Dare to DIY: Christmas Traditions

Sadly, the Dare to DIY party is drawing to a close. I've had so much fun with these posts each week, and even more fun exploring all of the wonderful creations that everyone came up with. Thanks to Kim for hosting each week!

This week's challenge was to share the traditions that we already uphold, or the ones that we are starting this year. I am a big one for traditions, so you can bet that I'll have lots of share.

Celebrating on Christmas Eve Lover's family has always celebrated on Christmas Eve, so most of the time we spend at least part of the day with them. Lover always jokes that he was quite old before he figured out that Christmas wasn't on the 24th. :-) This makes me happy, because we can then spend a quiet Christmas morning together.

Decorating the tree This year we began a new tradition, of waiting to put the ornaments up until Christmas Eve. The tree is currently decorated with lights, balls and ribbon, but all of the sentimental ornaments are patiently waiting for the 24th in a pretty box under the tree. I'm hoping to blare some Christmas tunes, put out some treats, and have a smashing good time.

The dark side of the tree. Several years ago my brothers started this tradition. Someone gave us some seriously weird ornaments, and they jokingly placed them on the back of the tree, dubbing it the "dark side." The tradition has stuck, and now we place all of the questionable ornaments on the back of the tree. So much fun.

Watch Christmas movies. Up until 2009, our tradition was to watch It's a Wonderful Life. This year we ditched the old classic *sniff* in favor of our own favorite Christmas movies; Home Alone, Elf, and While You Were Sleeping. We're trying to do this in lieu of an Advent wreath, so essentially one movie a weekend.

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch stole Christmas. It's a bit of a joke around here that Lover is a Grinch when it comes to Christmas. (Although in his defense he has been so, SO much better this year) We started watching this heartwarming tale last year on the 24th, and plan to do so again this year.

Grinch ornaments. By chance, the first year we were married, I was out shopping the day after Christmas and I found a clearanced Grinch ornament. I bought it as a joke for Lover (see above) and the tradition has stuck. This one does take some work though, as it is apparently very difficult to find a Grinch ornament each year. It may also be because we have strict guidelines. We have to purchase the ornament around Christmas time, we must be together, and we have to go to a physical store, not shop online. It really is a lot of fun, regardless.

12 days of Christmas. As most couples do, the first year we were married we lamented the fact that we didn't get to have our "own" Christmas together. So instead, we gave each other a few small gifts in the days following Christmas. The second year we turned that into a full fledged tradition, buying five small gifts, one for every day after Christmas. Eventually our plan is to give each other one gift each day from December 26 through January 6th. (The day they celebrate Christmas in Spain, where we both grew up) This year we are up to 7 gifts. We keep a $5 limit for each gift so things don't get too crazy. It's my favorite tradition of all the ones we keep, and I look forward to it each year.

So those are the traditions we keep here at Wendhurst Castle. It's been fun to hang out with all you fun peeps, and I've had so much fun finding all sorts of new blogs to add to my reader. Have a Merry Christmas!

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