Christmas Traditions Scrapbook

One of the most difficult things my husband and I encountered as a newly married couple was combining our family traditions and making our own. Christmas was the holiday that proved most difficult for us at first. You see I grew up celebrating Christmas a very European way and my husband grew up celebrating Christmas a very North American way. Needless to say neither of us wanted to budge on giving up any of our traditional ways because we had always done it that way. ☺

Well as you grow as a couple, mature and try to put your stubbornness aside one can realize that making new traditions can be just as important as celebrating old ones. For me that means advent calendars, lebkuchen, St. Nicolas Day, Advent wreaths, cutting down the Christmas tree, visiting Mrs. Camp (because it’s tradition don’t you know), working like crazy in the bake shop on the 24th, mom’s potato salad and opening presents on Christmas Eve and sleeping in on Christmas morning. That’s Christmas for me. All these point bring back fond memories and feelings when I think about them. In part, they are what shaped me to love the holidays so much. For my husband Christmas memories are slightly different. They include pulling out the same artificial tree every year and piecing it together, waking up really early on Christmas morning, stockings, opening presents and visiting grandparents. As you can see our traditions are very different but are important to both of us.

This entire process made me come up with the idea of creating a scrapbook dedicated to the Christmas traditions we grew up with. Now that we are married and have children we have merged our two family traditions and created some of our own. Everyone celebrates the holidays differently but they are special to us no matter what. Now there is another way of celebrating those traditions. Create a scrapbook with pictures and stories of family traditions and how they started. What a great keepsake for future family members!

Some ideas of what you might include in your Christmas Traditions Scrapbook may include:
- Visits – is there a certain individual you make a special Christmas visit to? For me it’s Mrs. Camp. I’ve been visiting her on Christmas Eve day since the age of 4 and have continued that tradition for all these years.

- Baking – Christmas seems to be the time of year that even those individuals who don’t bake another time of the year pull out the flour and bake. Lots of us have those certain holiday favourites or tradional recipes that we bake every year. Christ Stollen is one of ours. Tell the story behind the recipe, how did the tradition start? Who started it?

- Cutting down the Tree - Now not all of us cut down a Christmas tree. Many use artificial trees. But there is always a story there. Celebrate it, preserve it. Let future generations know how much you enjoyed whatever tradition your family does.

- Decorating the Tree – Is there a special ornament that always has a place of honour on your tree? Take a picture of it and write the story/ history of the ornament. It could be a family heirloom or one your child made for you at school. Tell just how special it means to you and/ or your family.

- Christmas cards - Do you have special Christmas cards or letters (a child’s letter to Santa) that are precious to you? Why not celebrate them and preserve them in a very unique way. Placing them in an album not only showcases the memory but also preserves them for future generations to also enjoy.

No matter what your traditions are or how you celebrate them they are important because they are important to you. Celebrate them and showcase them in a special way that many individuals can enjoy with you. Happy Scrapping!