Top 5 Christmas Traditions and Christmas Printable

Christmas traditions

Today I wanted to shine the Christmas twinkle lights on some things that truly make this my favorite time of the year. Yes, I’m talking about those very special Christmas traditions that add that extra bit of magic to the season for the littlies and adults alike.

Having now had the chance to experience the holiday season in 3 different countries (Germany, Australia and USA), I get to pick the best traditions from each country and form my own for me and my little family! I love it.

So I wanted to give you a run down of my 5 favorite “Chestnut-Family” Christmas traditions. Here it goes:

1. 1| Set up the tree early!!!

   This one has caused some contention, especially with my German friends. See, over there they set up the tree as part of the visit from the “Christkind” (aka Santa) on Christmas eve…Crazy. So, yes, we set up our tree early, like many of our Australian and American friends. Normally around the 1st of December. This year it was even earlier to make sure Grandma and Grandpa could participate in the decorating fun also. I love having the tree up in the lead up to the big day. Love having the kids participate in the decorating fun and to switch on the tree lights on those winter nights when the sun goes down early. It just adds a bit of cozy.

2. 2| Advent Calendar

   Trying to get back into the good books with my German roots with this one. I love the advent calendar tradition. Along with the tree, this is something that firmly belongs into the month of December. With kids it’s even more fun – yes, totally admitting that I also made sure I had one of these in my adult-years-before-kids. I love the chocolate kind, but also have found some great DIY options on Pinterest this year, that I’m dying to try out next year…you know… when I’m all organised and have Christmas all sorted out in July….

3. 3| Photos with Santa

   I think part of what makes Christmas traditions so special is the memories they create. Half the fun is looking back over the next year what we got up to the Christmas before. It makes it even more exciting to look forward to not only doing the same thing again, but anticipating what will happen this year. Taking the kids for the Santa pictures is definitely one of those traditions. Chestnut #1 has had an illustrious career with his Santa photos:

   First year we were too overwhelmed with the newborn-no-sleep-situation, that we simply didn’t get one. Second year Santa was standing behind his chair and Chestnut in the chair completely in tears. Year 3, we actually went on 3 different occasions, hoping he would get used to the idea of Santa and maybe we’d get a good shot…nope…still tears.. The year after is when he finally took a turn for the better – because we only took a family photo to protect Chestnut #2 as a newborn from various shopping-center-santa-germs. Year 5, wait for it…perfection! Smiles all around and the sweetest Santa you could imagine. This year we’ve come full circle again…Chestnuts #2 wasn’t having any of it and was trying to give his brother competition on the worst crying face… Can’t wait to see what they’ll get up to next year 😉

4. 4| Go for a drive to look at Christmas lights

   Being in the Christmas mood from our Santa visit, we combined the two traditions this year and headed on our Christmas lights hunt straight after our visit with the big guy. Carols playing over the radio and little excited voices from the back seat when they spotted another awesome display – sooo much fun! I love seeing when whole neighborhoods get in to the spirit and have their lights up and down their trees and homes. Well, we’ll probably end up going on another Christmas lights drive, but for now, we felt it was the perfect ending to our Santa adventure and added another tick to our Christmas traditions to-do-list.

5. 5| Christmas Eve Box

   This has to be my absolute favorite tradition that I’ve started for my family and is another compromise between the traditions of our various home countries. See, in Germany, the “Christkind” (aka Santa) arrives on Christmas Eve and the whole festivities take place then. In Australia, much like the USA, Santa arrives over night and all the celebrating happens Dec 25th. To not let Christmas Eve slide and add some special magic to it, we’ve started a Christmas Eve box. Each year this box arrives on Christmas Eve and contains most of the following:

• New Christmas Pyjamas for the whole family (this year is actually the first year I got matching ones for us all…I can’t wait :D)
• A new special ornament for our tree that represents an important event from that year for our family (still searching for that special something something this year)
• Reindeer Food (Again, Pinterest to the rescue!)
• “Sprinkle on your lawn at night,
  the moon will make it sparkle bright,
  as Santa’s reindeer fly and roam
  this will guide them to your home”
• Popcorn and Hot Chocolate
• A Christmas movie
• A Christmas book

Then we all snuggle in together and watch our Christmas movie, sprinkle our reindeer food, set out milk and cookies for Santa and head to bed early…Christmas morning never seems to be much of a sleep in – and that’s totally ok 😉

Meaning to the season

All of these traditions obviously help nurture the deeper meaning behind the season. It makes me appreciate the love and closeness we share as a family, thankful for the friends who make it all worth while and makes me feel so blessed to have the most special boys in the world call me “Mama”. So in that sense, I hope you enjoy this print with your family and friends while you enjoy your very own Christmas traditions.

 

Printable Inspiration – Merry Christmas

|| This free printable has now expired, but you can purchase it here. And if you sign up for my newsletter, I’ll send you a 10% off coupon for your troubles. And every new freebie will be sent directly to your inbox. Check out the current free download in the latest blog post here. ||

 

So what are some of your favorite traditions? Do you make up your own for your family or go with mainstream? Are there some that are particular to where you live? Drop me a comment below, I can’t wait to hear about them!

Happy Monday people!

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