Christmas traditions are what make Christmas special. Christmas traditions can range from free to expensive, but no matter what the price, they are fun for the whole family. When I look back on my Christmas memories, my most fond ones are the traditions my family shared. A well planned Christmas is more fun than just taking the holiday as it comes.

My children are the same way as I was as a child as I suspect yours are as well. They are always excitedly asking me to do our traditions year after year. I do believe they love Christmas traditions as much (if not more than) getting their Christmas gifts!

Have you or your kids ever said “It just doesn’t feel like Christmas!” Nothing makes it feel more like Christmas than Christmas Traditions. We all love to have a routine we can count on, and Christmas is no different.

Christmas Tradition #1 Advent Calendar

Advent is the Latin word for “arrive.” An Advent Calendar is a great Christmas tradition to count down the arrival of Christmas. What’s more fun than receiving a treat each and every day leading up to the big day?

Advent Calendars are fun for all ages. There are so many different fun types of calendars you can get. Makeup, chocolate, toys, and even pet treats for the fur babies. You can even buy empty ones and fill them yourself with whatever it is that you would like.

Whomever invented this Christmas tradition deserves a big pat on the back! I doubt they ever envisioned them to be as diverse as they are today!

Tradition #2 Christmas Cards

I remember as a kid my parents received so many Christmas cards. We used to hang them around the doorways as decorations. There aren’t nearly so many people who send out Christmas cards as there used to be because of this digital age we live in.

You can send some fun Christmas cards online, but there is something special about receiving a handwritten card. Perhaps a handwritten Christmas card will be a part of your Christmas tradition?

I have some friends who write a Newsletter as one of their Christmas traditions that is part of their Christmas Card. The newsletter updates all the friends and family on what has been happening for the past year.  News like who got engaged, or maybe a new pet was rescued, or any other major life update that they would like to share. It’s such a sweet personal touch to add a newsletter to your Christmas cards.

Tradition #3 Christmas Movies

There is nothing like a cheesy Christmas Movie to put you in the mood for Christmas. I don’t care how many times they repackage sending a woman to a small town to meet a single Dad and they fall in love, it’s always a winner! Or the other plot, man meets woman. Man or woman is engaged to the wrong man or woman and after it falls apart they marry someone else who is right for them. Extra points if the movies are cast with Mario Lopez, Candace Cameron, or Melissa Joan Hart! I suppose the repetitive cheesy Christmas movie is one of the Christmas traditions in and of itself.

There are so many ways the Christmas movie traditions can be done. Get together with your kids and watch the same age-appropriate “Christmas Specials” together. You can have a vintage theme and watch only Christmas movies that were made before 1985.

Christmas Movies With Friends

You can invite your bestie over for some hot chocolate and some It’s a Wonderful Lifetime, or whatever they are calling it this year! Because you know, most hubbies are not down with the Christmas cheese-fest, that’s why God gave us girlfriends!

Adding to these Christmas traditions you can buy one Christmas movie per year from Amazon to add to your collection. Eventually, you will own all of your favorite Christmas movies and you can plan to watch them whenever you want.

Tradition #4 Christmas China

Growing up, my Mother had a beautiful Christmas China that when I would gaze at it and run my fingers over the delicate china I felt so luxurious. I never felt like it was Christmas without my Mother’s Christmas china. I loved the Christmas Traditions of setting out China, wiping it down, and best of all, eating Christmas dinner on it.

There are so many different patterns out there today that you can use for your Christmas Tradition. Some designs have been in production for years. Others are discontinued, but you can still find them on eBay or Facebook marketplace. Pick a pattern that makes you feel abundant and joyful because that’s what Christmas is abundance and joy.

You can buy a brand new Christmas china set anywhere these days, or find a vintage one. Vintage Christmas china is so much fun to collect and it’s really inexpensive. Just be sure there isn’t any lead in it, back in the day nobody cared about heavy metal poisoning, so there is still a lot of China floating around that should never be eaten from no matter what Christmas traditions you are following.  Although that shouldn’t stop you from decorating with it!

