Embracing the Danish tradition of Hygge into your Christmas traditions is easy, relaxing, and fun. And, today I’m going to show you how! Are you ready for a super simple, cozy Christmas this year?
{This post contains lots of Christmas Hygge inspiration and features several of my favorite Hygge-ish gifts for the entire family. These links are affiliate links, which basically means when you click and purchase you help support me and this growing community. Read my Disclosure Policy to learn more.}
1. Deck the Halls with Lots of Twinkle Lights
Lighting is everything in the world of ‘living Hygge’. So the more twinkle lights and candles that you decorate with in your home, the more Hyggelig (the adjective for Hygge) you’ll be.
Hide twinkle lights in vases, lanterns, and practically anywhere you can fit them. And, enjoy the soft glowing light of Christmastime. It’s one of my favorite things about Christmas.
2. Indulge in Rich Hot Cocoa
Is there anything more Christmas-y than a decked out Hot Cocoa Bar? Colorful mugs, marshmallows, and rich chocolate get me every time. Set up your very own Hot Cocoa Bar in your kitchen, that’ll be ready to warm you up on a cold winter day.
Add mugs of all shapes and sizes, various hot cocoas (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate), and dippers like peppermint sticks. Keep your fridge stocked with whipped cream, and a jar of marshmallows near by.
3. Lounge in Cozy Christmas Jammies
Christmas Pajamas and woolen socks are part of the coziness that is Hygge. Every year for Christmas, my aunt would buy my sister and me a new pair of pajamas to wear on Christmas morning. Now that we are all grown up, the tradition has carried on to our husband’s and my niece as well.
It’s a cozy tradition that we all still love, and one that I plan to continue with my own children one day. And, sorry future kids and current husband, we all be wearing matching “jams” one day. Just saying’. Ha! Check out these matching pj’s from PajamaGram…
4. Play Board Games By The Fireplace
Cozy gatherings around a fireplace are extremely hyggelig. In fact, in Denmark (the birthplace of Hygge), fireplaces and wood-burning stoves abound. It’s a staple in any Danish home. And, so are board games, blankets, and good friends. This Christmas, gather your family and friends into your cozy home for game night.
I remember one Christmas, my brand new husband and I couldn’t wait to put up our Christmas tree and enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner in our first home. We ate leftovers at our kitchen table by candlelight, and then played a game of Scrabble on the floor near the tree with the lights glistening around us. It was as very Hygge-ish first Christmas together.
It’s moments like these that create those cozy, meaningful memories that we cherish for all time. If you already enjoy weekly game nights as a family, take game night to the floor of your living room in front of the fireplace and Christmas tree. Add some fluffy blankets, hot cocoa, music, and maybe some popcorn, and you’ll have a very Hyggelig occasion.
Every Christmas, along with our Christmas pajamas, my sister and I would open a new board game and family movie. This is another tradition I plan to carry on one day. If you do this too, your family board game collection will grow faster than you can imagine. Enjoy these fun selections below from Amazon…
5. Savor Stick-To-Your-Bones Comfort Food
Danes enjoy comfort food all year-long, but especially in the colder months. Brainstorm some of your family’s favorite stick-to-your-bones comfort food recipes. And, if you are having a hard time thinking of some, search Pinterest for some awesome ideas. This is the season of Pot Roasts, lasagna, stews, soups, and slow cooker meals. Indulge in these meals that warm you up from the inside out.
6. Add Touches of Magic Throughout Your Home
Are you a family who likes to welcome Christmas with the return of a special Elf? I’ve got a boat-load of ideas for you, click here. If you’re not into Elves, there are plenty of ways to add touches of magic to your home this holiday season.
Start with many of the things on this list. Twinkle lights, family time around the fireplace, infusing your space with the scents and sounds of the season, all of which make for a memorable magical Christmas.
Try writing letters to Santa, and baking up some sweet treats for the big guy. Watch movies amongst the twinkle lights. Enjoy frozen hot chocolates from Serendipity (which you can buy in my Hygge Shop) while you wrap presents for your family.
Adding touches of whimsy that will make this Christmas extra magical for you and your family.
7. Create Meaningful Christmas Traditions
There is something so comforting about traditions, isn’t there? What family traditions do you remember from your childhood? I already shared some simple ones from when I was young, like opening up our Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve and receiving a new board game and movie from Santa every Christmas morning.
