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Christmas Eve – oh how I love thee! There are so many things I love about Christmas Eve but my favorite thing is giving my children Christmas Eve boxes from their elves before they head back to the North Pole. Do you have this tradition with your family? Maybe you aren’t sure what to put in yours this year – don’t fret I’m going you everything you need to make a Christmas Eve box.
One way to switch things up is to include your Elf on the Shelf if that’s something you do with your family. Before the elves depart for the North Pole they leave the kids one last surprise, a Christmas Eve box, full of surprises. By adding the elves into the mix you are making their departure less traumatic for those kids that love having them and their shenanigans around each year {my kids are obsessed}.
My children love getting their Christmas Eve book every year. It makes for such an exciting morning. Honestly, I don’t know who loves this tradition more – me or my kids? I think it’s too close to call.
Are you ready to find out exactly how to build a Christmas Eve box of your own?
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Everything You Need To Make a Christmas Eve Box
A Decorative Box – It will be rather difficult to create a Christmas Eve box without a box, am I right? Last year I was able to find this Elf themed Christmas Eve box from party city, but it won’t be back in stock until November. It’s the perfect size and shape with dimensions that make it the perfect solution for your box.
Pajamas – A staple for any Christmas Eve box includes a festive pair of pajamas. A wonderful Christmas tradition includes wearing matching pajamas on Christmas Eve. Before bed, we snuggle up to read The Night Before Christmas and ask each other what’s the one thing we hope to find under the tree in the morning. Honestly, I have chills just thinking of this moment. It’s something I started once my child could answer questions and I love sharing the excitement of Christmas morning as a family. Instead of just buying your kid’s new PJs, why not add a sprinkle of holiday magic but creating a Christmas Eve box straight from the North Pole?
Christmas Book– As you are now well aware, books are my favorite holiday tradition. Yes, we read a book a day leading up to the big day, but I always include a Christmas story or activity book new to my children. They both love getting new books because it gives them something to read or do during the day while they anticipate Santa’s arrival.
RELATED POST: 24 Classic Stories to Read to Your Family
Plush Toy – Something I’ve included our Christmas eve boxes since the beginning is a plush toy. This past Christmas I gave each kid a Rudolph themed mini plush. My son is getting older but he still looks forward to getting his plush every year and adds it into his Christmas collection that he proudly displays on his bed each and every holiday season.
Yearly Personalized Ornament Every year I get each kid a personalized yearly ornament. Normally I get them an ornament that is specific to what they loved for that year. For example when my son was three his yearly ornament was Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and my daughter got a Cinderella ornament. Here are the two ornaments I made for them this year.
Here are a few other options from my ETSY Shop. Feel free to message me on their if you would like to discuss a custom design. I would love to help bring your vision to life.
Holiday Accessories – One of my favorite parts about creating these boxes for my family is the accessory portion to each box. For my son that includes wacky glasses, Rudolph noses, chapstick, Christmas light necklaces, and funky socks. For my daughter, I always include lipgloss , hairbows, and play jewelry. They both go wild for the accessories and both mentioned how excited they were to see what they got in this years box
Snacks -What kid doesn’t love snacks? Every year I hunt down the latest and greatest holiday snacks. Yes, I’m that Mom that buy that holiday goldfish, Christmas shaped fruit snacks and seasonal cookies. This year I included gourmet gummy bears in fun, seasonal flavors, and sour patch candy canes. A big hit with both of my children. Candy isn’t something we allow all the time, but the holidays are a time to live it up!
Movies– Every year I try to include a movie I know my kids are dying to watch that’s not Christmas related. The reason I include a non-Christmas item is that it gives us something to do as a family after the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over. Last year my son got Gremlins {yes, from the 80’s – PARENTING WIN!} and my daughter got Disney’s Zombies. It was great to have two new family movies to choose from during their week off from school. It always us to unwind and relax after being on the move for a month straight.
RELATED: Christmas Movies To Watch With Your Family This Year
Popcorn – What’s a movie night without popcorn? Last year I also include a fun popcorn bucket for each other them so they had something fun to put their popcorn in when they watched their new movie.
Hot Chocolate – The perfect drink for Christmas? Hot chocolate of course! One of my favorite things to find every Christmas is a fun, decorative package of hot chocolate. Once all the presents are open on Christmas morning, the kids get to help make themselves a delicious cup of hot chocolate to eat with our Christmas morning breakfast.
Reindeer Food – One of the most important parts of this yearly tradition is reindeer food. After we put on our pajamas, check to see where Santa is on our radar and right before bed we go on to spread and sprinkle reindeer food in the front of our yard in order to make sure Santa can find our house. My children L-O-V-E this tradition. They know once they sprinkle the food down in front that Santa will soon find his way to our house!
Good Bye Letter – As I mentioned above, our Christmas eve boxes come straight from the North Pole via our elves. At the bottom of each box is a personalized letter addressed to each child from their individual elves recapping their time together. Each letter ends with their elf telling them how excited they are to get back to the North Pole to give Santa a full report to get them a headstart on the new year. Reading these letters make all the sadness of their elves leaving go away because they get so excited knowing Santa is going to hear all about them in detail.
Christmas Eve boxes can be completely customized based on what works for your family. All of the above are merely suggestions. Christmas eve is a magical day my family looks forward to all year round and these boxes help extend that magic even further. Do you put something in your Christmas Eve box that I didn’t mention? I would LOVE to hear it. I’m always looking for new ideas and suggestions to help make my holidays more special for my family.
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