Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's no rush to buy gifts, no fireworks to illegally amass, no Easter baskets to fill. You just get to spend a day being thankful. And full.
This year, I wanted to celebrate the season by taking that gratitude and showcasing it inside of a simple album that everyone in my family and extended family can contribute to.
The idea is simple. I first read about it back in a special issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine called Mini Albums in an Evening from a thanksgiving photo album designed by the talented Celeste Smith. You invite family and friends to write what they are thankful for on a card, and pair it with a photo of that person, and save them in a simple 4 x 6 photo album.
So off to Target I went to pick up a little 4 x 6 album for $3.99.
Next, I designed my journaling cards, printed several copies onto my favorite white cardstock, and trimmed them out.
I chose one sheet of patterned paper to best match the album and the orange color I'd picked for both my type and my circle tag.
I added a small strip of patterned paper to the cards, to dress them up a little. Of course, you could add a date stamp, a small photo, embellishments—whatever you like.
I popped the title page into the album…
…and I designed one optional title page, too.
And now the album is ready to be filled up with gratitudes saved and photos of people that I love.
All I have to do now is place the blank journaling cards on our Thanksgiving table and ask everyone who's there to grab a card and jot down a few things they are thankful for.
This would make a wonderful gift to give to whoever is hosting your Thanksgiving celebration.
Of course, you don't have to limit this idea to Thanksgiving Day. You could make the whole week of Thanksgiving—or even the entire month of November—as a time to encourage your family to use the cards to write down daily gratitudes.
Take this idea and run with it! It's a simple concept that can be adapted many different ways.
Or, if you want to run with it and don't want to do the leg work, you can buy these templates at Designer Digitals as part of my Thankful Album Project set.
(Files come in layered PSD docs for Photoshop Elements and Photoshop users (including 3 size options to create circle tags for your album), and PDFs (in black ink only) for non-PS users. For you PSE newbies, there are instructions included showing how to change the colors of the elements to customize the project.)
Now for the giveaway part: I have three of these digital sets to give away. If you'd like to be entered to win one, simply leave your name in the comments, and I'll draw a winner tonight at 7 p.m. CST. Thanks, and good luck!
And be sure to check back tomorrow morning for a REALLY thankful giveaway I've got planned that you won't want to miss.
[comments are now closed. check back for the winners.]
