We bought a Christmas Eve box last year – I’d seen some posts about them and thought they were a really sweet idea, and a lovely new tradition to include in our family festivities. But what to put in them? Last year we had the usual, some treats, a new pair of jammies and Rian’s stocking, ready to hang up. This year I thought I would ask some fellow bloggers about their ideas for a Christmas Eve Box!
Hello Deborah had a good suggestion – hot chocolate ingredients wrapped up in cones, with marshmallows and sprinkles. A lovely treat before bed!
For those without chimneys (most of us now I imagine!) Monkey and Mouse suggests a Santa Key – you wouldn’t even have to buy one of these, I bet an old key on a bit of ribbon would spark the imagination much more than the tacky plastic ones that I’ve seen on sale. On a similar note, Danielle from Someone’s Mum suggests a Santa Stop Here sign – you could even put in the bits and bobs to make your own (so again, crayons and what not you probably already have!)
Games are a great idea, or Mummy In A Tutu suggests a pack of cards. Again, this wouldn’t have to be new, you could use ones you already have – it’s ideas that bring the family together to focus on each other rather than spending lots of additional money that you might not have.
Becky from Mommy & Rory puts Reindeer food and Santa’s treats in hers – a great combination of traditions old and new there! Just make sure there’s no glitter in that reindeer food…
Another crafty one to do together is Christmas decorations you can make. There are loads of DIY tutorials online you can track down or there are ceramic baubles you can buy to paint – popping names and ages or the date on the back with give you happy reminders for years to come every time you decorate the tree. A great one from Bear and Beany. Thrifty Mum prints off free festive colouring in from Pinterest – another low-cost fun thing to do together!
Christmas DVDs are popular when asking for ideas for a Christmas Eve box, but if you don’t have a player, you can look on your TV guide for what is on telly, and make a ‘ticket’ or a voucher to settle down together and watch whatever is on – there’s always something good! A good tip there from Sparkly Mummy.
These last two suggestions are my absolute favourites – this one, for its utter randomness! Yorkshire Wonders suggests putting in a coconut (yes really!) which can then be split and hung in the garden to see if a hungry robin might drop by. Very festive!
The last one (suggested by My Parenting Journey) is to have all the usual family things in the box, and then once it has been opened, use it as a repository for all your distracting gadgets and devices. Put them away and ignore them for the rest of the day so you can spend quality time together without being distracted. Brilliant!
I hope you’ll notice that none of these is very expensive and that a lot of them can be done for free or with things you already have at home. When I crowdsourced for this post, someone left a nasty (since deleted!) comment suggesting that Christmas Eve boxes are yet more commercialisation and somehow ruining everything, and that if they hadn’t done something as a child, why should they do it for their children…Well. Firstly, I love starting my own family traditions – we never had stockings as kids, but I always do one for Rian. Secondly, for me, this childhood magic is so fleeting, why wouldn’t I want to add to it with what is frankly a lovely idea?
I hope you all have a magical Christmas, boxes or no, and a Happy New Year!
I wish I had seen this before christmas eve! But I am storing these ideas up for next year, that’s for sure!
I however, did buy some little games we can all play and have fun with 🙂