10 Holiday Traditions You’ll Want to Adopt!

Fun & Meaningful Holiday Traditions

As our family is growing, so is the list of holiday traditions! I couldn’t be more excited about both these things. Adding new traditions and keeping (some) of the old ones has become especially important this year.

This Christmas is going to be quite a bit different so I wanted to add a new tradition to make it a little more special. I reached out to some of the most inspiring home decor and mom bloggers for ideas and LOVE them all!! Now, how do I narrow down which one we will add?

Sleeping Under the Tree

“One of my favorite Christmas traditions my family had while growing up still continues to this day. Every Christmas Eve all of us kids sleep in the living room “under” the tree. We started the tradition as little kids, but now all of us grown adults, along with our spouses and dogs, camp out under the tree together. It was such a fun and magical feeling sleeping cozy by the fire and falling asleep watching the christmas tree glow, and then waking up to find Santa had left us all stockings by our pillow. I look forward to continuing the tradition with my own family some day!’ – Courtney, Tuft and Trim (Blog | instagram)

Wrapping 25 Books

“A special tradition we have in our home and have done since our first daughter has been born is to wrap 25 Christmas books and place them under the tree. Every evening leading up to Christmas the girls unwrap a Christmas book and we read it together by the fire. I love watching their excitement and I can’t wait for Dec 1st to start up our tradition this year.” – Susan, Kindred Vintage ( Blog | instagram)

Christmas Eve Pajamas

“A Christmas tradition that I hold dear was started by my grandma. Each Christmas Eve, she would give my mom a new pair of pajamas, so that she would be excited to go to bed (and my grandma would be able to finish all the wrapping!) . My mom then did the same for me as a little girl, and she still does. While the styles have changed over the years, one thing remains – they are always navy blue. My grandma is no longer here, so I now give my mom new p.j.’s and we are equally cozy & stylish each Christmas morning.” – Kate, Wynn and Roo (Blog | instagram )

Appetizers for Dinner

“My family is big on holiday traditions! For as long as I can remember we’ve been having appetizers for dinner on Christmas Eve in place of a big dinner. Everyone gets to pick their favorite app (my sister, mom and I even have a Pinterest board that we pin app ideas to all year long) and we spend the day cooking. When we get home from church we sit down and enjoy our apps together. When my sister and I were younger, we would also exchange our gifts to each other during this time. This year I’m excited to revisit this tradition, only she’ll be getting a special gift from her new niece!” – Rachel, An Eventful Life (Blog | instagram)

Pickle in the tree

“One of our holiday traditions involves hiding a little glass pickle ornament somewhere on our Christmas tree. Our girls are grown now, but when they were little they would search for the pickle on Christmas morning, and the first one to find it got to be the first one to open a gift. Now that we have two little granddaughters, it’s fun to keep this tradition alive with them!” – Jane, Jane at Home (Blog | instagram)

Trimming the Tree with Family and Meaningful Ornaments

“12 Years ago when I had a one year old and a new home we bought our first real tree and during the process of getting the lights on, having a little baby who was trying to knock it over and daddy stressed about tangled lights, I almost screamed! No way could we decorate this tree, breastfeed, cook, etc, and stay sane. So, I picked up the phone and called my parents, aunts and uncles and in-laws. They came over and began to decorate the tree, they loved it. Well, that was easy. BUT of course I felt that I needed to feed them, so I hopped into the kitchen to put together a little warm dinner. The tree was done, the lights were up, and we ended the night around the table with a festive holiday family cheer. Most importantly, my son, only 1 at the time, began to experience the season of family and holidays without having to wait until December 24th.

Well, we continued this tradition every year. Picking up a tree and simply setting it in place. The boys would play and get all excited decorating the house while I began cooking in the kitchen for the arrival of our family to place the ornaments on the tree later that evening. What can make the tree-trimming party even more memorable, is to use ornaments with a story and memories. All our ornaments have a story. I get the kids a new ornament that represents them for that year. A trip, a sport, a toy, anything that provides a story of what they experienced that year. I try to remember to add the year on the ornament in permanent marker somewhere on the ornament. Over a decade later I love this tradition that was created by accident”. – Keki, Home with Keki (instagram | Blog)

Hot Chocolate and Christmas Light Viewing

“I love the holidays and now that I have kids, seeing Christmas through their eyes is even more more magical. That’s why I love creating and continuing family traditions. One of my favorites is bundling up on Christmas Day, making some hot chocolate, and driving around to see all the beautiful Christmas lights. It’s the best way to end the most wonderful time of the year!” – Lauren, My Plot of Sunshine (instagram | Blog )

Three Kings Day

“We have a tradition to celebrate La Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with a big dinner at my parents house. We play games, exchange stories of Christmas past and enjoy the time with the family. Christmas is a day or relaxing so we open presents, have breakfast, and play with our brand new toys.  A few days later, we celebrate Los Tres Reyes (3 Kings Day) where little presents are left for kids by the three wise men under their bed.” – Stephanie, Casa Watkins Living ( instagram |Blog)

Old World Ornaments & a Christmas Movie

“Our favorite family Christmas tradition is that on Christmas Eve, after going to a candlelight service, we come home and every family member unwraps their Christmas pajamas. After that each person gets a new ornament for the year. We have been doing this since our kids were born. Each family member gets and Old World Christmas ornament that corresponds to something meaningful in their life for that year. We unwrap the ornaments, put them on the tree, then snuggle up and Watch our favorite Christmas movie! It used to be polar express when the kids were younger but now that we have preteen and teens, we have graduated to Elf – “I just like to smile. Smiling’s my favorite.” – CC and Mike, CC + Mike Creative ( instagram |Blog)

And here are two of our Christmas traditions….

White Elephant Stocking

“The Regan side of our family picks names on Thanksgiving and exchanges white elephant/gag type gifts in a “stocking” for Christmas. The gifts are then squeezed into nylon stockings. It’s so fun to see what ridiculous things everyone gets!” – Samantha, Shining on Design ( instagram |Blog)

Pajamas on Christmas Eve

“Growing up my mom would buy my siblings and I all pajamas and give them to us on Christmas Eve. Even though we are all adults now with kids of our own, we still get our pajamas!! And every year I look forward to which ones she will choose because they usually become my favorite for the year.” – Samantha, Shining on Design ( instagram |Blog)

PS. Our Christmas jammies came early this year and they are from Hanna Andersson. Aren’t they so cute? I can’t wait to see the entire family in them on Christmas (all 8 of us will match!).

A HUGE thank you to all the bloggers that shared their family holiday traditions with me!! I love every story and wish we could adopt them all!

I’d love to hear, what are your favorite holiday traditions?!

PIN THIS FOR LATER!