DIY Thanksgiving Centerpiece: Build a Gratitude Tree
This Thanksgiving, pass the potatoes with an extra helping of gratitude at your dinner table.
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This Thanksgiving, try passing the potatoes with an extra helping of gratitude at your dinner table.
Practicing gratitude four times a week—by keeping a gratitude diary and listening to a guided recording for fostering gratefulness in life—lowered study participants’ levels of depression and stress and increased their happiness within three weeks, according to a recent Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine study. See also 4 Science-Backed Benefits of a Gratitude Practice
How To Build a Gratitude Tree
To share the joy-bringing benefits of thankfulness with friends and family, craft an easy, interactive gratitude tree for your holiday centerpiece.
- Fill a glass vase with cranberries or pebbles, and in its center prop up a tall branch with offshoots (find one outside or at a crafts store).
- Cut leaf shapes out of autumnal-colored paper, punching a hole along the bottom edge of each.
- Put a leaf at each place setting with the guest’s name on one side; at mealtime, ask everyone to write something they’re thankful for on the other side of their leaf and then reveal what they wrote.
- Hang the leaves from the “tree” with ribbon or twine.
See also YJ Gratitude Challenge: Build a Simple Daily Practice
