Pia, Netherlands
As a child I always liked the cribs in some of the villages city centers. Now I collect small cribs and hope to find a new one every few years. this is a picture of my smallest one. To illustrate how small it is, I took a picture with 2 of my most beautifull Trollbeads.
Jacque , Australia
We live on the North Shore in Port Macquarie, NSW on the Hastings River. The North Shore is accessed by vehicular ferry from the mainland which runs 24 hours. Each Christmas morning, Santa with his heavily packed sleigh arrives on the 8 o'clock ferry to the North Shore where all the children and their families are waiting to greet him. A chair is provided for Santa and his helper Mary Christmas in the shade and he proceeds to call out the names on the gifts to the children. It's a lovely way to start the day and where the community gets to wish all their neighbours and friends a joyful and peaceful Christmas and good tidings for the coming year. It's also lovely to see all the new babies and their families each year. Originally there were about 30 people waiting to greet Santa, now, over about a 10 year period, there are almost 200! Wishing always for peace on earth. Jacque
Pamela, Canada
We have always made our own Christmas cards to send out to family and friends. We try to be unique and have the boys in the photo. In the photo we sent I made the boys shape into a letter and I cut/paste the letter's together to spell "JOY". This is exactly (joy) how we feel everytime we look back at all of our christmas cards.
Maria, Sweden
Ever since my husband was small it has been a tradition to bake a birthday cake on christmas. His baby sister decided that if you get presents like on a birthday, then you should get the cake as well! It is after all Jesus birthday we are celebrating.
Jacky, Australia
I usually work Christmas day at the local hospital, and every year my husband brings our two daughters into the hospital with their violin and cello, and we go around the all the wards we can, playing Christmas carols to the patients and their families. The photo shows them in our intensive care nursery. After work, we celebrate Christmas the Aussie way - water skiing and a barbeque. Fantastic!
Iris, Germany
I can't imagine a Christmas eve without our family's traditional Christmas dish. It's been in my dad's family for generations and the only year I didn't have it, was when we were away visiting friends over Christmas and that was no 'real' Christmas for me... Believe it or not, this dish is called 'fish sauce' and there is not a tiny little bit of fish in it. Traditionally it was a sauce eaten with carp, but in the old days, that fish was too expensive for the lowly people and so they had sausages instead of carp and so this traditional dish was continued without fish. The sausages are delicious and only a few butchers still know how to make them properly, it's another Christmas specialty too. But the interesting thing is the sauce: It's a soup cooked with pork chops, carrots, parsley root and celery, but then its thickened with gingerbread and dark sweet beer. Sounds disgusting? It's delicious! Especially when you eat it, like we do, over a dark gray bread and with sauerkraut at the side! ***God Jul***Merry Christmas***Frohe Weihnachten***
Jan, United Kingdom
We bought this wooden doll on a trip to India over 12 years ago,much to the amusement of the rest of our family, we've used instead of a fairy, to go on the top of our christmas tree every year since.
Deborah, United States
I wrap 1 dollar, 5 dollar,10 dollar, 20 dollar and a 50 dollar bill and wrap in ugly to beautiful designs and each of us pick a present. It is the last thing we do on Christmas and everyone loves the anticipation of the tiny boxes and not knowing which amount they will receive.
Lone, Denmark
From the year 1700 the Lord of Frederiksdal castle, took his horse to the town Virum to wish all the farmers a merry christmas. Today the children and adults from Frederiksdals ridingclub follow the same tradition, dressed up for cristmas on the 24. dec. riding from Frederiksdals castle trough Virum to wish everybody a merry christmas on there way on horseback.
Justine, Australia
Every year at the beginning of Christmas we take a photo of our children dressed in Santa hats. We then include this photo in Christmas Cards to relatives who live far away.
Kristen, Australia
We go on a family camping trip to Wee Jasper where fashion comes second to fun. The fishing is great and the river is cool in the heat of an Australian Christmas.
Eva, Germany
The picture i sent you shows a very new "tradition" last year I started making christmashampers with homemade specialities for our familys together with a friend. We've been producing loads of special christmas-marmelade, liqueurs, cookies, sugar- and salt-mixtures, chutneys... The flavour in our flats was so delicate christmassy! We had great fun and really got into christmas feeling! And all our family members have been very happy about this very personal presents. I'm sure we'll stick to this new "tradition"!
