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DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal {and free printable}


These DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journals are simple crafts that you could give to family and friends this holiday season because gratitude is something that we all can use a bit more of right?DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

 

Somehow I blinked and now my kids are nearly grown. I don’t know how it happened. People always tell you that it “goes so fast” but you don’t really get it until it happens to you. This year for Halloween our kids totally ditched us to go trick or treat with their friends… my husband and I went out to dinner to a nearly empty restaurant! (We were totally pathetic if you ask me.) This getting older thing is not for the weak of heart.

This year has marked the first year that our oldest lives full time out of state. Her room is now a “guest” room and hers when she visits. How did that happen? I mean you send the kids off to college and assume they will be back for summers and holidays, and then they get jobs or take extra classes and the next thing you know you see them for a couple of weeks in the summer and winter.

thanksgiving-gratitude-journals-2

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’ve been thinking about how much our family has changed in the last 5 years. It seems that we had YEARS with little kids and all of the struggles associated with small children (having twins will do that to you.)  Going shopping alone seemed to be such a luxury at one time and now it seems almost commonplace.

kids-thanksgiving

(Yep, those are JUST mashed potatoes on her plate.)

Gratitude Journal Ideas:

I’ve now got a 20-year-old and two 14-year-olds and with that growth comes the need to change and add to some of our family’s holiday celebrations and traditions.  The Thanksgiving table used to be all about crayons, toys, mac n’ cheese, and plastic cups and now we don’t even have a kids table anymore (oh, but there is still mac n’ cheese, there will always be mac n’ cheese).

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

This year for Thanksgiving (and all Holiday seasons) I’m going to try as much as I can to focus on gratitude.  So instead of complaining that my kids are growing up, I will be grateful that I have 3 healthy kids who are growing up to be wonderful human beings. This is something that I want my kids to do, too. Social media makes their world so full of comparison that sometimes I wonder how they all cope with it.

Thoughts on Gratitude:

You pretty much know what everyone is doing ALL THE TIME. Your friend had a party without you? It’s on Facebook.  Someone is mad at you? They tell everyone on Twitter.  It’s nuts. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media, I think it can be a tremendous force for good, but like anything, it can also be misused.

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

 

All of that makes it so much more important to focus on what we have and to be grateful for all of our blessings.  Focusing on gratitude can change a bad day to a good one, and turn what we have into “enough.” As a part of this gratitude challenge, I’m asking myself and my kids to write down one thing every day that they are thankful for.  Just ONE thing. I’ve made myself a Gratitude Journal to go along with the challenge.

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

I’ve been fancying up simple composition notebooks for a few years now. It’s one of my favorite DIY tricks.  The notebooks are cheap and with only a few craft supplies you can make a great gift out of them.

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

How to Make a Gratitude Journal:

If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year this would also be a fun DIY for your Thanksgiving table.  Set one at each person’s spot as a simple Thanksgiving gift to them. Want to make some? They are easy! You can make a bunch in a short amount of time.

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

You need:

  • Small Composition Notebooks (mine are 5×7)
  • Decorative Paper
  • Glue Stick
  • X-Acto Knife and Cutting Mat
  • Gold Leather Cording
  • Printable “Today I am Grateful For” template that you can download for free, just hop on over to the TEMPLATES page.

How to cover a composition notebook

Journal Instructions:

Basically, all you do is cover the entire front of the notebook (not the spine) with glue and then attach the decorative paper to the front.  Then trim the paper to size. There is a VERY detailed tutorial on how to do this HERE.

 

DIY Thanksgiving Gratitude Journal, love the idea of setting them out on the Thanksgiving dinner table (would also be great to use all year long)

After you’ve covered the journal (front and back) simply glue the “Today” printable to the front. I added a bit of gold leather cording as a finishing touch. I actually ended up making quite a few of these and am going to pass them out to some friends this month (If you get one, act surprised.)

My oldest comes home this weekend for the holiday and I can’t wait. I hope that someday she (and my other kids) have warm memories of these events in their childhood and hope to share them with their kids when they are grown. I know that our family will continue to change and grow (and hopefully add new members over the years) and I’m excited to see how our holidays and traditions evolve over the years.

