happy little tree
“Thank you for ev’ry tree and flower.
Thank you for ev’ry sky of blue!
Thank you, I should be ev’ry hour,
Truly thanking you!”– Petula Clark
Last year, T learned all about autumn and the changing of the leaves for the first time. And we built a tree (gosh she was little!)! We also made a thankful jar in which we put a list of all the things that we thank God for in our lives. This year I decided to combine the two and make our very first Thankful Tree! I say first, because we had such a great time this month working on this project that I think it might become a Thanksgiving tradition in our home!
First we had to go out and gather a bucketful of beautiful autumn leaves (and a couple of branchy looking sticks).
And by ‘gather’ I mean toss, jump, roll around, and in general have the most wonderful time ever.
Some of our leaves we pressed in books overnight, but that task was boring so we gave up after a bit and left the other half of them just as they were.
Bright and early the next morning I melted down some beeswax (yes, I just so happen to have blocks of beeswax lying around my house. I’m weird like that.) in a home-made double boiler (meaning a pyrex container in a pot).
Then we dipped the leaves one by one into the liquid wax, let them drip for a moment or two over the pot, and then gently placed them on a sheet of wax paper to finish drying (I made T wear gloves at first, but she did so well with it that I let her take them off before long – no burns!).
Ro was too little for this project, but she had fun observing the goings-on and exploring the wonders of God’s creation in her own little way!
Dad woke up just in time to join in the fun, making this a whole family affair!
When we were finished, we had a beautifully colored pile of preserved waxed leaves.
Then we lashed our sticks together, and put them in a vase stuffed with paper bits to keep it straight.
TA DA! A TINY (naked) TREE!!!
All month long we’ve kept our waxy leaves in a basket with a sharpie marker and hooks nearby. As we think of all the things we’re thankful for, we write it down on a leaf, and T hangs them on our Thankful Tree.
I love the wonderfully simple things she’s thankful for (pretty much anything that catches her eye at the moment – what a great way to be!):
Sun, rain, grass, color, snugly blankets and pillows, bows for our hair, family, elephants and pandas, the woods, penguins and tigers, beauty, sliding-boards, trees, the moon and stars, crayons, hoodies, friends, care-bears. . .
Her list goes on and on, and every one has found a leaf on our Thankful Tree, which now has so much foliage that she has to hunt for a clear spot to hang the next.
But my favorite leaves are the ones that she wrote all by herself. . .
I thank God every day for blessing me with a loving little family and such a happy home. . .
What are you thankful for?
Huginn, Muninn, and me 