Wendy, United States
Making garland to decorate our house and Christmas tree has been a tradition in my family since I was little... popcorn, pretty sparkly beads, and other items were used to make decorations. I have continued this tradition and this year I decided to make my garland out of 24 origami paper cranes, due to their representation of peace. On the wings of each crane I have written scriptures and special messages of peace and hope. Each day counting down to Christmas I read the message on that crane, enjoying the holiday spirit!!
Rika , Netherlands
My special Christmas tradition is to be with the onces I love,my husband, mum, mother in law, and ofcourse my beloved pet doggies Buffy, Sari and Twinky. And to think about the onces we miss in life..my father and father in law..
Barbara, Italy
A X'mas gift tradition: Every year, just some days before X'mas, we organize a dinner reserved to the women of the family to exchange a "good-luck-for-new-year" gift. This year will be my turn to host the dinner at my home and I've decided to prepare a special "GingerBEAD man" for Mom, Laura, aunt Iaia and Cri. So that we will have a new shared passion for 2009!
Hilda, Ireland
My birthday is on December 16th and when I was young I was always upset because it is so close to Christmas that people were always to busy to help me celebrate. So my parents started our tradition of collecting and decorating our Christmas tree on that day to make my birthday more special. We still do it to this day and so they don't feel left out, we include our animals. As you can see Ivy isn't too happy about her hat, but she loves her trollbead necklace and is always playing with my beads!
Jolanta, Lithuania
We have one Christmas tradition in the company I work with. Every year just before Christmas we invite all the children of our employers' to meet a Santa Claus in our office. This event brings a lot of fun for children and for adults as well. The adults enjoy the fact that the role of Santa Claus is given to our general director. He is a very original Santa Claus, who tells very original stories and gives original advices to everyone. This makes a lot of fun. These Christmas parties for children leave a lot good emotions and good atmosphere for a long time. We love the noise, the laugh candies wrappings, and even kind of a chaos, children bring to the office.
Lauren, United Kingdom
Every year we make a decoration for our Christmas tree. This year I also made one for our office - I'm sure our little office angel will be pleased when he sees this tomorrow morning!!!
Samantha, United Kingdom
Every Christmas eve from about 17:30 myself or my Husband jingle a set of bells out of sight of the children. They believe it's the reindeers bells of Father Christmas delivering presents to all the Children that are already in bed. By 19:00 the bells are getting louder so the children are wanting to go to bed as they don't want Father Christmas to pass by the house without dropping of their presents. Children are in bed asleep for about 19:30 which is when myself and my Husband are able to get on with the huge task of retrieving all the hidden presents and placing them under the tree and in the stocking in their bedroom. It's a really fun night full of excited anticipation.
Iris, Germany
When I was little my mom always told me that when the sky is especially red on a Winter's evening, the angels are baking cookies for Christmas. So still today it's our tradition to spot the winter evening with the reddest sky. In December 2006 the heavenly bakery must have been very busy as you can see on this picture taken from our balcony!
Jette, Denmark
I give my husbond a Pakke Kalender, which is 24 different beers and he is very happy for it.
Stacey, United States
This is a picture of one of my most favorite, and most meaningful, holiday traditions. I have a wonderful group of friends that I met at college about 10 years ago, and we started a tradition of having potluck dinners and a gift exchange at Christmas. This is a picture at our very first Christmas party in 1998. Our first dinner and Christmas exchange was held in the lounge on our dormitory, and we each contributed to the Christmas decorations- someone even brought a miniature Christmas tree, around which we piled up our presents for each other. Over the next ten years, we all wound up in different parts of the country-and even the world- some of us have lived in the following places: California, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Switzerland and Germany. Somehow, we've always managed to meet each other for Christmas-sometimes for a potluck dinner, or sometimes for a dinner at a restaurant. And each of those times we meet for Christmas, I'm reminded of what wonderful friends I have, and how important they are to me. It is true what they say: Friends are the family that you choose.
