I can hardly believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow!
A night simply filled with magic all by itself, but made even more fun with one of these creative tradition ideas…
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Many of us know about leaving out cookies and milk for Santa.
But what about his reindeer? I mean, they do some pretty exhausting work hauling that giant sleigh filled with toys all over the world in one night! Those antlered friends are going to need some fuel to keep their energy up.
So make a batch of Reindeer Food (simple recipe and FREE Printable tag found at Amanda’s Parties To Go!) and sprinkle it on the lawn with your Happy Buddies this Christmas Eve.
*Pssst – I hear that the reindeer sometimes leave behind small piles of their droppings (which look remarkably like Cocoa Puffs cereal) as their way of saying thanks for the chow.* 🙂
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When I was a little girl, Santa used to leave handwritten notes for my brothers and me to find after his visit on Christmas Eve.
I hear you can find FREE Printable stationary from the desk of Santa Claus himself over at Design Editor.
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Big D and Me have a fun tradition where a brand new Christmas-themed book gets magically dropped off at their house on Christmas Eve every year by a group of Santa’s elves.
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Speaking of new Christmas books and elves, there is a book called The Pajama Elves (you can read more about it HERE) that goes right along with another great Christmas Eve tradition of receiving a new pair of pajamas each year just before bed.
I’ve got my boys’ pajama presents all ready for when we get home from church!
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And speaking of church… 🙂
My favorite Christmas Eve tradition is definitely attending our church’s Christmas Eve Candlelit Service.
The church I grew up in had 3 Christmas Eve services – with the last one beginning at 11 pm! When I was old enough to stay up for it, that midnight service was by far my most treasured time of worship during the Christmas season. I just loved raising my candle along with my church family in this collective effort to praise Him for the light he brought to our dark world.
Attend a service this year with your family and even pray about inviting someone to come with you!
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Speaking of Christmas Eve Services, when the Happy Hubby and I get home from them and we get the boys in bed, we like to sit down and exchange the gifts we got for each other.
We like it this way because it’s just the two of us. Sometimes with all the hubbub of kids and family swirling around, the specialness of one another’s gifts can get downplayed because you’re just so distracted by everything else that’s happening (like maybe your 8 month old baby is trying to eat the tree). 🙂
Maybe consider exchanging presents with your loved one on Christmas Eve, in the quiet and still part of the holiday.
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This next tradition idea is one that will help in the effort to balance the give/get issue at Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, have your Happy Buddies fill a small bag with a few gently used toys that they would like to donate.
Leave the bag by the tree.
Santa will pick up the bag and make sure that the toys are delivered to a local charity or family in need. Then a few new toys are left in the bag for your Happy Buddies to find Christmas morning.
Not only does this encourage your Happy Buddies to think about others, but as a bonus, there is added space for the new toys.
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Do you have a special dinner on Christmas Eve?
Both of my parents worked as the music directors at our church when I was younger. Christmas Eve was always a busy one without a lot of time for food prep! I remember one of my favorite things to eat on Christmas Eve in between the services was a big bowl of cereal.
One year I also remember my mom running us to the local grocery store where we were allowed to quickly pick out a Kid’s Cuisine. This was a HUGE deal as we weren’t allowed to eat them at any other time during the year.
Maybe you have a bit more time than microwaveable dinners, so how about making it your tradition to cook up a big pot of steamy, delicious soup on Christmas Eve every year? Here is a yummy recipe for Christmas Eve Soup I found over at Gooseberry Patch. Or you could make these fun and easy homemade Christmas tree pizzas found HERE.
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And speaking of Christmas Dinner…
I so enjoy taking a plate of food or treats to someone working the night shift on Christmas Eve.
Simply pull up to the drive-thru window of your local 24-hour pharmacy and pass the tired employee a Christmas feast. 🙂
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And finally, the best Christmas Eve tradition I can think of is sitting around with your family and reading the Christmas Story passage from Luke 2.
A Pair of Pears made this great FREE Printable Christmas Story Poster of the treasured lines from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie for you to use as you share the true meaning of Christmas with loved ones.
What traditions does your Happy Home enjoy on Christmas Eve?
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Merry Christmas Eve Tradition-ing! 🙂
I’ve been following you for about a year now and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog! You have been so inspirational. I am a happy mom of 5 “happy buddies”! Keep up the amazing work! So glad the happy baby is continuing to thrive. Wishing you and your family many blessings this Christmas and in the new year!
Great post, full of great ideas, Julie. Thanks! Hope your family has a blessed Christmas. We appreciate your blessing ours with THE HAPPY HOME FAIRY mailings this year.
We always give PJ’s on Christmas Eve at our house. Of course, our church uses glow sticks rather than the traditional candles. Everyone leaves in a very joyful mood with a smile on their face. Love it!
Thanks for sharing all these great ideas.
Megan
One of our family traditions has been the PJs on Christmas Eve I had a lot of resistance this year because my boys have not out grown theirs from last year, so they insisted on not having any made me very sad but I think next year I am not going to listen to them. It is so fun for me. Hope your Christmas if full of Happy Moments. From our family to yours.
Thanks so much sharing our pizzas xx
We always gave our children an ornament to open on Christmas Eve. An ornament to commemorate an event from the year, maybe a trip or a new pet or hobby. The kids would always look forward to reminiscing as they hang their ornaments on the tree. When they moved out on their own, they each had a box of ornaments (and memories) to take to their to their new homes.
Karen, that is SO special! I love it!
How or where do u make the ornaments?
This are wonderful ideas to really make the most of the season. Love the post and will definitely return to get inspired for this year’s Christmas Eve. Thanks so much!
I just stumbled upon your blog through Pinterest – thank you! I loved this post about Christmas traditions. When I was growing up, my parents were also very involved in the Christmas Eve services each year (Pastor and Music Director.) So my Mom would set our dining room table a day or two early with her best china, and then between Christmas Eve services we would pick up Chinese food and eat it on the fine china with family and anyone else that didn’t have a place to go. My father passed away a few years ago, and now my mother and I are both Worship leaders at the same church and we carry on the tradition with all the other staff at church who are involved in both our services on Christmas Eve.
I also do the pj’s on Christmas Eve! It ensure’s they have nice pj’s on for pictures in the morning! I also tell them that Santa sprinkles sleeping dust on them to help them sleep because he knows they are really excited :). So far it works like a charm!
I love your ideas, I wanted to share what I used to do after my son sprinkled the reindeer food. Later after he was back inside getting ready for Santa…..when it got dark,, I would sneak back outside, using a large glow stick, I would activate it, then puncture a smal hole in it and sprinkle it where ever he sprinkled the magic reindeer food, it glows for hours. Then I sneak back the house and I would pretend to look out of the window at the magical reindeer food, I would very excitedly tell my son to come to the window and look. The very first time he got sooo excited, he said “it really is magical!!!” He was so excited, his eyes lit up, and he was ready to go to bed so that Santa would get there soon. He is 18 now, but he still remembers that Christmas. The very first time his magical reindeer food glowed. I told many of my friends about my idea, they have all tried it and their children were in awe at the way their food glowed, Christmas is a magical time of year for young and old. I love Christmas, Thank you for allowing me to share my idea. God bless and merry Christmas! ??
Tammy! THAT IS AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing!