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.
making lots of cookies
We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Thanksgiving morning while we're all in the kitchen making the final dishes for dinner. We're all crowded in the kitchen cracking jokes and rubbing elbows. Its always such a fun time for the memories!
Being with family and baking.
My favorite holiday tradition is that all individuals present Christmas morning partake in making Christmas breakfast/brunch while being packed into a tiny kitchen meant for two. So many laughs and so much fun!
My family always watches the Thanksgiving Day and Christmas parades on TV. We also share holiday jokes at our meal.
Playing family games on Christmas Eve.
I buy Christmas ornaments every year for the family members, with the year on it
I buy Christmas ornaments every year for the family members, with the year on it
walking our Christas in the park every year with my daughter- it's our special alone time amid the craziness of the season
My Favorite Holiday Tradition Is That Everybody from Our Family Member In Our House Has To Put The Tree For Christmas Up , Having A Awesome Family Time While Doing it And Spending Some Family Time
The children and I deliver foods baskets to families who have fallen on hard times
I like to bake cookies with the kids
baking our family Swedish coffee cakes with my daughters. We have such fun and i'm now doing it with my grand children too!
We will be doing our thanksgiving secret Santa name drawing
We've had the same holiday traditions for years. We always go to my sisters house on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We laugh and enjoy each others company so much. It's always a good time when we finally get together because we're all always so busy doing other things.