What Will Be Next Year’s Christmas Memory? (+ $100 Macy’s Gift Card Giveaway!)
Holiday Traditions. Take them or leave them, we all have them. Even if your tradition is NOT having any traditions. Sorry to break it to you, you have a tradition of being non-traditional. OK, I’m being obnoxious with the word tradition. I’ll move on. ANYWAY, in my family growing up, we had quite a few things we did around the holidays. I thought I’d share a few as well as pepper in a few throw-back photos to spice things up a bit. (And to give you a peek at my awesome bowl cut as a four-year-old.)
Traditions I Grew Up With:

Leslie, Will and Polly. 1986
Delivering homemade apple butter to neighbors and friends. I’ve shared about how my family makes homemade apple butter in the fall. Well, in the winter we give most of it away! On Christmas Eve, all five of us would squeeze in the car and drive around delivering jars to family and friends. As kids we would moan and groan about the family outing but I think we all secretly liked it.

It’s safe to say I was bundled up!
Making colorful Christmas cookies to share. Each year, one of my parent’s friends, Jane, would invite me over to make special Christmas cookies. As a middle child, I loved being singled out to this special holiday event with Jane. I also loved all the fun frostings, candies and other things she had for us to decorate them with.

Christmas morning-1991
Hiking through the woods to cut down a tree. I grew up in the Ozarks which meant we not only get a REAL tree for Christmas, we chop it down ourselves. I’ve been told I was notorious for pleading for the 40ft cedar and would have epic fits because my parents would never pick the tree I wanted. I have yet to see any proof of these allegations. Always making monkey bread on Christmas morning. Monkey bread is a must for Christmas morning. We’ve always reserved making it until then and probably always will.

I mean, wow. The hair. The turtle neck. The sweatshirt!
Traditions I plan to do:
I for sure plan to carry on a few of these traditions that I grew up with. For starters, I always have lots of homemade apple butter to give away. My kids love any excuse to visit a neighbor so instead of strangely lurking on their porch while I fiercely whisper threats to not knock or ring the doorbell, we will actually have a reason to knock and say hello. It will be one of the highlights of my 3-year-old’s Christmas season.
Can we all just stop a moment and appreciate this photo below?
Thank you for your cooperation. Moving on… Side note: I loved the pictures I got from this little holiday photo shoot with my kids. Holiday clothes shouldn’t always mean dressing them in reds, greens and golds. In fact, my three-year-old would have nothing else on her body than this new Frozen sweatshirt from Macy’s. I’m not joking. And I couldn’t get enough of dressing up Tyler like a little adult in his fancy holiday sweater. Visit the Macy’s Kids Holiday site for lots of cute holiday outfits in bright colors and patterns.
Anyway, as I mentioned above, I loved making Christmas cookies with Jane. It was something I looked forward to every year and I want to create something like that with my kids. Even though my kids are a bit young, we began the holiday cookie tradition this year. It was super messy but super fun!
Similar to the fall cookies I made, I whipped up a batch of sugar cookie dough, let it chill during their nap time and put them to work after their naps. Nothing remedies the post-nap grumps like cookie dough!
As you can imagine, my 1.5-year-old was more interested in playing and eating the cookie dough than forming it into shapes. My three-year-old did surprisingly well maintaining some self-control and not eating the dough. I wish I could say the same for her mama.
Somehow amidst the craziness we managed to emerge with some identifiable shapes.
Next, we needed to paint them. A great and fun method I use is mixing one egg yolk, a teaspoon of water and a few drops of food coloring to make “paint” to put on the cookies BEFORE you bake them. Kids really get into this part.
Sorry bud, no way I am giving you a paintbrush saturated in food coloring. Just keep playing with the dough, K?
Here they are in progress of being painted…
The best thing about sugar cookies is they don’t need to bake long at all. This recipe only took 6 minutes. This is helpful for antsy preschoolers who rarely have to wait for anything. Six minutes later… Done!
I think this is a pretty strong start for our family traditions. I’m sure more will be added as we go along and it warms my heart to know my kids will take some of these into their adulthood like I have.
