The Night Before Christmas (Box)
I love Christmas Eve! The anticipation of the big day is even more exciting than the day itself as far as I am concerned, and over the last few years, we have started a tradition of going to a Christmas Carol service followed by an evening with yummy finger food (thank you Pinterest!) and Christmas Eve boxes at home.
I'm being more and more conscious of buying things that will end up in the bin a few days later. So this year, the boxes will consist of:
Pyjamas
Snow Globe
There is something magical about a snow globe at Christmas. I remember loving them as a child and that's something I wanted to continue for the boys. I've gathered a little collection over the last few years so this year may be the last time I buy them for a while as I will rotate the ones we already have! I like the mini Gisella Graham glass snow globes and have my eye on this one, which is from The Contemporary Home.
Books
It wouldn't be Christmas Eve box without a festive book. We've had some great ones over the years (the best has got to be The Jolly Christmas Postman) but this year as there is nothing funnier to my boys than poo and farts (sorry!), Roo will be getting The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas by Tom Fletcher. Seb, being slightly older, has been asking a lot about the Christmas story, so I'm going to get him a nativity book, possibly Jesus' Christmas Party by Nicholas Allan.
Tree Decoration
I think there's something really special about getting a lovely decoration the night before Christmas just to finish off the tree before the big man arrives. This year I've got the boys some beautiful personalised star decorations from Little Wisteria.
Another one to check out are these beautiful fabric stars by Peony and Grace, which were in last year's box.
Magical Reindeer Food
Rather than buying ready made reindeer food full of glitter that is REALLY bad for wildlife, I make my own in about three minutes. I use a little organza bag and fill it with oats, a bit of bird seed and some dried fruit for a bit of colour. And then I simply add a little Christmas tag with the rhyme:
And that's about it. I reuse some boxes that I bought years ago and make them pretty with tissue paper. I don't buy a Christmas DVD as we have Netflix and I don't include hot chocolate and sweets, although I know a lot of people do. I know if I fill our boys with sugar right before bedtime, there is zero chance of getting them to sleep at a reasonable hour - and we are sure to be woken at the crack of dawn to shouts of "Has he been??".
I'd love to hear what you put in your Christmas Eve boxes.