I did a post about it on the This & That Creative Blog found HERE, but thought it would be fun to post on our family blog as well. I am actually super surprised that it has gotten so much attention in the crafting blogosphere! A special thanks to:
- Dot To Dot This, who featured it on their blog HERE.
- Tip Junkie, who featured it as a Thanksgiving project HERE. There are tons of other great ideas on her post, so check it out!
- U-create, who posted about it HERE.
- Tatertots and Jello, who wrote about it on their facebook page HERE.
- Pirates-n-Princesses, who posted about it on their facebook page HERE.
- And my awesome cousins, the Brockbanks. I think they are the actual ones that got this Thankful Wall started years and years ago and spread the tradition to my family!!!
Here's the post:
Since I was a little girl, we have had a tradition in my family to have a "Thankful Wall" during Thanksgiving. This is this year's version that I created!
Usually the Thankful Wall consists of a large sheet from a big roll of poster paper stapled to the wall.
We leave it up from the beginning of November throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and we all get to write down the things that we can think of that we are thankful for. It has been such a fun tradition, and I look forward to the Thankful Wall every year. I even had one with my roommates when I was single and in college. It's especially fun to have if you are the one hosting Thanksgiving Dinner so that all the guests can write down what they are thankful for. It definitely helps keep the meaning of Thanksgiving on your mind.
This year, I had decided to put a little more into our Thankful Wall. I have had this huge frame that I got at a thrift store for like $2 that has been hanging around my house.
It's an odd size, so I haven't been able to find any canvases to paint or prints to put in it. So I decided to do the DIY chalkboard from our earlier post by Kristin, found HERE, and make a Thankful Wall that we can use year after year.
I spray painted the frame white, used some chalkboard paint on a masonite board we cut for the inside (and by saying "we" I mean my amazing husband), and I cut out some white vinyl on my cricut for the "I am thankful for" part. I found some perfect little cornucopia shaped baskets that I added some ribbons to and nailed them to the frame to use to hold the chalk too!
I let my little boy write what he was thankful for on there too, because he was just begging to use the chalk on the chalkboard when I put it up. I think I see a tree in there somewhere...it's fun to interpret.
Some of you may notice the "bloating" listed as what someone was thankful for in the last picture. I had originally wrote boating, but my husband came home and asked me why I wrote bloating down on the Thankful Wall. Obviously he just didn't see it right, but after noticing that, he decided to put an "l" in there anyway, and I just left it there. It seems like every year there is a little joke with the Thankful Wall. It's part of the fun!
Some great ideas for variations that viewers have given me are:
- use a framed dry-erase board
- if you have the glass for your frame, you can leave it in there and use dry-erase markers, and even do a cute background behind your glass
- leave the board up all year long, with or without the vinyl
So now you know how to start your own Thankful Wall, if you haven't already! It will be a tradition you look forward to every year that helps keep the meaning of Thanksgiving alive.
***Since I posted this, my husband has added "Power Tools" to the Thankful Wall. I just had to write next to it, "...and that I benefit from the power tools too!" because he is always busy helping me with some new crafty project that requires power tools. So I've also added, "my husband" to the wall. I couldn't have asked for a better one! Oh the list keeps getting bigger and bigger. There are just so many things to be thankful for!
What are you thankful for?
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4 comments:
Yay for the thankful wall! It's always been my favorite thing to do. I've been doing something a little different each year lately for the wall. And whats funny is Josh, not 3 days ago, said, "man if you didn't have such a busy/lazy husband he'd think of something for a thankful wall idea that you can use every year." Its a great idea! but this year, I taped 3 poster boards together and hung it a little lower so that Huck would be able to draw what he's thankful for too. Then taped/glued fake leaves around the edges for a little color. Someday when we get a house I'll be able to do think cute permanent idea! thanks Meg! You're so creative. I like the chalk too. Its so fun!
Elena! Seriously--I totally thought of you when I made this Thankful Wall! I actually think that it was really your family that started it! You guys deserve all the credit! It's so fun that we have both been able to have one in the family since we were little! I love the Thankful Wall!
I love that Huck and Tucker are getting into the tradition too! I love that you put it low enough for Huck to color all over! Fun!
Its way cute! What a great idea!
K...so i LOVE that! I totally have a huge frame down in my basement and Ive been wondering what to do with it...you have inspired me!
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