The Thankful Tree

It's my favorite time of year again-FALL!  Growing up in upstate NY I had no idea how blessed I was to enjoy one of the most unique parts of the country.  Some of my favorite memories of fall in the northeast are maple candy, the smell of different species of wood as neighbors began their furnaces on chilly nights (my dad can actually tell which kind of wood is being burned!), hay wagon rides, crisp apples straight from the orchard, slush apple cider, and of course, the best of all, the colors of the changing leaves.  

This year, having our own home, I really wanted to get into the spirit of the holidays with doing some decorating, but, as always, on a budget.  Since our living room is already kind of done in fall colors (red furniture,butter yellow walls) I thought I would just do a little curb appeal with the front porch, and something for the table.

However, with how frequently we use our dining room table, I knew it couldn't be some elaborate, sprawled out design.  I also wanted to incorporate something that could be a learning/sharing project with the kids.  Last year we created a paper thanksgiving tree, and every day we would try to have J come up with something he was thankful for, and add a leaf.  This year, with a 22 mth old on the loose I knew that would get ripped right off the wall.  So the idea of creating four little individual topiary trees that both kids could add leaves to came to me.  

When I am trying to craft something, I first lay out my idea quickly on paper, and then start my hunt for supplies.  I started at Goodwill, hoping to find a base to hold my trees.  I ended up finding two already made topiary trees that I could quickly envision being turned into my "thank-you" trees.

 They just needed some trimming up, and at $4 a piece were a lot cheaper than buying pots, greenery, etc.  Then I headed to Micheal's to look for pre-made leaves.  I was thrilled to find several options, and especially thrilled to find these:

 adhesive-backed, pre-cut felt leaves, in normal, non-glitter shapes! (Sorry all you glitter lovers out there; it's not my thing).  This meant I wouldn't have to worry about getting out the glue gun, tape, or any other adhesive on a daily basis, each time we went to stick a new leaf on a tree.

With a new haircut, my bargain trees were ready for some new foliage....

 ...and we had a kid-friendly, seasonal looking decoration to cheer up the kitchen!  Total cost of the this project was $13 since I bought two packages of the leaves at $2.99 a package.  The idea is to have each child add a leaf each time I catch them saying "thank-you" or just showing a grateful attitude.  J already loves this new project, and enthusiastically delved in decorating one of the trees.  :-)

Overall, I am pretty happy with this little project.  I can already picture re-purposing the trees for different holiday's (little hearts for Valentine's, pastel eggs for Easter, etc.)

Happy fall and happy decorating!