One of the most special traditions ever - gratitude rolls! Don't miss blessing your family! (This is the original source.)The Original Source of this wonderful family tradition!

Enjoy instilling more memorable traditions into your home by searching my Thanksgiving tradition posts with lots of simple, meaningful ideas.

12 Free Thanksgiving Printables

As we pour out gratitude, our soul feeds joy.

It’s that time of the year, when we focus on feeding our tummies, yet what’s more important than feeding the hearts of our children with one of the most important character qualities –  a heart of thankfulness.

These Gratitude Rolls put a fun “foodie” twist to expressing our gratefulness in a unique and creative way that will impact your children for years to come. This Thanksgiving tradition is similar in purpose to my Leaves of Thanks tradition, (free printable) which I shared earlier, yet these Thanksgiving traditions shouldn’t be saved for only special occasions, you can enjoy this encouragement any time of the year.

Today we made these Gratitude Rolls “Just because,” but I envision using this during a birthday celebration and have everyone write something they love about the special birthday “blessing.”

the original source of One of the most special traditions ever - gratitude rolls! Don't miss blessing your family!

Gratitude Rolls – This simple tradition, first shared here in 2009, is a fun way for your family to express what they are grateful for during your Thanksgiving dinner.

As guests arrive have each person write a few things that they are grateful for on small sheets of parchment paper. I’ve used paper before, but if you choose to do that, then use parchment paper to protect it from the dough. I used pens, but you may purchase food Safe markers.

One of our Thanksgiving food traditions is taking a little extra time to make homemade butter horn rolls, but Store bought Crescent Rolls works perfectly without the extra work.

Remember, it’s not about having the perfect meal, it’s about celebrating life together.

Place your gratitude paper slips on the dough wedges, roll them up into the crescent shape and follow the baking directions. When the rolls are served, pass them around and enjoy savoring the moment as each guest tears into their hot roll and then shares the written gratitude statement. If you want to add a fun twist, keep the notes anonymous and have everyone try to guess who wrote what.

Lessons learned: Since my daughters did the rolling, they wrapped the dough so tightly and made them only bite size. To avoid the paper sticking to the roll,  just use parchment paper.

If  children are helping, they will be so excited to take the rolls out of the oven before it’s time. If you do this, the dough will stick a bit to the paper, as witnessed above. They’re still edible and readable, but just a lesson learned.

Enjoy this fun new tradition, while reaffirming the importance of showing gratitude in our everyday lives.

“We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” (Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis

Gratitude sign

Our family is big on all kinds of special traditions, so browse my traditions category for more meaningful (and stress free) ideas to strengthen family ties. 

Don’t miss out on some of my favorite free Thanksgiving printables, our 24 Thanksgiving Conversation Starters or a few of our family’s most loved Thanksgiving Dishes.

We love celebrating this special day! 

My gift to you: Free printable with over 240 Family Conversation Starters.

Give them as meaningful gifts this year. This has graced our table for years.