Mosaic, your traditions sound lovely. I've added a few this year that I think will become traditions too. I love advent calendars, and this year I bought a really sweet one that can be used every year. It has a little wooden tree, and every day there's a new animal to add, to build a woodland scene. There are two owls, another bird and a squirrel that perch in the tree, and the rest of the animals are gathered around the tree. Today I added the last item, a shiny gold star on the top of the tree. Of course, I will still do the traditional paper advent calendar, but this is a welcome addition to my joys of the Christmas season.

We inherited some Nambe ware bowls this year. They are lovely heavy silver bowls (not real silver, though - they don't need to be polished). I thought they would look nice with some shiny Christmas balls in them, but I didn't have any. I bought a set of silver and gold ornaments. They are plastic and not glass, but they look really nice in the bowls. I added a set of the battery operated tiny lights to the display in the oval bowl, and it looks lovely and sparkly.

We actually put up outdoor lights this year. I bought a strand of lights with twinkling snowflakes, and then my husband, who had never even had a Christmas tree until I moved in with him, bought a strand of red chili pepper lights. We put them up last night, and when I went back to the house from the little building my parrots are in, I enjoyed looking at the outdoor lights, the full moon, and the Christmas tree lights that I could see through the living room window. I have also noticed that now that we were given a wonderful extension cord that has an on/off switch, my husband turns the tree lights on when he gets up. I think he's actually started to enjoy having a tree. Over the years, I have given him ornaments and we have picked some out together, so I have cleverly gotten him more engaged in the whole tree thing.

My other established traditions are:
Swedish Christmas soap
Advent calendars (paper and the Jacquie Lawson animated one)
Previewing the Jacquie Lawson animated Christmas cards to get into the Christmas spirit - some of them really capture that magic feeling from my childhood, especially the snowy scenes
My favorite Christmas music (have a new favorite this year with guitar and Native American flute)
A real tree with lots of birds on it, with colored lights on the tree and white lights arranged on the tree skirt
Sweet potato pie with whipped cream
Roasted rosemary pecans
Yummy gourmet cheeses
Luminarias on Christmas eve
A trip to the wildlife refuge to see cranes and Snow Geese and ducks and eagles in the afternoon on Christmas day if the weather allows (We also go with another couple on New Year's day)

We are going to do a chuck roast in the slow cooker so dinner will be ready when we get back from the refuge. I will make the pie this afternoon if I get out of work early, or on Christmas morning.

Allison