So here is the million dollar question (actually, more like $100): What is YOUR favorite holiday tradition? By simply commenting on this post and sharing your favorite tradition, you will be entered into a giveaway for a chance to win a $100 Macy’s gift card! Looking forward to hearing about all the traditions out there!
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We have a Santa Claus and a snowman candle holder that have been in our family for over 100 years. They wear their age well, but still show the ravages of time. It is a blessing to unpack and show them to each new generation. They remind of us of our past and give us hope for the future. Who knows, maybe they will still be around at Christmas 100 years from now.
tweet – https://twitter.com/dmarie824/status/548328016275714048
In our family the youngest child gets to place Baby Jesus in the Nativity scene on Christmas Eve. Sweet tradition 🙂
i posted a tweet here:
https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/548309545777258497
we like to pick out just one present to open on Christmas Eve!
Decorating the tree is our favorite tradition
Baking Christmas cookies with my kids.
I love how we try new recipes and incorporate old recipes to make our holiday meal.
https://twitter.com/ThatTuxedoCat/status/548248674283683840
I enjoy baking treats to give as gifts to friends and family.
Making Christmas cookies with my boys.
https://twitter.com/eaglesforjack/status/548222715283267584
It is a tie between making christmas cookies and making decorations
Every Christmas Eve, my husband reads the night before Christmas. It began with our small children and milk, graduated to our grown children and wine and is now with our 1st grandchild and formula.
I tweeted about the giveaway https://twitter.com/teachers_market/status/548178494526480385
My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the Christmas tree with my family!
tweeted
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/548172488207638528
Every year my family decorates the tree together.
tweet
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/548146595641188352
we have a yankee swap on Christmas Eve!
tweeted https://twitter.com/iiiyadirf/status/548133184928366592
I have been saving my favorite Christmas tradition for the last of these I was entering. My mother and I used to wake in the middle of the night (usually the night after we put the tree up) and make some hot chocolate and just sit and watch the pretty lights on the tree. This was me and mom time, and it was my favorite tradition. Mom passed away two years ago, but I will keep doing this, because she’s still with me, in my heart. Missing her today.
I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, Michelle. Thank you for sharing about your precious memory with her.
I tweeted about the giveaway as @tmt121172 on 12/25/14
We love to get in our pajamas and drive around and look at Christmas decorations!
My favorite tradition is going to church christmas eve then looking at christmas lights after 🙂
My favorite holiday tradition is getting together on Christmas Eve and watching Christmas movies and opening presents.
https://twitter.com/smilekisses/status/548055414026162176
On Christmas morning we put a lit candle in a cupcake and put it in front of the manger and sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus.
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/548030635726487552
We always baked huge amounts of holiday cookies so that anyone who came to our door was given cookies. Now my daughter and granddaughter do the same.
https://twitter.com/slehan/status/548014850564042754
Going to Christmas Eve service, coming home to hot chocolate and opening one present.
Thanks for the contest.
I like baking Christmas cookies with the kids. They are actually edible now that they are older!
My favorite holiday tradition is making Christmas lollipops.
Link to tweet:
https://twitter.com/catholicfanatic/status/547970185018081280
Thank you!
My favorite holiday tradition is going to Christmas Eve Mass.
Baking and decorating sugar cookies with the kids! I remember doing it with my mom, and we’ve started doing it with my 5 year old. Next year, our newest addition will be able to help out, too!
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/547929406757294080
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I enjoy watching a christmas story with my family, making cookies for santa and then building a gingerbread house
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
We read the story of Jesus’s birth on Christmas Eve Eve and then ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ on Christmas Eve.
https://twitter.com/robinsonbike/status/547867631542214658
We wrap gifts and drink eggnog with a little rum.
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/547853525519056896
My favorite tradition is that we always go to church Christmas Eve and come home after mass and open our gifts. Santa always comes while we are at church:)
https://twitter.com/klp1965/status/547846183503155200
I love baking on Christmas eve and making gift boxes of sweets for family and friends
Watching Christmas movies together on Christmas eve
my favorite holiday tradition is spending time with family
Our fave tradition is lighting the chanukah candles at sundown
we make tons of cutout sugar cookies too! me and my kids decorate them and then we give a bunch out to family and friends. we love to listen to Christmas music as we bake.
