Young House Love

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A Free Thanksgiving Gratitude Printable

Updated 2018

Since Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us (how did that happen?) we thought we’d add a new tradition along with reviving one from last year. First let’s talk about our Thanksgiving craft from last year, which is a small thrift store jar that we got for 99 cents…

Thrift store glass apothecary jar for Thanksgiving craft

… and then etched with $6 etching cream from Michael’s…

Glass etching cream and paintbrush next to glass jar with DIY tape stencil

… using a homemade tape stencil to create a Thanks jar (more DIY details here).

Finished etched glass Thanks Jar With notes of gratitude inside

As for how it worked, we each filled out and dropped in a little homemade card with something we were thankful for each day for the entire month of November. And we weren’t allowed to peek inside to see what each other had written until the end of the month when we cracked it open and read all of the gratitude notes.

Pile of colorful gratitude notes as part of Thanksgiving craft

It was nearly as fun as Christmas morning (more on that here), and is definitely something we’re looking forward to doing at the end of this month again (we saved all the original cards with a ribbon around that stack with the year written on it, and plan to save each following years’ stack as well to look back on). So we’re filling up our thanks jar again this year… along with another Thanksgiving tradition.

We thought since a few of our long-distance relatives can’t travel to see us that we could let them know that they’re in our thoughts by sending them a quick little card to tell them why we’re thankful for them. So John whipped this little homemade “thankful card” in Photoshop that says “I’m thankful for you and here’s why“:

I'm Thankful For You And Here's Why Thanksgiving Notecard

He designed an easy to print page with two of those thankful cards on it along with this little instruction card that reads:

And Here's Another Extra Gratitude Card To Include In Note

Since they’re all on one page, we won’t have much waste when we print them out on cardstock at home. Then we’ll just slip one filled out “thankful card” and a blank one for them to forward on to a friend or relative of their choice along with an instruction card. We hope it’ll create a nice little ripple effect with people reaching out to other folks to tell them how thankful they are to have them in their lives.

Oh and speaking of being thankful, you guys are like family to us and we’re so thankful that you drop in on us on this wacky little house diary of sorts. So as a token of our love and affection (picture me pinching your cheek like a grandma as I say that) we included a downloadable version of that page for you right here. Just download it, print it out on cardstock, cut each of the three cards out, and fill out one out while leaving the second one blank and sliding it into an envelope with the instruction card.

I'm Thankful For You And Here's Why Thanksgiving Free Printable

Then reward yourself with some early turkey and stuffing. Or leftover Halloween candy (are we the only ones still chowing down on ours?). Holy cow, is November really already half over? In the words of the always eloquent Bart Simpson: Ay carumba.

Want More Thanksgiving Crafts And Traditions?

We love celebrating Thanksgiving in our home, so check out some other holiday crafts and traditions here:

Thanksgiving chalkboard and pile of gratitude notecards from Thanks Jar

Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15! 

Comments

  1. Erin says

    LOVE the tradition and will totally steal it! And thank you for the cards. What a great idea. Seriously you guys are inspiring from the inside out!

    Reply

  2. Shannon says

    Love the jars! Every year my grandma writes down some inspirational words and throws them into a jar (ex. joy, hope, faith, trust) and then each of us picks one and describes what the word has meant to us in the last year, and what we hope that the word will bring us in the next year.

    Reply

  3. Ashley Bird says

    I absolutely this idea! Its a great idea to bring a family together. In our family once a month we have “sunday funday” and we do something like this through the whole month and share it then. We also have a game tournament which is fun to and brings us together!

    Reply

  4. Tracey says

    Awww… I remember when you guys did that last year! Wonderful idea and one of the reasons I love you guys – You take time to remember your blessings! :)

    Reply

  5. Donita says

    What a great idea!!! Thank you!!! I’m THANKFUL for you guys, and that you share your lives with me. ;-) *oh and others too. :-D*

    Reply

  6. Rebecca says

    I have that same jar! Found it at a thrift store for a buck.

    I ended up using it in our bathroom to hold q-tips.

    Well yesterday I was at another thrift store and I found 2 more jars that look exactly the same, only stacked heights. They look like a matched set. They were each a dollar too.

    I was so excited to bring them home, the cashier must have thought I was a loon.

    But now all three are living happily in my bathroom holding cotton balls, q-tips and soap. :)

    Reply

  7. Annie says

    This is such a lovely, meaningful project! And of course, because I am totally addicted to all things Petersik, I checked out the BabyCenter post (despite being exactly one-half of a DINC fam :-) and my heart is smiling – I think your post just so sweetly sums up the adage “With each child, the world begins anew.” For her parents, for her, for the future. Love!

