Creating a Gratitude Banner

With autumn comes thoughts of Thanksgiving. In our home we strive to separate seasons and make them special to the children. What better way than a banner to celebrate Thanksgiving with Gratitude. The kids love to be involved, and more importantly I love the memories in our creations that will stand for years to follow. The time devoted with teaching and helping and working alongside little hands truly does bring gratitude full circle.

Materials

Wool felt

Needle and thread

Wool roving

Needle-felting tool and sponge

1/4 inch rope (for stringing)

Yarn

Eight pinecones

First, cut the felt into equal pieces, the number of which is determined by the number of letters in the word. The intended spot for our banner spans a long width, so I cut the felt pieces 4 x 7 inches but you can change the size of the flags according to the space you have available.

Using a simple whipstitch, fold the back of the felt over about an inch and sew a channel that the rope can go through.

After each flag is cut and stitched begin needlefelting each flag with a letter. My daughter and I worked together to felt each single letter from the word “gratitude” on each rectangle. We also felted a small border around the side to give it a nice finished look.

 

Next you can set your children to the task of gathering  autumn pinecones.

After the pinecones are found, your child can string the rectangular letters. One trick that we used is a bit of tape wrapped around the end of the rope to make it easier to string.

Once the letters are strung, take a bit of yarn and double wrap it around the rope and the pinecone and tie a bow. Continue across the whole banner in between each flag. My son Noah handed a pinecone each time to me, and was so pleased to be participating in this fun project.

Our banner hangs perfectly in our dining room, where we gather throughout the day for meals and all together in the evening for dinner. To me it is the perfect spot and a gentle reminder of all that we have to be thankful for.

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Erin Wallace is married to a loving husband and is the mother of two wee ones and in the process of adoption. She’s currently enjoying life with her sweet family in Virginia. She blogs at Tiny Twist Creative.