When I first got divorced, figuring out when to plan with extended family for Thanksgiving and Christmas felt like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. Between shared parenting schedules, family traditions, and everyone’s feelings Thanksgiving and Christmas became big old logistical stressors.

So, I took matters into my own hands and choose to hold “Thanksmas.”

• ✨ Target date: the first or second Saturday of December.
• ✨ Goal: celebrate both holidays at once with extended friends and family.
• ✨ Bonus: a new tradition that actually worked for me and my kids.

It gave me a sense of control, joy, and a reason to decorate early 😉

Year One: The Experiment

My first Thanksmas was a mashup of Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes:

• Crockpot Gingerbread Pudding 🍮
• Turkey Cookies 🦃
• Grinch Fruit Kabobs 🍓🎅
• About 20 friends and family drifting in and out, open-house style

It was cozy and fun, funny too.

Decorating & Shopping Tips

The secret to Thanksmas décor? Raid both aisles.

• 🦃 Grab last-minute Thanksgiving markdowns.
• 🎄 Sprinkle in your Christmas lights and garlands. Put up your tree!
• 🧦 You can keep stockings and smaller Christmas items for later as a surprise for the kids.

Pro tip: after Thanksgiving, stores practically give away fall desserts and décor. Stock up, save some cash, and spend more on what really matters.

As the years went on, the party grew (some years 60+ people!). The open-house format made it easy. Pick a 2-4 hour window and put that on your invitation. Day of, set up food buffet-style, have drinks ready in pitchers, and put out signs that say things like:

• “Come on in!”
• “This has alcohol / This does NOT have alcohol”
• “Craft station this way”
• “If this bathroom’s busy, try the one in the basement.”
• “This is the basement door.” 😉

Putting up signs might seem a little quirky, but I’ve done it for years. It makes guests feel at home and saves me from running around like a turkey with its head cut off.

Want to have a Thanksmas party? Here are items I’ve ordered via Amazon over the years linked here on my affiliate page: -> Thankmas Party Amazon List

Favorite Recipes:

• Crockpot Gingerbread Pudding This is recipe is forgiving. You can use other cake flavors if you prefer.
• Grinch Fruit Kabobs – these are adorable and easy. Remove any leftovers from the skewers and pop them into the freezer for use in smoothies! No waste!)
• Turkey Cookies Assembly can take a bit of knack, but they are super cute.
• Cucumber Christmas Trees These can be time consuming. If you’re having a lot of people, you can make a small batch and spread them around on your cheese or veggies plates to add flair with less work.
• Woo Woo Alcoholic Drink Make the drinks in batches. Use pitchers and leave them in your fridge. Then you can easily swap out empty containers. Consider adding a few frozen cranberries to make it more of a winter style drink. Consider making them with more juice than called for because they go down quite easily… 😉

Decorations and Guest Gifts:

• Happy Thanksmas Banner This works great on the fireplace mantle. It’s dainty and cute.
• Kitchen towel set to add a bit to the kitchen too.
• Mini chalkboard signs and markers used to label each food and drink item. Also used for the other signs around the house.
• Felt Tree for the kiddos: Felt Christmas Tree or Thanksgiving Rubber Duckies
• Guest Favors: Little Honey Jar favors can be labeled with Thank you for joining us.
• Other favors have included small soaps. One person told me later that they thought these were candy and popped one right in their mouth 😉
• Holiday socks and hats for the parents and other goodie bags for the kids. These items are included in the Amazon list.
• Color changing lights to set up inside or out!
• Bring in the Thanksgiving vibes by having light up leaf decor as early as Halloween. Keep them up for Thanksmas.

This tradition gave me the chance to reclaim the holidays in a way that worked for my little family. If you’ve ever found yourself stressed over who gets which holiday, maybe it’s time to make your own!

Check out the list on Amazon for more ideas! affiliate page: -> Thankmas Party Amazon List

If you have any questions, post them! I love brainstorming ideas!