Do you watch football every Thanksgiving? Does an elf sit on your shelf before Christmas? Or do you spin a dreidel on Chanukah? We all have our traditions to personalize the holidays and make them feel special.
But some traditions are more common than others. So we want to know... what holiday traditions do you follow each year? Tell us to win a $50 Etsy gift card and a Thanksgiving Thankful Tree Kit!
To get you started, here are some of the non-traditional traditions SheSpeaks staff members celebrate during the holidays:
We do a Thanksgiving Tree every year. Everyone gets leaves and they write what they are thankful for and then we hang them from branches that we collect together. It's very sweet. - Aliza Enter below to win your own Thanksgiving Thankful Tree Kit, plus a $50 Etsy gift card!
Each kid gets a new ornament for our Christmas tree every year. We buy it from a store that has tons of ornaments - they even write their name and year on it. My kids are now 21 and 16 so we have tons of them, everything from soccer, gymnastics and baseball to graduations and driving. - Missy
Instead of gifts every night for Chanukah, we spend some nights doing activities with the kids, usually involving food and a giant mess. We've tried making sushi (a sticky-rice mess), fondue (a chocolate mess) and pasta (the biggest mess of all - flour was everywhere!) - Susan
We make homemade pizza on Christmas Eve, for every year of my life I can remember except one! We even make the crust from scratch and everyone picks their own toppings. Even my teenage son calls it "the best tradition ever." - Carol
My New Year's Eve tradition is to make a fancy dinner at home and skip the crowds. In addition to getting some decadent food, we try a new signature cocktail, candles & mood music so we can feel like we've transformed our house into a swanky restaurant. - Emily
*One lucky commenter, Tweeter or Instagrammer will be chosen at random to receive a $50 Etsy gift card and a Thanksgiving Thankful Tree (if the tree is sold out, the prize will instead be a $75 Etsy gift card.) Giveaway is open through November 25th, 2018 to U.S. residents at least 18 years of age. Entrants must be a member of SheSpeaks. If you are not a member, click here to join. Winner will be notified by email.
Update: Thanks to all who entered! Congrats to our winner, SheSpeaks member peter26.
#vegan feast!
Baking and decorating the Christmas tree
We always bake frosted sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. I love them!
My brothers and sisters and their families always spend Christmas Eve together with a meatless dinner.
To get prepared for all the traditional holiday foods we'll be eating over next couple of months like turkey, ham & lots of pumpkin flavored stuff, we take a whole week & eat out at our favorite restaurants that we pretty much know we won't be visiting until after the holidays. It's a long list including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster & Chinese!
take time to relax
On Christmas Eve, we hang out by the tree listening to Christmas music and then open one present.
My favorite tradition is taking my daughters to the Hallmark store to choose an ornament. I started when they were babies, but they now choose their own ornament. All the ornaments are still in the boxes, waiting for their first Christmas tree. They both have a wonderful collection. My oldest daughter will soon be married. I can't wait to see her first tree!
Really love decorating the tree with my family
We visit the zoo to see the lights and sing to the animals
I'm a lover not a fighter, BUT fighting for the turkey drumstick(s) is a favorite family tradition.
a baking day with my daughter and sister in law
I like putting out the christmas tree and ornaments.
We didn't have any holiday traditions in my household besides putting up and decorating our tree. I do enjoy watching holiday movies after we eat a holiday meal.
We always put up the Christmas tree after we have Thanksgiving dinner.