    Reply

  10. Katy says

    What a cute idea! We do a thankful tree where we cut out leaves and put up the things we are thankful for, its so pretty to see a whole tree of “thanks” leaves!

    ~Katy

    Reply

  11. Lisa in Seattle says

    I am thankful for all the parents like you who work so hard to raise wonderful little people to become wonderful big people. It makes me think there might be hope for our world after all.

    Richmond city guide on design*sponge today and the book signing tomorrow! Are you going?

    Reply

  12. Kim says

    Aw! That is too sweet! On the thankful note, I’m so, so thankful I found your blog a couple of months ago. You guys have helped me fall back in love with my house. So thank you. My husband thanks you too because I no longer want to move…but then there is that whole kitchen facelift I have in the works, so maybe he’s neutral at the moment. Hee hee!

    Reply

  15. Melissa says

    Such a sweet idea! Speaking of printing on card stock…do you guys have or know of a good color printer that is fairly efficient on ink? I am in the market for a new one and need to print things like cards on card stock. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, we have a wireless printer that’s finicky, but prints really well when it’s in the mood. Haha. How’s that for a review? It’s the HP Photosmart C4780. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  19. kristen says

    OMGOODNESS!!! I LOVE this idea… like LOVE it, both of them, although the first is definitely going to happen at my house every year! Such a need way to remember this time of year! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday!

    Reply

  20. Jessica says

    Thank you so much for sharing your Thanksgiving greeting. I work for Big Brothers Big Sisters and I run 4 after school programs where Bigs come to visit their Littles at their schools. I was looking for something that they could share with each other for Thanksgiving. Thanks for helping me give them an opportunity to share their hearts with one another…it will certainly go a long way in helping them to develop deep and lasting friendships :)

    Reply

  22. Dara says

    I love your “thanks” jar. I think my hubby and I will try and start this year since it’s been rough the past few years for us with looking for better jobs, and unsuccessfully starting a family. It will help us to see what all we do have and be thankful for that!! Thanks for sharing and for the cute printables.

    Reply

  25. Heidi P. says

    :D Oh parenting! I love being a mom!! And w/ #10, I now have Whitney’s song stuck in my head – “I believe the children are our future / Teach them well and LET them lead the way / Show them all the beauuty they possess in siiiide!” haha. Motherhood is hard but so very very worth it!

    And thank you for the downloadable print!!

    Reply

  31. Heidi says

    Loved this post and your Baby Center post too! I enjoy your blog so much. You’re a wonderful little family! Enjoy these years with Clara; I’m sure everyone tells you how fast they go by and they do! xoxo

    Reply

  32. Netty says

    Thank you so much for your generosity. However, when I try to download the card, it says that I have to sign up for Facebook. I’ve had BIG trouble in the past with Facebook, but REALLY want to download and use the cards (I have A LOT of family that live far away from us…)

    Anyway to download them without being forced to sign up for Facebook?

    Thank you if you can swing it :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You may need a scribd acocunt, but you should be able to get one without going through facebook. Maybe try going to scribd.com and getting an account (it’s free) and then going back in and clicking download to see if you can bypass the facebook step?

      xo,
      s

  33. stephanie says

    Hi,

    I was thinking about doing this etching on some wine glasses for my girls with maid of honor and bridesmaids on them. Is it washable?

    Thanks,
    Stephanie

    Reply

  36. Jyl says

    Thanks for the awesome PDF, Petersiks! I printed out 10 of them to send to friends and family for Thanksgiving. I hope they pay it forward. I love this idea!

    Is it weird that I’m thankful for a blog? You guys keep my inspired and motivated all the time. And hey- I’m just thankful there’s good people like your family in the world. Thanks for everything, YHL!

    Reply

  40. Ammie DeBus says

    You’ve inspired my husband and I to put thankful notes in a jar every day in December. We’ll read them all on New Years Eve. I had twins in March, so i’m sure we’ll have no trouble filling up a jar.
    Thanks for the inspiration!

    And I dont know if it’s just my settings, but I just noticed the little random smiley at the bottom of the blog (in the gray). Intentional?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw, that’s a cute New Years twist! As for the smiley face, that actually counts our hits (it’s a stat counter thing). We love that he’s so friendly! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  41. Claire says

    I’m always so inspired by you two! I got my hubby hooked on your blog (we just bought our own first house), and although our projects are much more modest than yours, we, too, appreciate the little things. I picked up some letter stickers and made a Love Jar; it’s nearly full with love letters to each other and our seven year old girl. I keep promising her that once it gets full, we can take them out and read them! :D

    Reply

  43. Evelina says

    Thanksgiving is this weekend for us Canadians and I have totally implemented the thanks jar! My husband and I are super excited to read everything that we both wrote for the past week or so. Thanks for the great idea!

    Reply

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