Thanksgiving Traditions and a Giveaway!

For those of us in the US, we have 22 days until Thanksgiving. We (my family) celebrate Thanksgiving by spending time with family (even when we don't want to), eating too much food (one more piece won't hurt me) and in my family, falling into a "I ate too much" stupor on the couch while we stare sleepily at a Christmas movie on tv.

Last year, because my above description is accurate in my home, I decided that we should make Thanksgiving about more than just eating and sleeping in front of the tv. We do that all the time...lol! So for starters, I go to this site: http://www.jimwegryn.com/Names/FictionNames2.htm and click on the button until I come up with a name for each of my family members that seems to fit. My parent's always come over for dinner so that means eight names all together! I then print the names out on suitably "thanksgiving-ee" card stock and my Daughter and I put the name tags at the table to indicate where people sit. Last year, I confess though, that I came up with my own name for my accident prone Mother: Runs with Scissors! We all had a good laugh over that one!

The second thing we do is prepare a Thanksgiving tree. It simply consists of an ice bucket and an interesting twig from outside. I added fall colored flowers to the base for interest. We cut out leaf shapes from fall colored cardstock, enough for there to be at least two for each person. I lay these on the table in front of the "tree." Everyone is required...yes, I said required...to write on two leaves, two different things they are thankful for. This has to be done before dinner is served. After dinner, while still at the table, we read what we have written and then hang the leaf on the tree. It was awesome last year! We got everything from "I am thankful for my video games" to "I am thankful to be alive" (my Dad is a heartattack/bypass survivor). If you don't do something like this in your family, you should try it. It costs very little and is a great way to bring the family together while counting our blessings.

Here are a couple of pictures of my tree from last year:



So now on to my first ever giveaway! I decided to have a giveaway because I have been blessed lately with winning a few of the generous ones that have been available out there in bloggy-land. It's a small way of paying it forward. For this giveaway, I made an apron (my first ever) that turned out so cute! I also have a matching potholder (purchased). The pattern is from Debbie Mumm, made for JoAnn Fabrics..



1. Due to the nature of the giveaway, it is open to US residents only. I promise, for non-US readers that I will be having a Christmas giveaway in less than a month that will be open to everyone!

2. Just leave me a comment on this post telling me your favorite Thanksgiving family tradition! Don't have one? How about your favorite side dish? I'm looking for a new one!

3. For an extra entry, in a separate comment, tell about my giveaway on your blog and leave me a link to view it!

4. Make sure you leave me an email so that I can contact you if you win. All email-less entries will be deleted.

I will be announcing the winner on Wednesday, November 12th!

Good luck!