They say that you have to have three of something in order to call it a collection. Three antique watering cans--it's a collection. Three Beanie Babies--it's a collection. Three mini schnauzers--it's a collection.
So, how many times do you have to do something in order for it to be a tradition? I would say only once as long as it sticks. A few years ago on Valentine's Day, we had lobster. We had "do-it-yourself" lobster. It was really good, except for the fact that one of the kids named them all and then got upset when we put them in the pot of boiling water. The 'lobster on Valentine's Day tradition' didn't stick. The next year we had fondue on Valentine's Day and it stuck. We look forward to this tradition every year now. It's fun, unique, and the kids don't get upset because we aren't eating any pets.
Two years ago, when our oldest child, BJ, graduated from High School, I made her a t-shirt quilt. She had stacks and stacks of t-shirts and it was hard for her to choose because they all had good memories and hard for me to choose because of quality of the shirt, color, and size of the design. We ended up using over 30 t-shirts and it was a HUGE quilt--almost King size. Plenty big for a dorm bed. But she loves it and that's good enough for me!
Now, C8 is getting ready to graduate. I asked her if she wanted a t-shirt quilt. She said no. (Scratch the t-shirt quilt tradition.) Instead, she wanted a regular quilt made of blues and greens and maybe some pink thrown in there. Full size. This pattern, please. 
New tradition--Making a quilt for the graduating senior with their choice of pattern/size/fabric.Looking ahead, in two more years, we'll have a collection.
