By Morgan Sprigler
TRADITION, AS DEFINED IN THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, IS “A BELIEF OR BEHAVIOR PASSED DOWN WITHIN A GROUP OR SOCIETY WITH SYMBOLIC MEANING.” CAN YOU THINK OF A TRADITION YOU HAVE CARRIED ON FROM YOUR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS OR ANYONE SIGNIFICANT IN YOUR LIFE? I CAN THINK OF SEVERAL, AND WHEN I DO, SO MANY MEMORIES FLOAT AROUND IN MY HEAD. EACH ONE LEAVING ME WITH A SWEET FEELING OF NOSTALGIA.
Last year, I decided I would begin my own tradition for Thanksgiving dinner. My family loved it (or at least pretended to). I’m sure you have seen the Pinterest instructions on how to create a sharpie plate, mug, etc. Well, I borrowed this idea and went another direction with it.
Supplies:
White Ceramic Plates (Dollar Store/Big Lots)
Porcelain Marker (I used Vitrea, which worked much better than a Sharpie. Let dry before baking.)
Oven (Bake at 300 for 40 minutes)
With a porcelain marker, I created a large dinner plate for each family member, filled with words of affirmation, accomplishments and successes for the year. They read something like this, “Before you fill your belly, let me fill your head! This year, you celebrated 32 years of wedded bliss.”
To be placed on top of the dinner plate, I created a salad plate with each family member’s monogram and some little, gold dots.
The evening of Thanksgiving dinner, I decided turn my project into a guessing game! As I was setting the table, I mixed up the monogram salad plates to be placed on top of the dinner plates. By going around the table, each person read the dinner plate aloud, and we all guessed who the plate belonged to. This was such a fun way to recognize each other and celebrate our successes as a family!
At the end of the evening, I wrapped up everyone’s plates and sent them home to be enjoyed throughout the year. (They’re dishwasher safe!)
The holidays are about to sneak up on us, dear readers. I urge you to create a tradition if you don’t already have one. Family memories are priceless!
XO,
Morgan