Traditions don’t have to be super expensive or creative. For instance, in our home, we’ve started the tradition of a hot cocoa toast with the first snow of the season. We have all the fixings ready to go for whenever the big giant snowflakes begin to fall. Sometimes our toast comes a bit early (in my opinion) around October. But, most years, we celebrate the falling flakes surrounded by Christmas carols and lights…just as it should be, if you ask me.
8. Enjoy Christmas Movie Nights & Sweets
The Danes consume more sugar than most other Europeans. In fact, “by 2018, Denmark is expected to overtake Finland as the world’s most sweet-crazed country”. (The Little Book of Hygge, by Meik Wiking)
So, indulge a little this holiday season, and allow yourself to savor the sweet confections this time of year brings. Enjoy a couple of pieces of that fine chocolate you were gifted, and cherish that time in the kitchen with your family baking Christmas cookies.
Combine these sweet treats with a lovely movie night beside the fire and lit tree, and you’ll have one ‘Hygge of a night’. I’m not sure if there could be anything cozier than cuddling up to watch Christmas movies surrounded by the soft glow of the Christmas tree and listening to the crackling of the fireplace, all while the scent of baking cookies swarms your house like a nice warm hug.
9. Fill Your Home With The Scent of Pine
Fill your home with scents of the season like pine, evergreen, cinnamon, & gingerbread. We decorate an artificial tree at our house, but my husband grew up chopping down real trees at Christmastime. Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to bring a real tree into our home, but until then I recreate the scent of the forest by adding ScentSicles to the branches of our “fake” tree and by lighting some Christmas-y scented candles.
We also place a real evergreen wreath on the inside of our front door so that when guests arrive, they are immediately greeted with the fresh scent of Christmas.
10. Listen to Christmas Carols
How early do you start listening to Christmas music? Are you one of those October or November “offenders” who can’t wait to blast “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, or are you a wait-until-December-1st kinda gal?
Personally, I can’t wait until I can listen to Christmas carols. Michael Buble, Pentatonix, and Josh Groban are often heard bellowing from our house during the Christmas season….and I LOVE it!! (Well, I’m not sure if “bellowing” is the right word, but you get the picture!)
So, if you are a Christmas music mega fan, wave that flag high, friend. Have fun listening to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Frosty the Snowman” for however long it makes your heart happy.
And, if you’re looking for a peaceful, relaxing Christmas playlist, join my Monthly Newsletter group below for access to this month’s personalized playlist I create just for my extra special readers.
11. Honor The True Meaning of the Season
Check your local area for LIVE Nativities and candlelit Christmas Eve services. Read the story of Jesus’ birth to your children, while you snuggle up together in your living room. Incorporate the true meaning of Christmas into your advent calendar every day to reinforce the true reason for this wonderful season.
I’m all about the Elf and Santa and magical happenings around the holidays, but I truly honor Christmas Story and how that simple story has changed my life.
I love this tradition started by the creative and exhausted parents over at Story of this Life. Every morning their little girl (now girls) wakes up to find a newly wrapped present under the tree. Every day she opens that present to find another piece of their nativity display. She and her mommy read a corresponding verse from the Bible that explains that piece of the nativity for that day, and she gently places that piece inside the manger scene. What a lovely tradition. Watch the video below to learn more.
12. Host a Fun, Family Get-Together & Practice Hospitality
Around the holidays is the perfect time to host special gathering for family and friends and model hospitality for our children. This year alone, I’m attending an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, a Cookie Exchange, and hosting family celebrations. Don’t clog up your calendar with too many get togethers, however. Remember, hygge is most authentically experienced at home. But, gathering together with loved ones, is another aspect of Hygge that we often miss.
Friendship and togetherness is something that often needs to be cultivated in our lives, and what better time than during the holiday season.
Instead of stressing about giving the perfect gift, why not gift your friends and family with an experience? Take them to a sporting event, or plan a double date to a nice restaurant. Take your little ones ice skating or to a play or the ballet. Spend your money on a nice family vacation versus toys that will soon be broken or tossed out. Monetary gifts only last so long, but memories last forever.
I truly hope this little list of Hygge Holiday inspiration has given you some ideas on how to make this Christmas season your most cozy and memorable one yet. Merry Christmas from our home to yours.
Join my Hygge for the Holidays Challenge below and receive a new email of Hyggelig inspiration every day leading up to Christmas. The challenge starts December 1st! You won’t want to miss this!
One Comment
This is such a fun list! What a great way to bring everyone together for some cozy moments!