Thanksgiving Traditions

While this time of year- so much focus for us is already towards Christmas (not to mention 2 of the 4 birthdays we have in the family are celebrated in December!), I wanted to take a second to share a few traditions we do- they don't take much time, but they are special!



A Thanksgiving Tablecloth! This is the first year we're going to be doing this. My mom took a king sized white sheet, and embroidered around the edges and put 4 turkeys in the corner with fabrics (which, also are neat because they are scraps from all the clothes she's made for the kids over the year!). We are going to take Fabric Markers and each Thanksgiving Meal, whomever we share our holiday with gets to sign their name around the year. It will be fun when it's full to look back and remember each holiday- especially because we are military and spend most of our holidays away from family, but with our military friends (aka our family away from home!)




Thankful Wreaths. I take 2 paper plates, cut out the center and then stencil my leaf cookie cutters and cut those out of construction paper (when the kids get older, they'll do that step!) and each night at dinner, the kids name something they are thankful for, and why. I've seen people do this as a giant tree on their wall or with hand prints cut out as the leaves- all cool ideas; this just works the best for us with the space and time we have.


Last: On Thanksgiving, we always go around the table and say the "ABC's" of thanks. The first person gets the letter "A" and has to say something they are thankful for that starts with A. This can be pretty funny, insightful and sweet. We sometimes do the alphabet multiple times, and I'll never forget the year my step-dad got the letter "M" (my Mom's name starts with an "M") and he yelled right away he was thankful for his "MOTHER"... over his wife. He has never lived that down. Good times, for sure!!

What are your Thanksgiving Traditions!?