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.
I love making new traditions with my family. But there are a few that never change. I love my birthday Nov. 25th because that's when we start our Christmas decorating. And now that my youngest is 3 years old we can finally put all the ornaments on the tree..lol Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I absolutely love having the family together sharing all the wonderful things to be thankful for!
we may clam chowder from scratch every thanksgiving instead of turkey
Appetizers and movies on Xmas eve!
Every year the kids and I bake a lot. I love to cook but not bake so it's an all day event when we do it. We put the tree up together and have Christmas specials on
Being with my family, enjoying a cozy meal.
we love making crawfish etoufee on christmas eve eve and use it for when friends and family drop by on christmas eve- it's warm and tastes like home!
I love seeing all the kids open their gifts! It makes me so happy! Also love baking cookies with my mom and sister!
Growing up my Granny, mom, and I had the holiday tradition of cleaning up after Thanksgiving, decorating the tree (well, they decorated Granny's tree, I slept!), and then going midnight shopping with Starbuck's in hand, all over Memphis. =) My Granny died this June of breast cancer; this will be our first year without her. Sweet traditions and memories.
Since my kids are grown, we enjoy Christmas eve Mass, and then two holiday parties. I still buy them each a new ornament every year. We can sleep in a little on Christmas morning, open gifts after everyone gets there and then spend the evening at my mom's with the extended family. Such happy times!!
We buy and decorate our Christmas tree the day after thanksgiving!
I love white elephant gift parties!
Decorating the tree as a family and we all season our turkey together
Decorating my home makes me happy.
I love going on a thanksgiving hike with my family then coming back and having hot cocoa!
We read books and drink hot tea