When Sarah Dye of Marietta and her son and daughter were youngsters, she helped them make turkeys from construction paper as part of their Thanksgiving family traditions.
Their little hands were drawn on a piece of the construction paper to make the turkey shape, and different colors of paper were cut and used to transform the fingers into wings.
"They wrote down something they were thankful for on the fingers," said Dye. "It was always mom, dad and the dog. The dog always got in there."
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SHARON BOPP The Marietta Times
Maxon Dye, 3, of Marietta and her grandmother Sarah Dye of Marietta work on a joint craft project Tuesday that will be a surprise Thanksgiving gift for Maxon’s parents. Sarah Dye plans to make this an annual Thanksgiving tradition.
Now that Dye has a 3-year-old granddaughter named Maxon who lives nearby, she's starting a new turkey themed, handcrafted Thanksgiving tradition with her.
Every Sunday after church Maxon comes to spend alone time with grandma and grandpa from noon to 4:30 p.m. That's when the crafting will take place.
Borrowing an idea she found on Pinterest.com, Dye will help Maxon trace her hand on a piece of felt.
Fact Box
Top movies for Thanksgiving Day viewing
Pieces of April (2003), starring Katie Holmes.
Son in Law (1993), staring Pauley Shore.
Dutch (1991), starring Ed O'Neill.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987), starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
Home for the Holidays (1995), starring Holly Hunter.
ThanksKilling (2009), starring a killer turkey stalking and killing college students during the Thanksgiving break.
Source: examiner.com.
Family-friendly movies to watch on Turkey Day
The Princess Bride (1987).
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973).
Little Women (1994).
Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 to 2003).
The Sound of Music (1965).
It's a Wonderful Life (1947).
March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934).
The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Source: blog.moviefone.com.
Oddball traditions for celebrating Turkey weekend
Just yell "Charge!": Multi-generational paint ball war.
Rub some sticks together: Thanksgiving campfire, in the backyard or at a park.
Ditch the stress: Easy, no-nerves Thanksgiving meals like a fancy delivery pizza or plate of homemade nachos heaped with toppings.
Forget the pearls and tie: Wear costumes to Thanksgiving dinner.
Sources: mainstreet.com, uscatholic.org/blog, news.discovery.com.
Then Maxon's parents, Bruce and Darcy Dye of Marietta, will trace one of their hands on either side of Maxon's.
After mom and dad leave, Maxon and Dye will make a felt beak for the turkey and add googly eyes.
"That'll be a little gift that she can give them for Thanksgiving, so they have a little reference as the years go by about how she's grown," Dye noted.
Dye said this is a tradition that she and Maxon will repeat every Thanksgiving.
The impulse to mark the passing of time with some kind of gathering and observance is a healthy one, say experts, no matter the differences from family to family.
Julie Hambrecht of Waverly, W.Va., has had to work on Thanksgiving Day for 18 years.
Instead of the tradition of celebrating the holiday on a Thursday, for 15 years she and a group of family and friends have gathered together the day before for turkey and all the trimmings.
"There's anywhere from 10 to 14 people-my best friend, her family, my immediate family, my mother and my brothers," she said.
The change in tradition felt "strange" only in the beginning.
"Now it feels very normal," Hambrecht said. "It's really not about the day of the week anymore. I get two Thanksgivings-one with my family and one with my work family."
Macey Johnson, 8, of Waterford loves her family's tradition of competing in the wii's "Just Dance" series after the Thanksgiving meal.
"Just Dance" is a game where up to four players can dance to a series of popular songs, getting stars (points) for their dance moves and creativity. The player who has the most stars at the end of each game is "crowned" the winner.
Johnson's favorite songs include Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" and a version of the song "Dynamite" sung by Katy Perry.
Although Johnson does like the songs, she also admitted that they have "easier moves" that might help her get more points in the competition.
She and her three siblings once tricked their father, Rob, into standing in place as he competed.
"We told dad that you didn't move your feet," Johnson laughingly said. "He was going against me, and I didn't want him to move."
Johnson also gets a chuckle out of the "funny" dance moves done by her grandparents and great-grandparents.
"They don't do the moves right a lot," she added.
Johnson's brother Shane, 10, is a fan of his family's Thanksgiving morning tradition.
Brunch, served in the family's kitchen, includes two of Shane's favorites: chocolate chip coffee cake and sundae pancakes.
"On the sundae pancakes you get a whole lot of whipped cream, yogurt, chocolate syrup and ice-cream cherries," Shane remembered.
"It's tasty and it's a tradition," he added.
More tradition takes place in the family room, where family members settle in with their plates of food to enjoy watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Part of the parade fun for the Johnsons includes a rousing round of bingo, played on homemade bingo sheets.
The squares on the bingo sheets are specially designed to coordinate with events in the parade.
"If we see something on the (sheet) that's in the Macy's parade like a kid sitting on a dad's shoulder or the Spiderman balloon, we mark those squares," said Shane.
