Every year around Christmas, I start thinking about the traditions in our family. Most of what I love about Christmas is based on old traditions and starting new ones. I’m not the biggest fan of change, so I love that there are some things that stick around for awhile. While I hang on tight to old traditions, I am also so excited to be able to start new traditions with my son and husband. Here are my favorites:

Waiting at the top of the steps. My brother and I always had to wait at the top of the steps for our parents to get up before we could see what Santa brought us. We were told that if we went downstairs to see the gifts before then, they would all be donated to charity. After they finally woke up (it’s probably hard to sleep with two kids loudly whispering and fake sneezing/coughing right outside your door), they made us continue to wait at the top of the steps so they could get their coffee and camera ready. Our dog was also banned and could sense the excitement, he would prance around, whining and trying to sneak past us. After agonizing for what seemed like HOURS, they would finally give us the okay to come down and we would race to the living room to see the Santa gifts.

We’re grown now, but this tradition carried on well after college. It was fun to act like a kid again and it made us all laugh. We still do this to some extent, it’s just evolved. When I moved out and got a dog, I started making my dog wait at the top of the steps until I got my coffee and camera and then called him down. He was more than delighted to pacify me in exchange for Dentastix and a new Kong. My brother does the same thing with his dog, and my son will participate in his second Christmas stair run at 16 months old.

Christmas beer tasting. This is a newer tradition and I don’t remember exactly how, when or why this got started, but it’s been at least a few years now. Late Christmas night, after the presents have been opened, kids are asleep, A Christmas Story has been watched, and the lights have come on, we gather around the kitchen table. Everyone brings a special or unique beer to share and we pour tastes for everyone to sample. There’s always hilarious conversation and usually some sort of board game.

Christmas bones. Some people make cookies, we make dog bones. Most people we know have dogs, and cookies are overdone, so dog bones it is. My mom found the original recipe in some sort of wildlife magazine. we make something crazy like a dozen batches (300 bones) and give the bags of treats to the dogs of our friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. We even make a bunch for the dogs on my dad’s mail route-he’s a mail carrier. By the way, it’s completely a myth that dogs hate mailmen. Dogs LOVE my dad.

Apple Butter. One year, my grandma bought too many apples at an orchard or something. So she asked my cousin and I if we wanted to come over and turn them into apple butter. We decided to give it a go and were greatly amused by the variety of old fashioned kitchen tools involved. It’s a two day process, so we get to spend a lot of time together and catch up. We go through the whole canning process, so it will keep for years. The best part is naming the year’s batch. We give a jar to each family at Christmas, so we’ve got to give it a good name. In the past, we’ve used such gems as Applecadabra Butter and Applesawesome Butter.

Fireplace picture. My mom makes all of the cousins stand in front of their fireplace every year for a picture. Nothing too extraordinary, but we all like to make a big scene and pretend we hate doing it. Maybe some of us actually do hate it, but I think it would be pretty neat to see them all side by side. I say “would be” because no one actually ever does anything with this picture and I’m not entirely confident that my mom could even locate them all. We put on this huge production and have nothing to show for it.

I have a million more because, basically, my December is just a month of traditions. I honor the old and welcome the new. I’ll spare you the long list and leave you with those for now. It’s high time for an afternoon eggnog and a cookie…could I make this into a tradition??

As my sweet, tiny baby grows into a tornado of a toddler before my very eyes, my husband and I are beginning to think about Santa. Our little boy is only one now, but next year, there could be questions. If not then, most certainly by age three. After a rather short discussion, we both agreed to share the magic of Santa, just as it was shared with us.

Even though I felt like this was an important childhood experience to have, I was originally concerned about the moment when he finds out that it’s all a sham. I wondered if it would be upsetting for him, if he would be angry and accuse us of lying. I agonized that it would shake his very core, his faith in people, his ability to believe in God. I worried that he would be okay, but it would break MY heart when I realized he knew that I’d been the one secretly drinking milk and eating cookies.

I tried to remember the moment when I discovered the truth about Santa, and to my surprise, I could not. I think it was a gradual process, sort of connecting the dots here and there. I vaguely remember a brief conversation with my mother where she reminded me that my younger brother and little cousins still believed and I needed to help keep it alive for them. I remember soon after my brother found out, my dad said something like, “If you don’t believe in Santa, then he isn’t going to bring any more presents.” So we kept acting like we did. And we still do. So there are still Santa presents for us on the mantel when both of us are in our 30’s. Maybe this is weird, but it makes my parents happy and I still get presents: double win.

I asked my brother if he remembered finding out the truth and he had an experience similar to mine, just sort of filling in the blanks over time. My husband was the same. Maybe we’re lucky, but the majority of people I know weren’t traumatized by finding out that Santa “wasn’t real.” It didn’t make them hate their parents or doubt the existence of God, and they couldn’t even remember the specific moment when it happened.

They do remember the nights spent reindeer-spotting, the careful detail that was used for the placement of the cookies, writing long letters and dropping them into special mailboxes, the first big “ask” to Santa that came true, and fighting sleep in the hopes of catching a glimpse of that bright red belly. When I ask people to tell me something they remember about Santa, they smile. That’s my answer right there. Will I tell my son there is a Santa? Absolutely. I want to give him every opportunity in life for happiness, fond memories, and magic.

I took a Costume Construction class in college and loved it, so my husband bought me a sewing machine one year for Christmas. I’m still a beginner, but I love simple projects. My most recent endeavor was to make our Christmas stockings. This is fairly easy, but I couldn’t find a complete tutorial online that explained everything, so I had to piece together different ones. This made me feel like I should make my own tutorial, in case someone else has this exact same problem. Note: I used two different stockings for this tutorial…sorry if that’s confusing, but flannel is the outside fabric and the lining is either cars or owls.

I wanted to make a classic Christmas stocking, with a cuff at the top. I envisioned them being made of soft flannel, but I didn’t want them to all look the same, so I picked four flannels that all went together. Flannels aren’t really something that match, so I chose a color (red) and made sure they all had it somewhere in the pattern. That’s also the color I chose for the cuff.

I bought a yard of each fabric because I knew I’d probably mess up at some point. You will also need a fabric to serve as the lining. I didn’t really care what the lining looked like, so I just used some leftover fabric from my son’s birthday shorts. Yes, it may be owls and cars, but I figured it would make an interesting story someday. You could probably get by with 2 yards of lining fabric for four stockings, but again, I always get more in case I mess up. Wash all your fabric and iron it.

A note on lining: You might be like me and foolishly think, “I’m not going to put a lining in a stocking, no one will see it! What a waste of time!” This would be a mistake because then your stockings will hang very sadly. The lining stiffens them up a bit so that you can actually tell that they are stockings. Plus, it is so easy to do and doesn’t take any extra time.

First, find a pattern. There are so many free stocking patterns online, but this is the one I chose because it is exactly how I wanted them to look. If you can’t find one you like, make your own! Print the pattern, tape the pages together and cut it out. If your fabric has a “right” side (the part that people are supposed to see), fold it in half so the right sides are together and all you see is the “wrong” side (the part that you don’t want people to see). Do the exact same thing for the lining, then stack both fabrics together. Pin the pattern through all four layers of fabric and use some sharp crafting scissors to cut out the stocking shape.

When you finish, you should have four pieces of fabric (two lining and two flannel) that all match up perfectly. Remove the pattern and repin the pieces together just as they were. Here’s what mine looked like, I flipped the toe over so you can see the other side.

Then, this will sound totally crazy, but sew all four layers together, leaving the top of the stocking open. Next, get ready to have your mind blown. Reach into the stocking, between the two lining layers, grab the toe and turn it inside out.

You should see the right side of the lining. Reach into the stocking again, between the two flannel layers, grab the toe, and turn it inside out. WTF?! You should now see the right sides of the flannel and it should look like a stocking without a cuff.

I don’t know how this witchery works, but I was really impressed and may have done it 10 or more times, then proceed to demonstrate it to my husband 5 more times in order to properly marvel over the magic. Obviously, I am easily amused.

Make sure you reach inside and get the stocking fully turned so that it’s the right shape. Then iron the stocking.

Next, you need to make a loop to hang the stocking. If you don’t want to make it, just find some nice ribbon and cut a piece about 6” long. I wanted my loops to match the stocking, so I used the same fabric. I cut a piece about 6” long and 2” wide. I folded the long ends into the center, ironed them down, then folded the whole thing in half, ironed it and sewed as close as I could to the edge.

Turn the stocking inside out again. I wanted the toe to point to the right, so I pinned the loop on the left, lining it up with the seam. If you want the toe to point left, pin the loop on the right.

It can be a little tricky to figure this out, but you want to pin the loop upside down, with the closed end pointing towards the foot of the stocking. You can let the two ends of the loop stick out over the top of the stocking a bit to make sure you sew it.

Now, we make the cuff. Measure the opening of the stocking, double the measurement and add ½” to 1.” I went with 1” because I am prone to messing things up on the first try. This measurement will be the length of the cuff. I wanted it to be about 4” wide when finished, so I cut a piece that was 8” wide and folded it in half.

Iron it, then sew the short ends together, so that it makes a circle.

Put the cuff around the top of the stocking with the raw edges (not folded) together, lining up the seams. Pin it to the stocking. It’s okay if the cuff is slightly larger than the opening of the stocking, just try to distribute the extra fabric evenly. The loop will be under the cuff. Sew all around the top edge. I think it’s officially a ¼” seam, but I just tried to keep the edge of the fabric even with the edge of the presser foot. The fabric layers will be pretty thick in the loop area, so your machine might have trouble going over it. If it does, just sew that section by hand.

Turn the stocking right side out, then flip the cuff over.

The loop should stick right out of the top.

Get everything flipped and folded just right, then iron it and you are done!