Today, a handful of “mini traditions” that make the season merry and bright in our home.
1 // DECORATING THE HOME. We usually do this the day we bring home our Christmas tree, but this year, the day after Thanksgiving, I put on Christmas music, pulled out most of our boxes of decor, and decked the halls. The children were abuzz and atwitter, excited about their reunions with Christmas books, their nativity set, and the mini trees I put in their bedrooms. This year, they laid on the floor of our living room paging through all of the books, and excitedly help me arrange our winter village on the console in the front hall. It really marked the start of the season for me. I’ll be sharing a dedicated post on favorite new holiday decor (I add a few new pieces to our collection each year), but wanted to specifically mention a few favorites today:
+This nativity peg doll set is almost identical to the one we have. I found mine at Target of all places four years ago. The children LOVE playing with these, and they are virtually indestructible. We keep ours on the coffee table and I love to see them reenacting the story of Christmas. It’s an easy way to reinforce the message of Christmas in a play-oriented way.
+A few of our favorite Christmas books: Red and Lulu, The Story Orchestra Nutcracker, The Christmas Quiet Book, Pick a Pine Tree, The Polar Express. For some reason both of my children love this Little Golden Book Rudolph story and they STILL love this lift the flap book even though both are a bit old for it now.
+For the trees in the children’s rooms: I’ve had good luck at Target over the past few years. Micro’s is similar to this style, and mini’s is similar to this flocked one. I let them decorate themselves with a few plush or homemade ornaments.
+I have two of these deer on the mantel of our dining room fireplace. They are bigger than you think — very dramatic and just so fun.
+These 8″ boxwood wreaths are perfect for hanging in windows/at the top of a mirror/over the back of a chair.
+We have stocking holders super similar to this inexpensive set. I love the way the deer line up along the mantel!
+We bought a little white winter village at Target during the pandemic (this exact set, but they used to make in white) but I really love the simple ceramic ones from Ballard. The Target ones are nice because little hands can play with them without shattering, but the battery on the lights has obviously long since burned out.
2 // LETTERS TO SANTA. We used a kit like this to write letters to Santa. (This one is also cute). I like to sit down with the children and talk to them about what they were good at this year, what they want to see under the tree, etc. Afterwards, we walk ceremoniously to the mailbox together. Our set had a prompt this year that read: “Next year I will be…” and mini said: “Nice!” and micro said: “A vampire!” Ha. I think he was mixing up Halloween with Christmas. I was touched this year when mini answered what she wanted for Christmas by writing: “Surprise me!” Then, however, she drew an arrow and on the back of the paper, wrote: “I really want an American Girl house.” A house?! AHHH. I guess we’re on the right path with some of the accessories/gear.
3 // HOLIDAY SENSORY PLAY. I’ve written about sensory play quite a bit, but I do love this holiday-themed idea: artificial snow, mini bottle brush trees, and arctic animals. The snow does get EVERYWHERE but it is easy to vacuum up, unlike beans/rice, which can be a total pain to tidy up after. If you’re new to sensory play, my biggest tip is doing it on a day where you feel relaxed/the mess won’t bother you as much, and put a big white sheet underneath their play space. It is messy but it’s also very worth it. I feel like it promotes independent, imaginative play, and it’s a great soothing/sensory experience for them, too. My children have always enjoyed when I put together these little sensory play vignettes, and get really excited about themed ones like this. I use these exact trays for sensory play. The perfect depth for holding things in but shallow enough that the kids can really get at the materials.
4 // WRAPPING GIFTS. I always enjoy selecting festive gift wrap over the course of November and early December and then sitting down for a few nights as the holiday approaches with a Christmas movie on and a cup of tea to tackle everything. I move the coffee table and wrap on the floor of our living room. This clever contraption is currently in my cart for this year’s gift wrapping. So much easier than scissors and much more compact than a paper cutter. How great is this gift wrap organizer, BTW? I own some of the ornament organizers from this brand and am tempted…
5 // CHRISTMAS CRAFTS. I love buying little sets like this, this, this, and this to pull out on Saturday or Sunday mornings.
6 // HOLIDAY JAMMIES. I mentioned this yesterday, but I roll out the children’s first pair of holiday pajamas on Thanksgiving night. I then like to give the children another pair or two over the course of Advent. I can’t wait to surprise mini with these nutcracker ones the night before we go to see the Nutcracker together for the first time! (Mine match hers. I’m excited to have my own pair of holiday jammies!). Lots of other holiday options here, at all pricepoints. I did also buy the children these Petite Plumes using the 20% off code BLACKFRIDAY22 — I had hoped I could find them even steeper elsewhere (they are carried lots of places) but couldn’t find any steeper discount. This year, I also bought the children fun new slippers: these for micro, these for mini.
