Thanksgiving is a time of year where we can be thankful for those around us, whether it is a favorite teacher or a family member living far away. Thanksgiving also kicks off a busy holiday season – taking us all the way to New Year’s Eve – that’s all about welcoming our favorite people into our homes. To welcome your Thanksgiving visitors, have your child create a rich autumn banner that can be made during quiet craft time.
Materials
- Cardstock (in a variety of fall colors)
- Tissue paper in fall colors – reds, yellows, oranges, etc. – cut into 1″ pieces
- Pencil
- Craft glue
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Twine
- Paper straw
- Clear tape
- Markers
- Other embellishments (optional)
Instructions
- To start your tissue tree, begin with the tree trunk and the banner set up. Cut a piece of brown cardstock into a rectangle shape. Decide where the tree should go on the paper and glue into place with a glue stick. From the same piece of brown cardstock, fold two pieces in half and tape to the back of the banner. These will be your hangers.
- Next, make the outline of your tree top to fill in with the tissue. The fun thing about this project is that each tree is one a kind – it’s all about how you design it!
- For the tissue application, wrap one of the tissue squares around the eraser end of your pencil. Dab the end of the pencil into the craft glue and then onto the outline of the tree top. Keep repeating this process until the outline of the tree has been completed. From there, fill in the rest of the tree top. Let the glue dry completely.
- Once your glue has dried on the banner, add any additional embellishments you’d like, such as the current year, a greeting or fun doodles.
- Finish your banner by threading a piece of twine through your paper straw. Put the straw through the banner’s hangers and then knot the twine.
