Creating a Gratitude Jar
Welcome to the first month of Ten on the 10th! I’m joining a group of bloggers sharing on the 10th of each month a DIY idea, recipe, gift, or beauty and fashion ideas all for $10 or less. Read along for a fun blog hop and a special thanks to Stacey of Poofing the Pillows for organizing a great group!
What better month to begin a Gratitude Jar than January! In November I shared 5 Ways to Finding Thankful and admitted this does not always come easy to me. I’m excited to have run across the idea of a Gratitude Jar after sweet Ashley, at Peaceful Simple Life, left a sweet comment on my blog and I hopped over to find more about her. She and her husband filled a gratitude jar in 2016 and opened it on New Year’s and shared the contents out loud! I absolutely love this idea and really believe there will be both laughter and tears as I look back through a years worth of gratitude with my family.
It could not be simpler and I had everything I needed at home! I created a fun little label on Pic Monkey using a favorite from our family photoshoot and attached to the jar with Modge Podge. I used scrapbook paper to keep things colorful and added the year with some stickers. A smidgen of ribbon to pull it all together and I could not be more excited!
I am fairly confident this took me less than 15 minutes to pull together from start to finish!
The best part? I will not have to complete this project alone but instead will count on my family to fill the jar. My girl was on board and ready to drop in the first deposit!
Some days finding something to be thankful for is definitely hard but it always pulls things into perspective and grateful. I love that writing it down makes it a little more intentional. I will add fun markers and make sure paper strips are available nearby.
Have you ever filled a Gratitude Jar? I’m loving these ideas found on Pinterest too! The O.M.G (Our Monthly Gratitude) Jar where they have a little party every month to celebrate and read their jar. I also love the idea of a Favorite Part of the Day jar for younger children who might not understand gratefulness just yet but could definitely focus on what as positive in their day.
Click the image for all my faves!
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Shelly, I love this idea so much! I think I may be creating my own this week with the kids!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
I saw this online and I want to do this also. You made your jar sooo pretty!
Girl, you need to make a BIGGER jar!
Lol…I'm going to make this write really small. 🙂 You may be correct though so we may just have to have a quarterly reading instead of once a year!
Your girls would love it Sarita…..so super easy!
So easy Shelbee and your kids would have fun with it!
Love this idea, Shelly! Yours is so cute. Visited all the other blogs. Love it!
Love this idea- I bet my kids would love doing this.
Love this idea, never took the time to do something like this but I think it would be a fun way to spend New Years reading about the previous year. I normally begin the day just by giving thanks in prayer but I'm thinking this would be a great addition.
First of all, super great idea for series! Second of all cutest jar in the whole wide world, especially with your sweet faces on it and third what a brilliant idea to expel the gratitude we're feeling in our hearts!
I have seen these before and have wanted to make one!! I love the way you dolled up the jar with your family photo. I bet you'll find so many things to add to the list. I think we will make one here too. Thanks for sharing this sweet idea. ♥
Such a sweet idea. I started writing down little bits from our day in my planner this year. But having somewhere to focus on being grateful is such a great idea. I am loving this linkup too.
Perfect way to begin the New Year with a mindset of gratitude.
Love your creativity and this precious jar with a photo of your darling family.
Blessings to all!
Jemma
Shelly, what a wonderful project, not just for how easy the actual DIY is, but for the thought and the purpose behind it. It makes you put grateful daily prayers out in the open for those you love to see. I'm looking forward to seeing what other projects you share on Ten on the 10th.
This is the cutest. I'd love to make one for us. I wonder if I have everything I need on hand… odds are yes! #crafterproblems
Girl! This is precious!!! Great job!!!
This is awesome! On the list for this weekend!
Lurve!
This is such a great idea! I love the creative way you dressed up the jar, and it will be so fun to look through the gratitude notes later in the year. We're doing our ticket stub jar again this year. It was a really fun way to collect memento's from all the things we did as a family.
I love this idea and such a simple project too.
What a great idea! Love that in the end you can read them all together. We have a penny jar with a cute saying. You have to think of something to be grateful for every time you drop one in. It's a challenge when you have a handful!! LOL
Such a cute idea!
Your jar is so cute! We tried doing this last year but we were so bad about actually adding our scraps of paper to it that by spring we only had two or three gratitude slips in there.
My family has done this as well over the years. I have always loved the idea and concept. When my three daughters was still at home on New Year's Eve we each would make a New Year Resolution and put in an envelope and then the next New Year's eve we would open it the envelope and read what each of us had done with that resolution we made. The kicker was though that our New Year Resolution had to be something that we would accomplish that would benefit someone else but would bring Glory to the Lord. Each year I was always amazed at how the Lord worked in our lives. Thanks for sharing today the gratitude jar. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
I love that idea Cindy! A little tmi…but when I was 14 we wrote ourselves a letter at a church NYE party and addressed to ourselves and the youth minister randomly mailed them back to us during the year. My daddy had a bit of an alcohol problem and I had prayed that he would be able to tackle it…I kid you not, the week after he entered rehab that letter arrived at my house. It has definitely always been one of those God moments I've never forgotten. Wishing you a beautiful weekend!
Girl…I'm sure Carly Jo and I will be the ones contributing….that's okay maybe the two of us will have our own special little date night in December! 🙂
I LOVE that! I just love hearing what other people find to do to keep gratitude at the forefront.
We really need to do something like that too Tanya….of course it will not be movies because I am not sure I saw a single one at a theatre last year..gasp!
Haha…right? I seriously need to work on purging this area FIRST!
Super excited Stacey put this group together!
Thanks for giving me a reason to think of a fun little project Stacey!
Wow ! Now that's totally a God thing .
Making it was super simple Lisa….now….getting my family to actually use it is the challenge. 🙂 Hope you are having a super weekend.
I actually talked to the ladies about making it a "real" monthly linkup. I think it would be a fun one. Hope you are having a super weekend Beth!
Thank you Cathy! The real challenge is actually writing something down each day for sure!
It would definitely be a fun craft for them while you guys are full of snow days!
I really am hoping it encourages our family to all be more mindful every day of what we are thankful for….so far just me and the mini seem to be participating.