How We....Do Christmas

How we celebrate Christmas changes slightly from year to year.  

Some years we host lots of parties and some years we don't host any.  Some years we go over the top with gift giving and other years we try like crazy to scale back.  I do try to make the whole month of December full of family fun but find that as my boys age a bit more each year there are more traditions they outgrow each year.  



Most years I like to have little touches of Christmas in each room throughout the whole downstairs.

Our dining room 

Our formal living room 





Our front entryway 

This year I cleaned off our DVD shelves and made room for my village 

Our mantle with our new stocking holders that my husband and boys made


We make lots of crafts (sorry so many of them are gifts for family that I can't share here), watch lots of holiday movies, and try out many new recipes all month long.


We made homemade marshmallows


We made chocolate chocolate mint chip cookies
We always make time to decorate a gingerbread house of some sort.  This year we chose to try making a log cabin house with pretzel rods.  We just love how it came out.


We try to find a new place to go and see lights and outdoor decorations each year and this year we took a trip to Amarante's (they won the Great Christmas Light Fight last year!).


Both my husband and I have step parents and siblings and we begin celebrating the holiday season early with family parties so we can make sure to celebrate with all sides of our families.  Spreading the parties out throughout the month helps us feel less rushed and allows us to spend more time with each side.  The focus is always on family time, meals, and memories and not so much about the presents.

 As my boys are aging out of so many family traditions (like pictures with Santa) I am trying to find new family traditions.  This year we tried an activity advent calendar, we've put together a family puzzle (something I hope to continue each year), and we made our second annual trip to Yankee Candle Flagship store.




How do you celebrate Christmas in your home?

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Comments

  1. Looks so festive, the Let it Snow Porch sign is my favorite!!

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  2. This lovely. Your home looks so cute and comfy. Homemade marshmallows? Were they hard to make? I am intrigued :)

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    Replies
    1. They weren't hard to make but it did take a bit more time than I had anticipated. The recipe made a large batch of them though and my boys just loved them. This is the recipe I used; https://ashleemarie.com/homemade-marshmallows/

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  3. Your Christmas decor is lovely and the gingerbread house so cute! I've always wanted to make one but I've never done it yet. Any tips for beginners?

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    Replies
    1. Yep, make sure your frosting is nice and thick. Ours was a bit thinner so I could pipe it nice and easy but it kept getting so warm and melty in my hands that it was tough to work with. In fact, next time I plan to buy the premade frosting since we're not really eating it anyway.

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  4. Hello! !
    Today I decorated the Christmas tree. I really enjoyed it! Every year I get very excited, I decorate the Christmas tree and it begins to feel like Christmas. I think this year's Christmas tree is also very beautiful.
    Ryoma.

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    Replies
    1. It really does make the whole house feel like Christmas.

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  5. I love all of your traditions. Your Christmas tree is so pretty and I love all of your decorations. That gingerbread house is so cute!

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  6. Love it! I am finding that my son (16) is over many of our traditions and I am working on new ones.
    Blessings, Dawn

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    Replies
    1. Me too; but it is getting hard to come up with new ones they're (all) willing to participate in. Sometime I think this is a teen thing but I think it also is a bit of a boy thing too... maybe?!

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  7. Thank you for sharing your holiday decorations and traditions with us. I loved seeing the pictures of you baking. It brought back memories of holiday baking with my boys when they were little. Now I do it with the grandkids!

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  8. Your house is so pretty. I love your front door/ porch!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!! It's the fist time I've really taken the time to decorate it and I just loved how festive it felt.. even if we rarely get visitors that use the front door.

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