Holiday Inspired Gratitude Painted Rocks that will change Family Meal Time Forever!
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Make some new family traditions by making this gratitude painted rocks for your dinner table. This Holiday Inspired Gratitude Painted Rocks craft was a post that I created in November of 2017 to showcase Thanksgiving painted rock ideas. Little did I know it created a shift in our family routine.
By providing my family with some simple questions on painted rocks, has changed our dinner time routine for the better.
Here’s what happened…
Every day, each of my family members picked a painted rock to read aloud and everyone will chime in with an honest thoughtful answer though sometimes humorous. Be prepared, because you never know what your kids will say!
It’s made family dinners more interesting, fun, and more importantly, I’m connecting with my family (device-free). These easy and fun painted rocks can bring meaningful conversations back to the dinner table at any time of the year!
A year later…
It’s been a year since that post and we still are enjoying this new adapted family meal time routine. Over the year, I have rotated new gratitude rocks to keep things fresh and new.
Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and any occasion for meeting around the dinner table!
Supply List:
- Smooth Rocks
- Acrylic Paint
- Paint Pens
- Paintbrushes
- Modge Podge
- Tissue Paper
- 8.5×11 copy paper
- Scissors
- Scotch tape
- Printer
Instructions for Gratitude Painted Rocks
- Start by preparing the rocks by washing in soapy water and leave out to air dry.
- Before painting your rocks, decide on a color scheme that will compliment your dinner table color scheme. I decided on a pretty burnt orange, ivory, metallic gold, and garnet color to give a nice fall look for my table setting.
- Apply 1 or 2 coats of paint and let it dry completely.
- Meanwhile, work on making meaningful questions that your family will enjoy sharing at the dinner table. Here are the ones that I choose for my painted rocks:
What family member are you thankful for today?
What is one thing that you are thankful for?
What is something that makes you happy?
What is something about your teacher that you are grateful for?
What memory are you grateful for?
What change are you grateful for?
FYI… I choose to print out my questions on tissue paper due to the small size of the rocks that I used and the fact that my tiny hand lettering did not look good to me when I was practicing on paper. (Make note to self…practice tiny hand lettering!) It’s up to you if you want to try this technique. This was my first time using the tissue paper decoupage on painted rocks, and I will definitely Cut your tissue paper to fit your 8.5×11 copy paper and tape the edges. Depending on your printer settings, I had my set on best quality, and I had to print it out a couple of times because of the ink smearing. Once the ink is completely dry, cut out questions to fit your painted rocks.
Need some Inspiration? Check out 167 Inspirational Quotes for Kindness Rocks and 151 Inspirational Quotes to Rock your Painted Rock
5. Use Modge Podge matte to brush lightly over your tissue paper onto the painted rock. Start from the center of the tissue paper and brush outwards. I did have some crinkled tissue paper on the more rounded stones, but it can be smoothed out with a dry brush. Again, let your painted rocks dry.
6. Complete your painted rocks with any finishing touches. Lastly, add a coat of sealer of your choice. I used a Krylon clear gloss.
Share with me some of your favorite family traditions? If you have some holiday inspired painted rocks that you would like to share, go to our community group page on facebook.