Tanja, Germany
Every Year in Dezember I work as Troll in our Sauna. All the people, they visit us, are very happy for it! ... I think, it´s easy to open hearts and see a smile in there faces..... That´s the wonderfull christmas time for me!!!
Marjon, Netherlands
In Holland just before Christmas on 5 december we celebrate the Birthday of Sinterklaas. He is like Santa Claus to the Dutch children and brings gifts to all the little ones. In the weeks before the children may place there shoes in the evening before the fire place and then at night Sinterklaas rides on his horse Americo over the roofs and his compagnion Zwarte (Black) Piet comes down the chimney's and brings gifts and little presents into the shoes of those who have been sweet. Most children put a carrot or shuggar lumps into their shoes for Americo to please Sinterklaas...
Helen, Australia
We have many traditions that we keep every Christmas but my favourite started in 1969 - our first Christmas in Australia (we migrated from England) and I was 7 years old. Mum and dad did not have much money that Christmas and our new, generous neighbours invited us in as one of their own family. At the end of our meal a huge pie was presented, it was not a real pie more like a box with ribbons coming out of it with our names on them. As we pulled on the ribbons a present came out of the top of the pie for us to keep. Since that year onwards mum has repeated this tradition. She wraps a cake tin with Christmas paper and places small personal gifts inside. Each has a red ribbon with our name attached to it and she tops off the pie with cotton wool to look like icing. We each take turn to pull our ribbon out of the pie to reveal our special gift from mum. Our young children love this tradition that our mother, their grandmother has instilled in them. It will continue always I am sure. Merry Christmas from Sydney, Australia
Rakel, Faroe Islands
At our home we have a small "vættur" (a magical gnome or pixie" that come for a visite every night from 1. to 24. december and leaves a little "pakke" for each of the 3 childen in the house. He hides the presents somewhere, and puts a note in our beautiful christmascallender (on the picture). He is calles Vættra William and lives with his family in a rock by the catedral of Tórshavn. The children are looking forward to his visites for months.
Susanne, Canada
Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum, what fun it is to go and select the perfect Christmas tree with family and friends. It is one of our traditions ,to finish it of hot chocolat and goodies will be served, yum!
Christine, United States
When I see the ballet I always think of my sister who loved to go as often as she could. The Nutcracker was the Christmas favorite and in her will she left a donation to the Pittsburgh Ballet to be used for new costumes for the mice in the Nutcracker. Now, this photo isn't from the Nutcracker but it reminds me of my sister all the same!!!
Fiona Crawford, Australia
Girlfriends are just as special as our related families. A group of six gorgeous girlfriends get together for a "Girl's Christmas Lunch". Each year we share around the tasks of entree, main, desert, drinks, hosting and themeing. A great day is always had with many laughs. It is a tradition that we aim to continue forever (as life always as surprises around the corner) as we cherish the time together. Merry Christmas!
Jennie, Netherlands
Every year I make my own chrismas greetings card which I send to my loved ones! And always there is a picture of my 2 cheering boys on.
Beatriz, Spain
In Spain, the traditional day for giving the Xmas presents is the 6th January as we celebrate The Three Kings. The previous day, families go buy the "Roscón de Reyes," a ringshaped cake with crystallized fruit and with cream or confectioner's custard filling. In my case, however, it is my father who wakes up early in the morning the 6th January to buy the Roscón so that it's freshly baked and nice for our breakfast, and so, when we get up, we find this delicious cake waiting for us! Thanks, daddy!!!
Davena, Australia
Our Christmas tradition is a new one, I think it speaks of the diversity of the family unit. My son's father and I have been divorced since 2001, but each Christmas he is invited to our house on Christmas Day. My son always gets a board game for Christmas and part of our tradition is after our big Christmas lunch we all sit down together and play the game. This always leads to lots of talking, shouting and laughter. My ex-husband recently got re-married, and we hope that his new wife will continue the tradion as well.
Tracy, United States
We have a meal every year at my brother's house. His 10 year old stepdaughter creates place cards for us that show us where we are to sit at the holiday table. The picture shows the place card she created for me. My name does not appear there, but my trollbeads are there, which is how I knew it was me.