Fill Your Cup: Use this craft to collect your grateful moments

Recently, I made gratitude jars for 17 friends I was really missing while in quarantine. My aunt gave me a box of three dozen jars and said to decorate them with the supplies she gave me, and once I was done, we’d split them. I would deliver, half and she would deliver the other half. Although time consuming to make 36, making one for myself was pretty easy.

The whole idea behind these “gratitude jars” is to help remind us of all that we’re thankful for during these hard times. Missing people, places, events, and memories, this jar helps me collect all those thoughts. When I miss a friend, I write their name down and put it in my jar. When I miss going to a certain restaurant or going to the gym, I write it down and put it in my jar. When I miss the memories I had in high school or the one’s that were taken from my class, like prom and graduation, I write them down and put it in my jar. Get the jist?

This jar serves to remind me of all the things I took for granted. All the things I love in my life. And all the things I can’t wait to do when all of this is over. It makes me think of happier times beyond these four walls of my bedroom. The way I see it, my jar is keeping the good times until we’re in them again.

If you’re looking to make your own gratitude jar, here’s a few pointers to get you started!

Supplies:

The” Must Haves”:

  • Jar (if you don’t have a jar, you can use a cup!)
  • A quote
  • Tape
  • Paper
  • Pen

The “Extras”:

  • Scissors
  • Hole Puncher
  • Ribbon (regular or the plastic curling ribbon, or both!)
  • Stickers
  • Whatever other decorative materials you have in the house!

 

For starters, look for a quote that you want to put on your jar. You can tape it on there or tie it on with a ribbon like I did. The quote I used was “Life is a gift! Unwrap it with gratitude and love.” 

Here are some other ideas for quotes you could slap on your jar:

  • “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Anonymous
  • “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” – Lionel Hampton
  • “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” – Willie Nelson
  • “The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” – Mary Davis

After I found my quote I put it on a colorful piece of paper to make it pop, punched a hole at the top, and I tied it around the jar with a ribbon. To add a little more flare to my jar, I also used curling ribbon to make it more festive.

To finish, I cut up little slips of paper that I could write on and fold up to put in my jar. Tip: Using more colorful sheets of paper will make the jar look decorated without adding much to the jar’s exterior.

If you’d like to add more to decorate your jar, get creative and use whatever you can find around the house such as stickers, paint, markers or whatever else you could possibly think of.

 

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