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.
My favorite family tradition is making my daughter and son their favorite breakfast casserole to have on Christmas morning. They wake up to their Christmas stockings next to them (even though they are now 20 and 18 and still love doing that) bring it to the living room and dump out the contents as they eat the casserole.
I love decorating the Christmas tree with my family.
My favorite holiday tradition is lighting luminarias on Christmas eve. ( These are brown paper sacks filled with sand and a candle.) I have done this every since I was a little girl. Its very special to me and will continue to be. Also, just being with family and enjoying the time and love. 🎄✨❤
My favorite holiday tradition is when my family fires up the BBQ grill and grills like its the forth of July in December. No matter the weather, rain, snow, or cold. We BBQ for Christmas every year. I love this tradition because it was started by my grandfather before I was born. My mom and dad did it every year and when I got married, my husband and I did it every year. The taste of grilled BBQ in the winter time is the best.
I like having a big dinner,and just being together.
Decorating the tree with my daughter!
I love to spend time with family!
I am blessed with 8 amazing kids. Our favorite tradition happens every Christmas Eve. Each of the kids gets a 'special? ornament to put on the tree. Then, when they move out, they've already got a set of ornaments to take with them.
My favorite Christmas tradition is going to my oldest daughter's beautiful home on Christmas Day for a big sit down family meal with Cranberry Jelly and Pumpkin Pie being the the traditional foods at the meal. After sharing the meal we all exchnge small meaningful gifts.
I love spending the afternoon with my children decorating the Christmas tree. It's always fun to look at old ornaments and remember who made it or how we got them.
Cooking a big meal for the family and watching the Thanksgiving Day football games is a long standing tradition. We always go to bed early and get up at 5am the next morning for all day Black Friday shopping.
Waking up early Christmas morning and making cinnamon rolls while we open presents.
Love the idea of a thankful tree!
Christmas service at Church then santa comes
Our favorite holiday tradition is the Italian feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve.