Ongoing thanks and our little handcraft

Thanksgiving day is past, but in our family, the sense of closeness stays strong with back-to-back birthdays for five days straight, ending tomorrow with my husband's birthday.  So our Thanksgiving decorations are still up and our hearts are warm with gratitude for each family member celebrated. 

While my sons are thankful that there have been few homeschool lessons over the past few days, I am thankful for the time we have together because of homeschooling.  One of the aspects of a Charlotte Mason education that I am implementing in our lessons is handwork.  Handwork is not making throw-away crafts, but taking time to make things that are useful. For our Thanksgiving feast, we made napkin rings that also serve as place cards. We will use them over and over again.

We cut a paper towel ring in to three inch pieces, glued on yarn, then watercolor leaves.  It was an easy project that I am sure we will do again in a few weeks for Christmas, replacing the leaves with fir trees or stars.