Tuesday, December 16, 2008

And then she won the award for the coolest Christmas tradition ever

Yesterday I visited Granny T and she shared with me the details of her special Christmas tradition.

Every Christmas while everyone is seated around the table and talking after dinner, she has everyone (children and adults) draw a small picture on the tablecloth right where they're sitting and sign their name with that year's date. It can be a Christmas drawing or a drawing of something significant that happened to you that year. This is such a great idea simply because it creates a personal, permanent memory that you get to revisit each year.

It's fun, easy, and involves no pre-planning or long list of materials. You could use a new tablecloth every year or just keep adding to the same one year after year.

Granny T takes it a step further and does what she calls a "simple stitch embroidery" over the drawing to make them stand out more. Being the domestic goddess that I am, I'm opting out of anything involving a needle and thread and am simply using permanent fabric markers. Granny T ensured me that this would work just as well. Although in the back of her mind she was probably questioning my womanhood.

I was able to take a few photos of her tablecloth to share with you.

This is the drawing M to the Izz-A drew when he was nine years old.




As you can see, most people have a lot of fun with it.


But for others it's always a competition.



Matt's cousin, Ashley, was only two years old when she drew this. Her mother then wrote her name and the year beside her masterpiece.




Granny T's not a big fan of having her picture taken but I assured her it was for the greater good. She's one of the sweetest ladies I know and I just love her.

Anyone can start this tradition in their family, even if you don't have children just yet...even newlyweds. Think how fun it will be to revisit your past drawings each year.

Now for those of you who just cannot imagine not being able to eat on your fancy, shmancy holiday tablecloth, take a breath and do a sigh of relief knowing that you could also have a separate table set up for this tradition. Guests could do it as they enter your home or maybe even make it part of your Christmas Eve ritual.

Just be sure to buy a thick (maybe even double-lined) tablecloth and permanent markers made specifically for fabric, like Sharpie® Rub-a-Dub® markers.

If all goes well, I'll try to post pics of our first tablecloth drawings. Although that puts a lot of pressure on me to learn how to draw something other than a candycane.

42 comments:

Kristy said...

What a cool idea!
And how cute was Matt's nativity scene picture?????

Lianna Knight said...

What an awesome idea!!! So creative...way to go Granny T!!! Can't wait to see yours :)

Chic Runner said...

Cute idea, my bf's aunt does this too, and it was fun reading what people had wrote in the past too... There weren't that many pictures on hers though, that's a great idea to add.

Mrs Anne said...

i LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

I want to implement something like this... how special and smart!!!

What a sweet woman she is!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this idea! Thanks for posting it. (And I think the tablecloth is very fancy) :)

Jenni said...

That is SUCH an awesome idea! And what a lovely family heirloom!

EJ & Roo said...

LOVE IT!!!!!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful tradition to start!! Thanks for sharing!! I'm going to start this with our family this year!! Thanks again!

Dana said...

That is a VERY cool idea!

Megan said...

Seriously, very cool idea!!!! I can't even begin to imagine going back over the tablecloth with a 'simple stitch embroidery' Thank you Lord for Fabric Markers! :-)

Girl Meets Beau said...

What an awesome idea! I love all the drawings and the fact that she embroidered them later. I can't wait to see what yours looks like :)

Anonymous said...

That's very creative and looks great. Needles and thread and I don't get along either. :)

Eve said...

OH MY GOODNESS... that really is the ABSOLUTE BEST holiday tradition EVER! I can't wait to steal the idea and put it into action!
Thanks so much for sharing!

Kat said...

Yep. That definitely wins for the coolest tradition.
I've heard of someone doing that too, but I can't remember who or where I heard it.
That is such a fabulous idea!

Anonymous said...

Wow, this is absolutely one of the very coolest ideas we have seen! Thanks for sharing it, especially all the pictures!

tp

DietCokeStraightUp said...

I love this idea!! Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog. I'm now following yours! Follow mine! Looking forward to getting to know each other!

~Mrs. Guru~ said...

Such a great idea!!

TheVanzants said...

What a NEAT idea - how cool to look at it in 25 years and show your grandchildren :)

Rebecca Jo said...

Absolutely LOVE it!!!!! How cool to look back at & have great memories!!! Gotta do this for sure!!!!!

Unknown said...

How precious!!!

Sassy Engineer said...

That is such an awesome idea. I love it - I think it would be fun to even have one in a guest room all year long for people to draw on - thanks for sharing :)

Mrs. Hibit said...

What a great idea! My family has always done quilts for special occasions, but never anything that gets added to year after year. I would love to do something like this.

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic idea - I love it!!

Brandi said...

Such a wonderful idea! I love it!!! Like you, I won't go near a needle. Trying to sew on a button is a task in itself for me!

Jennifer Owens said...

What a great idea!!! I love this! Your Granny rocks!

Living for the Little Moments said...

That is such a special and neat idea!

Emily said...

i love this tradition.. what a cute idea! i love it and matts nativity scene was really amazing for a ten year old! gosh how cute!

Anonymous said...

Your grandmother is extremely talented!

Bridget said...

Thanks for sharing! I did this for birthdays but never thought about Christmas! I'm so doing this...and I'm doing a post linking back to you...I love your blog! I'm a southern girl at roots also married to a guy a little red around the neck lol..so I can relate:)

Unknown said...

that is such a fantastic idea! I love it and hope to remember it when I start a family one day.
thank you!

LyndsAU said...

What a great idea. So creative. I wouldn't do the sewing, seeing as I shouldn't be allowed to hold a needle and thread :) Thanks for sharing. I def might start this when I have kids!

starfish said...

That is such an awesome tradition!

Loni's World said...

Awesome!
I will take this idea with me in my future Christmases.

Brittney said...

That is such a great idea. I wish I was creative enough to come up with things like that! This is my first time to visit your blog and your little girl is beautiful!

Thanks for the comment on my blog. The costumes were even more hilarious in person!

Mandy Rose said...

What a great idea! I am always looking for traditions to start! Thanks for sharing!

Faith said...

This is brilliant!! I love it so much. Thanks for sharing it with us!

shalay said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! What a wonderful idea for a Christmas tradition. My husband and I are newlyweds, and we might just start doing this :).

I just found your blog through one of your reader's, lovely!

Kerri said...

Too cute:-)

Abbi said...

granny T is awesome!! who new she had that in her! i love that woman! such a great idea! i can't wait and see how yall's turns out!

katie lake said...

That is hands down one of the best traditions I've heard of! You'll have to show us pictures when you start your tablecloth!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

This is an ingenius idea.

MiMi said...

What a great tradition to start and a beautiful heirloom to be passed down! Granny T really started an amazing tradition!

I'm curious what kind of markers everyone uses to write on the tablecloth?