internet sunshine.
I’m decorating challenged (ok, clueless) – and you have given me so many ideas that will help take my abode from “house” to “home”.
Off to read your babycenter post now (and probably cry – thanks for the warning!)
xx
Clara brings us joy too! The photos and videos you post of her make me smile and laugh out loud. I’m thankful for YHL. I don’t know you, yet you’re a part of my day to day life.
Aw thanks Sarah! Clara’s waving at the computer for ya.
xo,
s
Love the idea of a ripple effect.
Like a thank you ombre.
I loved this idea when you guys first shared it last year, and so this year my husband and I have been writing down our little “thankful thoughts” each day as well. We are loving this new tradition and are excited to continue it for years to come. I was really disappointed though not to have been able to find cute paper to jot our notes down on (we’re just using an orange note pad we found) and it definitely doesn’t look as cute as yours did – where did you guys get such cute (and hopefully inexpensive!?) paper to use? Thanks!
That was from Michael’s! I think it was 50 cents per sheet and we grabbed four or so and cut them into little rectangles?
xo,
s
Loved the babycenter post, Sherry – and I’m thankful to you guys for sharing so much of Clara with us – she always brightens up my day and your pictures and stories of her remind me to take a little more joy in the everyday too!
Aw thanks Rosie!
xo,
s
So much to be thankful for, like John’s BIG BD today!! Happiest of days and best to you all year!
It’s true! My love is the big 3-0 today! More on that this afternoon!
xo,
s
Lovely idea! On an unrelated note – how’s the book coming guys? Hope all is well – I’m super excited to buy it when it comes out (which unfortunately, isn’t tomorrow).
It’s going well! Definitely keeping us busy, but it’s such a fun little side project! We actually have a post that’s half-written about the whole process. Hope to finish that and share it soon!
xo,
s
Woot!! Happy to hear it’s going so well. Good luck with the book :)
First, I love the blog – I’m a total junkie, I have to read everyday. I used to be able to see all the photos at work, now I’m getting a box with a red ‘x’ – did you change your hosting site? Is anyone else having trouble. I can’t wait to read until I get home. ;)
Aw man- so sorry! We didn’t change anything so it’s likely just a glitch that will iron itself out in the next 24-48 hours (sometimes new ad-blocking software at offices block our pics for a bit and then they come back).
xo,
s
Yup! I had a few days last month where our office blocked the images, but they’re back up :) Hopefully it works itself out!
So glad!
xo,
s
I’m thankful for $herdog (am I the only one keeping this up?) because she’s purty.