Christmas Traditions + Video(!)

The Christmas season is finally here!  And it one of my favorite times of the year!  Adam was asking me a few days ago what I like most about Christmas.  There are a few things, but I think the thing I like best is having family traditions.  I love looking forward to family activities, meals, gifts, and time spent with family.  I think traditions help make Christmas extra special.  

I have parents who are expert tradition makers.  We always had a 'shepherd's meal' on Christmas Eve, where we would have a meal picnic style on the floor, by candlelight.  We listened to this very old tape series called "The Cinnamon Bear" that was all about a bear who helped a little brother and sister find the lost star to top their Christmas tree (it was cheesy, but we all loved it).  We dropped off Christmas treats to friends and neighbors and sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to them.  We had a specific order for opening presents so that the enjoyment and fun would last as long as possible.  These are just a few of the many traditions that I grew up with.  I could go on for hours.   

When Adam and I got married, I had a hard time figuring out how to cultivate the Christmas Spirit in our home.  We both love Christmas time, but each of our families has their own traditions, and figuring out what we wanted to keep, and what we wanted to add has been challenging.  

Making the effort to establish certain traditions seems a little overwhelming when you first get married and Christmas is a very different holiday when it is just you and your spouse filling each other's stocking.  I feel like the effort is definitely worth it, but it took me a while to figure out how to really infuse our house with the spirit of love and giving that is Christmas without kids or our families around.  

A tradition that we started last year is sending out Christmas cards, and I loved the other traditions that have sprung from that.  

We take our own family photos each year, to document another year as our family grows and changes.  We hand-deliver our Christmas cards to friends in the area, making a special homemade treat to go with the card.  We take the time to write notes on our cards to family who will get them in the mail.  It is a process filled with love, reflection, and memories.  I absolutely love it.  

This year, I took the Christmas card delivery one step further and ordered a self-inking rubber stamp, and recipes cards from Tiny Prints, along with our cards, envelopes, envelope inserts, and customized postage.  I have already taken a few tasty treats around, and it has been really fun to be able to personalize the tags and write down the recipes that I have created to share with friends.  

I take treats to people all year long (thanks to blogging we end up with lots of extra treats), and it will be super nice to have recipe cards and a personalized stamp.  I'll use it long after the Christmas season.   

We have created a little video highlighting some of our Christmas preparations and some family photo behind the scenes! We are pretty obsessed with how the cards turned out and had a great time taking photos and getting the cards ready to send out!   

The recipe for the gorgeous cinnamon roll in the photos below will be up next week!  

This post was created in collaboration with TinyPrints, but all opinions, photos and videos are my own!  Thanks for supporting the brands that make Measure and Whisk possible!