Thanksgiving Crafts: Make Gratitude Place Cards #projectgratitude

Thanksgiving crafts from recycled materials

Thanksgiving Crafts Gratitude Place Cards

Looking for some Thanksgiving crafts to deck out your tablescape? These upcycled place cards are more than decoration: they’re an activity!

Sometimes it feels like we get so bogged down with the menu, travel plans, and Black Friday shopping that we forget to take the time around Thanksgiving to give thanks. I don’t think it’s something to beat ourselves up about, but I do think it’s something we can try to consciously change.

Thanksgiving crafts – like Thanksgiving itself – tend to center around turkeys, Pilgrims, and other mainstream Thanksgiving traditions. What if we invented our own traditions around the things that matter most to us?

When I was trying to brainstorm some Thanksgiving crafts to share in this space, I wanted something that was more than a cute centerpiece or even a simple place card. When you put out these place cards on your Thanksgiving table, you’ll also set out markers and pens, and encourage your guests to flip their cards over to write down something they are thankful for.

You can save these in a memory box or scrap book, display them on a length of twine with clothespins, or go around the table and each read your sentiment out loud. No matter how you decide to use these cards, they’re a great way to inject some gratitude into your Thanksgiving crafts.

Thanksgiving Crafts: #projectgratitude

So, what is this #projectgratitude thing about? Over at our sister site – Vibrant Wellness Journal – Andrea is encouraging folks to share thoughts of gratitude all November long. You can share on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, and tag your update with #projectgratitude. She’s going to feature her favorite ones on her site!

I wanted to sift through my ideas for Thanksgiving crafts and find one that fit with #projectgratitude, because I just love this idea so much. I think it’s beautifully in line with what we are about here at Crafting a Green World. Gratitude is a big part of ethical crafting, isn’t it? Because gratitude is part of compassion, and that’s at the heart of ethical crafting for many of us.

Place Cards

Thanksgiving Crafts: Gratitude Place Cards

These are interactive place cards made with reclaimed paper and wine corks. Encourage your guests to pull them out of the stands, turn them over, and write down something they are thankful for on the back!

Materials

  • recycled card stock or other heavy reclaimed paper (I used file folders from the recycle bin.)
  • scissors
  • ruler
  • markers and pens
  • wine corks – one per place card
  • serrated knife
  • cutting board

Directions

1. Cut your card stock into 2″x3″ pieces. You’ll need one piece for each guest. Use your markers to write each guest’s name on the front of one piece of card stock.

2. Now, you’ll prep those wine corks. Use your serrated knife to slice off a piece of the cork about 1/4″ from one rounded edge, to give it a flat bottom. Then, use the knife again to make a slice into the cork opposite the flat edge you just created. You want your slice to only go about halfway into the cork.

Thanksgiving Crafts Cork Slicing

3. Slide each place card carefully into the sliced part of the cork, and set your finished place cards around the table. You’ll also want to put enough pens or narrow weight markers out for all of your guests to share.

4. At supper, encourage your guests to flip their cards over and write down a sentiment of gratitude. They can leave the card out of the cork or put it back in. When everyone is done, you can all read your thoughts aloud, or you can collect them to save in a memory box or scrap book.

Thanksgiving Crafts Giving ThanksAre you working on any fun Thanksgiving crafts? I’d love to hear about what you’re making in the comments!

1 thought on “Thanksgiving Crafts: Make Gratitude Place Cards #projectgratitude”

  1. Pingback: Vegan Thanksgiving Menu | Magazine On Health

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