Easy Thanksgiving Garland

Thanksgiving is my favorite. I'm sorry to say that the discipline of gratitude isn't always on my radar throughout the year - except for the month of November. In November the weather is grand, the anticipation of an amazing feast with the ones I love fills my mind and heart, and my home is warm with good ol'-fashioned comfort food and the sweet faces of my little family. I admit, it's much easier for me to have thoughts and feelings of gratitude at this time of year.

So, my goal each November is to take advantage of a thankful disposition and usher our little family into a season of gratitude in whatever way fits us best. This year I've incorporated my boys' love for decorating with a discipline of gratitude in this easy Thanksgiving garland.

This garland is fairly simple to make. No sewing, no gluing - just a few thumb tacks here and there.

Here's what you'll need for this craft to line a descent sized archway:

6 yards wide orange wired ribbon
2 dozen felt leaves (mine came already cut)
4 to 6 dozen mini clothespins
8 to 10 sheets of card stock to print the thankful cards
a printer
sissors
chalk
a handful of push pins




Print out about 8 copies of the thankful cards using the template below. I thought a chalkboard design would be cute and we could write out our thanksgivings in chalk. My printer printed them best in the black and white setting. You can have kids cut them out.

Measure out where you want to hang your garland. When I say that, I really mean, kinda hold it up and try to picture where you want it to start and end. 😉 It can go around an archway, doorway, or just draped along a wall. You could also twirl in some little white twinkly lights. That would be so pretty.

Our Easy Thanksgiving Garland hangs in our dining room as a daily reminder to give thanks.

I thought it would be fun to have our garland hanging in our dining room where we'll be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.



Hang the ribbon by pushing a thumb tack into one end and pinning it to the wall. I had two 3 yard long ribbons to work with, so I started them both at the top middle of my archway to get the most even hanging on either side of the arch.

Twirl the ribbon like a streamer bending the wire a little, if you need to, to get it to stay twisted. Press a tack through the ribbon and into the wall wherever you see fit to secure it.

This Easy Thanksgiving Garland sports the most adorable chalkboard thankful cards for us to write our thanksgivings on throughout the month.

Once your ribbon is secure, have kids use the clothespins to hang up leaves and thankful cards. If you have small children helping, you may need to rearrange some of the decorations. Just say'n. 

Throughout the month, the whole family can grab a card and write something they're thankful for with chalk. Have fun talking about new additions to the garland at dinnertimes. You can also share your favorite thanksgivings at your Thanksgiving feast.




Aren't these chalkboard cards just adorable? Happy crafting!

A Grateful Hiking Heart

Spring is just around the corner and it is gorgeous out here on the Central Coast. Everything is green right now and the wildflowers are on the verge of turning the hills into colorful visions of gorgeousness. We are so grateful to get to live in such a beautiful place. The weather has warmed up just enough for us to start our daily hikes on the trails just behind our house.

My boys call these plants in front "Couch Leaves" because they are fuzzy and soft and kinda look like our couch

After Nora was born I attempted to start exercising a couple of different times. I say "try" because it did not happen. I gave up and hoped that family life would eventually shift again and allow me to easily and naturally fit in some exercise. What da ya know, it did just that.

Nora loves, loves, loves being outside. If she sees that her brothers are out there, and she is not, she gets quite fussy. The boys also love it.

It's so good for all of us to be out on those trails. My baby gets to have her outdoor fix and I get out there and get moving regularly. 






When I ask the boys if they want to go for a walk they shout, "Yay, a walk!" It's a win, win, win scenario. Sometimes we even go out twice a day. 

Manzanita. One of the shrubs the boys can identify on the trail.

The circuit only takes about 20 minutes - 30 minutes if we're exploring. In the hot summer months Matthew comes with us in the evenings after dinner. It's one of our favorite family activities.

The boys named this stretch "The Manzanita Forest"

Almost every time we're out there gratitude fills my heart to have such beautiful trails to hike on and a beautiful family to hike with. We have our days. We TOTALLY have our days, but the hiking trails we get to enjoy call my heart to gratitude.