Make clay gratitude leaves with kids for thankful trees and gratitude crafts. (First published November 4, 2017; this post is updated and republished to improve the content.)
Here’s a craft tutorial to guide you through the delightful process of creating clay gratitude leaves. Turning marbled clay fall leaves into gratitude leaves with words of thanks stamped or written upon them is a fun autumn-themed Thanksgiving craft for kids and adults.
These versatile leaf ornaments are perfect for adorning fall crafts and DIY projects, such as gratitude or thankful trees, wreaths, and mobiles. DIY thankful leaves add a charming touch to your autumn-themed décor and become beautiful reminders of what we’re most thankful for.
First, use the instructions below to turn marbled-clay autumn leaves into gratitude leaf crafts. Then, use the hand-crafted thankful leaves to transform fall-themed DIY projects and autumn home decor into gratitude crafts.
In other words, use the gratitude leaf ornaments to make a thankful tree, wreath, garland, or gratitude mobile. Simple fall crafts and DIY projects like these offer a simple way to create an attitude of gratitude at home or in the classroom for Thanksgiving. You may also like this list of Thanksgiving Gratitude Activities and Crafts.
Related: The Best Thankful Trees for Thanksgiving
Marbled Clay Leaves Gratitude Craft for Thanksgiving
My daughter and I made marbled clay handprint jewelry dishes several years ago. At the time, we thought making clay gratitude leaves using the same process would be a fun new way to decorate our thankful tree. So we decided to give it a try, and we were right!
Marbled clay gratitude leaves make lovely gratitude leaf ornaments for thankful trees, wreaths, gratitude mobiles, and more! The autumn colors look gorgeous when marbled together and make beautiful leaf ornaments hanging from bare branches that look just as amazing on gratitude wreaths and garlands.
Related: Turkey Leaf Lanterns Thanksgiving Craft
Clay Gratitude Leaf Craft Supplies:
- Polymer clay
- Rolling pin or acrylic clay roller
- Precision glass cutting mat
- Leaf cookie cutters, or try THESE
- Alphabet stamps (Or write words of thankfulness onto baked gratitude leaf ornaments with a paint pen or Sharpie.)
(Or write words of thankfulness onto baked gratitude leaf ornaments with a 
Related: Windy Fall Leaves Sensory Bottle
How to Make Clay Gratitude Leaf Ornaments for Your Thankful Tree
One easy way to teach children about thankfulness is to make marbled-clay gratitude leaf ornaments for your thankful tree, wreath, garland, or gratitude mobile. Use the easy step-by-step instructions below to make gorgeous clay autumn leaf crafts with words of thanks written upon them. Please read through the instructions before starting this DIY gratitude project so you know the steps involved and what to expect. You might also enjoy Gratitude Books for Kids that inspire thankfulness.
1. Make marbled clay Fall Leaves
- First, make gorgeous marbled clay autumn leaves with the step-by-step leaf craft tutorial–> HERE.
- Once you have made fall leaf crafts, please return to this page to learn two ways to turn them into gratitude leaves for your Thanksgiving decor.
- There is a link to get back to this post in the directions to make it easy for you to return to these directions. 😉
2. Stamp or write words of thanks or Gratitude on each leaf ornament.
- Choose one of the options below to transform marbled clay autumn leaves into thankful leaves:
- Either stamp autumn leaf crafts with letters to spell words of gratitude on each leaf before you bake them, as shown in the photographs.
- Or write thankful words and phrases onto each thankful leaf once finished.
- In other words, if you want your clay thankful leaves hand-stamped, use alphabet stamps to write words of thanks on them before putting them into the oven to bake and harden.
- Or, write gratitude words on them with a paint pen or permanent marker after baking. Please wait until they are cool or no longer warm to the touch before writing what you are grateful for onto the clay leaves.
after baking. Please wait until they are cool or no longer warm to the touch before writing what you are grateful for onto the clay leaves.Related: Year-Round Gratitude Activities and Crafts
Helping Kids Make Gratitude Leaf Ornaments
Teaching children to be grateful for what they have opens the space for abundance to flow into their lives and can create an attitude of gratitude in the home or classroom.
First, teach children about thankfulness with gratitude activities and crafts, such as our gratitude journal prompts, thankful turkey printable, or this fun gratitude coloring page.
Next, please encourage them to use their own words of gratitude to stamp or write on the marbled clay fall leaves. If your children are not reading and writing yet, ask them what they feel most thankful for, and then help them stamp or write what they say onto the leaf ornaments.
Although my daughter cannot write, she wanted to stamp some of the clay leaves herself. She made a lot of leaves with smiling faces to represent happiness. I showed her how to use the colon and parenthesis that came with our alphabet stamps to make them, and away she went!
Writing on the leaves makes it possible to create a thankful tree with clay gratitude leaves as a Thanksgiving advent or an interactive Thanksgiving centerpiece. Learn more about thankful trees and their uses in Thankful Tree Tradition Ideas for Thanksgiving.
Related: 10 Ways to Have Fun Outside with Fall Leaves
DIY Clay Gratitude Leaf Ornaments
This thankful craft project is ideal for enhancing the atmosphere of gratitude in your home or classroom, making it a meaningful activity for children and adults. Use marbled clay gratitude leaves as ornaments to decorate a thankful tree, wreath, or garland.
Click on the link to see a thankful tree we made with the gratitude leaves shown in the photographs for this post.
Or, make a thankful tree with real preserved autumn leaves. Or try this printable gratitude tree or this thankful turkey placemat to color.
And don’t forget to look at 20 Thanksgiving traditions for more fun things to do on Thanksgiving! You may also enjoy this Fall Bucket List of Fun Fall Activities.
If You Liked This Gratitude Thanksgiving Craft, You Might Also Like
- 40 Thanksgiving Gratitude Crafts and Activities
- Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
- Top 10 Thankful Trees
- Turkey Lantern Thanksgiving Craft
- 20 Thanksgiving Traditions and Fun Things to Do on Thanksgiving
- Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make
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