7 // HOT CHOCOLATE. We always make hot chocolate and popcorn when it snows, but I also like to pick a day to surprise them with it in the days leading up to Christmas. These little melting hot chocolate snowmen are SO clever and fun. We received one as a gift last year and I repurchased for this year. Enamel mugs like these are great for little ones because they are unbreakable — these personalized ones are adorable.
8 // HOLIDAY BAKING. We always bake — a lot — around the holidays. A few of my favorite recipes here, but I think I might permanently add peanut brittle to the rotation and give it as gifts to the neighbors this year. I made peanut brittle for Thanksgiving a few days ago (details here) and it was SO good. I failed my first go around (let the caramel darken too much, which gave it a bitter taste), but made again and it was amazing. I find bark, toffee, and peanut brittle appealing to gift because you can wrap them up wonderfully in cello bags with big festive ribbons. Other treats require a lot more transit assistance. I have in the past had good luck finding really cute treat boxes at World Market and Container Store — consider this (look for less) and this, or just a classic white wrapped with red ribbon! P.S. My favorite baking gear here.
9 // EGG NOG. We love egg nog (!) and in the past have used the Serious Eats recipe. Yum. We’ll be serving egg nog at our planned Kacey Musgraves party, detailed next.
10 // KACEY MUSGRAVES CHRISTMAS. A few years ago, Kacey released a delightfully kitschy Christmas show on Amazon Prime (you can still stream it) and it made for the most festive evening viewing. We watched it with my sister and brother in law last year over wine and takeout dinner, and will be upping the ante this year by watching with more of my siblings while decked out in glittery Kacey-inspired fashion and enjoying “throwback” fare — egg nog, classic shrimp cocktail, pigs in a blanket, etc. Cannot wait!
11 // ADVENT CALENDAR. This is a BIG tradition with Mr. Magpie’s family, and we’ve carried it forward with our own. Each day leading up to Christmas, the children find a small gift tied to the calendar. A few Advent calendars I love: here, here, here, here. Mon Ami has a really sweet ballerina one (and Target has a similar style for $10!) that you could use and just tuck a little scroll into each day with instructions on where to find the gift around the house. We usually do this for larger items that won’t fit in the pockets. It creates such a sense of excitement and makes every day feel really special. We do not do “Elf on the Shelf” but I think children would experience a similar rush/thrill in waking each morning to the ritual.
12 // ADVENT WREATH. We light this nightly and sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” One of my favorite memories of my son is the way he’d fling his arms out at the “Rejoice! Rejoice!” bit of the song as a lispy two year old. We use a simple gold wreath similar to this.
13. // PUZZLES. For some reason, we rarely pull out puzzles until this time of year. I loved the dog one I shared here so much that we did it TWICE over Thanksgiving, and I always love the ones from Pomegranate, which reproduce fine art in puzzle form. Those brands are very high-quality and more challenging than some of our other ones, but I really do have a nostalgic connection to the Christmas-themed ones we have, especially this one, which I bought during a COVID Christmas in NYC.
14. // THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. One of my favorite childhood memories is my Dad reading “The Night Before Christmas” to us on Christmas Eve. I’ve written about that book and that memory in years past, and for some reason it has always captured my interest and imagination. I have been asking my Dad to read this book to my children. They’ve been a bit squirmy (too young, too excited) the past few years but I think mini will enjoy it this year.
What about you? What mini holiday traditions do you love?
P.S. Under $30 gifts, and great gifts for girls and boys.
P.P.S. My favorite holiday decor finds this season.
P.P.P.S. Do you nurture connections with previous versions of yourself?
Loved reading about all these traditions!
I take great pleasure and pride in gift wrapping as well — it’s a calming activity for me. I remember helping my mom with gift wrapping since I was a child, and she’d have a theme for her gift wrap design each year. It’s a ritual I’ve carried on as an adult.
I’ve always enjoyed attending Christmas concerts, and now that my daughter is a bit older/can stay up a bit later I hope to take her to one.
For holiday baking, for the past few years I’ve made Ina Garten’s pecan squares to distribute to family and friends. It helps that one recipe makes a giant batch, and they transport/ship well. Pre-parenthood I used to make alfajores (including the dulce de leche filling from scratch), but it’s a bit more involved than the aforementioned pecan squares.
We also love to bundle up as a family with hot tea in Yeti mugs and take an evening walk around the neighborhood to admire Christmas decorations.
