Preserving Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the wonderful things we enjoy every day.  Whether you have a bunch of guests coming over or you have a small intimate Turkey Day planned, it would be great to start a tradition of documenting everything we are thankful for.


I'm a paper crafter and a scrapbooker, so memory keeping is intensely important to me.  I love the idea having your guests document what they are grateful for and looking back at it at next year's celebration.  Here are a few ideas on how to make blessing counting a part of your day, and have a great memento to look back on.


1. This simple mini book requires little work upfront and is something you can put the finishing touches on over your long holiday weekend.  Emilie includes links to the digital pages.  Make sure to have a card printed for each guest then have them write in what they are thankful for!  Then snap a photo of each guest.  Emilie has detailed instructions on her post. 

2. Cathy Z (my digital scrapbooking idol) has a great tutorial for another 4"x6" Thankful album which is similar in theory.  You can purchase her digital files to make your own.  Don't be scared, you don't have to be a digi scrapper.  She includes .pdf files in her download!

3. This Book of Thanks from eighteen25 has a slightly different (but equally fantastic) approach.  They use a blank book and every year update a two page spread with everyone's handwritten notes about what they are thankful for and a group photo.  I love that every year's memories are in one book so you can flip back easily to year's past.  And no scrapbooking skills required - just a blank book and a pen! (of course I'd go over the top embellishing the cover and title pages).

4. Becky Higgins has another take on this project with a framed poster she made so her family could record what they are grateful for.  I love the idea of having this out at your gathering for everyone to write on, then hanging it up in your house all year.  What a great way to remind you of all the things you take for granted!  Find an update post here to see what her poster looks like with even more notes of gratitude.

5. I also love this Blessing Board featured on Tatertots and Jello!  It's something you could make this year.  Then next year all you have to do is put new blank cards on it!

Remember, being pretty is just an added bonus.  Documenting your Thanksgiving in any form or fashion is more important than the amount of time you took to prep your craft!  If you don't have the time to prep before Thursday, grab a stack of index cards and hand them to all your guests and snap photos at the event.  You can adhere them to pretty pages later!  The important thing is your memories will be documented.  And in five years, looking back at your first grader's handwriting or great Aunt Ida's beautiful script will be worth far more to you than if you had a pretty book all made up for the big day!

Let us know if you have any traditions on how to document the big day!