Speaking of grown-up kids….. Do you guys watch Property Brothers? I’m kinda addicted…. especially on days when they run a bunch in a row, I start watching one and just can’t seem to stop watching. Next thing I know the afternoon is gone and I’m ready to rip out my entire bathroom *wink*. I know I get sentimental about my kids growing up and Drew and Jonathan also seems to be the nostalgic, sentimental type. They grew up on a ranch and had such great memories of the experience that they decided to go back to those roots and help close family friends transform a run-down horse ranch into a dream property. What a compliment that must be to their parents!

 

#BrothersatHome Property Brothers at Home on the Ranch premieres on November 25 9|8c. You can visit them on Facebook and Pinterest.

—————————-THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED———————————-

For those of you with older kids, tell me how did you change and add to your holiday celebrations as they grew? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, please leave your answer in the comments below. I’m always looking for new ideas.

Entry Instructions: 

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the [email protected] email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/18/2015 – 12/16/2016

Be sure to visit HGTV Property Brothers brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Colleen Bell says

    November 18, 2015 at 10:45 AM

    Melissa, holidays has been the biggest challenge for me adapting to having grown children. You are right on the number. It happened when our youngest was 14 and the others were grown. It seems for us that the traditions are revolving around food and I try and get them to participate as much as possible so we are doing it as a family. Now for all our holiday meals we have a salad bar and a dessert bar. It is so much fun and they love to participate. Everyone makes something. I know things will change when they get married and then there are grandchildren in the future. We just must keep being flexible. Semper Gumby!

    Reply

  3. Diana says

    November 18, 2015 at 11:40 AM

    My kids are all still quite young, but as they grow, I see the importance of making our own traditions for our family and not just relying on the extended family to create them all for us. I also try and include my kids in more of the preparations and planning as they start to get older.

    Reply

  4. Jan says

    November 18, 2015 at 3:05 PM

    As children, we always looked forward to opening our presents on Christmas eve – Santa was early i neck of the owwds. Now that my children have grown and have spouses of their own, we have moved our opeing time to Christmas morning floowed by a Christmas brunch to include Prime Rib. Wonderful memories both then, now, and in the future.

    Reply

  5. heather says

    November 18, 2015 at 5:02 PM

    As the kids in the family get older we have everyone help out in different ways with the Christmas lights and making Christmas cookies.

    Reply

  10. Jennifer Hustead says

    November 19, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    As my kids grow, they are now helping with Santa and Elf on the Shelf for the youngest…it is fun to hear their memories about our traditions, and have them feel a part of something “grown up”!

    Reply

  15. Jessie C. says

    November 19, 2015 at 11:36 PM

    I have kids helping with baking and table setting to our holiday celebrations as they grew.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

    Reply

  18. Amy Tong says

    November 20, 2015 at 2:55 PM

    When my kids were younger, they only participate in simple activities, such as hanging ornaments on the tree and folding napkins. as they get older, they also help me out in the kitchen baking cookies and cooking simple dishes. I can’t wait for the day that they prepare the full holiday meal! 😀

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

    Reply

  20. Kristen says

    November 20, 2015 at 7:33 PM

    We do a lot of the same traditions no matter how old everyone gets…trimming the tree a certain way, baking cookies, going to the Nutcracker and a big dinner.

    Reply

  22. Natalie says

    November 20, 2015 at 8:56 PM

    As my daughter grows older she is helping me more in the kitchen and she is able to better understand the meaning of giving back. She is volunteering and donating now more during the holidays than when she was younger.

    Reply

  24. Sue says

    November 20, 2015 at 9:58 PM

    I add quotes to the table and give printables to my children with thoughts on how to be better, grateful and give back more. Every year they look on the table to see what inspiration I have found. Just a small tradition….oh and don’t ever change the menu!

    Reply

  25. Lisa Brown says

    November 21, 2015 at 2:45 PM

    As my children grew older, they wanted to help more and more with decorating and having their say. They helped with wrapping of gifts and, of course, the baking of cookies, and couldn’t wait to deliver them to our neighbors.

    Reply

  27. Allison Swain says

    November 22, 2015 at 1:01 PM

    As they get older I include them in helping out with baking, cooking, and making decorations.