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/547774184097468416
My favorite holiday tradition is definitely the special foods we make only one time a year. I look forward to our smokey maple BBQ vegetarian meatballs and smoked gouda fondue every year!
My favorite holiday tradition is spending time with my family. Thank you for the giveaway!
Our tradition is to open gifts on Christmas eve which are always pajamas! [email protected]
our favorite tradition is baking cookies on Christmas eve
https://twitter.com/wblack1125/status/547595740290494464 my tweet ty
Favorite Tradition is to go do the Chirstmas Walk in the metro parks where the path is lit with beautiful Christmas Lights its just a Winter Wonderland!
We like to drive around looking at lights.
We share oplatek ( a Polish wafer ) by breaking off a piece from each person’s wafer at the Christmas feast!
Tweeted 🙂 – https://twitter.com/Enter_Now/status/547527523379077120
Our only real tradition is to get everyone bundled up in the car and to drive around town and look at all the lights and holiday decorations 🙂 We love to admire all the beauty and hard work that people put int to their holiday decorating 🙂
We have beautiful wooden advent calendars for each of the kids. They have different wooden doors, with all sizes. I love finding the perfect presents for each door,and love watching the kids find the prizes each morning.
Christmas Eve we visit friends, then come home to Greek Stew!
We bake cinnamon rolls and play Christmas music on Christmas morning while we open our socks 🙂
My favorite thing is to drive around our town and see all the Christmas decorations and than go home and have hot chocolate and cookies
My favorite is a Denny’s dinner with the family after Christmas Eve mass.
My favorite tradition is taking a family photo in front of the tree every year!
Birthday cake and singing “Happy Birthday” on Christmas
I enjoy Creating keepsake ornaments with my daughter . It’s her 2nd Christmas and I can’t wait til we are able to fill our tree with just keepsakes.
I did cookies with My little ones they do not look like the ones above but they had a great time..
Our tradition is watching movies and cartoons together on Xmas morning after breakfast, then opening the gifts. We also make mint chocolate fudge too. Very good.
tweet
https://twitter.com/MeandBells/status/547237106268246016
on xmas eve we make cookies and sit by the tree and drink eggnog, and open our gifts!!
while we listen to xmas music!!
Every year I put out one special stocking. It’s larger than many, but very meaningful. My eldest was born on 12/21 and when he was brought to me to take home, the nurse brought him into the room inside the stocking!
Tweet https://twitter.com/JalapenoMama/status/547227789259075585
My favorite tradition is seeing a Christmas show or play each holiday season.
thank you
One of our holiday traditions is making different kinds of cookies on Christmas Eve.
[email protected]
Our family trims the tree with popcorn on Christmas Eve.
Our boys are so young we are still making new traditions but I love letting them open a present of jammies and a stuffy on Christmas Eve.
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/peg42/status/547167030273519617
Thanks again.
One of my favorite traditions is that my kids, husband and I decorate a couple of Gingerbread houses. We buy the premade type and then we decorate. We make a mess, but it’s really fun and we all look forward to it each year.
celebrating with extended family on Christmas eve and each child picking out an ornament for the tree each year
tvollowitz at aol dot com
Our favorite tradition begins on Thanksgiving day. That night we start the season by watching the cartoon Grinch. Then on Christmas eve, we watch it again, laughing over our grinchy moments, and sharing our blessings.
We opened presents, went to church, and then to our aunt and uncle’s house to have dinner. We had to bring as many toys as we could smuggle into the car for the ride, to play with and to show our cousins.
https://twitter.com/Attea2d/status/547055149748088832
Seeing the Lights
Tweet
https://twitter.com/clc408/status/547009440008794113
I remember baking and decorating holiday cookies with my mom and getting angry at my brother for making “ugly” ones.
My favorite tradition is going caroling on christmas eve with my family.