If you have old Christmas china that may have lead in it, you can display it as your decor. It’s still beautiful, it can just be decoration instead of dinnerware.

Christmas Tradition #5 Build a Gingerbread House

There are so many fun different gingerbread houses available. I’m not about baking my own house, but if you do props to you! We have always done ready-made gingerbread houses as one of our Christmas traditions. We would see gingerbread houses at the store, buy them, and then work them into whatever time we had available.

If you want to up-level your gingerbread game, you can buy a differently themed gingerbread house for each family member! This is one of those fun crafty Christmas traditions you can do with everyone who spends Christmas Day together. You can get some that are fun, some that are wacky, and some that are a gag gift type of gingerbread house. The sky is the limit and your creativity needs to know no bounds!

After all the gifts have been opened and the kids are starting to get bored, you can start making the gingerbread houses! All the mess is made at one time, there is no worrying about having the time to “fit in” making a gingerbread house and the kids are quiet and occupied. You can even watch a cheesy Christmas movie while you decorate.

Tradition #6 Opening one gift on Christmas Eve

This may be one of the most popular Christmas traditions that most everyone does. My family started this as a kid and it’s continued to this day. We don’t buy a lot of gifts for our kids so they get to pick one of the small gifts that are in their stocking to open on Christmas Eve.

If you ask almost any kid, this is probably their most favorite Christmas tradition. Who doesn’t want to open a gift a day ahead of time?

Tradition #7 The Christmas Pickle

The Christmas Pickle is a fun Christmas tradition even if it’s kind of odd. You hide the glass pickle ornament somewhere in the tree and whoever finds it gets to open the first gift.

I was always under the impression that this was a Victorian tradition. No one knows exactly where it started or why. Although there are quite a few exciting legends! A beautiful glass pickle ornament can be one of the most beautiful decorations to add to your tree. A bumpy green glass pickle, who wouldn’t love that?

Tradition #8 Christmas Music

One of the most significant traditions is playing Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until January 2nd. If you love Christmas as much as I do, you will not flinch at this tradition. I know some people don’t love this Christmas tradition, but if you change up the style of music you won’t tire of it easily.

Pandora and Amazon Prime Music (if you have a Prime Membership) have the greatest free selection of music. There should be something for everyone with Pandora and Prime music jazz, chorus, rock, pop, country and more.

Tradition #9 Have a Christmas Pageant

My personal favorite of all Christmas traditions, the Christmas pageant. Our family used to have a really nice big pageant. Half of my family are performers of some sort. Our pageant now consists of me and my two kids performing. It’s much smaller but my kids don’t mind and I get to perform and play director, my favorite job.

I’ve flopped in the past during the pageant when we had quite a large audience. I took a long Pageant hiatus after that. I told my kids about it a few years ago and we restarted the tradition. It’s not about how well everyone performs, it’s all about the fun!

Last year my performance was a pole dance to Santa Baby. Who says a small performance can’t be fun? Not me. ?

Tradition #10 Christmas Crafts

Our family has always done some random Christmas craft every year. Which was always fun, but this year we took it up a notch and did ugly Christmas socks. The kids loved it and asked if we can do that every year.

You can craft Christmas ornaments, cards, wreaths, or make an ugly sweater.

It adds to the tradition if you can designate a specific day to do the craft every year. We do our Christmas craft on the day after Thanksgiving. It works out great because the kids don’t have school and it’s a nice way to kick off the Christmas season.

Play another one of those Christmas movies, or put on some Christmas music make some hot chocolate and let the kids start crafting! They will surely be quiet for at least an hour. Longer if you have different crafts for them.

Lets Recap the Christmas Traditions:

1. Advent Calendars
2. Christmas Cards
3. Watch Christmas Movies
4. Collect and Use Christmas China
5. Build a Gingerbread House on Christmas Day
6. Open one gift Christmas Eve
7. The Christmas Pickle
8. Christmas Music
9. Have a Christmas Pageant
10. Make Christmas Crafts

Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a season. Why not make it a season-long celebration with your loved ones?

What are some of your Christmas Traditions? Let me know in the comments I’d love to hear about them!