For the fourth year running we’ve filled our little thrift-store jar that we etched with the word “Thanks” back in 2010 (see the post titled here). Each November we follow our gratitude ritual: every day we tuck a small note into the jar naming something we’re thankful for. It’s become a simple Thanksgiving tradition that helps us notice the small, ordinary things that make life sweeter.
Spoiler alert: one of the reasons we’re grateful is you — our readers. Thank you for stopping by, reading along, commenting, and sharing in this little corner of the internet. You make this project so much more meaningful.
This past year has been wildly surprising and wonderful: we moved into a new house, we’re expecting a new baby, we had a whirlwind book tour, worked on a showhouse for Habitat for Humanity, and even heard Oprah mention our names. We still don’t have the words to describe how unexpected and full-of-grace this whole blog journey has been. I’m so thankful that my husband suggested starting a blog for fun — even if at first it sounded a bit nerdy to me.
Back to the gratitude jar tradition. If you need a refresher: since 2010 we each write one thing a day that we’re thankful for and add it to the jar during November. Over the years these little notes have captured everyday details — shows we watched, places we visited, songs that were on repeat, and tiny family jokes we might have forgotten otherwise. They’re a time capsule of ordinary life, and we treasure them.
This year felt especially sweet because Clara is old enough to articulate and color her own notes. She dictated each card to us and colored them as she went, which made the activity feel collaborative and playful. There’s even a drawing where my head looks just like a football — precious and perfectly captured.
We also refined the system a bit for easier reading later: each family member has a color. Clara’s notes are all yellow, mine are orange, and John’s are red. When we look back through the jar years from now, the colors will instantly show who wrote what, which helps when handwriting gets a little hard to read.
Some of Clara’s favorites this year included:
- Making smoothies with daddy
- Santa! (a joyful holiday crossover)
- Legos and building really big castles with mommy
- Going to the beach
- Grammy & TomTom and their toys
- Playing in my “box crib” — she loves the giant refrigerator-sized box we left in the living room
John and I had some overlapping favorites, too: we both called out The Walking Dead, iPhones, and the trusty miter saw — little reminders of the shared hobbies and guilty pleasures in our household.
Every year near Thanksgiving we open the jar and read the notes together, and we also flip through the saved pages from previous years. It’s a meaningful ritual: the notes freeze moments in time and bring back memories we might otherwise let slip away. They preserve the small, funny, and touching details of our lives.
Originally I planned to keep this post short — just a quick “Happy Thanksgiving” with a chalkboard picture — but once I started thinking about the jar and the notes inside, I couldn’t stop. Maybe it’s hormones, maybe it’s the smell of cookies baking, or maybe it’s just that gratitude makes me talkative. Either way, these little rituals matter.
We hope you have safe travels, good food, warm company, and either a peaceful nap or a cozy post-dinner rest. We’ll be spending the holiday with family, squeezing in a bit of kitchen work, and continuing a few children’s hospital projects we’re excited to share when we return — and likely returning three pounds heavier from all the delicious food.
More Thanksgiving Crafts & Traditions
We love celebrating Thanksgiving with simple, meaningful activities. Here are a few related ideas and past projects from our archives you might enjoy exploring: a free Thanksgiving printable to mail messages of gratitude, a Thanksgiving gratitude chalkboard display, and our daughter’s first year writing Thanks Jar messages. These crafts and traditions are easy ways to bring intentional gratitude into a busy holiday season.