Opening presents, of course! But mainly seeing the expressions on my family’s faces when they get something they’ve been wanting. It never gets old!
For Christmas Eve was bake cookies and watch holiday movies, then we wake up early and open presents!
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/gmissycat/status/546811066328817665
No traditions other than a huge dinner we all love so much!!
gmissycat at yahoo dot com
We love opening presents in our pajamas.
We host a Christmas breakfast at our house 🙂
I love opening stockings on Christmas morning
Family getting together to decorate the christmas tree.
My favorite holiday tradition is listening to Christmas music as we decorate the tree. Thanks for the giveaway!
Christmas morning is spent lounging around, slowly opening presents one at a time, and simply enjoying the time with one another!
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/545702272500391937
we love making christmas cookies
tweet–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/545681039440740352
I love baking cookies with my family!
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com
This being our first Christmas with our little, I’m trying to find that balance between fun tradition and over-hyping, over programming. I’m looking forward to baking, of course! He LOVED putting up the lights with dad (he has a very mechanical little mind) and I’m really looking forward to attending service with him and then serving in our church as a family together on Christmas Eve. I can’t say there’s one thing that will be the standout. Just having him home is good enough:).
Our traditions have taken different paths through the years, as sometimes we travel to family and the kids are now older…but two that we have been able to keep is to drive around and look at the festive lights and Keep Christ in the middle everything we do – whether that is advent devotions, or simply reading the Bible together on Christmas eve or morning.
We have several traditions, but the first one my hubby and I chose to do together is to go out to a tree farm to find and cut our own Christmas tree. Some years it has been pricey, and some years we had to settle for a pre-cut… but we try our best and always enjoy a real tree!
I shared on Twitter =) https://twitter.com/ajpw2004/status/545605889571700736
Making cinnamon rolls Christmas morning, decorating them with sprinkles and candles. We gather around and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and then the kids get to blow out the candles. =) Also going to the candle light service at church on Christmas Eve. It’s always such a beautiful time.
Tweet link: https://twitter.com/shala_darkstone/status/545544755069714432
I love baking cookies for the holidays, and pies! And I enjoy buying a present each year to donate to Toys for Tots.
We like driving around to look at Christmas lights, baking cookies, and watching old movies by the glow of the Christmas tree. 🙂
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
https://twitter.com/Bevy_lynn/status/545405023383855105
I love cutting down a tree every year with my hubby. It is one thing that we have done every single year since we were married.
Every single year on Christmas Eve we would get a new pair of pajamas.
2ND ENTRY https://twitter.com/kytah00/status/545281161237262336
MAKING ORNAMENTS WITH THE FAM….
My favorite christmas tradition is watching all the classic Christmas cartoons like Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman and more!
Watching “White Christmas” while wrapping gifts…love that movie!!! 🙂
My favorite tradition is baking lots of Christmas cookies.
My favorite childhood tradition would be baking cookies with my mom and sister for an entire day.
tweeted https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/544254153644462080
Our favorite holiday tradition is to make Christmas cookies together while listening to Christmas music.
tweet https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/544183310591590400
I don’t have traditions right now, no kids, just my husband and i. we do have a nice christmas dinner for two 🙂
My absolute favorite tradition is driving around with my daughter and looking at Christmas lights!
https://twitter.com/sweetums82/status/543903943856631809
going to the Christmas parade
We go and see Christmas lights then come home and have hot cocoa. Living in the South we are sometimes wearing shorts but we still have hot cocoa.
https://twitter.com/devyjackson/status/543873343502311425
Our favorite memories are baking and decorating together.
devyjackson at gmail.com
https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/543506244804157440
we purchase same pajamas every Christmas and take a silly photo.
https://twitter.com/mommabear2b1g/status/543381720327008256
My favorite holiday tradition is Christmas dinner together with the family!
Picking out Christmas trees from a nearby farm.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/543268775525507073
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/543247805821640705
My favorite holiday tradition is picking up and decorating tree with my family.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
https://twitter.com/benz1171/status/543174529422725120
Opening gifts on Christmas morning. Then playing games.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/PrettyHotPink6/status/543117290930057216
We love to ride around at night and look at the beautiful holiday decorations and lights on the houses/front yards.
