A Few Of The Holiday Traditions and Moments That Shape Christmas in Our Home
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There’s something about Christmas that naturally slows everything down. It brings us closer to home and back to the familiar traditions that feel comforting year after year.
As a child, I was lucky enough to experience so many meaningful traditions with my family. All of those moments leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day still live vividly in my memory, even as an adult. When Zach and I married in 2020, the traditions we each grew up with quietly became part of our home, alongside a few new ones we’ve created together.
In this blog post, I’m sharing some of the moments that shape the holiday season in our home. From sentimental traditions to the simple activities we return to year after year, these are the things that make Christmastime feel especially meaningful to us.
Christmas Traditions, Activities, and Moments in Our Family.
The Tree.
This might surprise some of you, especially in the design and decorating world where holiday decorating often starts November 1, but in our home, we put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving.
It’s one of those simple traditions that marks the beginning of the season for us. We’ve always believed in honoring Thanksgiving as its own moment—a way to close out fall before moving into Christmas—so selecting our tree is what officially signals the start of the Christmas season in our home.
Growing up, both my husband’s family and mine used artificial Christmas trees. After we got married, he hoped to bring a real tree into our home, something that felt special to him and was easy for me to appreciate, too. That said, if you know me, you know caring for real plants doesn’t always come naturally, so remembering to water the tree has been a bit of a learning curve, along with accepting the steady trail of pine needles left behind by wagging tails. Still, over time, I’ve come to genuinely love both the look and unmistakable scent of a real Christmas tree in our home.
Selecting our tree isn’t anything elaborate. We pick ours up from Home Depot each year. It’s simple and convenient, helps us find the right size, and has quietly become one of our own little traditions that feels familiar in the best way!
Game Nights.
We are big board game people in this house. Whether it’s just the two of us or a full table of family and friends, game nights are a regular part of our holiday season. There’s something especially comforting about gathering around a table for a good old-fashioned board game during the holidays.
With Zach’s family, we usually find ourselves deep into a strategic, highly competitive game of Risk. With my family, it’s Monopoly—a game famous for long nights, strong opinions, and plenty of dramatic moments. Some nights are loud and full of laughter, while others are quieter and move more slowly. Either way, game nights are part of what make the season feel relaxed and familiar, and they’re something Zach and I look forward to sharing with both sides of our family this time of year.
I’m also a big puzzle lover, and the holidays never feel quite complete without one in progress. I tend to get so absorbed that I finish them quickly, which means I make my way through quite a few each winter. For me, there’s no better way to spend a winter afternoon than sitting by a crackling fire, watching the snow fall, and slowly working on a puzzle with a couple of hound dogs snoozing nearby.
Cookie Day.
Cookie baking day has been a tradition in my family since my sister and I were young, and now it’s something we get to share with my sister’s kids as well.
It’s one of those days I remember vividly from childhood. My mom, my sister, and I would kick off Christmas break by spending an entire day in the kitchen baking dozens of cookies. We’d spend hours decorating them and always saved a special stash for my dad to try when he got home from work. Even now, it’s still fun to watch him stroll into the kitchen just as we’re wrapping up, ready to snag a few before they’re packed away.
The kitchen is busy, the counters are full, and the laughter is constant—and seeing those same traditions continue with a new generation makes the day feel especially meaningful. It’s also a chance to weave in a few new traditions, like finally trying Zach’s family kolaczki cookies, which I’ve been wanting to attempt to make for some time now.
Looking at Christmas Lights Together.
One tradition that always brings Zach and I so much joy is driving around our town to look at Christmas lights. In the past, we always brought our dog Caesar with us. I’ll never forget the last time we did this with him. He loved car rides more than anything and kept trying to stick his head out the window, only to pull it back in with frosty whiskers after a blast of cold air. We lost our beloved hound dog last November, and those memories feel especially tender this time of year.
This year, I’m already looking forward to taking our new puppies, Moose and Rubin, with us for the first time. It’s such a small, silly thing, but seeing wagging tails and happy faces in the back seat as they take in the lights and wonder of the season alongside Zach and I just brings me so much joy.
A little tip—if you can, bring along your four-legged friends when you head out to look at Christmas lights this year. They tend to enjoy it just as much as you do.
Holiday Shopping Day.
Without even realizing it at first, Zach and I created our own little holiday shopping tradition.
Each year, usually sometime in mid-December, we pick a Saturday to spend together visiting a few of the local shops in our city. It always includes lunch at Kelley’s, a popular local restaurant. Kelley’s has a cozy, dimly lit feel and is always decorated with twinkling lights and garland this time of year, making it the kind of place you want to settle into and stay awhile—especially around Christmastime.
Over the years, the day has become less about the shopping itself and more about the time spent together. We talk through gift ideas for family and for one another, share memories, and enjoy the simple act of slowing down during a busy season.
This shopping day tradition feels especially meaningful because it takes us all the way back to when we got engaged. One December, Zach surprised me with a train trip to Chicago so I could experience the city at Christmastime for the first time. We spent the day shopping at the iconic Macy’s on State Street, then wandered through the city, taking in the unmistakable magic of Christmas in the city. Later that evening, he proposed. It felt like something straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, and every December, the holiday season and this little shopping day bring us right back to that moment.
Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is one of Zach’s and my favorite traditions, and one we hold absolutely sacred. We both grew up with fond memories of Christmas Eve—days filled with anticipation, attending church, and sitting down to a beautiful dinner afterward. Those early experiences shaped how meaningful the night feels to us, and they’re traditions we’ve continued in our own little family as well.
We spend the day together, usually playing games and enjoying a slow, quiet start to the evening. At night, we attend Christmas Eve Mass, and afterward we come home, light a fire, and cook dinner side by side.
Nothing about the evening is rushed. We take our time in the kitchen, preparing several courses and letting the night unfold at an easy, unhurried pace. The house is softly lit by the glow of the fire, the twinkle of the tree, and candlelight throughout.
After dinner, we exchange gifts with one another and then settle in with our four-legged friends to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. This tradition may evolve over time, but for now it belongs just to us, and it’s something we hold very close.
Familiar Movies.
We all likely have that one Christmas movie we remember from childhood, the one our family watched every year around the holidays. There are so many classics like Home Alone, A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Santa Clause—I could go on.
But for me, there has always been one standout. The best one. The most iconic holiday movie of all time—Christmas Vacation.
I grew up watching this movie, and it remains an all-time family favorite to this day. My family quotes it year-round, and every Christmas when we’re together, we always sit down to watch it and toast the season with our iconic Moose mugs!
It’s a movie Zach and I now quote just as often and it never fails to make the season feel lighter, more familiar, and a lot more fun.
Spending Time with Family.
The holiday season always brings us back to time with family. We gather around the table, share meals, play games, catch up on life, and settle into the comfort that comes from being around loved ones.
More than any tradition, any plan, or any date on the calendar, it’s this time together that stays with us. These are the moments that linger long after the season ends, and they’re what truly make the holidays feel full and meaningful.
Final Thoughts.
Christmas traditions don’t have to be elaborate or perfectly planned to matter. Often, they’re found in the ordinary moments we return to year after year—the familiar routines, the quiet evenings, and the simple joys that shape how the season feels in our own homes.
As you move through this holiday season, I hope you find time to savor the traditions that feel most like yours. Whether they’re long-standing or newly formed, those small, steady moments often become the memories that last far beyond Christmas itself.
Bringing the Season Home.
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Hi, I’m Casey, founder of Refuge Interiors, where I combine my lifelong love of decorating and design with a passion for sourcing vintage and antique treasures to create classic, collected interiors that feel warm, inviting, and beautifully lived in.
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