Thankful

For the last few years during the month of November, our family has tried to put more focus on being thankful in the every day. November has turned into the thankful month.

Although I would like thankfulness to be ever present in our home and daily lives, it just isn't always that way when the busyness of life takes over. I hope {and pray} that each year as we slow down and really focus on what we are thankful for, that spirit will start to carry over and be present every day. It will just be a part of who we are... thankful, grateful, giving, loving, and focused less on ourselves and more on others.

The first year or so we wrote on a piece of paper what we were thankful for and then stuck it into a jar that served as a candle holder/centerpiece on our kitchen table.

Then last year, I made a quick paper chart for the month of November. It worked well but I wanted to create a more permanent chart that we could use from year to year.

During our fall break, I made a visit to JoAnn's and purchased some fall fabric to make our thankful chart. I collected six different fabrics and cut them into squares for 30 pockets.

then using the same fabric I cut out the numbers 1-30 to place on each pocket. Even though I was doing the cutting and sewing I wanted the kids to have some type of ownership. I let them help pick the fabrics, create the layout of the squares, and choose what fabrics to use for the numbers.
after the numbers were cut, I sewed the numbers onto each square. They aren't perfect, I didn't turn under the edges to make a nice finished square but I like the look of it being a little more rugged and imperfect... its what i love about things that are handmade.
after all the numbers were sewed on, i then sewed each square onto the canvas type material
after all the squares were sewn on, the kids filled the pockets with these cute little thankful cards. {it was only $1 the day i purchased them - thanks to the tip on this blog. there is no way i could have come up with cards that cute so it was worth the $1 plus, ink, and cardstock}
the cards are numbered 1-5 .... since there are five people in our family we will each list something we are thankful for each day. you could come up with five things each day as a group as well. or give each person a day to list five things they are thankful for... there are many possibilities.

how do you encourage thankfulness with your children?