Every Christmas Eve, my family (of about 24 this year celebrating together, cousins and all) take part in a Secret Santa gift exchange. We make sure to come together at Thanksgiving to draw names and write wishlists, and again on Christmas Even to exchange gifts.
Wwhen my 7 were little e alwways had a basket of Christmas books in a basket and would read a story eveery night starting 22 weks before Chistmas. And also the baking, the mess, the fun aand then all those gooddies.:). Decorate with Christmas music. Now theey pass it on to their on children. Thanks for ssharing you geat pictures.
Carol L
So sorry for all the spelling errors. This stylus is so sensitive.
Looking at Christmas lights, and making Christmas cookies. 😉
we have a tradition of stringing popcorn garlands to decorate our tree while we watch Christmas movies together [email protected]
I tweeted https://twitter.com/thepryfamily2/status/542899599053045760 [email protected]
I love advent calendars! We have two but I have to stop myself from getting more.
My favorite tradition is going to the children’s nativity play.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/crunchycolletti/status/542891534249521152?s=09
I tweeted
https://twitter.com/my4boysand1/status/542887862715580416
One of our favorite traditions is to make a new ornament made of the kids hand prints every year!
We have followed my husband’s family’s traditional homemade tacos on Christmas Eve. Now that our daughters are married and have their own families, we still get together every Christmas Eve for tacos.
I tweeted about this promotion! https://twitter.com/PJGurganus/status/542853477492588546
My favorite holiday tradition is on Christmas Eve, we eat homemade pizza on the fine china and drink whatever beverage were having out of the crystal, we then play games while listening to holiday music, break out a big box of chocolate and munch on those, then about a hour before midnight, we sit down and read The Night Before Christmas then everyone heads home to get the kids in bed before midnight!
Oh, I forgot! Before we read the story, we each get to open one gift! 🙂
We have always gone to a Christmas Eve service and we open 1 present that night. My husband’s family does the same thing so it is nice no matter which family we our with, the tradition continues.
Following the tradition of my mom with an all-edible decorated tree! String popcorn and cranberries and make decorated sugar cookies esp gingerbread men & ladies, popcorn balls, candy canes, satchels of gold chocolate coins, the list goes on and on. It is fun to get edible treats for the tree, then it isn’t so bad taking the tree down after Christmas, as we get to eat it all (well, whatever we haven’t snitched)!!
Growing up, my whole neighborhood lined their driveways & sidewalks with paper bag luminaries on Christmas Eve. It was so beautiful to walk/drive thru the neighborhood & think of it as lighting the way for Baby Jesus to come to each & every home! I have luminaries to start the tradition in my new home. Maybe I will see if I can make the tradition grow in this neighborhood :-).
tweeted
https://mobile.twitter.com/saverang/status/542785458317426688
[email protected]
My favorite tradition is making homemade peanut brittle as gifts!
[email protected]
Last year we started a new tradition. On Christmas Eve our doorbell rang and on the front porch was a storage tub with a note from Purple the Elf. He had filled the tub with family games, hot chocolate, marshmallows, popcorn and a set of Christmas jammies for everyone. My preschooler loved it and my older kids even enjoyed it, as they were in on the secret. I’ve already got this year’s box planned and about ready!
We let our kids open one book a night until Christmas to celebrate Advent.
I just started doing this! Except I could only collect 12 books so we started the tradition today 🙂
Our favorite tradition is to attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah. Love it!
My favorite tradition is advent with our children 3 and 5. Each year they get a little older and put the pieces together more and more. It’s so much fun to see their faces when they start to put it all together about the birth of Jesus! Then spending all those traditional holiday moments with family. Christmas especially seems to make us all slow down and enjoy “little moments” with our families.
our favorite holiday tradition is “elf on the shelf”!
