On a Mission for the Merriest Christmas Traditions

Enjoy some Christmas Baking

Baking treats for the special people in your life is a sweet and thoughtful way to show your appreciation. There’s no shortage of Christmas treat ideas (and ideas for other holidays, too!); have fun whipping up Christmas cookies, cakes, pies and more. For a custom touch, make sugar cookies and get creative with the icing for each recipient, such as creating coffee-themed cookies for your barista, envelope-shaped treats for your mail carrier or bone-shaped sweets for your dog walker.

Organize a Cookie Exchange

Get your friends in on the game by organizing a cookie exchange. Simply compile a group of bakers, then have everyone bake a batch of their finest cookies. It’s a great chance to make your grandmother’s secret sugar cookie recipe or that double chocolate chip cookie you’ve been wanting to try out. On the appointed day, bakers can either get together or drop the cookies off at each participant’s doorstep. The fun of a cookie exchange is though you bake just one kind of cookie, you get to bring a variety home!

Host an In-Person or Virtual Happy Hour

Get a group of your best pals together to chat, sip, snack and work on a gingerbread house, decorate sugar cookies and engage in other holiday games. You can choose a signature mocktail or Christmas drink recipe to serve at your celebration, such as a homemade eggnog or festive punch. To keep the mood going, try watching a holiday movie together.

Plan Festive Family Nights

Christmas movies are great for family night, too. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, give each family member a night to pick their favorite holiday film for everyone to watch. Before you hit play, set the scene with a snack table for easy grazing. Have everyone share their favorite Christmas snack ideas, or do a little research on the movie and whip up film-inspired fare.

Make DIY Christmas Ornaments

Get crafty with DIY Christmas ornaments. Consider using kitchen twine, cinnamon sticks, dried citrus, twigs and pinecones for an outdoorsy vibe. Simply tie the string around each piece to create a garland, or single out certain items to make ornaments to hang on the tree, in a window or near the door.

Grab white or wooden ornaments and paint to easily create a unique keepsake or gift for a close family member. Your kids will have fun decorating the ornament, and the finished product will be cherished for years.

Organize a Secret Santa

Keep gifting easy with this fun holiday tradition. To organize a Secret Santa, gather a group of people who know each other, such as friends, family members or coworkers. Each individual in the group should be randomly assigned another member to buy or make a gift for. When labeling your present, write the recipient’s name but not your own – the giftee must guess who their Secret Santa is! For secret Santa gift ideas, check out our Holiday Gift Guide.

Create Group Art

Another fun and unique approach to creating memories includes designing a collective work of art. Choose an image and segment it into squares, then give each family member their segment and a square canvas. Assemble the canvas squares as a family and enjoy the masterpiece you made. You can create beautiful Christmas art, or something to enjoy all year long.

Festive Christmas Décor

Don’t be scared to pull out all the stops for an extra-special, doubly-decked out Christmas. Bring out the packed-away boxes, then head to the store (or online) for more Christmas décor! Thinking about a new nutcracker or a personalized Christmas wreath? We say deck it all! Create paper chains and other traditional crafts, build a chocolate-packed advent calendar and have fun inventing new extravagant antics for your Elf on the Shelf.

Bring the cheer to your porch or yard with some outdoor Christmas decorations. You don’t have to buy new decorations to create a beautiful display – you can use wrapping paper to wrap your front door or add a pop of color to your walkway with DIY cranberry luminaria. Simply fill glass vases ¼ full with artificial snow, sprinkle cranberries (real or artificial) over the snow, then place a wide candle in the middle of the frosty base.

To create a winter wonderland for the wildlife, try decorating trees with birdseed suet “ornaments” in festive shapes. Or, string popcorn and cranberries as a natural, and animal-friendly, garland that can hang across the trees and shrubs in your garden or yard.