Things are getting more and more expensive, and people are struggling. It’s hard to even think about what to do for the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and Easter…what special times they both are. We try to stick with a more traditional type of Christmas. Not really focusing on the material side of it. Here are a few tips on how to keep the holidays simple and sweet.

1- Have an old fashioned game night. Get out some cards and board games and go old school. Some great games to play in a group are the classics like Sorry, Monopoly, Checkers, Chess, and Uno.

2- Bake sugar cookies and pass some out at work or to your neighbors.

3- Have a home made or thrifted gift exchange. If everyone is doing it then no shame in being thrifty. Make a list of items that you love, need or want. It’s amazing what you can find out there second hand, and in most cases the older items were made to last longer, so better quality.

If you are not really into making items because you just don’t have that skill or passion to be artsy and crafty, nothing wrong with that, everyone has a gift to something…you can always find something simple to make or give. Everyone loves cookies, maybe salsa, or one of those mason jar dry soup mixes.

There are so many ideas online to help you get started on making homemade. My daughter this year will be making and gifting everyone with her homemade artisan bread and dips to go with it in little glass jars. We have been making homemade breads before it was trendy, for years, it is so much fun making. Our fresh baked bread was a gift that many neighbors and friends of ours enjoyed getting every year. It was that or the hand made pasta we make, which is a family tradition from my husband’s Italian aunts that taught us when they were visiting our country and when we would visit them at the family villa in Tuscany. The best gifts to me are learning and teaching skills to others. Handmade pasta made and cooked fresh is so different then packaged pasta you buy in the stores.

4-Find a neighborhood, a historic town, or event that has Christmas light displays, pack some hot cocoa in a thermos and some fresh baked cookies from home and go on a night time walk with family and friends.

5-Adopt a grandparent at a senior center. In some places they have Christmas angel programs where you can pick a card that represents a senior to visit, bring cards and gifts for the holidays. It doesn’t have to be an expensive gift. A box of tissues in a pretty box, super soft fuzzy socks, a fuzzy blanket, some magazines or a good book, or a small plant for their room, a nice puzzle. Any kind gesture is appreciated.

6-Mail out Christmas cards and include a letter. This is becoming rare. Everyone is relying on screens to connect. Send cards, send letters too, another old school tradition.

7- Volunteer doing something. A soup kitchen, a school reading to children, a library teaching a craft class…or volunteer cleaning up around a park, picking up garbage. If feels good doing good deeds.

8-Go to a Christmas parade or a play/pageant in the park. Around the holidays there are all kinds of free events, either in your local towns and cities or churches all over the city.

9- Have a fun movie night. Pick a holiday movie every weekend, make some popcorn and fun snacks.

10-For Christmas day, instead of cooking a huge meal, try having a Christmas snack table, filled with chips and dips, sausage, pretzels, veggies and a fruit platter, mac n cheese and other favorite comfort foods. Bake a chicken and make mashed potatoes and gravy, keep Christmas meal simple, it doesn’t have to be that perfect magazine table of a giant Turkey, ham, and bowls of food everywhere. A simple small meal is just as good when we are with good company making happy memories.

Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is going to Christmas markets where you can find inexpensive little handmade ornaments, baked items and handicrafts. Sometimes at those events they will have a special table set up for children to make a paper ornament or a Christmas card.

One time I went to a small town that is known for their Italian heritage in the area. There was all kinds of homemade pastas and breads, and there was a crock pot full of hot cocoa set on warm with paper cups all around it. The cups were filled with peppermint sticks, tiny marshmallows, milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. I thought it was such a clever way to serve hot cocoa.

I ended up buying some wooden handmade ornaments for some friends of ours and a little gnome dome with tiny clay mushrooms for my decor. It was one of my favorite Christmas markets I found last year. I hope they have one this year. I want to go back and check out what they have to buy this year for gifts.

I hope these suggestions help with planning your own holiday traditions with one another. Remember, keep it small, keep it about spending time with each other. It’s not about the material things. Have a Merry Christmas everyone, and never forget what the real reason for this season is really about.

Copyright Our Little Red House 2025

Luke 2:10-11

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord.