As Thanksgiving is this week, and my kitchen chalkboard still had the ‘Bloom where you are planted‘ message on it with lovely spring tulips… I decided it was for sure time to change the message over for the season. But since Christmas and it’s message will be right around the corner, I didn’t want to spend too much time working on detailed artwork just to erase it in a week. So, here’s my simple Thanksgiving chalkboard message…
Even though it’s simple and I was able to do it in a few minutes, the message in all its simplicity is poignantly true. I read something recently, I think it was on one of the ‘quote signs’, that said something like “there’s always, always, always something to be thankful for”. If you think a bit about that, it’s really quite a profound thought and very challenging to be faithful to that conviction.
Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch Christian, who along with her family were sent to the concentration camps in WWII for hiding Jews, writes in her book called ‘The Hiding Place’ about the experience and how she and her sister were convicted by the verse in 1 Thessalonians that says: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” And there they were in the horrid atrocities of the concentration camp thanking God, even for the fleas their barracks were teeming with. Later on they realized how God used those fleas to actually protect them from the guards! If she can be thankful, sincerely thankful in those circumstances, what on earth would be the reason I can’t be thankful?!
Which brings me to the chalkboard message:
I have this large chalkboard from Ballard Designs that I bought several years ago. Since we moved into and renovated our 100 year old house last year, I’ve had it hanging on the end cap of the fridge, and I change out the message on it every so often, usually about 3 or 4 times a year. (although the spring bouquet of tulips did last a really long time this last time)
On Pinterest I found a similar wreath and ‘give thanks’ message inside the wreath.
I started out with that.
Then, I added a few fun things in the top corners… again getting my inspiration from Pinterest…
For the bottom, below the wreath
a super simple pumpkin sketched with a few more acorns and oak leaves finish the picture.
As I wanted the words to ‘pop’ the most, I dipped my chalk in water before I wrote that out. Then I used the same treatment for the berries on the wreath. but as I moved further and further away from the central message, I used dry chalk to have it have a much softer finish than that bold chalk center that wetting the chalk caused.
The artwork isn’t stunning… it’s just a quick Autumn themed sketch. It’s the message in the middle that’s hopefully the ‘stunning’ part… stunning to our hearts… to my heart.
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Want to read more?
Click here to see my other chalkboard and hand lettering projects.
Click here to get some tips on Autumn arranging.
Click here to see more of the kitchen in our 100 year old house.
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