Growing up in the Philippines, we would sometimes attend “Simbang Gabi” which are dawn Masses every morning for 9 days until Christmas. Outside the church there would be vendors selling traditional Christmas-season pastries. The tradition was that if you set an intention/prayer and completed all 9 days, your prayer will be answered. I remember my older brother was so disciplined about this and would even visit different churches for each of the 9 Masses. I don’t think I ever completed the 9 straight days myself though!
I’d love to start a tradition that involves teaching my daughter about charity and generosity. We talked about making donations and things like that throughout the year but we haven’t really created a true holiday tradition around it. We’ve started participating in a holiday toy drive organized by a local organization in our area, but I’m afraid I haven’t quite “talked it up” with my 5 year old enough to instill these values in her yet. To be honest her motivation to donate outgrown toys is to make room for “big girl” toys, haha. Value formation will happen over time and with consistency, I suppose!
Also wanted to add, my favorite Christmas music is this album, Immanuel, Our God Is With Us by the Holy Cross Immaculata Choir/Mt Adams Chorus (saw them perform live when I used to live in Cincinnati, OH many years ago). It’s such beautiful, angelic music. You can stream here: https://soundcloud.com/user-382524037
From a secular standpoint, I love Sarah McLachlan’s Christmas album, as well as She & Him (with Zooey Deschanel).
Love these – thank you!
These are so fantastic – thank you so much for sharing all of these! The Simbang Gabi tradition is fascinating!
xx
I love the thought of small traditions – those are what I remember from my own childhood (including reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve). So many wonderful ideas in your post.
Making an event out of decorating our tree as a family with a favorite Christmas album playing (Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Nat King Cole), taking neighborhood walks to visit some of the most over-the-top lights and decorations, visiting a live nativity scene at a park, and having a white Russian on Christmas Eve with family are some of my favorites. I look forward to taking my children to see The Nutcracker ballet in future years. I also enjoy sitting down to wrap presents with a favorite Christmas movie on (Christmas in Connecticut!) and am happy to start thinking of it as a tradition that I observe rather than a chore I don’t mind.
Yes, exactly — even the smallest things can become “traditions to observe” vs “chores I don’t mind.” Love that reframe. I’ve been clinging to that this year, even with the frenetic cooking before Thanksgiving. I reimagined it / re-cast it as “a cozy Thanksgiving tradition” versus “WHAT! I WILL BE COOKING OR CLEANING THE DISHES ALL DAY LONG TODAY AND TOMORROW.” Ha 🙂
xx
Coincidentally, I’m reading this while sipping a glass of (n/a!) eggnog! I made my own last year but it was a cooked recipe and the eggs scrambled a bit. Still tasted good tho!
We also do Christmas pjs for the girls, might give them on Dec 1 or whenever we put up the tree. We have gone to a local tree lighting most of the last 5 years, but it was last night and too rainy for us, so maybe next year! I like to do an advent calendar, but just the cardstock kind where you open a door each day. We also do a lot of baking – frosted sugar cookies and cinnamon-sugar pecans are our favorites. I might put peppermint bark in the rotation, you have a good point re: ease of transit! And last but not least, we like to bundle up and walk around the neighborhood after dinner and look at the Christmas lights. Sometimes we sing carols to ourselves, ha! And the girls are obsessed with flashlights so we bring those too.
Forgot to mention, I also like to read seasonally! This year, I have The Women in Black, The Hunting Party, the Christmas Bookshop, and Murder for Christmas queued up.
Oh fun!! LMK which you like best!! xx
So sweet – I love the idea of caroling with flashlights to check out the Christmas lights. I’m going to have to start planning out our baking projects so we have time for everything!
xx
Love this accounting! I have so many Christmas traditions I do on my own, plus the ones I do with my parents/sister. Even though I’m not Anglican, I adore the hymns that are part of the Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols service, so I make a point to attend that service on the 4th Sunday of Advent at St. Thomas Church here in Midtown, which has one of the country’s only residential boys choirs. The music is exquisite, as is the cathedral-like setting. I also love setting up not one but two Christmas trees in my apartment (bedroom and living room), making toffee for friends and service providers, and handwriting Christmas cards.
This isn’t Christmas related, but I love to mark the winter solstice in some kind of way every year. Some years that has meant having a little party with friends- it’s a great way to gather to celebrate the season in a non-religious way if you have friends of many faiths. Some years I just make sure to go out for a walk both at sunrise and at sunset on that day.
