Holiday Hugs and Mistletoe Kisses~ “12 Days of Christmas” Tradition!
A memorable tradition for someone you love celebrating their first (or any!) Christmas together!
When I was first married, I lived in the same city as my parents and my husband’s family was close by too. We planned to celebrate the holidays with them, so we decided to be frugal and not buy Christmas decorations or a tree. We thought at the time it was silly to spend money on that when we would be “celebrating” somewhere else. I learned that year that Christmas is celebrated in small ways all month long. I missed the “smell” of Christmas…the cookies baking, the scent of a real Christmas tree, Christmas music~some of the ambiance that comes with the holidays that I loved. I wanted to feel that in my new home. Things were different the next year!
When our kids got married, we started a tradition of the 12 Days of Christmas!
When our daughter got married, she was still in college out of state. I wanted her to feel some Christmas spirit, so I packed up a box with 12 small gifts in it, one to open each day for the first 12 days in December. They were small things, a red spatula, some new Christmas dishcloths, a Christmas sign or decoration, a scented Christmas candle, a cd of Christmas music…I labeled each package with a number, so they would know what to open first. She loves See’s candy, so I had a small box packed with her favorites. We only do this on the FIRST Christmas our kids are married but it became a fun tradition the others looked forward to!
It does take a little planning ahead! If you can pick up a few things at after Christmas sales the year before, all the better! One thing you may include as a gift is wrapping paper and ribbon, or some cellophane bags. This encouraged them to make treats to share with people, as they didn’t have to go out and buy the bags, ribbon and wrap for their gifts! My younger daughter and I spent some time together making “COUNTDOWN BLOCKS” out of wood and scrapbook paper that turned out really cute. There are a lot of fun things you can do with this! This creates new memories at home and heightens the surprise factor with more people involved in the fun!
What I learned here too is, its not so much even about the gift itself, as it is just EXCITING to open something everyday that is a little surprise! How many times have you had 12 days of opening a gift yourself? It’s the fact someone was thinking of you and wanting to brighten your holiday that has the biggest impact.
You can include a sprig of mistletoe to hang up…start writing down ideas and looking as you are out shopping and you will really enjoy this! It can be hard to stop at 12!
You don’t have to do this on the FIRST Christmas- you can choose to do it anytime for people you love to spark some Christmas joy. Who do you know that would love this? Spread HOPE and choose JOY.
