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?