I’ve seen some hilarious ideas with what people have done with him!
tweet
https://twitter.com/Kellydpa/status/542464922907451393
I enjoy decorating the Christmas tree with the help of my 2 kids every year. We just did this today, since they had a snow day.
https://twitter.com/rubylorikeet/status/542443416794062848
We love baking Christmas cookies together. Also we drink egg nog and sing ‘O Christmas Tree’ while we set up our tree! We keep a list of Christmas traditions packed in our ornament box so we can remember what we loved the year and wanted to continue.
We’d read aloud from a book called Santa Mouse, then we’d decorate the tree with a yellow light at the top (just like in the book) so Santa Mouse could be sure to find his way to our house.
https://twitter.com/618mom23boys/status/542328171954057216
We love to drive around on Christmas Eve looking at Christmas lights.
I plan on doing this as well this year!
Tweet Entry
https://twitter.com/JewelWood/status/542318021155753984
My favorite Holiday Tradition is to go get our Christmas Tree at a tree farm. We make it a day by getting in the Car and listening to Christmas Music on the way and spending the whole day decorating the tree together as a family. It is so much fun.
tweet: https://twitter.com/akronugurl/status/542277712032071680
i love to bake cookies
https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/542217100131979264
My favorite tradition is to bake Christmas cookies and share them with friends and family
tweeted: https://twitter.com/justtellmewhen/status/542197582072537088
My favorite tradition is baking with my mom and grandma before the big day!
At 18 months, my daughter is already old enough to enjoy the lights. So we try to find some to drive by often this time of year! It’s so much fun to hear her oooh and aaah at them!
tweet https://twitter.com/yarbr012/status/542171083655643136
https://twitter.com/yarbr012/status/542170770479144960
My favorite Christmas tradition is making a gingerbread house from scratch and decorating it as a family!
tweet — https://twitter.com/lil_lady_dz/status/542169603359535104
Our family tradition involves decorating the outside of the house with tons of Christmas décor and lights, we also deck out the inside of the home to together.
Since my husband and I began dating, way back in high school, we’ve exchanged one small gift on Christmas Eve and one gift on Christmas Day. Even if it’s just a bag of his favorite candy or a fun pair of socks for me…. I get giddy thinking about it as we drive home from Christmas Eve church service.
So fun!
So many sweet traditions to choose from, but probably my favorite right now is opening Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.
You going to have your boys match? I’d love to see pics!
Yep, I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle jammies on sale about a month ago at Target!
My favorite holiday tradition is candy making/making treat plates with my Mom and Sister and delivering them to friends/family/my teachers(as a child).
tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/542120426801860608
Our favorite tradition is decorating the tree.
We buy an ornament every year that represents a fun memory from the past year. It’s so fun to pull out the ornaments from past years and remember together.
We do this too! Sometimes it’s a challenge to find the right one but it’s so fun every year to pull them out and recall stories!
My favorite thing we did when I was younger is bake cookies with my mom. We are continuing it with our kids. We also love watching Christmas movie as a family (with my parents and siblings). Our favorites are Christmas Vacation and White Christmas.
Gotta love Christmas Vacation!
Christmas Eve we wear our PJ’s inside-out and do a snow day dance!!!
Then we hope hope hope for snow on Christmas morning 🙂
That is hilarious! And quite original!
I love now putting up the Nutcrackers in their place of honor with my husband–it tells me the holidays are coming.
Our favorite family Christmas tradition is baking Christmas cookies and decorating them together.
One of my favorite family holiday traditions is our celebration of Wilgilia, Polish Christmas Eve. We eat a lot of fish and pierogi, fruit compote and peas (which I don’t think have anything to do with Wilgilia). The best part is when we break the opłatek (Christmas wafer) and share pieces with each other. As we do, we hug, and the idea is that you forgive your family members for any wrongdoing of the past year and enter the new year with forgiveness and love in your heart.
One our families most favorite of all holiday traditions is piling up in the car after dinner to take delight in the GORGEOUS LIGHTING decorations our community displays on their homes and yards!
Baking and decorating Christmas cookies when my kids were still at home. Now my tradition is buying my grandkids fun Christmas PJ’s!