I honestly had NO idea what I was actually doing, just making up as we went along. Isabelle made a snowman, Madelynn wanted a Santa Claus, I just did a scrap jar, and then we made a jar for the slips of paper. Mind you, I don't have an artistic bone in my body, so these were not made to impress, only to have fun :)
What we used: sticky foam (1/8" thick foam with peel of sticker back), felt, scrap cloth from making quilts/blankets/cloth diapers, construction paper, hot glue gun, and glue sticks. You can use whatever you can find around your house, it's all about making it your own.
The point: To take a piece of paper daily and write something you are grateful for in that day, or a fun event that happened. We figured we'd do it at least once per day, or 2-3 times on those adventure-filled days! You save them all up. We made one for each of the girls to open on their birthday, then one "family" one to open as a family NEXT Christmas or Thanksgiving. We might make one to open on Thanksgiving as well, to make sure we keep up with the positive thoughts. On the occasion you choose to save for, you open the jar as a family and read each slip of paper. You can reminisce about adventures, stories, or feelings that you remember.
Isabelle proudly displaying her snowman. (Peanut butter jar with felt, foam stickers, and a scrunched up piece of paper to form a head)
Madelynn's Santa I made for her. (Felt and foam stickers)
My "family jar".
I cut up a bunch of random strips of paper to choose from when we add to our jars.
The Gratitude Jar slips are in this mayo bottle. Just twist the lid and grab a slip of paper. I even attached a pen with a piece of pipe cleaner and a twist tie. :)
We proudly display them on the bar between the kitchen and living room next to our fish, Percy Jackson, and our Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. They will stay with the decor throughout the year until it's time to open them. Then we will take them down and remember how lucky we truly are.
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