I love (!) these traditions — wow! Love the idea of a winter solstice party as a non-denominational celebration, too. Thank you for sharing!
xx
My family gets together every Sunday of Advent to have a meal and pray the rosary. We’ve had this tradition since my grandparents started it in the 30s. We take turns hosting and it is the loveliest way to prepare my heart for Christmas.
Oh my gosh, how beautiful? Thank you for sharing this. My mom would LOVE this tradition. Maybe will try a variation on it, even just praying the rosary together, or virtually designating a mystery to pray through on our own.
xx
Love this, feeling so festive this year and excited to celebrate with my kids. Thank you for the great ideas! Question – any suggestions for a holiday cocktail I could serve for a group of 10? Looking for something festive, vodka or tequila based (but open to other spirits) maybe something sparkling? And ideally can be batched!
I’m certain Jen will have a fabulous recipe to share, but thought I’d pass this on if it helps. I recently purchased for my upcoming holiday party. Plan to mix with champagne in a punch bowl and garnish with fresh cranberries, orange slices and rosemary sprigs, but it can be mixed with vodka or any spirit. Cheers!
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/trisha-yearwood-christmas-in-a-cup/?pkey=s~Chrsitmad%20in%20a%20cup~87&sbkey=default
WOW. This looks/sounds delicious, Anne! Thanks for sharing! xx
Hi! Yes, I do – the punches in Death & Co cocktail book are PERFECT for these occasions. Each punch serves around 4 people but I have doubled or tripled my batches and filled a big punch bowl in the past. The key is making an enormous ice cube in the center of the punch — does a surprisingly good job of keeping the cocktail chilled without dissolving too quickly. We make our ice cubes using plastic takeout containers! Anyway, there are so many great punches in this book, including several with vodka/tequila:
https://bit.ly/3UeD7ry
I can’t recommend this book enough. Every single recipe is flawless. It’s our Bible. I will consult to see if there is a tequila one and email you the photo. The one I have handy on my phone right here is gin-based but ABSOLUTELY delicious and startlingly easy to drink. We served it recently for a crowd and we all kept saying we needed to pace ourselves…it goes quick:
BILLINGSLEY PUNCH
*Serves four, so double or triple or quadruple as needed. However, I recommend still preparing in the proportions below, just do it 2x or 3x or 4x times in a row, just because it can get hard to muddle 48 sugar cubes. I’m adding notes that explain how to make this cocktail in advance — what I recommend doing so you’re not flustered and mixing as guests arrive.
12 white sugar cubes
8 oz club soda
6 oz Tanqueray No 10 gin (the author often recommends specific spirits to draw out certain signature flavors…e.g, some gins are more herbal, some more vegetal, etc…but you don’t have to be too fussy and can use what you have on hand)
2 oz aperol
2 oz grapefruit juice
2 oz lemon juice
4 dashes peychaud’s bitters
garnish: grapefruit crescents
Squeeze and measure all citrus earlier in the day. About an hour before guests arrive, do the the following (repeat as necessary depending on how many batches you want to make): in a pitcher, muddle sugar cubes with 4 oz club soda until sugar is broken up. Add remaining ingredients (except remaining club soda). Transfer this mix into a separate pitcher, then repeat the process until you’ve made the desired amount of batches. Place in fridge until about 15 minutes before guests arrive. Then, fill the pitcher used for muddling/mixing about 2/3rds of the way full with ice. Add a portion of the punch. Stir until cold, then strain into a punch bowl over 1 large block of ice. Repeat ice stirring process with remaining batches. Top with reserved club soda. Garnish with grapefruit crescents and serve with ladle and punch glasses.
xx
Thank you soooo much!! I actually have this book (likely at your recommendation ha!) I am going to dig it out today, but may go with the punch above! The notes on what to prepare when are amazingly helpful….!
Oh good! I’m so glad. He also has a really great tequila based one but it requires a lot more work – you have to infuse the tequila with hot peppers, etc.
xx
We are starting an advent calendar tradition with our 15 month old son. Ideas for small gifts for kids of any young age? You always have the best small gift ideas.
Hi Elise! So sweet. He’ll love this tradition. I have a few posts with ideas…
https://magpiebyjenshoop.com/stocking-stuffers-for-babies-children-under-2/
https://magpiebyjenshoop.com/stocking-stuffers-and-advent-calendar-gifts-for-children/
My biggest tip is to divide up sets of things across a few days, e.g., if you’re giving him a set of Little People, give him one or two per day versus the entire set at once. Do the same with markers/crayons — just bundle up with ribbon each time. This really helps spread out the responsibility of buying tons of stuff and keeps things reasonable/wallet-friendly.
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