    Thanks for the giveaway 🙂

    Reply

  29. Carolsue says

    November 23, 2015 at 7:11 PM

    As the kids got older, they help me with the meal preparation much more. Gifts have also gone from quantity to quality! Little kids like lots of stuff; older kids want one or two quality items, so shopping for Christmas gifts has changed a lot.
    Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net

    Reply

  31. Elle says

    November 24, 2015 at 11:47 AM

    I do not have ‘older’ kids but as they age, I plan to get them more and more involved in the process with cooking, baking, decorating…even buying and share more and more traditions and the meanings behind them.

    Reply

  33. D Schmidt says

    November 25, 2015 at 10:47 PM

    My oldest child is only six but very opinionated so we have started to include his ideas into the event. For example, he loves turkeys and has asked instead to have a vegetarian option this year. He has also asked to change our routine for when we put up the tree 🙂

    Reply

  36. Ty says

    November 27, 2015 at 6:17 PM

    My kids are only 2 so we haven’t updated anything as of yet. I do plan on updating my open one present early tradition but they are getting christmas pj’s and I might even do elf on a shelf with them.

    Reply

  39. Cynthia C says

    November 30, 2015 at 3:29 PM

    When my kids became adults, we eliminated gift giving except for the kids in the family. It was a relief and eased stress for everyone.

    Reply

  46. Gina M says

    December 5, 2015 at 2:45 PM

    I will ask my son to share what he is grateful for when he gets older.

    Thanks for the chance to win!

    wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com

    Reply

  48. Rebecca says

    December 5, 2015 at 10:04 PM

    My kids enjoy decorating with lights and the tree, now that they are older. It makes it easier on me to focus on baking or other things when they want to help out.

    Reply

  56. Stephanie Phelps says

    December 13, 2015 at 4:46 PM

    I am still having to take the changes I mean they do not want to go with us to get the tree now that they are grown and they do not want to decorate because they are doing there own so now my husband and I are just taking our time and doing it our way!

    Reply

  58. Betty C says

    December 13, 2015 at 6:38 PM

    My husband was military so every holiday was an adjustment depending on whether he had to work or if he was even in the area. We had many holidays when he was away and had to make up for it when he returned. My children are adults now so traditions are evolving that center around the new family members.

    Reply

  63. debbie says

    December 14, 2015 at 9:39 AM

    Wehave tried to allow them to have input into the holidays. They went from making gifts for all siblings to drawing names. Little things like that.

    Reply

  73. Ellie Wright says

    December 15, 2015 at 10:04 PM

    When my boys got older we didn’t change very much. They enjoyed the way we always had done Christmas. The biggest change was not having to get up before dawn to see what Santa brought.

    Reply

  74. Seyma Shabbir says

    December 15, 2015 at 10:25 PM

    Now my sons are 6 and 8. When I was growing up we celebrated by leaving out shoes and got coal if bad or treats if good. We don;t do that with out kids or they would get lots of coal! lOL

    Reply

  75. Tamara says

    December 16, 2015 at 12:14 AM

    When my kids got older, I noticed that we actually started eating breakfast before tearing into the gifts on Christmas morning!
    westiemks5 at yahoo dot com

    Reply

  79. Kathryn C says

    December 16, 2015 at 10:55 AM

    #SweepstakesEntry – comment

    the biggest change to our holiday tradition is that we all now meet at my brother Mike’s house for exchanging presents, buffet dinner because of the growing family- Mom’s house is just too small lol

    Kathryn C

    Reply

  80. angie says

    December 16, 2015 at 12:21 PM

    We don’t have any children but we have watched our nieces and nephews grow from children into adults with children of their own. It has been fun to watch how they grow and that shift from believing in Santa to sharing that tradition with their own kids.

    Reply

  84. Sarah L says

    December 16, 2015 at 7:44 PM

    No kids. I’m spending Christmas with close friends who I’ve been sharing Christmas with for 25 years.
    Thanks for the contest.

    Reply

  86. Denise L says

    December 16, 2015 at 9:12 PM

    We actually haven’t changed much as my oldest moved into her 20s. One thing I do for her every year, since she has enough “stuff”, is to buy her some stock in a Company that has some importance in her life at the moment.

    Reply

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