The Giving (Thanks) Tree

Found this idea somewhere in the blogsphere, and it felt just right for us. Growing up, we always had an Easter tree--a stick planted in a vase, to hold our blown eggs. I loved that tradition, and this reminded me of it. A Thanksgiving Tree. A place to hold our collective thoughts of gratitude when we come together tomorrow. Andi and I put up a few starter "leaves," and I'm hoping our guests will help us fill it before dinner.




I'm grateful for this place, as well. This chance to share with like-minded people. Thank you for reading, and commenting, and caring. Happy Thanksgiving.

Edited to add: Thanks for the comments! The tree is now full of so many thoughts. My 5-year-old niece particularly enjoyed it, and kept adding things: her own name "because I'm thankful for myself," other people, "babies," "cake," "friends," "love," and so many more. Reading everyone's contributions became our "grace" for the meal.

Planning

Ok, so I've got the old, smashed, camera held together with rubber bands to tide me over until we figure out what to get next.

There's lots of planning going on around here lately.


Planning the menu for Thanksgiving. (We'll be hosting 10 for dinner.)

I'm a bit obsessive about my Thanksgiving planning. I like to do a big long prep list of everything that needs to be chopped for every recipe, and we spend the night before chopping and stowing away all the ingredients to make the next day's cooking easier. I'm behind on that this year. I just went shopping, and hadn't even finalized my recipes yet! I just know I'm going to have to run back out to the store. I hate being disorganized like that. But you do what you have to do, and in this first baby year, things just aren't going to be all Martha. (But my family will accuse me of it, anyway.)


Planning Christmas crafting.

These are the materials we've gathered to make a wreath for Andi's grandmother, who wants a new autumn wreath that she can store away and take out each year. So we're going for sturdy materials. We gathered the leaves while visiting our friend in Boston, where they still had some color, and then dipped them in beeswax to preserve them. Just hoping for a few free minutes to finish the project.


And I'm not even sure what I'm planning to do with these; I just love them!

We went to the Winter Fair at a local Waldorf school this weekend, and I couldn't resist these gorgeous things. The beeswax pinecone candles will be used on Thanksgiving. The wool felt and roving? I don't know, but I couldn't resist. Any ideas?