Thanksgiving Crafts for Families: Leaf Prints, Blessings Jar and Book of Thanks

Thanksgiving Crafts for Families: Leaf Prints, Blessings Jar and Book of Thanks - Make your Thanksgiving dinner extra special this year with some hand-made touches that will personalize the occasion. Whether you try the Fall Leaf Prints, the Book of Thanksgiving, or the Thanksgiving Blessing Jar projects, you will have a great keepsake to memorialize the season.

Fall Leaf Prints Thanksgiving Craft

For the Fall Leaf Prints, you will need:

Assortment of leaves picked from the tree, not the ground

Heavy book

Construction paper & Scrap Cardboard

Hot glue

Acrylic paint in fall colors (and a paintbrush)

First, press the leaves between the pages of the heavy book overnight to flatten them. Glue the leaf to a piece of cardboard cut to a square shape big enough to hold the leaf with the veins facing up. Paint the leaf with a thick layer of the acrylic paint, being careful not to paint the paper underneath. This will become your stamp.

Press the stamp carefully on a piece of construction paper. To make a greeting card, press the stamp onto the right side of the paper. This will become the front of the card. Or, allow the paint to dry between stamps and fill the page with layers of leaves.

Using a light-colored piece of construction paper, stamp several leaves, leaving enough space between each stamp that you will be able to cut around each leaf. Leave to dry and set aside for use in the next project. Allow, stamp many layers of leaves on another piece of paper, allowing each layer to dry between stamps. You will use this in the last project.

Blessings Jar Thanksgiving Craft

You will need the leaf prints from the last project, an empty (and clean!) coffee can, and white glue. First, remove the label from the can, if it's not already removed. Using the label as a guide, trim a piece of construction paper to fit the can. If you don't have the label, use the can as a guide to trace the right size. Depending on the size of your can, you might need to join two pieces of paper together.

Next, trim out the single leaf prints from the first project. Leave a small border of paper around the print. When you are finished, either use a marker to write "Blessings Jar" on your paper, or cut out the letters from the word from contrasting paper. Use the leaves to decorate the paper. Leave to dry then use glue and attach to the coffee can. Cut another piece of paper into 2 x 4 inch wide strips, enough for each person at your thanksgiving party to have 5 - 10 strips. Before or after dinner, depending on how hungry you are, have each guest write things they are thankful for on their papers (i.e. their blessings). Put all of the papers into the jar, mix, and elect a host to select papers to read aloud to the guests. Part of the fun is guessing who wrote each blessing. Enjoy!

Book of Thanks Thanksgiving Craft

Along the same lines as the Blessings Jar Thanksgiving Project, you can make a book of thanks. The multi-layered page from the first project will be your cover. You can use a marker to write "Book of Thanks" on the cover, or cut out the letters in a contrasting color. Give each guest a sheet of construction paper, several markers, a glue sticks, and have a stack of old magazines on hand. Each guest should make a page that represents what they are thankful for in their lives, leaving a one-inch margins on the left side of their page. (For younger guests, or maybe for everyone, you might want to prepare the pages ahead of time with a margin drawn on). Allow all the pages then assemble them in a stack with all of the margins facing the left. Add the cover. Using a hole punch, add three or four holes to the side of the paper, being careful not to be too close to the edge. Use a piece of ribbon or yarn to tie the pages together into the book. Or you can skip the punch and staple the pages. Now, you'll have a book of thanks created by your family that you can bring out in years to come. What a thoughtful reminder of each Thanksgiving!